REQUIRED VIEWING: Charlemagne and the Rise of the Franks

Please view this short video (about 16 minutes) on a key figure in Early medieval Europe -- Charlemagne. The lecture is from the Great Courses Series, something you might want to check out.

Charlemagne or Charles the Great (2 April 742 – 28 January 814), was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor from 800. He united much of western and central Europe during the early Middle Ages. 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 the pope.

Enjoy the video!