Ap Euro Dbq On Charlemagne

Throughout history, the decisions that various leaders made have been debated as to whether or not they were correct in the context of the religion and events occuring at the time. Their individual background and actions are considered in order to accurately determine their intentions. Charlemagne was the ruler of a greatly expanding Frankish empire that was largely Christian. As the king continued to conquer new territories, he began to force the people to convert to Christianity. By examining what we know about his empire and attempt to spread the Christian religion, we can see that Charlemagne did in fact have good intentions, but his method of forcing conversion was not in accordance with God’s will. Charlemagne conquered many territories,

The king saw it as their duty to “defend the holy Church of Christ from the attacks of pagans and infidels from without, and within to enforce the acceptance of the Catholic faith.” (Document 2) By this, his good intentions can be seen in forcing the conquered nations to accept Christianity, but he went astray with his methods. Charlemagne wished for the name of Jesus Christ to be glorified throughout the world as stated in the letter. The king himself, with great piety and devotion, “practiced the Christian religion in which he had been reared from infancy.” (Einhard, p. 36) He made Christianity a central part of the kingdom, and often devoted himself to repairing the sacred places and building up those in charge of them. As he held religion to such a high importance, it is likely that Charlemagne believed that he was doing good by converting the

He tells him that, by the gospel, “A person can be drawn into the Faith, not forced into it.” (Document 3) Instead of forcing the people to convert to Christianity, the gospel should be taught to everyone, as they will not obtain salvation if they do not decide for themselves whether to accept it as the truth and live by it. This is the way that God intended for the gospel to be spread throughout the world. It has no impact on a person if they do not make the decision of their own accord to accept God into their