The Franks: Charles the Hammer
742 A.D. - 814 A.D.
Last Updated      11/25/2007     11/20/2007      10/16/2007      10/15/2007

 

Charlemagne

He was six feet four inches tall, and built to scale.  He had beautiful white hair, animated eyes, a powerful nose...a presence "always stately and dignified." Hewas temperate in eating and drinking, abominated drunkenness, and kept in good health despite every exposure and hardship.

                                                                                                                                    —Einhard (the King's secretary) describing Charlemagne

Charlemagne  was born on April 2, 742 in Northern Europe.
He was the grandson the grandson of Charles "The Hammer,"
He was tall in stature and had a muscular physic
He had a handsome face and blond hair.
He carried himself nobly, at all times. 
Charlemagne, a very active man, enjoyed hunting, horseback riding, and swimming. 

Charlemagne Becomes King
Charlemagne became the king of the Franks in 769.
He and his brother Carloman divided the kingdom in hal.
In 711 AD, his brother died.
Charlemagne became the sole ruler of his father's kingdom at the age of twenty-nine. 

Enemies of the Franks
As a powerful and skilled warrior, Charlemagne fought the enemies of the Franks. 
First of all he finished a campaign in Aquitaine that Pepin the Short had started but never fully completed.
In his campaign, Charlemagne entirely subdued the fierce inhabitants of Aquitaine. 
Later Charlemagne would fight the Lombards, the Saxons, the Saracens, the Bretons, Bavarians, the Slavs, the Huns, the Bohemians, and the Danes.
By the end of Charlemagne's reign in 814, his empire, the Holy Roman Empire, covered the modern day countries of France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and parts of Italy, Germany, Austria, and Spain. 

30-Years War
One of his longest campaigns, which lasted thirty years, was against the Saxons.
The Saxons lived in northern Germany. 
The Saxons on his eastern frontier were pagans. 
They had burned down a Christian church and had made occasional incursions into Gaul.
Those were three good reasons for for eighteen campaigns Charlemagne waged against the Saxons. 
Charles gave the conquered Saxons a choice between baptism and death.
He had 4500 Saxon rebels beheaded in one day.

Arts and Learning
Charlemagne also respected liberal arts in spite of his warlike nature.
He spoke well and easily.
He had learned Latin, Greek (although he understood it better than he spoke it).
He had studied grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, astrology, and mathematics.  
He did not know how to write. 
Charlemagne also was a devout Christian.

Private Life
Charlemagne had four successive wives and five mistresses or concubines.
The women in his life bore him some eighteen children, of whom eight were legitimate.  

Death of Charlemagne
He died on January 28, 814 at the age of 72.
The inscription on his tomb read,
"Beneath this stone lies the body of Charles the Great, the Christian Emperor . . . " Throughout his life, Charlemagne had worshiped God devoutly, supported the Church, given to the needy (at his own expense) and even built a magnificent cathedral. In the Bible in I Samuel 2:30 God says, "Those who honor me I will honor . . . "
Since Charlemagne honored God, God raised him up to lead a great nation.

End of the Empire
Charles's son, Louis the Pious, became emperor.Counts and lords became independent.
They refused to listen to Louis.
843 AD, Treaty of Verdun, empire was divided among Louis's three sons.
Lothair, the oldest, became emperor.
the brothers were weak rulers.
The counts and nobles had most of the power.

Time Line of the Franks

Bibliography
Chew, Robin. "Charlemagne King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire." 15 October 2007. http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96apr/charlemagne.html.

Durant, Will. "King Charlemagne", History of Civilization Vol III, The Age of Faith. Electronic version in the Knighthood, Tournaments & Chivalry Resource Library, Ed. Brian R. Price http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm

Nosotoro, Tit. "Charlamegne."  15 October 2007. http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2charlemagne.htm.

"Simply History." Edited selections of mostly European history from the out-of-copyright book, A Pageant of History, by R.G. Ikin, MA, Kings' College, Cambridge, 1929. 15 Oct. 2007. http://www.sacklunch.net/history/index.html. (1)