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Charlemagne 742-814
Charlemagne was never called
Charlemagne during his lifetime. He was simply Charles. Or more officially,
Charles
I.
He was called the Great within his lifetime and
operated hand in hand with the Church. He was, in fact, appointed by
Pope Leo III.
Charles was one of the most dominant medieval figures and founder of the
Western Roman Empire that would last for more than a thousand years.
All in all, Charles governed 46 years and was engaged in more than
50 military campaigns. His physical energy seemed to be much more
impressive than his talents.
According to some historians, the
year of Charles's coronation as emperor in AD 800 marked the beginning of the
Holy Roman Empire. Others would refer to the year 962 in which
Otto I was crowned emperor.
Before becoming Holy Roman Emperor, Charles
had ruled as king of the
Franks from 768 -
814 and king of the
Lombards 774 - 814.
Charlemagne's
timeline here.
See also
Governments of
France.
Charlemagne's Family
Charles's father was the famous
Pepin III the Short. His mother's name was
Bertha. His siblings were
Carloman and Gisela.
Charles was more or less fond of the following spouses -
Desiderata, Hildegard,
Fastrada, and
Liutgard.
This brought into play the following children: Charles,
Pepin,
Louis, Hruodrud,
Bertha, and
Gisela (by
Hildegard.) Then there were Theoderada, and
Hiltrud
(by Fastrada.)
Charlemagne had still more children by several concubines.
Charlemagne's Maps
This map is showing the growth of Frankish Power 481 - 814
Frankish Territories 481-814
Click map to enlarge
And after Charlemagne had died the map looked like this:
Europe at the time of Charlemagne's death
Click map to enlarge
814 Carolingian, Byzantine Empires and Califate
Map of the Treaty of Verdun 843
And here is a
Plan of a Mediaeval
Manor
More History
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