Emperor of the West, was born at Salzburg, in Bavaria about 742, and jointly with his brother Karloman, succeeded his father, Pepin-le-Bref, in 768.
In 768. Karloman died in 771, and Charles became sole sovereign. By his wars against the Saxons, the Lombards, and the Saracens of Spain, he increased his empire until he was until he was master of the best part of Europe.
“Charlemagne was throughout his reign the champion of Christianity. He never rested until the Saxons were not only subjected, but baptized, if not Christianized; his war against the Lombards, whose kingdom he finally annexed, was originally commenced at the instance of the pope, whose power was menaced by the roads of the se barbarians. It cannot be denied, however, that …show more content…
Ages, pg 449) “He did not confine his benefactions to the bishop of Rome, but distributed them among all the orders of the hierarchy. He augmented their wealth, he enlarged their privileges, he exalted their dignity, he confirmed and extended their immunities. But the motives of his liberality were such as became a magnanimous and a benevolent monarch. Superstition has never been accounted among them, nor any unfounded fears or undue reverence of the ecclesiastical order; from the former he was perhaps more nearly exempt than would have appeared possible in so rude an age; and in his transactions with the clergy, even with the pope himself, he never forgot, or allowed them to forget, his own supremacy. But he was desirous to civilize his barbarous subjects; he was anxious to influence their rude manners, and correct their vicious morals, by the more general diffusion and comprehension of the Christian truths; and he was willing also to sow the seeds of secular learning, and dispel the ignorance which oppressed his people” As a statesman he favored the Church because he considered it a school for the improvement of his people, and, while adding to the temporal power of the Church, was careful not to render it independent. He decided against image-worship, and in his Libri Carolini (A.D. 790, Elias Philyra, 1549; Heumann, Han. 1731), he set forth (in opposition to the decision of
In 768. Karloman died in 771, and Charles became sole sovereign. By his wars against the Saxons, the Lombards, and the Saracens of Spain, he increased his empire until he was until he was master of the best part of Europe.
“Charlemagne was throughout his reign the champion of Christianity. He never rested until the Saxons were not only subjected, but baptized, if not Christianized; his war against the Lombards, whose kingdom he finally annexed, was originally commenced at the instance of the pope, whose power was menaced by the roads of the se barbarians. It cannot be denied, however, that …show more content…
Ages, pg 449) “He did not confine his benefactions to the bishop of Rome, but distributed them among all the orders of the hierarchy. He augmented their wealth, he enlarged their privileges, he exalted their dignity, he confirmed and extended their immunities. But the motives of his liberality were such as became a magnanimous and a benevolent monarch. Superstition has never been accounted among them, nor any unfounded fears or undue reverence of the ecclesiastical order; from the former he was perhaps more nearly exempt than would have appeared possible in so rude an age; and in his transactions with the clergy, even with the pope himself, he never forgot, or allowed them to forget, his own supremacy. But he was desirous to civilize his barbarous subjects; he was anxious to influence their rude manners, and correct their vicious morals, by the more general diffusion and comprehension of the Christian truths; and he was willing also to sow the seeds of secular learning, and dispel the ignorance which oppressed his people” As a statesman he favored the Church because he considered it a school for the improvement of his people, and, while adding to the temporal power of the Church, was careful not to render it independent. He decided against image-worship, and in his Libri Carolini (A.D. 790, Elias Philyra, 1549; Heumann, Han. 1731), he set forth (in opposition to the decision of