Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800, holding these titles until his death in 814. He united most of Western and Central Europe, and was the first recognised emperor to rule from the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier. Charlemagne's reign was marked by political and social changes that had lasting influence on Europe throughout the Middle Ages.
Pope Adrian I was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 until his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman.
Pope Stephen III was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 7 August 768 to his death. Stephen was a Benedictine monk who worked in the Lateran Palace during the reign of Pope Zachary. In the midst of a tumultuous contest by rival factions to name a successor to Pope Paul I, Stephen was elected with the support of the Roman officials. He summoned the Lateran Council of 769, which sought to limit the influence of the nobles in papal elections. The council also opposed iconoclasm.
Year 768 (DCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 768 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The 770s decade ran from January 1, 770, to December 31, 779.
The 760s decade ran from January 1, 760, to December 31, 769.
Year 772 (DCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 772 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 774 (DCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 774 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 773 (DCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 773rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 773rd year of the 1st millennium, the 73rd year of the 8th century, and the 4th year of the 770s decade. The denomination 773 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 788 (DCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 788th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 788th year of the 1st millennium, the 88th year of the 8th century, and the 9th year of the 780s decade. The denomination 788 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Carloman I, German Karlmann, Karlomann, was king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon and was a younger brother of Charlemagne. His death allowed Charlemagne to take all of Francia.
Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius, was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. Desiderius is remembered for this connection to Charlemagne and for being the last Lombard ruler to exercise regional kingship.
The siege or battle of Pavia was fought in 773–774 in northern Italy, near Ticinum, and resulted in the victory of the Franks under Charlemagne against the Lombards under King Desiderius.
Pepin or Pippin, was King of Italy from 781 until his death in 810. He was the third son of Charlemagne. Upon his baptism in 781, Carloman was renamed Pepin, where he was also crowned as king of the Lombard Kingdom his father had conquered. Pepin ruled the kingdom from a young age under Charlemagne, but predeceased his father. His son Bernard was named king of Italy after him, and his descendants were the longest-surviving direct male line of the Carolingian dynasty.
Hildegard was a Frankish queen and the wife of Charlemagne from c. 771 until her death. Hildegard was a noblewoman of Frankish and Alemannian heritage. Through eleven years of marriage with Charlemagne, Hildegard helped share in his rule as well as having nine children with him, including the kings Charles the Younger and Pepin of Italy and the emperor Louis the Pious.
Pepin the Short, was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.
Desiderata was a queen consort of the Franks. She was one of four daughters of Desiderius, King of the Lombards, and his wife Ansa, Queen of the Lombards. Desiderata was married to Charlemagne in 770 in effort to create a bond between Francia and the Kingdom of the Lombards. The marriage also sought to isolate Charlemagne's brother Carloman I, who ruled over the central territories of Francia. It lasted just one year, and there are no known children.
Adalgis or Adelchis was an associate king of the Lombards from August 759, reigning with his father, Desiderius, until their deposition in June 774. He is also remembered today as the hero of the play Adelchi (1822) by Alessandro Manzoni.
Gerberga was the wife of Carloman I, King of the Franks, and sister-in-law of Charlemagne. Her flight to the Lombard kingdom of Desiderius following Carloman's death precipitated the last Franco-Lombard war, and the end of the independent kingdom of the Lombards in 774.
Autchar was a Frankish nobleman. He served Pippin III as a diplomat in 753 and followed Carloman I after the division of the kingdom in 768. In 772, refusing to accept Carloman's brother Charlemagne as king, he went into exile in the Lombard kingdom with Carloman's widow and sons. He was captured when Charlemagne invaded the kingdom in 773. His role in the fall of the Lombard kingdom was the subject of legendary embellishment a century later and in the chansons de geste he evolved into the figure of Ogier the Dane.
