(2 April 748 – 28 January 814)
As king and emperor, Charlemagne engaged in a number of reforms in administration, law, education, military organization, and religion which shaped Europe for centuries. The stability of his reign saw the beginning of a period of significant cultural activity known as the Carolingian Renaissance.
Charlemagne's profound impact on the Middle Ages, and the influence on the vast territory he ruled has led him to be called the "Father of Europe". He is seen as a folk hero and founding figure by many European states, and a number of historical royal houses of Europe trace their lineage back to him. Charlemagne has been the subject of artworks, monuments and literature, during and after the medieval period, and has received veneration in the Catholic Church.
By the sixth century, the western Germanic tribe of the Franks had been Christianised, due in considerable measure to the conversion of their king Clovis I to Catholicism. The Franks had established a kingdom in Gaul in the wake of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. This kingdom, Francia, grew to encompass nearly all of modern France and Switzerland, along with parts of modern Germany and the Low Countries under the rule of the Merovingian dynasty. Francia was often divided under different Merovingian kings, due to the partible inheritance practiced by the Franks. The late 7th century saw a period of war and instability following the murder of King Childeric II, which led to factional struggles among the Frankish aristocrats.
In 687, Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at the Battle of Tertry. Pepin was the grandson of two important figures of Austrasia: Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen. The mayors of the palace had gained influence as the Merovingian kings' own power waned due to the divisions of the kingdom and several succession crises. Pepin was eventually succeeded by his son Charles, later known as Charles Martel. Charles did not support a Merovingian successor upon the death of King Theuderic IV in 737, leaving the throne vacant. Charles made plans to divide the kingdom between his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, who succeeded upon his death in 741. The brothers placed the Merovingian Childeric III on the throne in 743. In 747, Carloman abdicated and entered a monastery at Rome. Carloman had at least two sons, and the elder, Drogo took his place.
Language and education
Charlemagne's father Pepin had been educated at the abbey of Saint-Denis, though the extent of Charlemagne's formal education is unknown. He almost certainly was trained in military matters as a youth in Pepin's court, which was itinerant. Charlemagne also asserted his own education in the liberal arts when encouraging their study by his children and others, though it is unknown whether his study was as a child or at court during his later life. The question of Charlemagne's literacy is subject to debate, and there is little direct evidence from contemporary sources. He normally had texts read aloud to him and dictated responses and decrees, though this was not unusual even for a literate ruler at the time. The German historian Johannes Fried considers it likely that Charlemagne would have been able to read, though the medievalist Paul Dutton writes that "the evidence for his ability to read is circumstantial and inferential at best," and concludes it likely that he never properly mastered the skill. Einhard makes no direct mention of Charlemagne reading, but recorded that he only attempted to learn to write later in life.
Accession and joint reign with Carloman
There are only occassional references to Charlemagne in the Frankish annals during his father's lifetime. By 751 or 752, Pepin had deposed Childeric and replaced him as king. Early Carolingian-influenced sources claim that Pepin's seizure of the throne was sanctioned beforehand by Pope Stephen II, but modern historians dispute this. It is possible that papal approval came only when Stephen travelled to Francia in 754, apparently to request Pepin's aid against the Lombards, and on this trip anointed Pepin as king, legitimizing his rule. Charlemagne had been sent to greet and escort the Pope, and he and his younger brother Carloman were anointed along with their father. Around the same time, Pepin sidelined Drogo, sending him and his brother to a monastery.
Charlemagne began issuing charters in his own name in 760. In the following year, he joined his father's campaign against Aquitaine. Aquitaine, led by Duke Hunald was constantly in rebellion during Pepin's reign. Pepin fell ill on campaign there and died on 24 September 768, and Charlemagne and Carloman succeeded their father. They had separate coronations, Charlemagne at Noyon and Carloman at Soissons, each on 9 October. The brothers maintained separate palaces and separate spheres of influence, though they were considered joint rulers of a single Frankish kingdom. The Royal Frankish Annals report that Charlemagne ruled Austrasia and Carloman ruled Burgundy, Provence, Aquitaine, and Alamannia, with no mention made of which brother received Neustria. The immediate concern of the brothers was the ongoing uprising in Aquitane. While they marched into Aquitaine together, Carloman returned to Francia for unknown reasons, and Charlemagne completed the campaign on his own. Charlemagne's capture of Duke Hunald marked the end of the ten years of war that had been waged in the attempt to bring Aquitaine in line.
