Charles I the Great (Charlemagne) - King of Franks(768-814), Emperor(800-814)
Charles I the Great (Charlemagne) - King of Franks(768-814), Emperor(800-814)
Bienheureux Charles I Le Grand ou Charlemagne roi de Neustrie et roi d"Austrasie et roi d"Aquitaine Occidentale 768-771, puis devient roi des Francs 771-800, roi des Lombards 774-800, roi de Germanie 787-800, puis devient empereur d"Occident 800-813, puis devient co empereur d"Occident 813-814
epouse: Desiree fille de Didier roi des Lombards. morte en 776. cf: Dynasties des Lombards
epouse: Bienheureuse Hildegarde fille de Gerold I comte de Vizgau. morte en 783. cf: Dynasties de Baviere
epouse: Fastrade fille de Raodolphe III comte de Franconie. morte en 794
epouse: Liutgarde. morte en 800
1 fils naturel et 10 enfants:
- Fils naturel: Pepin Le Bossu. mort en 811
- Charles Le Chauve roi de Germanie 806-813
- Pepin I roi d"Italie 781-810
- Adelaide. morte en 774
- Rotrude. morte en 810
- Louis I Le Pieux empereur d"Occident. cf: dessous
- Lothaire. mort en 780
- Berthe. morte en 829
- Gisele
- Theodrade abesse d"Argenteuil. morte en 894
- Alphaide
Charlemagne, Rex Francorum et Langobardorum
b.2 Apr 742 Aachen, Neustrie
d.28 Jan 814 Aix-la-Chapelle, Westphalia, at age 71.
son of Pepin III, King des Francs and Berthe=Bertrada de Laon
Charlemagne"s title after 800 was: Carolus serenissimus augustus a Deo coronatus magnus et pacificus imperator Romanum gubernans imperium, qui est per misericordiam Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum. It was designed to include the romans in the Frankish empire without centering the Empire upon them. Charlemagne stressed the royal and Frankish bases for his power. Charlemagne was King of the Franks (des Francs) 767-814, and Emperor of the West from 25 December 800.
King of the Francs (767 - 814) and Emperor of the Occident (800 - 814), Charlemagne succeeded his father Pepin "Le Bref" in 768 and reigned with his brother Carloman. Between 782 and 785, hardly a year passed without confrontation with the Saxons. In 772, during the first major expedition, the Irminsuls were destroyed. That year also saw the beginning of a 30-year war against the Saxons as the Francs ravaged the Saxon land by steel and by fire. In 773, the Francs route the Lombards who seek refuge in Pavia, and Gerberge and her children take refuge in Verona, where Charles takes them prisoners. Didier"s son, Adalgise, successfully escapes the assaults and spends the rest of his life in Constantinople. On 5 June 774, Charles reclaims the title of King of the Lombards and of the Francs -- Rex Francorum et Langobardorum, as he triumphantly enters Pavia. In 775 the castle of Siegburg and the castle of Eresburg were "reorganized". Near Hoxter, a large number of Westphalian Saxons are slaughtered in the Sachsen-graben. In 777, at Paderborn, an assembly inaugurated the ecclesiastical organization of Saxony, which divided the country into missionary zones. In 777, Charles had been visited by Solaman Ibn-al-Arabi, who had turned against his master, the Emir Abd-al-Rahman and offered Charles the cities entrusted to his care. In 778, Charles crosses the Pyrenees, occupies Pampelune, and marches on Sarabossa. But upon learning that the Saxons had once more rebelled and were crossing the Rhine, he turned back. On 15 August, the rear guard, under the command of the Seneschal Eginhard, the Count of the Palace Anselm, and of Roland, Duke of the Marche of Brittany, is attacked by Basques or Gascon forces. In the meantime, the Saxons ravaged the Frankish holdings from Cologne to the Moselle. In 779 and 781, Widukind, a Westphalian noble, defeated the Frankish armies in the Stel mountains. Charlemagne is reputed to have had 4,500 Saxons beheaded in Verdun. In 782, the country was divided into counties administered by Saxons. At Attigny, in 785, Widukind and his son-in-law Abbi submitted to Charlemagne who enforced their baptism and became their Godfather. In December, 795, Hadrian I was succeeded by Pope Leon III. By 797, Saxony was conquered. In a brilliant military campaign (773-774) he put an end to the Lombard Dynasty and took the title King of the Lombards. He conquered Bavaria (781 - 788), and then the land of the Avares (792 - 799), a people related to the Huns. 797 proved to be a year of diplomacy. In the early part of the year, several Sarasin chiefs (Zata, and Abdallah) gave homage to Charlemagne at Aix; and Gerona, Caserres and Vich became occupied by the Francs. While in Aix, Charlemagne also received the ambassador of the Emperor of Constantinople, Constantin VI arriving with offers of friendship. In Heerstall, later in the year, the Huns make peace. Charles also receives the ambassador from Alphonse=Alfonso, King of Galicia and of the Asturias. On 25 April 799, the Feast of St. Mark, the Pope is assailed by aristocrats loyal to Byzantium in front of the Church of Saint Stephen and Sylvester. He is thrown in the Monastery of Saint Erasmus, but escapes and seeks refuge under the protection of the Duke of Spoleto. On 23 December 800, according to the Liber Pontificalis, the Pope is cleared of all charges brought by the rebellious aristocrates. Charlemagne"s task is to determine the appropriate punishment for those who have perpetrated the assault on the Holy Father. On 25 December 800, Pope Leon III crowned him Emperor of the Occident. This was made possible because the Emperor Constantin VI had effectively been dethroned by his mother Irene, who had him blinded and then proclaimed herself the "Basileus". Unfortunately, a throne occupied by a woman according to the Nomen Imperatoris, is a vacant one. The day after the crowning, Pope Leon III proclaims the year 1 of the Empire, and the money is stamped with the Pope"s image on one side and that of Charlemagne on the other. Married before 769: Himiltrude N?; Himiltrude was Charlemagne"s first wife. Married in 770: Desiderata de Lombardie, daughter of Desiderius, King of Lombardy and N?; Bertrada, Charlemagne"s mother, arranged this betrothal, but Charlemagne repudiated Desiderata after a year. It is not clear whether he repudiated her after a year for not bearing a child or whether in fact she even left the Lombard kingdom (Rosamond, Page 65). Married in 771: Hildegard, Countess de Linzgau, daughter of Gerold I, Duke d"Allemanie and Imma d"Allemanie; Pepin Carloman was Hildegard"s second son. Hildegarde was Charlemagne"s second wife. Married in 783: Fastrada N? He was christened in 785 Saxe, Germany. Married before 787: Luitgard N?
Charlemagne
Introduction
Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus, Charles the Great) as king of the Franks (768-814) conquered the Lombard kingdom in Italy, subdued the Saxons, annexed Bavaria to his kingdom, fought campaigns in Spain and Hungary, and, with the exception of the Kingdom of Asturias in Spain, southern Italy, and the British Isles, united in one superstate practically all the Christian lands of western Europe. In 800 he assumed the title of emperor. (He is reckoned as Charles I of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as Charles I of France.) Besides expanding its political power, he also brought about a cultural renaissance in his empire. Although this imperium survived its founder by only one generation, the medieval kingdoms of France and Germany derived all their constitutional traditions from Charles"s monarchy. Throughout medieval Europe, the person of Charles was considered the prototype of a Christian king and emperor.
Early years.
Charles was born probably in 742 (on April 2), the elder son of Pepin III, also called Pepin the Short. Pepin and his older brother, Carloman, had just jointly assumed the government of the Frankish kingdom as maior domus, or "mayor of the palace." The dynasty, later called Carolingian after Charlemagne, had originated in the Meuse-Moselle region on the borders of modern France, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. In the course of a few generations, it had, as mayors of the palace to the Merovingians, gained control of the entire Frankish kingdom. Charlemagne"s grandfather, Charles Martel, reconstituted a realm that had been on the point of breaking up, and, without infringing on the royal prerogatives of the otherwise powerless Merovingians, he had in effect bequeathed the empire to his sons, Pepin and Carloman, like a family inheritance.
Charles grew to manhood while his father was engaged in acquiring sole sovereignty and the kingship. On Carloman"s retirement to a monastery, Pepin eliminated the latter"s sons from the government. Having thus prepared the way, he had himself proclaimed king in 751, after dethroning the Merovingians. An oracular response by Pope Zacharias furnished the ecclesiastical approbation for thus shunting aside the former reigning house, which had been held sacred. Zacharias" successor, Stephen II, arrived in the Frankish kingdom during the winter of 753-754, in order to seek help against the Lombards who were attacking Rome. As the reigning monarch"s oldest son, Charles, then about 12 years of age, travelled ahead to welcome the Pope, who anointed him king, along with his father and his brother Carloman, thus sanctioning the new dynasty. The political alliance between the Franks and the Pope against the Lombards was affirmed on the same occasion. When his father subdued Aquitaine (France south of the Loire) in a series of yearly campaigns beginning in 760, reasserting the integrity of the Frankish kingdom all the way to the Pyrenees, Charles repeatedly accompanied the army.
These youthful experiences probably contributed to the formation of Charles"s character and to the formulation of his aims. He shared with his father an unbending will to power, a readiness to fight resolutely against external enemies and to increase his domains, and the determination to rule by himself even if it meant usurping the rights of close relatives. Charles early acknowledged the close connection between temporal power and the church; he had a high regard for the church and the king"s duty to spread the Christian faith and, while asserting royal suzerainty over the church, considered himself accountable to God for the Christians entrusted to him.
King of the Franks.
In accordance with old Frankish custom, the kingdom was divided on Pepin"s death in 768 between his two sons. It was not long, however, before a strong rivalry sprang up between the brothers: with his mother"s support, Charles concluded, with the Lombard king Desiderius, whose daughter he married, and with his cousin Duke Tassilo of Bavaria, alliances directed against Carloman.
On Carloman"s sudden death in 771, Charles was able to make himself sole ruler of the kingdom, unopposed by his young nephews, whose rights he ignored. When Carloman"s widow with her children and a few remaining supporters had fled to the Lombard court, and King Desiderius, breaking his alliance with Charles, put pressure on the Pope to anoint Carloman"s sons as Frankish kings, Charles was forced to come to the aid of Pope Adrian I. He marched on the Lombard capital, Pavia, and after its fall made himself king of the Lombards. His brother"s sons, who had fallen into his hands, disappeared. While the siege of Pavia was still in progress, Charles journeyed to Rome, where he celebrated Easter 774 with the Pope and reiterated, in St. Peter"s Basilica, his father"s promise to transfer to papal rule large sections of Italy. But he actually enlarged the Pope"s lands only slightly, assuming for himself the sovereignty over the entire Lombard kingdom.
Charles had fought the pagan Saxons, in what is now Lower Saxony and Westphalia, in retribution for their attacks on the lower Rhine region, as early as 772, before the first Italian campaign. From 775 on, however, it was his goal to subdue the whole Saxon tribe, converting it to Christianity and integrating it into his kingdom. This aim appeared to have been realized after several campaigns culminating in declarations of allegiance by the Saxon nobility and mass baptisms performed in 775-777. A diet held in 777 in Paderborn sealed the submission of the Saxons. Among those attending the diet had been some Arab emissaries from northern Spain who sought Charles"s aid in their uprising against the Umayyad amir of Córdoba. In the summer of 778 Charles advanced into Spain and laid siege to Saragossa, without, however, being able to take the city. Retreating across the Pyrenees, the Frankish army was badly mauled by the Basques. Roland, warden of the Breton march, who died on this occasion, was later immortalized in legend and poetry.
