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[[File: Karl_Aachen_Rathaus.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Statue of Charlemagne at Aachen]]
Charlemagne or Karl “the Great” (ruled AD 768-814) is regarded by scholars and lay people alike as one of the greatest Europeans in history. Today, both the French and Germans claim him as one of their earliest known and most revered monarchs due to his great deeds and the fact that he was one of the best recorded early medieval European kings. The early medieval scholar Einhard wrote an account of Charlemagne based on the time he spent with the emperor and numerous statues and other works of art that depict the sovereign were scattered throughout western Europe, especially at the royal capital city of Aachen, which was where thirty-one German kings were later crowned as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. What made Charlemagne “great” and the subject of Einhard’s biography, countless works of art, and numerous modern studies was his ability to pull Europe out of the Dark Ages and into the medieval period.
Charlemagne’s contributions to Europe cannot be overstated. Although he had a good template from which to build on thanks to his Frankish predecessors, Charlemagne showed incredible foresight and will as he brought stability back to Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire. His support of the Roman Catholic Church brought unity to much of the continent, which culminated with his coronation as the “Holy Roman Emperor” in 800 by Pope Leo III. Quite often Charlemagne used force to put recalcitrant Germanic tribes in line as he unified western Europe, but almost as important, although lesser known, were the economic initiatives he championed. The first Holy Roman Emperor also promoted a balanced economy based on free trade, industry, agriculture, and a monetary policy. As part of his monetary policy, Charlemagne championed silver as the standard currency in western Europe and also established a unitary system of weights and measures for coins and commodities. Finally, new farming techniques and technologies were introduced during Charlemagne’s reign that allowed the population of Europe to grow. Truly, Charlemagne’s economic policies allowed western Europe to emerge from the Dark Ages.
