In this paper I am going to compare and contrast the lives of Hernando Cortes and
Charlemagne. The common point I am going to prove in my paper is that they were both
men who had other roles to play, besides conquering lands, but at the end of their time
their most influential task was the expansion of their kingdoms for their respected regions,
and they also defeated many strong empires to do so.
Charlemagne or in Latin Carolus Magnus which means Charles the Great (Encarta,
Charlemagne, 1) was king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans who led his Frankish
armies to victory over many other peoples and nations. He mainly ruled most of western
and central Europe. Charlemagne came from a very noble family. He was the grandson of
Charles Martel, and was the son of Peppin the Short, or Peppin III who was the first
Caroline king of the Franks. (The Middle Ages, 170) He has a son by the name of Louis
the Pious (Dictionary of Medieval Civilization, 182) and a brother Carloman. Carloman
shared the rule of the Franks with him from 768 until his death in 771.
Peppin was extremely devoted to Pope Stephen II for he had crowned him, as well
as both his sons after he died, emperor in 754. Because of his great devotion he rushed to
the pope's aid for military help many times. He took Charlemagne with him on most of
these expeditions, which quite possibly could have sparked Charlemagne's interests for
conquering native lands. (The Middle Ages, 170) Peppin died in 768 and the
Charlemagne and his brother took over the kingdom from their. Three years later, in 771,
Carloman had an unexpected death and the kingdom was all Charlemagne.
In 770 Charlemagne had sought an alliance with the Lombards by marrying the
daughter of their king. After a little longer than a year Charlemagne got sick of his wife
and divorced her, and her father, Desiderius, was no longer friendly. In 772 the pop...