This defeat marks the end of the first period of Charles"s rule, the period of vigorous expansion. Within a decade he had become the sole ruler of the Franks, conquered the Lombard kingdom, visited Rome, subdued the Saxons, invaded Spain. Henceforth he was concerned with defending and safeguarding his quickly won gains (which were to be extended only on the right bank of the Rhine), while consolidating the state internally and protecting cultural life and the rule of law.
Not long after Charles"s defeat in Spain, the Saxons rose up once more. The war against them became the longest and most cruel war fought by the Franks. In Charles"s eyes, the resistance of this people that had undergone baptism and signed a treaty of allegiance amounted to political high treason and religious apostasy. These offenses called for severe punishment, and 4,500 Saxons were reported to have been executed en masse in 782. New outbreaks occurred after 792, and the last Saxons were not vanquished until 804. Between 772 and 804, Charles took the field against the Saxons no fewer than 18 times. In the end he carried out his aim of not only subjecting them to his rule but also incorporating them fully into his empire. Given the indissoluble tie between temporal power and the Christian faith, this meant they had to be converted. But the violent methods by which this missionary task was carried out had been unknown to the earlier Middle Ages, and the sanguinary punishment meted out to those who broke canon law or continued to engage in pagan practices called forth criticism in Charles"s own circle, for example by Alcuin, his adviser and head of his palace school.
When, in 788, Charles deposed his cousin Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria, who had acknowledged the Frankish kings as feudal lords, he in effect deprived of its independence the last of the German tribes beyond the Rhine. The Bavarians, who had long been Christians, were now directly integrated into the empire. The West Germanic tribes of the Alemanni, Bavarians, Saxons, and Thuringians thus found themselves for the first time gathered into one political unit. Charles"s conquests on the right bank of the Rhine were, however, not limited to the Germanic tribes. Making Ratisbon (Regensburg), the residence of the Bavarian dukes, his base, he conducted several campaigns, partly under his own command, against the Avar kingdom (in modern Hungary and Upper Austria). The remaining Avar principalities and the newly founded Slav states of the Danubian region drifted into a loose dependence on the Franks, whose sovereignty they more or less acknowledged.
The gigantic expansion of the Frankish state, raising it far above the tribal states of the early Middle Ages, entailed qualitative as well as quantitative changes. Yet the idea of bestowing on Charles the Roman title of emperor arose only at a very late stage and out of a specific political constellation. While the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire laid claim to universal recognition, the popes, constitutionally still subjects of Byzantium, were opposed to the iconoclastic religious policies of the Eastern emperors. Moreover, under the protection of Charles, Pope Adrian sought to erect an autonomous domain over central Italy, the more so as the Byzantines, abandoning for all practical purposes Rome and Ravenna, were asserting their rule only in Sicily and the southernmost edge of Italy. The papacy"s desire for independence found a significant expression in the Donation of Constantine, a forgery dating probably from the first few years of Adrian"s reign and purporting to legitimize these papal aims in the name of the first Christian emperor, Constantine I the Great. Charles paid a second visit to Rome in 781, when he had the Pope crown his young sons Pepin and Louis as kings of the Lombards and Aquitanians and gained de facto recognition of his Italian position from the Byzantine empress Irene, the mother of Constantine VI. The entente that existed between Charles and Byzantium came to an end after a Frankish attack on southern Italy in 787.
Emperor of the West.
In the end, local Roman conflicts brought about the clarification of the city"s constitutional position. In May 799, Pope Leo III was waylaid in Rome by personal enemies. He took refuge at the court of Charles, who had him conducted back to the city and who in November 800 came to Rome himself, where he was received with imperial honours. Before Charles and a synod, Pope Leo cleared himself under oath of the charges made by his enemies. During Christmas mass in St. Peter"s, the Romans acclaimed Charles emperor, whereupon the Pope crowned and perhaps anointed him.
The imperial title was by nature a Roman dignity. While the acclamation represented the juridically conclusive act, it was the coronation at the hands of the Pope that, though of no constitutional importance, was to acquire for the Franks great significance. The Pope had been determined to make Charles emperor, deciding to a large extent the outward form; yet Charles was surely not surprised by these events. His famous statement quoted by one of his favourites, the Frankish historian Einhard, that he would not have set foot in church that Christmas if he had known the Pope"s intention, implies a criticism of the ceremony initiated by the Pope, as well as a formal expression of humility. The crowning had been preceded by negotiations. While Charles"s imperial rank was legally substantiated by the fact of his dominion over the western part of the old Roman Empire, the desire to counteract the petticoat rule of the empress Irene (who had dethroned and blinded her son in 797) also played a role. Residing in Rome four months and pronouncing sentence on the Pope"s enemies as rebels guilty of lese majesty, Charles grasped the imperial reins with a firm hand. Likewise, after his return to Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), he promulgated laws in full consciousness of his rank as emperor.
Byzantium braced itself for the usurper"s attack, but Charles merely wished to see his new rank and his dominion over Rome recognized in negotiations; he gained his point in 812 when the emperor Michael I acknowledged him as emperor, though not as emperor of the Romans. While the imperial title did not bring Charles any additional powers, his control of Rome was now legitimized, and the estrangement of the papacy from Byzantium and its rapprochement with the Franks, a major historical event that had been initiated in 754, was rendered incontrovertible. A significant result of this development was the tradition to which Charles"s assumption of the imperial title and function gave rise: all medieval concepts of empire and all the bonds between the constitutional traditions of the Franks and the later Holy Roman Empire with the Roman Empire founded by Augustus were based on the precedent of Charles"s imperial title and position.
Court and administration.
The creation of the empire was chiefly legitimized by Charles"s efforts to raise its cultural level internally. When Charles came to power, the Frankish kingdom"s cultural, administrative, and legal institutions were still relatively undeveloped. The Frankish king, for example, possessed no permanent residence. In the summer months he travelled about, deciding political issues and dispensing justice in assemblies of spiritual and temporal lords; above all, summer was the season for military campaigns. During the winter, from Christmas to Easter and sometimes longer, the king lived and held court at one of the imperial palaces. Charles especially favoured those situated in the Frankish heartland: only rarely did he spend the winter in one of the newly won territories, in encampment in Saxony, in Ratisbon, or in Rome. Not until 794 did Aachen, which the aging monarch liked because of its warm springs, become the court"s abode, indeed almost a residence, during every winter and often even in summer. Here Charles built, partially with materials imported from Rome and Ravenna, the court church that is still standing, as well as the palace whose walls were incorporated into the 14th-century city hall.
Charles"s court consisted of his family, of the clergy in his personal service, who were called the king"s capella, and of temporal officials, among them the count palatine, the seneschal, and the master of the royal household. These men were occasionally joined, on an informal basis, by other spiritual or temporal men of rank who spent some time in the ruler"s presence. For Charles had the ambition to make his court the intellectual, as well as the political and administrative, centre of the realm and accordingly summoned prominent scholars from all parts of the empire and even from abroad. Among these the most important were Einhard and Alcuin.
With the help of these and other literary men, Charles established a court library containing the works of the Church Fathers and those of ancient authors, and he founded a court academy for the education of young Frankish knights. Last but not least, he himself took part with his family and the learned and lay members of his entourage in a cultivated social life that afforded him entertainment no less than instruction. His mother tongue was an Old High German idiom, besides which he presumably understood the Old French dialect spoken by many Franks; as a grown man, he also learned Latin and some Greek, had historical and theological writings, including St. Augustine"s City of God, read aloud to him, and acquired a rudimentary knowledge of mathematics and astronomy.
The court"s cultural interests, however, extended beyond the intellectual gratification of a small circle, such as the exchange of verses and letters. Efforts were also made to raise the level of religious observance, morality, and the process of justice throughout the empire. The clearest and most famous instance of this was the Epistula de litteris colendis, dating presumably from 784 to 785 and compiled in Charles"s name by Alcuin. Its main argument lies in the assertion that the right faith--indeed, every right thought--must be clothed in the appropriate form and language, lest it be falsified; hence, the prescription of intensive study of Latin language and literature for all monastic and cathedral schools. The spiritual and literary movement called the " Carolingian renaissance" had many centres, especially in the empire"s monasteries; but it cannot be evaluated without reference to Charles"s court and to his endeavour to call on the best minds of the whole world, setting them to work in the education of the clergy and, in the final instance, of the whole people. The court"s theological knowledge and intellectual self-confidence are reflected in the Libri Carolini, a comprehensive treatise written about 791 in Charles"s name and directed against the Council of Nicaea (787), at which Greeks and papal plenipotentiaries had countenanced the practice of iconolatry; at the same time, the Libri Carolini did not spare the iconoclasts.
Through this court, Charles ruled and administered his empire and dispensed justice. Once or twice a year at least, the court and the chief magistrates and nobles from all parts of the empire joined in a general assembly held either in the Frankish heartland or in one of the conquered territories. It is indicative of the unique structure of the Carolingian Empire that one cannot draw clear distinctions between an assembly of the armed forces, a constitutional assembly of the nobility, and a church synod: juridical, military, and ecclesiastical affairs were invariably discussed at one and the same time by the representatives of the nobility and the clergy. Above them all towered the figure of Charlemagne.
On the local level the ruler was represented in every region by counts and bishops. Liaison between these personages and the court was maintained through royal messengers who travelled about at Charles"s command, usually in pairs made up of a civil servant and a clerical dignitary. Royal commands did not have to be written out, although Charles"s decrees (capitularies) increasingly came to be recorded in writing, at first rather imprecisely, in the last two decades of his reign; the forms coined by the "renaissance" gained ground only with time. Charles respected the traditional rights of the various peoples and tribes under his dominion as a matter of principle, and, after he became emperor, he had many of them recorded. The capitularies served partly as complements to tribal laws, partly as regulations applying to the most disparate aspects of public and private life, and in part also as specific instructions issued to royal messengers, counts, bishops, and others. Punitive decrees against highwaymen, dispositions concerning military levies, orders for the people to take an oath of allegiance to the emperor or to teach all Christians to recite the Lord"s Prayer, are found intermingled in the capitularies with jurisdictional dispositions and regulations about the internal organization of monasteries; temporal and spiritual problems are rarely treated separately. Taken as a whole, the legal documents of Charles"s reign bear witness to a great concern, born of profound moral and religious convictions, with the administration of justice and with public enlightenment, but they also show discrepancies between the ideal and reality.
Limitations of his rule.
