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Feb 10, 732
Battle of Tours
By 732 AD, the Muslims conquered the Spanish and were still looking to expand. Charles Martel encamped on the top of a wooded hill and forced the Muslims to fight uphill against the trees. After both sides held out for six days, the Muslims attacked uphill but were defeated. -
Jul 24, 754
The Papal States
Pepin the Short who was king of the Franks, asked the Pope to anoint him and his two sons. Pope Stephen II told Pepin the Short he expects protection in exchange for the support. In 754, Pepin had to travel to Italy to protect the Pope from the Lombards. Pepin the Short gave the Pope Rome, Ravenna, and Perugia -
Charlemagne
When Pepin the Short died, he left the Empire to his two sons- Charles and Carolmen. Carolmen died leaving Charles the sole ruler of the Empire. Some believe Charles killed Carolmen but there is no proof of this. Charlemage spent the next 45 years expanding the Empire going undefeated in 50 conquests. -
Charlemagne and "Christianity"
Charlemagne prated regularly, read scripture, and fasted. He demanded people converted to Christianity, and killed people for worshipping other gods. At the Bloody Verdict of Verdun, Charlemagne made Saxons swear their loyalty to him after defeating them. In 782, he had 4,500 Saxons beheaded who had been worshipping false gods and attacking his forces. Some say that the river was flowing red with blood for days after. -
Charlemagne's Legacy
Charlemagne ended the "Dark Ages" by emphasizing education through reforming schools. He introduced a new font called Minuscule which allowed for preservation of texts. He also introduced spacing between words and paragraphs, punctuation, and lower case letters.
