Charlemagne's Dream
The Rise and Fall of the Carolingian Empire
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Charlemagne's Dream
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Narrated by:
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By:
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James Palmer
About this listen
Today, the Carolingians are best known as the dynasty of Charlemagne. In a few remarkable decades spanning the late eighth and early ninth centuries, Charlemagne united much of modern-day Europe through conquest and diplomacy, establishing the continent's first empire since the fall of Rome.
In Charlemagne's Dream, historian James T. Palmer looks beyond Charlemagne alone to tell the full story of the rise and fall of the massively consequential Carolingian dynasty-the men and women who laid the foundations for his achievements, and the colorful heirs who squandered his legacy. Carolingian rulers established the royal court as a place of learning, attracting scholars and philosophers and driving a cultural and intellectual renaissance. They fought and traded with power centers as far-flung as Córdoba, Constantinople, and Baghdad. In allying with the pope, they forever changed the relationship between church and state in the West. And they dispatched the first missionaries to northern Europe, expanding Christendom's reach farther than ever before.
Charlemagne's Dream details the powerfully human stories of the Carolingians, showing how their pursuit of ever-greater power built one of the world's great empires.©2026 James Palmer
Critic reviews
Charlemagne dreamed of much - of restoring the Roman empire, of creating a new Christian society, and of renewing scholarship, the arts, and the law. He warred and plundered and piled onto his head the crowns of the Franks and Lombards as well as the sacred diadem of the Roman empire. But in a vision, Charlemagne foresaw that his legacy would be wasted by his enemies and heirs, which it was. The story of Charlemagne and the Carolingians is one of hubris and nemesis, of fortune's wheel, and of the wages of ambition. James T. Palmer tells it with authority, energy, and zest (Martyn Rady, author of THE HABSBURGS)
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