Carloman's refusal to participate in the war against Aquitaine led to a rift between the two kings. It is uncertain why Carloman abandoned the campaign. It is possible that the brothers disagreed over control over the territory, or that Carloman was focusing on securing his rule in the north of Francia. Regardless of this strife between the kings, they maintained a joint rule out of practicality. Both Charlemagne and Carloman worked to obtain the support of the clergy and local elites to solidify their positions.
Pope Stephen III was elected in 768, but was briefly deposed by Antipope Constantine II before being restored to Rome. Stephen's Papacy suffered from continuing factional struggles, so he sought the support of the Frankish kings. Both brothers sent troops to Rome, each hoping to exert their own influence. The Lombard king Desiderius also had interests in the affairs in Rome, and Charlemagne attempted to gain him as an ally. Desiderius already had alliances with Bavaria and Benevento through the marriages of his daughters to their dukes, and an alliance with Charlemagne would add to his influence. Charlemagne's mother Betrada went on his behalf to Lombardy in 770, where she brokered a marriage alliance before returning to Francia with Charlemagne's new bride. Desiderius's daughter is traditionally named Desiderata, though she may have been named Gerperga. Being anxious at the prospect of a Frankish–Lombard alliance, Pope Stephen sent a letter to both Frankish kings decrying the marriage, while also separately seeking closer ties with Carloman.
Charlemagne had already had a relationship with the Frankish noblewoman Himiltrude, having a son in 769 they named Pepin. Paul the Deacon wrote in his 784 Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium that Pepin was born "before legal marriage", but does not say whether Charles and Himiltrude were never married, were joined in a non-canonical marriage or friedelehe, or if they married after Pepin was born. Pope Stephen's letter described the relationship as a legitimate marriage, but he had a vested interest in preventing Charlemagne from marrying Desiderius's daughter.
Carloman died suddenly on 4 December 771, leaving Charlemagne as sole king of the Franks. He moved immediately to secure his hold on his brother's territory, forcing Carloman's widow Gerberga to flee to Desiderius's court in Lombardy with their children. In response, Charlemagne ended his marriage to Desiderius's daughter and married Hildegard, daughter of count Gerold, a powerful magnate from Carloman's kingdom. This was both a reaction to Desiderius's sheltering of Carloman's family as well as a move to secure Gerold's support.
Annexation of the Lombard kingdom
Pope Adrian I succeeded Stephen III in 772, and sought the return of papal control of cities that had been captured by Desiderius. As he was unable to get results by dealing with the Lombard king directly, Adrian sent emissaries to Charlemagne to gain his support in recovering papal territory. Charlemagne, in response to this appeal and the dynastic threat posed by the presence of Carloman's sons in the Lombard court, gathered his forces in order to intervene. He first sought diplomatic solutions, by offering gold to Desiderius in exchange for the return of the papal territories and his nephews. These overtures were rejected, and Charlemagne's army (with command divided between himself and his uncle Bernard) crossed the Alps to besiege the Lombard capital Pavia in late 773.
Charlemagne's second son, also named Charles, had been born in 772, and Charlemagne brought the child and his wife to the camp at Pavia. Hildegard was pregnant, and gave birth to a daughter named Adelhaid. The baby was sent back to Francia, but died on the way. Charlemagne left Bernard to maintain the siege at Pavia while he took a force to capture Verona, where Desiderius's son Adalgis had taken Carloman's sons. Charlemagne captured the city, and no further record exists of his nephews or of Carloman's wife, and their fates are unknown. The historian Janet Nelson likens them to the "princes in the tower" of the Wars of the Roses. Fried puts forth the possibilities that the boys were forced into a monastery, which was a common solution for dynastic issues, or that "an act of murder smooth[ed] Charlemagne’s ascent to power." Adalgis was not captured by Charlemagne and fled to Constantinople.
