King Charlemagne: King of the Franks and the Holy Roman Emperor.

Trekking through the middle ages/medieval times with King Charlemagne a.k.a. Charles the Great.  We have learned a little about him before so we are going to recap that and learn some new things about this popular figure in history.

Charlemagne and Louis I, the Pious
 from wiki

~Charlemagne was the absolute sovereign ruler of the state and head of the church. The Holy Roman Emperor (Romanorum Imperator).

~He was born April 2, 742 CE of German descent.  His birth name was Carolus Magnus.  His father was Pepin the Short, yep, the Short, and was the king of the Franks in 751 CE.

~He was said to be over six feet tall with long blond hair.

~It is believed that Charlemagne was illiterate.

~Charlemagne is responsible for trial by jury.

~When Pepin died, Charlemagne and his younger brother, Carloman, ruled the Franks until Carloman died in 771 CE.

~Charlemagne did a lot of conquering and invading during his time.  Examples include wars with the Moors and the Saxon wars.

~A really important fact to note is that the only time in history France and Germany were united under the rule of Charlemagne.  France and Germany were briefly united for a few years under Napoleon's rule but never like when Charlemagne was ruling.

~On December 25, 800, Charlemagne was anointed emperor of the Romans (Holy Roman Emperor) by Pope Leo III after he crushed the rebellion in Rome.

Leo III-mosaic art from wiki

~Charlemagne passed away in Germany in 814 CE and his sole heir, Louis I, the Pious ruled until his death in 840.


~Charlemagne was married four times, he had 11 legitimate children with his second and third wives, and 9 illegitimate children with 5 random concubines (a woman who cohabits with a man she is not married to).

He must of learned this by example since his parents were not married when he was born making him illegitimate as well.

~Spouses include Luitgard, Fastrada, Hildegard of Savoy, and Desiderata of the Lombards.

~Children include Loius the Pious, Pepin the Hunchback (he had kyphosis hence the name hunchback), Pepin of Italy, Charles of Newustria, Rotrude, Drogo of Metz, Gisela, Theodrada, Bertha, Hugh, Hilitrude, Amaudru, Adalhaid, Richbod, Abbott of Saint-Riguier, Hildegarde, Theodoric, and Lothair.
I am not sure how he could remember all of this.

To sum it up, Charlemagne was an illiterate, illegitimate, woman crazy man who managed to accomplished so many great things that are very important in history.  He is said to be one of the most important king of all times.  You can find out more at the links below.

"Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky."Charlemagne 742-814

Khan Academy videos part 1 and part 2.
History Channel. 
BBC
Biog