Charles"s organization of the empire was, however, not without its defects and limitations. The sovereign"s power was restricted only by theoretical principles of law and custom, not by institutions or countervailing forces. Significantly, the records report little about opposition movements and conspiracies, which, in fact, did exist. A rebellion that Thuringian counts launched against Charles in 786 can perhaps be explained as ethnic opposition to the centralism of the Franks. More ominous was an aristocratic conspiracy that in 792 attempted to place on the throne the hunchback Pepin, Charles"s only son from his first marriage, which was later declared invalid; yet here, too, the political concepts and motives remain unknown. These events and, more clearly still, the history of the empire under Charles"s successor, Louis, show the extent to which the political system had been designed for one person on whose outstanding abilities everything depended and with whose disappearance it threatened to collapse. Their self-confidence enhanced by Charles"s educational policy, the clergy could not accept for all time his theocracy without opposing it with their own political and religious principles. The temporal nobility that had built the empire with the Carolingians could be firmly tied to the dynasty only as long as new conquests held out the prospect of new spoils and fiefs; if these failed to materialize, there remained only the care of one"s properties in the different regions and the hope of gaining advantages from party strife. External expansion, however, could not advance substantially beyond the borders reached by 800; in fact, economic and technical resources were insufficient to hold together and administer what had already been won and to defend it against foreign enemies. Charles"s empire lacked the means by which the Romans had preserved theirs: a money economy, a paid civil service, a standing army, a properly maintained network of roads and communications, a navy for coastal defense. Already in Charles"s lifetime, the coasts were being threatened by the Normans. In 806 Charles planned a division of the empire between his sons, but after the death of the elder two he crowned Louis of Aquitaine his coemperor and sole successor at Aachen in 813. It was only a few months later that Charles himself died there on January 28, 814.
Personality and influence.
Charlemagne"s posthumous fame shone the more brightly as the following generations were unable to preserve the empire"s internal peace, its unity, and its international position. Even after the Carolingian dynasty had become extinct, political tradition in the East Frankish (German) kingdom and empire, as well as in the West Frankish (French) kingdom, drew sustenance from the example set by Charlemagne. Under Otto I, Aachen became the city in which the rulers of Germany were crowned, and, at Frederick I Barbarossa"s request, the antipope Paschal III canonized Charlemagne in 1165. In France the Capetians, beginning with Philip II Augustus, revived the traditions that had grown up around Charlemagne. The controversial question whether the Germans or the French were the true successors of Charlemagne was kept alive through the Middle Ages and into modern times. Napoleon called himself Charlemagne"s successor; after the end of World War II, discussions of a united, Christian, "occidental" Europe invoked his model. Hand in hand with these political traditions went those in popular legend and poetry, culminating in the Roland epics. Nor did Charlemagne"s fame stop at the boundaries of what was once his empire; some Slavic languages derived their term for "king" from his name (Czech král, Polish król, etc.).
Charles left no biographical document; his personality can be constructed only from his deeds and the reports left by contemporaries. This is how Einhard, who lived at the court from about 795 on, described Charlemagne"s character and appearance in his famous Vita Karoli Magni: "He had a broad and strong body of unusual height, but well-proportioned; for his height measured seven times his feet. His skull was round, the eyes were lively and rather large, the nose of more than average length, the hair gray but full, the face friendly and cheerful. Seated or standing, he thus made a dignified and stately impression even though he had a thick, short neck and a belly that protruded somewhat; but this was hidden by the good proportions of the rest of his figure. He strode with firm step and held himself like a man; he spoke with a higher voice than one would have expected of someone of his build. He enjoyed good health except for being repeatedly plagued by fevers four years before his death. Toward the end he dragged one foot."
The strength of Charlemagne"s personality was evidently rooted in the unbroken conviction of being at one with the divine will. Without inward contradiction, he was able to combine personal piety with enjoyment of life, a religious sense of mission with a strong will to power, rough manners with a striving for intellectual growth, and intransigence against his enemies with rectitude. In his politically conditioned religiosity, the empire and the church grew into an institutional and spiritual unit. Although his empire survived him by only one generation, it contributed decisively to the eventual reconstitution, in the mind of a western Europe fragmented since the end of the Roman Empire, of a common intellectual, religious, and political inheritance on which later centuries could draw. Charlemagne did not create this inheritance single-handedly, but one would be hard put to imagine it without him. One of the poets at his court called him rex pater Europae--"King father of Europe." In truth, there is no other man who similarly left his mark on European history during the centuries of the Middle Ages.
<I000632> Charles the Great, Emperor CHARLEMAGNE
<I001437> Father: Pippin III ("The Short"), King of FRANKS
<I001438> Mother: Bertha of LAON
BIRTH: 2 APR 742, Ingelheim, Germany
DEATH: 28 JAN 814, Aachen (9 a.m.)
Family 1:
<I002461> 1. Alpais
<I003709> 2. Duodene
Family 2:
<I002252> Regina _____
<I002251> 1. Hughues L"ABBE
Family 3:
<I000633> Hildegard of SWABIA
<I000631> 1. Pippin (or Pepin), King of LOMBARDY
<I002293> 2. Princess ROTRUDE
<I000778> 3. Louis I "The Pious", King of AQUITAINE
<I003698> 4. Lady BERTHE
Notes
Charles died after four years of failing health, from pleurisy, and is buried in the chapel at Aachen (now part of the cathedral)(Aachen = Aix la Chapelle). A contemporary account states that he was almost seven feet in height, in an era when few men were even six feet - "large and strong, and of lofty stature, though not disproportionately tall...the upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry." He was warm, outgoing and athletic. {Popular account: "Charlemagne," Harold Lamb (Doubleday, 1954).}
Compton"s Encyclopedia (America On-Line, 1995) reports: CHARLEMAGNE (742?-814). "By the sword and the cross," Charlemagne (Charles the Great) became master of Western Europe. It was falling into decay when Charlemagne became joint king of the Franks in 768. Except in the monasteries, people had all but forgotten education and the arts. Boldly Charlemagne conquered barbarians and kings alike. By restoring the roots of learning and order, he preserved many political rights and revived culture. Charlemagne"s grandfather was Charles Martel, the warrior who crushed the Saracens (see Charles Martel). Charlemagne was the elder son of Bertrade ("Bertha Greatfoot") and Pepin the Short, first "mayor of the palace" to become king of the Franks. Although schools had almost disappeared in the 8th century, historians believe that Bertrade gave young Charles some education and that he learned to read. His devotion to the church motivated him throughout life. Charlemagne was tall, powerful, and tireless. His secretary, Eginhard, wrote that Charlemagne had fair hair and a "face laughing and merry . . . his appearance was always stately and dignified." He had a ready wit, but could be stern. His tastes were simple and moderate. He delighted in hunting, riding, and swimming. He wore the Frankish dress--linen shirt and breeches, a silk-fringed tunic, hose wrapped with bands, and, in winter, a tight coat of otter or marten skins. Over all these garments "he flung a blue cloak, and he always had a sword girt about him." Charlemagne"s character was contradictory. In an age when the usual penalty for defeat was death, Charlemagne several times spared the lives of his defeated foes; yet in 782 at Verden, after a Saxon uprising, he ordered 4,500 Saxons beheaded. He compelled the clergy and nobles to reform, but he divorced two of his four wives without any cause. He forced kings and princes to kneel at his feet, yet his mother and his two favorite wives often overruled him in his own household.
<B013216> Charlemagne CAROLING (King of Franks)
<B013218> Father: Pepin (The_Short) III CAROLING (King)
<B013219> Mother: Bertha Bertrada de_Laon MEROVING (II)
OCCUPATION: King of Franks
BIRTH: 2 APR 747, Ingelheim,Aachen,Germany
DEATH: 28 JAN 813/814, Aix-La-Chapelle,,France
BURIAL: 813/814, Aix-La-Chapelle,,France
Family 1:
<B013256> Himiltrud MEROVING?
<B013257> 1. Pepin (The_Hunchback) CAROLING (The Hunchback)
Family 2:
<B013258> Desiree (Desiderata) MEROVING?
<B013264> 1. Charles (The_Younger) CAROLING (King of France)
<B013215> 2. Pepin (Carloman) Le_Bossu CAROLING (King of Italy)
<B013265> 3. Adelaide CAROLING
<B013266> 4. Hrotrud CAROLING
<B013267> 5. Hildegarde CAROLING
<B013268> 6. Louis I (Le_Debonnaire) CAROLING (King of Franks)
<B013269> 7. Lothair I CAROLING (Emporer)
<B013270> 8. Bertha CAROLING
<B013271> 9. Gisela CAROLING
Family 3:
<B013272> Sigrada ({Concubine})
<B013273> 1. Rothaid CAROLING
Family 4:
<B013274> Fastrada FRANCONIA (Lady)
<B013275> 1. Theodrada CAROLING
<B013276> 2. Hiltrud CAROLING
Family 5:
<B013277> Luitgard An ALAMANNAN
<B013279> 1. Adatrud CAROLING
Family 6:
<B013280> Regina ({Concubine})
<B013281> 1. Drago CAROLING
<B013282> 2. Hugo CAROLING
Family 7:
<B013283> Adallind ({Concubine})
<B022289> 1. Richbod CAROLING
<B013284> 2. Theodoric CAROLING
Family 8:
<B013285> Madelgard ({Concubine})
<B028301> 1. Dhouda CAROLING
<B013286> 2. Rothchild CAROLING
Notes
He was King of Franks (768-800); crowned 9 Oct 768, Crowned Emporer of the Holy Roman Empire on 25 Dec 800; Emporer of the West (800-814); Died/Buried at Aix-la-Chapelle or Aachen; known as Charles the Great or Charlemagne "Carolus Magnus". He sometimes known as Charles I, King of France. He may have been born in 742. Early Years His name in Latin is Carolus Magnus (Charles the Great), who led his Frankish armies to victory over numerous other peoples and established his rule in most of western and central Europe. He was the best-known and most influential kin in Europe in the Middle Ages. Early Years In 751 Pepin the Short dethroned the last Merovingian king and assumed the royal title himself. He was crowned by Pope Stephen II in 754. Besides annointing Pepin, Pope Stephen annointed both Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman. Within the year Pepin invaded Italy to protect the pope against the Lombards, andin 756 he again had to rush to the pope"s aid. From 760 on, Pepin"s main military efforts went into the conquest of Aquitaine, the lands south of the Loire River. Charlemagne accompanied his father on most of the expeditions. Campaigns When Pepin died in 768, the rule of his realms was to be shared between his two sons. Charlemagne sought an alliance with the Lombards by marrying the daughter of their king, Desiderius (reigned 757-774). In 771 Carloman died suddenly. Charlemagne then seized his territories, but Carloman"s heirs took refuge at the court of Desiderius. By that time Charlemagne had repudiated his wife, and Desiderius was no longer friendly. In 772, when Pope Adrian I appealed to Charlemagne for help against Desiderius, the Frankish king invaded Italy, deposed his erstwhile father-in-law (774), and himself assumed the royal title. He journeyed to Rome and reaffirmed his father"s promise to protect papal lands. As early as 772 Charlemagne had fought onslaughts of the heathen Saxons on his lands. Buoyed by his Italian success, he now (775) embarked on a campaign to conquer and Christianize them. That campaign had some initial success but was to drag on for 30 years, in which time he conducted many other campaigns as well. He fought in Spain in 778; on the return trip, and between 791 and 796 Charlemagne"s armies conquered teh empire of teh Avars (coreesponding roughly to modern Hungary and Austria). Corronation Having thus established Frankish rule over so many other peoples, Charlemagne had in fact built an empire and become an emporer. It remained only for him to add the ttle. On Christmas Day, in 800, Charlemagne knelt to pray in Saitn Peter"s Basilica in Rome. Pope Leo III then placed a crown upon his head, and the people assembled in the church acclaimed him the great, pacific emporer of the Romans. Charlemagne"s biographer, Einhard, reported that the king was surprised by this coronation andthat had he known it was going to happen, he would not have gone to church that day. This report has led to much speculation by historians. Charlemagned probably desired and expected to get the imperial title and he subsequently used it. In 813, he designated his sole surviving son, Louis, as his successor, and personally crowned him. Administration Charlemagne establisehd a more permanent royal capital than had any of his predecessors. His favorite residence from 794 on was a Aix-la-Chapellle. He had a church and a palace constructedthere, based in part on architectural borrwowings from Ravenna and Rome. At his court gathered scholars from all over Europe, the most famous being the English cleric Alcuin of York, whom he placed in charge of the palace school. Adminsitration ofthe empire was entrusted to some 250 royal administrators called counts. Charlemagne issued hundreds of decrees, called captitularies, dealing with a broad range of topics from judicial and military matters to monasteries, education, and the management of royal estates. The empire did not expand after 800; indeed, already in the 790s the seacoasts and river valleys experienced the first, dreaded visits of the Vikings. Charlemagne ordered aspecial watch againstthem in every harobor, but with little effect. He died before their full, destructive force was unleashed on the empire. Evaluation Charlemagne is importatn not only for the number of his victories and the size of his empire, but forthe special blend of tradition and innovation that he represented. On the one hand, he was a traditional Germanic warrior, who spent most of his adult life fighting. In the Saxon campaigns,he imposed baptism by teh sword, andhe retaliated against rebesl with merciless slaughter. On the other had, he placed his immense power and prestige at the service of Christian doctrine, the monastic life, the teaching of Latin, the copying of books, and the rule of law. His life, held up as a model to most later kings, thus emboided the fusion of Germanic, Roman, and Christian cultures that became the basis of European civilization.
