Charlemagne was one of Europe’s most successful monarchs. He was crowned by the Pope on Christmas Day, 800 AD. One of the most important things Charlemagne did for his people was to introduce a jury system, which was trial by jury, instead of by ordeal. He turned his castle into a learning centre – inviting scholars from all over the world to take up residence there. He used his scholars to create illustrated manuscript that preserved knowledge. Charlemagne ruled his vast empire by using local officials called counts to help him. At least once a year, he paid surprise visits to his various counts to make sure they were managing things fairly and effectively. Charlemagne introduced a payment system for taxes using silver coins. He standardized the value of each coin.
At the same time, Charlemagne also greatly expanded the size of his kingdom. He conquered France down to the Pyrenees Mountains, and even into Northern Spain. He crossed the Rhine River, and conquered Germany, Switzerland and Austria, even modern Hungary. To the north, he conquered Belgium. He also conquered the Lombards in Northern Italy. Charlemagne’s conquests, as well as his reforms and sponsorship of education and science all contributed to him being called ‘The Father of Europe’ by later generations.