Carolo Magno [Charlemagne] Of Franks: The Story Behind the King Who Built An Empire (c.742-814)

There had been much thought about which historical figure we would approach on this blog. Considerations were made that, at least, we should turn our eyes to France in the medieval period. But who would be? A few names crossed our minds before Carolo Magno, or how he is better known as Charlemagne, was chosen. But why?

In truth, whilst so many admire him, others might not share the same sentiment, which makes this historical character who lived centuries away from us be surrounded in myths or only the straight sense that praises him by the benefict of the distance in time. It is hardly our intention to make use of this post to denegrate an image of this legendary man, but instead to enlight him as a man of his days as we have been doing with others who left their marks in history. Therefore it is less about the myth that shaped him as a monarch than the society he was in that turned Carolo in Charlemagne.

Carolo Magno was born between the years of 742 and 748, though the date of his birth more acceptable is 742. Little is known regarding his childhood and education, but of his family we know that he was the son (whether being the oldest or the youngest we cannot be sure) of Pippin III (known best as Pippin the Short), who was a "major of the palace, an official serving the Merovingian king but actually wielding effective power over the extensive Frankish kingdom". It is also suggested that:

"[...] he received practical training for leadership by participating in the political, social, and military activities associated with his father's court. His early years were marked by a succession of events that had immense implications for the Frankish position in the contemporary world. In 751, with papal approval, Pippin seized the Frankish throne from the last Merovingian king, Childeric III. After meeting with Pope Stephen II at the royal palace of Ponthion in 753-754, Pippin forged an alliance with the pope by committing himself to protect Rome in return for papal sanction of the right of Pippin's dynasty to the Frankish throne."

A primary resource¹ written by a scribe of name Einhard states that:

"Pepin [...] was raised by decree of the Roman pontiff, from the rank of Mayor of the Palace to that of King and ruled alone over the Franks for fifteen years or more [752-768]. He died of dropsy [Sept 24, 768] in Paris at the close of the Aquitanian War, which he had waged with William, duke of Aquitania, for nine successive years, and left his two sons, Charles and Carloman, upon whim, by the grace of God, the succession devolved."

In other words, this act could be interpreted as of usurpation that was, however, legitimized by chuch in power relations that helped to extend Christianity's influence over the world, more than what already had been so far, though it would not be until the year 1000 that Denmark, Sweden and Norway would convert to the religion. But by Pippin's death, inheritance was not well defined, for back then there was not yet the costume of passing the throne for the oldest living son and heir. As we can see below, from the same source of the last paragraph, it is stated that:

"The Franks, in a general assembly of the people, made them both [Carolo and Carloman] kings [Oct 9, 786] on condition that they should divide the whole kingdom equally between them, Charles to take and rule the part that had to belonged to their father, Pepin, and Carloman the part which their uncle, Carloman had governed. The conditions were accepted, and each entered into the possession of the share of the kingdom that fell to him by this arrangement; but peace was only maintained between them with the greatest difficulty, because many of Carloman's party kept trying to disturb their good understanding [...]. Carloman had succumbed to disease after ruling two years [in fact more than three] in common with his brother and at his death Charles was unanimously elected King of the Franks."

What we interpret from this is the possibility of a clash of interests between the two brothers, considering what we know of Carolo's ambition that would make him emperor years later. But this is merely speculation, though in other websites here consulted the rilvary between two brothers is mentioned. Whatever the case, he allied with the king of Lombards, whose sister became his consort, but any suspicious of an upcoming conflict ended with Carloman's death in 771.

A characteristic of Carolo, or Charles as we see here often being mentioned, is one obvious for those who are well acquainted with his history or at least heard of him once, but nonetheless still important to sublime: his warrior skills. Accordingly,

"By Frankish tradition he was a warrior king, expected to lead his followers in wars that would expand Frankish hegemony and produce rewards for his companions. His Merovingian predecessors had succeeded remarkably well as conquerors, but their victories resulted in a kingdom made up of diverse peoples over which unified rule grew increasingly difficult."

Hence why his reign was marked with wars and conquests, as his social role as sovereign reflected what society expected from their kings. Power relations within the court of the period can be better seen below:

"[...] the Frankish social system, which had been based on kinship ties, on bonds linking war leaders and their comrades in arms, and on ethnicity, was being overlaid by social bonds created when one individual commended himself to another, thereby accepting a condition of personal dependence that entailed the rendering of services to the superior in return for materal considerations granted to the dependent party. Moreover, the world beyond Francia was being reshaped politically and economically by the decline of the Easter Roman Empire, the triumphal advance of Arab forces and their Islamic religion across the Mediterranean world, and the threat posed by new Scandinavian, Slavic and Central Asian invaders."

Where foreign matters are concerned, there is one in particular that has captured our attention. The excerpt below tells us how Carolo Magno dealt with his Saxon enemies:

"No war ever undertaken by the Frank nation was carried on with such persistence and bitterness, or cost so much labor, because the Saxons, like almost all the tribes of Germany, were a fierce people, given to the worship of devils, and hostile to our religion and did not consider it dishonorable to transgress and violate all law, human and divine.[...] In this way the Franks became so embittered that they at last resolved to make reprisals no longer, but to come to open war with the Saxons [772]. Accordingly war was begun against them, and was waged for thirty-three successive years with great fury; more, however, to the disadvantage of the Saxons than of the Franks. It could doubtless have been brought to an end sooner, had it not been for the faithlessness of the Saxons."

