Charlemagne

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Sam Niu
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There were famous and powerful kings who once ruled France during the Middle Ages. One of the most famous and powerful was Charlemagne. He was a great king who expanded the Frankish Empire. The history of how he became such a great man is quite interesting. Queen Bertha and King Pippin III of France had two children, one in 742 they gave birth to Charlemagne and then other later his younger brother, Carloman. When Pippin III died in 768, his children split the Empire. This happened because there was a Frankish tradition that said the sons of kings will share the throne. On October 9,768, the brothers were crowned. In the year 771 Carloman mysteriously died, and Charlemagne becomes the only Frankish King. Interestingly, Charlemagne was angry with Carloman because his brother didn’t help him fight the Lombards. Charlemagne always wanted to be the only powerful brother. During his reign, Charlemagne made many allies and enemies. The Saxons, a powerful non-Christian group, were his first enemies. When the Saxons burnt a church in Charlemagne’s kingdom he began his conquest. In the summer of 772, Charlemagne invaded the center of Saxony. On his way he ordered a sacred tree that the Saxons worshiped to be chopped down. This caused anger throughout the Saxon lands. The Saxons make war against the Franks. After years, the Saxons were finally defeated and then converted to Christianity. Although, the Saxons were defeated they still hoped to rule themselves. In 775, the Saxons revolted against the Franks. Again, Charlemagne went back into the Saxon lands. It was a short battle compared to some of the other battles fought by the Franks. In 778, Charlemagne’s mighty army defeated and gained control over the Saxons again. Once again the Saxons revolted in 780 but, they were so weak they were defeated twice in one year! In 792, they revolted one last and final time before they gave in completely to the Franks. There were many battles fought by the mighty Charlemagne, and one of the most famous them was against the Lombards. The Lombards were a powerful group of people who resided in what is now modern day northern Italy. The Lombards invaded and took the Papal land. Pope Adrian asked Charlemagne to help defeat the Lombards. After nine months, the Franks defeat the them and returned the Papal lands. From 773 to 774 Charlemagne took the Lombards’ lands. In three years, 777, he was crowned the Lombardy king, between 780 to 799, Charlemagne was gaining victories against all those who he challenged and during this period he was almost fighting year round. Not only did Charlemagne have a military life, he had a family life as well. When Charlemagne’s parents were alive they arranged two marriages. He married these women at different times but soon divorced them both. Neither of them was right for him. Finally, he found an ideal wife for himself. Her name was Hildegard. Together they had five daughters and four sons. Hildegard died in 783. Charlemagne was a great king because of his many accomplishments during his rule. The Holy Roman Empire began in December 25, 800 when Charlemagne was crowned undisputed ruler of Western Europe by Pope Leo III. The Pope crowned Charlemagne in Saint Peters, Rome while he was kneeling in prayer while. During his mighty rule, Charlemagne wanted and succeeded in restoring much of the Ancient Roman Empire. As well as restoring the Roman Empire he also united a lot of the Christian lands of Europe. His empire was called the Holy Roman Empire because it was like the Ancient Roman Empire. The “Holy” part came form the fact that Charlemagne had a deep love of Christianity. Much of his empire is in modern day France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. Charlemagne had such a deep concern for his religion that he had tried to convince all people to believe in his faith. Charlemagne also thought that education was important. Charlemagne learned to read and write Latin and Greek. So, Charlemagne had schools opened for peasants. Charlemagne had to die eventually and on January 28, 814, he died of natural causes. Of Charlemagne’s four sons only Louis was still living. When Louis took the throne the empire was falling apart. Louis couldn’t hold up his father’s mighty empire. When Louis died, all three of his children inherited the throne. Charlemagne’s grandchildren fought each other and had to split the empire into three parts. After the split, the entire empire collapsed. In 843, the Holy Roman Empire ended. Charlemagne had many great achievements. He was considered the first Holy Roman Emperor and helped pave the way to modern Europe. “Britannica Online.” __Charlemagne.__ 2008. April 21, 2008 http://school.eb.com/elementary/article?articleId=352939&query=charlemagne&ct= Banfield. __Charlemagne “Leaders, Past and Present”__ New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986 “The Historical Charlemagne” __Mrs. Farrell’s Favorites__ http://www.episcopalacademy.org/htm/Units/LSM/farrell/titlegd.htm Stewart, Bob. __Charlemagne founder of the Holy Roman Empire__ New York: Firebird Books, 1988 

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**King Charlemagne**  By Sam Payne King Charlemagne, also known as Charles, was one of the best rulers of the Middle Ages. He expanded his empire and converted many people to Christianity. He was born on 742A.D.When Charlemagne was a child, he learned how to horseback ride, hunt, and swim. He also learned to read Latin, which was not common. Einhard, a monk, described him as “brave, strong, very tall, blond hair and a mou  stache.” Charlemagne was the son of King Pepin. King Pepin died in 768A.D, so Charlemagne inherited half of his father’s kingdom and his brother received the other half. His mother preferred him over his brother, Carloman. Charlemagne became one of the best Kings of the Middle Ages. The Franks started their kingdom after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Franks were a group of Germanic tribes. He ruled for forty three years. Tragically, Carloman, his brother died in 771, making Charlemagne the sole King of the Franks. Throughout his reign, Charlemagne united many Christian lands. He divided his kingdom into districts. With each district having its own governor. Charlemagne attacked many empires. He attacked the Saxons in 772A.D. In 782A.D, 4,500 Saxons were executed in a single day. After that, Charlemagne and his Uncle Bernard, went to the Alps and chased the Lombard’s back to Pavia, Italy in 773A.D. They besieged and it lasted to the spring of 774. He only lost a few battles. One was at Roncesvalles in 778.It was one of the worst battles he lost throughout his whole rein. Charlemagne fought many more battles. He manly attacked kingdoms so he could expand his empire and convert people to Christianity. Sometimes he would do it for wealth. Charlemagne was the first king to develop a code of laws. He was interested in education, and created a palace school. In 800A.D, Pope Leo the III placed a crown on Charlemagne’s head, declaring that he was king of the Romans. After King Charlemagne died, he left the Frankish empire to his son Louis. His kingdom included most of today’s France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Western Germany and parts of Italy and Spain. Charlemagne was one of the best kings of the Middle Ages. He won many battles and should be remembered forever.

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**__Bibliography__** Greenblatt, Miriam. __Charlemagne and the Early Middle Ages.__ Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2003. Wikipedia contributors. “Charlemagne” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 1 April 2008 < http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlemagne&oldid=207769662 >. ======