Charlemagne Carolingien
Alias Charles Ier le Grand
Roi des Francs (768-814), roi des Lombards (774), empereur d"Occident (800-814).
(Charles Carolingien)
Born on 2nd of April 747 - Aix-la-Chapelle, Allemagne.
Died on 28th of January 814 - Aix-la-Chapelle, Allemagne.
Parents
Pepin le Bref Carolingien, roi des Francs ca 715-768
Berthe au grand pied de Laon +783
Marriages and children
Allied about 768 to Himiltrude ?, with
Pepin le Bossu ca 769-811
Allied in 770 to Desiderade de Lombardie
Allied in 771 to Hildegarde de Vintschgau +783, with
Charles ca 772-811
Pepin Ier d"Italie ca 775-810
Rotrude 775-810
Louis Ier le Pieux 778-840
Berthe ca 779-823
Allied in 783 to Fastrade de Franconie +794, with
Adeltrude *ca 790
Theotrade +844
Allied about 795 to Liutgarde ? +800
Allied to ? ?, with
Drogon +855
Charlemagne Holy_Roman_Empir
Emperor .
Born on April 2, 742 - Ingelheim,Rheinhessen,Hesse-Darmstadt,Germany.
Baptized in 754 - St denis,Paris,Seine,France.
Died on January 28, 814 - Aachen,,Rhineland,Prussia.
Buried - Aachen Cathedral,Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia.
Parents
Pepin III "the_Short" Franks, King 714-768
Bertrada "the_younger" "au_Grand_Pied" Laon, Countess ca 720-783
Marriages and children
Allied in 771 - Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia, to Hildegard Holy_Roman_Empir, Empress 758-783, with
Charles, "the_younger" 772-811
Pippin Italy 773-810
Adelheid 774-774
Rotrude 774-810
Bertha 775-826
Louis I "the_Pious" 778-840
Lothaire 778-778
Gisele *781
Hildegard 782-783
Allied to Himiltrud of the Holy_Roman_Empir, with
Pippin "the_Hunchback" x +811
Allied to Regina Holy_Roman_Empir, with
Hugo St._Quintin +844
Drago Metz +855
Allied to desiderata Holy_Roman_Empir
Allied in 783 - Worms, to Fastrada Holy_Roman_Empir, Empress
Allied maybe in 794 to Luitgard Holy_Roman_Empir, Empress
Allied to Mathalgard Holy_Roman_Empir
Allied to Gerswind Concubine_2 Holy_Roman_Empir
Allied to Mrs-Charlemagne Concubine_4 Holy_Roman_Empir, with
Rothilde x
Allied to Mrs-Charlemagne Concubine_5 Holy_Roman_Empir
Allied to Mrs-Charlemagne Concubine_6 Holy_Roman_Empir
Allied to Mrs-Charlemagne Concubine_8 Holy_Roman_Empir
Allied to Adelheid Holy_Roman_Empir
Allied to Galiena Concubine_7 Holy_Roman_Empir
Notes
title: King of the Franks
Morby p. 77,122: King of the Franks 768-814; Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
800-814
Fletcher p. 115: he invaded Spain in 778.
Stuart p. 130, 168: BD=2 Apr 747, MD=771 to Hildegarde
Hildegard Holy_Roman_Empir
Empress .
Born in 758 - of,Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia.
Died on April 30, 783 - Thionville,,Moselle,France.
Buried - St Arnoul Abbey,Metz,Austrasia,France.
Parents
Gerold I Swabia, Duke *710
Imma Swabia, Duchess ca 736-789
Regina Holy_Roman_Empir
(Regina (Reginopycrha) concubine Holy_Roman_Empir)
desiderata Holy_Roman_Empir
(desiderata (Sibilla, Bertha), Holy_Roman_Empir)
Mathalgard Holy_Roman_Empir
(Mathalgard (Hathalgard) concubine Holy_Roman_Empir)
Adelheid Holy_Roman_Empir
(Adelheid (Adelinde) concubine Holy_Roman_Empir)
<Y003859> CHARLEMAGNE
<Y003862> Father: PEPIN III THE SHORT
<Y003871> Mother: BERTRADA OF LAON
BIRTH: 2 Apr 742, Aachen, Prussia
DEATH: 28 Jan 813/14, Auchen, W. Germany
Family 1:
<Y003860> HILDEGARDE
<Y003856> 1. PEPIN KING OF ITALY
<Y003890> 2. LOUIS I THE PIOUS
Notes
Charlemagne, Emperor of the west and king of the Franks
b. in Ingelhiem, Rhinehessen (Broederbund WFT Vol. 2, Ed. 1, Tree #2693)
Charlemagne DE FRANCIE
Roi, Empereur
Born on April 2, 747 - La Prealle lès Herstall BELGIQUE.
Died on January 28, 814 - Aix-la-Chapelle ALLEMAGNE.
Buried - Aix-la-Chapelle ALLEMAGNE.
Parents
Pepin III le Bref DE FRANCIE ca 715-768
Bertrade DE LAON ca 720-783
Marriages and children
Allied about 775 to Hildegarde DE VINTZAU ca 757-783, with
Rotrude ca 775-810
Pepin Ier dit Carloman D"ITALIE ca 777-810
Louis Ier le Debonnaire 778-840
Berthe ca 779-823
Allied about 783 to Fastrade DE FRANCONIE 765-794, with
Adeltrude *ca 790
Allied about 808 to Gerswinde DE SAXE ca 782-ca 834
Allied to ? ?, with
Hiltrude ca 787-814
Notes
Naissance : ou le 2 Avril 742 à Ingelheim ALLEMAGNE
Profession : Roi des Francs de 768 à 814,
Empereur d"Occident de 800 à 814.
Charlemagne "Charles the Great" (King of the Franks)
b.2 Apr 742 in Ingelheim, Prussia
d.28 jan 813/14 in Aachen, Prussia
son of Pepin III "The Short" of the Franks (Mayor of the Palace) and Bertrada II "Broadfoot" (Bertha) of Laon, dau.of Caribert (Herbert Cambert) of LAON (Count of Laon)
associated with Sigrada ca.783.
Children:
1.Rothaid.
m.Hildegarde of VINZGAU (dau.of Gerold I of Allemania (Duke of Allemania) and Emma (Imma) of Swabia, dau.of Nebi (Hnabi) of Alamannia (Duke of Alamannia)) ca.771 in Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) and divorced on 30 Apr 783.
Children:
2.Charles "The Younger" of INGLEHEIM (Duke of Ingelheim)
3.Pepin I (Carloman) of ITALY (King of Italy)
4.Adelaide
5.Rotrud (Hrotrud) (Princess)
6.Hildegard
7.Louis I "The Pious" of AQUITAINE (King of France)
8.Lothar
9.Bertha of FRANCE (Princess) (m. Angilbert of ST. RIQUIER, Nithard )
10.Gisela.
m.FASTRADA ca.Oct 783 and divorced on 10 Aug 794.
Children:
11.Theodrada of ARGENTEUIL (Abbess of Argenteuil)
12.Hiltrude.
He associated with Gerswinda of SAXONY ca.800.
Children:
13.Adaltrud(e) (Aupais) (AbbessSt. Peter"s-Rheims) (m. Begue of PARIS).
m.Luitgard ca.Apr 795 and divorced on 4 Jun 800.
No known issue.
He associated with Regina ca.801.
Children:
14.Drogo of METZ (Bishop of Metz)
15.Hugh (Hugo) of ST. QUENTIN (Abbott of St. Quentin).
He associated with Adallind ca.807.
Children:
16. Theodoric.
He associated with Madelgard ca.808.
Children:
17. Rothild of FAREMOUTIERS (Abbess of Faremoutiers).
He associated with Himiltude ca.768 and divorced on 770.
Children:
18. Pepin "The Hunchback".
m.Desideria ca.770 and divorced on ca.771.
No known issue.
Notes
In 794, Charlemagne signs an agreement with Offa, King of England, to encourage trade between Europe and England
Charlemagne
Charlemagne (shär´le-mân´) (Charles the Great) or Charles I (shär´lemân), 742?-814, emperor of the West (800-814), Carolingian king of the Franks (768-814). The son of PEPIN THE SHORT, he consolidated his rule in his own kingdom, invaded Italy in support of the pope, and in 774 was crowned king of the Lombards. He took NE Spain from the MOORS (778) and annexed Bavaria (788). After a long struggle (772-804) he subjugated and Christianized the Saxons. In 800 he restored LEO III to the papacy and was crowned emperor by him on Christmas Day, thus laying the basis for the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE and finalizing the split between the Byzantine and Roman empires. Charlemagne ruled through a highly efficient administrative system. He codified the law in his various dominions, and his court at AACHEN was the center for an intellectual and artistic renaissance. The end of his reign was troubled by raids by the NORSEMEN. His son, LOUIS I, was named co-emperor in 813 and succeeded on his father"s death. Charlemagne"s legend soon enhanced and distorted his actual achievements, and he became the central figure of a medieval romance cycle. Source: The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1995 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved
Charlemagne
Father: Pepin I le Bref
Mother: Betrada II (storfot) de Laon
BIRTH: 2.04.742, Aachen, Tyskland
DEATH: 814, Aix la chapelle, Frankrike
Family 1:
Hildegard de Vintzau
1. Pepin I
2. Lyderic
3. Aupals
4. Louis I le Pieux
Notes
Romersk Keiser som Karl I den Store.
