Charlemagne

Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800. He united most of Western and Central Europe and was the first recognised emperor to rule from the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier. Charlemagne's reign was marked by political and social changes that had lasting influence on Europe throughout the Middle Ages.

thumb|Einhard as scribe. Manuscript depiction from 1050

778 battle between Charlemagne and Basques

thumb|upright=1.35|The death of Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux (manuscript illustration c. 1455–1460) The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) chanson de geste cycle of the Matter of France, where they play a similar role to the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian romance. In these romantic portrayals, the chivalric paladins represent Christianity against a Saracen (Muslim) invasion of Europe. The names of the paladins vary between sources,

biography of Charlemagne written by Einhard

thumb|The Destruction of Irminsul by Charlemagne by Heinrich Leutemann (1882).

campaigns and insurrections (772–804) between the Carolingian Empire and Saxons in what is now northwestern Germany; resulted in the incorporation of Saxony into the Frankish realm and their forcible conversion from Germanic paganism to Catholicism

conspiracy theory that Otto Ⅲ and Pope Sylvester Ⅱ fabricated the Carolingian period (614–911)

Abul-Abbas ( – 810) was an Asian elephant brought back to the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne by his diplomat Isaac the Jew. The gift was from the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and symbolizes the beginning of Abbasid–Carolingian relations. The elephant's name and events from his life are recorded in the Carolingian Annales regni Francorum, and he is mentioned in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni. However, no references to the gift or to interactions with Charlemagne have been found in Abbasid records.

thumb|right|Albrecht Duerer portrait of [[Charlemagne with Joyeuse]] In medieval legend, Joyeuse (; ; meaning 'joyous, joyful') was the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon.

Carolingian palace in Aachen, Germany

pre-decimal currency structure/system once common throughout Europe, said to be introduced by Charlemagne in the 8. century CE

also sometimes called Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 812, Byzantine recognition of the Carolingian empire

former country

773-774 siege

Byzantine emperor Justinian I's plan to reconquer the territory of the former Roman Empire

synod (794)

capitulary issued by Charlemagne in 789

Civilian Order of the Principality of Andorra

manuscript

group of 11th-century chess pieces

Throne in Aachen Cathedral made in the 790s

fresco by the workshop of Raphael (probably painted by Gianfrancesco Penni, with designs by Raphael)

Military conflict

treaty

Unit of weight and coinage

part of Frankish campaign against Avars and Slavs

thumb|upright=1.5|Karlsschrein at Aachen Cathedral thumb|upright|Front gable end thumb|Detail: Charlemagne enthroned between church officials

Carolingian reliquary encolpion

Abbasid-Carolingian alliance between 8th and 9th centuries

782 battle

curved blade in Hungary

roman marble sarcophagus in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury