| King of the Franks and Lombards, re-creator of the Roman Empire in the west, founder of the Carolingian dynasty Date of Birth: 02.04.0742 Country: Belgium |
Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was the King of the Franks and Lombards, the restorer of the Western Roman Empire, and the founder of the Carolingian dynasty. He was the king of the Franks from 768 and the king of Italy from 774. Starting from 800, he became the first emperor in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The royal dynasty of Carolingians got its name from the Latinized name of Charlemagne.
On July 28, 754, Pope Stephen II anointed Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman as kings. After the death of their father, Pepin the Short, both brothers ascended to the throne. According to the division of their father's inheritance, Charlemagne received lands shaped like a crescent moon, with Noyon becoming his residence. Their mother, Bertrada of Laon, tried to maintain peace between the feuding brothers, but those around Carloman fueled the tensions, hoping to escalate it into a war. Fearing that Carloman might conspire with Desiderius, the king of Lombardy, Charlemagne, who was inclined to support the Pope, first established a trustful relationship with his cousin, Tassilo III, the Duke of Bavaria, who became the son-in-law of the Lombard king. Then, following the advice of his mother, Bertrada, Charlemagne married Desiderius' daughter, Desiderata, in 770. At that time, he was already married to a noblewoman named Himiltrude, who had given him his first son, Pepin the Hunchback. These actions by Charlemagne could have had far-reaching consequences if his brother had not died suddenly under unclear circumstances on December 4, 771. After his brother's death, Charlemagne arranged for the closest associates of Carloman to join him and took over his brother's inheritance. As the undisputed ruler of the Franks, he continued his father's policy of defending the papacy and expanding Christianity. He waged a fierce war against the Saxons for a total of 33 years. In 772, Charlemagne invaded Saxony for the first time, destroying the fortress of Eresburg. In the same year, Desiderata gave birth to his son, who was also named Charles.
During Charlemagne's victorious invasion of Italy, the Lombard kingdom fell. Unable to withstand the siege, the last Lombard king, Desiderius, surrendered. The fall of Pavia occurred in early June 774. Desiderius became a prisoner in the Frankish state and was forced to become a monk. Charlemagne united Gaul and Italy and began to establish Frankish order. From 775 to 777, Charlemagne continued the war with Saxony. In 779, he reached the Aquitanians, and in 781, he elevated Aquitaine to the rank of a kingdom. He seated his son, Louis the Pious, whom Desiderata gave birth to in 778, on the throne of Aquitaine. However, the offspring of Charlemagne from his first wife participated in a conspiracy against his father in 792 and was sentenced to death. However, the king ordered to replace the execution with tonsure, and Pepin the Hunchback spent the rest of his life in the monastery of Prüm. In 781, Charlemagne annexed Bavaria to the Frankish kingdom. Two years later, on April 30, 783, the king buried his second wife, Desiderata, and then, on July 12, he lost his mother. From 784 to 785, Charlemagne carried out punitive raids and constantly took part in open battles in Saxony, even during the winter. His decisive actions led the pagan Saxon leaders, Widukind and Abbio, to come to Charlemagne's court in Champagne, where they converted to Christianity. In the chronicle from 785, there is a record that Charlemagne "subjugated all of Saxony."
After Widukind and Abbio were baptized and swore allegiance to the King of the Franks, the resistance of the Saxons gradually weakened. After completing his expedition against the Slavic tribe of the Lutici in 789, Charlemagne waged war against the Avar Khaganate in 791. He had to suppress uprisings in Saxony from 793 to 795 before completely defeating the Avar Khaganate in the summer of 796. The grueling war with the Saxons ended in 804, after which Charlemagne resettled around 10,000 Saxon families from the Nordalbingia region, which he gave to the Obodrites. Charlemagne reached the peak of his power in 800 when he received the imperial crown from Pope Leo III. Shortly before his death, the emperor fell ill with a severe fever. In January, pleurisy added to his illness, and on January 28, 814, Charlemagne passed away.
Aside from Himiltrude and Desiderata, Charlemagne had four other wives: Hildegard of Vinzgouw, Fastrada, Luitgard, and Gerswinde of Saxony. The names of three concubines are also known: Maltegarde, Régine, and Adalinde. He had fifteen children with his six wives and four illegitimate children with his concubines. In late 813, Charlemagne passed the throne to his only surviving son, Louis.