Charlemagne left the siege in April 774 to celebrate Easter at Rome. Pope Adrian arranged for a formal welcome of the Frankish king, and the two swore oaths to each other over the relics of St. Peter. Adrian presented a copy of the agreement between Pepin and Stephen III outlining the papal lands and rights Pepin had agreed to protect and restore. It is unclear to which exact lands and rights the agreement applied, and this would remain a point of dispute for centuries. Charlemagne deposited a copy of the agreement in the chapel above St. Peter's tomb as a symbol of his commitment, then left Rome to continue the siege at Pavia.
Shortly after his return to Pavia, disease struck the besieged Lombards, and they surrendered the city by June. Charlemagne deposed Desiderius and took the title of King of the Lombards for himself. The complete takeover of one kingdom by another was "extraordinary" (Collins),[ and the authors of The Carolingian World say it was "without parallel". Charlemagne was able to secure the support of the Lombard nobles and Italian urban elites to seize power in what was a mostly peaceful annexation. The historian Rosamond McKitterick suggests that the elective nature of the Lombard monarchy eased Charlemagne's takeover; Collins attributes the easy conquest to the Lombard elite's "presupposition that rightful authority was in the hands of the one powerful enough to seize it". Charlemagne shortly returned to Francia with the Lombard royal treasury and with Desiderius and his family, who would be confined to a monastery for the rest of their days.
Frontier wars in Saxony and Spain
Saxons had taken advantage of Charlemagne's absence in Italy to raid the Frankish borderlands, leading to a Frankish counter-raid in the autumn of 774 and a campaign of reprisal against the Saxons in 775. Charlemagne was soon drawn back to Italy, as Duke Hrodgaud of Friuli rebelled against him. Charlemagne quickly crushed the rebellion and distributed Hrodgaud's lands to Franks, in order to consolidate his rule in Lombardy. He wintered in Italy, and further consolidated his power by issuing charters and legislation, as well as taking Lombard hostages. In the midst of the 775 Saxon and Friulian campaigns, his daughter Rotrude was born in Francia.
Returning north, Charlemagne waged another brief but destructive campaign against the Saxons in 776. This led to the submission of many Saxons, who turned over captives and lands as well as submitting to baptism as Christians. In 777, Charlemagne held an assembly at Paderborn with both Frankish and Saxon men, and many more Saxons came under his rule, but the Saxon magnate Widukind fled to Denmark to make preparations for a new rebellion.
Also present at the Paderborn assembly were representatives of dissident factions from al-Andalus (or Muslim Spain). These included the son and son-in-law of Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, the former governor of Cordóba, who had been ousted by the Caliph Abd al-Rahman in 756. They sought Charlemagne's support for al-Fihri's restoration. Also present was Sulayman al-Arabi, governor of Barcelona and Girona, who wished to become part of the Frankish kingdom and receive Charlemagne's protection, rather than remain under the rule of Cordoba. Charlemagne, seeing an opportunity to strengthen the security of the kingdom's southern frontier and further extend his influence, agreed to intervene. Crossing the Pyrenees, his army found little resistance until an ambush by Basque forces in 778 at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The Franks were defeated in the battle and withdrew from the campaign, though with most of their army intact.
Saxon resistance and reprisal
Charlemagne's focus for the next several years would be his attempt to complete the subjugation of the Saxons. Concentrating first in Westphalia in 783, he pushed into Thuringia in 784 as his son, Charles the Younger, continued operations in the west. At each stage of the campaigns, the Frankish armies seized wealth and carried Saxon captives into slavery. Unusually, Charlemagne campaigned through the winter rather than resting his army. By 785, Charlemagne had suppressed the Saxon resistance and commanded complete control of Westphalia. That summer, he met Widukind and convinced him to end his resistance. Widukind agreed to be baptized with Charlemagne as his godfather, ending this phase of the Saxon Wars.
Benevento, Bavaria, and Pepin's revolt
After Charlemagne left Italy, Arechis sent envoys to Irene to offer an alliance. He suggested she send a Byzantine army along with Adalgis, the exiled son of Desiderus, to remove the Franks from power in Lombardy. Before his plans could be finalised, both Aldechis and his elder son Romuald died of illness within weeks of each other. Charlemagne sent Grimoald back to Benevento to serve as duke and return it to Frankish suzerainty. The Byzantine army did invade but were repulsed by the Frankish and Lombard forces.
