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Charlemagne
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In the last years of Roman control of Gaul, several "barbarian" tribes migrated there. One was the Franks,
from whom the name France comes. Though all of these tribes were tough fighters, the Franks were the most
successful. Between 486 and 507 AD, a Frankish king named Clovis defeated the rival groups and established
his capital at Paris. His successors were weak rulers. But in 732, a strong Frankish leader named Charles
Martel came forward to meet the threat of Muslim invasion. The Franks won the Battle of Tours, stopping
the spread of Islam into Western Europe.
Charles Martel's grandson was Charlemagne, Charles the Great. It was under Charlemagne that the Frankish
kings, known as the Carolingians, had their greatest successes. Charlemagne continued an alliance with the
pope that his father had started, and in 800 the pope crowned him "great and peace-giving emperor of the
Romans." The pope wanted this to show that popes had the authority to crown secular/political leaders and
that church and state should work together. Charlemagne w as not interested in the Romans, or, at first, in
peace, but he did become a powerful emperor. He made himself the military, political, and religious leader of
the Franks and the other Germanic tribes. At its height, the Carolingian empire included all of Gaul and parts
of both Germany and Italy. Serious efforts were made to create order and stimulate learning throughout the
empire, including the creation of many new monasteries to preserve (save) ancient manuscripts.
Under the patronage of Charlemagne (742-814), the great Frankish emperor, a revival of classical Greek and
Roman learning and the visual arts occurred. Charlemagne realized that his great empire could not be
effectively governed without a group of literate (able to read) clergy and administrators. To educate the leaders
of the Frankish empire, Charlemagne sponsored a number of reformers designed to improve the schools and
the quality of literacy and learning in his realm. At court, he completely reformed the school conducted for the
children of his family and his courtiers and recruited the best scholars in Western Europe to staff it. They
aimed at restoring classical learning to serve the needs of the new Christian culture.
The Carolingian empire was short lived, however, After Charlemagne died in 814, his children fought one
another for power. The Treaty of Verdun in 843, which established western and central European
boundaries much as they remain today, was an attempt by Charlemagne's three grandsons to end a civil war
that had been going on since 830. The grandsons divided the Carolingian empire into three approximately
equal parts, only to have each of the parts divided again and again. Thus, the peace did not last very long.
In the eastern part of the Carolingian empire, the German kings of the 10th century took up the idea of a
Christian European empire. Under Emperor Otto I (crowned in 936), the German and Italian monarchies
(kingdoms) were united. His empire was not as large of Charlemagne's because it did not include the French
lands. But it was still the most powerful empire in Europe, and it came to be called the Holy Roman Empire
after Otto's death.
Over time, the Germans and French continued to separate from each other despite the efforts of Otto's
grandson, Emperor Otto III. When he died, Otto was buried next to Charlemagne. In the French part of the
former Carolingian empire, the unifying effect of Charlemagne's rule never completely disappeared, and he has
remained an important figure in French history and culture. Frederick and Frederick II tried to take control of
the independent city-states in northern Italy but were defeated. These costly wars meant Germany was left in
the hands of powerful nobles who increased their own power and refused to listen to the emperor. This
prevented both Germany and Italy from uniting for 800 years.
Graphic Organizer Charlemagne vs. Holy Roman Empire
Carolingian Empire
Holy Roman Empire
Year Started
Places Conquered
Famous Leaders and
Accomplishments