It wasn’t his fault his sons used their divided inheritance to rapidly destabilize whatever stability Carol had managed to cobble together (on top of a largely Ungrateful and rather Sulky Northern Europe, over 4 decades, through sheer Carolingian willpower alone). It wasn’t entirely Carol’s fault it started to fall apart as he lay on his deathbed. The point is, it looked like an empire – to everyone concerned. And, really you have to say, (except for the lands held by Arabs – N.Africa, S.Italy, Spain), Charles the Great, aka Carolus the Frank aka Carolus, DID regain the West in a kind of political union, and initiated a kind of proto-renaissance in the gloaming and penumbra of classical civilization – which just coincidentally happened to be the barest dawning of Pre-Modern-Medieval (I could go on hyphenating for hours) Europe. Today is a day of Charlemagne, and the “re-founding” of the Roman Empire in the West – ie what eventually became known as the Holy Roman Empire. Today we meet Charles the Great - Charlemagne - a saint, and a force to be reckoned with in the late 700s, early 800s - the 1st German/Frank to be crowned Emperor in the West - something that obviously didnt go over very well in the East - Charlemagne Reliquary Bust (containing Carolus's cranium, the top/braincase of his skull) at his palace chapel at Aachen, Germany

Age of charlemagne units