After the death of Pippin III the Short (714-768), his sons Charles (751-771) and Charles (742-814) shared the throne. After the early death of his brother, Charles became sole ruler of the Frankish Empire in 771. In numerous battles he extended his empire, the largest since the Roman Empire, over what is now France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and laid the foundations for a Christian Occident. At Christmas in the year 800, he had Pope Leo III. (750-816) crown him Roman Emperor in Rome. In addition to trade, commerce and agriculture, he promoted cultural development and the sciences and also created a comprehensive legal order, including wine law. He also promoted viticulture through numerous laws and donations of vineyards, as evidenced by numerous documents, mostly to monasteries and religious orders in well over 50 places.
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