We’re lucky enough to have the great Charlemagne here with us today? Thankyou Mr.Charlemagne for spending some of your time with us, it’s highly appreciated. Now, I will ask you some questions. This’ll just take a sec…
Q: So, can you tell me a little about yourself?
A: Well first of all, I was born April 2, 742 to Pippin and Bertrada and reigned 768 to 814, king of the Franks and the Holy Roman empire. Not to mention I was the grandson of Charles the Hammer Martel.
Q: How did you gain reign?
A: Long story short, 768 my father Pippin died, and divided the realm between my brother, Carloman, and I. It was kinda an unfair split though. First of all my bro’s kingdom was waaaay easier to control than mine. In mine, people kept revolting (it was so annoying). Though I managed. Second, Carloman didn’t even help me with my dillio! What kind of a brother is he? So me and him didn’t really get along well, pretty serious tension (almost on the brink of war!). Carloman suddenly died in 771, leaving me as the sole Carolingian king. I tried to be friendly with the pope in Rome and helped to defend his territories from invasion. On Christmas Day in 800, Pope Leo III crowned me the emperor in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Q: Fascinating! How’d you manage to create a unified Christian empire?
A: I continued my father’s program of conquest over neighboring kingdoms. I spent a lot of my time fighting muslims in Spain, I subjugated the Lombards in present-day Italy, subdued the rebellious Saxons in present-day Germany, and destroyed the Avars’ power in Eastern Europe. Throughout my life, I ruled nearly all of Christian Western Europe except for the British Isles. My conquests reunited much of the old western Roman empire. Not to brag, but my army was pretty pimpin. Along with that, I tried to spread Christianity. Missionaries converted many Saxons and Slavs. Things were kinda getting out of order with the old Franks’ tribal system of government, so I turned to the Roman Catholic Church as a model of the government I wanted. I appointed powerful nobles to rule local regions.
Q: I hear education was a top priority for you, can you explain?
A: Very true. In my eyes, this was another way to unify my kingdom. I wanted my officials to keep accurate records and write clear reports. I revived Latin learning in my empire and created local schools.
Q: Any last comments?
A: After my death, my empire didn’t remain intact. But, I believe I was a lasting model for future European kings, extended the Christian civilization into northern Europe, and blended Germanic, Roman, and Christian traditions more.
“Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance (Overview).” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/
“Charlemagne.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. <http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/>
History of Europe 
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