Charlemagne - Charles the Great - King of the Franks

Ancestors and Descendants

Charlemagne, Charles the Great, King of the Franks, Karl der Grosse; Carolus Magnus, King of the Lombards; also the first Holy Roman Emperor, were titles bestowed upon him during his lifetime. He was King of the Franks from 768 until he died. He originally shared the kingdom left by his father, Pippin the Short, with his brother, Carloman I. The brothers did not get along too well. War between them was prevented by Carloman's death in 771. Charlemagne removed the Lombards from power in Italy and waged war with the Saracens in Spain. He conducted a war against the Saxons and converted them to Christianity, then integrated them into his empire. Thusly, he extended the Frankish kingdom into a Frankish empire, consolidating much of what we know as Western Europe and Central Europe. During his rule, Charlemagne vanquished Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800. He is credited with a major influence due to his reforms during the period of the Carolingian Renaissance, defining Western Europe in the Middle Ages through a revival of art, religion and culture through the influence of the Catholic Church and his own foreign conquests.		Charlemagne
Today, Charlemagne is considered to be the founding father of the French and German monarchies. His empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans.

Charlemagne, King of the Franks, also known as Charles, the Great, was born 2 April 742,* possibly in what is present day Hestal, Liege, Belgium. Some believe he was born in Aschen, about thirty miles away. He probably communicated using a German dialect. He contracted pleurisy and died 28 January 814. He was married several times: Himltrude; Ermengarda or Desiderata; Hildegard; Fastrada, married 784 and died 794; and, Luitgard, married 794 and died 800. The line of our interest is: Hildegard, Countess of Vinzgau, born 758, married about 771 and died 783. Charles a Catholic, was the eldest son of Pippin III and Bertrada of Laon, born 2 April 742. He was a successor to the throne of Pepin III, also known as Pepin the Short and Pippin the Younger. Some of the children: Pippin the Hunchback died 813, Charles, King of Neustria died 811, Pippin, King of Italy ruled 881-810. His son, Louis I The Pious, King of Aquitane, Emperor, ruled 814-840 was Charles the Great's successor, Lothar died 780, and six daughters: Aupais born about 773 in France and died after 852. For more on the children see below.

For more about Charlemagne's family click here

*In dispute he was possibly born 2 April 747

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Sources:
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Modified 17 September 2011