Definition of Carolingian Empire

It is known as the Carolingian Empire to the structure politics and territorial that reigned over much of Western Europe in the 18th century and is considered to be one of the first fundamental elements for the formation of what would later become today's France. The Carolingian Empire gets its name from the dynasty that reigned during its existence: the Carolingian dynasty. The kings belonging to her (among whom Charlemagne was clearly the most important and remembered) were directly related to the Frankish peoples who inhabited the territory of France and who collaborated with the fall of Roman empire.

The Carolingian dynasty was the one that seized power when the Merovingian dynasty of kings fell, which had ruled since the 6th century and who were also direct descendants of the Franks. It can be said that the Carolingian dynasty began with Pipinio de Landen, who was, like many other later Carolingian kings, a palace steward during the Merovingian governments.

Among the most important ancestors of Charlemagne (the most important king of the empire and for whom the himself is named after him), we find Carlos Martel, Pepin the Elder and Pepin the Short, among others. All these rulers are characterized by having dominion over some of the territories that traditionally had belonged to the Franks, but it was not until Charlemagne that the empire would be consolidated with a centralized and strong.

Charlemagne was appointed emperor on December 25, 800 by Pope Leo X himself, which gave him official recognition of the Church, institution with which all the European states of the moment had to deal to establish their power. This appointment was not arbitrary rather, it was mainly the result of the impressive military work that Charlemagne had carried out to defeat other barbarian groups that still represented a danger for the empire, such as the Saxons, the Lombards or the Agilolfingos. Furthermore, during his reign the religion Christian as the official religion of the empire. The extensive territory conquered by Charlemagne would be organized in the form of counties in which the nobles and officials responded directly to the power of the emperor.

The rulers who succeeded Charlemagne could not match the achievements of this great man, especially since upon his death the empire had to be divided among his three sons, thus losing their Unit and falling into the subsequent disintegration. Because much of Charlemagne's power was based on the establishment From ties of loyalty and vassalage towards his person, at his death such ties fell and therefore the subsequent rulers could not sustain such a large political-territorial structure.