What Did Charlemagne Do While In Power As King?

Throughout history, there have been many good and bad rulers, from the
bravery
of Alexander the Great, to the madness of Nero. None, however, helped
shape European feudalism like Charlemagne, King of the Franks, First of the
Holy
Roman Emperors. His advancements in government were not his only
advancements though. He created an educational system for his people.
While far behind the public and private educational systems of today, in the
8th and 9th century, it was a start. He also helped spread Christianity
throughout Europe.

Charlemagne was born on April 2, 748, possibly in Herstal in Belgium or

Aachen in Germany. His father, Pepin the Short, was the palace mayor, or
principal official, of Childeric III, king of the Franks, although he in fact held
real power rather than the king, who was largely ineffectual.

In 751, having received the pope’s permission to become king, Pepin

removed Childeric and had himself anointed king with holy oil. This ceremony
was repeated by Pope Stephen II in 754 when Charlemagne and his younger
brother, Carloman, were also anointed as kings, although they did not take
the royal title itself at that time.

In the course of the 760s, Charlemagne began to take a role in the Frankish
government, including being involved in a campaign against rebels in the
province of Aquitaine, in south-western Gaul, and just before his death in 768
Pepin arranged to leave his kingdom jointly divided between him and his
brother.

In 768, on their father’s death, Charlemagne and Carloman succeeded as

joint kings of the Franks, controlling between them a realm which embraced
modern France and a large part of modern Germany. On Carloman's death in
771, Charlemagne became sole ruler of the Franks.

Charlemagne's reign was marked by almost annual military activity,

beginning with the completion of Pepin's campaigns to restore Aquitaine to
Frankish rule during 760-768AD, continuing with the conquest of Lombardy,
in northern Italy, in response to an appeal by Pope Adrian I to protect papal
lands from attack by the Lombard’s, and Charlemagne's subsequent
installation as king of the Lombard’s in 773-774AD, and a protracted and
difficult series of campaigns against the Saxons to the east of the River
Rhine, which began in 775 but was only brought to a conclusion in 804 with
the definitive conquest and Christianisation of Saxony as an integral part of
Charlemagne's realm.

In addition, Charlemagne campaigned against the Moors in Muslim Spain, in

order to subject them to Christian rule, in 778; in Benevento, in southern
Italy, against its duke, Arichis, and in Bavaria against its duke, Tassilo, in 787;
against the pagan Avars, in the area of modern Hungary and Austria, in 791
and 795-796; and against the Moors of south-eastern Spain in the latter years
of his reign. This warfare was often, perhaps always, savage.
The Royal Frankish Annals record the massacre of 4,500 Saxons in 782, and
the exile of others.

Many campaigns involved considerable distances and complex logistics. The

Royal Frankish Annals record Charlemagne achieving three coordinated
invasions of Bavaria, as well as a two-year siege of Barcelona in 800-801AD.

Capitularies from the early 800s prescribe a system of military levying and
organization apparently of some sophistication and capable of raising large
armies. It is possible, however, that this organization, in so far as it was new,
was a response to external threats from both hostile Vikings and Slavs from
Eastern Europe, rather than the basis of Charlemagne's conquests.

These later threats may have been overcome with relatively small armies of
mounted vassals, driven as much as anything by the quest for booty, such as
the vast amounts of treasure that were brought back from the sacking of the
great fortress known as the Ring of the Avars.

It is clear that Charlemagne was active in diplomatic relations. He himself

may have married a Lombard princess in 770; and further marriage alliances
were negotiated, although not implemented, with the Byzantine Empire and
with Offa, king of the Mercians.

With the former, his diplomacy merged with religious policy, when the council
he convened at Frankfurt am Main in 794 opposed the Byzantine Church's
recent decision on the worship of icons, and with the latter, Charlemagne also
concluded a remarkable trade agreement.

Perhaps the most significant diplomatic relations were with the popes, who
had been responsible for authorizing the installation of Charlemagne's father,
Pepin, and his successors as kings of the Franks in 751, anointing Pepin and
his sons as kings in 754, and encouraging both Pepin and Charlemagne to
intervene militarily in northern Italy.

In 799, Pope Leo III was removed by factions in Rome and went to
Charlemagne's palace at Paderborn, in Germany, where the ruler received
him honourably and sent him back to Rome under escort. In 800
Charlemagne travelled to Rome, and on Christmas Day in St Peter's Basilica
the pope crowned him Emperor of the Romans.

The contemporary Annals of Lorsch make clear that this was the result of a
decision taken in a council at Rome immediately beforehand. However, it
remains unclear whether the decision derived from Charlemagne's own policy
to enhance his position in his realm, or whether it was the pope's policy to
commit Charlemagne more firmly to the defence of Italy and the pope
himself against aggression from the Byzantine Empire, which still retained
footholds in southern Italy and was sponsoring a Lombard pretender.

The capitularies reveal a governmental organisation based on counties, each

governed by a count, and subdivided into hundreds and vicariates. It is not
clear how much, if any, of this system was innovative, although it is certain
that it was extended into Saxony as a result of Charlemagne's conquest. It is
also clear that Charlemagne was responsible for modifying the judicial
system that it embodied, specifically by introducing officers, called scabini, as
judicial assessors.

The capitularies suggest further that Charlemagne expanded the use of

officials, vaguely called missi dominici or royal emissaries, to oversee the
governance of the counties, and in 802 these were made responsible for
missatica or defined areas, were assigned regular tours of duty three times a
year, and were organized in pairs, each consisting of one layman and one
churchman.
Church reform was an important part of Charlemagne's government. He
appears to have systematised the organization of bishops and archbishops.
There is also some indication that he contributed to parish organisation, and
that he played an important part in the introduction of a new sacramentary,
or mass book, which was influential in the development of liturgy.

Charlemagne started a school at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he invited students

from all over the kingdom to learn. Although the school was established for
sons of nobles, he believed
that all children should have a chance to learn, so he allowed all children to
enroll. He often pointed out that the poorer students did better than the
students who were better off. The reputation of the Palace School spread
throughout Europe. Students from all across Europe came to the school.

Charlemagne died on January 28, 814, at his palace in Aachen. Thereafter, in

later periods, his image as a saint and hero loomed over the history of
Europe. In the Gothic choir annexed to the surviving church of his principal
palace at Aachen, his remains now lie in the golden shrine made for them by
the German king and Holy Roman emperor, Frederick II, in the early 13th
century.

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 life fighting. In the Saxon campaigns he imposed baptism
by the sword, and retaliated against rebels with merciless slaughter. On the
other hand, he placed his immense power and prestige at the service of
Christian policy, the simple 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, hence
come to life the fusion of Germanic, Roman, and Christian cultures that
became the basis of European civilization.

Bibliography
The University Of Chicago
Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th Edition
Volume 15 Macropedia Knowledge In Depth
Pg 756-759 Charlemagne
8th July 2009-08-09

http://au.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571217/Charlemagne.html
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http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/charles.htm
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http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm
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http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/einhard.html
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