What was Charlemagne's life like?

Paris, France has one of the most noble art halls, the Louvre. Among its many treasures, there is a bronze statue made in the 9th century. Thousands of French, Germans, Italians and tourists from other countries came to the bronze statue in an endless stream to pay homage to the ancient hero riding a burly horse. But when I saw him, Shen Jun's left front leg was slightly bent and his right rear leg was slightly raised, as if walking slowly; The man immediately sat up, burly, with a golden ball symbolizing authority in his left hand and a sword symbolizing strength in his right hand, wearing a robe, a straight nose and a thick moustache. His eyes staring straight ahead all reveal the majesty and bravery of the royal family. This hero is Charlemagne, the greatest ruler of ancient Frankish countries.

Charles (Mann) was the king of Franks, the conqueror of Saxony, the founder of the Holy Roman Empire and one of the earliest monarchs in European history.

Charlie was born in 74 1 near Aachen, which later became his capital. His father was a short man named Wang Piper, and his grandfather was a great Frankish leader, Charles martel. In 732, martel won the Battle of Tours, which shattered the Muslim plan to conquer France. In 75 1 year, Pippin declared himself the Frankish king, thus ending the incompetent Metamja dynasty and establishing the Caroline dynasty. Pipeline died in 768, and the Frankish kingdom was divided between Charlie and his eldest brother Carloman. Carloman died suddenly in 77 1 year, which was the lucky arrival of the unification of Charlie and Frank, making 29-year-old Charlie the only monarch of the Frankish kingdom, which was already the most powerful country in Spain at that time.

When Charles reached his peak, the Frankish kingdom mainly included France, Belgium and Switzerland today and many areas of Holland and Germany today. Charlie lost no time in expanding his territory. During his 46 years in office, he launched 55 wars of conquest, forcing many different tribes to obey his rule. The territory of the Frankish kingdom doubled in his hands, including parts of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Spain.

Because of Charles's victory in many wars, most of western Europe was successfully brought under his unified leadership. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe has not been controlled by such a vast territory.

During his reign, Charlie maintained a close political alliance with the Pope. But in Charlie's life, it is clear that Charlie has always been the dominant partner, not the Pope. On Christmas Day in 800 AD, Pope Leo III put a crown on Charlie's head and declared him Emperor of Rome. The Pope announced loudly: "God crowned Emperor Charles! The great Roman emperor who brought peace to the world will live forever and win forever. " Then, the Roman nobles began to loudly praise this historic poem: "Augustus Charlie! Wear the golden crown at the command of God! May God bless my Roman emperor and give him peace and victory! " The church cheered like thunder, cheering that Charlie became the heir of the ancient Roman empire and the protector of the Christian world.

Since then, the "Frankish Kingdom" has become the "Charles Empire"; King Charles became Charlemagne, which means great. Mainly, this means that the Western Roman Empire, which was destroyed for more than three centuries, is being restored, and Charlemagne is now the legal heir of Augustus Caesar.

Charlie's achievements and talents are not limited to military conquest. He has made outstanding achievements in administration, justice, military system and economic production management. Especially in culture and education, the achievements are particularly outstanding, which laid the foundation for the development of medieval civilization and played a role in connecting the past with the future.

In the 8th century, with the decline of many cities, the cultural traditions of ancient Greece and Rome had already been destroyed. Public and private books in Roman times gradually disappeared after the fifth and sixth centuries. Therefore, almost all the subjects of Charlemagne's empire were illiterate, even Charlemagne himself and many dignitaries in the court were illiterate. Charlie felt that he could not manage the country well without cultural knowledge, so he set up a school in the court to train talents. This is the origin of western European schools in the Middle Ages. He recruited famous scholars from all over Europe and taught knowledge at court, the most famous of which was Alku from England.

In the Palace School, Charlie deliberately chose three kinds of children to go to school, namely, children from noble families, children from middle-class families and children from poor families. Every once in a while, Charlie calls the students together and checks their homework in person. After the inspection, he kindly said to the students who had studied well: "My children, you should continue to study, and I will give you the diocese and a magnificent monastery." You will always be brilliant. For those poor students, they angrily scolded: "I despise your noble birth and beautiful clothes!" "I swear, unless you study hard to make up for your past laziness, you will never get any favor from me." Just as he said, he always promoted the poor children who studied best and awarded them higher positions, which reflected the spirit of "not sticking to one pattern and reducing talents".

Charlie also issued a decree urging churches and monasteries to establish schools, impart knowledge and culture, and find and copy classical works and early Christian works in order to preserve and spread them. Charlie's achievements have been praised by some western historians and known as the "Carolingian Renaissance". At that time, Europe was in a rough, ignorant and chaotic situation, and what Charlie did was really commendable. His achievements and practices are also very obvious. During his 46-year rule, Frank's culture and education have developed significantly compared with the past few centuries.

In the winter of August13-814, the weather in western Europe was extremely cold, and heavy snow covered Shan Ye, which made it drip into ice. However, Emperor Charles insisted on going out hunting. As a result, he caught a cold and had a high fever while hunting, and his lungs and pleura were inflamed. The doctor was helpless and dared not prescribe medicine. In February of August14, he died in the capital Ahern Palace at the age of 72.

Shortly after Charlie's death, the empire split. In 843, his three grandchildren became kings and the empire was divided into three parts. On this basis, western European countries gradually developed: the eastern Frankish kingdom became the later Germany, and the western Frankish became the later France. The area between east and west will become Italy in the future. The language of Franks also showed obvious differentiation, forming the national languages of western European countries such as French and German.