Charlemagne remains one of the most compelling figures in European history. In this lively, vivid portrait of an extraordinary monarch and his achievements, Roger Collins profiles the most powerful and significant ruler in Western Europe between the end of the Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance. While his achievements were in some ways ephemeral (after all, his great Empire soon broke up), he can still clearly be seen as the figure who transformed the nature of Europe and ushered in a period which has an explicit and comprehensible connection with our own.
The reign of Charlemagne...

Roger Collins offers an account of the entire arc of papal history, describing how its authority was acquired & exercised, & in turn, challenged & threatened; how it faced & overcame crises - both from within & without; its relationship with Rome; the tradition of artistic patronage; & the character & policies of individual popes.