<G000406> Charles CHARLEMAGNE
BIRTH: 2 APR 742, of,Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia
Karl der Grosse = Carolus Magnus = Charlemagne X
(Karl X)
(Karl Der Grosse = Carolus Magnus = Charlemagne...)
Born on April 2, 742, Ingelheim ?
Died on January 28, 814, Aachen
Parents
Pippin der Jungere = "der Kurze" X 714-768
Bertrada = Berta die Jungere X +783
Marriages and children
Married about 768 to Himiltrud (Konkubine ?) ?, with
Pippin "der Bucklige" = Pippin mit dem Hocker -811
Married in 769 to Desiderata = Ermingard X, divorced
Married on April 30, 771 to Hildegardis von Schwaben X 758-783, with
Karl der Jungere -811
Adalhaid von Franken ? -774
Pippin = Karlman, Konig von Italien ca 773-810
Rotrud = Hruothraud von Franken 775-810
Ludwig der Fromme = Louis le Pieux oder Debonnaire 778/-840
Lothar von Franken ? 778-780
Bertha von Franken -829/
Gisela von Franken ? 781
Hildegard von Franken ? 782-783
Married to N.N. (Konkubine) ?, with
Hruodhaid von Franken ? ca 784-814/
Married in October 783 to Fastrada X +794, with
Theodrada von Franken ? ca 785-844
Hiltrud von Franken ca 787-814/
Married between 794 and 796 to Liutgard aus Alamannien ? +800
Married to Madelgarda (Konkubine) ?, with
Ruothild von Franken ? +852
Married to Gersvinda (Konkubine), Saxonici generis ?, with
Adalthrud von Franken ? ca 800
Married to Regina (Konkubine) ?, with
Drogo von Franken ? 801-855
Hugo von Franken ? 802-844
Married to Adallind = Adelinde (Konkubine) ?, with
Dietrich von Franken 807-819/
Notes
Charlemagne, in Latin Carolus Magnus (Charles the Great) (742-814),king of the Franks (768-814) and Emperor of the Romans (800-14), wholed his Frankish armies to victory over numerous other peoples andestablished his rule in most of western and central Europe. He was thebest-known and most influential king in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Early Years
Charlemagne was born probably in Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), on April 2,742, the son of the Frankish king Pepin the Short and the grandson ofCharles Martel. In 751 Pepin dethroned the last Merovingian king andassumed the royal title himself. He was crowned by Pope Stephen II in754. Besides anointing Pepin, Pope Stephen anointed both Charlemagneand his younger brother Carloman.
Within the year Pepin invaded Italy to protect the pope against theLombards, and in 756 he again had to rush to the pope"s aid. From 760on, Pepin"s main military efforts went into the conquest of Aquitaine,the lands south of the Loire River. Charlemagne accompanied his fatheron most of these expeditions. Campaigns
When Pepin died in 768, the rule of his realms was to be sharedbetween his two sons. Charlemagne sought an alliance with the Lombardsby marrying (770) the daughter of their king, Desiderius (reigned 757-774). In 771 Carloman died suddenly. Charlemagne then seized histerritories, but Carloman"s heirs took refuge at the court ofDesiderius. By that time Charlemagne had repudiated his wife, andDesiderius was no longer friendly. In 772, when Pope Adrian I appealedto Charlemagne for help against Desiderius, the Frankish king invadedItaly, deposed his erstwhile father-in-law (774), and himself assumedthe royal title. He then journeyed to Rome and reaffirmed his father"s promise to protect papal lands. As early as 772 Charlemagne had foughtonslaughts of the heathen Saxons on his lands. Buoyed by his Italian success, he now (775) embarked on a campaign to conquer and Christianize them. That campaign had some initial success but was todrag on for 30 years, in which time he conducted many other campaignsas well. He fought in Spain in 778; on the return trip his rear guard,led by Roland, was ambushed, a story immortalized in The Song of Roland. In 788 he subjected the Bavarians to his rule, and between 791and 796 Charlemagne"s armies conquered the empire of the Avars(corresponding roughly to modern Hungary and Austria).
Coronation
Having thus established Frankish rule over so many other peoples,Charlemagne had in fact built an empire and become an emperor. Itremained only for him to add the title. On Christmas Day, in 800,Charlemagne knelt to pray in Saint Peter"s Basilica in Rome. Pope LeoIII then placed a crown upon his head, and the people assembled in thechurch acclaimed him the great, pacific emperor of the Romans.
Charlemagne"s biographer, Einhard, reported that the king wassurprised by this coronation and that had he known it was going tohappen, he would not have gone into the church that day. This reporthas led to much speculation by historians. Charlemagne probablydesired and expected to get the imperial title and he subsequentlyused it. In 813 he designated his sole surviving son, Louis, as hissuccessor, and personally crowned him.
Administration
Charlemagne established a more permanent royal capital than had any ofhis predecessors. His favorite residence from 794 on was atAix-la-Chapelle. He had a church and a palace constructed there, basedin part on architectural borrowings from Ravenna and Rome. At hiscourt he gathered scholars from all over Europe, the most famous beingthe English cleric Alcuin of York, whom he placed in charge of thepalace school.
Administration of the empire was entrusted to some 250 royaladministrators called counts. Charlemagne issued hundreds of decrees,called capitularies, dealing with a broad range of topics fromjudicial and military matters to monasteries, education, and themanagement of royal estates. The empire did not expand after 800; indeed, already in the 790s theseacoasts and river valleys experienced the first, dreaded visits ofthe Vikings. Charlemagne ordered a special watch against them in every harbor, but with little effect. He died before their full, destructiveforce was unleashed on the empire.
Evaluation
Charlemagne is important not only for the number of his victories and the size of his empire, but for the special blend of tradition and innovation that he represented. On the one hand, he was a traditionalGermanic warrior, who spent most of his adult life fighting. In theSaxon campaigns he imposed baptism by the sword, and he retaliatedagainst rebels with merciless slaughter. On the other hand, he placedhis immense power and prestige at the service of Christian doctrine,the monastic life, the teaching of Latin, the copying of books, andthe rule of law. His life, held up as a model to most later kings,thus embodied the fusion of Germanic, Roman, and Christian culturesthat became the basis of European civilization.
Notes
Desiderata = Ermingard X
(Desiderata X)
(Desiderata = Ermingard...)
Parents
Desiderius, König von der Lombardie ?
N.N. ?
Marriages and children
Married in 769 to Karl der Grosse = Carolus Magnus = Charlemagne X 742-814, divorced
Hildegardis von Schwaben X
(Hildegardis X)
(Hildegardis Von Schwaben...)
Born in 758
Died on April 30, 783
Buried - Metz
Parents
Gerold I. Graf im Kraichgau, Udalrichinger X
Imma = Hemma von Alamannien X +798
Fastrada X
(Fastrada X)
Died on August 10, 794, Frankfurt am Main
Buried - Maintz, im nördlichen Vestibulum der St. Albansbasilika
Parents
Radulf, Graf in Ostfranken ?
N.N. ?
Marriages and children
Married in October 783 to Karl der Grosse = Carolus Magnus = Charlemagne X 742-814, with
Theodrada von Franken ? ca 785-844
Hiltrud von Franken ca 787-814/
Liutgard aus Alamannien ?
(Liutgard ?)
(Liutgard Aus Alamannien...)
Died on June 4, 800, Tours
Marriages and children
Married between 794 and 796 to Karl der Grosse = Carolus Magnus = Charlemagne X 742-814
Charlemagne King Of Franks
Born on April 2, 742, Ingelheim, Rheinhessen, Hesse-Darmstadt
Died (28 Jan 813/14), Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), Germany
Parents
Pepin III the Short King Of Franks 714-768
Bertrada "Broadfoot" de Laon 720-783
Marriages and children
Married in 771, Aachen ( Aix-la-Chapelle), Germany, to Hildegarde Cts de Vinzgau 758-783, with
Charles the Younger Duc de Ingelheim 772-811
Pepin I de Lombardy King Of Italy 773-810
Adelaide Pss Of Franks -774
Rotrud Pss Of Franks 774-839/
Bertha Pss Of Franks 775-
Louis I the Pious de Aquitaine King Of France 778-840
Lothar Prince Of Franks 778-779
Gisela Pss Of Franks 781-814
Hildegard Pss Of Franks 782-783
Married about 764 to ? ?, with
Alpais de Aquitaine ca 764-852/
Married to Galiena (de France) 780
Married about 768 to Himiltrude (de France) 746, with
Pepin the Hunchback Of The Franks 769-811
Rothais (Rothaide) Of The Franks 771
Married in 770 to Desideria (de France) 755
Married in 783 to Fastrada (de France) +794, with
Hiltrude Of The Franks
Theodrada Of Argenteuil Abbess Of Argenteuil ca 785-844/
Married about 788 to Madelgard (de France) 766, with
Ruothild Abbess Of Faremoutiers 788-
Married about 790 to Gersvind (de France) 768, with
Adaltrude Of The Franks 790
Married about 792 to Regina (de France) 770, with
Drogo de Metz Bishop Of Metz 792-855
Hugh L" Abbe Abbot Of St. Quentin 794-844
Adelinda Of The Franks 796
Married (794-796) to Luitgard (de France) 774-800
Married about 798 to ? ?, with
Bellinandra Of The Franks 798
Married about 800 to ? ?, with
Richbod Abbot Of St-Riquier 800-844
Married about 800 to ? ?, with
Gertruda Of The Franks 800
Married about 802 to ? ?, with
Emma Of The Franks 802-839
Married about 804 to ? ?, with
Hruodhaid Of The Franks 804
Married about 805 to Adelheid (Adelinde) (de France) 785, with
Richbod Of The Franks ca 805-844
Theodric the Monk Of The Franks 807-819
Notes
Charlemagne, Emperor Of The Holy Roman Empire, King of the Franks was king of the Franks from AD 768 to 814 and "Emperor of the Romans" from 800 to 814. He became a key figure in the development of western Europe"s medieval civilization. By his almost constant military campaigns, Charlemagne created a vast empire in the West which included much of the western part of the old Roman Empire as well as some new territory. He was the first Germanic ruler to assume the title of emperor, and the "empire" he revived lasted in one form or another for a thousand years. Culturally and politically, he left his mark on the newly rising civilization of the West. Probably no ruler of the early Middle Ages better deserved the title of "The
Great."
Charlemagne was the son of Pepin the Short, and the grandson of Charles Martel. From 768 to 771, Charlemagne shared Pepin"s kingdom with his brother, Carloman. When Carloman died, Charlemagne became sole ruler. He took up with energy
the work begun by his father and grandfather. His first step was to repress his hostile neighbors. Charlemagne gained wide acclaim for his outstanding military ability, persistence, and success. He waged more than 50 campaigns against neighboring Germanic peoples on all sides, and against the Avars, Slavs, Byzantines, and Moors.
