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Charlemagne

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Carolingian Empire (814) Charlemagne (Charles the Great or Charles I) shärˈləmān [key] [O.Fr.,=Charles the great], 742?–814, emperor of the West (800–814), Carolingian king of the Fran...

Widukind, Saxon leader

(Encyclopedia)Widukind wĭtˈə– [key], d. 807?, leader of the Saxons against the Frankish king Charlemagne (later emperor of the West). In 782, when Charlemagne organized Saxony as a Frankish province and ordere...

Desiderius

(Encyclopedia)Desiderius dēsĭdērˈēəs [key], d. after 774, last Lombard king in Italy (756–74). The duke of Tuscany, he was chosen king with the support of the pope and of Pepin the Short, who was king of th...

Adrian I, pope

(Encyclopedia)Adrian I, d. 795, pope (772–95), a Roman; successor of Stephen IV. At Adrian's urging, Charlemagne crossed the Alps and defeated the Lombard king, Desiderius, who had annexed papal territory. That d...

Roland

(Encyclopedia)Roland rōˈlənd [key], the great French hero of the medieval Charlemagne cycle of chansons de geste, immortalized in the Chanson de Roland (11th or 12th cent.). Existence of an early Roland poem is ...

Carloman, 751–71, son of Pepin the Short and brother of Charlemagne

(Encyclopedia)Carloman, 751–71, son of Pepin the Short. He and his brother, Charlemagne, shared the succession to their father's kingdom; Carloman ruled the southern portion. Attempts to end rivalry between the b...

Leo III, Saint, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo III, Saint, pope (795–816), a Roman; successor of Adrian I. He was attacked about the face and eyes by members of Adrian's family, who hoped to render him unfit for the papacy. Leo recovered and...

Einhard

(Encyclopedia)Einhard āˈgĭnhärt [key], c.770–840, Frankish historian. Educated in the monastery of Fulda, he continued his studies at Charlemagne's palace school in Aachen and rose to high favor with the empe...

Notker Balbulus

(Encyclopedia)Notker Balbulus nōtˈkər bălˈbyo͝oləs [key], c.840–912, German monk and scholar, abbot of St. Gall (from 890). He composed liturgical poetry and music. Notker's life of Charlemagne preserves m...

Thionville

(Encyclopedia)Thionville tyôNvēlˈ [key], Ger. Diedenhofen, town (1990 pop. 40,835), Moselle dept., NE France, in Lorraine. It is a center for metallurgical and chemical industries. The town was a favorite of Cha...