Carolus the Great .
King of the Franks and Emperor of the West. Born in Neustria in 742, he died in 814.
He was undoubtedly the founder of the Carolingian dynasty and its most famous representative. He succeeded his father Pepin the Short in 768, a fatal date for the Basques in their struggles with the Franks. In that year they fully achieved the dismemberment of the Duchy of Vasconia . He reigned with his brother Carloman until 771, and from that date, alone. With his fifty-six military expeditions he subdued the neighboring kingdoms and nations such as the Lombards (774), Saxons (777), Avars and Spanish Arabs (785). The invasion of Vasconia was in 778 culminating in the famous defeat of Roncesvalles . As a result of these events, he created within the Frankish monarchy a kingdom of Aquitaine, whose main mission would be to permanently monitor the activity of the Muslim lords on the Pyrenean border. This Aquitanian kingdom was established in favor of his son Luis (Ludovico P o) to try to militarily dominate the Basques.
The Duchy of Vasconia was annexed to the kingdom, but governed separately by Lupo Sanzio. In the following years, he dedicated himself to dominating the Basque duchy, especially the Fecenzac that had revolted under Adalaric, titled in documents as "quidem Wasco." In 806, Charlemagne divided the kingdom among his sons. He assigned Aquitaine and therefore Vasconia to Pepin I. That same year, the Navarrese and Pamplona residents once again formed part of Vasconia, which had adhered to the Franks. From now on, Charlemagne took second place, with his son Louis, who was already in Tarazona in 807, fighting against the Basques. In 812, a second defeat was almost ed at Roncesvalles.
In 814, the emperor died, and Louis, Charles, and Pepin took possession of their respective kingdoms, the latter as king of Aquitaine. According to some official chroniclers, the defeat at Roncesvalles soured the emperor's final days. As a champion of official Christianity and Western civilization, he published notable laws called Capitularies, reformed justice, founded schools, and perfected administration, but he had no qualms about subjugating Christians or allying himself with Muslims according to the conveniences of the moment.
After the Battle of Roncesvalles, he embarked on a policy of denationalizing the most powerful peoples of his empire, the Aquitanians and the Basques. His plan was to dissolve the subject peoples for the benefit of his own people. His measures, carried out methodically and tenaciously, can be summarized as follows:
- a) Appointment of Frankish counts, abbots and vassals in the Aquitaine and Basque regions.
- b) Deportation to Burgundy of the rebellious Aquitanians and Basques, both individually and in groups.
- c) Establishment of Frankish and mainly Burgundian colonies within the two countries.
He implemented these provisions, but without dismembering Aquitaine or Vasconia. His goal was simply to merge the Franks, Aquitanians, and Basques into a single people, the Franks. After his death, his son Louis and his son, Pepin (the Aquitanian king), continued their father's work by trying to destroy the Basques.