The term "knowledge" can refer to a theoretical or practical
understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill
or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a
subject); formal or informal; systematic or particular. The philosopher Plato famously pointed out the need for a distinction between knowledge and true belief in the Theaetetus, leading many to attribute to him a definition of knowledge as "justified true belief". The difficulties with this definition raised by the Gettier problem have been the subject of extensive debate in epistemology for more than half a century.
The eventual demarcation of
philosophy from science was made possible by the notion that
philosophy's core was "theory of knowledge," a theory distinct from the
sciences because it was their foundation... Without this idea of a
"theory of knowledge," it is hard to imagine what "philosophy" could
have been in the age of modern science.
Knowledge is the primary subject of the field of epistemology, which studies what we know, how we come to know it, and what it means to know something.
Defining knowledge is an important aspect of epistemology, because it
does not suffice to have a belief; one must also have good reasons for
that belief, because otherwise there would be no reason to prefer one
belief over another.
The definition of knowledge is a matter of ongoing debate among
epistemologists. The classical definition, described but not ultimately
endorsed by Plato, specifies that a statement must meet three criteria in order to be considered knowledge: it must be justified, true, and believed. Epistemologists today generally agree that these conditions are not sufficient, as various Gettier cases are thought to demonstrate. There are a number of alternative definitions which have been proposed, including Robert Nozick's proposal that all instances of knowledge must 'track the truth' and Simon Blackburn's proposal that those who have a justified true belief 'through a defect, flaw, or failure' fail to have knowledge. Richard Kirkham suggests that our definition of knowledge requires that the evidence for the belief necessitates its truth.
In contrast to this approach, Ludwig Wittgenstein observed, following Moore's paradox, that one can say "He believes it, but it isn't so," but not "He knows it, but it isn't so."
He goes on to argue that these do not correspond to distinct mental
states, but rather to distinct ways of talking about conviction. What is
different here is not the mental state of the speaker, but the activity
in which they are engaged. For example, on this account, to know
that the kettle is boiling is not to be in a particular state of mind,
but to perform a particular task with the statement that the kettle is
boiling. Wittgenstein sought to bypass the difficulty of definition by
looking to the way "knowledge" is used in natural languages. He saw
knowledge as a case of a family resemblance.
Following this idea, "knowledge" has been reconstructed as a cluster
concept that points out relevant features but that is not adequately
captured by any definition.
Self-knowledge
“Self-knowledge” usually refers to a person's knowledge of their own sensations, thoughts, beliefs, and other mental states.
A number of questions regarding self-knowledge have been the subject of
extensive debates in philosophy, including whether self-knowledge
differs from other types of knowledge, whether we have privileged
self-knowledge compared to knowledge of other minds, and the nature of our acquaintance with ourselves. David Hume
famously expressed skepticism about whether we could ever have
self-knowledge over and above our immediate awareness of a "bundle of
perceptions", which was part of his broader skepticism about personal identity.
It is generally assumed that knowledge is more valuable than mere
true belief. If so, what is the explanation? A formulation of the value
problem in epistemology first occurs in Plato's
Meno. Socrates points out to Meno that a man who knew the way to
Larissa could lead others there correctly. But so, too, could a man who
had true beliefs about how to get there, even if he had not gone there
or had any knowledge of Larissa. Socrates says that it seems that both
knowledge and true opinion can guide action. Meno then wonders why
knowledge is valued more than true belief and why knowledge and true
belief are different. Socrates responds that knowledge is more valuable
than mere true belief because it is tethered or justified.
Justification, or working out the reason for a true belief, locks down
true belief.
The problem is to identify what (if anything) makes knowledge
more valuable than mere true belief, or that makes knowledge more
valuable than a mere minimal conjunction of its components, such as
justification, safety, sensitivity, statistical likelihood, and
anti-Gettier conditions, on a particular analysis of knowledge that
conceives of knowledge as divided into components (to which
knowledge-first epistemological theories, which posit knowledge as
fundamental, are notable exceptions). The value problem re-emerged in the philosophical literature on epistemology in the twenty-first century following the rise of virtue epistemology in the 1980s, partly because of the obvious link to the concept of value in ethics.
In contemporary philosophy, epistemologists including Ernest Sosa, John Greco, Jonathan Kvanvig, Linda Zagzebski, and Duncan Pritchard
have defended virtue epistemology as a solution to the value problem.
They argue that epistemology should also evaluate the "properties" of
people as epistemic agents (i.e. intellectual virtues), rather than
merely the properties of propositions and propositional mental
attitudes.
The development of the scientific method has made a significant contribution to how knowledge of the physical world and its phenomena is acquired. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable and measurableevidence subject to specific principles of reasoning and experimentation. The scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. Science, and the nature of scientific knowledge have also become the subject of philosophy. As science itself has developed, scientific knowledge now includes a broader usage in the soft sciences such as biology and the social sciences – discussed elsewhere as meta-epistemology, or genetic epistemology, and to some extent related to "theory of cognitive development". Note that "epistemology"
is the study of knowledge and how it is acquired. Science is "the
process used everyday to logically complete thoughts through inference
of facts determined by calculated experiments." Sir Francis Bacon
was critical in the historical development of the scientific method;
his works established and popularized an inductive methodology for
scientific inquiry. His famous aphorism, "knowledge is power", is found in the Meditations Sacrae (1597).
Until recent times, at least in the Western tradition, it was
simply taken for granted that knowledge was something possessed only by
humans – and probably adult humans at that. Sometimes the notion might stretch to Society-as-such,
as in (e. g.) "the knowledge possessed by the Coptic culture" (as
opposed to its individual members), but that was not assured either. Nor
was it usual to consider unconscious knowledge in any systematic way until this approach was popularized by Freud.
Those who use the phrase "scientific knowledge" don't necessary claim to certainty, since scientists will never be absolutely certain when they are correct and when they are not. It is thus an irony of proper scientific method that one must doubt even when correct, in the hopes that this practice will lead to greater convergence on the truth in general.
Situated knowledge
"Situated knowledges" redirects here. For the Donna Haraway essay, see Situated Knowledges.
Situated knowledge is knowledge specific to a particular situation. It was used by Donna Haraway as an extension of the feminist approaches of "successor science" suggested by Sandra Harding,
one which "offers a more adequate, richer, better account of a world,
in order to live in it well and in critical, reflexive relation to our
own as well as others' practices of domination and the unequal parts of
privilege and oppression that makes up all positions." This situation partially transforms science into a narrative, which Arturo Escobar
explains as, "neither fictions nor supposed facts." This narrative of
situation is historical textures woven of fact and fiction, and as
Escobar explains further, "even the most neutral scientific domains are
narratives in this sense," insisting that rather than a purpose
dismissing science as a trivial matter of contingency, "it is to treat
(this narrative) in the most serious way, without succumbing to its
mystification as 'the truth' or to the ironic skepticism common to many critiques."
Haraway's argument stems from the limitations of the human perception, as well as the overemphasis of the sense of vision in science. According to Haraway, vision in science
has been, "used to signify a leap out of the marked body and into a
conquering gaze from nowhere." This is the "gaze that mythically
inscribes all the marked bodies, that makes the unmarked category claim
the power to see and not be seen, to represent while escaping
representation." This causes a limitation of views in the position of science
itself as a potential player in the creation of knowledge, resulting in
a position of "modest witness". This is what Haraway terms a "god
trick", or the aforementioned representation while escaping
representation. In order to avoid this, "Haraway perpetuates a tradition of thought which emphasizes the importance of the subject in terms of both ethical and political accountability".
Some methods of generating knowledge, such as trial and error, or learning from experience,
tend to create highly situational knowledge.
Situational knowledge is often embedded in language, culture, or
traditions. This integration of situational knowledge is an allusion to
the community, and its attempts at collecting subjective perspectives
into an embodiment "of views from somewhere." Knowledge is also said to be related to the capacity of acknowledgement in human beings.
Even though Haraway's arguments are largely based on feminist studies, this idea of different worlds, as well as the skeptic stance of situated knowledge is present in the main arguments of post-structuralism. Fundamentally, both argue the contingency of knowledge on the presence of history; power, and geography, as well as the rejection of universal rules or laws or elementary structures; and the idea of power as an inherited trait of objectification.
Partial knowledge
The parable of the blind men and the elephant suggests that people tend to project their partial experiences as the whole truth
One discipline of epistemology
focuses on partial knowledge. In most cases, it is not possible to
understand an information domain exhaustively; our knowledge is always incomplete
or partial. Most real problems have to be solved by taking advantage of
a partial understanding of the problem context and problem data, unlike
the typical math problems one might solve at school, where all data is
given and one is given a complete understanding of formulas necessary to
solve them (False consensus effect).
This idea is also present in the concept of bounded rationality which assumes that in real-life situations people often have a limited amount of information and make decisions accordingly.
"The knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit, however, is not
limited to human knowledge; it is a special gift, which leads us to
grasp, through creation, the greatness and love of God and his profound
relationship with every creature." (Pope Francis, papal audience May 21,
2014)
Hinduism
विद्या दान (Vidya Daan) i.e. knowledge sharing is a major part of Daan, a tenet of all Dharmic Religions.
