Charlemagne: The Great Military Leader
Brittany Hall
May 4, 2009
Professor Drummond
Western Civilization
Charlemagne the Great Military Leader
Charlemagne's reign was consumed with wars in which he was successful. He never had to confront a first-class enemy in battle. Charlemagne inherited a well-trained Frankish Kingdom from his martial father and grandfather. His wars, however, were of high importance for history; especially the conquest of the Saxons and the Lombards which implied the bringing of much of Germany and Italy into the circle of "The Holy Roman Empire," and of medieval civilization. Through a careful reading of Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne and Einhard’s The War of Charlemagne, I will demonstrate that Charlemagne was a great, powerful, and strategic military …show more content…
leader, through the conquest of the Saxons and Lombardy, his control of his military forces, and the influence of the church.
Although some of the territory in Charlemagne’s empire came to him through inheritance and through diplomatic negotiations and alliances, he won other parts by conquests. During the early years of his reign, Charlemagne conquered lands in all directions. He invaded Italy, and seized the crown of the Lombard kings and took over northern Italy. Charlemagne’s conflict with Lombardy expanded his empire and strengthens the Frankish military. Charlemagne was usually victorious with the battles he fought in, especially the conquest of the Saxons and the Lombards. As recorded in Einhard’s The Wars of Charlemagne,
“The King, however, pressed them with unvarying purpose despite great difficulties and either took the field against them himself, or sent his courts against them with a host to wreak vengeance and exact due satisfaction. The war that had lasted so many years at last terminated when the Saxons gave way to the terms proffered by the King; namely, the renunciation of their native religious cults and devil-worship, the acceptance of the Christian sacraments, and union with the Franks into one people”
Charlemagne conquered these battles because he never backed down. By winning these battles he was able to expand his kingdom. His armies dominated the battlefield and their victories led to the uniting of the Franks, which became the cornerstone of European Civilization. By uniting his empire, he was able to keep order and control many peoples.
The most dangerous and protracted struggles of Charlemagne’s reign came when he invaded Saxony in 772. From 773 on, the Saxons launched periodic attacks on Frankish lands, once penetrating as far as Cologne under their leader Wittekind. While their raids inflicted great destruction, Charlemagne responded with fire and sword, and eventually Charlemagne achieved total conquest and forced the people of Saxony to convert to Christianity. He prescribed death for any Saxon who refused to be baptized. Charlemagne made smart attacks that enabled him to protect the empire. Charlemagne conquered the Saxons which shows how he must have been a smart, great, and strategic military leader. As recorded in Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne,
“Charles himself fought but two pitched battles in this war…The enemy we so routed and overthrown in these two battles that they never afterwards ventured to take the offensive or to resist the attacks of the King, unless they were protected by a strong… So many and grievous were the wars that were declared against the Franks in the meantime, and skillfully conducted by the King, the one may reasonably question whether his fortitude or his good fortune is to be more admired. … The King, who excelled all the princes of his time in wisdom and greatness of soul… for he trained himself to bear and endure whatever, came, without yielding in adversity, or trusting to the deceitful favors of fortune and prosperity.”
Charlemagne never gave up and endured whatever came his way, which demonstrates how he was a great military leader. Charlemagne undertook many successful campaigns which show his ability to organize. When he began a campaign, he plotted it well in advance, accounting even for supplies, and reserves. His forces moved quickly, not only because Charlemagne had a good sense of the layout and the readiest way to get from one place to another. He often sent messages ahead to his vassals in an area, telling them to be ready to go to a specific place. He would then meet with these local forces, and proceed from there. Charlemagne dealt with certain issues during the wars. However, he reformed the Carolingian Empire, by expanding it, through multiple battles. Without the knowledge and skillful plans of Charlemagne; the Carolingian Empire would probably never have expanded as much as it did with Charlemagne’s rule.
Charlemagne went on a thirty year military campaign to expand his kingdom.