As affairs were being settled in Italy, Charlemagne turned his attention to Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by Duke Tassilo, Charlemagne's first cousin who had been installed by Pepin the Short in 748. Tassilo's sons were also grandsons of Desiderius, and therefore a potential threat to Charlemagne's rule in Lombardy. The two neighbouring rulers had a growing rivalry throughout their reigns, but had sworn oaths of peace to each other in 781. In 784, Rotpert, Charlemagne's viceroy in Italy, accused Tassilo of conspiring with Widukind in Saxony and unsuccessfully attacked the Bavarian city of Bolzano. Charlemagne gathered his forces to prepare an invasion of Bavaria in 787. Dividing the army, the Franks launched a three-pronged attack. Quickly realizing the poor position he was in, Tassilo agreed to surrender and recognise Charlemagne as his overlord. The next year, Tassilo was accused of plotting with the Avars to attack Charlemagne. Tassilo was deposed and sent to a monastery, and Charlemagne absorbed Bavaria into his kingdom. Charlemagne spent several of the next years based in Regensburg, largely focused on consolidating his rule Bavaria and warring against the Avars. Successful campaigns against the Avars were launched from Bavaria and Italy in 788, and Charlemagne led campaigns in 791 and 792.
In 789, Charlemagne gave Charles the Younger rule over Maine in Neustria, leaving Pepin the Hunchback as his only son without lands. Charlemagne's relationship with Himiltrude was by this point apparently seen as definitively illegitimate at Charlemagne's court, and Pepin was as a result being sidelined in the succession. In 792, as his father and brothers were all gathered at Regensburg, Pepin conspired with Bavarian nobles to assassinate them and install himself as king. The plot was discovered and revealed to Charlemagne before it could go ahead. Pepin was sent to a monastery and many of his co-conspirators were executed.
The early 790s saw a marked focus on ecclesiastical affairs by Charlemagne. He summoned a council at Regensburg in 792 to address the theological controversy over the Adoptionism doctrine in the Spanish church, as well as to formulate a response to the Second Council of Nicea. The council condemned Adoptionism as a heresy and led to the production of the Libri Carolini, a detailed argument against Nicea's canons. In 794, Charlemagne called another council at Frankfurt. The council confirmed Regensburg's positions on Adoptionism and Nicea, recognised the deposition of Tassilo, set grain prices, reformed the Frankish coinage system, forbade abbesses to give blessings to men, and endorsed prayer in vernacular languages. Soon after the council, Fastrada fell ill and died. Charlemagne married the Alamannian noblewoman Luitgard shortly after.
Continued wars with the Saxons and Avars
Charlemagne gathered an army after the council of Frankfurt as Saxon resistance continued. This was the beginning of a series of annual campaigns by Charlemagne that would last through 799. The campaigns of the 790s were even more destructive than those of earlier decades, with the annal writers frequently referring to Charlemagne "burning", "ravaging", "devastating", and "laying waste" to the Saxon lands. Charlemagne forcibly removed a large number of Saxons to Francia, installing Frankish elites and soldiers in their place. Charlemagne's extended wars in Saxony led to him establishing his court at Aachen, which had easy access to the frontier. At Aachen, he built a large palace, including a chapel which is now part of the Aachen Cathedral. It was during this period that Einhard joined the court. In the south, Pepin of Italy engaged in further wars against the Avars which led to the collapse of their kingdom and the expansion of Frankish rule eastwards.
During the wars of the 790s, Charlemagne also worked to expand his influence through diplomatic means, with particular attention on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain. Charles the Younger proposed a marriage pact with the daughter of King Offa of Mercia, but Offa insisted that Charlemagne's daughter Bertha also be given as a bride for his own son. Charlemagne refused this arrangement, and the marriage did not occur. Charlemagne and Offa did enter into a formal peace in 796, protecting trade and securing the rights of English pilgrims to pass through Francia on their way to Rome. Charlemagne also served as host and protector of several deposed English rulers who were later restored: Eadbehrt of Kent, Ecgberht, King of Wessex, and Eardwulf of Northumbria. Nelson writes that Charlemagne treated the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms "like satellite states," even establishing direct relations with English bishops. Charlemagne also made an alliance with Alfonso II of Asturias, though Einhard describes Alfonso as a "dependent" of Charlemagne.