Hindu Scriptures present two kinds of knowledge, Paroksh Gyan and Prataksh Gyan. Paroksh Gyan (also spelled Paroksha-Jnana) is secondhand knowledge: knowledge obtained from books, hearsay, etc. Pratyaksh Gyan (also spelled Pratyaksha-Jnana) is the knowledge borne of direct experience, i.e., knowledge that one discovers for oneself. Jnana yoga ("path of knowledge") is one of three main types of yoga expounded by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. (It is compared and contrasted with Bhakti Yoga and Karma yoga.)
Islam
In Islam, knowledge (Arabic: علم, ʿilm) is given great significance. "The Knowing" (al-ʿAlīm) is one of the 99 names reflecting distinct attributes of God. The Qur'an asserts that knowledge comes from God (2:239) and various hadith encourage the acquisition of knowledge. Muhammad
is reported to have said "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave"
and "Verily the men of knowledge are the inheritors of the prophets".
Islamic scholars, theologians and jurists are often given the title alim, meaning "knowledgeble".
Judaism
In Jewish tradition, knowledge (Hebrew: דעת da'ath) is considered one of the most valuable traits a person can acquire. Observant Jews recite three times a day in the Amidah
"Favor us with knowledge, understanding and discretion that come from
you. Exalted are you, Existent-One, the gracious giver of knowledge."
The Tanakh states, "A wise man gains power, and a man of knowledge maintains power", and "knowledge is chosen above gold".
Charlemagne has been called the "Father of Europe" (Pater Europae), as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the classical era of the Roman Empire and united parts of Europe that had never been under Frankish or Roman rule. His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church viewed Charlemagne less favourably due to his support of the filioque and the Pope's having preferred him as emperor over the Byzantine Empire's first female monarch, Irene of Athens. These and other disputes led to the eventual later split of Rome and Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054.
Charlemagne died in 814 and was laid to rest in Aachen Cathedral in his imperial capital city of Aachen. He married at least four times and had three legitimate sons who lived to adulthood, but only the youngest of them, Louis the Pious, survived to succeed him. He also had numerous illegitimate children with his concubines.
Arm reliquary of Charlemagne at Aachen Cathedral Treasury
The name Charlemagne, by which the emperor is normally known in English, comes from the French Charles-le-magne, meaning "Charles the Great". In modern German, Karl der Große has the same meaning. His given name was simply Charles (LatinCarolus, Old High GermanKarlus, RomanceKarlo). He was named after his grandfather, Charles Martel, a choice which intentionally marked him as Martel's true heir.
The nickname magnus (great) may have been associated him already in his lifetime, but this is not certain. The contemporary Latin Royal Frankish Annals routinely call him Carolus magnus rex, "Charles the great king". As a nickname, it is only certainly attested in the works of the Poeta Saxo around 900 and it only became standard in all the lands of his former empire around 1000.
By the 6th century, the western Germanic tribe of the Franks had been Christianised, due in considerable measure to the Catholic conversion of Clovis I. Francia, ruled by the Merovingians, was the most powerful of the kingdoms that succeeded the Western Roman Empire. Following the Battle of Tertry, the Merovingians declined into powerlessness, for which they have been dubbed the rois fainéants ("do-nothing kings"). Almost all government powers were exercised by their chief officer, the mayor of the palace.
In 687, Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at Tertry.
He became the sole governor of the entire Frankish kingdom. Pepin was
the grandson of two important figures of the Austrasian Kingdom: Saint Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen. Pepin of Herstal was eventually succeeded by his son Charles, later known as Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer).
After 737, Charles governed the Franks in lieu of a king and declined to call himself king. Charles was succeeded in 741 by his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, the father of Charlemagne. In 743, the brothers placed Childeric III
on the throne to curb separatism in the periphery. He was the last
Merovingian king. Carloman resigned office in 746, preferring to enter
the church as a monk. Pepin brought the question of the kingship before Pope Zachary,
asking whether it was logical for a king to have no royal power. The
pope handed down his decision in 749, decreeing that it was better for
Pepin to be called king, as he had the powers of high office as Mayor,
so as not to confuse the hierarchy. He, therefore, ordered him to become
the true king.
In 750, Pepin was elected by an assembly of the Franks, anointed
by the archbishop, and then raised to the office of king. The Pope
branded Childeric III as "the false king" and ordered him into a
monastery. The Merovingian dynasty was thereby replaced by the Carolingian dynasty, named after Charles Martel. In 753, Pope Stephen II
fled from Italy to Francia, appealing to Pepin for assistance for the
rights of St. Peter. He was supported in this appeal by Carloman,
Charles' brother. In return, the pope could provide only legitimacy. He
did this by again anointing and confirming Pepin, this time adding his
young sons Carolus (Charlemagne) and Carloman to the royal patrimony.
They thereby became heirs to the realm that already covered most of
western Europe. In 754, Pepin accepted the Pope's invitation to visit
Italy on behalf of St. Peter's rights, dealing successfully with the Lombards.
Under the Carolingians, the Frankish kingdom spread to encompass
an area including most of Western Europe; the east–west division of the
kingdom formed the basis for modern France and Germany. Orman portrays the Treaty of Verdun (843) between the warring grandsons of Charlemagne as the foundation event of an independent France under its first king Charles the Bald; an independent Germany under its first king Louis the German; and an independent intermediate state stretching from the Low Countries along the borderlands to south of Rome under Lothair I, who retained the title of emperor and the capitals Aachen and Rome
without the jurisdiction. The middle kingdom had broken up by 890 and
partly absorbed into the Western kingdom (later France) and the Eastern
kingdom (Germany) and the rest developing into smaller "buffer" nations
that exist between France and Germany to this day, namely Benelux and Switzerland.
Rise to power
Early life
Date of birth
The most likely date of Charlemagne's birth is reconstructed from several sources. The date of 742—calculated from Einhard's date of death of January 814 at age 72—predates the marriage of his parents in 744. The year given in the Annales Petaviani,
747, would be more likely, except that it contradicts Einhard and a few
other sources in making Charlemagne sixty-seven years old at his death.
The month and day of 2 April are based on a calendar from Lorsch Abbey.
In 747, Easter fell on 2 April, a coincidence that likely would have been remarked upon by chroniclers but was not.
If Easter was being used as the beginning of the calendar year, then 2
April 747 could have been, by modern reckoning, April 748 (not on
Easter). The date favoured by the preponderance of evidence is 2 April 742, based on Charlemagne's age at the time of his death. This date supports the concept that Charlemagne was technically an illegitimate
child, although that is not mentioned by Einhard in either since he was
born out of wedlock; Pepin and Bertrada were bound by a private
contract or Friedelehe at the time of his birth, but did not marry until 744.
Place of birth
Roman road connecting Tongeren to the Herstal region. Jupille and Herstal, near Liege, are located in the lower right corner.
Charlemagne's exact birthplace is unknown, although historians have suggested Aachen in modern-day Germany, and Liège (Herstal) in present-day Belgium as possible locations.
Aachen and Liège are close to the region whence the Merovingian and
Carolingian families originated. Other cities have been suggested,
including Düren, Gauting, Mürlenbach, Quierzy, and Prüm. No definitive evidence resolves the question.
Charlemagne was the eldest child of Pepin the Short (714 – 24 September 768, reigned from 751) and his wife Bertrada of Laon (720 – 12 July 783), daughter of Caribert of Laon. Many historians consider Charlemagne (Charles) to have been illegitimate, although some state that this is arguable,
because Pepin did not marry Bertrada until 744, which was after
Charles' birth; this status did not exclude him from the succession.
Records name only Carloman, Gisela, and three short-lived children named Pepin, Chrothais and Adelais as his younger siblings.
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.
The most powerful officers of the Frankish people, the Mayor of the Palace (Maior Domus) and one or more kings (rex, reges), were appointed by the election of the people. Elections were not periodic, but were held as required to elect officers ad quos summa imperii pertinebat,
"to whom the highest matters of state pertained". Evidently, interim
decisions could be made by the Pope, which ultimately needed to be
ratified using an assembly of the people that met annually.
Before he was elected king in 751, Pepin was initially a mayor, a high office he held "as though hereditary" (velut hereditario fungebatur).
Einhard explains that "the honour" was usually "given by the people" to
the distinguished, but Pepin the Great and his brother Carloman the
Wise received it as though hereditary, as had their father, Charles Martel.
There was, however, a certain ambiguity about quasi-inheritance. The
office was treated as joint property: one Mayorship held by two brothers
jointly. Each, however, had his own geographic jurisdiction. When Carloman decided to resign, becoming ultimately a Benedictine at Monte Cassino,
the question of the disposition of his quasi-share was settled by the
pope. He converted the mayorship into a kingship and awarded the joint
property to Pepin, who gained the right to pass it on by inheritance.
This decision was not accepted by all family members. Carloman
had consented to the temporary tenancy of his own share, which he
intended to pass on to his son, Drogo, when the inheritance should be
settled at someone's death. By the Pope's decision, in which Pepin had a
hand, Drogo was to be disqualified as an heir in favour of his cousin
Charles. He took up arms in opposition to the decision and was joined by
Grifo,
a half-brother of Pepin and Carloman, who had been given a share by
Charles Martel, but was stripped of it and held under loose arrest by
his half-brothers after an attempt to seize their shares by military
action. Grifo perished in combat in the Battle of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne while Drogo was hunted down and taken into custody.
On the death of Pepin, 24 September 768, the kingship passed jointly to his sons, "with divine assent" (divino nutu). According to the Life, Pepin died in Paris. The Franks "in general assembly" (generali conventu) gave them both the rank of a king (reges) but "partitioned the whole body of the kingdom equally" (totum regni corpus ex aequo partirentur). The annals tell a slightly different version, with the king dying at St-Denis, near Paris. The two "lords" (domni) were "elevated to kingship" (elevati sunt in regnum), Charles on 9 October in Noyon, Carloman on an unspecified date in Soissons.
