The stepfather of Europe
One of the silliest discussions which always arise in some historiographical (cough) circles is Charlemagne's alleged paternity of Europe -- the "united" and "fraternal" Europe which those fellows in Brussels idealize, not the real one. It is part of the eternal endeavor to find a father (why not a mother, I wonder?) to every single thing on Earth.
First of all, I do believe that to try to find a presige reference for the EU exploiting and distorting the past is shameful. Especially because with this object, the results are always ridiculous due to ignorance and political oportunism. It's a sorry state of affairs when politicians play historians and when historians play politicians. It's obvious that the first unifiers of what is now the greater part of the EU were, quite simply, Napoleon and Hitler, both of them strongmen who got there by flexing military muscle. In any case, characters which aren't that worthy of the European "peace" and "solidarity" which Brussels chants so enthusiastically.
Now of course, as the pan-europeanists aren't as dumb as to look for idols in these two characters -- despite the fact that that, in Napoleon's case, French patriotic mysticism has exalted him ever since the 19th century all the way to Sarkozy -- it has proven necessary to go back even further in order to see if there was anyone who adjusted to the requirements of being the "father" of the pretended "European unity". They could have gone back to Charles V, Constantine or the first Roman emperors, but it so turns out our friend Charlemagne (742-814) took the cake.
I, for one, think that Charlemagne would die laughing if he saw this. The Emperor of the Franks was remarkable in many ways, for instance in his intelligence and culture, but he was also cruel, vindictive and authoritarian. Education -- despite what some Rousseauian philosophers may say about everyone being good by nature -- never guarantees that a person may be exemplary in his dealings with others: for instance, a great part of German society in the 1930's was one of the most cultured in Europe, and yet ended up voting for Hitler.
Charlemagne's qualifications for "father of Europe" came in 799, and it responded more to vanity and political prestige than anything else. His intention, quite simply, was to rebuild the Western Roman Empire, not a united Europe stretching from Finland to Portugal with a utopical incorporation of Al-Andalus in an Alliance of Civilizations avant la lettre.
The great lows of Charlemagne's biography -- which are usually silenced in pan-Europeanist discourse -- are, for instance, that French nationalism in the 19th century had already grabbed him for use as father of the Franks, the Regnum Francorum, or that the fact that he is so idealized ignores the fact that his entire work crumbled apart after his death. In the year 775, for instance, he launched a punitive expedition against the Saxons which nowadays would be considered a real genocide.
Charlemagne was a statesmen who intended to secure Carolingian provinces through a system of Marches which would give place, for instance, to the counties of Catalonia. It would be better to say that Charlemagne was the father of Catalonia, or even Andorra, than of Europe, which is far too pretentious.
It is rather sad to have to hear such nonsense such as that Charlemagne was a pionneer in the Bologna process by creating a "curriculum" in 790, assertion which was made by Stefano Maria Cingolani no less. With all due respect to Mr. Cingolani, who happens to be a great scholar on the times, the comparison is absurd.
One thing is Alcuin of York's reform which allowed the promotion of Romance languges or to give shape to the Imperial Chancelorship, and the 21st century Bologna process, which is a nebulous, confused thing which has caused an enormous stink among students, scholars and academics throughout the continent, is quite another.
Charlemagne never reached Ireland or Sweden, which are now part of the EU, and it is even surprising that he should unite lands such as Saxony where he performed a frightening genocide. Let us add that both Napoleon and Hitler inspired themselves from Charlemagne when it came to forging their empires. For Napoleon, Charlemagne was the father of the French nation, but Hitler considered him as a Germanic chieftain who submitted Central and Eastern Europe.
Another sample of this ridiculous Charlemagnian current is the creation of the Karlspreis -- Charlemagne prize. It's so unintentionally funny, I'd die laughing. Especially looking back at the EU's track record when it comes to contest, which have ended up degenerating in the supernatural, revolting and grotesque display of peasantry which is the Eurovision festival, manipulated by Eastern European countries which vote each other, or the European Film Awards -- anyone know they exist? -- a cheap and little-known copy of the Oscars ceremony in Hollywood, given by the European Film Academy.
Anyhow, the Karlspreis is given by the city of Aachen ever since 1950 to all those who "have worked in favor of European unification". It all started in 1949, when Kurt Pfeiffer proposed his prize to a cultural group called "Corona Legentivm Aqvensis". Symbolically speaking, the prize is a medal with Charlemagne's bust on it -- he kept his court at Aachen -- a certificate, and a juicy 5000 euro check. Among the happy winners of the prize are the Pope John Paul II, the European Commission (eh??), king Juan Carlos I, Henry Kissinger, the people of Luxemburg, Tony Blair, Felipe Gonzáliez, Bill Clinton, Giscard d'Estaign... Let's conclude by saying that they were people, to say the least, of dubious merit in this field (And how the hell did the Commission get a prize?). And in 1980, there was no winner at all. No-one knows why...
Now, the most ridiculous thing of all was giving the 2002 Karlspreis, no less, to the Euro (WHAT?!?). How the bloody hell can a currency receive a prize?!? Well, in any case, it seems it's possible. But let's not imagine that the British pound or the Swiss frank will ever get a Karlspreis.
Charlemagne, rather than the father, was the stepfather of what now is the EU.
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Originally Posted by Ferrets54
It's like suggesting the Commonwealth should give out a Clive of India prize or a Lord Kitchener prize... 
