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Charlemagne (; 2 April 742/747/748〔Karl Ferdinand Werner: ''Das Geburtsdatum Karls des Großen'', in: ''Francia'' 1, 1973, pp. 115–157 ((online )); Matthias Becher: ''Neue Überlegungen zum Geburtsdatum Karls des Großen'', in: ''Francia'' 19/1, 1992, pp. 37-60 ((online )); R. McKitterick: ''Charlemagne''. Cambridge 2008, p. 72.〕28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great ((ラテン語:Carolus'' or ''Karolus Magnus)) or Charles I, was King of the Franks. He united most of Western Europe during the early Middle Ages and laid the foundations for modern France and Germany. He took the Frankish throne in 768 and became King of Italy from 774. From 800 he became the first Holy Roman Emperor — the first recognized emperor in Western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. While Charlemagne already ruled his kingdom without the help of the Pope, recognition from the pontiff granted him divine legitimacy in the eyes of his contemporaries. The expanded Frankish state Charlemagne founded was called the Carolingian Empire. The oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, Charlemagne became king in 768 following the death of his father. He was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. Carloman's sudden death in 771 under unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the undisputed ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. Charlemagne continued his father's policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy, and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them upon penalty of death, leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden. Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned ''Emperor of the Romans'' by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter's Basilica. Called the "Father of Europe" (''pater Europae''), Charlemagne united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Church. Both the French and German monarchies considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagne's empire. Charlemagne died in 814, having ruled as emperor for just over thirteen years. He was laid to rest in his imperial capital of Aachen in what is today Germany. His son Louis the Pious succeeded him. ==Political background== By the 6th century, the western Germanic Franks had been Christianised, and Francia, ruled by the Merovingians, was the most powerful of the kingdoms that succeeded the Western Roman Empire. Following the Battle of Tertry, however, the Merovingians declined into a state of powerlessness, for which they have been dubbed the ''rois fainéants'' ("''do-nothing kings''"). Almost all government powers of any consequence were exercised by their chief officer, the mayor of the palace. In 687, Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at Tertry and became the sole governor of the entire Frankish kingdom.〔 Pepin himself was the grandson of two of the most important figures of the Austrasian Kingdom, Saint Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen. Pepin of Herstal was eventually succeeded by his illegitimate son Charles, later known as Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer). After 737, Charles governed the Franks without a king on the throne but declined to call himself ''king''. Charles was succeeded in 741 by his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, the father of Charlemagne. To curb separatism in the periphery of the realm, in 743 the brothers placed on the throne Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian king. After Carloman resigned office in 746 to enter the church by preference as a monk, Pepin brought the question of the kingship before Pope Zachary, asking whether it was logical for a king to have no royal power. The pope handed down his decision in 749. He decreed that it was better for Pepin, who had the powers of high office as Mayor, to be called king, so as not to confuse the hierarchy. He therefore ordered him to become ''true king.'' In 750, Pepin was elected by an assembly of the Franks, anointed by the archbishop, and then raised to the office of king. Branding Childeric III as "the false king," the Pope ordered him into a monastery. Thus was the Merovingian dynasty replaced by the Carolingian dynasty, named after Pepin's father, Charles Martel. In 753 Pope Stephen II fled from Italy to Francia appealing for assistance for the rights of St. Peter to Pepin. He was supported in this appeal by Carloman, Charles' brother. In return the pope could provide only legitimacy, which he did by again anointing and confirming Pepin, this time adding his young sons Carolus and Carloman to the royal patrimony, now heirs to the great realm that already covered most of western Europe. In 754 Pepin accepted the Pope's invitation to visit Italy on behalf of St. Peter's rights, dealing successfully with the Lombards.〔〔The background relies heavily on 〕 Under the Carolingians, the Frankish kingdom spread to encompass an area including most of Western Europe; the division of the kingdom formed the basis for modern France and Germany.〔 portrays the Treaty of Verdun, 843, between the warring grandsons of Charlemagne, as the foundation event of an independent France under its first king, Charles the Bald, an independent Germany, under its first king, Louis the German, and an independent intermediate state stretching from the low countries along the borderlands to south of Rome under Lothair I, who retained the title of emperor and the capitals Aachen and Rome without the jurisdiction. The middle kingdom had broken up by 890. The disposition of its territory remained a major source of divisiveness between France, Germany, and Italy down to the 20th century. The ultimate solution was the creation of smaller nations in the buffer zones, mainly Netherlands and Switzerland but also some very small states. The concept and memory of a united Europe remains to the current time.〕 The religious, political, and artistic evolutions originating from a centrally positioned Francia made a defining imprint on the whole of Europe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charlemagne」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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