If born in 742, Charles was 26 years old, but he had been campaigning
at his father's right hand for several years, which may help to account
for his military skill. Carloman was 17.
The language, in either case, suggests that there were not two
inheritances, which would have created distinct kings ruling over
distinct kingdoms, but a single joint inheritance and a joint kingship
tenanted by two equal kings, Charles and his brother Carloman. As
before, distinct jurisdictions were awarded. Charles received Pepin's
original share as Mayor: the outer parts of the kingdom bordering on the
sea, namely Neustria, western Aquitaine, and the northern parts of Austrasia; while Carloman was awarded his uncle's former share, the inner parts: southern Austrasia, Septimania, eastern Aquitaine, Burgundy, Provence, and Swabia, lands bordering Italy.
The question of whether these jurisdictions were joint shares reverting
to the other brother if one brother died or were inherited property
passed on to the descendants of the brother who died was never
definitely settled. It came up repeatedly over the succeeding decades
until the grandsons of Charlemagne created distinct sovereign kingdoms.
Aquitainian rebellion
Formation of a new Aquitaine
In southern Gaul, Aquitaine had been Romanised and people spoke a Romance language. Similarly, Hispania had been populated by peoples who spoke various languages, including Celtic, but these had now been mostly replaced by Romance languages. Between Aquitaine and Hispania were the Euskaldunak, Latinised to Vascones, or Basques,
whose country, Vasconia, extended, according to the distributions of
place names attributable to the Basques, mainly in the western Pyrenees but also as far south as the upper Ebro River in Spain and as far north as the Garonne River in France. The French name Gascony derives from Vasconia.
The Romans were never able to subjugate the whole of Vasconia. The
soldiers they recruited for the Roman legions from those parts they did
submit and where they founded the region's first cities were valued for
their fighting abilities. The border with Aquitaine was at Toulouse.
In about 660, the Duchy of Vasconia united with the Duchy of Aquitaine to form a single realm under Felix of Aquitaine, ruling from Toulouse. This was a joint kingship with a Basque Duke, Lupus I. Lupus is the Latin translation of Basque Otsoa, "wolf".
At Felix's death in 670 the joint property of the kingship reverted
entirely to Lupus. As the Basques had no law of joint inheritance but
relied on primogeniture, Lupus in effect founded a hereditary dynasty of Basque rulers of an expanded Aquitaine.
The Latin chronicles of the end of VisigothicHispania omit many details, such as identification of characters, filling in the gaps and reconciliation of numerous contradictions. Muslim sources, however, present a more coherent view, such as in the Ta'rikh iftitah al-Andalus ("History of the Conquest of al-Andalus") by Ibn al-Qūṭiyya ("the son of the Gothic woman", referring to the granddaughter of Wittiza,
the last Visigothic king of a united Hispania, who married a Moor). Ibn
al-Qūṭiyya, who had another, much longer name, must have been relying
to some degree on family oral tradition.
According to Ibn al-Qūṭiyya Wittiza,
the last Visigothic king of a united Hispania died before his three
sons, Almund, Romulo, and Ardabast reached maturity. Their mother was queen regent at Toledo, but Roderic, army chief of staff, staged a rebellion, capturing Córdoba.
He chose to impose a joint rule over distinct jurisdictions on the true
heirs. Evidence of a division of some sort can be found in the
distribution of coins imprinted with the name of each king and in the
king lists.
Wittiza was succeeded by Roderic, who reigned for seven and a half
years, followed by Achila (Aquila), who reigned three and a half years.
If the reigns of both terminated with the incursion of the Saracens,
then Roderic appears to have reigned a few years before the majority of
Achila. The latter's kingdom is securely placed to the northeast, while
Roderic seems to have taken the rest, notably modern Portugal.
The Saracens crossed the mountains to claim Ardo's Septimania, only to encounter the Basque dynasty of Aquitaine, always the allies of the Goths. Odo the Great of Aquitaine was at first victorious at the Battle of Toulouse in 721. Saracen troops gradually massed in Septimania and in 732 an army under Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi advanced into Vasconia, and Odo was defeated at the Battle of the River Garonne. They took Bordeaux and were advancing towards Tours when Odo, powerless to stop them, appealed to his arch-enemy, Charles Martel,
mayor of the Franks. In one of the first of the lightning marches for
which the Carolingian kings became famous, Charles and his army appeared
in the path of the Saracens between Tours and Poitiers, and in the Battle of Tours
decisively defeated and killed al-Ghafiqi. The Moors returned twice
more, each time suffering defeat at Charles' hands—at the River Berre
near Narbonne in 737 and in the Dauphiné in 740.
Odo's price for salvation from the Saracens was incorporation into the
Frankish kingdom, a decision that was repugnant to him and also to his
heirs.
Loss and recovery of Aquitaine
After the death of his father, Hunald I allied himself with free Lombardy.
However, Odo had ambiguously left the kingdom jointly to his two sons,
Hunald and Hatto. The latter, loyal to Francia, now went to war with his
brother over full possession. Victorious, Hunald blinded and imprisoned
his brother, only to be so stricken by conscience that he resigned and
entered the church as a monk to do penance. The story is told in Annales Mettenses priores. His son Waifer
took an early inheritance, becoming duke of Aquitaine and ratified the
alliance with Lombardy. Waifer decided to honour it, repeating his
father's decision, which he justified by arguing that any agreements
with Charles Martel became invalid on Martel's death. Since Aquitaine
was now Pepin's inheritance because of the earlier assistance that was
given by Charles Martel, according to some the latter and his son, the
young Charles, hunted down Waifer, who could only conduct a guerrilla
war, and executed him.
Among the contingents of the Frankish army were Bavarians under Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria, an Agilofing, the hereditary Bavarian ducal family. Grifo
had installed himself as Duke of Bavaria, but Pepin replaced him with a
member of the ducal family yet a child, Tassilo, whose protector he had
become after the death of his father. The loyalty of the Agilolfings
was perpetually in question, but Pepin exacted numerous oaths of loyalty
from Tassilo. However, the latter had married Liutperga, a daughter of Desiderius, king of Lombardy.
At a critical point in the campaign, Tassilo left the field with all
his Bavarians. Out of reach of Pepin, he repudiated all loyalty to
Francia. Pepin had no chance to respond as he grew ill and died within a few weeks after Waifer's execution.
The first event of the brothers' reign was the uprising of the Aquitainians and Gascons, in 769, in that territory split between the two kings. One year earlier, Pepin had finally defeated Waifer, Duke of Aquitaine, after waging a destructive, ten-year war against Aquitaine. Now, Hunald II led the Aquitainians as far north as Angoulême. Charles met Carloman, but Carloman refused to participate and returned to Burgundy. Charles went to war, leading an army to Bordeaux, where he set up a fort at Fronsac. Hunald was forced to flee to the court of Duke Lupus II of Gascony.
Lupus, fearing Charles, turned Hunald over in exchange for peace, and
Hunald was put in a monastery. Gascon lords also surrendered, and
Aquitaine and Gascony were finally fully subdued by the Franks.
Marriage to Desiderata
The
brothers maintained lukewarm relations with the assistance of their
mother Bertrada, but in 770 Charles signed a treaty with Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and married a Lombard Princess (commonly known today as Desiderata), the daughter of King Desiderius, to surround Carloman with his own allies. Though Pope Stephen III first opposed the marriage with the Lombard princess, he found little to fear from a Frankish-Lombard alliance.
Less than a year after his marriage, Charlemagne repudiated Desiderata and married a 13-year-old Swabian named Hildegard. The repudiated Desiderata returned to her father's court at Pavia.
Her father's wrath was now aroused, and he would have gladly allied
with Carloman to defeat Charles. Before any open hostilities could be
declared, however, Carloman died on 5 December 771, apparently of
natural causes. Carloman's widow Gerberga fled to Desiderius' court with her sons for protection.
Wives, concubines, and children
Charlemagne had eighteen children with eight of his ten known wives or concubines. Nonetheless, he had only four legitimate grandsons, the four sons of his fourth son, Louis. In addition, he had a grandson (Bernard of Italy, the only son of his third son, Pepin of Italy),
who was illegitimate but included in the line of inheritance. Among his
descendants are several royal dynasties, including the Habsburg, and Capetian
dynasties. By consequence, most if not all established European noble
families ever since can genealogically trace some of their background to
Charlemagne.
c. 768
His first relationship was with Himiltrude. The nature of this relationship is variously described as concubinage, a legal marriage, or a Friedelehe.[f] (Charlemagne put her aside when he married Desiderata.) The union with Himiltrude produced a son:
Charlemagne (left) and Pepin the Hunchback (10th-century copy of 9th-century original)
During the first peace of any substantial length (780–782), Charles
began to appoint his sons to positions of authority. In 781, during a
visit to Rome, he made his two youngest sons kings, crowned by the Pope. The elder of these two, Carloman, was made the king of Italy, taking the Iron Crown that his father had first worn in 774, and in the same ceremony was renamed "Pepin" (not to be confused with Charlemagne's eldest, possibly illegitimate son, Pepin the Hunchback). The younger of the two, Louis, became King of Aquitaine.
