| Notes |
- Charlemagne, also Charles I, Charles the Great, Carolus Magus, Charles le Grand and Karl de Grosse
Originally he was named Charles, after his Frankish grandfather Charles Martel, it was not until much later that historians began calling him Charles the Great or Charles le Magne which evolved into Charlemagne.
Charlemagne was the oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, born before their canonical marriage, on 2 April 742, most likely at Aachen. Charlemagne was technically an illegitimate child, since he was born out of wedlock; Pepin and Bertrada were bound by a private contract or Friedelehe at the time of his birth, but did not marry until 744.
He became king in 768 following his father's death, initially as co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. Carloman's sudden death in December 771 under unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne the sole ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. He continued his father's policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain.
Charles I, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of the Romans from 800. During the Early Middle Ages, he united the majority of western and central Europe. He was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded is called the Carolingian Empire. He was later canonized by Antipope Paschal III.
In his role as a zealous defender of Christianity, Charlemagne gave money and land to the Christian church and protected the popes. As a way to acknowledge Charlemagne’s power and reinforce his relationship with the church, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans on December 25, 800, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
As emperor, Charlemagne proved to be a talented diplomat and able administrator of the vast area he controlled. He promoted education and encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of renewed emphasis on scholarship and culture. He instituted economic and religious reforms, and was a driving force behind the Carolingian miniscule, a standardized form of writing that later became a basis for modern European printed alphabets. Charlemagne ruled from a number of cities and palaces, but spent significant time in Aachen. His palace there included a school, for which he recruited the best teachers in the land.
In addition to learning, Charlemagne was interested in athletic pursuits. Known to be highly energetic, he enjoyed hunting, horseback riding and swimming. Aachen held particular appeal for him due to its therapeutic warm springs.
Charlemagne had eighteen children with eight of his ten known wives or concubines. Nonetheless, he had only four legitimate grandsons, the four sons of his fourth son, Louis. In addition, he had a grandson (Bernard of Italy, the only son of his third son, Pepin of Italy), who was illegitimate but included in the line of inheritance. Among his descendants are several royal dynasties, including the Habsburg, Capetian and Plantagenet dynasties. By consequence, most if not all established European noble families ever since can genealogically trace some of their background to Charlemagne.
In 813, Charlemagne called Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, his only surviving legitimate son, to his court. There Charlemagne crowned his son as co-emperor and sent him back to Aquitaine. He then spent the autumn hunting before returning to Aachen on 1 November. In January, he fell ill with pleurisy and on 28 January 814 Charlemagne died, in the seventy-second year of his age and the forty-seventh of his reign.He was buried that same day, in Aachen Cathedral.
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I have included the 'Royal Ancestry" information below in cooperation with other members here, but would like to point out it is not the ONLY or even the best source of information on Charlemagne. Most of the information found in it originally came from "Vita Karoli Magni" written by Eginhard, who was Charlemagne's own court biographer and actually knew, and lived among, Charlemagne's family.