Charlemagne"s first great war was against the Lombards, a Germanic people who had invaded Italy in the late 500"s. They had been a source of trouble to the popes ever since. In conquering them, Charlemagne followed Pepin"s policy of friendship and cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church. This also served Charlemagne"s own interests, because he became ruler of the Lombard kingdom in Italy.
The long Saxon war was the most important of Charlemagne"s military ventures. The Saxons, who held the whole northwestern part of Germany, were pagans. Their defeat after 30 years of war prepared the way for the religious conversion and civilization of Germany.
By means of other wars, Charlemagne put down a rebellion in Aquitaine, added Bavaria to his kingdom, and established several border states to protect his outlying conquests. In eastern Europe, he defeated the Slavs and Avars and made possible
eastward migration by the Germans.
Charlemagne had built a vast and sprawling state that shared borders with such different peoples as the Slavs, Byzantines, and Moslems. He defended the Roman Catholic Church and constantly extended its power. He was far more powerful than the imperial successors of Constantine, the first Christian emperor in the West, and he ruled a much more extensive area. Because of his great holdings, he decided to revive the Roman Empire, but as a new empire that was European and Christian in
Character. The relations of the popes with the Byzantine, or Eastern Roman, emperors in Canstantinople had been breaking down since the middle 700"s. An alliance between the Roman Catholic Church and the Franks, accomplished by proclaiming Charlemagne emperor, made good sense. Pope Leo III placed the imperial crown on Charlemagne"s head on Christmas Day, 800. The most important effect of this act was that it revived the idea of empire in the West, an idea which caused both harm and good in succeeding centuries.
Einhard, Charlemagne"s secretary and friend, described the emperor as large and strong of body, fond of active exercise, genial but dignified, and sensible and moderate in his way of life. Charlemagne clearly recognized his duties and responsibilities, and was a tireless worker. He could not reverse the long trend toward decentralized government. But he could and did control the power of the nobles and maintain a considerable degree of law and order in a troubled age. His administrative methods helped raise the standard of living.
Charlemagne"s greatest contribution was his work as a patron of culture and extender of civilization. The Palace School, set up at his capital in Aachen under the leadership of the English scholar Alcuin (735-804), stimulated interest in education,
philosophy, and literature. Most of the leading scholars were churchman, so this vast cultural activity greatly strengthened the church and had far-reaching and lasting results. In this way, Charlemagne, by means of his power and eminence, gave western Europe a unified culture so strong that it survived the terrible invasions and disorders of the next 200 years.
Source: "The World Book Encyclopedia", 1968, C291-292. "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists ...",
Frederick Lewis Weis, 1993, p cvi.
Charlemagne, Emperor Of Holy_Roman_Empir
[KING OF THE FRA .
Born on April 2, 742, Ingelheim,Rheinhessen,Hesse-Darmstadt
Baptized in 754, St Denis,Paris,Seine,France
Died on January 28, 814, ,Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia
Buried - Aachen Cathedral,Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia
Parents
Pepin "the Short", Franks 714-768
Bertrada, Countess Of Laon, [QUEEN OF THE FR ca 720-783
Marriages and children
Married to Regina (Reginopycrha), (Concubine Holy_Roman_Empir ca 770, with
Drogo, Bishop Of Metz ca 792-
Hugo "L"Abbe", Bastard ca 794-844
Adelinda, Bastard Of ca 796
Married to Desiderata (Sibilla, Bertha), Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Himiltrud, Of the Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Gerswind, (Concubine 2) Holy_Roman_Empir
Married about 772, Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia, to Hildegard, Empress Of Holy_Roman_Empir, [COUNTESS OF
VIN ca 757-783, with
Charles, Emperor Of 772-811
Pippin (Carloman), King Italy 773-810
Adelheid, Princess Of 774-774
Rotrud, Princess Of 774-810
Bertha, Princess Of 775-826
Louis I,_Emporer Of_The 778-840
Lothaire, Prince Of 778-778
Gisele, Princess Of 781
Hildegard, Princess Of 782-783
Married to Mrs-Charlemagne, (Concubine 8) Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Mrs-Charlemagne, (Concubine 6) Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Mrs-Charlemagne, (Concubine 5) Holy_Roman_Empir
Married in 783, ,Worms, to Fastrada, Empress Of Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Galiena, (Concubine 7) Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Adelheid (Adelinde), (Concubine Holy_Roman_Empir
Married (AFT 794/796) to Luitgard, Empress Of Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Mrs-Charlemagne, (Concubine 4), Holy_Roman_Empir
Married to Mathalgard (Hathalgard),(Co Ncubine Holy_Roman_Empir
Charlemagne Empereur
Birth : 2 APR 742 Aix la Chapelle,,,France
Death : 814
Father: France, Pepin III le_Bref Roi
Mother: Laon, Bertrada de Broadfoot
Marriage: ABT 768
Himiltude
Birth : ABT 750
Death : 769
Children:
1.Prom, Pepin le_Bossu de Monch
Birth : ABT 769
Death : 811
Marriage: 770
Langobardie, Desideria von
Birth : ABT 755
[dau.of Langobardie, Desiderius von Roi]
Marriage: 771 in Aix la Chapelle,Aachen
Spouse:
Alemannien, Hildegarde von Vingzau
Birth : 757/758
Death : 30 APR 783
[dau.of Alemannien, Gerold von Vingzau Graf by Alemannien, Imma von]
Children:
2.Neustria, Charles le_Jeune Ingelheim Roi
3.Italie, Pepin I Bayern Koenig
4.Louis I le_Debonnaire Kaiser
5.Bertha
6.Rotrud
7.Adelaide
Birth : 773
Death : 774
8.Lothar
Birth : 778
Death : 779/780
9.Gisela
Birth : AFT 780
Death : 814
10.Hildegard
Birth : AFT 780
Death : 783
Marriage: BEF 784
Children:
11.Hruodaid
Birth : 784
Death : AFT 800
Marriage: 783
Spouse:
Ostfranken, Fastrada von
Birth : BEF 768
Death : 10 AUG 794
[dau.of Radulf Comte]
Children:
12.Argenteuil, Theodrada d" Abbesse
Birth : ABT 783/785
Death : 9 JAN 844/853
13.Hiltrude
Marriage: ABT 794/796
Spouse:
Alemannien, Luitgard aus
Birth : BEF 779
Death : 800
Marriage: AFT 795
Spouse:
Madelgard
Birth : ABT 775
Children:
14.Faremoutiers, Routhild de Abbesse
Birth : AFT 795
Death : 24 MAR 852
Marriage: AFT 796
Spouse:
Sachsen, Gersvind aus
Birth : BEF 780
Children:
15.Adaltrude
Birth : AFT 796
Marriage: BEF 801
Spouse:
Regina
Birth : BEF 780
Children:
16.Metz, Drogo de Eveque
Birth : 17 JUN 801
Death : 8 DEC 855 Metz
17.St._Quentin, Hugues de Abbot
Birth : 802/806
Death : 7 JUN 844 bei,Angouleme
Marriage: BEF 807
Spouse:
Adelinde Adalind
Birth : BEF 785
Children:
18.Theoderich
Birth : 807
Death : 818
19.Richbod
Birth : 800/805
Death : 844
Marriage: AFT 807
Children:
19.France, Daughter de
Charlemagne
b.2.4.742
d.28.1.814, Aix la Chapelle
m.767 Himiltrude, dau.of Devum I, Cte de Bourgogne
1, Pepin le Bossu
2.Rothais
m.25.12.770 Mayence, Desiree(747-776), dau.of Didier, King of Lombards
m.771 Hildegarde de Vintzgau(757-16.4.783, Thionville), dau.of Gerold I, Cte de Vintzgau
Charles
Adelaide
Pepin
Lothaire
Gisele
Louis I le Pieux
Hildegarde
Rothrude
Berthe
m.783 Worms, Fastrade(765-794, Francfort)
Tetrade
Hiltrude
m.794 Liutgarde d"Alemanie(776-800, Thionville), dau.of Liutfred II d"Alsace
Emma
m.808 Gerswinde de Saxe(782-829(, dau.of Wittiking, King of Soissons
Adaltrude
m.Maltegerde
Rothilde
m.Regine
Hugues
Drogon
m.Adalinde
Thierry
Charlemagne "Charles the Great" Carolingians
Roman Emperor
(Charlemagne Carolingians)
(Charlemagne "Charles The Great"...)
Born on 2 April 742, Ingelheim,Rheinhessen,Hesse-Darmstadt
Died (28 Jan 0813/0814), Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia
Parents
Pepin III "The Short" Carolingians, King Of Franks 714-768
Bertha II "Broadfoot" de Laon, Countess Of Laon ca 720-783
Marriages and children
Married to (Mrs.) Galiena Carolingians
Married to (Mrs.) Himiltrud Carolingians, with
Aupais\Alais\Alpals ca 738
Married to Sibilla \ Bertha Desiderata, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire
Married in 770 to Desideria Carolingians ca 760
Married in 771, Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia, to Hildegarde Von Vinzgau, Countess Of Vinzgau ca 757-783, with
Adelaide 772-774
Charles "The Younger" 772-811
Alpais ca 773
Pepin (Carloman) "The Hunchback" 773-810
Rothilde (Adelheid) 774
Rotrud 774-810
Bertha 775-
Louis I "The Pious" 778-840
Gisele 781
Hildegard 782-783
Lothaire I 795-855
Married in 783, Worms,France, to Fastrada Carolingians +794
Married about 791 to Regina (Reginopycrha) Carolingians ca 770, with
Drogo ca 792-855
Hugh "L"Abbe" "The Bastard" ca 794-844
Adelinda ca 796
Married in 794 to Luitgard Carolingians ca 760
Married (NOT MARRIED) to Adelheid (Adelinde) Carolingians, with
Richbod 800
Theodoric 807
Married (NOT MARRIED) to (Mrs.) Mathalgard (Hathalgard) Carolingians, Concubine 1
Married (NOT MARRIED) to Gerswind Carolingians
Married (NOT MARRIED) to Galiena Carolingians
Notes
His name in Latin is Carolus Magnus (Charles the Great), who led his
Frankish armies to victory over numerous other peoples and established his
rule in most of western and central Europe. He was the best-known and most
influential king in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Early Years
In 751 Pepin the Short dethroned the last Merovingian king and assumed the royal title himself. He was crowned by Pope Stephen II in 754. Besides anointing Pepin, Pope Stephen anointed both Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman.
Within the year Pepin invaded Italy to protect the pope against the Lombards, and in 756 he again had to rush to the pope"s aid. From 760 on, Pepin"s main military efforts went into the conquest of Aquitaine, the lands south of the Loire River. Charlemagne accompanied his father on most of these expeditions.
Campaigns
When Pepin died in 768, the rule of his realms was to be shared between his two sons. Charlemagne sought an alliance with the Lombards by marrying the daughter of their king, Desiderius (reigned 757-74). In 771 Carloman died suddenly. Charlemagne then seized his territories, but Carloman"s heirs took refuge at the court of Desiderius. By that time Charlemagne had repudiated his wife, and Desiderius was no longer friendly. In 772, when Pope Adrian I appealed to Charlemagne for help against Desiderius, the Frankish king invaded Italy, deposed his erstwhile father-in-law (774), and himself assumed the royal title. He then journeyed to Rome and
reaffirmed his father"s promise to protect papal lands. As early as 772 Charlemagne had fought onslaughts of the heathen Saxons on his lands. Buoyed by his Italian success, he now (775) embarked on a campaign to
conquer and Christianize them. That campaign had some initial success but was to drag on for 30 years, in which time he conducted many other campaigns as well. He fought in Spain in 778; on the return trip his rear guard, led by Roland, was ambushed, a story immortalized in The Song of Roland. In 788 he subjected the Bavarians to his rule, and between 791 and 796 Charlemagne"s armies conquered the empire of the Avars (corresponding roughly to modern Hungary and Austria).
