CHARLEMAGNE, i.e., Charles the great, king of the Franks (768-814 A.D.), and Roman emperor (800-814 A.D.), was b. on 2d April, 742, probably at Aix-la-Chapelle, and was the son of Pepin the short, the first Carlovingian (q.v.) king of the Franks, and grandson of Charles Martel (q.v.). On Pepin's death in 768, he and his brother Carlo man jointly succeeded to the throne. By CarIonian's death, and the exclusion of both his sons from the throne, C. became sole king. In 772, it was resolved in the diet at Worms to make war against the Saxons, for the .security of the frontiers, which they continually threatened, and for the extension of the Christian religion. C. advanced as far as the Weser in 772, securing his conquests by castles and garrisons. Pope Adrian L now called him to his aid against Desiderius, king of the Lombards. C. had mar ried the daughter of Desiderius, and had sent her back to her father because she bore him no children, and married Hildegarde, daughter of the Swabian duke, Godfrey. Desiderius had sought revenge by urging the pope to crown the sons of Carloman, and on the pope's refusal, had laid waste the papal territory. C. crossed the Alps from Geneva, with two armies, by the great St. Bernard and mont Cenis, in 773, and over threw the kingdom of the Lombards in 774. The Lombard dukes acknowledged him as their king, and he secured the pope's favor by confirming the gift which Pepin had made to the papal see, of the exarchate of Ravenna. In 775, he was again employed in the most northerly part of his dominions, reducing the Saxons to subjection; in 776, he suppressed an insurrection in Italy; iu 777, he so completed his victory over the Saxons, that their nobles generally acknowledged Min as their sovereign in an assembly at Paderborn. Being now invited to interpose in the wars of the Arabs and Moors in Spain, he hastened to that country in 778, and added to his dominions the regions between the Pyrenees and the Ebro. From Spain he was summoned in haste by a new insurrection of part of the Saxons, who had advanced almost to Cologne, but whom he drove back to the Elbe. In '781, he went to Italy, where the pope crowned his second son, Pepin, king of Italy, and his third son, Louis, an infant of three years old, king of Aquitaine. The Saxons once more rising in arms, defeated and destroyed a Frankish army on the SiIntel in 782, which C., after a new victory, fearfully revenged by causing no fewer than 4,500 prisoners to be executed as rebels in one day. A more general rising of the Saxons followed, but in 783-85, the Frankish monarch succeeded in reducing them completely to subjection, and in persuading their principal chiefs to sub mit to baptism, and to become his faithful vassals. Subsequent insurrections and wars in Germany, between this year and 800, resulted in victories over the Bulgarians and Huns, and in the further consolidation and extension of his empire, the eastern boundary of which now reached to the Raab.
In 800, C. undertook an Italian campaign, which was attended with the most impor tant consequences. Its immediate purpose was to support pope Leo III. against the rebellious Romans. When C., on Christmas day, 800, was worshiping in St. Peter's
church, the pope unexpectedly, as it appeared, set a crown upon his head, and, amidst the acclamations of the people, saluted him as Carolus Augustus, emperor of the Romans. Although this added nothing directly to his power, yet it greatly confirmed and increased the respect entertained for him, such was still the luster of a title with which were associated recollections of all the greatness of the Roman empire. A scheme for the union of the newly revived western empire with the empire of the east, by C.'s marriage with Irene (q.v.), the Byzantine empress, failed by reason of Irene's overthrow. After this, C. still extended and confirmed his conquests both in Spain and in Germany. He labored to bring the Saxons to a general reception of Christianity, and founded bishoprics for this purpose. To the end of his reign, he was incessantly enga,ged in wars, and insurrections were always apt to break out in the frontier parts of his domin ions; which he endeavored to secure, however, not only by military power and arrange ments, but by improvements in political and social institutions. His views were liberal and enlightened to a degree rare for many subsequent ages. Whilst he made the power of the central government to be felt to the utmost extremities of his empire, he recog nized in his subjects civil rights, and a limitation monarchic power by their assem blies. He zealously endeavored to promote education, agriculture, arts, manufactures, and commerce. He projected great national works, one of which was a canal to con nect the Rhine and the Danube; but he deemed nothing beneath his attention which concerned the interests of his empire or of his subjects. He required his subjects to plant certain kinds of fruit-trecs. the cultivation of which was thus extended northward in Europe. His own domains were an example of superior cultivation. He Inid a school in his palace for the sons of his servants. Ile built sumptuous palaces, particu larly at his favorite residences, Aix-la-Chapelle and Ingellicim—for he had no fixed capital—and many churches. Learned men were encouraged to come to his court. He himself possessed an amount of learning unusual in his age; he could speak Latin and read Greek. He attempted to draw up a grammar of his own language. C. was of more than ordinary stature, and of a noble and commanding appearance. He was fond of manly exercises, particularly of hunting. He was too amorous, but in eating and drinking he was very moderate. His fame spread to all parts of the world: in 768, Harun-al-Raschid sent ambassadors to salute him. He enjoyed good health till shortly before his death, 28th Jan., 814. He was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle (q.v.), in a church which he had built there. He was succeeded by his son Louis, styled Louis le Debon naire, the only one of his sons who survived him; but the greatness of his dynasty ter minated with his own life. C. is styled Charles I. in the enumeration both of the French kings and of the German or Roman emperors. Besides his eapitularies (q.v.), there are extant letters and Latin poems ascribed to him. His life was written by his secretary, Eginhard.