Charlemagne

Son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. First emperor in western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire; traditionally held as the first Holy Roman Emperor, although the title was not used until the 13th century. Charlemagne was King of the Franks (768-814), king of the Lombards (774-814), and crowned emperor of the West (800-814) by Pope Leo III. Patron of the arts who worked to revive the culture of the Roman Empire to its former glory under the Christian emperor Constantine.