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“Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
“CHARLEMAGNE, King of the Franks, 768-814, King of the Langobards, 773-814, Emperor of the Romans, 800-814, son of Pépin (nicknamed "le Bref”), King of the Franks, by Bertrade, daughter of Charibert, Count of Laon. On the death of his father in 768, he became King of the Franks jointly with his brother, Carloman, and was crowned 9 October 768 at Noyon. He married (1st c.769-770, daughter of Desiderius, king of the Lombards. They had no issue. He married (2nd) before 30 April 771 HILDEGARDE, daughter of Gerold I, Count in Vinzgau, by Imma (or Emma), daughter of Count Nebi (or Hnabi). They had four sons, Charles, Pépin [King of Italy], Louis (I) [King of Aquitaine, Emperor], and Lothair, and five daughters, Adelaide (or Adelheid), Rotrude, Berthe, Gisele, and Hildegarde. On the death of his brother, Carloman, in 771, he reunited his father's possessions. He conquered the kingdom of the Lombards in 773. He used the title "rex Francorum et Langobardorum" from 5 June 774, adding "atque patricius Romanorum" from 16 July 774. His wife, Hildegarde, died at Thionville (Moselle) 30 April 783, and was buried in the church of the abbey of Saint Arnoul at Metz. He married (3rd) at Worms in October 783 FASTRADA, daughter of Radulf, Count in Franconia. They had two daughters, Theodrade [Abbess of Argenteuil] and Hiltrude. His wife, Fastrada, died at Frankfurt 10 August 794, and was buried in the basilica of Saint-Alban in Mainz. He married (4th) c.794-796 LIUTGARDE, an Alamannian. They had no issue. By various mistresses, he had four illegitimate sons, Pépin, Dreux [Bishop of Metz], Hugues, and Thierry (or Theodoric), and three illegitimate daughters, Chrothais, Rothlldis (or Rouhaut) [Abbess at Faremoutiers], and Adaltrude. His wife, Liutgarde, died at Tours 4 June 800, and was buried in the church of Saint-Martin in Tours. He was crowned Emperor of the Romans at St. Peter's, Rome 25 December 800. CHARLEMAGNE, Emperor of the Romans, died at Aachen 28 January 814, and was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle.
Guerard Cartulaire de l’Abbeye de Saint-Berlin (Coll. des Cartulaires de France 3) (1840): 55-56 (Chartulatium Sithiense, Pars Prima, Folquini Lib. I.). Henaux Charlemagne d'après les Traditions liégeoises (1878). Eginhard Life of Charlemagne (1880). Monumenta Germaniæ Historica SS XIII (1881): 219. (Annales Necrologici Prumienses [necrology of Prüm]: "Anno Domini incarn. 814. Karolus imperator 5 Kal. Feb. [28 Jan.] feliciter diem ultimum clausit, anno etatis suae circiter 71."). Cutts Charlemagne (1882). Monumenta Germaniæ Historica (Necrologia Germaniæ 1) (1888): 273 (Necrologium Augiæ Divitis: kat Ianuarius [28 January] - Karolus imperator."). Birch Cat. Seals in the British Museum 5 (1898): 111 (seal of Charlemagne dated A.D. 774- Oval: impression from an oval intaglio engraved stone. A bust, draped, turned to the right in profile. Legend: + XPE PROTEGE CAROLVM REGE FRANC.), 111 (seal of Charlemagne dated A.D. 812 - Oval: impression of an antique oval intaglio gem. Bust of Jupiter Serapis, with the modius on his head, in profile to the left. No legend.). Hodgkin Life of Charlemagne (1902). Halphen Recueil d'Annales Angevines et Vendômoises (1903): 52 (Annales de Vendôme sub A.D. 814: "Inclitus imperator Karolus migravit ad Christum feliciter, amen, v kalendas feburarii [28 January]."). Russell Charlemagne, First of the Moderns (1930). Scholz & Rogers Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals & Nithard's Histories (1970): 61 (Royal Frankish Annals sub A.D. 783: "The worthy Lady Queen Hildegard died on April 30, which fell that year on the eve of the Ascension of the Lord."). Banfield Charlemagne (1986). Winter Descs. of Charlemagne (800-1400) (1987): I, II.1-II.18. Settipani & von Kerrebrouck La Préhistoire des Capetians (1993). Collins Charlemagne (1998). Becher Charlemagne (2003). Bhote Charlemagne: The Life & Times of an Early Medieval Emperor (2005). Story Charlemagne: Empire & Society (2005). Wilson Charlemagne: A Biography (2005). Einhard and Notker the Stammerer Two Lives of Charlemagne (2008). McKitterick Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity (2008).
Children of Charlemagne, by Hildegarde:
i. PÉPIN (or PIPPIN), King of Italy [see next].
ii. LOUIS, King of Aquitaine, Emperor, married (1st) ERMENGARDE OF HASPENGAU; (2nd) JUDITH OF ALTORF [see Line B, Gen. 2 below].”
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742 - 814 (71 years)
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] 
