The Franks and Frisians had long been rivals. The Franks had enjoyed the favour of the Popes in Rome since the conversion of Clovis in 496 and were seen as the natural successors to a Catholic version of the old Roman Empire. Charlemagne spent most of his reign conquering neighbouring tribes and defeated the Frisians, one of the last pagan groups left in Europe, whom he forcibly converted.

Charlemagne, first Holy Roman Empire of the west

by Catherine Buma

Charlemagne was one of history’s greatest empire builders. Einhard, his contemporary and biographer, described him as a striking figure both in appearance and manner.

“Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though not disproportionately tall (his height is well known to have been seven times the length of his foot); the upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry. Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified, whether he was standing or sitting; although his neck was thick and somewhat short, and his belly rather prominent; but the symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects. His gait was firm, his whole carriage manly, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his size led one to expect.”(Einhart, The Life of Charlemagne).

Strides in learning

Besides the expansion of the Frankish empire, Charlemagne was noted for his endorsement of a liberal education.  He had great admiration for learned scholars and, in fact, scholars at his court developed Carolingian miniscule, a script that is the basis for modern printing and cursive.

“He most zealously cultivated the liberal arts, held those who taught them in great esteem, and conferred great honors upon them. He took lessons in grammar of the deacon Peter of Pisa, at that time an aged man. Another deacon, Albin of Britain, surnamed Alcuin, a man of Saxon extraction, who was the greatest scholar of the day, was his teacher in other branches of learning. The King spent much time and labour with him studying rhetoric, dialectics, and especially astronomy; he learned to reckon, and used to investigate the motions of the heavenly bodies most curiously, with an intelligent scrutiny. He also tried to write, and used to keep tablets and blanks in bed under his pillow, that at leisure hours he might accustom his hand to form the letters; however, as he did not begin his efforts in due season, but late in life, they met with ill success.” (Einhard)

Almost half of Charlemagne’s 47 year reign was spent on the campaign trail.  He nearly doubled the empire that his grandfather and father had built.  The plunder and land that he acquired through battle were needed to satisfy the greed of his landed nobles.

Expansion of the Frankish Empire

Europe at the time of Charlemagne measured wealth in terms of land and so its acquisition was the chief end of the landed magnates.  Charlemagne’s government was loosely centralized and relied upon the loyalty of the nobles and Charles knew that his dukes and counts had a tendency to act independently of him.  To counter this he employed Missi Dominici.  These officials were sent out two by two, one lay, one clergy, on yearly trips through the kingdom.  These men were responsible for spreading the king’s law and hearing legal cases as well as establishing schools for children regardless of background.  They were supposed to be impartial and could not be employed in the same region twice or serve in their homeland.  However, at the time of Charlemagne's death in 814, the system was beginning to break down as corruption flourished and local magnates began to assume more power.

Charlemagne crowned as Holy Roman Emperor

In 800 on Christmas Day, Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor.  The Pope had been rescued by Charlemagne and credited him with saving Rome. The Frankish Royal Annals record that one of the king's advisers suggested the coronation to the pope; however, Einhard, his biographer and a scholar at his court, reports that the coronation surprised and angered the king.  This illustrates the unique marriage between church and state at the time.  It was possible that Charlemagne considered the Pope his subject and not the other way around.  It was common for him to adopt and shed the morality of the church as he saw fit, as evidenced by his numerous concubines.

The merger of Catholicism and paganism in medieval Europe

The church at this time was respected amongst the landed magnates, most likely because of its large land holdings.  However, the ‘pagans’ that inhabited much of Western and Northern Europe had only recently adopted Catholicism.  They sought to replace their spiritual needs with aspects of the church that paralleled their old religion.  In essence it was paganism with a thin Christian veneer.  The worship of saints flourished as a sort of protection from demons and the ill will of spirit beings.  Churches eagerly sought to acquire relics and individuals often placed splinters of bone in a small bag to be worn about the neck.  In fact, Rome had to move many of the bones of its martyrs and saints into the inner city and issue the death penalty against desecrating holy tombs in order to deter relic merchants. 

Charlemagne was buried at Aix-la-Chappelle, or Aachen.  Antipope Pascal III "canonized" him at the request of Frederick Barbarise in 1165, and the familiar golden statue is his reliquary.  And like any great empire builder, his legend continues to grow; there are those who believe that Charlemagne himself will be back to battle the anti-Christ.