How did Charlemagne rule Western Europe?

On Christmas Eve in 800 AD, St Peter's Cathedral in Rome was brightly lit and decorated. In solemn music, a tall, burly and majestic king began to pray at the altar.

Suddenly, the Pope standing by put a golden crown on his head and took the lead in shouting: "God crowned Emperor Charles, wishing him a long life and eternal victory!" Other priests and people cheered.

Who is this Charlie? Why did the Pope crown him and call him emperor?

It turned out that he was the Frank King Charles who began to dominate Western Europe at that time.

The center of the Frankish kingdom was in the northeast of France today, and later it spread to the whole of France and its surrounding areas. From the 6th century to the 8th century, the feudal system of the Frankish Kingdom was relatively consolidated. Charlie's father was originally a minister of the Frankish kingdom, and with the support of the Pope and the church, he usurped the throne. In order to repay the Pope, he marched into Italy and dedicated a large area of land near Rome to the Pope, forming a "papal state".

After Charles inherited his father's rule over the Frankish kingdom, he began to expand his territory on a large scale. Charlie is a typical medieval knight, burly and energetic, never tired or sick. He spent most of his life in the war. It is said that he personally participated in 30 expeditions. He was described as a mythical figure in the ballads handed down by later generations.

In 778 AD, Charlie led his army to successfully cross the Pyrenees and invade Spain. At that time, the kingdom of Godova was founded by an Arab from North Africa.

Godova's army suffered heavy losses, and Charlie's army suffered heavy losses. King Godova proposed peace, and some generals in Charles' army also advocated reconciliation and withdrawal. Charlie's nephew, Marquis Roland, objected and refused to send the Lord to hold peace talks with Tuguerlon. However, in view of the unfavorable situation, Charlie finally did not accept Roland's suggestion and sent Gunailun to make peace with the Godovans. Grumpy Guneron negotiated the terms of peace and plotted with the enemy to assassinate Roland.

When Charlie saw the success of the negotiation, he led his troops back to China, with Roland as the defender. When King Godova learned the message from Gueneron, he assembled a powerful army and ambushed on both sides of the dangerous Long Sellvall Canyon in the Pyrenees.

As night fell, when Roland's guards marched through the pass, the Godovans rushed down the valley under the cover of night and surrounded Roland's troops.

Finally, Charlie heard a faint cry for help and led his army back to the canyon. He found that Roland and all his companions had died heroically.

This war was later processed into a famous epic by writers, that is, the earliest national epic "Song of Roland" in France. It touched the Europeans in the Middle Ages with its tragic plot.

Twenty-three years later, Charlie crossed the Pyrenees again and made an expedition to Spain. He eventually annexed a large area of Shannan and appointed a son as the governor of the area.

The longest war of aggression launched by Charlie in his life was to conquer the Saxons in the north. Under the pretext of spreading Christianity, he launched eight attacks for 33 years from 772 AD, and finally conquered the Saxons, making them subjects of the Frankish country.

After decades of war, Charlie's kingdom has expanded to France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Germany and most of Italy, becoming an unprecedented powerful country in Western Europe at that time. With the expansion of the territory, Charlie's title of king is not enough.

Pope Leo III saw that Charlie was powerful, and in order to control Western Europe with Charlie, he was crowned "Roman Emperor". Charlie accepted it gladly and was officially called the emperor. From then on, the Frankish kingdom became "Charlemagne" and King Charles became "Charlemagne". He thinks his empire is a continuation of the ancient Roman empire.

During the reign of Charles, churches and monasteries were ordered to run schools and set up colleges in the palace to recruit monks and scholars to give lectures. He also selected children from middle-class families and lower-class families to receive education with rich children. Even appointed a young priest who was born in poverty and studied well as a bishop. Of course, the cultural education in this era is still monopolized by the church, and the purpose of education is also to serve religious theology.

Charlie is extremely fanatical and pious about Christianity. After he made Ahern the capital, he built many magnificent palaces and churches. All marble columns were transported from distant Rome and other places by demolishing ancient buildings. With the prosperity of architecture, painting, sculpture and other arts have also developed. The court chapel in Ahern has been preserved to this day.

Charlie also sent people to collect and copy many Latin and Greek manuscripts. Although he knew nothing about the contents of the manuscript, he also kept many works of classical writers for future generations.

Because the dynasty ruled by Charlemagne was called Carolingian dynasty, later historians called Charlemagne's culture "Carolingian culture".

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 Frankish kingdom in the east became the later Germany, the Frankish kingdom in the west became the later France, and the area between the east and the west became the later Italy. The language of Franks also showed obvious differentiation, forming the national languages of western European countries such as French and German.