In truth, though we are enlightened with such events by a primary resource as we have formerly mentioned it, we must nevertheless be careful upon looking at it. The choice of words and how some of these events are presented to the reader are naturally to praise Carolo Magno's person as a ruler, as a man and as the one chosen by God. It is, nonetheless, very interesting to point out he sent to death circa of 30,000 pagans during this war against the Saxons. He was, as it must constantly be said in order to prevent modern judgements to cloud the purpose of understanding him better as a historical character even if this post is not a specific study about it.

As a result of this, we come to comprehend a bit of the military character of this sovereign. However, it must also be remembered that Carolo's link with the Church would bound him to move forward the ambition of making himself the great emperor, as if he was the responsible for bringing it back the ancient Roman Empire. So in short analyzis we can state that:

"The distinguishing mark of Charlemagne's reign was his effort to honour the age-old customs and expectations of Frankish kingship while responding creatively to the new forces impinging on society. His personal qualities served him well in conforting that challenge. The ideal warrior chief, Charlemagne was an imposing physical presence blessed with extraordinary energy, personal courage, and an iron will. He loved the active life- military campaigning, hunting, swimming- but he was no less at home at court, generous with his gifts, a boon companion at the banquet table, and adept at establishing friendships. Never far from his mind was his large family: five wives in sequence, several concubines, and at least 18 children over whose interests he watched carefully."

That being aside, we turn to another face of his that is lessen discussed: his personal life. As already mentioned in the paragraph quoted above, Carolo Magno had an impressive family. It seems he was close to his mother until the end of his life and was apparently a gentle, thoughtful man to the standards of those days where the care of his descendants were concerned. Here's an account of this familiar side that not all of us is acquainted with:

"[...] He married a daughter of Desiderius, King of the Lombards, at the instance of his mother; but he repudiated her at the end of a year for some reason unknown, and married Hildegard, a woman of high birth, of Suabian origin. He had three sons by her- Charles, Pepin and Louis- and as many daughters- Hruodrud, Bertha, and Gisela. He had three daughters besides these- Theoderada, Hiltrud, and Ruodhaid- two by his third wife, Fastrada, a woman of East Frankish (that is to say, of German) origin, and the thrid by a concubine, whose name for the moment escapes me. At the death of Fastrada [794], he married Liutgard, an Alemannic woman, who bore him no children. After her death [Jun 4, 800] he had three concubines- Gersuinda, a Saxon by whom he had Adaltrud; Regina, who was the mother of Drogo and Hugh; and Ethelind, by whom he lead Theodoric. Charles' mother, Berthrada, passed her old age with him in great honor; he entertained the greatest veneration for her; and there was never any disagreement between them except when he divorced the daughter of King Desiderius, whom he had married to please her. She died soon after Hildegard, after living to three grandsons and as many granddaughters in her son's house, and he buried her with great pomp in the Basilica of St Denis, where his father lay. He had an only sister, Gisela, who had consecrated herself toa religious life from girlhood, and he cherished as much affection for her as of his mother.[...]"

That is how we suspect he was an affectionative man. We say 'suspect' because the author, throughtout his story of Carolo Magno, hardly points out a flaw of his character, which must again be said that the events here described must be studied carefully. This does not stop him, however, from being an affectionative person as we said. It is still surprising, for those of us who until this research were not so acquainted with his historical person, to see what a large family he had and how close to it he likely was for such days.

As a monarch, he was a legend, surpassing all expectations projected over him. As a man, it would make him less human to his admirers to understand he was a reflection of the socialization he went through. He was a medieval man born to be a king who grew to be crowned emperor of the Franks not by divine blessing or merely luck, but because he had skills for it. For:

"Charlemagne possessed considerable native intelligence, intellectual curiosity, a willingness to learn from others, and religious sensibility- all tributes which allowed him to comprehend the forces that were reshaping the world about him."

He was indeed a great ruler, builder of an empire that would remain an inspiration for monarchs of the next generations. A legend is what he became, but it must be necessary to bring the man he was out of it and even through the praises generally written about him and his life, to understand who he was and how society's demands reflected directly upon him. To close this post, a citation about the end of his life is written below:

"Toward the close of his life [813], when he was broken by ill-health and old age, he summoned Louis, Kigi of Aquitainia, his only surviving son by Hildegard, and gathered together all the chief men of the whole kingdom of the Franks in a solemn assembly. He appointed Louis, with their unanimous consent, to rule with himself over the whole kingdom and constituted him heir to the imperial name; then, placing the diadem upon his son's head, he bade him he proclaimed Emperor and is step was hailed by all present favor, for it really seemed as if God had prompted him to it for the kingdom's good [...] While wintering there [at Aix-la-Chapelle], he was seized, in the month of January, with a high fever [Jan 22 814], and took to his bed. As soon as he was taken sick, he prescribed for himself abstinence from food, as he always used to do in case of fever [...] He died January twenty-eighth, the seventh day from the time that he took to his bed, at nine o'clock in the morning, after partaking of the holy communion, in the seventy-second year of his age and the forty-seventh of his reign [Jan 28, 814]."

Bibliography:

-https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlemagne

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne

-Einhard: The Life of Charlemagne, translated by Samuel Epes Turner (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1880)¹

-https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/Halsall/basis/einhard.asp#Charlemagne's Accession¹

-https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/Halsall/basis/stgall-charlemagne.asp