Charlemagne ordered Pepin and Louis to be raised in the customs of
their kingdoms, and he gave their regents some control of their
subkingdoms, but kept the real power, though he intended his sons to
inherit their realms. He did not tolerate insubordination in his sons:
in 792, he banished Pepin the Hunchback to Prüm Abbey because the young man had joined a rebellion against him.
Charles was determined to have his children educated, including
his daughters, as his parents had instilled the importance of learning
in him at an early age.
His children were also taught skills in accord with their aristocratic
status, which included training in riding and weaponry for his sons, and
embroidery, spinning and weaving for his daughters.
The sons fought many wars on behalf of their father. Charles
was mostly preoccupied with the Bretons, whose border he shared and who
insurrected on at least two occasions and were easily put down. He also
fought the Saxons on multiple occasions. In 805 and 806, he was sent
into the Böhmerwald (modern Bohemia) to deal with the Slavs living there (Bohemian tribes, ancestors of the modern Czechs).
He subjected them to Frankish authority and devastated the valley of
the Elbe, forcing tribute from them. Pippin had to hold the Avar and Beneventan borders and fought the Slavs to his north. He was uniquely poised to fight the Byzantine Empire when that conflict arose after Charlemagne's imperial coronation and a Venetian rebellion. Finally, Louis was in charge of the Spanish March and fought the Duke of Benevento in southern Italy on at least one occasion. He took Barcelona in a great siege in 797.
Charlemagne kept his daughters at home with him and refused to allow them to contract sacramental marriages (though he originally condoned an engagement between his eldest daughter Rotrude and Constantine VI of Byzantium, this engagement was annulled when Rotrude was 11). Charlemagne's opposition to his daughters' marriages may possibly have intended to prevent the creation of cadet branches of the family to challenge the main line, as had been the case with Tassilo of Bavaria.
However, he tolerated their extramarital relationships, even rewarding
their common-law husbands and treasuring the illegitimate grandchildren
they produced for him. He also refused to believe stories of their wild
behaviour. After his death the surviving daughters were banished from
the court by their brother, the pious Louis, to take up residence in the
convents they had been bequeathed by their father. At least one of
them, Bertha, had a recognised relationship, if not a marriage, with Angilbert, a member of Charlemagne's court circle.
Italian campaigns
Conquest of the Lombard kingdom
The
Frankish king Charlemagne was a devout Catholic and maintained a close
relationship with the papacy throughout his life. In 772, when Pope Adrian 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 his succession in 772, Pope Adrian I demanded the return of certain cities in the former exarchate of Ravenna
in accordance with a promise at the succession of Desiderius. Instead,
Desiderius took over certain papal cities and invaded the Pentapolis,
heading for Rome. Adrian sent ambassadors to Charlemagne in autumn
requesting he enforce the policies of his father, Pepin. Desiderius sent
his own ambassadors denying the pope's charges. The ambassadors met at Thionville,
and Charlemagne upheld the pope's side. Charlemagne demanded what the
pope had requested, but Desiderius swore never to comply. 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 fled to Constantinople to plead for assistance from Constantine V, who was waging war with Bulgaria.
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 falsely claiming 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 pay homage to him at Pavia. Only Duke Arechis II of Benevento
refused to submit and proclaimed independence. Charlemagne was then
master of Italy as king of the Lombards. He left Italy with a garrison
in Pavia and a few Frankish counts in place the same year.
Instability continued in Italy. In 776, Dukes Hrodgaud of Friuli and Hildeprand of Spoleto rebelled. Charlemagne rushed 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.
Southern Italy
In 787, Charlemagne directed his attention towards the Duchy of Benevento, where Arechis II was reigning independently with the self-given title of Princeps. Charlemagne's siege of Salerno forced Arechis into submission. However, after Arechis II's death in 787, his son Grimoald III
proclaimed the Duchy of Benevento newly independent. Grimoald was
attacked many times by Charles' or his sons' armies, without achieving a
definitive victory. Charlemagne lost interest and never again returned to Southern Italy where Grimoald was able to keep the Duchy free from Frankish suzerainty.
Carolingian expansion to the south
Vasconia and the Pyrenees
The
destructive war led by Pepin in Aquitaine, although brought to a
satisfactory conclusion for the Franks, proved the Frankish power
structure south of the Loire was feeble and unreliable. After the defeat and death of Waiofar
in 768, while Aquitaine submitted again to the Carolingian dynasty, a
new rebellion broke out in 769 led by Hunald II, a possible son of
Waifer. He took refuge with the ally Duke Lupus II of Gascony,
but probably out of fear of Charlemagne's reprisal, Lupus handed him
over to the new King of the Franks to whom he pledged loyalty, which
seemed to confirm the peace in the Basque area south of the Garonne. In the campaign of 769, Charlemagne seems to have followed a policy of "overwhelming force" and avoided a major pitched battle.
Wary of new Basque uprisings, Charlemagne seems to have tried to contain Duke Lupus's power by appointing Seguin as the Count of Bordeaux (778) and other counts of Frankish background in bordering areas (Toulouse, County of Fézensac). The Basque Duke, in turn, seems to have contributed decisively or schemed the Battle of Roncevaux Pass
(referred to as "Basque treachery"). The defeat of Charlemagne's army
in Roncevaux (778) confirmed his determination to rule directly by
establishing the Kingdom of Aquitaine (ruled by Louis the Pious)
based on a power base of Frankish officials, distributing lands among
colonisers and allocating lands to the Church, which he took as an ally.
A Christianisation programme was put in place across the high Pyrenees (778).
The new political arrangement for Vasconia did not sit well with local lords. As of 788 Adalric was fighting and capturing Chorson,
Carolingian Count of Toulouse. He was eventually released, but
Charlemagne, enraged at the compromise, decided to depose him and
appointed his trustee William of Gellone. William, in turn, fought the Basques and defeated them after banishing Adalric (790).
From 781 (Pallars, Ribagorça) to 806 (Pamplona
under Frankish influence), taking the County of Toulouse for a power
base, Charlemagne asserted Frankish authority over the Pyrenees by
subduing the south-western marches of Toulouse (790) and establishing
vassal counties on the southern Pyrenees that were to make up the Marca Hispanica. As of 794, a Frankish vassal, the Basque lord Belasko (al-Galashki, 'the Gaul') ruled Álava,
but Pamplona remained under Cordovan and local control up to 806.
Belasko and the counties in the Marca Hispánica provided the necessary
base to attack the Andalusians (an expedition led by William Count of Toulouse and Louis the Pious to capture Barcelona in 801). Events in the Duchy of Vasconia (rebellion in Pamplona, count overthrown in Aragon, Duke Seguin of Bordeaux deposed, uprising of the Basque lords, etc.) were to prove it ephemeral upon Charlemagne's death.
Roncesvalles campaign
According to the Muslim historian Ibn al-Athir, the Diet of Paderborn had received the representatives of the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza, Girona, Barcelona and Huesca. Their masters had been cornered in the Iberian peninsula by Abd ar-Rahman I, the Umayyademir of Cordova. These "Saracen" (Moorish and Muwallad) rulers offered their homage to the king of the Franks in return for military support. Seeing an opportunity to extend Christendom and his own power and believing the Saxons to be a fully conquered nation, Charlemagne agreed to go to Spain.
In 778, he led the Neustrian army across the Western Pyrenees,
while the Austrasians, Lombards, and Burgundians passed over the
Eastern Pyrenees. The armies met at Saragossa and Charlemagne received
the homage of the Muslim rulers, Sulayman al-Arabi and Kasmin ibn Yusuf,
but the city did not fall for him. Indeed, Charlemagne faced the
toughest battle of his career. The Muslims forced him to retreat. He
decided to go home since he could not trust the Basques, whom he had subdued by conquering Pamplona. He turned to leave Iberia, but as he was passing through the Pass of Roncesvalles one of the most famous events of his reign occurred. The Basques attacked and destroyed his rearguard and baggage train. The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, though less a battle than a skirmish, left many famous dead, including the seneschal Eggihard, the count of the palace Anselm, and the warden of the Breton March, Roland, inspiring the subsequent creation of the Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland).
The conquest of Italy brought Charlemagne in contact with the Saracens who, at the time, controlled the Mediterranean. Charlemagne's eldest son, Pepin the Hunchback, was much occupied with Saracens in Italy. Charlemagne conquered Corsica and Sardinia at an unknown date and in 799 the Balearic Islands. The islands were often attacked by Saracen pirates, but the counts of Genoa and Tuscany (Boniface) controlled them with large fleets until the end of Charlemagne's reign. Charlemagne even had contact with the caliphal court in Baghdad. In 797 (or possibly 801), the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, presented Charlemagne with an Asian elephant named Abul-Abbas and a clock.
Wars with the Moors
In Hispania,
the struggle against the Moors continued unabated throughout the latter
half of his reign. Louis was in charge of the Spanish border. In 785,
his men captured Girona permanently and extended Frankish control into
the Catalan littoral for the duration of Charlemagne's reign (the area remained nominally Frankish until the Treaty of Corbeil in 1258). The Muslim chiefs in the northeast of Islamic Spain
were constantly rebelling against Cordovan authority, and they often
turned to the Franks for help. The Frankish border was slowly extended
until 795, when Girona, Cardona, Ausona and Urgell were united into the new Spanish March, within the old duchy of Septimania.
