Germanic Empire of Charlemagne

Charlemagne may be regarded as the chief regenerator of Western Europe after the dissolution of the Roman Empire. At the date of his coronation, 800 A.D., his empire was not inferior in extent to that of the old Roman Empire. He was master of all Germany and Gaul, the greater part of Italy, and part of Spain. Under him the Frankish dominion reached its highest point, and marks the formal termination of an antiquated state of society. It was also the introduction to another totally different form itself and from its predecessor. It was not barbarism, it was not feudalism; but it was the bridge which united the two.

The most important chapter in the history of the Middle Ages is that informing us how the ruins of the dilapidated Western Empire were for a time rebuilt into an imposing structure by the genius of a great man, the grandest figure of the Middle Ages,—Charlemagne. The real name of this great man was Karl, that is, Charles. Though best known by his French name of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), we must remember that he was not a Frenchman in our sense of the term, but a thorough Teuton, or German, in birth, instinct, speech, and residence.

What the Dominions of Charlemagne Comprised

The kingdom of the Franks, to which Charlemagne fell heir on the death of his father, formed an extensive dominion comprising portions of the two countries we now call France and Germany,—for it must be remembered that the specific countries, France and Germany, did not yet exist at all.
At this time—the latter half of the eighth century—Italy was divided between the Lombards and the Eastern emperors, England had come into existence, but only as a number of feeble and warring states, Spain was under the rule of the Moslems. In the meantime the land of the Franks was lifting itself from out the surrounding barbarism of the new races, and was the center of that Germanic civilization which was struggling into existence.
It is important to bear in mind the actual condition of the European world at the time Charlemagne came on the stage, for it will help us to understand the work he did, how far he succeeded and how far he failed.

The Central Plan of Charlemagne’s Empire

The ruling idea of Charlemagne was the re-establishment of the Roman Empire,—the building up on German soil of that colossal power which had toppled over because it rested on the too narrow basis of Latin nationality. In executing this design he aimed to use all the elements of civilization that the times presented, and especially these two great elements,—the political ideas and instincts of the Teutons, and the adhesive power of the Christian Church. Hence we find him, throughout his whole career, carefully cherishing all those old German institutions upon which the mass of his people looked with deep reverence, while at the same time we behold him the protector of the Pope and the loyal and ardent champion of the Church.

Object of His Wars and His Chief Foes

It was in the effort to realize his grand idea that Charlemagne undertook the numerous wars and expeditions that filled the forty-six years of his reign. We shall not enter into the details of these wars; but it is needful to understand their object and their result.
The most important of Charlemagne’s military enterprises were directed against the fierce pagan nations of Germany and the wild Scythians in the outlying lands beyond. To appreciate the importance of these we must try to realize that the eastern frontier of the Frankish land, that is, the eastern boundary of Charlemagne’s kingdom, on the German side of the Rhine, ran into and abutted on the extensive stretch of country in Middle Europe that was still in the hands of the various uncivilized tribes. As long as these peoples remained in their warlike, savage, and pagan condition, they would press heavily on the struggling civilization of the Frankish kingdom, and would endanger, if not utterly destroy, its progress. Hence to subdue and especially to Christianize these tribes—to extend the domain of organized and law-governed society into the desert waste of Teutonic barbarism—was a main object with Charlemagne.

He Subdues the Saxons and Bavarians

With the Saxon confederation, formed by various pagan tribes on the Weser and the Elbe (the same tribes from among which the Saxons and Angles, who conquered Britain three centuries before this, had gone forth), Charlemagne had the greatest trouble. He repeatedly marched into their country and subdued them; but they constantly rose up again, and it was only after some terrible acts of vengeance,—for example, he one day had forty-two hundred prisoners hanged,—that they at length submitted to be baptized and to become peaceable subjects.
Soon after this the Bavarians attempted to render themselves independent of the Frankish power by the assistance of the Avars, a Tartar race living in what we now call Hungary (then Pannonia). Charlemagne overpowered the Bavarians, incorporating Bavaria with his German territory; and then revenged himself on the Avars by conquering them, taking their treasures, and annexing Hungary to his dominion.

