What are the accomplishments of Charlemagne?

Answer 1

Charlemagne was the driving force behind the "Carolingian Renaissance". He was a man who was born before his time.

He believed in universal education for all rich or poor, male or female. He helped established village schools for children and poor adults if they wished. He had a tutor for not only his sons, but his daughters, his wives and concubines and his female servants.

He joined together a biggest empire ever seen in that time period. It was included territory not in the Rome Empire than had proceeded it. He controlled almost all of modern Western Europe and part of Spain.

He established a common currency which was one silver penny known as a denarius which served as the currency for the entire empire. So solid was the empire's economy that other countries in Asia and Africa used it as the basis for their own currency much like what the US dollar used to be used for.

He ordered the monks of the church to copy all the known Greek and Roman texts from the "Golden Age" of Antiquity. Without those texts being copied they would have never survived to this day. In addition without those copies they would not have survived and being used as the basis for the 16th century or Italian Renaissance.

He made Latin the common language of the empire but also allowed monks to copy religious texts using the 'vernacular' or common Frankish (that would be modern German) language. This was highly unusual and would not be seen again until the time of Martin Luther and the Reformation.

He concerned himself with corruption in the church and brought back the use of the Rule of Benedict for all monks. This was a very strict guide to how a monk's life and everyday work should be completed. He stopped church officials from profiting from their positions.

He acted as a patron to artists, sculptors, architects,writers and scholars. He gathered around himself at his court in Aachen a large circle of the best scholars of his empire. His accomplishments were many and varied as you can see.