Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800. He united most of Western and Central Europe and was the first recognised emperor to rule from the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier. Charlemagne's reign was marked by political and social changes that had lasting influence on Europe throughout the Middle Ages.
A member of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty, Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. With his brother Carloman I, he became king of the Franks in 768 following Pepin's death and became the sole ruler three years later. Charlemagne continued his father's policy of protecting the papacy and became its chief defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy in 774. His reign saw a period of expansion that led to the conquests of Bavaria, Saxony, and northern Spain, as well as other campaigns that led Charlemagne to extend his rule over a large part of Europe. Charlemagne spread Christianity to his new conquests, as seen at the Massacre of Verden against the Saxons. He also sent envoys and initiated diplomatic contact with Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph in the 790s, due to their mutual interest in Iberian affairs.
In 800 Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III. Although historians debate the coronation's significance, the title represented the height of his prestige and authority. Charlemagne's position as the first emperor in the West in over 300 years brought him into conflict with the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople. Through his assumption of the imperial title, he is considered the forerunner to the line of Holy Roman Emperors, which persisted into the 19th century. As king and emperor, Charlemagne engaged in numerous reforms in administration, law, education, military organisation, and religion, which shaped Europe for centuries. The stability of his reign began a period of cultural activity known as the Carolingian Renaissance.
Charlemagne died in 814 and was buried at the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, his imperial capital city. Charlemagne's influence on the Middle Ages and on the territory he ruled has led him to be called the "Father of Europe" by many historians. He is seen as a founding figure by multiple European states, and several historical royal houses of Europe trace their lineage back to him. Charlemagne has been the subject of artworks, monuments and literature during and after the medieval period.
Name
Several languages were spoken in Charlemagne's world. He was known as Karlo to Early Old French speakers and as Carolus in Medieval Latin, the formal language of writing and diplomacy. Charles is the modern English form of these names. The name Charlemagne, as the emperor is normally known in English, comes from the French Charles-le-magne. In modern German and Dutch, he is known as Karl der Große and Karel de Grote respectively. The Latin epithet magnus may have been associated with him during his lifetime, but this is not certain. The contemporary Royal Frankish Annals routinely call him Carolus magnus rex. That epithet is attested in the works of the Poeta Saxo around 900, and it had become commonly applied to him by 1000.Charlemagne was named after his grandfather, Charles Martel. That name and its derivatives are unattested before their use by Charles Martel and Charlemagne. Karolus was adapted by Slavic languages as their word for "king" through Charlemagne's influence or that of his great-grandson, Charles the Fat.
Early life and rise to power
Political background and ancestry
By the 6th century, the western Germanic tribe of the Franks had been Christianised; this was largely instigated by the conversion of King Clovis I to Catholicism. The Franks established a kingdom in Gaul following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. This kingdom, Francia, grew to encompass nearly all of present-day France and Switzerland, along with parts of modern Germany and the Low Countries under the rule of the Merovingian dynasty. Francia was often divided under different Merovingian kings, due to the partible inheritance practised by the Franks. The late 7th century saw a period of war and instability following the murder of King Childeric II, which led to factional struggles among the Frankish aristocrats.Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his 687 victory at the Battle of Tertry. Pepin was the grandson of two important figures of Austrasia: Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen. The mayors of the palace had gained influence as the Merovingian kings' power waned following divisions of the kingdom and several succession crises. Pepin was eventually succeeded by his son Charles, later known as Charles Martel. Charles did not support a Merovingian successor upon the death of King Theuderic IV in 737, leaving the throne vacant. He made plans to divide the kingdom between his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, who succeeded him after his death in 741. The brothers placed the Merovingian Childeric III on the throne in 743. In 744 Pepin married Bertrada, a member of an influential noble family. In 747 Carloman abdicated and entered a monastery in Rome. He had at least two sons; the elder, Drogo, took his place.
Birth
Charlemagne's year of birth is uncertain, although it was most likely in 748. An older tradition based on three sources, however, gives a birth year of 742. The 9th-century biographer Einhard reports Charlemagne as being 72 years old at the time of his death; the Royal Frankish Annals imprecisely gives his age at death as about 71, and his original epitaph called him a septuagenarian. Einhard said he did not know much about Charlemagne's early life; some modern scholars believe that, not knowing the emperor's true age, he still sought to present a date in keeping with the Roman imperial biographies of Suetonius, which he used as a model. All three sources may have been influenced by Psalm 90: "The days of our years are threescore years and ten".Historian Karl Ferdinand Werner challenged the acceptance of 742 as the Frankish king's birth year, citing an addition to the Annales Petaviani which records Charlemagne's birth in 747. Lorsch Abbey commemorated Charlemagne's date of birth as 2 April from the mid-9th century, and this date is likely to be genuine. Matthias Becher built on Werner's work and showed that 2 April in the year recorded would have actually been in 748, since the annalists recorded the start of the year from Easter rather than 1 January. Presently, most scholars accept April 748 for Charlemagne's birth. Charlemagne's place of birth is unknown: the Frankish palaces in Vaires-sur-Marne, Quierzy and Herstal are among the places suggested by scholars; Pepin the Short held an assembly in Düren in 748, but it cannot be proved that it took place in April or if Bertrada was with him.
