Introduction

Charlemagne or Charles the Great is known as the father of Europe for a good reason. During his reign he expanded and consolidated a realm that ended up encompassing all of Western, Central, and parts of Eastern Europe. Even though his empire would collapse as his grandsons squabbled over it’s pieces, the memory of this first Pan-European state would live on for centuries to come. 

History

As with many monarchs, Charlemagne’s life does not become significant until the death of his father on September 24, 768. At the age of 26, Charlemagne ascended to the throne of the Frankish Empire, with one major caveat, he had to share power with his younger brother Carloman. Tension between the two brothers erupted shortly after their ascensions to the throne. By 771, tensions had escalated to brink of  war but before any fighting erupted, Carloman abruptly died in late December of that year. With Carloman dead, Charlemagne was able to seize Carloman’s part of the realm, stealing it from Carloman’s infant heir. Almost immediately after these events, Charlemagne received a request for help from the Pope. For the Kingdom of Lombardy (a kingdom in Northern Italy) had seized several cities within the Pope’s personal realm and had refused to return them. The Pope fearing further encroachment by the Lombards, requested that Charlemagne attack the Lombards. Charlemagne accepted this request as an invitation to expand his realm, and invaded. After a two year campaign, the Lombard King surrendered to Charlemagne. Emboldened by his most recent conquests, Charlemagne turned his attention to his eastern borders. There he found the pagan North Germans known as the Saxons. Seeking further territory and to convert the Saxons to Christianity, he invaded. The goal of conversion and the brutal methods that were used to achieve it (ranging from the destruction of holy sites to mass executions of pagans) would lead the Saxons to rebel against Charlemagne rule four times over the next thirty years, finally being pacified in 804. While he spent a great deal of his life crushing Saxon revolts, Charlemagne also simultaneous spent time campaigning in Spain, and Eastern Europe. The first of these additional campaigns was against the Umayyad Caliphate in Spain in 778. After a semi-successful campaign Charlemagne against the Spanish Muslims, he was forced to return to Saxony to deal with a pagan revolt. The second of Charlemagne’s additional campaigns occurred in Hungary in 788. It was waged against the Hungarian nomadic Avar people attempted to invade Charlemagne’s land in south Germany. After repulsing their initial attack, Charlemagne launched a brutal looting campaign in Hungary. The destruction of the campaign reeked such havoc that the Avar king to convert to Catholicism to end the war. Shortly after the campaign against the Avars, Charlemagne turned his attention to the nations surrounding the Avar nd conquered the Croats (which were to the south of the Avar) and the Abrotrites (which were to the north of the Avar). By the time all of this campaigning was done the year was 799. It was in this year that the most significant event of Charlemagne’s life occurred. For in this year the Pope, having been embroiled in a bitter disagreement with the Byzantines, would go onto revoke the Byzantine’s claim as the successors of Rome. In place of them, he named Charlemagne the Emperor of the Romans. The effect of this title was that the Pope had basically declared that Charlemagne was chosen by God to rule. For the last few years years of his reign, Charlemagne focused on consolidating, and ruling his empire. During this time he promoted the arts and learning, leading a flourishing of intellectualism which is now called the Carolingian Renaissance. Charlemagne died on January 21, 813.

SignificaNCe

Charlemagne’s conquests are really the key thing that makes him significant in history. The reason for this is that these conquests helped cement Christianity as the dominant religion in Europe, would cause the Viking Age, and would eventually lead to the Great Schism between the Orthodox and Catholic Church.

Before Charlemagne’s rise to power, Christianity’s reach in Europe was rather limited. It only existed in lands that were formerly Rome, meaning that there were virtually no Christians in Central or Eastern Europe. Further limiting the scope of Christianity in Europe was Muslim domination of the Iberian peninsula. These two factors combined to create a Europe in which various faith systems were vying for supremacy. This changed with Charlemagne’s conquests of Eastern and Central Europe. Many people in these regions ended up converting to Christianity, ensuring that it would be the dominate faith of Europe.

Charlemagne’s conquests are typically credited as being the cause of the Viking Age. For his many wars in Saxony and policies of forced conversion led many Saxons to flee north to the shelter of their Scandinavian brethren. These refugees told stories of the wars against the Franks which led the Scandinavians to begin raiding the coasts of France in order to discourage further Frankish expansion. The goal of the raids were not just to stop Frankish expansion, but also to employ people. For as more and more refugees flooded into the Scandinavian kingdoms, there became less economic opportunity. As resources became strained, warrior began to look outside of the country for opportunities to make their fortunes.

Finally, when the Pope elevated Charlemagne to the statues of Emperor of Romans, a huge fracture began to develop in Christianity. This fracture, would eventually lead to greater conflict between Byzantine Emperors, who felt slighted by the papacy’s attempts to control them, and Popes, who believed they had the right to command earthly rulers. This conflict would come to a head two centuries later when the eastern church, under the control of the Byzantines, would go on to excommunicate the pope and establish themselves as a separate entity to the Catholic church.

To summarize, Charlemagne was a warrior king who’s conquests helped to cement the statues of Christianity in Europe, caused the Viking Age, and began a chain of events that would eventually lead to the Great Schism. All of this proving that Charlemagne truly is the father of Europe.

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