Frederick II, (born December 26, 1194, Jesi, Ancona, Papal States [Italy]died December 13, 1250, Castel Fiorentino, Apulia, Kingdom of Sicily), king of Sicily (1197-1250), duke of Swabia (as Frederick VI, 1228-35), German king (1212-50), and Holy Roman emperor (1220-50). [81], On 27 March 1188, at the Diet of Mainz, the archbishop of Cologne submitted to Frederick. After succeeding his father as duke of Swabia, Frederick was elected German king on March 4, 1152, in Frankfurt, succeeding his uncle, Emperor Conrad III. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Times had changed since Charlemagne had founded the empire . [32], Disorder was again rampant in Germany, especially in Bavaria, but general peace was restored by Frederick's vigorous, but conciliatory, measures. A completely new writing system called Carolingian minuscule was established; libraries and schools proliferated, as did books to fill and be used in them; and new forms of art, poetry, and biblical exegesis flourished. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. In 2014, researchers determined that Charlemagnes skull and other bones in Aachen were indeed the remains of a singularly tall, large man who died in his 70s and had bony deposits in the knee and heel bones, giving credence to the story of Charlemagne's limp. Crowned King of the Franks in 768, Charlemagne expanded the Frankish. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Emperor's Tomb Berry, Steve Hardcover Collectible - Very Good at the best online prices at eBay! Learn about the reign of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, portrait of Charlemagne by Albrecht Drer, Emperors and Empresses from Around the (Non-Roman) World Quiz, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlemagne, Christian History Institute - Life of Charlemagne, Khan Academy - Charlemagne: an introduction, Christianity Today - Christian History - Charlemagne, Age of the Sage - Transmitting the Wisdoms of the Ages - Biography of Charlemagne, Charlemagne - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Charlemagne - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Charlemagnesometimes referred to as Charles the Greatwas born around 742, the son of Bertrada of Laon (d.783) and Pepin the Short (d.768), who became king of the Franks in 751. [15], Frederick is the subject of many legends, including that of a Kyffhuser legend. [65] He had no choice other than to begin negotiations for peace with Alexander III and the Lombard League. See entry for the contemporary chroniclers, massacres that had accompanied the First Crusade, Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick, Cultural depictions of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, "Federico I imperatore, detto il Barbarossa nell'Enciclopedia Treccani", "Peace of the Land Established by Frederick Barbarossa Between 1152 and 1157 A.D.", The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa: Letters, "Biography of Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor", "Letter on the Sacred Expedition of the Emperor Frederick I", "Deutsche Spuren im Libanon: Auf den Spuren Barbarossas Deutsche Kaiser-Gebeine in Tyros? This and the postwar abandonment of the Kyffhuser myth have led to the publications of several new biographies. [10], He was crowned King of the Romans at Aachen several days later, on 9 March 1152. One of the Hohenstaufens gained the throne as Conrad III of Germany (11371152). There began to be a generalized social desire to "create greater Germany" by conquering the Slavs to the east. [8], Perhaps in preparation for his crusade, Frederick married Adelaide of Vohburg sometime before March 1147. Under the powerful emperor Manuel I Comnenus, the Byzantine Empire had grown to be a political factor in the Mediterranean and in Italy. He also severely punished the citizens of Mainz for their rebellion against Archbishop Arnold. Frederick started his struggle for the old goal of the predominance of the Empire over the European monarchies with great political skill. Improving Latin literacy was primary among these objectives, seen as a means to improve administrative and ecclesiastical effectiveness in the kingdom. There was no divine right for the German king to also control the church by naming both bishops and popes. Updates? Finding this too difficult in the face of constant Turkish attacks near Dorylaeum, he turned back. [31] The Romans began to riot, and Frederick spent his coronation day putting down the revolt, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Romans and many more thousands injured. What the Emperor saw as a restoration of the imperial rights, however, was considered by the cities as a curtailment of their freedom. [12], The reigns of Henry IV and Henry V left the status of the German