Artwork - Charlemagne at Paderborn. Ary Scheffer 1835. Ary Scheffer (1795-1858) painted the scene of the submission of Widukind to Charlemagne after the defeat of Saxony in 785. Widukind was a Saxon leader in the rebellions against Charlemagne and his forced conversions to Christianity. Little is known about Widukind. His name means 'child of the forest' and was most probably a nickname. On his defeat, he and his followers were baptized with Charlemagne as their Godfather.

Charlemagne (c. 748-814) The father of Europe had several names, Charles I, Karl I, Charles the Great and Carolus Magnus. He also had several titles, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, and he was the first Holy Roman Emperor. He was coronated by Pope Leo III (? – 816) in Rome on Christmas Day 800. This made him the first Emperor of the Romans since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three hundred years earlier. The Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, was unimpressed and reminded Western Europe that they were still, in fact, the original Roman Empire. Charlemagne was the grandson of Charles Martel (c. 688 –741) and took after him as a great tactician and leader. He continued the friendship and as the protector of the Papacy begun by his father Pepin the Short (714-768). Under Charlemagne, most of Western Europe converted to Christianity, or else! Where he couldn't subdue the populations, he set up 'Marches', land as a buffer zone between Christian lands and the Polytheists and Muslims on the borders of his Kingdoms. Saxony, an area along the modern Dutch, Danish and German coasts, gave Charlemagne a great deal of trouble during his reign. The Saxons, who believed in several Gods, continually rebelled against Charlemagne and his forced conversion to Christianity. Charlemagne was often torn between battling the Muslims to the South in the Iberian Peninsula and the Saxons to his kingdom's east. They revolted every time he was distracted elsewhere. Eventually, he subdued the Saxons and forced their conversion. Charlemagne united most of western Europe, from the Atlantic coast to the Danube River, from the English Channel to the Pyrenees Mountains and halfway down modern Italy. The Iberian Peninsula remained under Islamic control, but he prevented them from making any more incursions into Frankia. On his death, his lands were divided into three kingdoms for his three sons. West Frankia, covering much of modern France, went to Charles. The middle became the Kingdom of Lothair, and West Frankia, much of modern Germany, was ruled by Louis. A lover of learning and education, he began a Golden Age known as the Carolingian Renaissance. As well as being the Father of Europe Charlemagne is also an ancestor to anyone who has north-western European heritage, including people from Ireland and Great Britain.