The First Union of the Germans Under One Head

The result of Charlemagne’s conquests on the east side of the Rhine was that Germany was for the first time all united under one head, and on that side the Frankish kingdom was extended to the confluence of the Danube with the Theiss and the Save.
Against the Saracens in Spain Charlemagne made an important expedition. The capture of Saragossa laid Aragon and Navarre at his feet, and he united the whole country as far as the Ebro to his own kingdom as a Spanish province. During his return the rear-guard under Roland, suffered a defeat in the valley of Roncesvalles, in which the bravest champions of the Franks were destroyed. This somewhat tarnished the laurels Charlemagne had won in Spain, but did not undo the substantial results of the campaign.

Northern Italy United to His Empire

We must now see what Charlemagne did in Italy. At this period the Lombards were very troublesome to the Pope, and frequently assailed the Roman territory. Accordingly, when Pope Adrian I. called on Charlemagne for aid, the Frankish monarch crossed the Alps, defeated the Lombards, shut up their king in a monastery, and himself assuming the famous “iron crown” of Lombardy, united the whole of Upper Italy to the kingdom of the Franks (A.D. 773). At the same time he confirmed the gifts made by Pepin to the Pope.
The general result of all the wars and conquests which we have described was that by the year 800 Charlemagne, who had inherited from Pepin a kingdom scarcely equal to all Gaul, found himself lord of a dominion as large as the ancient Roman Empire of the West, and extending from the Ebro (in Spain) on the west to the Elbe in the northeast, the Theiss (Hungary) in the southeast, and including half of Italy, with Corsica, Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles. He fell heir to a kingdom; he was now master of an empire.

Crowned by the Pope as Emperor of the West

The year A.D. 800 forms the climax of Charlemagne’s reign. The sovereign had gone in splendid state to visit Italy. On Christmas day Charlemagne and his court were attending divine service in the church of St. Peter’s, at Rome. Suddenly, while the monarch was kneeling on the steps of the altar in prayer, the Pope, Leo III., placed a crown upon his head and solemnly saluted him as “Emperor of the West,” with the title of Charles I., Cæsar Augustus.

Charlemagne’s Contributions to the Civilization of His Time

The latter years of Charlemagne’s life were spent in labors for the consolidation of his empire and the elevation of his people. He was a great patron of learning and learned men. He was himself a good Latin scholar, and he knew something of Greek. Wherever he was he was usually surrounded by learned churchmen, whom he drew to his court from all quarters, and with whom he delighted to hold conversations on literary and other subjects. The emperor, his family, and all attached to his household formed what was called the “School of the Palace.” Fond of literary pursuits, Charlemagne studied grammar, rhetoric, music, logic, astronomy, and natural history under his learned friends; and even after he was considerably advanced in years he took the pains to acquire the art of writing,—an accomplishment then very unusual except among churchmen.

His Efforts for Education of His People

Nor was the emperor’s interest in education confined to his own household. Each of the numerous monasteries that he endowed was bound to maintain a school. He had copies of the writings of the ancient Romans made and distributed among the convents, he formed a collection of old German heroic ballads, and under his patronage church music was greatly improved.

Capital and Favorite Residence of Charlemagne

Charlemagne’s favorite place of residence was at Aix-la-Chapelle (in German, Aachen). He made this the northern capital of his empire, as Rome was the southern, and built a magnificent palace there. When his power was confirmed by his coronation as Emperor of the West, all the world hastened to pay him homage. The Saracen caliph, the famous Haroun-al-Raschid, who ruled the Eastern dominion of the Saracens, at Bagdad, exchanged courtesies with his great brother of the West, sending him, among other presents, an ape, an elephant, and a curious clock which struck the hours.

The End of Charlemagne’s Great Empire

Charlemagne died at the age of seventy-two, at Aix-la-Chapelle, in A.D. 814. The year before, he had caused his only living son, Louis, to assume the imperial crown. But the vast structure that Charlemagne had raised during his lifetime tottered and fell almost immediately after his death. Louis, known as the Gentle (le Debonnaire), was better fitted for the repose of a cloister than for the government of a warlike kingdom. His sons, among whom he divided the empire, turned their arms first against himself and then against one another. Finally, in A.D. 843, a treaty was made at Verdun, by which France, Germany and Italy became separate and independent states; so that, in less than thirty years after the death of Charlemagne, the history of the Franks came to an end, and the history of France and of Germany began.