empire in disarray, its power waning under the weight of the Investiture controversy. [107] The German-Hungarian army was struck with an onset of disease near Antioch, weakening it further. The successor of Eugenius III, Pope Adrian IV, honoured the Treaty of Constance and crowned Frederick emperor on June 18, 1155, in Rome. Although Charlemagne had intended to divide his kingdom among his sons, only one of themLouis the Piouslived long enough to inherit the throne. German propaganda played into the exaggerated fables believed by the common people by characterizing Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II as personification of the "good king". [11] Frederick's father was from the Hohenstaufen family, and his mother was from the Welf family, the two most powerful families in Germany. It is speculated that Pope Gregory VII personally encouraged the Justinian rule of law and had a copy of it. He set the period of preparation as 17 April 1188 to 8 April 1189 and scheduled the army to assemble at Regensburg on 23 April 1189. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [30] Frederick hesitated, and AdrianIV withdrew; after a day's negotiation, Frederick agreed to perform the required ritual, reportedly muttering, "Pro Petro, non Adriano For Peter, not for Adrian. Although the position was democratically elected (albeit by just a handful of people), the title stayed in Habsburg hands all the way through to the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, bar a short period in the 1740s. In accordance with Frankish custom, Pippin III divided his territories between Charlemagne and Charlemagnes brother, Carloman. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Louis became sole emperor when Charlemagne died in January 814 at the age of 72, ending his reign of more than four decades. [121] To garner political support the German Empire built atop the Kyffhuser the Kyffhuser Monument, which declared Kaiser Wilhelm I the reincarnation of Frederick; the 1896 dedication occurred on 18 June, the day of Frederick's coronation. The German princes refused to give the crown to his nephew, the duke of Swabia, for fear he would try to regain the imperial power held by Henry V. Instead, they chose Lothair III (11251137), who found himself embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Hohenstaufens, and who married into the Welfs. He is shorter than very tall men, but taller and more noble than men of medium height. The relics had great religious significance and could be counted upon to draw pilgrims from all over Christendom. The Church was opposed to Frederick for ideological reasons, not the least of which was the humanist nature found in the revival of the old Roman legal system. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Frst und Land im Sptmittelalter (=Wolfram, Herwig (Hg. When Manuel of Byzantium offered Frederick a Byzantine princess as wife and attempted to induce him to fight against the Norman kingdom, Frederick refused. Author of. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [93], The armies coming from western Europe pushed on through Anatolia, where they were victorious at the Battle of Philomelium and defeated the Turks in the Battle of Iconium,[b] eventually reaching as far as Cilician Armenia. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-I-Holy-Roman-emperor, Ancient Origins - Frederick I Barbarossa: A Megalomaniac Roman Emperor On a Crusade for Power, Holy Roman Empire Association - Biography of Frederick I, Frederick I - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Another account recorded that Frederick was thrown from his horse while crossing the river, weighed down by his armour, and drowned. The intervention of the Byzantine general Prosuch prevented a further escalation. This was a large concession on the part of Frederick, who realized that Henry the Lion had to be accommodated, even to the point of sharing some power with him. Hence, his flesh was interred in the Church of Saint Peter in Antioch, his bones in the cathedral of Tyre, and his heart and inner organs in Saint Paul's Church, Tarsus. The cities of the Lombards, which had been little more than a nuisance to the earlier emperors, had now become more powerful. His protector status became explicit in 799, when the pope was attacked in Rome and fled to Charlemagne for asylum. Frederick himself established at least twelve royal mints, including those of Aachen, Donauwrth, Ulm, Haguenau, Duisburg, Kaiserswerth, Frankfurt, Gelnhausen and Dortmund. Emperor Frederick Red Beard Frederick I, known also by his nickname, Barbarossa (which, in Italian, means 'Red Beard'), was a Holy Roman emperor who lived during the 12th century. There is no question that his reign was a period of major economic growth in