Charlemagne (Charles the Great) built on the conquests of his father, Pepin III (714-68), extending the Frankish empire to cover the whole of France and western Germany. In 774, he annexed the Lombard kingdom of Italy at the request of the Pope and in 800 was crowned by him Holy Roman Emperor. This created a new ‘Roman’ Empire in the west independent of the Byzantine Empire in the east.

Charlemagne spent many years fighting the pagan Saxons in north Germany (775-804), the Arabs in Spain (778), and the fearsome Avars (788-96) in Bavaria. He was a strong ruler who divided his realm into a network of ‘counties’, each ruled by a count overseen by imperial legates. Charlemagne produced capitularies (detailed instructions to his officials), providing rules for governing both Church and state.

Charlemagne inspired a ‘Carolingian Renaissance’. He was a patron of learning, collecting manuscripts and employing scholars like Alcuin of York and Peter of Pisa to advise him. At his court a conscious attempt was made to revive Latin learning, and many ancient texts were copied in the famous ‘Carolingian miniscule’ script. Charlemagne was also a great builder and his palace at Aachen is one of the earliest and greatest monuments of Romanesque architecture, so called because it consciously reflected the style of Roman buildings.