Under Charlemagne the Frankish kingdom would expand through numerous wars of conquest to become the largest empire Europe would see until Napoleon in the nineteenth century. Charlemagne’s father had overthrown a previous ruling family and had been crowned King of the Franks by a papal representative, a title that Charlemagne inherited upon his father’s death in 768. An important figure in the recovery from the Dark Ages was Charles the Great, more commonly known as Charlemagne. During this era new institutions would arise that would serve as the foundation for much of the social, economic, and political culture of the entire Middle Ages. The Early Middle Ages spans a period of roughly 250 years during which Western Europe was trying to recover from a bleak period following the collapse of the Roman Empire. Chapter 7: The Early Middle Ages 750-1000