Captivating History - Charlemagne: A Captivating Guide to the Greatest Monarch of the Carolingian Empire and How He Ruled over the Franks, Lombards, and Romans

The name of Charlemagne is one that will ring familiar to many, a name that has been invoked by many powers in the centuries since he reigned, from the Holy Roman Empire to Nazi Germany. We all know that Charlemagne was some great king of France. What many dont realize is that Charlemagne was the king of France before the name of France even existed.

In truth, Charlemagne was the king of a far greater territory than modern-day France, one which encompassed six modern countries of Western Europe. This territory was known as Gaul. And the people that Charlemagne ruled would eventually give their names to the land we know as France today. They were called the Franks, and their history stretches back centuries before their first great king was born.

An Early History of the Franks

No one really knows how long ago the Frankish tribe began. Our first records of them come from the time of the ancient Romans, who sought to conquer these people; by that time, the Franks were already a large, efficient, and warlike tribe. They probably originated somewhere in northwest Germany along the banks of the Rhine when a group of smaller tribes came togetherperhaps uniting against a common enemyand formed a confederation. Thus, ruled by two powerful families named the Ripuarians and the Salians, the Franks were born.

They didnt call themselves the Franks, though. This name was given to them by the Romans, and it meant ferocious, a title that they earned in blood. When Rome expanded into Gaul throughout the first few centuries CE, they became the first people to make lasting records of the Franks, and they clashed with a tribe of barbarians that proved to be far more organized than the Romans had expected. Even at the height of its imperial power, Rome may have striven hard against the Franks and even conquered Gaul, but they couldnt seem to stamp out the Franks fighting spirit. In 287 CE, the Romans had no choice but to sign a treaty with the Franks, which ended in the recruitment of many Frankish soldiers into the Roman army.

The Romans soon discovered that the Franks made far better friends than enemies. In fact, the Franks, fighting on the side of Rome, proved to be such strong soldiers that their Roman colleagues began to make up legends about them. The most enduring of these legends is that the Franks were descended from Trojan warriors. Troy, in its time, had been legendary for its prowess. Romantic as this idea may be, sadly, its highly unlikely to be true.

Nonetheless, the Franks became an integral part of ancient Romes mighty army. Within the next 200 years, the number of Franks in the Roman army grew so much that they outnumbered all other soldiers who were not Roman citizens. This turned out to be a good thing. The Franks would become an invaluable asset in Romes fight against one of historys most intimidating characters: Attila the Hun.

The Huns were a nomadic tribe from Asia and Eastern Europe that had been growing quietly in the shadows for decades by the time that Attila became their king in 445 CE. Attila loved hunting, drinking, and women. He also loved conquest, and unlike the Hunnic kings that had gone before him, Attila had a greater ambition than simply ruling a handful of tribes. In the next six years, he managed to unite the wild and warlike Huns into a single unstoppable force that would bring devastation to the very doorstep of the Roman Empire.

It all started with a beautiful girl named Honoria. As the sister of Roman Emperor Valentinian III, Honoria was a princess of Rome. She was one of the most important women in the world, but her opinion was of no importance whatsoever, especially when it came to whom she would marry. Valentinian wanted to marry her off to a boring old Roman officer for the sake of strengthening family ties. Hating the idea, Honoria decided that she would find herself another husband, one that could make even Valentinian quake in his boots. She wrote a letter to Attila the Hun, enclosing a ring and proposing marriage.