By far the greatest character who appeared in Europe at this period
was Charles, the son of Pepin le Bref, and known in history by the
name of Charlemagne, or Charles the Great. ‘In the course of a reign
of forty-five years,’ says Mr. Tytler, ‘Charlemagne extended the
limits of his empire beyond the Danube, subdued Dacia, Dalmatia, and
Istria, conquered and subjected all the barbarous tribes to the banks
of the Vistula, made himself master of a great portion of Italy, and
successfully encountered the arms of the Saracens, the Huns, the
Bulgarians, and the Saxons. His war with the Saxons was of thirty
years’ duration; and their final conquest was not achieved without an
inhuman waste of blood. At the request of the pope, and to discharge
the obligations of his father Pepin to the holy see, Charlemagne,
though allied by marriage to Desiderius, king of the Lombards,
dispossessed that prince of all his dominions, and put a final period
to the Lombard dominion in Italy (774).
When Charlemagne made his first entry into Rome, he was crowned king
of France and of the Lombards by Pope Adrian I; and afterwards, on a
second visit, he was consecrated Emperor of the West by the hands of
Pope Leo III (800). He probably attached some importance to these
rites, but it is to be remarked that, as yet, the pontiff was not in
the enjoyment of that high influence by which he afterwards could
confer or withdraw sovereignty at his pleasure.
‘It is probable,’ continues the authority above quoted, ‘that had
Charlemagne chosen Rome for his residence and seat of government, and
at his death transmitted to his successor an undivided dominion, that
great but fallen empire might have once more been restored to lustre
and respect; but Charlemagne had no fixed capital, and he divided,
even in his lifetime, his dominion among his children (806).’
Charlemagne died in the year 814, aged seventy-two. His last days were
employed in consolidating, rather than extending, his empire, by the
making of laws which have rendered his name famous, and his memory
even blessed. ‘Though engaged in so many wars,’ says Dr. Russell,
‘Charlemagne was far from neglecting the arts of peace, the happiness
of his subjects, or the cultivation of his own mind. Government,
manners, religion, and letters, were his constant pursuits. He
frequently convened the national assemblies for regulating the affairs
both of church and state. In these assemblies he proposed such laws as
he considered to be of public benefit, and allowed the same liberty to
others; but of this liberty, indeed, it would have been difficult to
deprive the French nobles, who had been accustomed, from the
foundation of the monarchy, to share the legislation with their
sovereign. His attention extended even to the most distant corners of
his empire, and to all ranks of men. He manifested a particular regard
for the common people, and studied their ease and advantage. The same
love of mankind led him to repair and form public roads; to build
bridges where necessary; to make rivers navigable for the purposes of
commerce; and to project that grand canal which would have opened a
communication between the German Ocean and the Black Sea, by uniting
the Danube and the Rhine.’ Amidst all his greatness, his personal
habits were simple; his dress was of the plainest sort, and such even
as to shame his own courtiers; his hours of study set apart, and
seldom omitted even in the busiest times of his life; his daughters
were taught spinning and housewifery, and his sons trained by himself
in all the accomplishments of the age. Charlemagne was fond of the
company of learned men, and greatly encouraged their residence in his
dominions. In this respect he resembled his cotemporary Haroun
Raschid, so famous in Arabian history, and Alfred the Great, who
appeared in England shortly after this period. Superior to all
national prejudice, he elevated an Englishman named Alcuin to the head
of his royal academy. He was zealous for the extension of
Christianity; and one of the few blots upon his name arises from his
having, in the spirit of his age, caused 4000 Saxon prisoners to be
beheaded in one day, because they would not submit to be baptized.
Charlemagne established schools in the cathedrals and principal
abbeys, for the teaching of writing, arithmetic, grammar, logic, and
music.
Of the sons of Charlemagne, Louis, the youngest, surnamed the
_Debonnaire_, or gentle, was the only one who survived. He succeeded
to all his father’s dominions, except Italy, which fell into the hands
of Bernard, a grandson of Charlemagne. Louis, deficient in vigor of
character, was unable to hold together the great empire left to him by
his father. Having, among the first acts of his reign, given large
portions of it to his children, the remainder of his life was spent in
disgraceful quarrels with them; and after his death (840), the empire
was formally divided――Lothaire, his eldest son, obtaining Lorraine and
Provence; while Charles the Bald, a younger son, continued sovereign
of the western parts of France; and Louis became king of Germany. Thus
abruptly terminates the history of the second western empire.