Charlemagne

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Charlemagne (742–814) (lit. Charles the Great) King of the Franks (768–814) and Holy Roman Emperor (800–14). The eldest son of Pepin III (the Short), he inherited half the Frankish kingdom (768), annexed the remainder on his brother Carloman's death (771), and built a large empire. He invaded Italy twice and took the Lombard throne (773). He embarked on a long and brutal conquest of Saxony (772–804), annexed Bavaria (788) and defeated the Avars of the middle Danube (791–96, 804). He undertook campaigns against the Moors in Spain. In 800 Pope Leo III consecrated him as Emperor, thus reviving the concept of the Roman Empire, and confirming the separation of the West from the Eastern Byzantine Empire. Charlemagne encouraged the intellectual awakening of the Carolingian renaissance, set up a strong central authority and maintained provincial control through court officials. His central aim was Christian reform, both of church and laity, and he was convinced that God had made him emperor to undertake this holy work.

http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm; http://berkeley.edu/OMACL/Roland

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