King of the Franks

Today in History 10/09 (Charlemagne)

Lithograph of the coronation of Charlemagne (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(768) The future Holy Roman Emperor gets his first crown
His father Pepin the Short now dead, 26-year-old Charlemagne is elevated to King of the Franks. Charlemagne will only expand his power from here, founding the mighty Carolingian Empire, becoming the first Holy Roman emperor, and fusing Western Europe in a way not seen since the ancient Romans.
Charlemagne or Charles the Great, numbered Charles I, 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 recognised 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 Antipope Paschal III.
Lived: 742 AD – 814 AD (age 71)
Height: 6′ 0″
Spouse: Luitgard (m. 794 AD – 800 AD) · Fastrada (m. 783 AD – 794 AD) · Hildegard of the Vinzgau (m. 771 AD – 783 AD) · Desiderata of the Lombards (m. 770 AD – 771 AD)
Buried: Aachen Cathedral
Children: Louis the Pious (Son) · Charles the Younger (Son) · Drogo of Metz (Son) · Rotrude (Daughter) · Gisela, daughter of Charlemagne (Daughter) · Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne (Daughter) · Pepin of Italy (Son) · Pepin the Hunchback (Son) · Theodrada (Daughter) · Adalhaid (Daughter) · Lothair (Son) · Hiltrude (Daughter) · Hildegarde (Daughter)
Parents: Bertrada of Laon (Mother) · Pepin the Short (Father)
Highlights
  • 770 AD: Charlemagne married Desiderata of the Lombards in 770; their marriage lasted 1 year till 771.

  • 772 AD: At his succession in 772, Pope Adrian I demanded the return of certain cities in the former exarchate of Ravenna in accordance with a promise at the succession of Desiderius.

  • 774 AD: The elder of these two, Carloman, was made the King of Italy, taking the Iron Crown that his father had first worn in 774, and in the same ceremony was renamed “Pepin”.

  • 800 AD: D:He reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Rome’s Old St. Peter’s Basilica.

  • 805 AD: In 805, the Avar khagan, who had already been baptised, went to Aachen to ask permission to settle with his people south-eastward from Vienna.

  • 814 AD: D:Charlemagne died in 814, having ruled as emperor for 13 years.

Equestrian statue of Charlemagne, by Agostino Cornacchini (1725) — St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
Statue of Charlemagne by Agostino Cornacchini (1725), St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican, Italy
wiki/Charlemagne
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(768) The future Holy Roman Emperor gets his first crown.
Also on this day,

1000 | Vikings in America as an European visits North America for the first timeSon of Erik the Red, young Leif Erikson has exploration in his blood, and according to tradition he and his crew are now the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil, landing at what they will dub ‘Vinland.’ Scholars later peg the place as L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada.1919 | Black Sox Scandal as Sox players fix games and Reds win World SeriesSome gamblers are the only real winners as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago White Sox in a baseball World Series marred by painfully bad plays coming from the soon-to-be nicknamed ‘Eight Men Out,’ Sox players who colluded with bookies to throw the games so their rivals would win.1985 | Strawberry Fields in NYC as Yoko Ono unveils a place of peace for LennonOn what would’ve been John Lennon’s 45th birthday, his widow Yoko Ono dedicates an area of New York City’s Central Park to the memory of her slain husband. ‘Strawberry Fields,’ named for one of Lennon’s songs, opens almost five years after the beloved musician’s death shocked the world.

Today in History 10/09/17

Postcard of explorer Leif Erikson (© LCDM Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1000) A European visits North America for the first time
Son of Erik the Red, young Leif Erikson has exploration in his blood, and according to tradition he and his crew are now the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil, landing at what they will dub 'Vinland.' Scholars later peg the place as L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada.
Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson was a Norse explorer regarded as the first European to land in North America, nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada. It is believed that Leif, was born in Iceland around the 970s—the son of mother Thjóðhildr and father Erik the Red, an explorer and outlaw from Western Norway. Erik founded the first Norse colonies in Greenland, and was based at the family estate Brattahlíð in the so-called Eastern Settlement, where Leif had his upbringing. Leif had two known sons: Thorgils, born to noblewoman Thorgunna in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement.
Birthplace: Iceland
Parents: Erik the Red (Father) · Thjodhild (Mother)
Children: Thorkell Leif (Son) · Thorgils Leif (Son)
Siblings: Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Sister) · Thorvald Eiriksson (Brother) · Thorstein Eiriksson (Sister)
Statue near the Minnesota State Capital
Viking Leif Erikson by John K. Daniels, 1948-49, near the en:Minnesota State Capitol. Photo taken on June 22, 2005 by User:Mulad. Hereby released into the public domain.

wiki/Leif_Erikson
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