In 797, Barcelona,
the greatest city of the region, fell to the Franks when Zeid, its
governor, rebelled against Cordova and, failing, handed it to them. The Umayyad authority recaptured it in 799. However, Louis of Aquitaine marched the entire army of his kingdom over the Pyrenees
and besieged it for two years, wintering there from 800 to 801, when it
capitulated. The Franks continued to press forward against the emir. They probably took Tarragona and forced the submission of Tortosa in 809. The last conquest brought them to the mouth of the Ebro and gave them raiding access to Valencia, prompting the Emir al-Hakam I to recognise their conquests in 813.
Charlemagne was engaged in almost constant warfare throughout his reign, often at the head of his elite scara bodyguard squadrons. In the Saxon Wars, spanning thirty years and eighteen battles, he conquered Saxonia and proceeded to convert it to Christianity.
In his first campaign, in 773, Charlemagne forced the Engrians to submit and cut down an Irminsul pillar near Paderborn.
The campaign was cut short by his first expedition to Italy. He
returned in 775, marching through Westphalia and conquering the Saxon
fort at Sigiburg. He then crossed Engria, where he defeated the Saxons again. Finally, in Eastphalia, he defeated a Saxon force, and its leader Hessi converted to Christianity. Charlemagne returned through Westphalia, leaving encampments at Sigiburg and Eresburg,
which had been important Saxon bastions. He then controlled Saxony with
the exception of Nordalbingia, but Saxon resistance had not ended.
Following his subjugation of the Dukes of Friuli and Spoleto,
Charlemagne returned rapidly to Saxony in 776, where a rebellion had
destroyed his fortress at Eresburg. The Saxons were once again defeated,
but their main leader, Widukind, escaped to Denmark, his wife's home. Charlemagne built a new camp at Karlstadt.
In 777, he called a national diet at Paderborn to integrate Saxony
fully into the Frankish kingdom. Many Saxons were baptised as
Christians.
In the summer of 779, he again invaded Saxony and reconquered Eastphalia, Engria and Westphalia. At a diet near Lippe,
he divided the land into missionary districts and himself assisted in
several mass baptisms (780). He then returned to Italy and, for the
first time, the Saxons did not immediately revolt. Saxony was peaceful
from 780 to 782.
He returned to Saxony in 782 and instituted a code of law and
appointed counts, both Saxon and Frank. The laws were draconian on
religious issues; for example, the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae
prescribed death to Saxon pagans who refused to convert to
Christianity. This led to renewed conflict. That year, in autumn,
Widukind returned and led a new revolt. In response, at Verden in Lower Saxony, Charlemagne is recorded as having ordered the execution of 4,500 Saxon prisoners by beheading, known as the Massacre of Verden ("Verdener Blutgericht"). The killings triggered three years of renewed bloody warfare. During this war, the East Frisians between the Lauwers and the Weser joined the Saxons in revolt and were finally subdued. The war ended with Widukind accepting baptism. The Frisians afterwards asked for missionaries to be sent to them and a bishop of their own nation, Ludger, was sent. Charlemagne also promulgated a law code, the Lex Frisonum, as he did for most subject peoples.
Thereafter, the Saxons maintained the peace for seven years, but
in 792 Westphalia again rebelled. The Eastphalians and Nordalbingians
joined them in 793, but the insurrection was unpopular and was put down
by 794. An Engrian rebellion followed in 796, but the presence of
Charlemagne, Christian Saxons and Slavs
quickly crushed it. The last insurrection occurred in 804, more than
thirty years after Charlemagne's first campaign against them, but also
failed. According to Einhard:
The war that had lasted so many years was at length ended by their
acceding to the terms offered by the King; which were renunciation of
their national religious customs and the worship of devils, acceptance
of the sacraments of the Christian faith and religion, and union with
the Franks to form one people.
By 774, Charlemagne had invaded the Kingdom of Lombardy, and he later annexed the Lombardian territories and assumed its crown, placing the Papal States under Frankish protection. The Duchy of Spoleto south of Rome was acquired in 774, while in the central western parts of Europe, the Duchy of Bavaria was absorbed and the Bavarian policy continued of establishing tributary marches, (borders protected in return for tribute or taxes) among the Slavic Serbs and Czechs. The remaining power confronting the Franks in the east were the Avars. However, Charlemagne acquired other Slavic areas, including Bohemia, Moravia, Austria and Croatia.
In 789, Charlemagne turned to Bavaria. He claimed that Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria
was an unfit ruler, due to his oath-breaking. The charges were
exaggerated, but Tassilo was deposed anyway and put in the monastery of Jumièges. In 794, Tassilo was made to renounce any claim to Bavaria for himself and his family (the Agilolfings) at the synod of Frankfurt; he formally handed over to the king all of the rights he had held. Bavaria was subdivided into Frankish counties, as had been done with Saxony.
Avar campaigns
In 788, the Avars, an Asian nomadic group that had settled down in what is today Hungary (Einhard called them Huns), invaded Friuli and Bavaria. Charlemagne was preoccupied with other matters until 790 when he marched down the Danube and ravaged Avar territory to the Győr. A Lombard army under Pippin then marched into the Drava valley and ravaged Pannonia. The campaigns ended when the Saxons revolted again in 792.
For the next two years, Charlemagne was occupied, along with the Slavs, against the Saxons. Pippin and Duke Eric of Friuli
continued, however, to assault the Avars' ring-shaped strongholds. The
great Ring of the Avars, their capital fortress, was taken twice. The
booty was sent to Charlemagne at his capital, Aachen, and redistributed to his followers and to foreign rulers, including King Offa of Mercia. Soon the Avar tuduns
had lost the will to fight and travelled to Aachen to become vassals to
Charlemagne and to become Christians. Charlemagne accepted their
surrender and sent one native chief, baptised Abraham, back to Avaria
with the ancient title of khagan. Abraham kept his people in line, but in 800, the Bulgarians under Khan Krum attacked the remains of the Avar state.
In 803, Charlemagne sent a Bavarian army into Pannonia, defeating and bringing an end to the Avar confederation.
In November of the same year, Charlemagne went to Regensburg where the Avar leaders acknowledged him as their ruler.
In 805, the Avar khagan, who had already been baptised, went to Aachen
to ask permission to settle with his people south-eastward from Vienna. The Transdanubian territories became integral parts of the Frankish realm, which was abolished by the Magyars in 899–900.
Northeast Slav expeditions
In 789, in recognition of his new pagan neighbours, the Slavs, Charlemagne marched an Austrasian-Saxon army across the Elbe into Obotrite territory. The Slavs ultimately submitted, led by their leader Witzin. Charlemagne then accepted the surrender of the Veleti
under Dragovit and demanded many hostages. He also demanded permission
to send missionaries into this pagan region unmolested. The army marched
to the Baltic
before turning around and marching to the Rhine, winning much booty
with no harassment. The tributary Slavs became loyal allies. In 795,
when the Saxons broke the peace, the Abotrites and Veleti rebelled with
their new ruler against the Saxons. Witzin died in battle and
Charlemagne avenged him by harrying the Eastphalians on the Elbe.
Thrasuco, his successor, led his men to conquest over the Nordalbingians
and handed their leaders over to Charlemagne, who honoured him. The
Abotrites remained loyal until Charles' death and fought later against
the Danes.
Southeast Slav expeditions
Europe around 800
When Charlemagne incorporated much of Central Europe, he brought the
Frankish state face to face with the Avars and Slavs in the southeast. The most southeast Frankish neighbours were Croats, who settled in Lower Pannonia and Duchy of Croatia. While fighting the Avars, the Franks had called for their support. During the 790s, he won a major victory over them in 796. Duke Vojnomir of Lower Pannonia aided Charlemagne, and the Franks made themselves overlords over the Croats of northern Dalmatia, Slavonia and Pannonia.
The Frankish commander Eric of Friuli wanted to extend his dominion by conquering the Littoral Croat Duchy. During that time, Dalmatian Croatia was ruled by Duke Višeslav of Croatia. In the Battle of Trsat, the forces of Eric fled their positions and were routed by the forces of Višeslav. Eric was among those killed which was a great blow for the Carolingian Empire.
Charlemagne also directed his attention to the Slavs to the west of the Avar khaganate: the Carantanians and Carniolans.
These people were subdued by the Lombards and Bavarii and made
tributaries, but were never fully incorporated into the Frankish state.
In 799, Pope Leo III had been assaulted by some of the Romans, who tried to put out his eyes and tear out his tongue. Leo escaped and fled to Charlemagne at Paderborn. Charlemagne, advised by scholar Alcuin,
travelled to Rome, in November 800 and held a synod. On 23 December,
Leo swore an oath of innocence to Charlemagne. His position having
thereby been weakened, the Pope sought to restore his status. Two days
later, at Mass, on Christmas Day (25 December), when Charlemagne knelt at the altar to pray, the Pope crowned him Imperator Romanorum ("Emperor of the Romans") in Saint Peter's Basilica. In so doing, the Pope rejected the legitimacy of Empress Irene of Constantinople:
Pope Leo III, crowning Charlemagne from Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, vol. 1; France, second quarter of 14th century.
When Odoacer compelled the abdication of Romulus Augustulus,
he did not abolish the Western Empire as a separate power, but caused
it to be reunited with or sink into the Eastern, so that from that time
there was a single undivided Roman Empire ... [Pope Leo III and
Charlemagne], like their predecessors, held the Roman Empire to be one
and indivisible, and proposed by the coronation of [Charlemagne] not to
proclaim a severance of the East and West ... they were not revolting
against a reigning sovereign, but legitimately filling up the place of
the deposed Constantine VI ... [Charlemagne] was held to be the legitimate successor, not of Romulus Augustulus, but of Constantine VI ...
