Charlemagne was the first Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Franks. He was a vicious military leader, an expansionist, and an educational reformer. Many view him as the father of modern Europe.
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In 8th-century Europe, the Pope and Christian peoples were under constant threat from pagan tribes from the north. The Pope and clergy wanted to reestablish the Roman Empire, despite Byzantium claiming to be Rome.
The Frankish kingdom had a puppet king who was in charge by divine right, but Charles Martel was the one pulling all the strings. His son, Pepin the Short, asked the Pope for approval to overthrow the puppet king and found a new dynasty. The Pope agreed in exchange for the help with pagan Lombards who threatened Papacy.
That’s the setting when we first hear about Charlemagne, Pepin the Short’s son. As Pepin’s only successor, Charlemagne didn’t have to worry about land partition. He continued his father’s efforts against the Lombards and quickly defeated them, becoming the King of Franks and Lombards.
Despite still following many pagan rituals, Charlemagne was a devoted Christian and worked on strengthening the bond between the Frankish kingdom and the church. He was also an expansionist leader, fighting various tribes, including the Saxons who proved to be his main enemy. Charlemagne would eliminate Saxons ruthlessly and destroy any pagan relics.
When the Pope died, the new Pope had internal issues and sought help from Charlemagne. Charlemagne helped him out by bringing his army to Rome and removing any doubt about the new Pope. Many saw Charlemagne as the most powerful man at the time, a man who was powerful enough to decide who the Pope was going to be.
Unbeknownst to Charlemagne, the Pope organized the crowning of Charlemagne, who became the first Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne succeeded in becoming an emperor of an empire that was nonexistent for centuries. This crowning by the Pope paved the way for the rise of power of Papacy and the church for centuries to come.
When he wasn’t fighting, Charlemagne was extremely interested in education. He himself never managed to learn to write, but he introduced mandatory school and many other reforms. He died in his 70s.
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End of the Era by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
4 окт 2024
