Charlemagne (left) and Pippin the Hunchback. Tenth-century copy of a lost original from about 830.
Charlemagne (En: [ˈʃa(ɹ).lə.meɪn]; Fr: [ʃaʀ.lə.ˈmaɲ]; Latin: Carolus Magnus, meaning Charles
the Great) (742/747 – 28
January 814) was King of the Franks from 768
to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of
Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was
crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on
25 December 800, in an attempted revival of the
Roman Empire in the West. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms,
Charlemagne helped define Western Europe and the Middle
Ages. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a
revival of art, religion, and culture.
His original name in the Old Frankish language was never recorded, but early instances
of his name in Latin read "Carolus" or "Karolus". The son of King Pippin the Short and
Bertrada of Laon, he succeeded his father and co-ruled with his brother
Carloman. The latter withdrew, seemingly voluntarily, from public life in
747 and became a monk, dying in 771. Charlemagne continued the policy of his father towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and
waging war on the Saracens, who menaced his realm from Spain. It
was during one of these campaigns that Charlemagne experienced the worst defeat of his life, at Roncesvalles (778). He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, especially the
Saxons, and after a protracted war subjected them to his rule. By converting them to
Christianity, he integrated them into his realm and thus paved the way for the later Ottonian
dynasty.
Today regarded by some as the founding father of both France and Germany and sometimes as the Father of Europe, he was the first ruler of a Western European empire since
the fall of the Roman Empire.[1] H. G. Wells said in his Short History of the World:
| “ |
Charlemagne, who began to reign in 768, found himself lord of a realm so large that he
could think of reviving the title of Latin Emperor. He conquered North Italy and made himself master of Rome.[2] |
” |
Background
A Frankish king (center), like Charlemagne, depicted in the Sacramentary of
Charles the
Bald (about 870).
By the 6th century, the Franks were Christianised, and the Frankish Empire ruled by the
Merovingians had become the most powerful of the kingdoms which succeeded the
Western Roman Empire. But following the Battle
of Tertry, the Merovingians declined into a state of powerlessness, for which they have been dubbed do-nothing kings
(French: rois fainéants). Almost all government powers of
any consequence were exercised by their chief officer, the mayor of the palace or
major domus.
In 687, Pippin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of
Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at Tertry and became the sole governor of the
entire Frankish kingdom. Pippin himself was the grandson of two most important figures of the Austrasian Kingdom, Saint
Arnulf of Metz and Pippin of Landen. Pippin the
Middle was eventually succeeded by his illegitimate son Charles, later known as Charles
Martel (the Hammer). After 737, Charles governed the Franks without a king on the throne but desisted from calling himself
"king". Charles was succeeded by his sons Carloman and Pippin the Short, the father of Charlemagne. To curb separatism in the periphery of the realm, the
brothers placed on the throne Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian king.
After Carloman resigned his office, Pippin had Childeric III deposed with Pope Zachary's
approval. In 751, Pippin was elected and anointed King of the Franks and in 754, Pope Stephen II again anointed him and his young sons, now heirs to
the great realm which already covered most of western and central Europe. Thus was the Merovingian dynasty replaced by the
Carolingian dynasty, named after Pippin's father Charles Martel.
Under the new dynasty, the Frankish kingdom spread to encompass an area including most of Western Europe. The division of that
kingdom formed France and Germany;[2] and the religious,
political, and artistic evolutions originating from a
centrally-positioned Francia made a defining imprint on the whole of Western Europe.
Personal traits
Date and place of birth
Charlemagne is traditionally believed to have been born on April 2, 742; however, several
factors have led to a reconsideration of this date. First, the year 742 was calculated from his age given at death, rather than
from attestation in primary sources. Another date is given in the Annales Petarienses,
April 1, 747. In that year, April 1 was at Easter. The birth of an emperor at eastertime is a coincidence likely to provoke comment, but there was no such
comment documented in 747, leading some to suspect that the Easter birthday was a pious fiction concocted as a way of honoring
the Emperor. Other commentators weighing the primary records have suggested that his birth was one year later, in 748. At
present, it is impossible to be certain of the date of the birth of Charlemagne. The best guesses include April 1, 747, after April 15, 747, or April
1, 748, in Herstal (where his father was born), a city close to Liège, in Belgium, the region from where both the Merovingian and
Carolingian families originate. He went to live in his father's villa in Jupille when he was
around seven, which caused Jupille to be listed as a possible place of birth in almost every history book. Other cities have been
suggested, including, Prüm, Düren, Gauting and Aachen.
