his own direct conquest, the fruit of victory,
disposed of them forthwith in favor of the popes, by that famous deed of
gift which comprehended pretty nearly what has since formed the Roman
States, and which founded the temporal independence of the papacy, the
guarantee of its independence in the exercise of the spiritual power.

At the head of the Franks as mayor of the palace from 741, and as king
from 752, Pepin had completed in France and extended in Italy the work
which his father, Charles Martel, had begun and carried on, from 714 to
741, in state and church. He left France reunited in one and placed at
the head of Christian Europe. He died at the monastery of St. Denis,
September 18, 768, leaving his kingdom and his dynasty thus ready to the
hands of his son, whom history has dubbed Charlemagne.

CAREER OF CHARLEMAGNE

A.D. 772-814

FRANCOIS P.G. GUIZOT

In Charles, the son of Pepin the Short, later known as Charlemagne,
or Charles the Great, the Carlovingians saw the culminating glory
of their line, while in French history the splendor of his name
outshines that of all other rulers. It seemed an act of fate that
his brother and joint heir to the Frankish kingdom should die and
leave the monarchy wholly in his hands, for his genius was to prove
equal to its field of action.

The kingdom which Charlemagne inherited was great in extent, lying
mainly between the Loire and the Rhine, including Alemannia and
Burgundy, while his sphere of influence--to use the modern
phrase--covered many provinces and districts over which his rule
was wholly or in part acknowledged--Aquitaine, Bavaria, Brittany,
Frisia, Thuringia, and others.

To enlarge still further the bounds of his kingdom was the task to
which the young monarch at once addressed himself, and upon which
he entered with all the advantages of family prestige, a commanding
and engaging personality, proven courage and skill in war, as well
as talent and accomplishments in civil affairs.

The central purpose of Charlemagne, to the service of which all his
policies and his conduct were directed, was the maintenance of the
Christian religion as embodied in the Western Church, whose great
champion he became, and in that character occupies his lofty place
in the history of Europe and of the world. At this period the two
great powers in th