Charlemagne “Charles the Great” Holy Roman Emperor

Charlemagne-by-Durer

• General Notes
  • Charlemagne (Charles the Great; from Latin, Carolus Magnus, in German Karl der Große, in Old French Charles le magne) 742 or 747 – 28 January 814, was the King of the Franks (768–814) who conquered Italy and took the Iron Crown of Lombardy in 774 and, on a visit to Rome in 800, was crowned "imperator, Romanum gubernans imperium" ("Emperor governing the Roman Empire") by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, presaging the revival of the Roman imperial tradition in the West in the form of the Holy Roman Empire. By his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define Western Europe and the Middle Ages. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of the arts and education in the West.
    
    The son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, his original name in the Frankish language was never recorded, but early instances of his name in Latin read "Carolos" or "Karol's". He succeeded his father and co-ruled with his brother Carloman until the latter's death in 771. Charlemagne continued the policy of his father towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and waging war on the Saracens who menaced his realm from Spain. It was during one of these campaigns that Charlemagne experienced the worst defeat of his life at Roncesvalles (778). He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, especially the Saxons, and after a protracted war subjected them to his rule. By converting them to Christianity, he integrated them into his realm and thus paved the way for the later Ottonian Dynasty.
    
    Today regarded as the founding father of both France and Germany and sometimes as the Father of Europe, as he was the first ruler of a Western Europe empire since the fall of the Roman Empire
    
    Marriages and heirs:
    His first wife was Himiltrude, married in 766. The marriage was never formally annulled. By her he had: Pippin the Hunchback (767-813).
    
    His second wife was Gerperga (often erroneously called Desiderata or Desideria), daughter of Desiderius, king of the Lombards, married in 768, annulled in 771.
    
    His third wife was Hildegard (757 or 758-783 or 784), married 771, died 784. By her he had nine offspring:
    Charles the Younger (772 or 773-811), King of the Franks administering Neustria
    Adelaide (773 or 774-774)
    Carloman, renamed Pippin (773 or 777-810), King of Italy
    Rotrude (or Hruodrud) (777-810)
    Louis (778-840), twin of Lothair, King of the Franks since 781, administering Aquitaine during his father's lifetime, since 814 sole King and Holy Roman Emperor
    Lothair (778-779 or 780), twin of Louis
    Bertha (779-823)
    Gisela (781-808)
    Hildegarde (782-783)
    
    His fourth wife was Fastrada, married 784, died 794. By her he had:
    Theodrada (b.784), abbess of Argenteuil
    Hiltrude (b.787)
    His fifth and favorite wife was Luitgard, married 794, died 800 childless.
    

Click here for details of Charles the Great's family with Hildegarde Countess of Swabia (Linzgau) Empress of the Holy Roman Empire

Source/Citation

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