Language
Charlemagne's native tongue is a matter of controversy. He spoke the Germanic language of the Franks of his day, which should be called Old Frankish, but linguists differ on the identity and
periodisation of the language, some going so far as to say that he did not speak Old Frankish as he was born in 742 or 747, by
which time Old Frankish had become extinct. Old Frankish is reconstructed from its descendant, Old Low Franconian, also called Old Dutch, and from loanwords to
Old French. Linguists know very little about Old Frankish, as it attested mainly as phrases
and words in the law codes of the main Frankish tribes (especially those of the Salian and Ripuarian Franks), which are written
in Latin interspersed with Germanic elements.[3]
The area of Charlemagne's birth does not make determination of his native language easier. Most historians agree he was born
around Liège, like his father, but some say he was born in or around Aachen, some fifty kilometres away. At that time, this was an area of great linguistic diversity. If we take
Liège (around 750) as the centre, we find Low Franconian in the north and northwest, Gallo-Romance (the ancestor of Old French) in the south and southwest and various
Old High German dialects in the east. If Gallo-Romance is excluded, that means he either
spoke Old Low Franconian or an Old High German dialect, probably with a strong Frankish influence.
Apart from his native language he also spoke some Latin and understood a bit of
Greek: Grecam vero melius intellegere quam pronuntiare poterat, "He understood
Greek better than he could pronounce it."[4]
Names of Charlemagne
Because of the number of languages spoken within his Empire, Charlemagne's name has been preserved in many different languages
in different forms. The language of Charlemagne itself does not exist anymore, but evolved into the Franconian languages. "Charles" derives from a Germanic stem meaning "man" or
"free man".[5] It is related to the English
"churl". In many Slavic languages, the very word for "king" derives from Charles' Slavicised
name.
Modern variants in Germanic languages (except English) are:
The Germanic name was Latinised (Latin: Carolus Magnus) and preserved in the modern
Romance languages (as well as English):
Modern variants in and the Slavic languages influenced by the Germanic name are:
The Breton variant is Karl-Veur.
The Germanic variants (den Store, de Grote, de Grutte, der Große, and de Groussen) also
refer to the fact that Charlemagne was tall (seven of his own feet, or 1.93 m (6 ft 4))[6]. Names of other Carolingian rulers
also refer to their physical features. For example Pippin the Short, Charles the Bald, Charles the Fat, Louis the Blind, and Louis the Child.
Personal appearance
Though no description from Charlemagne's lifetime exists, his personal appearance is known from a good description by
Einhard, author of the biographical Vita Caroli Magni. He is well known to have been
tall, stately, and fair-haired, with a disproportionately thick neck. His skeleton was measured during the 18th century and his
height was determined to be 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in [3]), and as Einhard tells it in his twenty-second chapter:
- 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.
The Roman tradition of realistic personal portraiture was in complete eclipse at this time, where individual traits were
submerged in iconic typecastings. Charlemagne, as an ideal ruler, ought to be portrayed
in the corresponding fashion, any contemporary would have assumed. The images of enthroned Charlemagne, God's representative on
Earth, bear more connections to the icons of Christ in majesty than to modern (or antique)
conceptions of portraiture. Charlemagne in later imagery (as in the Dürer portrait) is
often portrayed with flowing blond hair, due to a misunderstanding of Einhard, who describes Charlemagne as having canitie
pulchra, or "beautiful white hair", which has been rendered as blonde or fair in many translations. The Latin word for blond is flavus, and rutilo, meaning auburn, is the word Tacitus uses for the hair of Germanic peoples.
