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Mena Feb 2, 2010

Charlemagnes Achievements
An unforgettable reign Rulers come and go, their ideas fade away, but Charlemagne lived on. Charlemagne had shown the true strength of a warrior, the wisdom of a ruler, and the strong devotion of a follower of ones religion. Charlemagne was the greatest emperor of the Western Empire. Of all people in Western Europe, he had the most dominant and strongest power. Charlemagne was the most superior of all rulers at the time, for he was known for the salvation of the Western Empire and he was considered to be the savior of Western Europe. Charlemagne was born on April 2, 742 to Peppin the Short and Bertada of Laon, and he originally is a Frank. Charlemagne ruled the Frankish Empire from 768 to his death on January 28,814. During his long years of reign, Charlemagne made huge political, military, and cultural changes that had left a legacy throughout Western Europe. Charlemagne was known for his keen tactics and stratagems that led the Western Empire to infinite victory. During the time Charlemagne took over the Frankish Kingdom, Europe was in complete turmoil. People in Western Europe started to neglect their religion and education and go back to their old barbaric and savage way of life. Charlemagne was very eager to change that and bring back order to Europe and to strengthen his realm. To accomplish this objective, Charlemagne launched a 30-year military campaign and with no doubt, it was a victorious move. Charlemagne was able to conquer countries that are now today The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, half of Italy and Germany, and parts of Austria and Spain and not to forget that the beginning of the Frankish Kingdom was in modern-day France. With these military victories Charlemagne was able to turn the Frankish Kingdom into a vast empire. Charlemagne was known for uniting most of Western Europe for the first time in 400 years, (World History book Pg 288-289). Charlemagne created buffer zones which are pieces of land located outside the empire and they are used to protect the empire from foreign invasions. He created buffer zones from the lands he won at war, like the Spanish March, which he won from the Moors that were driven back by the Frankish Army. As a result of the expansion of the Kingdom, (making it an Empire now) Charlemagne had to think of a clever way to organize the lands. Charlemagne first created a capital city which was named Aix-la-Chapelle. Then he divided the lands into regions and each region was governed by an official called a count. To make sure the counts did their job, Charlemagne hired missi dominicis. Missi dominicis are higher in rank and job than counts, and they were representatives of Charlemagne. Missi dominicis made sure that the empire ran smoothly. Charlemagne also paid his officials well. Charlemagne believed that the government should be for the benefit of the governed, (http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm) so this was a new idea he introduced ,because during that time, rulers didnt care about their citizens, all they cared about was the money they were going to get from the heavy taxes .

Mena Feb 2, 2010

Charlemagne was truly a strong and powerful emperor that found out a clever way to rule his empire during the horrific Dark Ages in Europe. Charlemagne had copious cultural achievements that actually started the Carolingian Renaissance where art and literature prospered and flourished. In the midst of the gory and horrific Dark Ages, Charlemagne was able to create a school for nobles and his children. Charlemagne brought the best scholars from all over the empire to teach at this school. The curriculum in Charlemagnes school was developed by a famous and talented scholar with the name, Alcuin of York. This curriculum consisted of Roman model, emphasizing grammar, rhetoric, logic, mathematics, music, and astronomy. Charlemagne put great importance in education and he believed that education was necessary. Charlemagne also commanded his workers to build libraries where books and knowledge were preserved. These libraries might have had Roman manuscripts that Charlemagne ordered his scholars to copy in order to preserve important information. Another main cultural achievement was the spread of Christianity, where Charlemagne had a great role in. Charlemagne was strongly devoted and dedicated to Christianity. During that time, he created readable bibles for people in his empire so they could learn and know about their religion more and more. Charlemagne believed that everyone should convert to Christianity and it was a must. Charlemagne forced people to convert and if they refused, they were killed right away. An example of this would be, the Saxons. The Saxons were a pagan group of people who threatened the Frankish Empire, they made constant sudden attacks, and they even burnt down a church. So Charlemagne went to war with them and gave them a choice whether to convert to Christianity or be killed. They decided to be killed and in that same day, an astonishing number of 4,500 people were beheaded. Charlemagne made many cultural changes and achievements that when you think about it, its really impossible to do all that in a time like the Dark Ages, where people were living in barbaric ways, and where life was so grotesque and gory where people were living in a war torn environment. Charlemagne was truly a person that hadnt just came and gone, and he wasnt that ruler with the faded away ideas either. Charlemagne left a legacy, a legacy that continued on for years. Charlemagne united most of Western Europe and without him Europe wouldnt be Europe! Charlemagne brought back the importance of education and learning. The way he organized the government and the concept of counts and missi dominicis where used for centuries across Europe. Charlemagne brought Christianity to peoples lives and if it wasnt for him, people in Western Europe might have been still pagans. Also, ninety percent of old Roman manuscripts were preserved by Charlemagne, and if it wasnt for him we wouldnt have known many things such as how the emperor ruled, and different laws. Charlemagne also reorganized the system of pounds, shillings, and pence which was used throughout Europe until the 18th or 19th century. Charlemagne

Mena Feb 2, 2010

was a glorious man who created many legacies and without him Western Europe wouldnt be what it is today. Charlemagne was a very strong and wise emperor that was able to rule most of Western Europe in a time of turmoil, in a time of devastation, and in a time of death and starvation. Charlemagne was able to bring back order to Western Europe, but unfortunately when he died on 814, the way he ruled didnt continue on. His son, Louis the Pious, took over. He was inexpressibly weak and later on when he died, Charlemagnes three grandchildren took over. Charlemagnes grandchildren were egotistical human beings who just couldnt stop fighting because each one of them wanted to take over the empire. So they decided to divide the land amongst themselves and the moment they divided the land, it was the moment that they would soon regret it. The Frankish Empire was rapidly collapsing and this is how all Charlemagnes effort all took a downturn. Charlemagne was truly the savior of the Western Empire; he had uncountable military, political, and cultural achievements that actually made Western Europe what it is today.

Sources:
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96apr/charlemagne.html http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm http://historymedren.about.com/od/charlemagnestudyguide/p/sg_facts.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne

Charlemagne was known for uniting most of Western Europe for the first time in 400 years, (World History book Pg 288-289).
http://www.answers.com/topic/charlemagne

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