He reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them (upon penalty of death) which led to events such as the Massacre of Verden. As sole ruler, he continued his father's policy towards protection of the papacy and became its sole defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He became king of the Franks in 768 following his father's death, and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I until the latter's death in 771.

He was born before their canonical marriage.

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.Ĭharlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire, which is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

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. Charlemagne ( / ˈ ʃ ɑːr l ə m eɪ n, ˌ ʃ ɑːr l ə ˈ m eɪ n/ SHAR-lə-mayn, -⁠ MAYN, French: ) or Charles the Great ( Latin: Carolus Magnus Frankish: Karl 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), 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.

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