Charlemagne is considered a great leader by many historians and was seen as such by his contemporaries. He certainly is the most influential figure of the early Middle Ages in Western Europe. Let's talk about him and his accomplishments, shall we? Long #Thread #medieval #History 
By the VIIth century, the Franks had authority over most of what we now call France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland as well as Western Germany. They had conquered this territory in the course of two centuries under the rule of a dynasty known as the Merovingians.
The Merovingians were not, for the most part, strong kings. I mean that their power was diluted. They shared it with nobles and feudal system was not yet the one we are familiar with. As time went on, actual power was often in the hands of people known as mayors of the palace.
The Frankish kings had long traditions. One of them was to divide one's kingdom amongst all of one's sons. It doesn't make for great unity of power and is the cause of more than one civil war during the period. Kingdoms were weak and often under pressure from many other peoples.
Saxons, Frisians and other Germanic tribes were a danger in the North East. Lombards in Northern Italy. Arabs in modern Spain. The Christian Franks were under constant pressure from outside and inside. This all changed with Charlemagne's grand-father: Charles Martel.
His name means "Charles the Hammerer" and he became Duke and Prince of the Franks in 718. He got power through political acumen, military strength and great flair. He reinforced power around him, diminished the mayors of the palace's authority and won several military victories.
His most famous victory was at Poitiers in 732, when his army defeated a Muslim one (known as the Umayyad invasion), therefore "saving" Europe from Islam in traditional historiography. This battle is often known as the battle of Tours in Anglophone historiography.
He pursued a politic of expansion and unity during his whole "reign", until his death in 741. He was never crowned king, but he acted as one, divided the territory he controlled amongst his two sons: Carloman and Pépin.
Charles's family reigned in all but name over Francia, the Frankish kingdom. After an instability period, the power went to Pépin, his brother Carloman having decided to become a monk. Pépin became king of the Franks in 751, replacing the Merovingians thanks to a coup.
In 754, he is anointed by the pope in the Abbey of Saint-Denis, along with his sons Charles and Carloman, establishing the Carolingian ruling dynasty and making his family the only one able to rule over the Franks. Pépin, later nicknamed "The Short", died in 768.
He left to his sons a kingdom greatly reinforced and united, with an incredible momentum. The two brothers didn't like each other and became rivals as soon as their father was in the ground. The hostilities threaten to become a real war but Carloman died of illness in 771.
Charles took all of his brother territory under his control, ignoring his nephew's rights and became sole king of the Franks. He immediately had to deal with troubles in Italy, troubles between the Franks and the Lombards.
The Pope often complained of Lombard interference and of attacking the Church territory around Rome. Charles, the strongest Christian King, responded. It was also a great excuse to deal a serious blow to a powerful neighbouring kingdom and to seize a rich area.
Charles marched on Rome, and was welcomed as a liberator by the Pope Hadrian. Pavia fell soon after to the Frankish troops in 774. Having ousted the Lombard leaders from Northern Italy, Charles proclaimed himself king of the Franks and of the Lombards.
Charles was not as successful in Spain. He received Muslims emissaries who offered him their support should he attack their enemy the Umayyad Caliphate. Charles saw an opportunity to extend Christianity in Europe, as Spain was under Muslim control, as well as his own territory.
The king personally led his army across the Pyrénées in 778 where the governor of Saragossa was supposed to open the city gates for him. He didn't, and the Franks had to lay siege to the city. In the meantime, the Saxons rebelled. Charles decided to lift the siege and go.
On their way back, the Frankish army was attacked by the Basque people. The traditional site of the battle is Roncevaux, and it was made famous by the "Chanson de Roland", an 11th century song supposed to depict the massacre and especially the brave death of Roland.
Charles dealt with the Saxon's revolt and started reorganizing his kingdom. In the 780s, he therefore started a policy of standardization and unification. He used feudalism in a very aggressive way, creating counts, abbots, bishops, all vassals to him.
Charles still had one territory to deal with though: Saxony. The Saxons were Pagans, the Franks Christians. Therefore, the latter felt they had to christianize this people, by force if necessary. This war lasted the better of three decades and was very brutal.
This brings me to one of the less glorious events of Charle's reign: the Massacre of Verden. In 782, following a brutal campaign by the Franks in Saxony, a Frankish army was attacked and massacred by the Saxon leader Widikund and his troops. This infuriated Charles.
