Charlemagne century very little of the Champa kingdom was left as their territories were being conquered by foreign invaders, who completed the conquest of Cham territory during the 17th century See also Vijayanagara Empire Further reading: Coedes, George The Indianized States of Southeast Asia Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1968; Maspero, Georges The Kingdom of Champa New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1949; Phuong, Trân Ky Vestiges of Champa Civilization Hanoi: Thê Gioi Publishers, 2004 Nurfadzilah Yahaya Charlemagne (c 742–814) king of the Franks and emperor of the West Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was born the eldest son of Pepin the Short, king of the Franks (751–768), and his wife, Bertrada of Laon Upon his father’s death the Frankish kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman in 768 When Carloman died suddenly in 771, Charlemagne seized control of his brother’s lands and reunified the Frankish realm Charlemagne’s kingdom grew to an empire under his relentless and resourceful military campaigns Beginning in 772 he initiated a campaign to subdue the Saxons, a task he would only complete in 804 Soon after becoming sole ruler of the Franks, he invaded Italy and crushed the Lombard Kingdom, taking the Crown of the Lombards for himself (773–774) An initial foray against the Muslims into Spain in 778 ended in disaster when Charlemagne’s rearguard was ambushed and destroyed at Roncesvalles, while returning home from this expedition But by 811 Charlemagne had extended his sway south of the Pyrenees down to the Ebro River and had created the Spanish March to act as a buffer zone between the Moors in Spain and his own lands north of the Pyrenees On his eastern front Charlemagne deposed his onetime ally the duke of Bavaria (787), and incorporated his territory into his own lands This brought him into contact with the fierce Slavic people known as the Avars, who held sizable lands in the areas of modern day Austria and Hungary Charlemagne inflicted a massive defeat on these people in 796 and created another heavily defended march known as the Ostmark (Austria), to protect his eastern border against marauding Avars In helping him overcome and rule such disparate foes and lands, Charlemagne was fortunate in having three capable and loyal sons His son Charles (d 811) ruled the northwest part of 79 Charlemagne’s Frankish lands known as Neustria, while Pepin (d 810) administered Italy, and Louis (d 840) ruled over Aquitaine The latter two in particular fought long, hard campaigns either with their father or on his behalf The strength of Charlemagne’s empire depended in part upon his reputation and success as a warlord, together with the tight bonds of personal loyalty that existed between him and his chief administrators In addition to his three sons who ruled as cadet kings, Charlemagne also relied heavily upon the margraves who ruled over the marks/marches that he created along volatile border areas In less troublesome areas in the interior of his lands Charlemagne posted counts to keep the peace, administer imperial laws, and protect the realm To ensure the loyalty of these and other top officials Charlemagne created the office of the missi dominici, whose duty it was to ride circuit throughout the realm inquiring as to the honesty and efficiency of his royal officials Another reason for Charlemagne’s success was his approach to justice throughout his realm Religion aside, he respected the traditions, tribal laws, and rights of the various Germanic peoples under his authority, and rather than replace tribal laws, he sought to codify them in writing He did however issue a number of imperial laws called capitularies, which laid out regulations for his own royal officials or administrators or which touched upon religious issues Historians have long acknowledged the important role that Christianity and the institutional church played in enabling Charlemagne to maintain a firm hold on both his throne and his empire His conquest and eventual integration of Saxony into his empire are illustrative in this regard Charlemagne relied upon a combination of military offensives against the Saxons and the missionary activities of Benedictine monks finally to pacify this belligerent tribe In 782 he issued a series of laws forbidding the practice of pagan religion among the Saxons, with harsh penalties for those caught transgressing The overall effect of these measures was slowly to saturate Saxon tribal culture with the religion and culture that Charlemagne endorsed Charlemagne also engaged in a vigorous attempt to improve the level of morality and education among the clergy throughout his realm To this end he utilized the talents of Alcuin of York (735–804), who, beginning in 781, undertook the arduous process of bringing discipline to the monastic houses throughout the empire and introducing the classical Roman program of the liberal arts as the educational curriculum used throughout the Carolingian monastic schools For 15 years Alcuin himself oversaw a school at Charlemagne’s palace at Aachen The results of this educational program were impressive