Three examples of Charlemagne's influence in the architecture or literature of the Early Middle Ages

Charlemagne, a.k.a. Charles the Great, he was a great political leader in the 8th and 9th century and ruled the Western Empire Of Europe. Charlemagne was good when it came to speaking, which showed he had charisma. During the Byzantine era, rulers began to notice that if you had religion, the Church, on your side than you would be very strong. Charlemagne was very religious and added to the Church's treasury by filling it with gold, silver, and jewels. He sent a lot of gifts to the popes. Charlemagne wanted to make St Peter's church the best and he wanted to put have the Church in Rome under his influence so he could make it better. When he crowned king by the Pope in 800 his influence in architecture and literature became apparent in the Middle Ages.

The Caroliginian Renaissance refers to the time of a certain type of culture that arose when Charlemagne became ruler. Charles was so into latin that he had many writers write in latin. Before Charlemagne was in charge the people had a lot of metal in their art, he merely added on to that. The picture below is the story of Christ's supper. You can tell it is from the Carolginian era because of how full of life the figures are.

Charlemagne also had a large effect on the architecture of his time. Charlemagne respected the greatness that Rome had and wanted to mirror that. The architecture of that time imitated Roman architecture but also had hints of Early Christian architecture and the architecture from the Byzantine era. All of these elements added together ended up in a very distinctive type of construction. A good example of the mix of these different cultures would be the Palatine Chapel in Aachen. It has hints of the Byzantine era when Justinian ruled because of its shape, octagonal, like the Justinian church in Ravenna. The touch of Carolingian can be seen in one of the entrances that is colossal. It is an idea from the Carolingian time called "westwork." "A westwork (also westwerk, the German word) is the monumental, west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church.

The exterior consists of multiple storeys between two towers. The interior includes an entrance vestibule, a chapel and a series of galleries overlooking the nave."("Westwork").

In the art of that day, especially in manuscripts, you would find that much of the art are depictions of the old testament. The covers of these manuscripts would be covered in gold and precious jewels and stones. The panels would be set by ivory.

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