Charlemagne

Charlemagne was a medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 814. He was the son of Pepin the Short, who had been crowned king of the Franks by Pope Stephen II in 754. Charlemagne inherited the Frankish kingdom along with his brother Carloman, but after Carloman's death in 771, he became the sole ruler. He expanded his realm by conquering the Lombards in Italy, the Saxons in Germany, the Avars in Hungary, and other peoples in Spain and Central Europe. He also defended his lands from external threats, such as the Umayyad Caliphate and the Vikings. He was a devout Christian who supported the papacy and promoted the spread of Christianity among his subjects. He also fostered a cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance, which encouraged learning, art, literature, and architecture. He established a system of administration based on counts and missi dominici (royal envoys), who oversaw local affairs and enforced his laws. He also reformed the coinage, weights and measures, and education. He was crowned as the Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in 800, thus reviving the idea of a unified Christian empire in Western Europe. He is regarded as one of the most influential figures in European history and is known as the "Father of Europe". He died in 814 at his palace in Aachen and was buried there. His empire was divided among his sons by the Treaty of Verdun in 843.