Germany, but it is impossible now to determine how much of that growth was owed to Frederick's policies. There is a published correspondence, almost certainly forged, between Frederick and Saladin concerning the end of their friendship. When Pippin died in 768, his realm was divided according to Frankish custom between Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman. Did you know? Possibly Clemence, wife of Sancho VII of Navarre. In this role, he encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a cultural and intellectual revival in Europe. In the first, beginning in October 1154,[24] his plan was to launch a campaign against the Normans under King WilliamI of Sicily. Pippin also intervened militarily in Italy in 755 and 756 to restrain Lombard threats to Rome, and in the so-called Donation of Pippin in 756 he bestowed on the papacy a block of territory stretching across central Italy which formed the basis of a new political entity, the Papal States, over which the pope ruled. He also promised not to concede any Italian land to the Byzantine Emperor and, finally, to maintain the position of the papacy (honor papatus). Today, Charlemagne is referred to by some as the father of Europe. [75] When Frederick returned to Germany after his defeat in northern Italy, he was a bitter and exhausted man. In 771, Charlemagne became king of the Franks, a Germanic tribe in present-day Belgium, France,. [20] Abroad, Frederick intervened in the Danish civil war between Svend III and Valdemar I of Denmark[21] and began negotiations with the Eastern Roman Emperor, Manuel I Comnenus. [80], Pope Urban III died shortly after, and was succeeded by Pope Gregory VIII, who even as Papal Chancellor had pursued a more conciliatory line with the Emperor than previous popes and was more concerned with troubling reports from the Holy Land than with a power struggle with Barbarossa. In that year he visited the lower Rhineland, the most economically advanced region in Germany. [68] The grounds for a permanent peace were not established until 1183, however, in the Peace of Constance, when Frederick conceded their right to freely elect town magistrates. The duchy of Bavaria was transferred from HenryII Jasomirgott, margrave of Austria, to Frederick's formidable younger cousin Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony,[19] of the House of Guelph, whose father had previously held both duchies. Increasing anti-German sentiment swept through Lombardy, culminating in the restoration of Milan in 1169. His early years were marked by a succession of events that had immense implications for the Frankish position in the contemporary world. [73] Frederick's desire for revenge was sated. Learn about the power struggles . [61], Around 23 November 1187, Frederick received letters that had been sent to him from the rulers of the Crusader states in the Near East urging him to come to their aid. It was through the use of the restored Justinian code that Frederick came to view himself as a new Roman emperor. [76], Although the Italian city states had achieved a measure of independence from Frederick as a result of his failed fifth expedition into Italy,[77] the emperor had not given up on his Italian dominions. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He then made a vain attempt to obtain a bride from the court of Constantinople. By this move, Frederick recovered his nominal domination over Italy, which became his chief means of applying pressure on the papacy.[69]. Route Charlemagne Aachen. Scholarly evaluations of Frederick began in the nineteenth century, but have been hampered by the unfortunate deaths of key researchers who did not have the chance to complete their works (such as Henry Simonsfeld who died in 1913, Wilhelm von Giesebrecht who died in 1889 and Johannes Laudage who died in an accident in 2008). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. October 22, 2021 Leave a comment. The Church had won that argument in the common man's mind. [107] Only 5,000 soldiers, a third of the original force, arrived in Acre. The backwash of the Investiture controversy had left the German states in continuous turmoil. Frederick successfully prevented a repeat of the massacres that had accompanied the First Crusade and Second Crusade in Germany. Frederick promised not to make peace with the Roman commune, headed by Arnold (whom he hanged) or with the Normans without the agreement of the Pope. In Italy, he tended to be a romantic reactionary, reveling in the antiquarian spirit of the age, exemplified by a revival of classical studies and Roman law. 09/17/2018. He allegedly loved his daughters so much that he prohibited them from marrying while he was alive. Made emperor of the Han Dynasty at age 20, Ai was initially well received by his subjects but eventually became associated with corruption and incompetence. He passed through Bulgaria and Hungary and arrived in Germany in April 1149. 