2. CHARLEMAGNE. The Father of Europe
Charlemagne (747-814) or Charles I “the Great”,
became king of the Franks in 768 and expanded his
territories to include much of modern France, Belgium,
Germany and northern Italy.
He became king of the Lombards in 774 and was
crowned Imperator Romanorum (“Emperor of the
Romans”) by Pope Leo III on December 25 in 800, having
unified western and central Europe under his rule.
Founded the Holy Roman Empire and the Carolingian
dynasty. Thanks to the peace achieved with the creation
of the empire, a period of progress began in all social
and cultural aspects: trade, education, art, architecture
and literature. This period is called: The Carolingian
Renaissance.
3. THE FRANKS
The Franks were a community of peoples from Lower
Rhineland (The Rhineland region is the name for lands
on both sides of the Rhine River in western Germany)
and the territories immediately East of the Rhine
(Belgium and northern France today).
The powerful and enduring dynasties established by
the Franks reigned in an area that encompasses most
of the present-day countries of France, Belgium and
the Netherlands, as well as the Franconian region in
Germany.
Europe around 814
4. THE LOMBARDS
The Lombards were a Germanic people originally
from northern Europe who settled in the Danube
Valley and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568
A.D. under Alboino's leadership.
They established the Lombard Kingdom of Italy,
which lasted until 774 A.D., when it was conquered
by the Franks.
5. Louis the Pious (778 – 20 June 840), also called the
Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of the Franks
and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from
813 A.D. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781 A.D.
He conquered Barcelona from the Muslims in 801 AD,
Pamplona and the Basques south of the Pyrenees in
812 A.D.
He had three children, who eventually fought for the
empire.
CARLOMAGNO'S SUCCESSOR
6. THE EMPIRE AFTER CHARLEMAGNE
Europe, after Charlemagne, suffered moments
of instability (crisis) so the feudal system began
to be used.
After Charlemagne's death, Ludovico Pio, son of
Charlemagne, ruled for 30 years practically in
peace.
He included his adult sons in the government
establishing a division of powers between them,
leading to a civil war between brothers that
ended with the Peace of Verdun in 843 A.D.
7. FEUDAL SYSTEM
Feudalism is the name of the predominant
political system in Western Europe of the central
centuries of the Middle Ages (between the 9th
and 15th centuries) characterized by the loss of
political power in kings.
It was a way of structuring society around
relationships derived from the holding of land in
exchange for service or labour. A set of
reciprocal legal and military obligations among
the warrior nobility.
