Editing Carolingian Empire (section)

===Reign of Charlemagne (768–814)===
[[File:Dorestad Brooch AvL.JPG|thumb|150px|The Dorestad Brooch, Carolingian-style [[cloisonné]] jewelry from c. 800. Found in the [[Netherlands]], 1969.]]
The Carolingian Empire during the reign of Charlemagne covered most of Western Europe, as the [[Roman Empire]] once had. Unlike the Romans, whose imperial ventures between the [[Rhine]] and the [[Elbe]] lasted fewer than twenty years before being cut short by the disaster at [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest|Teutoburg Forest]] (9&nbsp;AD), Charlemagne defeated the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] resistance and extended his realm to the Elbe more lastingly, influencing events almost to the Russian Steppes.

Charlemagne's reign was one of near-constant warfare, participating in annual campaigns, many led personally. He defeated the [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombard Kingdom]] in 774 and annexed it into his own domain by declaring himself 'King of the Lombards'. He later led a failed campaign into Spain in 778, ending with the [[Battle of Roncevaux Pass]], which is considered Charlemagne's greatest defeat. He then extended his domain into Bavaria after forcing [[Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria]], to renounce any claim to his title in 794. His son, Pepin, was ordered to campaign against the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] in 795 since Charlemagne was occupied with Saxon revolts. Eventually, the Avar confederation ended in 803 after Charlemagne sent a Bavarian army into Pannonia. He also conquered Saxon territories in wars and rebellions fought from 772 to 804, with such events as the [[Massacre of Verden]] in 782 and the codification of the [[Lex Saxonum]] in 802.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Jennifer |title=Charlemagne's Practice of Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-3163-6859-6 |pages=25}}</ref>

Prior to the death of Charlemagne, the Empire was divided among various members of the [[Carolingian dynasty]]. These included King [[Charles the Younger]], son of Charlemagne, who received [[Neustria]]; King [[Louis the Pious]], who received [[Aquitaine]]; and King [[Pepin of Italy|Pepin]], who received Italy. Pepin died with an illegitimate son, [[Bernard of Italy|Bernard]], in 810, and Charles died without heirs in 811. Although Bernard succeeded Pepin as king of Italy, Louis was made co-emperor in 813, and the entire Empire passed to him with Charlemagne's death in the winter of 814.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Joanna |last=Story |title=Charlemagne: Empire and Society |publisher=Manchester University Press |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-7190-7089-1}}</ref>