Argumentative Essay: Charlemagne Was a Strong Ruler
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was a strong ruler in many ways, bringing miles of land under the guide of his Christian hand. He was very determined at everything he did, was positive towards education, persistent and ruled with an iron fist.
Charlemagne king of the Franks for about 30 years and the Roman Emperor for 14 gained much land since he started ruling. Shown in source A, by his death, he had took what is now modern day Germany, most of Austria and half of Italy. Along with this he had a slim region of Spain and an island, Corsica. This just shows how good he is at negotiating (whatever form that might take), and his determinedness.
Secondly, his determinedness comes out again, this time shown by the amount of time it took to get the Saxons to be part of his empire. From 772 to 804 the Saxons surrendered countless times. “It is hard to say just how many times they were beaten and surrendered” (Source B, Einhard’s Life of Charles: written about twenty years after Charlemagne’s death). This must have been extremely frustrating for Charlemagne, but he kept his cool over the many years and his courageous spirit in the end won over, all those that had been offering resistance being utterly defeated. He never allowed anyone who after surrendering broke their promise to come around unpunished. This shows how he ruled with an iron fist, and was indefinitely persistent.
Finally, Charlemagne was extremely positive towards education and scattered his skills wherever he travelled, bring back what the Roman Empire used to be. Written in Source C by Einhard in Einhard’s Life of Charles, “He was not content with his own mother tongue, but took the trouble to learn foreign languages. He learnt Latin so well that he spoke it as fluently as his own tongue … he used to keep writing-tablets and notebooks under the pillows on his bed, so that he could try his hand at forming letters during his leisure moments”. This gives the impression that Charlemagne was extremely keen when
Charlemagne was a strong ruler in many ways, bringing miles of land under the guide of his Christian hand. He was very determined at everything he did, was positive towards education, persistent and ruled with an iron fist.
Charlemagne king of the Franks for about 30 years and the Roman Emperor for 14 gained much land since he started ruling. Shown in source A, by his death, he had took what is now modern day Germany, most of Austria and half of Italy. Along with this he had a slim region of Spain and an island, Corsica. This just shows how good he is at negotiating (whatever form that might take), and his determinedness.
Secondly, his determinedness comes out again, this time shown by the amount of time it took to get the Saxons to be part of his empire. From 772 to 804 the Saxons surrendered countless times. “It is hard to say just how many times they were beaten and surrendered” (Source B, Einhard’s Life of Charles: written about twenty years after Charlemagne’s death). This must have been extremely frustrating for Charlemagne, but he kept his cool over the many years and his courageous spirit in the end won over, all those that had been offering resistance being utterly defeated. He never allowed anyone who after surrendering broke their promise to come around unpunished. This shows how he ruled with an iron fist, and was indefinitely persistent.
Finally, Charlemagne was extremely positive towards education and scattered his skills wherever he travelled, bring back what the Roman Empire used to be. Written in Source C by Einhard in Einhard’s Life of Charles, “He was not content with his own mother tongue, but took the trouble to learn foreign languages. He learnt Latin so well that he spoke it as fluently as his own tongue … he used to keep writing-tablets and notebooks under the pillows on his bed, so that he could try his hand at forming letters during his leisure moments”. This gives the impression that Charlemagne was extremely keen when