Biography of Charlemagne


Charlemagne is the King of the Franks and Lombards, the Emperor, who revived the Holy Roman Empire.

According to scientists, Karl was born on April 2, 742. The place of his birth is also unknown, as possible indicated: Ingelheim, Aachen, Salzburg and some others. Karl’s parents were Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. Carl was the eldest child in the family. He was distinguished by strong health, from early childhood was endowed with an outstanding mind and extraordinary natural abilities. Most of all, Karl loved military affairs.

After the death of his father, Carl, along with his younger brother Carloman, ascended the royal throne. Each of them received his part of the kingdom. However, the brothers did not get along with each other, and they supported the world with great difficulty. The threat of the collapse of the kingdom came to naught with the sudden death of Carloman in 771. Karl, in turn, became the sole ruler of all francs.

Having come to power,

the king began to expand the territories and sphere of his influence. So, after the death of his brother, Karl began a war with the northern Germanic tribe of the Saxons, which continued intermittently for 33 years. The Saxons were pagans and did not want to accept Christianity. The first campaign against them took place in 772, when Karl destroyed the fortress of Eresburg and the main pagan shrine – the Saxon idol of Irminsoul. After this, the Saxons temporarily subjugated Charles and in 773 the world came.

After this, Charlemagne proceeded to resolve Italian affairs. With his first wife, Karl divorced in order to marry the daughter of the Lombard king, Desiderata, and thus conclude an alliance with him. This union did not last long, because, having divorced with Desiderata in 771 and having sent her to his father, the angry Lombard king went with the war to the Franks. In 773, at the request of Pope Adrian I, Charles the Great moved with troops to the south, to Italy. After the defeat of the Lombards in 774, their state was annexed to the Frankish kingdom. Adrian I proclaimed Charlemagne the Emperor of

Rome, and Charles, in turn, recognized the Pope’s right to spiritual authority throughout Western Europe.

In 775 the war against the Saxons was resumed. He could not completely subordinate himself to them, however, he managed to win a series of victories over the tribes, and make them receive baptism. In 778, Charles decided to expand his territory to the south. He made a campaign against Spain, which resulted in the defeat of the Frankish troops. Back in their possession, Carla was waiting for other troubles. The Saxons again raised the insurrection and resumed the war. The uprising was suppressed, the Saxons were compelled to again recognize the power of the Franks.

In 785 the whole of Saxony was subordinated to Charlemagne. After that, Bayern became part of the kingdom. Now the territory of the possessions of Charles stretched from Spain to the River Elbe, from Naples to the North Sea border. The capital of a huge unified state was the German city of Aachen. The state of Karl was divided into counties, at the head of which he placed his faithful people. In the affairs of the counties, the ruler did not intervene without need. Karl issued laws and regulations that were respected by local residents. For children, he ordered to create textbooks, took great pains to educate his people.

Carl died after a severe fever and pleurisy on January 28, 814 in Aachen.

The empire created by Charles the Great was inherited by his son Louis the Pious. He did not possess the qualities of a ruler, and soon a huge empire broke up into separate states: Italy, France and Germany.


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Biography of Charlemagne