The Franks were falling back to their old barbarian ways, neglecting their religion. The Saxons of northern Europe were still pagans. In the south, the Roman Catholic Church was asserting its power to recover land confiscated by the Lombard kingdom of Italy. Europe was in a crisis. Charlemagne was strong enough in body and nerves to bear a thousand responsibilities, dangers, and crises, even to his sons’ plotting to kill him. Charlemagne had great style of planning military campaigns; he paid attention to detail, yet kept "the big picture" in view. As recorded in the Carolingian Empire,
“The great campaign against the Avars, well planned and initiated by the king himself, was delayed at first by Saxons risings and later by a conspiracy of Frankish magnates. In the end the mere pressure exercised by these preparations was sufficient to heighten the tension in the state of the Avars to the point where its organization collapsed. Charles the Great was therefore able to leave the actual campaign to his son Pepin and to his counts. Thus the whole region of the Danubian plains came under Frankish dominion.”
This quote illustrates that Charlemagne’s campaigns made territories such as Danubian plains be controlled by the Franks.
His military campaigns helped him in his military expeditions. He moved his armies over wide reaches of country with unbelievable speed, but every move was planned in advance. In these campaigns, Charlemagne told the courts, princes, and bishops throughout his kingdom, how many men they should bring, what arms they were to carry, and even what to load in the supply wagons. He extended the Frankish army’s power, guarded it with firm military organization, propped it with religious sanction and ritual. He could lead an army, persuade an assembly, humor the nobility, and dominate the …show more content…
clergy.
Charlemagne moved his empire southward and invaded Bavaria, which was added to his kingdom. In 773 Pope Adrian I asked Charlemagne for help because the Lombards invaded the Papal territories in northern Italy. Charlemagne took out the Lombard’s king and defeated them. He also added Lombardy to his empire. In 778 Charlemagne attacked the Moors in northern Spain. Charlemagne was stopped at first, but after a while, he conquered the Spanish March and Navarre. On his way home, the end of Charlemagne’s army was annihilated by the Basques. An epic poem was written about this incident called The Song of Roland. By doing this, Charlemagne became better friends with the pope and became a Roman patrician.
While Charlemagne was busy replicating Roman emperors through conquest, his church reform, the papacy was beginning to claim imperial power for itself. In 799 there was a rebellion in Rome, so Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne to help him out. Charlemagne came to Rome and squashed the rebels. Because of this, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day in 800. Throughout his rule, Charlemagne maintained a very good relationship with the popes and the Christian Church. If an outsider was to look at the relationship between Charlemagne and the Pope, they would think they had a good relationship. But through a closer perspective it’s more of a one-sided relationship because the Pope enjoys the relationship more than Charlemagne. As recorded in Life of Charlemagne, “so much that he stated that, if he had known in advance of the pope’s plan, he would not have entered the church that day.” This illustrates that Charlemagne was displeased with the imperial title. When Charlemagne finally did call himself emperor, after establishing a peace with Byzantines, he used a long revealing title: “Charles, the most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great and peaceful Emperor who governs the Roman Empire and who is, by the mercy of God, king of the Franks and the Lombards.” This title means that Charlemagne was not the Roman emperor crowned by the pope but rather God’s emperor, who governed the Roman Empire along with his many other duties. His role as God’s emperor illustrates that he was devoted to Christianity. He also attempted to consolidate Christianity throughout his vast empire. Charlemagne's accomplishments were so great that many legends grew up around him to celebrate his power, wisdom, and devotion to Christianity. By his conquests, Charlemagne takes his place with the Byzantine emperors as a great ruler.
He entered into a diplomatic negotiation with all of them. Posterity overlooks Charlemagne’s slaughters of the Saxons and remembers the victories and the broad movement of government reform and learning that accompanied them, which has been called the Carolingian Renaissance. Although his empire survived him by only one generation, it contributed decisively to the eventual reconstitution, in the mind of a Western Europe disjointed since the end of the Roman Empire, of a common intellectual, religious, and political inheritance on which later centuries could draw. There is no other man who similarly left his mark on European history during the centuries of the Middle
Ages.
