The Culture of Charlemagne

Ancient Male Rulers
Constantine the Great lived from 272 AD to 337 AD. Charlemagne lived from 742 AD to 814 AD. They were separated by four hundred years, ruled over separate parts of the world—yet they shared some things in common that united them in spite of their differences: they were both, for example, warrior-kings—rulers who wielded the sword to dominate and hold power; they were both, also, members of the Christian faith. Constantine’s mother Helena is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, while Constantine himself ended the persecution of the Christians in Rome and brought the Church out of the underground. Charlemagne, for his part, was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor by the pope on Christmas Day in 800 AD for saving Rome from the barbarians. Charlemagne ruled over the Germanic lands while Constantine ruled over the declining Roman Empire prior to the onset of the Dark Ages. Though separated by four centuries and two cultural experiences, Constantine and Charlemagne were actually rather similar as a result of their penchant for war and for the Faith.
Constantine was not a baptized Christian when he won the Roman throne. The story of his victory, with the vision of the sign in the heavens reading that in the sign of the cross, he would conquer, paints Constantine as a Christian emperor (Odahl, 1981). However, the fact is that he was not baptized until towards the end of his life. He did not free the Christian religion in what till then had been pagan Rome—but he himself was not like Charlemagne, who was baptized Christian as a prince of the Franks. Charlemagne, like Constantine, also engaged in battles to secure his kingdom—but unlike Constantine, he never had to engage rivals for the throne. Charlemagne instead subdued the various barbarian tribes all around the Frankish kingdom. He even saved Rome from invaders at one point, which led the pope to recognize Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor—the successor, in other words, to Constantine. Thus, both Charlemagne and Constantine were warrior-rulers and were supporters of the Christian Church. Both were also called “the Great.” Constantine is known as Constantine the Great and Charlemagne means literally Charles the Great. However, Constantine was born a pagan and only later became a Christian. He also ruled over a pagan empire whereas Charlemagne, who was baptized as a child ruled over the Christian Franks and subdued the barbarians and pagans.
The cultural differences of the two men were that Constantine ruled over the Roman Empire which was built on a pagan culture. Charlemagne ruled over the Franks who had been barbarians prior to their conversion under Clovis at the end of the 5th century. Clovis ruled the Franks and when he converted to Christianity, all the Franks did as well (Shanzer, 1998). Charlemagne was thus brought up in a Christian kingdom and ruled over a people who shared the Christian culture and faith. Constantine ruled over people who were mainly pagan and lived in a pagan culture. The Romans had gladiator fights, worshipped pagan gods and goddesses, and persecuted Christians. The culture of Charlemagne was different: the Franks worshipped Christ, did not persecute others, and did not engage in brutal contests to the death.
A modern day example of Constantine might be Donald Trump, who prior to his election as a Republican was well known for supporting Democrats (and even being friends with Hillary and Bill Clinton). Now he is heralded as a hero of the Republicans and an enemy of Democrats. A modern day example of Charlemagne might be Putin, who was raised in Soviet Russia and is now admired by the Russians and the Orthodox Church as being a savior of Russian culture.

References
Shanzer, D. (1998). Dating the baptism of Clovis: the bishop of Vienne vs the bishop of
Tours. Early Medieval Europe, 7(1), 29-57.
Odahl, C. M. (1981). The Celestial Sign on Constantine's Shields at the Battle of the
Milvian Bridge. Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, 2, 15-28.