Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, ruled the Franks from 768–814 A.D. He was a kindhearted man, who also a merciless warrior. Charlemagne was resolved to expand his kingdom to a grandiose empire, which he completed especially well. He also converted the nation to Christianity and the nation’s customary language to Latin. People thought he ruled with the sword and with the cross.
Charlemagne (Charles the Great) was the elder son of Pepin the Short and a grandson of Charles Martel. A strong leader, Charlemagne wanted to create a new Christian Roman Empire in Western Europe. He defeated the Lombards in to protect the pope. Charles invaded spain and attacked the muslums. He also attacked the Saxsons andand converted them to Christianity.
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.
The Carefully Crafted Legend: Einhard’s distortions in The Life of Charlemagne Einhard’s The Life of Charlemagne is a famous biography that provides a firsthand account of the deeds and character of Charles the Great. Einhard was a close contemporary to Charlemagne and his court, with Walahfrid Strabo’s preface describing how there “was almost no one else among the many officials of the king’s majesty to whom the king . . . . Entrusted so many secrets.” Despite Einhard’s seemingly well researched and honest biography, there are far too many distortions and inconsistencies in this work to completely trust this work. Einhard’s information on Charlemagne’s birth and early childhood is suspect.
There are many examples in the document that reinforce Charlemagne’s status as a Christian warrior, particularly in his use of oaths and relics. First, Charlemagne’s war victories that were “…most skillfully planned and successfully fought...,” led him to the expansion of the Frank kingdom. He was also favored by the surrounding nations which helped the kingdom expansion by double. Charlemagne also valued his friendships with other kings or emperors in the area. It is stated that he left cities on the coast to the Greek Emperor for the sake of their friendship, “and because of the treaty that he had made with him”.
Author of the book, Becoming Charlemagne, by Jeff Sypeck provides a clear glimpse into the life of one of the world’s greatest kings and ruler and later emperor Charlemagne, otherwise known as Karl or Charles the Great. Sypeck creates a vivid and strong look into the time of Charlemagne, early medieval Europe and some other important world leaders, including Pope Leo III, Irene the Byzantine emperor, Alcuin the scholar and Harun al-Rashid ruler of Baghdad. These figures are crucial to the story of Karl becoming Charlemagne, and their stories included in the book help form and symbolize Charlemagne the Ruler. Understanding Charlemagne and early medieval Europe is presented vibrantly throughout the book by in-depth stories, facts and a clear
Primary Source Paper 2 The Life of Charlemagne was written by Einhard a little after Charlemagne death in 814. Einhard wrote the biography to make sure that Charlemagne’s legacy would not be forgotten. He would list many points in this biography, but I’ve decided to only point out three of them. These three chapters are his deeds, his family life, and his life with the Christian religion.
Charlemagne, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, and Emperor of Rome, did not achieve these positions just with luck. He worked hard to dominate his kingdom and gain respect from the people. How did Charlemagne become such a powerful figure during the 7th and 8th century? Many contributing factors played a role to his success including the work that his father and grandfather did in order to unite the kingdom and pass it down to Charlemagne, working with the Catholic Church, and conquering land through quite a few wars and campaigns. There are also certain characteristics
Death Comes for Everyone The Black Death in Europe caused around 50 million people to die. Prince Prospero is living in his castle having a good time while others are outside suffering from the Red Death. The are all having a good time care free because the castle supposedly has no way in or out.
GRQ 6 1. In what ways did Charlemagne link religion and governing? Was he successful in doing so? Be sure to defend your point of view with clear facts!
The skills most important to obtaining power and leading effectively are the skills that deteriorate once we have power. In most cases true leaders won’t abuse the power that they are given and they will use it for the better good. If it gets into the wrong hands then it’s more then likely to be used in a selfish way. The play is about a soldier who wants to be king because a couple of witches told him his fate. He planned to overrule the kingdom and after he did that he had everything, but it just wasn’t enough.
“The significance of a person to the development of a society depends on the perspective of the person writing about them.” Is this statement true? Write a structured written response,1½ pages long referring to ONE significant person from Medieval European times to support your view. The significance of a person to the development of a society depends on the perspective of the person writing about them is true and can be seen as true when analysing Charlemagne, a significant person from Medieval Europe.
Charlemagne was the one of the great rulers of early European history. He was the King of the Franks in the 8th century and facilitated great expansion of his empire through conquest and diplomacy. Einhard was a monk who lived under Charlemagne’s rule, and, in a glowing light, he wrote a biography of Charlemagne. Einhard describes many of Charlemagne’s achievements, and he also writes about Charlemagne’s character. Einhard believed Charlemagne was a great leader because of his military success, his beautification of the kingdom, and his exceptional character qualities.
Charlemagne wanted to defend the church due to the power that it provoked. He worked to strengthen the role of the church in order to improve the hierarchical structure and the power of the clergy. Along with the church were the oaths that Charlemagne believed in, to ensure loyalty to all of his subjects. Using these oaths, he believed that fidelity should be promised. “Each one according to his vow and occupation, should now promise to him as emperor the fidelity which he had previously promised to him as king.”
From reading the text, the information I obtained was that the Middle Ages was the most unpleasant and dirtiest time in Europe between 450 and 1450 it was after the time the Roman empire was demolished. The catholic church ruled over most of Europe, and because the Middle or Dark ages were such a miserable time in European history the music was a reflection of the people. Going back to the catholic church most if not all the song were written for the church but mostly for God, because the music was written for God that is why it is rare to find the composer's name on composition for it was seen as blasphemous. Most of the songs were sung and written in Latin with monophonic singing known as the Gregorian chant, this was one of the popular
