Charlemagne (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Charles I – Charlemagne – is one of the great figures of medieval history, chivalry, and civilization itself. By the time he died in January 814 AD, he ruled most of what is now France, Germany, the Low Countries, Italy, and bits of Iberia and East Europe. He became “joint” king of the Franks with his brother Carloman I upon the death of their father, Pepin the Short in 768, but in 771, Carloman died under “unexplained” circumstances.
In 774, at Pope Adrian’s behest, Charlemagne stomped the Lombard king Desiderous and thus became king of his extensive holdings that year. Engaged in fighting Saxons, in 776 he rushed back to north Italy to defeat the rebellious dukes of Spoleto and Fruili. Meanwhile, his campaigns against the Saxons dragged on for some 30 years, marked by submission and then insurrection in a cycle that didn’t end until 804. With the collapse of the Saxon kingdoms, Bavaria submitted to Charlemagne’s rule in 794.
Interspersed with all this, Charles (now being called “the Great”) periodically fought the pagan Avars, who had decided to settle in Hungary; leading a great force, he finally forced the Avars to accept him (and Christianity) as their new ruler. And he drove the Moors back in Iberia, pushing south to the banks of the Ebro by 811. For all this “Lord’s work,” Charlemagne was made Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day in 800 AD by Pope Leo III.