Question

(a) Describe ONE similarity between the rule of Clovis, king of the Franks, and the Emperor Charlemagne.

(b) Describe ONE difference between the rule of Clovis, king of the Franks, and the Emperor Charlemagne.
(c) Explain ONE reason for the difference described in (b).

Answer 1

Both Clovis and Charlemagne were Kings of the Franks. Both were also Catholic rulers. Both expanded their kingdoms and helped to spread Christianity.

Clovis was a very strong military leader. This is what allowed him to create such a vast empire. Clovis after uniting his kingdom would divide it again when he tried to fairly divide it up among his sons. This led to civil war.
Charlemagne was a much weaker military leader. He would actually blend Germanic, Roman, and Christian elements in his kingdom.
Clovis united his people to fight back against the coming Roman Empire. When Charlemagne arrived Roman rule had been part of Frankish life for years. Where Clovis fought to maintain independence, Charlemagne welcomed some of the Roman traditions.

Answer 2

a) Charlemagne was the King of Franks and Roman Emperor. He was responsible for uniting western and central Europe. Clovis also united the Franks into a single kingdom. Charlemagne also was Christian and Clovis became Christian in 496.

b) Charlemagne was a weak military leader while Clovis was a strong one.

c) Because of Clovis’s strong military leadership, he achieved military dominance over other Germanic tribes, but Charlemagne mixed Germanic, Christian and Roman elements to have dominance, because of that Merovingian kings retained their titles and the kingdom was united due to oath. Clovis divided his kingdom between his sons and this was also a reason for his downfall.