Coronation
Having thus established Frankish rule over so many other peoples, Charlemagne had in fact built an empire and become an emperor. It remained only for him to add the title. On Christmas Day, in 800, Charlemagne knelt to pray in Saint Peter"s Basilica in Rome. Pope Leo III then placed a crown upon his head, and the people assembled in the church acclaimed him the great, pacific emperor of the Romans. Charlemagne"s biographer, Einhard, reported that the king was surprised by this coronation and that had he known it was going to happen, he would not have gone into the church that day. This report has led to much speculation by historians. Charlemagne probably desired and expected to get the imperial title and he subsequently used it. In 813 he designated his sole surviving son, Louis, as his successor, and personally crowned him.
Administration
Charlemagne established a more permanent royal capital than had any of his predecessors. His favorite residence from 794 on was at Aix-la-Chapelle. He had a church and a palace constructed there, based in part on architectural borrowings from Ravenna and Rome. At his court he gathered scholars from all over Europe, the most famous being the English cleric Alcuin of York, whom he placed in charge of the palace school. Administration of the empire was entrusted to some 250 royal administrators called counts. Charlemagne issued hundreds of decrees, called capitularies, dealing with a broad range of topics from judicial and military matters to monasteries, education, and the management of
royal estates. The empire did not expand after 800; indeed, already in the 790s the seacoasts and river valleys experienced the first, dreaded visits of the Vikings. Charlemagne ordered a special watch against them in every harbor, but with little effect. He died before their full, destructive force was unleashed on the empire.
Evaluation
Charlemagne is important not only for the number of his victories and the size of his empire, but for the special blend of tradition and innovation that he represented. On the one hand, he was a traditional Germanic warrior, who spent most of his adult life fighting. In the Saxon campaigns he imposed baptism by the sword, and he retaliated against rebels with merciless slaughter. On the other hand, he placed his immense power and prestige at the service of Christian doctrine, the monastic life, the teaching of Latin, the copying of books, and the rule of law. His life, held up as a model to most later kings, thus embodied the fusion of Germanic, Roman, and Christian cultures that became the basis of European civilization.
Charlemagne had five wives and nine Conubines.
His first wife was Himiltrude, a Frankish girl, who was united to him after the Frankish form of matrimony which the Church was seeking to replace with something more canonical. That Charles considered Himiltrude his wife is clear from the name Pepin that he gave their firstborn, which had bee the name of Charles" father. Had nothing interfered, Pepin would have succeeded Charles. First to interfere was Charles" mother Bertha. She persuaded her son to repudiate Himiltrude and marry Desiderata, the daughter of the Lombard king Desiderius, dispite vigorous protest from the pope, not over Himiltrude"s right but because the Lombards were Rome"s bitterest enemies. Within a short time Charles renounced his friendship with the Lombards and Desiderata, as well, and married a thirteen-year-old Swabian girl by the name of Hildegard. By her he had a large number of children, including Louis the Pious who succeded him. Upon Hildegard"s death Charles married Fastrada, of whose evil influence Einhard speaks, whether justly or not is unclear. During her life Charlemagne acquried a concubine, a young woman of the aristocracy named Liutgard, whom he married after Fastrada"s death. When Liutgard died, Charlemagne did not marry again although he kept a number of noble girls as mistresses as Frankish custom permitted him to do.
!REIGNED: King of France (771 - 814); Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
742?-814, emperor of the West (800-814), Carolingian king of the Franks
(768-814). The son of PEPIN THE SHORT, he consolidated his rule in his own kingdom, invaded Italy in support of the pope, and in 774 was crowned king of
the Lombards. He took NE Spain from the MOORS (778) and annexed Bavaria (788). After a long struggle (772-804) he subjugated and Christianized the Saxons. In 800 he restored LEO III to the papacy and was crowned emperor by him on Christmas Day, thus laying the basis for the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE and finalizing the split between the Byzantine and Roman empires. Charlemagne ruled through a highly efficient administrative system. He codified the law in his various dominions, and his court at AACHEN was the center for an intellectual and artistic renaissance. The end of his reign was troubled by raids by the NORSEMEN. His son, LOUIS I, was named co-emperor in 813 and succeeded on his father"s death. Charlemagne"s legend soon enhanced and distorted his actual achievements, and he became the central figure of a medieval romance cycle.
FILE: Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright 1994, Columbia
University Press.;Colombia Encyclopedia (c) 1944; The Royal Line (Adamic
Genealogy) March 1980, Albert F. Schmuhl
LINEAGE: Royal house of Carolingians
!Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, CAROLINGIAN king of the FRANKS, came to rule over most of Europe and assumed (800) the title of Roman emperor. He is sometimes regarded as the founder of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. In 768 he and his brother Carloman inherited the Frankish kingdom (most of present-day France and a part of western Germany) from their father PEPIN THE SHORT. The entire kingdom passed to
Charlemagne when Carloman died in 771. He inherited great wealth and a strong military organization from his father and brother. He used these assets to double the territory under Carolingian control. In 772 he opened his offensive against the SAXONS, and for more than three
decades he pursued a ruthless policy aimed at subjugating them and converting them to Christianity. Almost every year Charlemagne attacked one or another region of Saxon territory. --4,500 Saxons were
executed on a single day in 782--and deportations were used to discourage the stubborn. The Saxons proved to be a far more difficult enemy than any of the other peoples subjugated by Charlemagne. For example, the LOMBARDS were conquered in a single extended campaign (773-74), after which Charlemagne assumed the title "king of the Lombards." In 788 he absorbed the duchy of Bavaria, and soon thereafter he launched an offensive against the AVAR empire. The Avars succumbed within a decade, yielding Charlemagne a vast hoard of gold and silver. After one disastrous campaign (778) against the Muslims in Spain, Charlemagne left the southwestern front to his son Louis, (later Emperor LOUIS I) who, with the help of local Christian rulers, conquered Barcelona in 801 and controlled much of Catalonia by 814. On Christmas
Day, 800, Charlemagne accepted the title of emperor and was crowned by Pope LEO III. For several years after he regarded the imperial title of being of little value. Moreover, he intended to divide his lands and titles among his sons, as was the Frankish custom. At his death on Jan. 28, 814, however, only one son, Louis, survived; Louis therefore assumed control of the entire Frankish empire.
772 Charlemagne subdues Saxony under Widukind and converts it to Christianity
773 Annexes Lombard Kingdom
774 confirms Pepin"s donation of territory to the pope, and enlarges it in 781.
777after his victory over the Saxons, hold his firs Diet
778 defeated by the Basques at Rencesvalles in the Pyrenees (subject of the "Song of Roland")
782 executes 4500 Saxon hostages at Verden, and issues the "Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae."
787 annexes Lombard duchy of Beneventum
788 deposes Tassilo of Bavaria and annexes his country.
797 Byzantine Empress Irene reportdly proposes to marry Charlemagne.
801 Charlemagne prohibits prositution
"The Timetables of History, The new Third Revised Edition, by Bernard Grun, 1975"
Charlemagne, in Latin Carolus Magnus (Charles the Great) (742-814), king of the Franks (768-814) and Emperor of the Romans (800-14), who led his Frankish armies to victory over numerous other peoples and established his rule in most of western and central Europe. He was the best-known and most influential king in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Early Years
Charlemagne was born probably in Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), on April 2, 742, the son of the Frankish king Pepin the Short and the grandson of Charles Martel. In 751 Pepin dethroned the last Merovingian king and assumed the royal title himself. He was crowned by Pope Stephen II in 754. Besides anointing Pepin, Pope Stephen anointed both Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman.
Within the year Pepin invaded Italy to protect the pope against the Lombards, and in 756 he again had to rush to the pope"s aid. From 760 on, Pepin"s main military efforts went into the conquest of Aquitaine, the lands south of the Loire River. Charlemagne accompanied his father on most of these expeditions.
Campaigns
When Pepin died in 768, the rule of his realms was to be shared between his two sons. Charlemagne sought an alliance with the Lombards by marrying (770) the daughter of their king, Desiderius (reigned 757-774). In 771 Carloman died suddenly. Charlemagne then seized his territories, but Carloman"s heirs took refuge at the court of Desiderius. By that time Charlemagne had repudiated his wife, and Desiderius was no longer friendly. In 772, when Pope Adrian I appealed to Charlemagne for help against Desiderius, the Frankish king invaded Italy, deposed his erstwhile father-in-law (774), and himself assumed the royal title. He then journeyed to Rome and reaffirmed his father"s promise to protect papal lands. As early as 772 Charlemagne had fought onslaughts of the heathen Saxons on his lands. Buoyed by his Italian success, he now (775) embarked on a campaign to conquer and Christianize them. That campaign had some initial success but was to drag on for 30 years, in which time he conducted many other campaigns as well. He fought in Spain in 778; on the return trip his rear guard, led by Roland, was ambushed, a story immortalized in The Song of Roland. In 788 he subjected the Bavarians to his rule, and between 791 and 796 Charlemagne"s armies conquered the empire of the Avars (corresponding roughly to modern Hungary and Austria).
Coronation
Having thus established Frankish rule over so many other peoples, Charlemagne had in fact built an empire and become an emperor. It remained only for him to add the title. On Christmas Day, in 800, Charlemagne knelt to pray in Saint Peter"s Basilica in Rome. Pope Leo III then placed a crown upon his head, and the people assembled in the church acclaimed him the great, pacific emperor of the Romans.
Charlemagne"s biographer, Einhard, reported that the king was surprised by this coronation and that had he known it was going to happen, he would not have gone into the church that day. This report has led to much speculation by historians. Charlemagne probably desired and expected to get the imperial title and he subsequently used it. In 813 he designated his sole surviving son, Louis, as his successor, and personally crowned him.
Administration
Charlemagne established a more permanent royal capital than had any of his predecessors. His favorite residence from 794 on was at Aix-la-Chapelle. He had a church and a palace constructed there, based in part on architectural borrowings from Ravenna and Rome. At his court he gathered scholars from all over Europe, the most famous being the English cleric Alcuin of York, whom he placed in charge of the palace school.
Administration of the empire was entrusted to some 250 royal administrators called counts. Charlemagne issued hundreds of decrees, called capitularies, dealing with a broad range of topics from judicial and military matters to monasteries, education, and the management of royal estates.
The empire did not expand after 800; indeed, already in the 790s the seacoasts and river valleys experienced the first, dreaded visits of the Vikings. Charlemagne ordered a special watch against them in every harbor, but with little effect. He died before their full, destructive force was unleashed on the empire.
