Charlemagne

Charlemagne,or Charles the Great, was great in war and great in peace; a great conqueror,great law-maker, great scholar, great organizer, great civilizer. He subduedsavage nations, introduced learning, extended religion, encouraged the arts andsciences, and established one of the mightiest empires of the olden times. Allthe races of Germany, of Italy, and of France were welded by him into one greatmonarchy. He maintained and extended the influence of Christian culture. Alarge part of his life was spent in the field, and yet he found time for thepolitical establishment and development of a great empire, for thereorganization of the Church, for the promotion of education, for theconservation of classic culture, and for an astonishing display of many-sidedactivity. Gibbon, the historian, says of him: "The dignity of his person, the length of his reign, the prosperity ofhis arms, the vigor of his government, and the reverence of distant nations,distinguish him from the royal crowd: and Europe dates a new era from hisrestoration of the Western Empire."