Charlemagne's rise to power
Clovis and Charlemagne were the first Frankish rulers of Medieval Europe. They were also Germanic rulers of the Rhine River and both were very good rulers and some decent leaders. But also the rulers were considered cruel and self-interested. They were polytheistic/pagon. The first ruler which is Clovis, a ruler who keeps losing battles again and again. One day, his wife begged for him to pray to the Christian God, which is the one god and convert to Christianity. He did exactly what she said and like a miracle come true, falling from the sky, finally started winning battles. He could have done this before to win all the battles he needs to win for his kingdom also, now earns support from the Pope and at last unifies his kingdom by changing his beliefs/religion the Christianity.
Another ruler would be Charlemagne or some people call him " Charles the Great." He only had two main goals in his mind that he so very badly wanted to achieve to have a very rich, educated, and powerful kingdom for all. One of his goals was to rule Western Europe. His second goal was to convert all Germanic people to Christianity. He was considered very cruel and brutal by a lot people, but also largely considered as a great leader as well. He was finally was crowned the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope in 800 A.D. This actually annoyed him because he already knows he was crowned by God (Divine right).
Charlemagne was a very good leader and won battles. He was successful in doubling the size of his kingdom and converted many Germanic people to Christianity. He had almost fully accomplished his two main goals now. The pope and Charlemagne had some conflicts over Divine Right which he believed in. So, Charlemagne and the Franks ruled a very large portion of Europe which Charlemagne be proud of considering that he kind of accomplished the two main goals. Charlemagne had a very secure, stable empire and also educated his people. But, when he died his three grandsons split it, weakened it, and also led it to it's collapse Charlemagne's excellent kingdom into a million pieces.
Clovis and Charlemagne were pretty decent rulers at that time. But in my opinion, Charlemagne is better than Clovis because Charlemagne was good for many things and reasons. He accomplished his two main goals that he always dreamed of in his mind. He converted all Germanic people to Christianity, ruled Western Europe, educated his people, and made a very stable, powerful Empire. If I was him, I would be proud of myself and couldn't ask for a more decent Empire. But I would be disappointed and would never forgive my three grandsons split it, weakened it, and destroyed my great empire to never come back.
Clovis and Charlemagne were very powerful rulers of their kingdoms. Clovis, the cruel one, lost many battles until he converted to Christianity. Then, he won many battles. Charlemagne, the cruel, brutal one who had a very good empire and accomplished two of the most important goals pretty much in Medieval Europe. This empire would have probably lasted longer if it wasn't for Charlemagne's three grandsons who split it and destroyed it. So in Conclusion, they both are pretty good rulers, leaders, and had very good empires and kingdoms. We won't ever forget their leaderships, but mostly Charlemagne who had a better leadership style.
By: Walid Waziri Date: 10/18/13 Period: 1