Charlemagne's coronation as Emperor, though intended to represent the continuation of the unbroken line of Emperors from Augustus
to Constantine VI, had the effect of setting up two separate (and often
opposing) Empires and two separate claims to imperial authority. It led
to war in 802, and for centuries to come, the Emperors of both West and
East would make competing claims of sovereignty over the whole.
Einhard says that Charlemagne was ignorant of the Pope's intent and did not want any such coronation:
[H]e at first had such an aversion
that he declared that he would not have set foot in the Church the day
that they [the imperial titles] were conferred, although it was a great
feast-day, if he could have foreseen the design of the Pope.
A number of modern scholars, however,
suggest that Charlemagne was indeed aware of the coronation; certainly,
he cannot have missed the bejewelled crown waiting on the altar when he
came to pray—something even contemporary sources support.
Debate
The throne of Charlemagne and the subsequent German Kings in Aachen Cathedral
Historians have debated for centuries whether Charlemagne was aware
before the coronation of the Pope's intention to crown him Emperor
(Charlemagne declared that he would not have entered Saint Peter's had
he known, according to chapter twenty-eight of Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni), but that debate obscured the more significant question of why the Pope granted the title and why Charlemagne accepted it.
Collins
points out "[t]hat the motivation behind the acceptance of the imperial
title was a romantic and antiquarian interest in reviving the Roman
Empire is highly unlikely."
For one thing, such romance would not have appealed either to Franks or
Roman Catholics at the turn of the ninth century, both of whom viewed
the Classical
heritage of the Roman Empire with distrust. The Franks took pride in
having "fought against and thrown from their shoulders the heavy yoke of
the Romans" and "from the knowledge gained in baptism, clothed in gold
and precious stones the bodies of the holy martyrs whom the Romans had
killed by fire, by the sword and by wild animals", as Pepin III described it in a law of 763 or 764.
Furthermore, the new title—carrying with it the risk that the new
emperor would "make drastic changes to the traditional styles and
procedures of government" or "concentrate his attentions on Italy or on
Mediterranean concerns more generally"—risked alienating the Frankish
leadership.
For both the Pope and Charlemagne, the Roman Empire remained a significant power in European politics at this time. The Byzantine Empire, based in Constantinople,
continued to hold a substantial portion of Italy, with borders not far
south of Rome. Charles' sitting in judgment of the Pope could be seen as
usurping the prerogatives of the Emperor in Constantinople:
By whom, however, could he [the
Pope] be tried? Who, in other words, was qualified to pass judgement on
the Vicar of Christ? In normal circumstances the only conceivable answer
to that question would have been the Emperor at Constantinople; but the
imperial throne was at this moment occupied by Irene.
That the Empress was notorious for having blinded and murdered her own
son was, in the minds of both Leo and Charles, almost immaterial: it was
enough that she was a woman. The female sex was known to be incapable
of governing, and by the old Salic tradition was debarred from doing so.
As far as Western Europe was concerned, the Throne of the Emperors was
vacant: Irene's claim to it was merely an additional proof, if any were
needed, of the degradation into which the so-called Roman Empire had
fallen.
For the Pope, then, there was "no living Emperor at that time" though Henri Pirenne
disputes this saying that the coronation "was not in any sense
explained by the fact that at this moment a woman was reigning in
Constantinople". Nonetheless, the Pope took the extraordinary step of
creating one. The papacy had since 727 been in conflict with Irene's
predecessors in Constantinople over a number of issues, chiefly the
continued Byzantine adherence to the doctrine of iconoclasm,
the destruction of Christian images; while from 750, the secular power
of the Byzantine Empire in central Italy had been nullified.
Coronation of an idealised king, depicted in the Sacramentary of Charles the Bald (about 870)
By bestowing the Imperial crown upon Charlemagne, the Pope arrogated
to himself "the right to appoint ... the Emperor of the Romans, ...
establishing the imperial crown as his own personal gift but
simultaneously granting himself implicit superiority over the Emperor
whom he had created." And "because the Byzantines had proved so
unsatisfactory from every point of view—political, military and
doctrinal—he would select a westerner: the one man who by his wisdom and
statesmanship and the vastness of his dominions ... stood out head and
shoulders above his contemporaries."
With Charlemagne's coronation, therefore, "the Roman Empire
remained, so far as either of them [Charlemagne and Leo] were concerned,
one and indivisible, with Charles as its Emperor", though there can
have been "little doubt that the coronation, with all that it implied,
would be furiously contested in Constantinople".
Alcuin writes hopefully in his letters of an Imperium Christianum
("Christian Empire"), wherein, "just as the inhabitants of the [Roman
Empire] had been united by a common Roman citizenship", presumably this
new empire would be united by a common Christian faith. This is the view of Pirenne when he says "Charles was the Emperor of the ecclesia as the Pope conceived it, of the Roman Church, regarded as the universal Church". The Imperium Christianum was further supported at a number of synods all across Europe by Paulinus of Aquileia.
What is known, from the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes,
is that Charlemagne's reaction to his coronation was to take the
initial steps towards securing the Constantinopolitan throne by sending
envoys of marriage to Irene, and that Irene reacted somewhat favourably
to them.
It is important to distinguish between the universalist and localist
conceptions of the empire, which remain controversial among historians.
According to the former, the empire was a universal monarchy, a
"commonwealth of the whole world, whose sublime unity transcended every
minor distinction"; and the emperor "was entitled to the obedience of Christendom".
According to the latter, the emperor had no ambition for universal
dominion; his realm was limited in the same way as that of every other
ruler, and when he made more far-reaching claims his object was normally
to ward off the attacks either of the Pope or of the Byzantine emperor.
According to this view, also, the origin of the empire is to be
explained by specific local circumstances rather than by overarching
theories.
According to Ohnsorge, for a long time, it had been the custom of
Byzantium to designate the German princes as spiritual "sons" of the
Romans. What might have been acceptable in the fifth century had become
provoking and insulting to the Franks in the eighth century. Charles
came to believe that the Roman emperor, who claimed to head the world
hierarchy of states, was, in reality, no greater than Charles himself, a
king as other kings, since beginning in 629 he had entitled himself
"Basileus" (translated literally as "king"). Ohnsorge finds it
significant that the chief wax seal of Charles, which bore only the
inscription: "Christe, protege Carolum regem Francorum [Christ, protect
Charles, king of the Franks], was used from 772 to 813, even during the
imperial period and was not replaced by a special imperial seal;
indicating that Charles felt himself to be just the king of the Franks.
Finally, Ohnsorge points out that in the spring of 813 at Aachen Charles
crowned his only surviving son, Louis, as the emperor without recourse
to Rome with only the acclamation of his Franks. The form in which this
acclamation was offered was Frankish-Christian rather than Roman. This
implies both independence from Rome and a Frankish (non-Roman)
understanding of empire.
Imperial title
Charlemagne used these circumstances to claim that he was the "renewer of the Roman Empire", which had declined under the Byzantines. In his official charters, Charles preferred the style Karolus serenissimus Augustus a Deo coronatus magnus pacificus imperator Romanum gubernans imperium ("Charles, most serene Augustus crowned by God, the great, peaceful emperor ruling the Roman empire") to the more direct Imperator Romanorum ("Emperor of the Romans").
The title of Emperor remained in the Carolingian family for years
to come, but divisions of territory and in-fighting over supremacy of
the Frankish state weakened its significance.
The papacy itself never forgot the title nor abandoned the right to
bestow it. When the family of Charles ceased to produce worthy heirs,
the Pope gladly crowned whichever Italian magnate could best protect him
from his local enemies. The empire would remain in continuous existence
for over a millennium, as the Holy Roman Empire, a true imperial successor to Charles.
Imperial diplomacy
Europe around 814
The iconoclasm of the ByzantineIsaurian Dynasty was endorsed by the Franks. The Second Council of Nicaea reintroduced the veneration of icons under Empress Irene.
The council was not recognised by Charlemagne since no Frankish
emissaries had been invited, even though Charlemagne ruled more than
three provinces of the classical Roman empire and was considered equal
in rank to the Byzantine emperor. And while the Pope supported the
reintroduction of the iconic veneration, he politically digressed from
Byzantium.
He certainly desired to increase the influence of the papacy, to honour
his saviour Charlemagne, and to solve the constitutional issues then
most troubling to European jurists in an era when Rome was not in the
hands of an emperor. Thus, Charlemagne's assumption of the imperial
title was not a usurpation in the eyes of the Franks or Italians. It
was, however, seen as such in Byzantium, where it was protested by Irene
and her successor Nikephoros I—neither of whom had any great effect in enforcing their protests.
The East Romans, however, still held several territories in Italy: Venice (what was left of the Exarchate of Ravenna), Reggio (in Calabria), Otranto (in Apulia), and Naples (the Ducatus Neapolitanus).
These regions remained outside of Frankish hands until 804, when the
Venetians, torn by infighting, transferred their allegiance to the Iron
Crown of Pippin, Charles' son. The Pax Nicephori
ended. Nicephorus ravaged the coasts with a fleet, initiating the only
instance of war between the Byzantines and the Franks. The conflict
lasted until 810 when the pro-Byzantine party in Venice gave their city
back to the Byzantine Emperor, and the two emperors of Europe made
peace: Charlemagne received the Istrian peninsula and in 812 the emperor Michael I Rangabe recognised his status as Emperor, although not necessarily as "Emperor of the Romans".
