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. [112] 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. [113] Imperial diplomacy edit Europe at the death of the Charlemagne in 814 The book roughly falls into two halves. The first looks at the early history of French troops serving with the Germans, the formation of SS Charlemagne and its introduction to combat on the Eastern Front. The second looks at the role the unit played in the battle for Berlin. About 250 men stayed behind in defensive positions to guard the withdrawal of the Charlemagne and remaining

Interests in the political affairs of Italy became a focus of Charlemagne's. The Papacy had sought the protection of the Franks from the aggression of the Lombards since the time of Charles Martel, as the ability of the Byzantine Empire to control Central Italy was fading. [55] Charlemagne and Carloman apparently both had troops in Rome, indicating a joint policy in Italy [56] Bertrand, mother of the Frankish kings, went to broker a bethrothal between one of her sons and a daughter of the Lombard king Desiderius in 770. [57] It is traditionally reported that this daughter was named Desiderata and married Charlemagne. However, she may have been named Gerperga. [58] [49]

Political map of Europe in 771, showing the Kingdom of the Lombards and the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento 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). [152] A 2010 estimate of his height from an X-ray and CT scan of his tibia was 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 slim in build. [153] Dress edit Later depiction of Charlemagne in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France Noble, Thomas F. X. (2009). Charlemagne and Louis the Pious: The Lives by Einhard, Notker, Ermoldus, Thegan, and the Astronomer. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0-271-03573-4. 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.

Ottewill-Soulsby, Sam (2023). The Emperor and the Elephant: Christians and Muslims in the Age of Charlemagne. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-22938-6. 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." [97] 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. [98] Carloman died suddenly on 4 December 771, leaving Charlemagne as sole King of the Franks. [59] His wife Gerberga and their children fled to the court of Desiderius, [59] as Charlemagne moved immediately to secure his hold on his brother's territory. [60] [61] As part of this effort, Charlemagne married Hildegard, daughter of a powerful magnate in Carloman's lands. [62] [61] By this, Charlemagne put aside his marriage to Desiridus' daughter. [61] Italian campaigns edit Conquest of the Lombard kingdom edit The Frankish king Charlemagne was a devout Christian 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. 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 King Offa of Mercia took up Pippin's system for pragmatic reasons, notably a shortage of the metal.Northen Magill, Frank; Aves, Alison (1998). Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages. Routledge. pp. 226–. ISBN 978-1-57958-041-4.

a b c Bhote, Tehmina (2005). Charlemagne: The Life and Times of an Early Medieval Emperor. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1404201613. beginning of the battle. Street fighting raged on, within a week it's strength had been reduced to 120 men. Every Andrew W. Lewis, 'Dynastic Structures and Capetian Throne-Right: the Views of Giles of Paris', Traditio, Vol. 33 (1977), pp. 246-47 n.94 Charlemagne ( / ˈ ʃ ɑːr l ə m eɪ n, ˌ ʃ ɑːr l ə ˈ m eɪ n/ SHAR-lə-mayn, -⁠ MAYN) or Charles the Great ( Latin: Carolus Magnus, Frankish: Karl; [1] 2 April 747 [a] – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and was crowned as the Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III in 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of Western and Central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier. [4] The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire, which is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire. He was canonized by Antipope Paschal III—an act later treated as invalid—and he is now regarded by some as beatified (which is a step on the path to sainthood) in the Catholic Church. When Charlemagne incorporated much of Central Europe, he brought the Frankish state face to face with the Avars and Slavs in the southeast. [85] 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. [86] During the 790s, he won a major victory over them in 796. [87] Duke Vojnomir of Lower Pannonia aided Charlemagne, and the Franks made themselves overlords over the Croats of northern Dalmatia, Slavonia and Pannonia. [87]

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. 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 Waifer 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. [71] In the campaign of 769, Charlemagne seems to have followed a policy of "overwhelming force" and avoided a major pitched battle [72] Through Beatrice of Vermandois, great-great granddaughter of Pepin of Italy and grandmother of Hugh Capet. [12] [13] Radbot of Klettgau, the founder of the House of Habsburg, married Ida of Lorraine, who descended from Charlemagne through both of her parents; from Cunigunda of France on her father's side and through the Capetians on her mother's side. Charlemagne and Anglo-Saxon England, Joanna Story, Charlemagne: Empire and Society, ed. Joanna Story, (Manchester University Press, 2005), 195.