Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was king of the Franks from 768 CE and, from 800 CE, the first person to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor, ruling over a realm that covered most of western and central Europe. Through decades of nearly continuous military campaigns he united the Frankish kingdoms, conquered the Saxons and the Lombard kingdom of Italy, and pushed his frontier into northern Spain, building the largest western European empire since Rome. His reign is associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a deliberate revival of learning, literacy and the arts centered on his court, which standardized a clear new form of handwriting, expanded monastic schools and preserved many classical texts that would otherwise have been lost. Although his empire fragmented among his grandsons within a few decades of his death in 814 CE, Charlemagne was remembered throughout the Middle Ages as a model Christian ruler, and later Holy Roman Emperors and French and German monarchs alike claimed his legacy.
Facts
Disputed
Birth YearCharlemagne's exact birth year is not certainly known. Most historians now favor 748 CE over the once standard 742, based on later research into the sources. Birth DateHistorians increasingly favor 748 over the once-standard 742 for Charlemagne's birth year, per the same scholarship already recorded on birth-year; the day and month (2 April) rest on later tradition rather than a contemporary record, so the exact date stays debated alongside the year. BirthplaceHerstal, in present-day Belgium (the location most historians favor) 1 Charlemagne's birthplace is not securely attested. Besides Herstal, historians have proposed Liege, Aachen, Ingelheim, Duren and Prum, reflecting how little eighth-century record survives; Aachen, sometimes assumed because of his later palace there, is not itself well supported as his birthplace. RoleKing of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor 2 Death PlaceAachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), in his imperial palace 1 Role
Role (category) Connections
Associated With
In Era
Source The Cambridge Medieval History
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Europe, originated there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
WikipediaCharlemagne, citing Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni
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.
Charlemagne
Charlemagne (2 April 748 - 28 January 814) 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.
Charlemagne: Imperial coronation, 800 AD
At mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day 800, Leo proclaimed Charlemagne 'emperor of the Romans' (Imperator Romanorum) and crowned him.
Charlemagne: Name (birth form)
He was known as Karlo to Early Old French (or Proto-Romance) speakers and as Carolus (or Karolus) in Medieval Latin, the formal language of writing and diplomacy. Charles is the modern English form of these names.
Charlemagne: Name (epithet)
The contemporary Royal Frankish Annals routinely call him Carolus magnus rex ('Charles the great king').
Charlemagne: Gender
Through decades of nearly continuous military campaigns he united the Frankish kingdoms, conquered the Saxons and the Lombard kingdom of Italy, and pushed his frontier into northern Spain, building the largest western European empire since Rome.
View the Source 2. The Cambridge Medieval History
Cambridge University PressIn Era: The Post-Classical and Medieval Period
Wikidata: Charlemagne
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