Danish attacks
After the conquest of Nordalbingia, the Frankish frontier was brought into contact with Scandinavia. The pagan Danes, "a race almost unknown to his ancestors, but destined to be only too well known to his sons" as Charles Oman described them, inhabiting the Jutland
peninsula, had heard many stories from Widukind and his allies who had
taken refuge with them about the dangers of the Franks and the fury
which their Christian king could direct against pagan neighbours.
In 808, the king of the Danes, Godfred, expanded the vast Danevirke across the isthmus of Schleswig.
This defence, last employed in the Danish-Prussian War of 1864, was at
its beginning a 30 km (19 mi) long earthenwork rampart. The Danevirke
protected Danish land and gave Godfred the opportunity to harass Frisia and Flanders with pirate raids. He also subdued the Frank-allied Veleti and fought the Abotrites.
Godfred invaded Frisia, joked of visiting Aachen, but was
murdered before he could do any more, either by a Frankish assassin or
by one of his own men. Godfred was succeeded by his nephew Hemming, who concluded the Treaty of Heiligen with Charlemagne in late 811.
In 813, Charlemagne called Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine,
his only surviving legitimate son, to his court. There Charlemagne
crowned his son as co-emperor and sent him back to Aquitaine. He then
spent the autumn hunting before returning to Aachen on 1 November. In
January, he fell ill with pleurisy. In deep depression (mostly because many of his plans were not yet realised), he took to his bed on 21 January and as Einhard tells it:
He died January twenty-eighth, the
seventh day from the time that he took to his bed, at nine o'clock in
the morning, after partaking of the Holy Communion, in the seventy-second year of his age and the forty-seventh of his reign.
He was buried that same day, in Aachen Cathedral, although the cold weather and the nature of his illness made such a hurried burial unnecessary. The earliest surviving planctus, the Planctus de obitu Karoli, was composed by a monk of Bobbio, which he had patronised. A later story, told by Otho of Lomello, Count of the Palace at Aachen in the time of Emperor Otto III,
would claim that he and Otto had discovered Charlemagne's tomb:
Charlemagne, they claimed, was seated upon a throne, wearing a crown and
holding a sceptre, his flesh almost entirely incorrupt. In 1165, Emperor Frederick I re-opened the tomb again and placed the emperor in a sarcophagus beneath the floor of the cathedral. In 1215 Emperor Frederick II re-interred him in a casket made of gold and silver known as the Karlsschrein.
Charlemagne's death emotionally affected many of his subjects,
particularly those of the literary clique who had surrounded him at Aachen. An anonymous monk of Bobbio lamented:
From the lands where the sun rises
to western shores, people are crying and wailing ... the Franks, the
Romans, all Christians, are stung with mourning and great worry ... the
young and old, glorious nobles, all lament the loss of their Caesar ...
the world laments the death of Charles ... O Christ, you who govern the
heavenly host, grant a peaceful place to Charles in your kingdom. Alas
for miserable me.
Louis succeeded him as Charles had intended. He left a testament
allocating his assets in 811 that was not updated prior to his death.
He left most of his wealth to the Church, to be used for charity. His
empire lasted only another generation in its entirety; its division,
according to custom, between Louis's own sons after their father's death
laid the foundation for the modern states of Germany and France.
Administration
Organisation
The Carolingian king exercised the bannum, the right to rule and command. Under the Franks, it was a royal prerogative but could be delegated. He had supreme jurisdiction in judicial matters, made legislation, led the army, and protected both the Church and the poor.
His administration was an attempt to organise the kingdom, church and
nobility around him. As an administrator, Charlemagne stands out for his
many reforms: monetary, governmental, military, cultural and ecclesiastical. He is the main protagonist of the "Carolingian Renaissance".
Military
Charlemagne's success rested primarily on novel siege technologies and excellent logistics rather than the long-claimed "cavalry revolution" led by Charles Martel in 730s. However, the stirrup, which made the "shock cavalry" lance charge possible, was not introduced to the Frankish kingdom until the late eighth century.
Horses were used extensively by the Frankish military because they provided a quick, long-distance method of transporting troops, which was critical to building and maintaining the large empire.
Economic and monetary reforms
Monogram of Charlemagne, including signum manus, from the subscription of a royal diploma: Signum (monogr.: KAROLVS) Karoli gloriosissimi regis
Charlemagne had an important role in determining Europe's immediate
economic future. Pursuing his father's reforms, Charlemagne abolished
the monetary system based on the gold sou. Instead, he and the Anglo-Saxon KingOffa of Mercia took up Pippin's system for pragmatic reasons, notably a shortage of the metal.
The gold shortage was a direct consequence of the conclusion of
peace with Byzantium, which resulted in ceding Venice and Sicily to the
East and losing their trade routes to Africa. The resulting
standardisation economically harmonised and unified the complex array of
currencies that had been in use at the commencement of his reign, thus
simplifying trade and commerce.
Denier from the era of Charlemagne, Tours, 793–812
Charlemagne established a new standard, the livre carolinienne (from the Latin libra, the modern pound), which was based upon a pound of silver—a unit of both money and weight—worth 20 sous (from the Latin solidus [which was primarily an accounting device and never actually minted], the modern shilling) or 240 deniers (from the Latin denarius, the modern penny). During this period, the livre and the sou were counting units; only the denier was a coin of the realm.
Charlemagne instituted principles for accounting practice by means of the Capitulare de villis of 802, which laid down strict rules for the way in which incomes and expenses were to be recorded.
Charlemagne applied this system to much of the European
continent, and Offa's standard was voluntarily adopted by much of
England. After Charlemagne's death, continental coinage degraded, and
most of Europe resorted to using the continued high-quality English coin
until about 1100.
Jews in Charlemagne's realm
Early in Charlemagne's rule he tacitly allowed Jews to monopolise money lending. The lending of money in return for interest was proscribed in 814 because it violated Church law. Charlemagne introduced the Capitulary for the Jews,
a prohibition on Jews engaging in money-lending due to the religious
convictions of the majority of his constituents. Effectively banning
money lending was a reversal of his earlier recorded general policy. Charlemagne also performed a significant number of microeconomic reforms, such as direct control of prices and feudal levies.
He invited Italian Jews to immigrate, as royal clients independent of
the feudal landowners, and form trading communities in the agricultural
regions of Provence and the Rhineland. Their trading activities augmented the otherwise almost exclusively agricultural economies of these regions.
Charlemagne's Capitulary for the Jews was not
representative of his overall economic relationship or attitude towards
the Frankish Jews; this relationship evolved throughout his reign. His
personal physician, for example, was Jewish, and he employed one Jew, Isaac, who was his personal representative to the Muslim caliphate of Baghdad.
Education reforms
Charlemagne in a contemporary sketch
Part of Charlemagne's success as a warrior, an administrator and
ruler can be traced to his admiration for learning and education. His
reign is often referred to as the Carolingian Renaissance
because of the flowering of scholarship, literature, art and
architecture that characterise it. Charlemagne came into contact with
the culture and learning of other countries (especially Moorish Spain,
Anglo-Saxon England,
and Lombard Italy) due to his vast conquests. He greatly increased the
provision of monastic schools and scriptoria (centres for book-copying)
in Francia.
Charlemagne was a lover of books, sometimes having them read to him during meals. He was thought to enjoy the works of Augustine of Hippo.
His court played a key role in producing books that taught elementary
Latin and different aspects of the church. It also played a part in
creating a royal library that contained in-depth works on language and
Christian faith.
Charlemagne encouraged clerics to translate Christian creeds and
prayers into their respective vernaculars as well to teach grammar and
music. Due to the increased interest of intellectual pursuits and the
urging of their king, the monks accomplished so much copying that almost
every manuscript from that time was preserved. At the same time, at the
urging of their king, scholars were producing more secular books on
many subjects, including history, poetry, art, music, law, theology,
etc. Due to the increased number of titles, private libraries
flourished. These were mainly supported by aristocrats and churchmen who
could afford to sustain them. At Charlemagne's court, a library was
founded and a number of copies of books were produced, to be distributed
by Charlemagne.
Book production was completed slowly by hand and took place mainly in
large monastic libraries. Books were so in demand during Charlemagne's
time that these libraries lent out some books, but only if that borrower
offered valuable collateral in return.
The privileges of Charlemagne at the Modena Cathedral (containing the monogram of Charlemagne), dated 782
Most of the surviving works of classical Latin were copied and
preserved by Carolingian scholars. Indeed, the earliest manuscripts
available for many ancient texts are Carolingian. It is almost certain
that a text which survived to the Carolingian age survives still.
Charlemagne promoted the liberal arts
at court, ordering that his children and grandchildren be
well-educated, and even studying himself (in a time when even leaders
who promoted education did not take time to learn themselves) under the
tutelage of Peter of Pisa, from whom he learned grammar; Alcuin, with
whom he studied rhetoric, dialectic (logic), and astronomy (he was
particularly interested in the movements of the stars); and Einhard, who
tutored him in arithmetic.
His great scholarly failure, as Einhard relates, was his
inability to write: when in his old age he attempted to learn—practising
the formation of letters in his bed during his free time on books and
wax tablets he hid under his pillow—"his effort came too late in life
and achieved little success", and his ability to read—which Einhard is
silent about, and which no contemporary source supports—has also been
called into question.
