Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, King of the Franks (742

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, King of the Franks (742-814) Essay Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, King of the Franks (742-814), was a strong leader who unified Western Europe through military power and the blessing of the Church. His belief in the need for education among the Frankish people was to bring about religious, political, and educational reforms that would change the history of Europe. Charlemagne was born in 742 at Aachen, the son of Pepin(or Pippin) the Short and grandson of Charles Martel. His grandfather, Charles, had begun the process of unifying western Europe, in the belief that all people should be Christian. Charlemagnes father, Pepin, continued this process throughout his rule and passed his beliefs on to Charlemagne. All three, in addition to the political unification, believed that the church should be reformed and reorganized under the Pope, which helped their rise to power as the Carolingian Dynasty. (Holmes 74) Upon Pepins death in 768, Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, each inherited half of the Frankish kingdom. Pepin, in the Merovingian tradition of the time, split his kingdom between his two sons. Three years later Carloman died and Charlemagne took control of the entire kingdom. He inherited great wealth and a powerful army, built by his father and grandfather. Charlemagne used the army and his own skillful planning to more than double the size of the Frankish Kingdom. (Halsall 15) The world of Charlemagne was a heathen one, with many warring tribes or kingdoms. Many of these tribes were conquered by Charlemagne, among them the Aquitanians, the Lombards, the Saxons, the Bretons, the Bavarians, the Huns, and the Danes. The longest of these battles was against the Saxons, lasting thirty-three years. Charlemagne actually defeated them many times, but due to their faithlessness nd their propensity to return to their pagan lifestyle, the Saxons lost many lives in the prolonged battles with the Franks. With each conquest the Frankish kingdom grew, and with growth came additional power and responsibility for Charlemagne. In each area of Europe that was taken over by Charlemagne, he removed the leaders if they would not convert to Christianity and appointed new ones, usually someone with high position in the Church. Those people who refused to convert or be baptized in the church were put to death. Holmes 75) The Church played a vital role in the kingdom of Charlemagne. It gave a sense f stability to Charlemagnes rule, and he in turn provided stability in the Church. The people conquered by Charlemagne, after being converted to Christianity, were taught through the Bible a unified code of right and wrong. It was necessary for the Church to play a role in this education of the people, because only the clergy were educated. (Boussard 92) The Church also guided Charlemagnes hand as a ruler, for he took on many conquests as a necessity to spread the Christian religion throughout Europe. Ganshoff 19) Indeed, it appears that Charlemagnes desire to spread his kingdom and government was ntertwined with his desire to spread the Christian religion and have the people live according to the Word of God. (Ganshoff 25) At the beginning of the Carolingian dynasty the Church was suffering from many problems. Paganistic peoples, a degradation of the Latin language, and the decline of power of the Pope or Papacy all contributed to the need for a leader to bring about reformation. Charles Martel, Pepin, and ultimately Charlemagne all took as their personal responsibility the reorganization of the Church. Each one, as king of the Franks, saw it his duty to better the state of his hurches. (Ganshoff 205) Charlemagne, through the monasteries and ultimately the Palace School, required all priests to learn classic Latin. His purpose was to insure that church services were always conducted in the proper form, with correct pronunciation and grammar. The education of the priests also served to provide Charlemagne with a growing number of educated people for his administration, and gave his kingdom a unified written language that could be passed on throughout all of Western Europe. What is the analogy between the city and the soul in Plato’s republic? EssayHe accomplished many goals that would set the stage for the growth of Medieval Europe. Charlemagne took measures aimed at stabilizing the coinage of the day, regulating the amounts of silver and gold to be contained in each. (Boussard 24) After the fifth century, coins had been minted by any number of coiners, and the value of each varied greatly. The reforms of Pepin and Charlemagne saw to the regulation of the amount of precious metals in each coin, as well as the monogram of the king to be embossed on each. These actions gave the idea that money was publicly guaranteed and controlled by one source, instead of many. (Boussard 32) Charlemagne also unified the laws of his kingdom based on the laws of the church. He set standards for administering justice, codified marriage and divorce laws, and gave rights to all men founded in the word of God. There were exceptions, however. People of privilege: ranking officials in the political, juridical, or religious communities were accorded special protection by the king, and had the ability to have their court cases heard in the palace court. Ganshof 93) Outside of the palace, Counts, or the individual heads of states, conducted court to settle civil differences. Interpretation of the law was varied, as each man was able to read his own version of truth. Also, the adage power orrupts was prevalent in the days of Charlemagne. To combat corruption or the misinterpretation of laws, Charlemagne created the missi dominici, or royal commissioners to inspect and inquire into the judgments of the local courts. (Ganshof 93) Charlemagne had a profound effect on the art and architecture of Western Europe. His effect was not new thought, but merely a resurgence of ancient Roman tradition. He commissioned great chapels for the monasteries, providing space to worship for many people at one time. The early constructions were mostly of wood; a material familiar to the nomadic people of the time. The need for ecurity and longevity necessitated a return to stone construction, so the Roman style of temples, monuments, gardens and arches was resurrected. (Boussard 160) Aesthetic decoration also played an important part of architecture during the Carolingian empire. Mosaics, gilding, marble, carvings of ivory, and paintings adorned these new, marvelous structures. Precious gems, gold, and silver were used throughout the churches. Frescos, terra-cotta, and plaster were used to provide background for the walls and pillars of churches and monuments. (Boussard 169) All of these arts were not, however, original. The people of Charlemagnes time were merely adapting Germanic habits and tradition with the rediscovery of Roman tradition, Byzantine art and oriental innovation. Boussard 157) Charlemagne was a enlightened leader who restored the roots of education and order Medieval Europe. His reconstruction of the power of the Pope, the growth of the monasteries in particular those given to the education of priests and general population, and revival of art and architecture was to set the stage for the development of Western Civilization as we know it today. Laws, traditions, and teachings were carried on by the descendants of the Carolingians in their ords and actions, leaving a precedent for the actions of civilization for hundreds of years to come. Charlemagne, a king wiser than any other of his time, was a determined and forceful leader who let nothing stop him once he had begun a task. (Halsall 8) *note One reference not cited in this text portrayed Charlemagne as a gluttonous and superstitious semiliterate with a propensity for brutality. As there were no other documentations to this effect, these opinions were not brought to light in the text. Due to the source (Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia), however, I thought it insightful to include this information at the end of the piece.