Charlemagne Research Paper

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The Coronation of Charlemagne In 768, the reign of Charlemagne began. While at first his reign was not very remarkable, Charlemagne would soon become one of the all time greatest leaders of Western Europe. Over the next four decades, successful military campaigns brought much of Western Europe under his rule. As his empire continued to grow, Charlemagne’s influence of Western civilization became more significant. From the systematization of many aspects of daily life with law and Latin to his standardization of religion, Western Europe was changed dramatically under Charlemagne’s reign. While his accomplishments were vast and astounding, no accomplishment is more interesting than his coronation on Christmas Day, 800 A.D. On 25 December 800,…show more content…
Pepin’s kingdom was then split between his two sons, Charlemagne and Carloman. The first years of Charlemagne’s reign were not very remarkable. With his brother in charge of half of the Frankish kingdom, Charlemagne was unable to fully follow the former foreign policies of his father. Fortunate for Charlemagne, Carloman passed away suddenly on 4 December 771 and “immediately Charles occupied the territories belonging to him.” But bringing his brother’s territory into his realm did not just happen automatically. Carloman’s wife Gerberga was determined to uphold her sons’ claims to the throne. Charlemagne worked to win over the leading men of his late brother through “a new marriage-alliance that would supply a power-base in or alongside what had been his brother’s…show more content…
The repudiation of the Lombard princess infuriated Desiderius, king of the Lombards. Furious, Desiderius decided to Charlemagne’s nephews claims to the Frankish throne. He hoped to persuade the pope to consecrate Charlemagne’s nephews as king of the Franks. Fortunate for Charlemagne, a new pope, Hadrian I, came to power early in 772 and was hostile to Desiderius. After invading Saxony in 772, Charlemagne won additional Frankish support over his nephew’s claims and was able to convince Pope Hadrian I that support of Frankish intervention against the Lombards would benefit “St. Peter’s territorial rights [more] than a Lombard alliance was ever likely to.” In 773, at the request of Hadrian’s, “Charles took up war against the Lombards.” To Hadrian’s delight, Charlemagne was victorious and proclaimed himself king of the Lombards in 774. Properties that were stolen by the Lombard kings were returned to the pope’s control. The defeat of the Lombards and Charlemagne’s willingness to protect ‘St. Peter’s’ territorial rights established a strong relationship between Charlemagne and the
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