Dress
Part of the treasure in Aachen
Charlemagne wore the traditional, inconspicuous and distinctly non-aristocratic costume of the Frankish people, described by
Einhard thus:
- He used to wear the national, that is to say, the Frank dress: next to his skin a linen shirt and linen breeches, and
above these a tunic fringed with silk; while hose fastened by bands covered his lower limbs, and shoes his feet, and he protected
his shoulders and chest in winter by a close-fitting coat of otter or marten skins.
He wore a blue cloak and always carried a sword with him. The typical sword was of a
golden or silver hilt. He wore fancy
jewelled swords to banquets or ambassadorial receptions. Nevertheless:
- He despised foreign costumes, however handsome, and never allowed himself to be robed in them, except twice in Rome, when
he donned the Roman tunic, chlamys, and shoes; the first time at the request of Pope Hadrian, the second to gratify Leo,
Hadrian's successor.
He could rise to the occasion when necessary. On great feast days, he wore embroidery and jewels on his clothing and shoes. He
had a golden buckle for his cloak on such occasions and would appear with his great diadem, but he despised such apparel, according to Einhard, and usually dressed like the common
people.
Rise to power
Early life
Charlemagne was the eldest child of Pippin the Short (714 – 24 September 768, reigned
from 751) and his wife Bertrada of Laon (720 – 12 July
783), daughter of Caribert of Laon and Bertrada of Cologne. The reliable records name only Carloman and Gisela as his younger siblings. Later accounts,
however, indicate that Redburga, wife of King Egbert of
Wessex, might have been his sister (or sister-in-law or niece), and the legendary material makes him Roland's maternal uncle through a lady Bertha.
Much of what is known of Charlemagne's life comes from his biographer, Einhard, who wrote a
Vita Caroli Magni (or Vita Karoli Magni), the Life of Charlemagne. Einhard says of the early life of
Charles:
- It would be folly, I think, to write a word concerning Charles' birth and infancy, or even his boyhood, for nothing has
ever been written on the subject, and there is no one alive now who can give information on it. Accordingly, I determined to pass
that by as unknown, and to proceed at once to treat of his character, his deed, and such other facts of his life as are worth
telling and setting forth, and shall first give an account of his deed at home and abroad, then of his character and pursuits,
and lastly of his administration and death, omitting nothing worth knowing or necessary to know.
On the death of Pippin, the kingdom of the Franks was divided—following tradition—between Charlemagne and Carloman. Charles
took the outer parts of the kingdom, bordering on the sea, namely Neustria, western
Aquitaine, and the northern parts of Austrasia, while
Carloman retained the inner parts: southern Austrasia, Septimania, eastern Aquitaine,
Burgundy, Provence, and Swabia, lands bordering on Italy. Perhaps Pippin regarded Charlemagne as the
better warrior, but Carloman may have regarded himself as the more deserving son, being the son, not of a mayor of the palace,
but of a king.
Joint rule
On 9 October, immediately after the funeral of their father, both the kings withdrew from
Saint Denis to be proclaimed by their nobles and consecrated by the bishops, Charlemagne in
Noyon and Carloman in Soissons.
The first event of the brothers' reign was the rising of the Aquitainians and Gascons, in 769, in that territory split between the two kings. Years before Pippin had suppressed the
revolt of Waifer, Duke of Aquitaine. Now,
one Hunald (seemingly other than Hunald the duke) led the Aquitainians as far north
as Angoulême. Charlemagne met Carloman, but Carloman refused to participate and returned to
Burgundy. Charlemagne went to war, leading an army to Bordeaux, where he set up a camp at
Fronsac. Hunold was forced to flee to the court of Duke Lupus II of Gascony. Lupus,
fearing Charlemagne, turned Hunold over in exchange for peace. He was put in a monastery. Aquitaine was finally fully subdued by
the Franks.
The brothers maintained lukewarm relations with the assistance of their mother Bertrada, but Charlemagne signed a treaty with
Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and married a daughter of King Desiderius of the Lombards who may have been named Gerperga in order to
surround Carloman with his own allies. Though Pope Stephen III first opposed the
marriage with the Lombard princess, he would have little to fear of a Frankish-Lombard alliance in a few months.
