Charlemagne Rises
Above the Rest
ihe
There was little that was royal or majestic about
or
Merovingian rulers of France;theywere eitherfools
corrupt. öutside help was needed !o lul theiraffairs'
(a chief
and ti^rey relied on the "Mayor of the Palace"
often
person
was
adminisiraTor). The most powedul
someone otlrer than the king, a person like Pepin'
Charles Martel's son' or Bõniface, Archbishop of
Mái;t. Pepin and Boniface went to the Pope and
the
asked if the person who realty ruled should be
crowned
754
in
t<ing. The Pope sided with Pepín and
and
frinit<ing. eepin "the Short" was afine king, moral
prewho
better than the Merovingians
wise, ¡riuch
ceded him,
When PePi n died in 768, histwo sons' Charles and
Charlemagne
Carloman ll, became joi nt rulers; three Years later,
Carloman chose to retire to a monastery, so Charles
of his next 46 Yea rs would be sPent f ighting
ruled alone. Atthattime, he was only 26 Years old. Much
the Pope again st the Lombards who
50 campaigns against Germ anic enemíes. He also helPed
the Saxons he defeated in GermanY
threatened Rome. LoYal to the church, he demanded that
as Christians. Some stubbornly ref used
either become Christians or die' Mostchoseto be baPtized
of them at the same time.
to convefi. Charles, a man of h is word, beheaded 4,500
a group of rowdies. After Leo'swounds
ln Rome, PoPe Leo lll was attacked and lettfor dead bY
nearbY . The Frankish armY restored
were bound, he was taken to the camp of Charles, who was
in the year 800, while
order and helped Leo return to'the Lateran Palace. The next Christmas,
placed a crown on his head and proclaimed him
Charles wasattending church in Rome, the Pope
was known as Charlemagne
"Emperor of the Romans." Charles was now so powerful that he
(Charles the
_..,¡ ,,^ ¡i.,¡,
to rule. He divided his empire into
charlemagne not only knew how to win battles, he knew how
in each county; there ySt u b]shol
counties. The head of c¡i¡t government was the "count," and
landowners met several times ayear
or archbishop in crraige of tñe churches. The county's main
(míssí domenici) to check on local
to pass laws and actäs a court. The king sentspeóial agents
the people- charlemagne was
officials and make sure they were not t,uting ni¡bes or abusing
teach his children
concerned about education and brought a gËat scholar in to
built and kept himself in good
Much taller than the average man of hisìime (6'4u), he was well
his long lifetime,
,r.,up" *itüä*ri"ir. and modðration in food and drink. He had fourwives during
charlemagne
family.
his
and they produced 1g children. He was a good father who enjoyed
practiced holding a pen' ln case the skill
enjoyed music and singing. He hoped to learnio write and
pillow and a pen by his side'
shoutd come in the r¡ãarõ of the night, he slept with paper under his
a degree of
He developeO interests ¡n scienr"l l"*, literature, and religion. His reign.brought
had begun.
civilization to Europe that had been missing since before the invasions
Great),
Name
,r ',i . .
'' '
Clais'
'
CHALLENGES'.
2, Who persuaded the Pope it wag time for a change in Ffance?
3.'How dld Charles come to rule alone?
4. What choice did Charles offer the Saxons?
7. What two officials were most important in a county?
B. What was the
job of the missi domenici?
How many chitdren?
10. What were Charlemagne's interests?