19 The king might be emperor in his own realm, His work on Frederick is of opposite tone, being an optimistic portrayal of the glorious potentials of imperial authority. The Frank kingdom grew leaps and bounds during the reign of Charlemagne and he expanded his empire to Western and Central Europe. [26][27] Others historians instead suggest his coronation took place in Monza on 15 April. Charlemagne peopled his court with renowned intellectuals and clerics, and together they fashioned a series of objectives designed to uplift what they perceived as the flagging Christian populace of Europe. In addition to learning, Charlemagne was interested in athletic pursuits. Born: April 2, c. 742 Crowned Emperor: Dec. 25, 800 Died: Jan. 28, 814 Quote Attributed to Charlemagne: To have another language is to possess a second soul. In 782 at the Massacre of Verden, Charlemagne reportedly ordered the slaughter of some 4,500 Saxons. [124] Another source states that Barbarossa took his wrath upon every able-bodied man in the city, and that it was not a fig they were forced to hold in their mouth, but excrement from the donkey. [60]) He was opposed by the pro-papal Lombard League (now joined by Venice, Sicily and Constantinople), which had previously formed to stand against him. His teeth are even and snow-white in color Modesty rather than anger causes him to blush frequently. Today they are kept in the Shrine of the Three Kings in the Cologne cathedral. Charlemagne was an 8th-century Frankish king who has attained a status of almost mythical proportions in the West. In March 1153, Frederick concluded the Treaty of Constance with the Pope, wherein he promised, in return for his coronation, to defend the papacy, to make no peace with king Roger II of Sicily or other enemies of the Church without the consent of Eugene,[19] and to help Eugene regain control of the city of Rome. [96], Barbarossa opted on the local Armenians' advice to follow a shortcut along the Saleph river. Eugenius III, on his part, promised that Frederick would receive the imperial crown and that the rights of the empire would be maintained. Charlemagne in Aachen 2014. [88] According to one source written in the 1220s, Frederick organized a grand army of 100,000 men (including 20,000 knights) and set out on the overland route to the Holy Land;[89][90] This number is believed to be inaccurate and modern estimates using contemporary sources place the size of his army at 12,00015,000 men, including 3,0004,000 knights.[89][91]. [62][63] With the refusal of Henry the Lion to bring help to Italy, the campaign was a complete failure. Many were too small to pinpoint on a map. Charlemagnes father, Pippin III, was of nonroyal birth. [23], Frederick undertook six expeditions into Italy. The envoys of Stefan Nemanja, grand prince of Serbia, announced that their prince would receive Frederick in Ni. The Crusaders passed through Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria before entering Byzantine territory. the conflict between italy and germany influenced the crusades. His second son, the duke of Swabia, followed suit. Narrates how otto turned on innocent and fredrick and united with the enemies of frederick ii, leading to his excommunication on march 31, 1211. Unlike Henry II of England, Frederick did not attempt to end medieval feudalism, but rather tried to restore it, though this was beyond his ability. Charlemagne was a medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 814. [126][127], In 1975, Frederick's charters were published. [22] It was probably about this time that the king obtained papal assent for the annulment of his childless marriage with Adelheid of Vohburg, on the grounds of consanguinity (his great-great-grandfather was a brother of Adela's great-great-great-grandmother, making them fourth cousins, once removed). After the death of the antipope VictorIV, Frederick supported antipope Paschal III, but he was soon driven from Rome, leading to the return of Pope AlexanderIII in 1165. On 29 March, Frederick and the rabbi rode through the streets together. The latter was caused by renewed tensions between the papacy and the emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, who eventually yielded to the legitimate pope, Alexander III (1159-81). Another remnant from Charlemagnes reign has achieved near-mythic status: La Joyeuse, or the Joyous, a medieval sword, is believed by some authorities to be the sword Charlemagne carried into battle. Frederick did not forgive Henry the Lion for refusing to come to his aid in 1176. It also provided a framework to legitimize his claim to the right to rule both Germany and northern