General Notes

Charlemagne (742-814), king of the Franks (768-814) and emperor of the Romans (800-814), who led his Frankish armies to victory over numerous other peoples and established his rule in most of western and central Europe. He was the best-known and most influential king in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Charlemagne was probably born in Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle). He was the son of Frankish king Pepin the Short and the grandson of Charles Martel. When Pepin died in 768, the rule of his realms was to be shared between his two sons, Charlemagne and Carloman, who died in 771. Charlemagne then consolidated and expanded his power over the next 30 years, invading Italy, Saxony, Spain, Bavaria, and the empire of the Avars (corresponding roughly to modern Hungary and Austria). Having established Frankish rule over so many other peoples, Charlemagne had built an empire and become an emperor. On Christmas Day in 800, Charlemagne knelt to pray in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope Leo III then placed a crown upon his head, and the people assembled in the church acclaimed him emperor of the Romans.
Charlemagne established a more permanent royal capital than had any of his predecessors. His favorite residence from 794 on was at Aix-la-Chapelle. At his court he gathered scholars from all over Europe, the most famous being English cleric Alcuin of York. Administration of the empire was entrusted to approximately 250 royal administrators called counts. The empire did not expand after 800; in fact, by the 790s the seacoasts and river valleys experienced the first invasions of the Vikings. Charlemagne died before their full destructive force was unleashed on the empire.

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CHARLEMAGNE, King of the Franks and Roman Emperor 742-814, created Emperor in 800 by Pope Leo III, had three sons, Pepin, Charles, and Louis I. Charlemagne converted nations to Christianity and encouraged the spread of education. A contemporary, Eginhard, described him as a tall man with a soft voice, a long nose, bright eyes and white hair, wearing a silver - bordered tunic, gartered hose, and a blue cloak, always girt with his sword, the hilt and belt being of gold and silver. He was an active, self-confident man, exercising a great deal to keep fit, fond of pomp and religious ceremonies. He is considered the greatest figure of the Middle Ages and his court at Aachen was a center of learning.


CHARLEMAGNE
LINES TO THE GREAT EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNE--SEE CHART--VOL. I--PAGE 80
Contributed by Edyth Shipley Britton
The lineage of Charlemagne, b--2 April, 742, can be traced to Marc Anthony, and from Heli, King of the Britons, 48 B. C. Some of our Md. lines trace back to Charlemagne.
The grandfather of Charlemagne was Charles Martel, King of the Franks, b--690, who m--Lady Bothrude. In 732 he gained a great victory over the Saracens at the Battle of Tours, and for this victory he won the sur-name of "Martel" (the Hammer). He d--741, and his son, Pepin le Bref, b--714, succeeded him. He m--Lady Bertha, and he was the first King to establish Parliaments in France--18 Jan., 757. His second son was Charlemagne, King of the Franks, and Roman Emperor, b--2 April, 742. After his father's death in 768, he jointly reigned over the Franks with his brother, Carlomen, until the latter's death in 772. From that time until his death, he was sole ruler and carried on incessant wars, extending his domains and spreading Christianity, until he had a vast domain, over which he was crowned Roman Emperor in 800 by Pope Leo III, with the Iron Crown of the Western Empire. He m--Princess Hildegarde of Savoy, by whom he had three sons, Pepin, Charles and Louis, and I descend from Pepin and Louis.

There are four lines of descent from him that are best known; the descent of the British people; Through Isabel de Vermandois, from her father, Hugh the Great, son of Henry I, King of France. Through Isabel, from her mother, Adelheid de Vermandois. Through Lady Alice de Courteney, wife of Aymer de Taillefer (dau--of Pierre de Courteney, son of Louis VI, called "le Gros" a descendant of Charlemagne) Aymer de Taillefer and Alice de Courteney, being parents of Isabel de Taillefer, wife of King John of England. Through the Plantagenets and other descendants of Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror; she was a descendant of both Alfred the Great and also Charlemagne.