Charlemagne was king of the Franks, and emperor of western Christendom. Out of the turmoil of the Early Middle Ages, he united the bulk of western and central Europe, and laid the groundwork for the modern European world. He was a patron of the arts and education, instigator of the flowering of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He was also a fierce conqueror, who fought to impose his rule on the Saxons. He faced defeats as well as victories, losing the rearguard of his army at the famous Battle of Roncesvalles, where he suffered a personal tragedy as well, losing his friend and companioninarms, Roland.

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Sources:
Barraclough, Geoffrey The Crucible of Europe: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries in European History, (University of California, 1976)
Collins, Roger Charlemagne, (University of Toronto, 1998)
Ferguson, Robert The Vikings, (Penguin, 2010)
Nelson, Janet King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne, (University of California, 2019)
Thorndike, Lynn The History of Medieval Europe: from the Fall of Rome to the Italian Renaissance, (Houghton Mifflin, 1917)
Einhard and Notker the Stammerer Two Lives of Charlemagne (Penguin Classics, 2008)
Winston, Richard Charlemagne, (Horizon, 2016)

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Narrated by J Stephen Roberts and Tom Wylde

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