296*. Charlemagne or Charles the Great. King of the Franks and Emperor of the West.
[Born at Saltzburg, in Bavaria, A.D. 742. Died A.D. 814. Aged 72.]
The son of Pepin, who was the first King of France of the Carlovingian dynasty. On the death of his father, in A.D. 768, crowned with his brother Carloman, joint King of France. On the death of Carloman in A.D. 771, became sole ruler. In 772, commenced the subjugation of the Saxons, whom he finally overthrew. Marched into Lombardy to the aid of the Pope, overran the country, and caused himself to be crowned King of Lombardy in A.D. 774. Then passed into Spain to assail the Saracen power established there, but suffered defeat at the battle of Roncesval. In A.D. 800, crowned at Rome “Emperor of the West,” by Pope Leo III. Engaged in ceaseless warfare throughout his reign; yet a great promoter of learning, and the founder of several universities. Collecting enlightened and learned men about him, he completed many national works, advanced agriculture and the arts, and rendered himself immortal by the wisdom of his laws, and by the influence which his magnificent labours produced upon the destinies of mankind. He was said to be the tallest and strongest man of his time. His habits were of the simplest, and his frugality a pattern to the world. A steadfast friend and a devoted father. He was buried with great pomp at Aix-la-Chapelle, and was sincerely mourned by his subjects, who had loved him in life. Few kings have so legitimately and nobly earned the title of “Great,” as Charles I., King of the Franks.
[A head from the Rotonda of the Vatican. In the Louvre is a very remarkable portrait of him in stucco; a similar one is in the Vatican library. There is also in the Vatican a large picture of the coronation of Charlemagne, which contains a vast number of portraits.]
296**. Philip III. King of France.
[Born 1245. Died 1285. Aged 40.]
This king was surnamed “The Bold” for a reason which historians have never been able to discover. He was a mere tool in the hands of his Chamberlain, whom he raised to the dignity of Prime Minister, but who eventually suffered as a common culprit on a gibbet. The king was wholly given up to superstitious practices, and his rule was disastrous for France. During this reign a plain gentleman, Rodolph, count of Hapsburg, was elected Emperor of Germany, and became the founder of a line of kings in Austria. We are reminded also that one of the most remarkable events of this period was the momentary reunion of the Greek and Latin Churches, in 1274, effected by Gregory X. at the second œcumenic council of Lyons.
297. Louis XI. King of France.
[Born at Bourges, in France, 1423. Died at Duplessis les Tours, 1483. Aged 60.]
The son of Charles VII. and Mary of Anjou. The mother was one of the most virtuous women of her age; the son proved a bad child, a bad father, a bad husband, a bad brother, a bad friend, a bad subject, and in all qualities of the heart, a bad king. He was a tyrant, a cheat, a bigot; cruel, implacable in his hatred, unscrupulous in revenge, a miser, until he had an end to accomplish, when he could prove a prodigal; crafty, sanguinary, suspicious, and despicably mean. He availed himself of the humbler orders to crush the power of the nobility, and loved to surround himself at all times with the lowest instruments for the accomplishment of his designs. Four thousand persons are said to have fallen victims to his cruelty, and history records that his father died of privations, self-imposed, through fear of being poisoned by his son. Yet this concentration of vice was personally brave, and a great promoter of letters. He introduced printing into France, and he wrote a book of counsels for his son, which he called “The Rose Tree of Wars.” He moreover left the royal authority established, and France powerful. His last few years were passed in seclusion, in suspicious alarm, and constant terror of death.