<P> Charlemagne ( / ˈʃɑːrləmeɪn / ) or Charles the Great ( 2 April 742 -- 28 January 814 ) , 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 recognized 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 invalidly canonized by the antipope Paschal III . </P>
<P> Charlemagne ( / ˈʃɑːrləmeɪn / ) or Charles the Great ( 2 April 742 -- 28 January 814 ) , 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 recognized 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 invalidly canonized by the antipope Paschal III . </P>
who was crowned emperor of the west in 800 ce
who was crowned emperor of the west in 800 ce
Charlemagne
Charlemagne