Language and education
The patrius sermo that Einhard refers to with regard to Charlemagne, was a Germanic language. Due to the prevalence in Francia of "rustic Roman", he was probably functionally bilingual in Germanic and Romance dialects at an early age. Charlemagne also spoke Latin, and according to Einhard, could understand and speak some Greek. Some 19th-century historians tried to use the Oaths of Strasbourg to determine Charlemagne's native language. They assumed the text's copyist Nithard, being a grandson of Charlemagne, would have spoken the same dialect as his grandfather, giving rise to the assumption that Charlemagne would have spoken language closely related to the one used in the oath, which is a form of Old High German ancestral to the modern Rhenish Franconian dialects. Other authors have instead taken the place of Charlemagne's education and main residence of Aachen to postulate that Charlemagne most likely spoke a form of Moselle- or Ripuarian Franconian. In any case, all three dialects would have been closely related, mutually intelligible and, while classified as Old High German, none of the dialects involved can be considered typical of Old High German, showing varying degrees of participation in the High German consonant shift, as well as certain similarities with Old Dutch, the presumed language of the previous Merovingian dynasty, mirroring the linguistic diversity still typical of the region today.Charlemagne's father Pepin had been educated at the abbey of Saint-Denis, although the extent of Charlemagne's formal education is unknown. He almost certainly was trained in military matters as a youth in Pepin's itinerant court. Charlemagne also asserted his own education in the liberal arts in encouraging their study by his children and others, although it is unknown whether his study was as a child or at court during his later life. The question of Charlemagne's literacy is debated, with little direct evidence from contemporary sources. He normally had texts read aloud to him and dictated responses and decrees, but this was not unusual even for a literate ruler at the time. Historian Johannes Fried considers it likely that Charlemagne would have been able to read, but the medievalist Paul Dutton writes "the evidence for his ability to read is circumstantial and inferential at best" and concludes that it is likely that he never properly mastered the skill. Einhard makes no direct mention of Charlemagne reading and records that he only attempted to learn to write later in life.
Accession and reign with Carloman
There are only occasional references to Charlemagne in the Frankish annals during his father's lifetime. By 751 or 752, Pepin had deposed Childeric and replaced him as king. Early Carolingian-influenced sources claim that Pepin's seizure of the throne was sanctioned beforehand by Pope Stephen II, but modern historians dispute this. It is possible that papal approval came only when Stephen travelled to Francia in 754, and on this trip anointed Pepin as king; this legitimised his rule. Charlemagne was sent to greet and escort Stephen; he and his younger brother Carloman were anointed with their father. Pepin sidelined Drogo around the same time, sending him and his half-brother Grifo to a monastery.Charlemagne began issuing charters in his own name in 760. The following year, he joined his father's campaign against Aquitaine. Aquitaine, led by Dukes Hunald and Waiofar, was constantly in rebellion during Pepin's reign. Pepin fell ill on his campaign there and died on 24 September 768; Charlemagne and Carloman succeeded their father. They had separate coronations, Charlemagne at Noyon and Carloman at Soissons, on 9 October. The brothers maintained separate palaces and spheres of influence, although they were considered joint rulers of a single Frankish kingdom. The Royal Frankish Annals report that Charlemagne ruled Austrasia and Carloman ruled Burgundy, Provence, Aquitaine, and Alamannia, with no mention of which brother received Neustria. The immediate concern of the brothers was the ongoing uprising in Aquitaine. They marched into Aquitaine together, but Carloman returned to Francia for unknown reasons and Charlemagne completed the campaign on his own. Charlemagne's capture of Duke Hunald marked the end of ten years of war that had been waged in the attempt to bring Aquitaine into line.
Carloman's refusal to participate in the war against Aquitaine led to a rift between the kings. It is uncertain why Carloman abandoned the campaign; the brothers may have disagreed about control of the territory, or Carloman was focused on securing his rule in the north of Francia. Regardless of the strife between the kings, they maintained a joint rule for practical reasons. Charlemagne and Carloman worked to obtain the support of the clergy and local elites to solidify their positions.
Pope Stephen III was elected in 768 but was briefly deposed by Antipope Constantine II before being restored to Rome. Stephen's papacy experienced continuing factional struggles, so he sought support from the Frankish kings. Both brothers sent troops to Rome, each hoping to exert their own influence. The Lombard King Desiderius also had interests in Roman affairs, and Charlemagne attempted to enlist him as an ally. Desiderius already had alliances with Bavaria and Benevento through the marriages of his daughters to their dukes, and an alliance with Charlemagne would add to his influence. Charlemagne's mother Bertrada went on his behalf to Lombardy in 770 and brokered a marriage alliance before returning to Francia with his new bride. Desiderius's daughter is traditionally known as Desiderata, although she may have been named Gerperga. Anxious about the prospect of a Frankish–Lombard alliance, Pope Stephen sent a letter to both Frankish kings decrying the marriage and separately sought closer ties with Carloman.
Charlemagne had already had a relationship with the Frankish noblewoman Himiltrude, and they had a son in 769 named Pepin. Paul the Deacon wrote in his 784 Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium that Pepin was born "before legal marriage" but does not say whether Charles and Himiltrude ever married, were joined in a non-canonical marriage, or married after Pepin was born. Pope Stephen's letter described the relationship as a legitimate marriage, but he had a vested interest in preventing Charlemagne from marrying Desiderius's daughter.
Carloman died suddenly on 4 December 771, leaving Charlemagne sole king of the Franks. He moved immediately to secure his hold on his brother's territory, forcing Carloman's widow Gerberga to flee to Desiderius's court in Lombardy with their children. Charlemagne ended his marriage to Desiderius's daughter and married Hildegard, daughter of Count Gerold, a powerful magnate in Carloman's kingdom. This was a reaction to Desiderius's sheltering of Carloman's family and a move to secure Gerold's support.