什麼是查理曼

Charlemagne

拉丁語作Carolus Magnus（即「查理大帝」之意）。

法蘭克國王（768～814）和神聖羅馬帝國皇帝（800～814）。為法蘭克國王丕平三世的長子，他與弟弟卡洛曼一起統治法蘭克王國，直到後者去世（771）為止。那時他成為法蘭克人唯一的國王，為了征服鄰近的王國並使之基督教化，開始一系列戰爭；他打敗義大利北部的倫巴底人，併成為他們的國王（774）。西元778年遠征西班牙的摩爾人雖失敗，卻成功併吞了巴伐利亞（788）。查理曼長年對薩克遜人用兵，終於在西元804年將之擊敗並使他們信奉基督。後來降服多瑙河的阿瓦爾人，進而控制許多斯拉夫國家。他把西歐幾乎所有的基督教地區統合為一個大國家，僅不列顛羣島、義大利南部、西班牙部分地方例外。在幫助教宗利奧三世復位後，800年聖誕節他在羅馬被加冕為皇帝，象徵神聖羅馬帝國的開始。查理曼在亞琛建都，在那裏建立輝煌的宮殿，並邀集許多學者及詩人；他還編訂法律並推動文化復興，稱為加洛林文化復興。參閲Carolingian dynasty。

742年～814年

Charlemagne

King of the Franks (768-814) and Holy Roman Emperor (800-14). The elder son of the Frankish king Pepin III the Short, he ruled the Frankish kingdom jointly with his brother Carloman until the latter's death in 771. He then became sole king of the Franks, and began a series of campaigns to conquer and Christianize neighboring kingdoms, defeating and becoming king of the Lombards in northern Italy (774). His expedition against the Moors in Spain failed (778), but he successfully annexed Bavaria (788). Charlemagne fought against the saxons for many years, finally defeating and Christianizing them in 804. He subdued the Avars of the Danube and gained control of many of the Slav states. With the exception of the British Isles, southern Italy, and part of Spain, he united in one vast state almost all the Christian lands of Western Europe. His coronation as emperor at Rome on Christmas Day, 800, after restoring Leo III to the papacy, marks the inception of the Holy Roman Empire. He established his capital at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), where he built a magnificent palace and invited many scholars and poets; he codified the laws and promoted a cultural revival known as the Carolingian renaissance. See also Carolingian dynasty.