Charlemagne
King of the Franks; Emperor of the Romans
"Right action is better than knowledge; but in order to do what is right, we must know what is right."
Biography
Charles the Great — Charlemagne — was the towering figure of the early Middle Ages, a warrior-king who spent nearly his whole reign on campaign and forged the largest European empire since Rome. Tall, energetic, and restlessly ambitious, he conquered the Lombards of Italy, absorbed Bavaria, destroyed the Avars, and waged a merciless thirty-year war to subdue and Christianise the pagan Saxons — a struggle marked by both his greatest atrocity, the massacre of Verden, and his eventual, total success. But he was far more than a conqueror. He gathered scholars from across Europe to his court, sparking the 'Carolingian Renaissance' that revived learning, standardised the Latin script, and preserved much of the classical heritage. On Christmas Day 800 the Pope crowned him Emperor, reviving the Roman imperial title in the West. When he died in 814, he left an empire that soon fragmented — but an idea of a unified Christian Europe, and a template of Western kingship, that endured for a thousand years. He is remembered as the 'Father of Europe.'
Did you know?
According to his biographer Einhard, the mighty emperor tried to learn to write in his old age, keeping tablets under his pillow to practise, but 'his effort came too late in life and achieved little success.'
Key Battles
The Saxon Wars Begin
The Frankish Empire victory772 · 3,000 total casualties
The destruction of the Irminsul announced the character of the Saxon Wars — a war of conquest and religion combined, aimed not merely at submission but at the annihilation of Saxon paganism and independence. It would become the longest and cruellest of all Charlemagne's campaigns.
The Conquest of Lombardy (Siege of Pavia)
The Frankish Empire victory773 – 774 · 5,000 total casualties
The conquest of Lombardy made Charlemagne master of Italy and protector of the papacy, forging the alliance between the Frankish crown and the Church of Rome that would culminate in his imperial coronation and shape the whole of medieval European history.
The Massacre of Verden
The Frankish Empire victory782 · 4,500 total casualties
The Massacre of Verden was meant to terrorise the Saxons into submission, but it did the opposite, provoking years of fiercer resistance. It remains the darkest stain on Charlemagne's reputation, and its memory would be grotesquely revived by German nationalists over a thousand years later.
The Avar Wars
The Frankish Empire victory791 – 796 · 15,000 total casualties
The destruction of the Avar khaganate removed a great power from the map of Europe almost overnight and flooded the Frankish realm with a legendary hoard of gold and silver. It extended Charlemagne's empire to the middle Danube and shattered a people who soon vanished from history entirely.
The Imperial Coronation
The Frankish Empire victoryDecember 25, 800 · 0 total casualties
The coronation of 800 was one of the most consequential events in European history. It created the medieval Western Empire, cemented the alliance of throne and altar, asserted the independence of the Latin West from Byzantium, and laid the ideological foundation of the Holy Roman Empire that would endure for a thousand years.
Life Journey
Timeline
c. 748
🌅 Birth
Born in the Frankish heartland
774
⚔️ Battle
Conquers the Lombards and becomes King of Italy
December 25, 800
📍 Posting
Crowned Emperor of the Romans
January 28, 814
✝️ Death
Dies at Aachen, 'Father of Europe'