Charlemagne was born in 742 and is the son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada. His father was named King of the Frank from the support of the Pope. Pepin continued to help reinforce the relationship between Western Europe and the Roman Catholic, by coming to the Pope's aid and fought when it was needed. He began the Carolingian Dynasty, who was named after his son Charlemagne. Charlemagne made the Frankish kingdom huge. He encouraged war against the Saxons. The Saxons finally surrendered after more than a quarter century of war. Charlemagne was a Christian, he told the Saxons convert or die. Another threat was thrown at Rome so Charlemagne defeated them. He shortly after went into war with the Muslims in Spain. "By 800, Charlemagne ruled most of western and central Europe - the largest kingdom since the height of the Roman Empire." (305)
Pope Leo III was under attack from Roman nobles, they charged him with tyranny and corruption. Charlemagne came to the Popes defense and the Pope named him the new "emperor of the Romans." Charlemagne did not want the title "emperor of the Romans" that he preferred the title "king of the Franks." Charlemagne also said if he had known the Popes intentions he would have stayed away that day.
Years later, Charlemagne became known as the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a hard task to maintain the Empire, but Charlemagne made it possible. A few times a year Charlemagne sent his royal official to check out local counties. They were his eyes and ears throughout the empire.
Charlemagne was a very brutal person in war, defeating his enemies or them surrendering. He also had a very peaceful side to him. He had interests in learning. "He was himself an eager student of Latin, Greek, logic, astronomy, and mathematics. He established a palace school for members of his court and for his children and grandchildren. He also provided funds to monasteries to build and operate schools. To meet the demand for teachers, Charlemagne
imported scholars from England, Ireland, and Italy. From these early schools grew some of the great universities of Europe." (305) Charlemagne supported monasteries for their effort to preserve learning. He gave them money and instructed them how to care for their work. Many of the classical literature we have today comes from Charlemagne's time. He also improved the writing style. The writing style used uppercase and lowercase letter like we use today.
Charlemagne died in 814, at the age of 72. He left the empire to his son Louis, he was Charlemagne's only surviving son at the time. Louis lacked a lot of his father's ability though. He lacked his personality, military prowess, and administrative ability. Louis died in 840, and the empire was divided between his three sons. The brother did not get along and the bitter rivals between them broke the once strong and mighty empire. The empire was not only now broken but also under attack. What Charlemagne built into a strong empire was destroyed in less then a century.
I selected Charlemagne because not to many people know of him or his story. The few people who do known of Charlemagne only know him for his very brutal side that he has when it comes to war. Charlemagne was not looked at for his knowledge and his growth and how he has had an affect on how our lives our today. If Charlemagne did not care about monasteries we probably would not still have the same classic literatures today, if he did not approve the new writing style we might not have uppercase and lower case so it is easier to be read. Charlemagne was a powerful leader and a great one, who stood up for his empire and tried to make sure they stayed strong and educated, and it was sadly destroyed by his grandchildren.
Pope Leo III was under attack from Roman nobles, they charged him with tyranny and corruption. Charlemagne came to the Popes defense and the Pope named him the new "emperor of the Romans." Charlemagne did not want the title "emperor of the Romans" that he preferred the title "king of the Franks." Charlemagne also said if he had known the Popes intentions he would have stayed away that day.
Years later, Charlemagne became known as the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a hard task to maintain the Empire, but Charlemagne made it possible. A few times a year Charlemagne sent his royal official to check out local counties. They were his eyes and ears throughout the empire.
Charlemagne was a very brutal person in war, defeating his enemies or them surrendering. He also had a very peaceful side to him. He had interests in learning. "He was himself an eager student of Latin, Greek, logic, astronomy, and mathematics. He established a palace school for members of his court and for his children and grandchildren. He also provided funds to monasteries to build and operate schools. To meet the demand for teachers, Charlemagne
imported scholars from England, Ireland, and Italy. From these early schools grew some of the great universities of Europe." (305) Charlemagne supported monasteries for their effort to preserve learning. He gave them money and instructed them how to care for their work. Many of the classical literature we have today comes from Charlemagne's time. He also improved the writing style. The writing style used uppercase and lowercase letter like we use today.
Charlemagne died in 814, at the age of 72. He left the empire to his son Louis, he was Charlemagne's only surviving son at the time. Louis lacked a lot of his father's ability though. He lacked his personality, military prowess, and administrative ability. Louis died in 840, and the empire was divided between his three sons. The brother did not get along and the bitter rivals between them broke the once strong and mighty empire. The empire was not only now broken but also under attack. What Charlemagne built into a strong empire was destroyed in less then a century.
I selected Charlemagne because not to many people know of him or his story. The few people who do known of Charlemagne only know him for his very brutal side that he has when it comes to war. Charlemagne was not looked at for his knowledge and his growth and how he has had an affect on how our lives our today. If Charlemagne did not care about monasteries we probably would not still have the same classic literatures today, if he did not approve the new writing style we might not have uppercase and lower case so it is easier to be read. Charlemagne was a powerful leader and a great one, who stood up for his empire and tried to make sure they stayed strong and educated, and it was sadly destroyed by his grandchildren.