Charlemagne and the Frankish Empire, 768–814 | Calm Bedtime History

It is the year 802 in the Frankish royal palace at Aachen. The octagonal chapel has stood for barely a year, its pale stone still sharp against the grey sky of the Eifel hills. Inside, a man of fifty-five winters moves between the scriptorium and the great hall, leaving traces of melted snow from his boots on the mosaic floor. He is Charles, King of the Franks and Lombards, Patrician of the Romans, and in two years he will be crowned Emperor in Rome. Tonight he listens to his scholars read aloud from Augustine, while outside the masons work by torchlight on the final fittings of his chapel.