Evaluation
Charlemagne is important not only for the number of his victories and the size of his empire, but for the special blend of tradition and innovation that he represented. On the one hand, he was a traditional Germanic warrior, who spent most of his adult life fighting. In the Saxon campaigns he imposed baptism by the sword, and he retaliated against rebels with merciless slaughter. On the other hand, he placed his immense power and prestige at the service of Christian doctrine, the monastic life, the teaching of Latin, the copying of books, and the rule of law. His life, held up as a model to most later kings, thus embodied the fusion of Germanic, Roman, and Christian cultures that became the basis of European civilization."Charlemagne," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall"s Corporation.
Notes
Hildegarde Von Vinzgau
Countess Of Vinzgau
(Hildegarde Von Vinzgau)
Born about 757, Aachen,Rhineland,Prussia
Died on 30 April 783, Thionville,Moselle,France
Parents
Gerold I Von Vinzgau, Count 727-779/
Emma (Imma) Von Allemania, Duchess of Swabia ca 727-789
Notes
married at 13, Swabian OCCUPATION: Countess of Vinzgau; Empress of the Holy Roman Empire
MARRIAGE: Hildegarde is believed to have been his 3rd wife.
Fastrada Carolingians
(Fastrada Carolingians)
Died in 794
Notes
Fastrada, of whose evil influence Einhard speaks, whether justly or not is unclear. OCCUPATION: Empress of the Holy Roman Empire
Luitgard Carolingians
(Luitgard Carolingians)
Born about 760
Notes
During Fastrada lifetime, Charlemagne acquired a concubine, a young woman of the aristocracy named Liutgard, whom he married after Fastrada"s death.
Charlemagne, Rex Francorum et Langobardorum
Born: on 2 Apr 742 Aachen, Neustrie
son of Pepin III, King des Francs and Berthe=Bertrada de Laon
Married before 769: Himiltrude N?;
Himiltrude was Charlemagne"s first wife.
Married in 770: Desiderata de Lombardie, daughter of Desiderius, King of Lombardy and N?
Bertrada, Charlemagne"s mother,
arranged this betrothal, but Charlemagne repudiated Desiderata after a year. It is
not clear whether he repudiated her after a year for not bearing a child or whether
in fact she even left the Lombard kingdom
Married in 771: Hildegard, Countess de Linzgau, daughter of Gerold I, Duke d"Allemanie and Imma
d"Allemanie
Pepin Carloman was Hildegard"s second son.
Hildegarde was Charlemagne"s second wife.
Married in 783: Fastrada N?
He was christened in 785 Saxe, Germany.
Married before 787: Luitgard N?
Died: on 28 Jan 814 Aix-la-Chapelle, Westphalia, at age 71.
Charlemagne"s title after 800 was: Carolus serenissimus augustus a Deo coronatus magnus et pacificus imperator Romanum gubernans imperium, qui est per misericordiam Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum. It was designed to include the romans in the Frankish empire without centering the Empire upon them. Charlemagne stressed the royal and Frankish bases for his power. Charlemagne was King of the Franks (des Francs) 767-814, and Emperor of the West from 25 December 800.
King of the Francs (767 - 814) and Emperor of the Occident (800 - 814), Charlemagne succeeded his father Pepin "Le Bref" in 768 and reigned with his brother Carloman. Between 782 and 785, hardly a year passed without confrontation with the Saxons. In 772, during the first major expedition, the Irminsuls were destroyed. That year also saw the beginning of a 30-year war against the Saxons as the Francs ravaged the Saxon land by steel and by fire. In 773, the Francs route the Lombards who seek refuge in Pavia, and Gerberge and her children take refuge in Verona, where Charles takes them prisoners. Didier"s son, Adalgise, successfully escapes the assaults and spends the rest of his life in Constantinople. On 5 June 774, Charles reclaims the title of King of the Lombards and of the Francs -- Rex Francorum et Langobardorum, as he triumphantly enters Pavia. In 775 the castle of Siegburg and the castle of Eresburg were "reorganized". Near Hoxter, a large number of Westphalian Saxons are slaughtered in the Sachsen-graben. In 777, at Paderborn, an assembly inaugurated the ecclesiastical organization of Saxony, which divided the country into missionary zones. In 777, Charles had been visited by Solaman Ibn-al-Arabi, who had turned against his master, the Emir Abd-al-Rahman and offered Charles the cities entrusted to his care. In 778, Charles crosses the Pyrenees, occupies Pampelune, and marches on Sarabossa. But upon learning that the Saxons had once more rebelled and were crossing the Rhine, he turned back. On 15 August, the rear guard, under the command of the Seneschal ginhard, the Count of the Palace Anselm, and of Roland, Duke of the Marche of Brittany, is attacked by Basques or Gascon forces. In the meantime, the Saxons ravaged the Frankish holdings from Cologne to the Moselle. In 779 and 781, Widukind, a Westphalian noble, defeated the Frankish armies in the Stel mountains. Charlemagne is reputed to have had 4,500 Saxons beheaded in Verdun. In 782, the country was divided into counties administered by Saxons. At Attigny, in 785, Widukind and his son-in-law Abbi submitted to Charlemagne who enforced their baptism and became their Godfather. In December, 795, Hadrian I was succeeded by Pope Leon III. By 797, Saxony was conquered. In a brilliant military campaign (773-774) he put an end to the Lombard Dynasty and took the title King of the Lombards. He conquered Bavaria (781 - 788), and then the land of the Avares (792 - 799), a people related to the Huns. 797 proved to be a year of diplomacy. In the early part of the year, several Sarasin chiefs (Zata, and Abdallah) gave homage to Charlemagne at Aix; and Gerona, Caserres and Vich became occupied by the Francs. While in Aix, Charlemagne also received the ambassador of the Emperor of Constantinople, Constantin VI arriving with offers of friendship. In Heerstall, later in the year, the Huns make peace. Charles also receives the ambassador from Alphonse=Alfonso, King of Galicia and of the Asturias. On 25 April 799, the Feast of St. Mark, the Pope is assailed by aristocrats loyal to Byzantium in front of the Church of Saint Stephen and Sylvester. He is thrown in the Monastery of Saint Erasmus, but escapes and seeks refuge under the protection of the Duke of Spoleto. On 23 December 800, according to the Liber Pontificalis, the Pope is cleared of all charges brought by the rebellious aristocrates. Charlemagne"s task is to determine the appropriate punishment for those who have perpetrated the assault on the Holy Father. On 25 December 800, Pope Leon III crowned him Emperor of the Occident. This was made possible because the Emperor Constantin VI had effectively been dethroned by his mother Irene, who had him blinded and then proclaimed herself the "Basileus". Unfortunately, a throne occupied by a woman according to the Nomen Imperatoris, is a vacant one. The day after the crowning, Pope Leon III proclaims the year 1 of the Empire, and the money is stamped with the Pope"s image on one side and that of Charlemagne on the other.
Charlemagne Empereur
b.2 APR 742 Aix la Chapelle,,,France
d.814
Father: France, Pepin III le_Bref Roi
Mother: Laon, Bertrada de Broadfoot
m.ABT 768
Spouse:
Himiltude
b.ABT 750
d.769
Children:
Prom, Pepin le_Bossu de Monch
b.ABT 769
d.811
m.770
Spouse:
Langobardie, Desideria von
b.ABT 755
Father: Langobardie, Desiderius von Roi
m.771 in Aix la Chapelle,Aachen
Spouse:
Alemannien, Hildegarde von Vingzau
b.757/758
d.30 APR 783
Father: Alemannien, Gerold von Vingzau Graf
Mother: Alemannien, Imma von
Children:
Neustria, Charles le_Jeune Ingelheim Roi
Italie, Pepin I Bayern Koenig
Louis I le_Debonnaire Kaiser
Bertha
Rotrud
Adelaide
b.773
d.774
Lothar
b.778
d.779/780
Gisela
b.AFT 780
d.814
Hildegard
b.AFT 780
d.783
m.BEF 784
Children:
Hruodaid
b.784
d.AFT 800
m.783
Spouse:
Ostfranken, Fastrada von
b.BEF 768
d.10 AUG 794
Father: Radulf Comte
Children:
Argenteuil, Theodrada d" Abbesse
b.ABT 783/785
d.9 JAN 844/853
Hiltrude
m.ABT 794/796
Spouse:
Alemannien, Luitgard aus
b.BEF 779
d.800
m.AFT 795
Spouse:
Madelgard
b.ABT 775
Children:
Faremoutiers, Routhild de Abbesse
b.AFT 795
d.24 MAR 852
m.AFT 796
Spouse:
Sachsen, Gersvind aus
b.BEF 780
Children:
Adaltrude
b.AFT 796
m.BEF 801
Spouse:
Regina
b.BEF 780
Children:
Metz, Drogo de Eveque
b.17 JUN 801
d.8 DEC 855 Metz
St._Quentin, Hugues de Abbot
b.802/806
d.7 JUN 844 bei,Angouleme
m.BEF 807
Spouse:
Adelinde Adalind
b.BEF 785
Children:
Theoderich
b.807
d.818
Richbod
b.800/805
d.844
m.AFT 807
Children:
France, Daughter de
Charles "Le Grand", dit "Charlemagne" (° Ingelheim, 2.04.742-Aix-la-Chapelle, 28.01.814), roi en 754, roi de Neustrie, d"Autrasie et d"Aquitaine occidentale (768-814), roi de Lombardie et patrice de Rome (774), empereur des Romains (jour de Noel 800) ep. 1°. 768, Himiltrude; 2°. 770, Desiderade, repudiee (771), fille de Desiderieus, roi des Lombards, s.p.; 3°. 771, Hildegarde (° 758-30.04.783), fille de Gerold Ier, comte en Vinzgau et d"Irma; 4°. 783, Fastrade (? 10.08.794), fille de Rodolphe, comte de Franconie; 5°. ap. 796, Lietgarde (? 4.06.800), s.p.; 6°. Madelgarde; 7°. Gerswinde; 8°. 800, Regina; 9°. 806, Adelinde; 10°. NO. Dont :
- Du premier lit :
1. Pepin "Le Bossu" (° v. 769-811), se revolte en 791 contre son pere.
- Du troisieme lit :
2. Charles (° 772-811), roi de France orientale.
3. Pepin (° 773-810), roi d"Italie (781) ep. NO.
4. Adelaide (° et ? 774).
5. Rotrude (° 775-810) ep. Rociron (? ap. 832), comte du Maine.
6. Louis Ier "Le Debonnaire", empereur des Romains, qui suit.
7. Lothaire (° 778-780)
8. Berthe (° 779/80-ap. 829) ep. comte Angilbert "Le Saint" (? 814), secretaire de Charlemagne, abbe de Saint-Ricquier (792), archi-chapelain de Charlemagne. 9. Gisele.
- Du quatrieme lit :
10. Theodrade (? 844), abbesse d"Argenteuil.
11. Hiltrude.
- Du sixieme lit :
12. Rothilde (? 852), abbesse de Faremoutiers (840).
- De septieme lit :
13. Adeltrude.
- Du huitieme lit :
14. Drogon (? 855), eveque de Metz (823).
15. Hugo (? 844), abbe de Saint-Quentin.
- Du neuvieme lit :
16. Dietrich (? ap. 819), moine.
- Du dixieme lit :
17. Hruodhaid.
Created by Treepad2HTML