Charlemagne’s Influences on Europe

Charlemagne’s influences on Europe during his reign allowed for the development of modern society. Charlemagne is called the "Father of Europe"; he was able to unite most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. He is also responsible for the Carolingian Renaissance a cultural, artistic and religious revival headed by the Catholic Church. Through his conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne encouraged the formation of a common European identity. Both the French and German monarchies considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagne's empire. Charlemagne’s influences can also be seen as one of the main contributing factors that began a stop to the Dark Ages One of Charlemagne’s influences was his view on education; he was an advocate of education as he always wanted to learn. He felt that it was his religious duty to raise the educational level of the clergy, so they could properly understand and teach the faith. He also required his administrators to be literate so they could properly oversee his empire. This influence can be seen in Europe through the Renaissance as he was propionate of learning this eventually caught on and help foster a rebirth of knowledge. He also gathered the greatest minds of his time to teach him and his offspring so they could better serve the empire, this spread to other parts of Europe where schools and libraries began to appear. These places of education promoted the study of ancient texts and also insured clergy men would be held to a standard of literacy. Charlemagne’s thirst for knowledge and strict rules for the clergy men and nobles running the empire would set the foundation for critically thinking and how education was viewed throughout Europe during and even after his reign. Charlemagne’s rule also saw the rise of a unified Europe under the idea of a single Christian community ruled by one government, much like the idea of one Roman world empire. This form of government would unite