In 800, Charlemagne enlarged the hostel at the Muristan in Jerusalem and added a library to it. He certainly had not been personally in Jerusalem.
Charlemagne expanded the reform Church's programme unlike his father,
Pippin, and uncle, Carloman. The deepening of the spiritual life was
later to be seen as central to public policy and royal governance. His
reform focused on strengthening the church's power structure, improving
clergy's skill and moral quality, standardising liturgical practices,
improvements on the basic tenets of the faith and the rooting out of
paganism. His authority extended over church and state. He could
discipline clerics, control ecclesiastical property and define orthodox
doctrine. Despite the harsh legislation and sudden change, he had
developed support from clergy who approved his desire to deepen the
piety and morals of his subjects.
In 809–810, Charlemagne called a church council in Aachen, which confirmed the unanimous belief in the West that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (ex Patre Filioque) and sanctioned inclusion in the Nicene Creed of the phrase Filioque (and the Son). For this Charlemagne sought the approval of Pope Leo III.
The Pope, while affirming the doctrine and approving its use in
teaching, opposed its inclusion in the text of the Creed as adopted in
the 381 First Council of Constantinople.
This spoke of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father,
without adding phrases such as "and the Son", "through the Son", or
"alone". Stressing his opposition, the Pope had the original text
inscribed in Greek and Latin on two heavy shields that were displayed in
Saint Peter's Basilica.
During Charles' reign, the Roman half uncial script and its cursive version, which had given rise to various continental minuscule scripts, were combined with features from the insular scripts in use in Irish and English monasteries. Carolingian minuscule was created partly under the patronage of Charlemagne. Alcuin, who ran the palace school and scriptorium at Aachen, was probably a chief influence.
The revolutionary character of the Carolingian reform, however,
can be over-emphasised; efforts at taming Merovingian and Germanic
influence had been underway before Alcuin arrived at Aachen. The new
minuscule was disseminated first from Aachen and later from the
influential scriptorium at Tours, where Alcuin retired as an abbot.
Political reforms
Charlemagne
engaged in many reforms of Frankish governance while continuing many
traditional practices, such as the division of the kingdom among sons.
Divisio regnorum
In
806, Charlemagne first made provision for the traditional division of
the empire on his death. For Charles the Younger he designated Austrasia
and Neustria, Saxony, Burgundy and Thuringia. To Pippin, he gave Italy, Bavaria, and Swabia. Louis received Aquitaine, the Spanish March and Provence.
The imperial title was not mentioned, which led to the suggestion that,
at that particular time, Charlemagne regarded the title as an honorary
achievement that held no hereditary significance.
Pepin died in 810 and Charles in 811. Charlemagne then
reconsidered the matter, and in 813, crowned his youngest son, Louis,
co-emperor and co-King of the Franks, granting him a half-share of the
empire and the rest upon Charlemagne's own death. The only part of the
Empire that Louis was not promised was Italy, which Charlemagne
specifically bestowed upon Pippin's illegitimate son Bernard.
Charles
was temperate in eating, and particularly so in drinking, for he
abominated drunkenness in anybody, much more in himself and those of his
household; but he could not easily abstain from food, and often
complained that fasts injured his health. He very rarely gave
entertainments, only on great feast-days, and then to large numbers of
people. His meals ordinarily consisted of four courses, not counting the
roast, which his huntsmen used to bring in on the spit; he was more
fond of this than of any other dish. While at table, he listened to
reading or music. The subjects of the readings were the stories and
deeds of olden time: he was fond, too, of St. Augustine's books, and
especially of the one titled "The City of God".
Charlemagne
threw grand banquets and feasts for special occasions such as religious
holidays and four of his weddings. When he was not working, he loved
Christian books, horseback riding, swimming, bathing in natural hot
springs with his friends and family, and hunting. Franks were well known for horsemanship and hunting skills.
Charles was a light sleeper and would stay in his bed chambers for
entire days at a time due to restless nights. During these days, he
would not get out of bed when a quarrel occurred in his kingdom, instead
summoning all members of the situation into his bedroom to be given
orders. Einhard tells again in the twenty-fourth chapter: "In summer
after the midday meal, he would eat some fruit, drain a single cup, put
off his clothes and shoes, just as he did for the night, and rest for
two or three hours. He was in the habit of awaking and rising from bed
four or five times during the night."
Language
Charlemagne probably spoke a Rhenish Franconian dialect.
He also spoke Latin and had at least some understanding of Greek, according to Einhard (Grecam vero melius intellegere quam pronuntiare poterat, "he could understand Greek better than he could speak it").
The largely fictional account of Charlemagne's Iberian campaigns by Pseudo-Turpin, written some three centuries after his death, gave rise to the legend that the king also spoke Arabic.
Charlemagne's personal appearance is known from a good description by Einhard after his death in the biography Vita Karoli Magni. Einhard states:
He was heavily built, sturdy, and
of considerable stature, although not exceptionally so, since his height
was seven times the length of his own foot. He had a round head, large
and lively eyes, a slightly larger nose than usual, white but still
attractive hair, a bright and cheerful expression, a short and fat neck,
and he enjoyed good health, except for the fevers that affected him in
the last few years of his life. Towards the end, he dragged one leg.
Even then, he stubbornly did what he wanted and refused to listen to
doctors, indeed he detested them, because they wanted to persuade him to
stop eating roast meat, as was his wont, and to be content with boiled
meat.
The physical portrait provided by Einhard is confirmed by contemporary depictions such as coins and his 8-inch (20 cm) bronze statuette kept in the Louvre.
In 1861, Charlemagne's tomb was opened by scientists who reconstructed
his skeleton and estimated it to be measured 1.95 metres (6 ft 5 in). An estimate of his height from an X-ray and CT scan of his tibia performed in 2010 is 1.84 metres (6 ft 0 in). This puts him in the 99th percentile
of height for his period, given that average male height of his time
was 1.69 metres (5 ft 7 in). The width of the bone suggested he was gracile in body build.
He used to wear the national, that
is to say, the Frank, dress—next 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 typically of a golden
or silver hilt. He wore intricately jeweled 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.
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.
Homes
Charlemagne had residences across his kingdom, including numerous private estates that were governed in accordance with the Capitulare de villis.
A 9th-century document detailing the inventory of an estate at Asnapium
listed amounts of livestock, plants and vegetables and kitchenware
including cauldrons, drinking cups, brass kettles and firewood. The
manor contained seventeen houses built inside the courtyard for nobles
and family members and was separated from its supporting villas.
The author of the Visio Karoli Magni
written around 865 uses facts gathered apparently from Einhard and his
own observations on the decline of Charlemagne's family after the
dissensions war (840–43) as the basis for a visionary tale of Charles'
meeting with a prophetic spectre in a dream.
In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth based his stories of Arthur largely on stories of Charlemagne. During the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century, there was considerable cultural conflict in England, where the Norman
rulers were aware of their French roots and identified with
Charlemagne, Anglo-Saxon natives felt more affinity for Arthur, whose
own legends were relatively primitive. Therefore, storytellers in
England adapted legends of Charlemagne and his 12 Peers to the Arthurian
tales.
In the Divine Comedy, the spirit of Charlemagne appears to Dante in the Heaven of Mars, among the other "warriors of the faith".
Charlemagne's capitularies were quoted by Pope Benedict XIV
in his apostolic constitution 'Providas' against freemasonry: "For in
no way are we able to understand how they can be faithful to us, who
have shown themselves unfaithful to God and disobedient to their
Priests".
Charlemagne appears in Adelchi, the second tragedy by Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1822.
In 1867, an equestrian statue of Charlemagne was made by Louis Jehotte and was inaugurated in 1868 on the Boulevard d'Avroy in Liège. In the niches of the neo-roman pedestal
are six statues of Charlemagne's ancestors (Sainte Begge, Pépin de
Herstal, Charles Martel, Bertrude, Pépin de Landen and Pépin le Bref).
The city of Aachen has, since 1949, awarded an international prize (called the Karlspreis der Stadt Aachen)
in honour of Charlemagne. It is awarded annually to "personages of
merit who have promoted the idea of western unity by their political,
economic and literary endeavours." Winners of the prize include Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, the founder of the pan-European movement, Alcide De Gasperi, and Winston Churchill.
In its national anthem, "El Gran Carlemany", the nation of Andorra credits Charlemagne with its independence.
In 1964, young French singer France Gall released the hit song "Sacré Charlemagne" in which the lyrics blame the great king for imposing the burden of compulsory education on French children.
Charlemagne is quoted by Dr Henry Jones, Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
After using his umbrella to induce a flock of seagulls to smash through
the glass cockpit of a pursuing German fighter plane, Henry Jones
remarks, "I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne: 'Let my armies be the
rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky.'" Despite the quote's popularity since the movie, there is no evidence that Charlemagne actually said this.
21st century
A 2010 episode of QI
discussed the mathematics completed by Mark Humphrys that calculated
that all modern Europeans are highly likely to share Charlemagne as a
common ancestor (see most recent common ancestor).
The Economist
featured a weekly column entitled "Charlemagne", focusing generally on
European affairs and, more usually and specifically, on the European Union and its politics.
In April 2014, on the occasion of the 1200th anniversary of Charlemagne's death, public art Mein Karl by Ottmar Hörl at Katschhof place was installed between city hall and the Aachen cathedral, displaying 500 Charlemagne statues.
Charlemagne features as a playable character in the 2014 Charlemagne expansion for the grand strategy video game Crusader Kings 2.
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