This prince, though the hero of numerous romantic legends, appears greater in history than in fiction.…The historical representation is doubtless the true one, for it is handed down in trustworthy records, and is confirmed by the events of the age.

Born this day c. 742, Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor and king of the Franks and the Lombards, united in one superstate practically all the Christian lands of western Europe and oversaw a cultural renaissance in his empire.