Charlemagne

Powerpoint Presentation

At the end of the Roman Empire, Visigoths ruled most of Gaul.

Then the Franks arrived from Germany and took over!

Clovis was the son of a Frank chieftain and became leader of the Franks at age 15 !

Within a few years he had defeated the Visigoths and other German tribes in Gaul.

According to some stories, Clovis called upon the Christian God to help him defeat his enemies and then won ! He immediately was baptized and became the 1st Christian King of the Franks !

When Clovis (whose name later became Louis) died, his 4 sons took over the kingdom.

But they let the Mayor of the Palace take over running the kingdom and fighting any enemies

Charles Martel was not a king. He was a “Mayor of the Palace” and was actually more powerful than the King !

When Charles heard that Muslims from Spain had invaded Frank territories (modern day France),

he fought them

And WON ! Saving Europe to remain Christian even to this day !

Pepin had a close friendship with the Pope in Rome and promised to protect him against all enemies. In return, the Pope blessed Pepin and gave him authority to rule and conquer in the name of God !

1. When Charlemagne’s father, Pepin, died,

he divided the kingdom of the Franks between his 2 sons- Charles

and

Carloman

2. Carloman died -(Poisoned?) so Charles became king of all the Franks -

and hired a secretary (Einhard) to record his life.

3. The Lombards invade Italy

LOMBARDS !

and threaten the Pope. He asks Charles to bring an army to Italy to stop the Lombards. Charles helped the Pope by defeating the Lombards in Italy.

Muslims had conquered Arabia, the Middle East, North Africa, and almost all of Spain by the time

Charles was king of the Franks.

But not all of Spain. Christians still controlled the top part of Spain

4. Charles tried to conquer Northern Spain from Muslims

Land of the Basques

Saragossa

Pamplona

but lost. His friends Roland and Oliver were killed.

5. Charles created  new churches and schools with help from Alcuin ( a monk from Britain)

6.  German Saxons and their leader Widdukind worshipped nature gods at a sacred tree called the Irmunsul. Charles defeated the Saxons & Widdukind became a Christian.       

7.  In 791 A.D. Charles created his capital at Aachen (modern day Germany)

8. On Christmas day 800 A.D. the Pope crowned Charles "Holy Roman Emperor." Charles became known as : 

Charlemagne - Charles The Great.

9.  In 814 A.D Charlemagne died of a fever, age 71, in Aachen.

10.  Charlemagne’s only surviving son - Louis I became the new emperor.

(he was a weak king, his 3 sons divided the empire)