Charlemagne's name became the Slavic word for king
The Frankish ruler Charlemagne left such a mark that his Latin name, Karolus, probably became the word for king in Slavic languages: korol in Russian, król in Polish. Yet the Father of Europe may never have properly learned to read, and his biographer says he tried to learn writing only late in life.
Even his birth year was long disputed. His 9th-century biographer Einhard implied 742, but may have been rounding toward the biblical span of seventy years or copying Roman imperial biographies. Lorsch Abbey marked his birthday as 2 April, and historians Karl Ferdinand Werner and Matthias Becher showed that, because annalists started their year at Easter, the likely date is 2 April 748. His birthplace is unknown. He grew up speaking a Germanic dialect and probably a Romance one too, learned Latin, and reportedly understood some Greek. He usually had texts read aloud and dictated replies, which was common even among literate rulers.
He was named after his grandfather Charles Martel, and the name Karolus is not recorded before those two. His father, Pepin the Short, deposed the last Merovingian king around 751. When Pope Stephen II visited Francia in 754, the young Charles was sent to escort him and was anointed with his father and brother. After Pepin died in 768, Charles and his brother Carloman were crowned separately and shared the kingdom until Carloman's death three years later left Charles sole ruler.
He defended the papacy, ousting the Lombards from northern Italy in 774, and conquered Bavaria, Saxony and parts of northern Spain, forcing Christianity on conquered peoples such as the Saxons. He even exchanged envoys with the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid in the 790s over shared interests in Iberia.
In Rome in 800, Pope Leo III crowned him emperor, the first recognised in the West in over 300 years, which angered Constantinople and foreshadowed the Holy Roman Emperors. His reforms in law, schooling, the army and the Church sparked the Carolingian Renaissance. He died in 814 and was buried in his palace chapel at Aachen, now part of its cathedral.
Source: Charlemagne
