The document summarizes the rise of medieval Europe following the fall of Rome. It describes how the Franks emerged as the dominant Germanic tribe in Western Europe under King Clovis, the first Germanic king to convert to Christianity. Pepin the Short then became the king of the Franks in 752 with support from nobles and the Church. His son Charlemagne expanded the Frankish lands into a large empire and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope in 800. This established the precedent of the Catholic Church legitimizing rulers in Western Europe and marked the rise of the Carolingian dynasty.