Charlemagne

shar'le-man (742-814), or Charles the Great, king of the Franks. He was born at Aix-la-Chapelle. He died and was buried there, yet he was a great traveler. He is the foremost historical figure, the greatest doer of things, in several centuries. He inherited the kingdom of the Franks from his grandfather, Charles Martel, famous for hammering the Saracens at Tours in 732. He extended the bounds of his territory until it included the greater part of western Europe. The seat of the Roman Empire had been at Constantinople for centuries, and the West had fallen away. He revived the notion of a western empire which should be independent of the Greek government at Constantinople. Pope Leo favored the idea and placed the imperial diadem on his head in St. Peter's basilica at Rome, crying aloud, "To Charles Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific emperor, life and victory." This coronation took place in 800. It gave the West the idea of a great empire corresponding to a great church. Wherever the banners of the empire floated the church should find protection. Wherever the doctrines of the Roman Church were accepted the authority of the empire should be recognized. Pope and emperor; emperor and pope; the holy Catholic church; the holy Roman Empire; state and church hand in hand. This was the beginning of modern European history. The notion of the empire was at times the controlling political idea in Europe. It persisted until abolished by Napoleon with whose ambitions it conflicted.

During his reign of forty-six years Charlemagne made fifty-two military campaigns. He routed the Saracens in northeastern Spain; won the iron crown of the Lombards; converted the Saxons with the combined arguments of war and Christianity as far as the Elbe and the Baltic, and subjugated the Huns in the valley of the Danube. The sword of Charlemagne and the cross of the monk were inseparable. Wherever the banner of the empire was planted monasteries were built and the voices of monks rose in morning prayers.

Nor were schools neglected. Charlemagne's capital and favorite place of residence was Aix-la-Chapelle. Here he built a magnificent palace and a noble marble cathedral or "chapelle" which gave its name to the city. Schools were established throughout the empire for the training of priests, and at his own home he established what was known as the palace school for the young people, the sons of nobility who flocked to his court.

Charlemagne was a large man in every way. He fought like a lion, but it was to establish peace. He sought power, but it was to use it justly. He extended and strengthened his government, but it was for the benefit of the people. He favored education, not ignorance; art, not idle luxury; comfort and plain living, not extravagance. Scholars were encouraged to live at court. Pacific, courageous, kindly, determined, industrious, quiet, scholarly, largehearted, and merciful, in many ways like King Alfred, it is safe to say that had his successors been more like him the step of Europe might have been hastened a couple of centuries. At his death part of his work went backward. When he died in 814, he was embalmed, seated in coronation robes on a golden throne in a marble tomb in the gallery of the cathedral. A crown was placed on his head; a sword was placed in his hand, and an open volume of the Scriptures was laid on his lap, signifying the great ruler, conqueror, lawgiver, patron of learning and the son of the church. In the year 1000 Otho III opened the tomb. In 1165 Frederick Barbarossa opened it a second time, and transferred the remains to a marble sarcophagus. In 1215 the remains were inclosed in a gold and silver chest or reliquary, where they rest, with other precious treasures, in the sacred precincts of the cathedral. Charlemagne's crown, sword, scepter, coronation robes, and gloves are preserved in the imperial treasury at Vienna.

See Aix-La-Chapelle