Achievements Of Charlemagne

Charlemagne was a virtuous and wise ruler who used his power as King of the Franks well during his reign. Charlemagne also known as Charles The Great was a medieval emperor who ruled most of Western Europe from 768AD to 814AD. Charlemagne did a lot to define medieval Europe and spent most of the early part of his reign expanding his kingdom through military campaigns. He conquered Saxony changing it to Christianity in 772, The Lombard’s in Northern Italy, he invaded Northern Spain in 778 and he added Bohemia to the empire and defeated a rebellion against Pope Leo III in 880. The Pope rewarded Charlemagne by crowning him Emperor of the Romans. Charlemagne introduced the same reforms to all the places he conquered which helped to create a common identity for people and help the economy grow. He was a clever, influential politician who divided his land fairly amongst his supporters and made strong diplomatic relations to keep peace in his empire.

Charlemagne used his power effectively, as he cared about his people and his country and he made sure that he kept them safe, protecting them from any harm they were subjected to. The Monk of Saint Gall stated that Charlemagne was very fair with the way he distributed his land amongst his supporters. He only gave extra land to the counts who lived on the boarder of their country, so they could defend their country from any threats and attacks made from people outside their boarder. Charlemagne’s letter to Pope Leo III, 796 AD also shows that he made diplomatic relations by saying if Pope Leo looked after and took care of the people, he would defend the most holy seat of the holy Roman church from the attacks of the infidels. Therefore, evidentially he cared about his country and his people and wanted everyone to have equal rights and he wanted to have diplomatic relations to people in his country and the countries surrounding. According to Einhard The Life of Charlemagne, it states that Charlemagne, “this most powerful King” expanded the Frank kingdom by skilfully planning and successfully fighting wars over the 47 years of his reign. By gaining the good will of nations and several of its kings he added to the glory of his reign. Charlemagne introduced many changes and reforms including legal, education, administrative and economic. He was successful in improving commerce by standardising weights, measures and customs dues. An important change Charlemagne made was to put the whole of Europe on the same silver currency, standardising the monetary system. He also established a universal accounting system. The arts, scholarship, architecture and literature thrived under Charlemagne’s powerful rule. What was known as The Carolingian Renaissance occurred under Charlemagne’s rule, a cultural and intellectual revival of Western Europe due to Charlemagne’s patronage of scholars and his interest in learning. Einhard wrote of Charlemagne’s interest in learning “he most zealously cultivated the liberal Arts”. Education was not only given to the priests but also the general public. He commissioned Monasteries and chapels to be built giving people a place to worship. Charlemagne reconstructed the power of the Pope through his power as King. He wanted to strengthen the church during his rule, which he achieved. He was successful in combining church and state with his influence, converting millions of people to Christianity. He raised the standards for the monks and the monasteries and unified laws by the laws of the church. He was known as the First Holy Emperor.

In conclusion, Charlemagne utilised his power competently. The King was a progressive leader and was fair to his people. Unity and prosperity were achieved by reforms he universally introduced, such as creating a one monetary system for the whole of Europe. These reforms can be seen as what the start of Europe’s cultural rebirth. People were also connected by common beliefs, laws and peaceful trade. For the provided reasons, Charlemagne was a fair and skilful ruler that always did what was best for his people and made many positive impacts on the lives of his people.