King Charlemagne, Charles the Great
Compiled by D. A.
Sharpe
Charlemagne is
thought to have been born April 2, 742 AD at Ingelheim,
Rheinhessen, Hessen-Darmstadt, Prussia.
He is called Charlemagne,
Charles the Great, due to his great height.
He was King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He lived till 814 AD.
Charlemagne
is the 38th great grandfather of U. S. President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt,
my half eighth cousin. Roosevelt
is the 18th cousin, four times removed to my son-in-law, Steven O.
Westmoreland.
Charlemagne
is the 11th great
grandfather
of Edward Southworth, the first husband of Alice Carpenter, my seven times
great grandmother through her second marriage, which was to Governor William Bradford. Edward Southworth also is my 25th
cousin, eight times removed.
Charlemagne
is the 34th great grandfather of President John Quincy Adams, my 31st cousin,
twice removed. Our ancestors in
common are Ragnvald I (died in 890 AD) and his wife, Hild, who were the 28th
great grandparents to John Quincy Adams.
In
addition, King Charlemagne is the 41st great grandfather of Steven Otis
Westmoreland,
the dashing young man who married our daughter, Tiffany Lenn Sharpe! This co-mingling of families made our
daughter a thirty-fourth cousin, four times removed from her husband prior to
their marriage. Another family
tie is that Charlemagne shares the same birthday as my wife, Suzanne Margaret
Boggess Sharpe. However,
Charlemagne is the 38th great
grandfather of our sons, Taylor Marcus Sharpe & Todd Wittman Sharpe, as well as our previously
mentioned daughter, Tiffany Lenn Shape.
Looking at the charts in that way, Tiffany is the 38th cousin, 4 times
removed from her husband, Steve O. Westmoreland.
We
can learn about Charlemagne easily from public domain information on the
Internet. Here is a sample:
"He
was six feet four inches tall, and built to scale. He had beautiful white hair, animated
eyes, a powerful nose... a presence' always stately and dignified.' He was temperate in eating and
drinking, abominated drunkenness, and kept in good health despite every
exposure and hardship." This
quote is from Eginhardt (the
King's secretary)
describing Charlemagne
Charlemagne
(Charles the Great) was born on April 2, 742 in Northern Europe. "By the sword and the
cross," he became master of Western Europe. Through his enlightened leadership,
the roots of learning and order were restored to Medieval Europe.
In
768, when Charlemagne was 26, he and his brother Carloman inherited the kingdom of the Franks. In 771 Carloman died, and Charlemagne
became sole ruler of the kingdom. At
that time, the Franks were falling back into barbarian ways, neglecting their
education and 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 turmoil.
Charlemagne
was determined to strengthen his realm and to bring order to Europe. In 772 he launched a 30-year military
campaign to accomplish this objective. By
800 Charlemagne was the undisputed ruler of Western Europe. His vast realm encompassed what are
now France, Switzerland, Belgium, and The Netherlands. It included half of present-day Italy
and Germany, and parts of Austria and Spain.
By establishing a central government over Western Europe, Charlemagne
restored much of the unity of the old Roman Empire and paved the way for the
development of modern Europe.
On
Christmas Day in 800, while Charlemagne knelt in prayer in Saint Peter's
Cathedral in Rome,
Pope Leo III placed a golden
crown on the bowed head of the king. Charlemagne
is said to have been surprised by the coronation, declaring that he would not
have come into the church had he known the pope's plan. However, some historians say the pope
would not have dared to act without Charlemagne's knowledge.
Charlemagne
learned to read Latin and some Greek, but apparently did not master writing. At meals, instead of having jesters
perform, he listened to visiting scholars read from learned works. Charlemagne believed that government
should be for the benefit of the governed.
He was a tireless reformer who tried to improve his peoples' lives. He established money standards to
encourage commerce, urged better farming methods, and worked to spread
education and Christianity. I
give thanks for the description above provided through the web site at:
www.lucidcafe.com/library/96apr/charlemagne.html
Another
more detailed telling of the life and effects of King Charlemagne:
Durant,
Will. "King Charlemagne", History of Civilization Vol III, The Age of
Faith. Electronic version in the
Knighthood, Tournaments & Chivalry Resource Library, Ed. Brian R. Price.
Here
is a replica of the crown Charlemagne was said to have worn.
Genealogical compilation by:
805 Derting Road East
Aurora, TX 76078-3712
