What Are the Major Accomplishments of Charlemagne?

The major accomplishments of Charlemagne include developing the rules of the feudal system, encouraging reading and writing throughout his empire, developing commerce with a unified monetary system, and the unification of all Germanic peoples into a single kingdom through his crusades, which sought to convert all subjects to Christianity. Charlemagne ruled Western Europe as its emperor from the period 768 to 814 in the Medieval age.

Charlemagne was able to accomplish his goals because he excelled at military strategy and because he had Pope Leo III’s blessing. The pope crowned him the Roman emperor in 800. The Pope encouraged this intellectual and cultural takeover of Christianity through Charlemagne’s conquests.

Charlemagne is often considered to be “the father of Europe” because he is the primary reason for its unification. Little is known about Charlemagne’s childhood other than that he was born in 742. He also displayed a knack for languages at an early age with the ability to speak Latin fluently and to comprehend Greek.

Charlemagne became a role model for other world leaders, such as Napoleon Bonaporte and Adolf Hitler, as both men sought to rule a unified Europe. Charlemagne spent the majority of his rule designing military campaigns to fulfill his goal of a united Christian Europe.