814 CE
The death of Charlemagne brought to a close one of the most transformative reigns in European history, leaving an empire that stretched from the North Sea to central Italy and from the Atlantic to the Elbe.
Politics & Power
- Charlemagne died on January 28 at his palace in Aachen at the age of about seventy-one, after a reign of over four decades that had unified much of Western Europe under a single Christian ruler for the first time since the fall of Rome.
- His sole surviving legitimate son, Louis the Pious, inherited the entire Carolingian Empire, having already been crowned co-emperor by Charlemagne in 813.
- Charlemagne's legacy included the Carolingian Renaissance, the spread of Christianity across Germanic lands, the establishment of a feudal administrative system, and the revival of the Western imperial idea.
Climate & Environment
- Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 276 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
Population & Demographics
- World population is estimated to have been approximately 264 million.