January 2014 marks the 1,200th anniversary of the death of Charlemagne. He started his reign at the age of 26 as the King of the Franks. By the time of his death in 814 he was the Holy Roman Emperor and ruled the majority of continental Europe.
Join us today as we examine the life of Charlemagne. We’ll look at his military exploits, how he was able to grow his empire and become the first Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne’s greatness didn’t end on the battlefield. He set out to reform education, religion and government giving rise to the Carolingian Renaissance.
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In this lesson we talk about Charlemagne’s grandfather, Charles Martel. Listen to our lesson on The Battle of Tours to learn more about Charles Martel.
In this episode we discuss:
- Charlemagne’s Character
- Charlemagne’s Army
- The Saxon Wars
- The Bloody Verdict of Verdun
- The Battle of Roncevaux
- And more…
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The music was provided by Tim Rayburn. It is available at Magnatune.com
Comments 1
Charlemagne was not the first “Holy Roman Emperor.” This is a revision designed to reinforce the claims of the German kings of later centuries, who were called “Imperator Romanus Sacer.”
Charlemagne was “Imperator Romanus” which means “Emperor of Rome” or “Roman Emperor.” The Pope gave him this title in order to send the message to Constantinople that he would no longer recognize Constantinople’s claims to rule Italy.