Italy. [66] With decisions of Paschal III nullfied, Beatrice ceased to be referred as empress. DW's Eesha Kheny checked it out for us . After William had brought his crisis to an end, he was able to force the Pope to sign the Concordat of Benevento in 1156 by which Adrian gave William Sicily and the Norman principalities on the mainland as far north as Naples and Capua and granted him special rights for the Sicilian church. During this period, Frederick decided conflicting claims to various bishoprics, asserted imperial authority over Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, initiated friendly relations with ManuelI, and tried to come to a better understanding with HenryII of England and LouisVII of France. The goal of this Diet was to define and guarantee the rights of the emperor, which would bring the empire an estimated 30,000 pounds of silver per year. Currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the sword had been used for the coronations of French kings since Philip the Bold was crowned in 1270. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The Investiture controversy from previous centuries had been brought to a tendentious peace with the Concordat of Worms and affirmed in the First Council of the Lateran. Later on, Frederick camped in Philippopolis, then in Adrianople in the autumn of 1189 to avoid winter climate in Anatolia, in the meantime, he received imprisoned German emissaries who were held in Constantinople, and exchanged hostages with Isaac II, as a guarantee that the crusaders do not sack local settlements until they depart the Byzantine territory. Saladin so greatly feared his approach that he ordered the walls of Laodicia, Gibelet, Tortosa, Biblium and Beyrout, to be pulled down, sparing only the fortresses, that is the citadels and towers. Eine Biographie, Mnchen (C. H. Beck) 2011", "Review of Federico Barbarossa nel dibatti storiografico in Italia e in Germania", "Review of Friedrich I. Barbarossa, Kaiser des Abendlandes", "Here be monsters: AS Byatt is entertained yet baffled by Umberto Eco's latest novel, Baudolino, an uneasy mixture of history and fantasy", "Mission "Rotbart" am Kyffhuser: Bundeswehr baut Barbarossa-Bodenbild", MSN Encarta Frederick I (Holy Roman Empire), Famous Men of the Middle Ages Frederick Barbarossa, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frederick_Barbarossa&oldid=1152509489, People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church, Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Italian-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Taking advantage of the hostility of other German princes to Henry, Frederick had Henry tried in absentia by a court of bishops and princes in 1180, declared that imperial law overruled traditional German law, and had Henry stripped of his lands and declared an outlaw. [3][4][5] Modern researchers, while exploring the legacy of Frederick, attempt to uncover the legends and reconstruct the true historical figurethese efforts result in new perspectives on both the emperor as a person and social developments associated with him. [31] On their way northwards, they attacked Spoleto and encountered the ambassadors of ManuelI Comnenus, who showered Frederick with costly gifts. After meeting with Pope Stephen II at the royal palace of Ponthion in 753754, Pippin forged an alliance with the pope by committing himself to protect Rome in return for papal sanction of the right of Pippins dynasty to the Frankish throne. Charlemagnes exact birthplace is unknown, although historians have suggested Liege in present-day Belgium and Aachen in modern-day Germany as possible locations. Nevertheless, the two volumes about Frederick (that focus on his relationship with the Welfs and the Papacy) in Wilhelm von Giesebrecht's Geschichte der Deutschen Kaiserzeit (185588), completed by his student Bernhard von Simson in 1895, later became the scholarly standard work on the emperor's life. A golden bust of Frederick, given to his godfather Count Otto of Cappenberg in 1171. Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (German: Friedrich I, Italian: Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. Omissions? They had encamped on a hill away from the main army. Omissions? It used to be said that the insulting gesture (called fico), of holding one's fist with the thumb in between the middle and forefinger came by its origin from this event.