Coronation
Historians differ as to the intentions behind the imperial coronation, the extent to which Charlemagne was aware of it or participated in its planning, and the significance of the events, both to those present, and for Charlemagne's reign. Contemporary Frankish and papal sources differ in their emphasis and representation of events. Einhard insists that Charlemagne would not have entered the church had he known of the Pope's plan; modern historians have regarded his report as truthful, or rejected it as a "literary device" used as a way to signal Charlemagne's humility. Collins argues that the actions surrounding the coronation indicate that it was planned by Charlemagne as early as his meeting with Leo in 799, and Fried writes that Charlemagne planned to adopt the title of emperor by 798 "at the latest." In the years before the coronation, Charlemagne's courtier Alcuin had referred to Charlemagne's realm as an Imperium Christianum ("Christian Empire"), wherein, "just as the inhabitants of the Roman Empire had been united by a common Roman citizenship", presumably this new empire would be united by a common Christian faith. This is the view of the French scholar Henri Pirenne who says "Charles was the Emperor of the ecclesia as the Pope conceived it, of the Roman Church, regarded as the universal Church".
Governing the empire
The Capitulare missorum generale issued in 802, called the programmatic capitulary, was an expansive piece of legislation, with provisions governing the conduct of royal officials and requiring that all free men make an oath of loyalty to him. The capitulary reformed the institution of the missi dominici, officials who would now be assigned in pairs (a cleric and a lay aristocrat) to administer justice and oversee governance within defined territories. The emperor also ordered the revision of the Lombard and Frankish law codes.
In addition to the missi, Charlemagne also ruled parts the empire through his sons as sub-kings. Though both Pepin and Louis had some devolved authority as kings in Italy and Aquitaine, Charlemagne still had ultimate authority and intervened in matters directly. Charles, their elder brother, had been given rule over lands in Neustria in 789 or 790, and had been made a king in 800.
The 806 charter Divisio Regnorum ('division of the realm'), set the terms of Charlemagne's succession. Charles, as his eldest son in good favour, was given the largest share of the inheritance, with rule of Francia proper along with Saxony, Nordgau, and parts of Alemannia. The two younger sons were confirmed in their kingdoms and gained additional territories, with most of Bavaria and Alemmannia given to Pepin and Provence, Septimania, and parts of Burgundy to Louis. Charlemagne did not address the inheritance of the imperial title. The Divisio also provided that, in the event that any of the brothers predeceased Charlemagne, their own sons would inherit their share, and urged peace among all his descendants.
Final years and death
The Carolingian dynasty had multiple losses in 810 and 811, as Charlemagne's sister Gisela, his daughter Rotrude, and his sons Pepin the Hunchback, Pepin of Italy, and Charles the Younger died. The deaths of Charles the Younger and Pepin of Italy left Charlemagne's earlier plans for succession in disarray. In the wake of these deaths, he declared Pepin of Italy's son Bernard ruler of Italy, and made his own only surviving son, Louis, heir to the rest of the empire. He also completed a new will detailing the disposal of his property to take place at his death, with bequests to be made the Church as well as for all of his children and grandchildren. Einhard (possibly relying on tropes from Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars) recounts that Charlemagne viewed the deaths of his family members, an accident he suffered falling off a horse, astronomical phenomena, and the collapse of part of the palace in his last years as signs of his own impending death. In his final year, Charlemagne continued to govern with energy, ordering bishops to assemble in five ecclesiastical councils. These culminated in a large assembly at Aachen, where Charlemagne formally crowned Louis as his co-emperor, and Bernard as king, in a ceremony on 11 September 813.
Charlemagne became ill in the autumn of 813 and spent his last months praying, fasting, and studying the Gospels. He developed pleurisy, and became completely bedridden for seven days before dying on the morning of 28 January 814. Thegan, a biographer of Louis, records the emperor's last words as "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit", quoting from Luke 23:46. Charlemagne's body was prepared and buried in the chapel at Aachen by his daughters and palace officials on the same day. Louis arrived at Aachen thirty days after his father's death, making a formal adventus, taking charge of the palace and the empire. Charlemagne's remains were exhumed by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1165, and reinterred in a new casket by Frederick II in 1215.
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