--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Einhard, The Wars of Charlemagne c.770 – 814, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/einhard-wars1.html
[ 2 ]. Bullough, Donald, The Age of Charlemagne, (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1965)
[ 3 ]. Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne. 830 AD ( New York: University of Michigan P, 1960)
[ 4 ]. Fitchtenau, Heirich, The Carolingian Empire, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1957)
May 4, 2009
Professor Drummond
Western Civilization
Charlemagne the Great Military Leader
Charlemagne's reign was consumed with wars in which he was successful. He never had to confront a first-class enemy in battle. Charlemagne inherited a well-trained Frankish Kingdom from his martial father and grandfather. His wars, however, were of high importance for history; especially the conquest of the Saxons and the Lombards which implied the bringing of much of Germany and Italy into the circle of "The Holy Roman Empire," and of medieval civilization. Through a careful reading of Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne and Einhard’s The War of Charlemagne, I will demonstrate that Charlemagne was a great, powerful, and strategic military …show more content…
leader, through the conquest of the Saxons and Lombardy, his control of his military forces, and the influence of the church.
Although some of the territory in Charlemagne’s empire came to him through inheritance and through diplomatic negotiations and alliances, he won other parts by conquests. During the early years of his reign, Charlemagne conquered lands in all directions. He invaded Italy, and seized the crown of the Lombard kings and took over northern Italy. Charlemagne’s conflict with Lombardy expanded his empire and strengthens the Frankish military. Charlemagne was usually victorious with the battles he fought in, especially the conquest of the Saxons and the Lombards. As recorded in Einhard’s The Wars of Charlemagne,
“The King, however, pressed them with unvarying purpose despite great difficulties and either took the field against them himself, or sent his courts against them with a host to wreak vengeance and exact due satisfaction. The war that had lasted so many years at last terminated when the Saxons gave way to the terms proffered by the King; namely, the renunciation of their native religious cults and devil-worship, the acceptance of the Christian sacraments, and union with the Franks into one people”
Charlemagne conquered these battles because he never backed down. By winning these battles he was able to expand his kingdom. His armies dominated the battlefield and their victories led to the uniting of the Franks, which became the cornerstone of European Civilization. By uniting his empire, he was able to keep order and control many peoples.
The most dangerous and protracted struggles of Charlemagne’s reign came when he invaded Saxony in 772. From 773 on, the Saxons launched periodic attacks on Frankish lands, once penetrating as far as Cologne under their leader Wittekind. While their raids inflicted great destruction, Charlemagne responded with fire and sword, and eventually Charlemagne achieved total conquest and forced the people of Saxony to convert to Christianity. He prescribed death for any Saxon who refused to be baptized. Charlemagne made smart attacks that enabled him to protect the empire. Charlemagne conquered the Saxons which shows how he must have been a smart, great, and strategic military leader. As recorded in Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne,
“Charles himself fought but two pitched battles in this war…The enemy we so routed and overthrown in these two battles that they never afterwards ventured to take the offensive or to resist the attacks of the King, unless they were protected by a strong… So many and grievous were the wars that were declared against the Franks in the meantime, and skillfully conducted by the King, the one may reasonably question whether his fortitude or his good fortune is to be more admired. … The King, who excelled all the princes of his time in wisdom and greatness of soul… for he trained himself to bear and endure whatever, came, without yielding in adversity, or trusting to the deceitful favors of fortune and prosperity.”
Charlemagne never gave up and endured whatever came his way, which demonstrates how he was a great military leader. Charlemagne undertook many successful campaigns which show his ability to organize. When he began a campaign, he plotted it well in advance, accounting even for supplies, and reserves. His forces moved quickly, not only because Charlemagne had a good sense of the layout and the readiest way to get from one place to another. He often sent messages ahead to his vassals in an area, telling them to be ready to go to a specific place. He would then meet with these local forces, and proceed from there. Charlemagne dealt with certain issues during the wars. However, he reformed the Carolingian Empire, by expanding it, through multiple battles. Without the knowledge and skillful plans of Charlemagne; the Carolingian Empire would probably never have expanded as much as it did with Charlemagne’s rule.
Charlemagne went on a thirty year military campaign to expand his kingdom.
