Charlemagne is a man you might not know much about. If you flip through a recent big, bright, colorful synopsis of world history—the type of book on display at bookstores—it’s doubtful you can discover even a paragraph about this great man. And yet we are all debtors to his legacy. Here are a few facts so you can know him better.
Charlemagne was such a great leader that storytellers used him for centuries as a symbol to inspire people. The most famous tale is The Song of Roland, written by Turold around 1100 A.D., 300 years after Charlemagne died.
Charles the Great stopped Saxon raiders from the north and secured an area that stretched from France, through Germany, North Italy, and Serbia.
When Charlemagne died, he left Europe with legal reforms, standardized measurements, Theological depth, and a cultural renaissance filled with schools, libraries, and curricula. His impact provided a sound basis on which Europe could grow. The historian Nithard aptly summed up Charlemagne’s legacy, saying the emperor “left all Europe filled with every goodness.”
Total hero.