biography
| name: |
Charlemagne or Charles the Great
|
pronunciation:
[shah(r)luhmayn]
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (742–814)
|
| biography:
| King of the Franks (joint ruler with his brother from 768; sole ruler, 771–814), and emperor of the West (800–14), the eldest son of Pepin the Short. He defeated the Saxons (772–804) and the Lombards (773–4), fought the Arabs in Spain, and took control of most of Christian W Europe. In 800 he was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III. In his later years he consolidated his vast empire, building palaces and churches, and promoting Christianity, education and learning, agriculture, the arts, manufacture, and commerce, so much so that the period has become known as the Carolingian Renaissance. His reign was an attempt to consolidate order and Christian culture among the nations of the West, but his empire did not long survive his death, for his sons lacked both his vision and authority. |
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