In today's world, the region with the most developed countries is Europe.
In the circle of cultural and economic centers in Europe, the strength of three more countries is more eye-catching. However, in history, they have had an incomparably close blood relationship.
These three countries are France, Germany and Italy.
This origin can be traced back to the time of Charlemagne more than 1200 years ago. Charlemagne is revered by Europeans as the father of Europe and is also the world's most renowned emperor for thousands of years.
Today our story begins with the evolution of Charlemagne and these three kingdoms.
Charlemagne dominated Europe
Charlemagne was not self-made, he had a powerful father, his father Piping was in the former dynasty, and he was a powerful courtier very similar to Cao Cao. At the age of 10, Pepin deposed the king and became the first monarch of the Carolingian dynasty of the Frankish kingdom.
Therefore, Charlie, as the eldest son, naturally became the crown prince.
When Charlie was 27 years old, his father Pepin died. The Frankish kingdom was ruled by Charles and his brother Carloman. Friends who may not know european history will wonder, how can you still rule with your brother when you are a crown prince?
It should be noted here that the succession system in Europe at that time was relatively crude, unlike in ancient China.
For example, after the old king dies, the land of the kingdom will not all be given to the prince, but will be divided according to the number of princes. That is, there are several princes who divide the land until the kingdom is clean, and then take care of each other, and there is no trouble.
So we can see the strange scene of Charlie and his brother ruling together. If history had gone on like this, Charlie would not have had a chance to become Charlemagne until something happened that suddenly changed all this.
What's the matter?
In 771, his younger brother Carloman died.
So Charlie decisively sent troops and took the opportunity to unify the country. From this day on, history officially entered the era of Charlemagne.
From 772 AD to 814 AD, 42 years, Charlemagne constantly showed his rule, co-opting the Holy See, and conquering the surrounding areas.
In the name of "purging the pagans for the Holy See", the Charles Empire soon developed.
The Holy See on the other side was very satisfied with Charlemagne's act of military proselytizing, so in 800 AD, the Pope himself came forward and held a coronation ceremony for Charlemagne.
This coronation made the Frankish Empire the European orthodoxy after the Western Roman Empire.
The territory of the Frankish Empire was nearly double that of the beginning of Charles's reign. Reaching the Elbe River basin in the east, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the central Italy in the south, and the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the north, it covers almost all of Western Europe.
In addition, during the reign of Charlemagne, he also contributed to the cultural cause of Europe, and the dawn of the Renaissance appeared briefly in the country, which played a role in carrying forward the upper and lower levels for Europe, which was experiencing a "dark Middle Ages" at that time.
It is only regrettable that Charlemagne did not promote the cultural cause and did not get the cultural recognition of the people, which indirectly led to the inability of the subsequent kings to control the new situation in the case of mediocre ability, laying hidden dangers for the separation of the kingdom.
This was the limit of Charlemagne's time, and the tragedy of the Frankish Empire.
The Division of the Emperor a hundred years later
In 814, Charlemagne died. The only surviving son, Louis I, ascended the throne. This Louis was a conservative prince, with little ambition and no hard wrists. Whether it was ruling the kingdom or winning hearts and minds, Louis did a very ordinary job.
The most typical of these is louis's sub-sealing of his sons.
At the beginning of his succession, Louis I divided the kingdom among three sons, Lothair the eldest, Pippin the second, and Louis II the third. A few years later, a young son, Charles, was added, and Louis I was both happy and sad.
The joy is that the middle-aged son has been born, but the sad thing is that the territory of the Frankish kingdom has been divided, how will the younger son live in the future?
As a parent, Louis I had to harden his scalp and gather the other three sons to discuss the division of land for the younger son.
When the three sons heard their father's words, their flesh immediately ached, and they shouted that they wanted to beat his father. Louis I was furious when he saw the conversation, and really raised three white-eyed wolves.
The sons are also angry, you took the initiative to give the land, and now you have to go back and re-divide it, has there been a father who has done this? The Lord of a nation has rebelled, and there is no joke! Do you have a face to want?
Louis I was furious, and these cubs, with their wings hardened, were going to clean them up. Thus, the first paternal war of the Carolingian dynasty was thus detonated.
Fortunately, Louis I won. But Louis I did not pursue the sins of his three sons, but let them go home. Louis I wanted to prove to the world that he was a benevolent father.
Unfortunately, the sons do not think so, the sons feel that their father is very stupid and naïve, and there is nothing to lose by defeating themselves, why not fight again? So they united again and fought a war with Louis I. The result was a win.
The plot of the victory is that Louis I is ousted from power and imprisoned, along with his youngest son Charles.
This delicate situation lasted until three years later, when his second son, Pepin, died. Louis I was released and re-ascended to the throne.
At this time, the eldest Lothair and the third Louis, together, advocated that the land of the second elder be divided among the fourth Charles, Louis I and the fourth Charles, and expressed no objection.
The first sub-sealing came to an end.
In 840, Louis I, who had reigned for more than twenty years, died and was succeeded by lothair, and things reversed again.
The three sons of the brothers divided the country
Although the eldest Lothair was the de jure heir to the throne, the third Louis and the fourth Charlie were not satisfied.
They felt that the eldest brother had gained a much larger territory than himself by virtue of his eldest son status, which was very unfair, and the two strongly demanded that the land be redivided.
If there is no peace, there will be war. The second battle of the divided seals began. The three brothers began a civil war and fought for 3 years, and the three brothers, who had no advantage, decided to negotiate peace and signed a treaty to divide the empire , the Treaty of Verdun.
The treaty stipulated: Lothair the Elder divided the central part of the Frankish Kingdom, known in history as the Middle Frankish Kingdom; the old Third Louis divided the eastern part of the Frankish Kingdom, historically known as the East Frankish Kingdom; the old Fourth Charles divided the western part of the Frankish Kingdom, known as the West Frankish Kingdom.
However, the human heart is not enough for the snake to swallow the elephant. In 855, after the death of the eldest Lothair, he was left with orphans and widows. The third Louis and the fourth Charlie could not contain their desires, and they raised an army and invaded the territory of the boss.
Thus, the European version of the "uncle bullying nephew" drama was staged.
Before long, the third and fourth elders tasted the sweetness, and the brothers signed the Treaty of Morson with satisfaction, dividing up the northern and central territories of the boss, leaving only the southern territories for Lothair's descendants.
At this point, the story of three generations of the Carolingian dynasty came to an end. The kingdoms administered by Charlemagne's three grandsons gradually became today's France, Germany, and Italy in the subsequent historical evolution.
epilogue
Throughout the three generations of Charlemagne, in just one hundred years, it laid a solid foundation for the social composition of Europe and indirectly contributed to the national integration of modern Europe.
Although Charlemagne and his descendants, with the limitations of the times, inevitably resorted to military conquest and influenced the process of civilization in society.
But we are also inconvenient to harshly rebuke the predecessors, after all, the predecessors planted trees, and the posterity cooled down.
A sentence that is more effective than excessive is enough to comfort those who have come before.