There have been countless emperors from ancient times to the present, but there are very few people who can be called emperors throughout the ages. As Chinese, when we mention the Emperor of the Ages, some people may think of Qin Shi Huang, and perhaps some people will think of Tang Taizong Li Shimin.
These kings are all earth-shaking people, and they have forged the glory of the long river of history and laid the foundation for the greatness of China now. Although China has experienced many dynastic changes, it has finally moved towards the mainstream of the great unified dynasty, but in the history of the European region, it has never achieved real unification.
Although the history of monarchy in Europe is not as long as that of our country, it has reached more than three thousand years. Among them, the most amazing is the Frankish kingdom that conquered half of the European continent.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > crowned emperor of the "father of Europe"</h1>
The name Charlemagne was a household name in early Europe, "Charlemagne" means "great Charlie", and the old Chinese saying is like his name, which indeed bears witness to his great achievements.
Charlemagne was the second monarch of the Carolingian kingdom of Western Europe in the early Middle Ages.
Charlemagne was born in 742 AD into the Carolingian family. At that time, although the "mediocre kings" of the Merovingian dynasty were in power, the real power was in the hands of Charlemagne's Carolingian family.
In 751, when power passed to Charlemagne's father, Pepin the "dwarf", Pepin deposed the incompetent Merovin royal family and founded his own Carolingian dynasty. This behavior is complementary to the father and son of Cao Cao in China, but Cao Cao is just a little scrupulous.
In 768, with Pepin's death, Charlemagne and his brother Carloman succeeded to the throne of the Frankish kingdom.
Three years after his succession, Carloman died suddenly, and Charlemagne naturally became the only king, a change that omitted the tragedy of fratricide.
After succeeding to the throne, Charlemagne continued his life of conquest of the east and the west, and the southern invasion of the northern expedition. He may have been a natural king, a king on the battlefield, invincible on the battlefield, rapidly expanding the territory of the empire, he reigned for a total of 46 years, and was called the "father of Europe" by the people of Europe.
In 799 AD, there was a great disturbance in the Roman region, and the Pope of Rome was helpless to ask for Charlemagne's help. Charlemagne understood that this was a good opportunity for him to establish his position, so he did not hesitate to personally lead his troops to quell the rebellion and restore the rule of the Papal States.
In 800 AD, the Pope personally crowned Charlemagne at St. Peter's Basilica, recognizing him as "Emperor of the Romans".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Charlemagne's strategy</h1>
The Charlemagne Empire was famous in the West and the world, not just because of its strength. The Chalaman Empire is seen as a brief revival of the Western Roman Empire, and Charlemagne's martial arts are often praised.
During Charlemagne's 46 years on the throne, he fought a total of 53 foreign wars, eventually turning the Frankish Empire into the Great Charlemagne Empire.
Charlemagne's heyday conquered territories comparable to those of the Western Roman Empire. Its territory stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Baltic Sea north of the Danube River in the east, and the Mediterranean Sea in the south, and can be said to rule the whole of Europe.
In the face of an increasingly prosperous empire, Charlemagne realized the importance of domination. He divided the territory he had conquered among his subordinates and ordered them to govern together.
They were then constrained by the central monarchical centralism, dividing the country into 98 armies at the local level and sending chiefs to govern separately. In order to better discipline them, Charlemagne also set up inspectorates to facilitate the supervision and management of local and central governments.
While governing the regime, Charlemagne also attached great importance to the development of cultural and educational undertakings. He built schools, created libraries, searched for ancient books, encouraged the development of literature and art, all kinds of measures reflected the rejuvenation of science and education, if such a long-term peace and stability, it may be possible to restore the Western Roman Empire, but the good times did not last long, and the Frankish kingdom fell apart after Charlemagne's death.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Charlemagne's empire to disintegrate</h1>
In 814, the life of Charlemagne came to an end, and the emperor suffered from pleurisy in his later years, and eventually died of illness at the age of 72. After the death of Charlemagne, his son Louis succeeded to the throne as Louis I.
Due to Louis I's incompetence, several of his sons rebelled, and the eldest son, the third son, and the fourth son all demanded that he divide the territory and establish his own kingdom, and Louis I, unable to resist, agreed to their demands and divided the kingdom.
Since then, fathers and sons and brothers have turned against each other, and many parties have fought in chaos. After the death of Louis I, the war of the sons was not over, and Lothair I, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald wrote an endless civil war on one side of the territory.
In 843, Charlemagne's three grandsons were finally exhausted and agreed to sign the Treaty of Verdun.
In accordance with the provisions of the treaty, the Frankish Empire was completely disintegrated, forming a situation in which the empire was divided into three.
The three of them divided the Franks into three states: Middle Francia, East Francia and West Francia, and the rest of the territory was divided into large and small states by the various feudal officials.
In the circulation of later generations, the small countries gradually weakened, the three kingdoms of Central and Eastern Francia remained strong, and gradually evolved, West Francia became today's France, East Francia evolved into a German dynasty, and Middle Francia gradually formed Italy.
。 In addition, the power struggle between father and son, brothers, and monarchs further promoted the disintegration of Charlemagne's empire.
Ancient Europe has never been unified, and the establishment of Charlemagne's empire can be regarded as a temporary unification of the world. Both the Western Roman Empire and the Charlemagne Empire perished as quickly as a flash in the pan, leaving only the glory of the past to future generations.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the peach K on the playing card</h1>
After his death, Charlemagne was buried in Aachen Cathedral, the capital of Charlemagne's Empire. The place where he was buried was revered as a holy place. Since his death, 31 emperors have been coronated here, and perhaps people want to conquer Europe like him.
For the next few thousand years, Charlemagne slept in that land until 2014, when scientists announced that the remains found in Aachen Cathedral in 1988 were Charlemagne the Great. In order to commemorate his greatness, in the playing cards, he was classified with King David, Alexander the Great, and Caesar into the highest power "K" of the playing cards, and he is the red peach K on our playing cards, the absolute king.
If there is any regret in his life, it may be that he has not cultivated a good heir, and the huge empire cannot be sustained, and eventually it is divided.