Charlemagne's reign was marked by almost annual military activity, beginning with the completion of Pepin's campaigns to restore Aquitaine to Frankish rule during 760-768AD, continuing with the conquest of Lombardy, in northern Italy, in response to an appeal by Pope Adrian I to protect papal lands from attack by the Lombard’s, and Charlemagne's subsequent installation as king of the Lombard’s in 773-774AD, and a protracted and difficult series of campaigns against the Saxons to the east of the River Rhine, which began in 775 but was only brought to a conclusion in 804 with the definitive conquest and Christianisation of Saxony as an integral part of Charlemagne's realm.
In addition, Charlemagne campaigned against the Moors in Muslim Spain, in order to subject them to Christian rule, in 778; in Benevento, in southern Italy, against its duke, Arichis, and in Bavaria against its duke, Tassilo, in 787; against the pagan Avars, in the area of modern Hungary and Austria, in 791 and 795-796; and against the Moors of south-eastern Spain in the latter years of his reign. This warfare was often, perhaps always, savage.
The Royal Frankish Annals record the massacre of 4,500 Saxons in 782, and the exile of others.
Many campaigns involved considerable distances and complex logistics. The Royal Frankish Annals record Charlemagne achieving three coordinated invasions of Bavaria, as well as a two-year siege of Barcelona in 800-801AD.
Capitularies from the early 800s prescribe a system of military levying and organization apparently of some sophistication and capable of raising large armies. It is possible, however, that this organization, in so far as it was new, was a response to external threats from both hostile Vikings and Slavs from Eastern Europe, rather than the basis of Charlemagne's conquests.
These later threats may have been overcome with relatively small armies of mounted vassals, driven as much as anything by the quest for booty, such as the vast amounts of treasure that were brought back from the sacking of the great fortress known as the Ring of the Avars.
It is clear that Charlemagne was active in diplomatic relations. He himself may have married a Lombard princess in 770; and further marriage alliances were negotiated, although not implemented, with the Byzantine Empire and with Offa, king of the Mercians.
With the former, his diplomacy merged with religious policy, when the council he convened at Frankfurt am Main in 794 opposed the Byzantine Church's recent decision on the worship of icons, and with the latter, Charlemagne also concluded a remarkable trade agreement.
Perhaps the most significant diplomatic relations were with the popes, who had been responsible for authorizing the installation of Charlemagne's father, Pepin, and his successors as kings of the Franks in 751, anointing Pepin and his sons as kings in 754, and encouraging both Pepin and Charlemagne to intervene militarily in northern Italy.
In 799, Pope Leo III was removed by factions in Rome and went to Charlemagne's palace at Paderborn, in Germany, where the ruler received him honourably and sent him back to Rome under escort. In 800 Charlemagne travelled to Rome, and on Christmas Day in St Peter's Basilica the pope crowned him Emperor of the Romans.
The contemporary Annals of Lorsch make clear that this was the result of a decision taken in a council at Rome immediately beforehand. However, it remains unclear whether the decision derived from Charlemagne's own policy to enhance his position in his realm, or whether it was the pope's policy to commit Charlemagne more firmly to the defence of Italy and the pope himself against aggression from the Byzantine Empire, which still retained footholds in southern Italy and was sponsoring a Lombard pretender.
The capitularies reveal a governmental organisation based on counties, each governed by a count, and subdivided into hundreds and vicariates. It is not clear how much, if any, of this system was innovative, although it is certain that it was extended into Saxony as a result of Charlemagne's conquest. It is also clear that Charlemagne was responsible for modifying the judicial system that it embodied, specifically by introducing officers, called scabini, as judicial assessors.
The capitularies suggest further that Charlemagne expanded the use of officials, vaguely called missi dominici or royal emissaries, to oversee the governance of the counties, and in 802 these were made responsible for missatica or defined areas, were assigned regular tours of duty three times a year, and were organized in pairs, each consisting of one layman and one churchman.
Church reform was an important part of Charlemagne's government. He appears to have systematised the organization of bishops and archbishops. There is also some indication that he contributed to parish organisation, and that he played an important part in the introduction of a new sacramentary, or mass book, which was influential in the development of liturgy.
Charlemagne started a school at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he invited students from all over the kingdom to learn. Although the school was established for sons of nobles, he believed
that all children should have a chance to learn, so he allowed all children to
enroll. He often pointed out that the poorer students did better than the
students who were better off. The reputation of the Palace School spread
throughout Europe. Students from all across Europe came to the school.
Charlemagne died on January 28, 814, at his palace in Aachen. Thereafter, in later periods, his image as a saint and hero loomed over the history of Europe. In the Gothic choir annexed to the surviving church of his principal palace at Aachen, his remains now lie in the golden shrine made for them by the German king and Holy Roman emperor, Frederick II, in the early 13th century.
Charlemagne is important not only for the number of his victories and the size of his empire, but for the special blend of tradition and innovation that he represented. On the one hand, he was a traditional Germanic warrior, who spent most of his life fighting. In the Saxon campaigns he imposed baptism by the sword, and retaliated against rebels with merciless slaughter. On the other hand, he placed his immense power and prestige at the service of Christian policy, the simple life, the teaching of Latin, the copying of books, and the rule of law. His life, held up as a model to most later kings, hence come to life the fusion of Germanic, Roman, and Christian cultures that became the basis of European civilization.
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