He went all Old Testament about it, wanting to bring the fury of God to these pagans who deserved nothing else in his eyes. Charles ordered the forced baptism of about 4,500 Saxons. They were brought to the river, their heads put in the water were all killed by drowning.
Following that, Charles pushed harder and harder into Saxony until it submitted in 785, when Widikund surrendered and accepted to be baptized and to recognize Charles as his lord. Having vanquished the Saxons, Charles had something unique in his hands. A relatively united kingdom
He wanted his kingdom to bring about education, elevation of the spirit and economical prosperity, not just military might. His entourage came up with a clever idea to reinforce this: becoming emperor. At the same time, the new pope, Leo III, desperately needed a strong ally.
Charles went to Rome and was proclaimed Emperor by the pope Leo III on December 25th 800, the perfect propaganda story. The impact was enormous. Charles had attain a new level of authority. Nobody had been emperor for the last three and a half century.
That put him on the path to become Carolus Magnus or in French, Charlemagne, even though he never used this expression himself. He surrounded himself with educated people and worked during the last fourteen years of his life to maintain his Empire and to reinforce it.
He did so with great success, even though it won't survive long after him. Charles made all his subjects vow allegiance to him as emperor, not just as king. He wanted to ensure the loyalty of everyone, including the strong nobles. It's a mix of Roman tradition and feudalism.
Charles ruled over a huge territory with different traditions, casts and legal systems. To me, what really makes him a great statesman is that he managed to impose his Frankish system to all of them. He insured that monasteries and abbeys were built in every county.
Because of this, literacy level would rise. This made administration more efficient, as well as taxation. It also helped in preparing the different parts of the Empire to defend themselves agains invasion, as a form of military standardization was also put into place.
In France we like to say that Charlemagne invented school. While not technically true, he did push very hard for literacy and knowledge to be more accessible and to be at the centre of everything. This was part of a whole reform.
He saw to the building of various infrastructures during his reign such as roads and castles. Commerce was simplified, the territory was easier to defend and to maintain. This was a virtuous circle. These reforms are what made the Frankish Empire such a strong entity.
Even though the empire itself as a political construct would dissolve after Charles's son died, more on that later, the Frankish way of doing things would survive. It would be an integral part of the Frankish kingdom and the future Holy Roman Empire in modern-day Germany.
Charles was a very devout Christian and wanted everyone in his kingdom to be one too. In 813, during the council of Tours, it was decided that mass should be given in the vulgar language of the people, instead of Latin, to help spread the gospel and facilitate education.
I should also mentioned that art production exploded under his reign. Artists from all over the Empire flourished. From architecture to book writing, from drawing to singing, every form of art was touched by this “Carolingian Renaissance”.
Charles the First, king of the Franks. Or Charlemagne, Roman Emperor. Coinage of the time shows the inscriptions KAROLUS IMP AUG, meaning Karolus Imperator Augustus, or Charles Emperor August.
His unique accession to the supreme title certainly makes Charlemagne special by itself, but it didn't ensure his legacy. He fully intended to go along with the traditional way and wanted to divide his empire between his three sons: Pépin, Louis and Charles.
Charlemagne's last years were not happy ones. His sons Pépin and Charles died in 810 and 811. Charlemagne summoned his last son, Louis, to Aix-la-Chapelle in 813 to be crowned king of the Franks and Emperor. Charlemagne died on January 28th 814.
Charlemagne's lasting impact on Europe is immense. His Empire is probably the main reason why we have France and Germany today. His reign reinforced the Christian church and weakened its adversaries.
At the time, it was not sure that Christianity would remain the dominant religion in Europe forever, things could have been very different. Imagine the Vikings and Saxons invading Europe and replacing Christianity by their own believes. Or the Muslims taking over Western Europe.
Our culture, our way of life would be fundamentally different. The world would be completely different. Whether you live in France, in Italy, in Germany or in America, you should remember Charlemagne. Not because of some adoration for a great man, I don't want you to worship him.
At its peak, his empire covered 1.2M square Km, with a population of around 30 million souls. These people will be the founders of France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and other countries. Charlemagne's legacy lives in all these countries and more.
And it would be good to remember sometimes everything we have in common, instead of the things that divide us. Listen to our full episode on Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Roman Emperor on your favourite podcast platform or here: lafayettepodcast.com/1969630/111467…
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