[125]. On his accession, Frederick had communicated the news of his election to Pope Eugene III, but had neglected to ask for papal confirmation. [37] This aggrieved Frederick, and he was further displeased when Papal legates chose to interpret a letter from Adrian to Frederick in a manner that seemed to imply that the imperial crown was a gift from the Papacy and that in fact the Empire itself was a fief of the Papacy. Among other things, he was responsible for uniting most of Europe under his rule by power of the sword, for helping to restore the Western Roman Empire and becoming its first emperor, and for facilitating a cultural and intellectual renaissance, the ramifications of which were felt in Europe for centuries afterward. His contributions to Central European society and culture include the reestablishment of the Corpus Juris Civilis, or the Roman rule of law, which counterbalanced the papal power that dominated the German states since the conclusion of the Investiture controversy. After laying siege to and conquering Milan, which had attempted to oppose him, Frederick opened the Diet of Roncaglia. What little is known about Charlemagnes youth suggests that he received practical training for leadership by participating in the political, social, and military activities associated with his fathers court. [50] In August 1162 he triumphantly entered Turin and was crowned with his consort in the cathedral on August 15. [33] HenryII Jasomirgott was named Duke of Austria in compensation for his loss of Bavaria. In early 1147, Frederick joined the Second Crusade. The following image is a family tree of every prince, king, queen, monarch, confederation president and emperor of Germany, from Charlemagne in 800 over Louis the German in 843 through to Wilhelm II in 1918. In an attempt to create comity, Emperor Frederick proclaimed the Peace of the Land,[35] written between 1152 and 1157, which enacted punishments for a variety of crimes, as well as systems for adjudicating many disputes. In 1165, under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Charlemagne was canonized for political reasons; however, the Catholic Church today does not recognize his sainthood. Frederick, however, desired to put the pope aside and claim the crown of old Rome simply because he was in the likeness of the great emperors of old, who tended to have a domineering role over the church, Caesaropapism. Just two minor points towards the end: the addendum Nationis Germanic was only used after the fall of constantinople, so as long as the east existed it was just two roman empires, and the title was restored by Otto the Great, a saxon king and not a descendent of Charlemagne, who did pay off the roman(/byzantine) emperor with one of his daughters In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans, reviving the title in Western Europe after more than three centuries, thus creating the Carolingian Empire, whose territory came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. [51] Returning to Germany towards the close of 1162, Frederick prevented the escalation of conflicts between Henry the Lion from Saxony and a number of neighbouring princes who were growing weary of Henry's power, influence, and territorial gains. [9], With Byzantine ships and money, the German army left Constantinople on 7 March 1148 and arrived in Acre on 11 April. Charlemagne (Charles the Great, also known as Charles I, l. 742-814) was King of the Franks (r. 768-814), King of the Franks and Lombards (r. 774-814), and Holy Roman Emperor (r. 800-814). Einhard, a Frankish scholar and contemporary of Charlemagne, wrote a biography of the emperor after his death. Milan and five other cities held out, and in October 1238 he had to raise the siege of Brescia.In the same year the marriage of Frederick's natural son Enzio with the Sardinian princess Adelasia and the designation of Enzio as king of Sardinia, in which the papacy claimed suzerainty, led to the final break with the pope. [10] Frederick energetically pursued the crown and at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 the kingdom's princely electors designated him as the next German king. Frederick attempted, beginning in 1158 and especially after 1162, not only to achieve the granting of these rights but also to put a systematic financial administration into effect. This was a popularized interpretation of the Biblical end of the world. Also in the Peace of Venice, a truce was made with the Lombard cities, which took effect in August 1178. Frederick was born in mid-December 1122 in Haguenau,[6] to Frederick II, Duke of Swabia and Judith of Bavaria. During his lifetime, Barbarossa was a popular ruler, and was well-loved by his subjects. Frederick sent a large embassy ahead to make preparations in Byzantium. Seeking advantage over his brother, Charlemagne formed an alliance with Desiderius, king of the Lombards, accepting as his wife the daughter of the king to seal an agreement that threatened the delicate equilibrium that had been established in Italy by Pippins alliance with the papacy. Charlemagne, also known as Charles I and Charles the Great, was born around 742 A.D., likely in what is now Belgium.