Charlemagne repudiated his wife and quickly married another, a 13-year-old Swabian named Hildegard. The repudiated Gerperga returned to her father's court at Pavia. The Lombard's wrath was now aroused and he would gladly have allied with Carloman to defeat Charles. But
before war could break out, Carloman died on 5 December 771.
Carloman's wife Gerberga (often confused by contemporary historians with Charlemagne's former
wife, who probably shared her name) fled to Desiderius' court with her sons for protection. This action is usually considered
either a sign of Charlemagne's enmity or Gerberga's confusion.
Italian campaigns
Conquest of Lombardy
The Frankish king Charlemagne was a devout Catholic who maintained a close relationship with the papacy throughout his life. In
772, when
Pope Hadrian I was threatened by invaders, the king rushed to Rome to provide
assistance. Shown here, the pope asks Charlemagne for help at a meeting near Rome.
At the succession of Pope Hadrian I in 772, he demanded the return of certain cities in
the former exarchate of Ravenna as in accordance with a promise of Desiderius'
succession. Desiderius instead took over certain papal cities and invaded the Pentapolis,
heading for Rome. Hadrian sent embassies to Charlemagne in autumn requesting he enforce the
policies of his father, Pippin. Desiderius sent his own embassies denying the pope's charges. The embassies both met at
Thionville and Charlemagne upheld the pope's side. Charlemagne promptly demanded what the
pope had demanded and Desiderius promptly swore never to comply. The invasion was not short in coming. Charlemagne and his uncle
Bernard crossed the Alps in 773 and chased
the Lombards back to Pavia, which they then besieged. Charlemagne temporarily left the
siege to deal with Adelchis, son of Desiderius, who was raising an army at Verona. The young prince was chased to the Adriatic littoral and he fled to
Constantinople to plead for assistance from Constantine V
Copronymus, who was waging war with the Bulgars.
The siege lasted until the spring of 774, when Charlemagne visited the pope in Rome. There he confirmed his father's grants of
land, with some later chronicles claiming—falsely—that he also expanded them, granting Tuscany,
Emilia, Venice, and Corsica. The pope granted him the title patrician. He then returned to
Pavia, where the Lombards were on the verge of surrendering.
In return for their lives, the Lombards surrendered and opened the gates in early summer. Desiderius was sent to the
abbey of Corbie and his son Adelchis died in Constantinople a
patrician. Charles, unusually, had himself crowned with the Iron Crown and made
the magnates of Lombardy do homage to him at Pavia. Only Duke Arechis II of
Benevento refused to submit and proclaimed independence. Charlemagne was now master of Italy as king of the Lombards. He
left Italy with a garrison in Pavia and few Frankish counts in place that very year.
Southern Italy
There was still instability, however, in Italy. In 776, Dukes Hrodgaud of Friuli
and Hildeprand of Spoleto rebelled. Charlemagne whisked back from Saxony and defeated the duke of Friuli in battle. The duke was slain. The duke of Spoleto signed a treaty. Their
co-conspirator, Arechis, was not subdued and Adelchis, their candidate in Byzantium, never
left that city. Northern Italy was now faithfully his.
In 787, Charlemagne directed his attention towards Benevento, where Arechis was reigning
independently. He besieged Salerno and Arechis submitted to vassalage. However, with his death in 792, Benevento again proclaimed independence under his son Grimoald III. Grimoald was attacked by armies of Charles' or his sons' many times, but
Charlemagne himself never returned to the Mezzogiorno and Grimoald never was forced to
surrender to Frankish suzerainty.
Charles and his children
During the first peace of any substantial length (780–782), Charles began to appoint his sons to positions of authority within
the realm, in the tradition of the kings and mayors of the past. In 780, he had disinherited his eldest son, Pippin the Hunchback, because the young man had joined a rebellion against him. Pippin had been
duped, through flattery, into joining a rebellion of nobles who pretended to despise Charles' treatment of Himiltrude, Pippin's mother, in 770. Charles renamed his son Carloman
as Pippin to keep the name alive in the dynasty. In 781, he made his oldest three sons kings. The eldest, Charles, received the kingdom of Neustria,
containing the regions of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. The second eldest, Pippin, was made king of Italy, taking the
Iron Crown which his father had first worn in 774. His third eldest son, Louis, became