the mayor of a king's castle. Through political intrigue he brought the castle under his .
control. He was the first mayor to become king of the Franks. This may be were Charles .
the Great got some of his political skills.
.
For the following you should note that most of the information we have on .
Charlemagne is from his friend and biographer Eginhard and it may be exaggerated. .
Charles himself was born in 742 at an unknown location. He was the oldest son of Pepin .
the Short and Bertha Greatfoot. German in heritage, he was strong of body and wit. He .
had great intelligence but little actual book learning. He could read in Teutonic, Latin, .
and understood spoken Greek. He never masterd the art of writing. He read few books, .
but got most of his literary pleasures from minstrels and troubadours. Charles was a .
devout Catholic. .
.
The French call him "Charlemagne" or "Charles the Great." They consider .
Charlemagne "the grandfather of France." Charlemagne grew from his child years into a .
well-formed young man. He was six foot five inches tall, had blonde hair and blue eyes. .
He was always laughing and merry. He had a good sense of humor but could easily be .
serious if need be. Charlemagne enjoyed riding, hunting, and swimming to pass his time. .
When his father died in 768 he and his brother Carloman II took control of the empire of .
his father. Carloman II truly ruled the empire. Carloman II died not too long after in 771 .
and the 29-year-old Charles became sole king of the Franks. .
.
Charlemagne was a firm believer that the government should be for the good of .
the governed. Every year he would summon nobles form every county in his empire to .
tell him the state of their district. He was a strong reformer. Charlemagne made schools, .
and churches readily available for people in his empire. Charlemagne allowed peasants to .
have more power than they had before and after he was king. Most of all Charlemagne .
should be known as a protector of knowledge and faith.
