Question #3

Charlemagne came to power after his father, Pepin, in 768. Almost immediately, he began to transform civilization. First, he expanded the empire through his fifty-four campaigns. These campaigns took him to both areas in the west and enabled him to conquer areas in the east, such as his campaigns in Germany. Furthermore, he was able to add Saxony to the Carolingian empire after convincing them to convert to Christianity in 804. Eventually, Charlemagne’s empire convered much of western and central Europe. This would prove to be a negative effect as it was too large to be governed and would eventually cause the fall of the empire. 

In terms of governing, Charlemagne was dependent on royal estates for resources, which already gives them more power than they need. Not only that, but he also granted them part of the royal lands. Counts and margraves, border district officials, were used to maintain the order. Counts were also ddangerous as they began taking royal lands and services. Still, Charlemagne managed to limit their control by instituting a positive development, missi dominici, who were sent out to ensure the counts were following orders. Through these, Charlemagne was attempting to centralize authority and thus progress civilization.