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 Charlemagne’s (742-814) grand ambition was to unite all the Teutonic and Latin peoples of Europe under his reign in union with the pope. He built an empire that joined most of the Christian lands of Western and Central Europe (except parts of Spain, southern Italy, and the British Isles).
He had a great zeal for the Church. He was a devout worshipper and excessively liberal to the clergy, giving them tithes and appointing worthy bishops. During his meals he had extracts from Augustine’s "City of God" (his favorite book) read to him.
Charlemagne believed he was the divinely appointed protector of the Church and the regulator of all her affairs. He saw himself as God’s instrument to fulfill Augustine’s vision of a Christian theocracy, with education and justice filling the land.
Because of this, he established schools and passed laws granting general educa¬tion to all male children. He instituted important legal reforms, codifying laws and incorporating them into the ordinances of the empire.
He gathered around him scholars, poets, and historians, establishing a cultural revival called the Carolingian Renaissance. Charlemagne brought the best minds of his day to his court and commissioned them to establish centers of learning. This vast educational policy helped to unify a huge empire of several languages and dialects.
Unfortunately, there was another side to Charlemagne.
He was violent and bloodthirsty. For thirty years he waged a war of extermination against the Saxons, wasting their territory and crushing their independence. He once beheaded in cold blood 4,500 prisoners in one day.
He also married several wives and divorced them at his pleasure. After the death of his fifth wife he contented himself with three or four concubines.
But on that fateful Christmas day, no one seemed too concerned about Charlemagne’s many sins. After Pope Leo anointed him emperor, the Roman people shouted three times, “To Charles Augustus, crowned by God, the great and pacific emperor of the Romans, life and victory!”
This event was the re-establishment of the old Roman Empire; it would control the history of the Middle Ages. It raised questions on the relation between these two sovereignties, and the limits of jurisdiction of each that would become the struggle of centuries.
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