Charlemagne

King of the Frank

April 2, 742 Herstal

January 28, 814 Aachen, Germany

Luitgard (m. 794 AD), Desiderata of the Lombards (m. 770 AD–771 AD), Fastrada (m. 784 AD–794 AD), Hildegard of Savoy (m. 771 AD–783 AD)

Charlemagne or Charles the Great (also called Charles I) was a medieval ruler - the emperor of most of the Western Europe. He was one of the most famous and powerful leaders to ever reign over Europe and is termed as ‘Father of Europe’ by some historians. During his reign, he brought into force many laws in order to keep the society well-organized and encourage learning. He built several churches and palaces, most of which are still standing but his main focus was to unite the Western Europe the way it had been during the time of the ancient Roman Empire. Before his death, he had already expanded his empire from modern-day France, Belgium, and the Netherlands to include Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, northern Spain, and northern Italy. The centre of his empire was Aachen, a city in western Germany near modern-day Belgium. It was here that he built his palace and a remarkable church which is one of the most important historic buildings in the world. By the time Charlemagne died, his Frankish empire was as big as the Byzantine Empire and had become the largest empire in Europe since that of the ancient Romans.