The Franks were falling back to their old barbarian ways, neglecting their religion. The Saxons of northern Europe were still pagans. In the south, the Roman Catholic Church was asserting its power to recover land confiscated by the Lombard kingdom of Italy. Europe was in a crisis. Charlemagne was strong enough in body and nerves to bear a thousand responsibilities, dangers, and crises, even to his sons’ plotting to kill him. Charlemagne had great style of planning military campaigns; he paid attention to detail, yet kept "the big picture" in view. As recorded in the Carolingian Empire,
“The great campaign against the Avars, well planned and initiated by the king himself, was delayed at first by Saxons risings and later by a conspiracy of Frankish magnates. In the end the mere pressure exercised by these preparations was sufficient to heighten the tension in the state of the Avars to the point where its organization collapsed. Charles the Great was therefore able to leave the actual campaign to his son Pepin and to his counts. Thus the whole region of the Danubian plains came under Frankish dominion.”
This quote illustrates that Charlemagne’s campaigns made territories such as Danubian plains be controlled by the Franks.
His military campaigns helped him in his military expeditions. He moved his armies over wide reaches of country with unbelievable speed, but every move was planned in advance. In these campaigns, Charlemagne told the courts, princes, and bishops throughout his kingdom, how many men they should bring, what arms they were to carry, and even what to load in the supply wagons. He extended the Frankish army’s power, guarded it with firm military organization, propped it with religious sanction and ritual. He could lead an army, persuade an assembly, humor the nobility, and dominate the …show more content…
clergy.
Charlemagne moved his empire southward and invaded Bavaria, which was added to his kingdom. In 773 Pope Adrian I asked Charlemagne for help because the Lombards invaded the Papal territories in northern Italy. Charlemagne took out the Lombard’s king and defeated them. He also added Lombardy to his empire. In 778 Charlemagne attacked the Moors in northern Spain. Charlemagne was stopped at first, but after a while, he conquered the Spanish March and Navarre. On his way home, the end of Charlemagne’s army was annihilated by the Basques. An epic poem was written about this incident called The Song of Roland. By doing this, Charlemagne became better friends with the pope and became a Roman patrician.
While Charlemagne was busy replicating Roman emperors through conquest, his church reform, the papacy was beginning to claim imperial power for itself. In 799 there was a rebellion in Rome, so Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne to help him out. Charlemagne came to Rome and squashed the rebels. Because of this, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day in 800. Throughout his rule, Charlemagne maintained a very good relationship with the popes and the Christian Church. If an outsider was to look at the relationship between Charlemagne and the Pope, they would think they had a good relationship. But through a closer perspective it’s more of a one-sided relationship because the Pope enjoys the relationship more than Charlemagne. As recorded in Life of Charlemagne, “so much that he stated that, if he had known in advance of the pope’s plan, he would not have entered the church that day.” This illustrates that Charlemagne was displeased with the imperial title. When Charlemagne finally did call himself emperor, after establishing a peace with Byzantines, he used a long revealing title: “Charles, the most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great and peaceful Emperor who governs the Roman Empire and who is, by the mercy of God, king of the Franks and the Lombards.” This title means that Charlemagne was not the Roman emperor crowned by the pope but rather God’s emperor, who governed the Roman Empire along with his many other duties. His role as God’s emperor illustrates that he was devoted to Christianity. He also attempted to consolidate Christianity throughout his vast empire. Charlemagne's accomplishments were so great that many legends grew up around him to celebrate his power, wisdom, and devotion to Christianity. By his conquests, Charlemagne takes his place with the Byzantine emperors as a great ruler.
He entered into a diplomatic negotiation with all of them. Posterity overlooks Charlemagne’s slaughters of the Saxons and remembers the victories and the broad movement of government reform and learning that accompanied them, which has been called the Carolingian Renaissance. Although his empire survived him by only one generation, it contributed decisively to the eventual reconstitution, in the mind of a Western Europe disjointed since the end of the Roman Empire, of a common intellectual, religious, and political inheritance on which later centuries could draw. There is no other man who similarly left his mark on European history during the centuries of the Middle
Ages.
--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Einhard, The Wars of Charlemagne c.770 – 814, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/einhard-wars1.html
[ 2 ]. Bullough, Donald, The Age of Charlemagne, (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1965)
[ 3 ]. Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne. 830 AD ( New York: University of Michigan P, 1960)
[ 4 ]. Fitchtenau, Heirich, The Carolingian Empire, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1957)