Charlemagne or Charles the Great (Latin:
Carolus Magnus; German: Karl der Große), a member of the
Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King
of the Lombards from 774, and the Emperor of the Romans
from 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of
western and central Europe and was the first recognized
emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the
Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The
expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the
Carolingian Empire. He was canonized by Antipope Paschal
III—an act later treated as invalid—and he is now regarded
by some as beatified (which is a step on the path to
sainthood) in the Catholic Church. |
2023 J. Giesen