Moody

Introduction

There were many great leaders all throughout time, and there continues to be great leaders all over the world, with exemplary qualities. With all of these great leaders, it made it very difficult to choose just one to write about, but I found one that had qualities that I found very admirable. He had the same qualities that I try to incorporate into my everyday life, and hope to one day pass down to soldiers I will lead, and to my children.

This paper examines the qualities that Charlemagne used to become such a great leader in my eyes. The qualities he used are perseverance, determination, and his kindness to others. These qualities are important not only in everyday life to succeed at the task at hand, but also on the battle field to ensure, that you have given your all to make sure that your mission will be a success. Without these traits he would have been just an ordinary leader, who would have never been remembered for much more then just being a ruler like any other.

Discussion

Charlemagne's rule was marked with war. When he first became the ruler of the Franks, he was already in a war, which was still going on from his fathers rule before him. After he finished what his father had started before he died, Charlemagne dove into another campaign that tested one of his most admirable qualities; perseverance.

1

The Saxon war was carried out with such persistence and bitterness, and cost so much labor, than any other war before it. The reason for this was because like most other tribes of Germany, they were fierce people, which worshiped the devil, and were hostile to Christianity (Einard, The Life of Charlemagne translated by Turner, 1880, p.5). The Saxon war wouldn't have lasted as long as it did if had not been for the persistence of the Saxons after being conquered and subdued so many times, to keep disobeying the demands of Charlemagne, and continued worshiping the devil, and were continually disobedient to the throne. Charlemagne would not let this stand, and continued to conquer the Saxons, and many times they were so beaten down, they promised to give up worshiping the devil all together and convert to Christianity for good, but still never followed through with their promises of obedience. Finally after many years of fighting with the Saxons they finally agreed to renounce worshiping the devil, and adhere to the sacraments of Christianity.

With the continuing struggle with the Saxons Charlemagne showed his true perseverance, by never giving up on his cause. He could have easily just let the Saxons continue in their satanic worship, and turn a blind eye to them, but his strong morals would not let him do that. With his strong will and perseverance, he continued to wage war against the Saxons, until they agreed to his terms to become Christian like the rest of the Frankish empire. Without his perseverance, he would have showed weakness, which may have led to more uprisings, and problems for him in the future. His perseverance was his strong point in the war with the Saxons, but later in his rule he would need more then just that to defeat his other enemies.

2

Even though his war with the Saxons was his greatest endeavor of his rule, it was not his only accomplishment.

He continued his conquest to expand the Frankish empire, with his another great battle that proved to be his second greatest feat behind the war with the Saxons. This next war took more then just his perseverance, it also took a lot of determination to complete, which was another strong quality that Charlemagne had.

The war with the Huns followed 791, and except for the Saxon war, was the greatest that he waged. He took it up with more spirit than any other of his wars, and made far greater preparations for it. The war took about seven years to complete. With the war over the Franks raided the palace, and found more treasure and riches, than any other war they had ever been a part of. The war was almost bloodless in terms of the Franks. They lost only one chief man, who was Eric, Duke of Friuli (Einard, The Life of Charlemagne translated by Turner, 1880, p.7). Although there were many wars to follow the war with the Huns, Charlemagne's later life was extremely important to his legend.

Charlemagne's war with the Huns tested his determination far more then any other war he had been in before. He had to prepare much more before the war to ensure a victory with as few losses as possible to his own army, against a strong and formidable enemy. His determination paid off heavily with the treasures he was able to secure