[1] In the headings of this book, the form of the name _Charlemagne_ is used throughout, in preference to the English form _Charles the Great_, or _Charles I._ (which suggests Charles Stuart), or the Latin form _Carolus Magnus_, or the grotesque combination of the Teutonic _Karl_ with the Latin _Magnus_. The editor does not overlook the difficulties of the case. The word _Charlemagne_ is conceded to be misleading because of its French form. It is natural to infer that the man so named was peculiarly connected with the French people or race. The fact is otherwise; for the illustrious leader of the Franks was much nearer akin to the Germanic and Teutonic peoples, than to the Gallic or French. The reader should therefore keep it in mind that Charlemagne was not a Frenchman, nor did he belong to the predecessors of the French, despite the form of his name. He was not king of the French, but “king of the _Franks_” as the author says above. And “with all his wide, far-reaching schemes, he remained, it would seem, at heart a ... Frank ... and we may conjecture that Neustria was to him as little of a homeland as Aquitaine or even Italy.” (See below, p. 280.) For the extent of his kingdom, which centred about the Rhine, not the Seine, see below, pp. 11, 12. On the other hand, it may be said in favor of the form _Charlemagne_ that it has not only obtained common usage, but it has the authority of Milton, Scott, and other English writers, while in the United States it is to-day the common, almost exclusive form. This seems to be sufficient reason for its adoption. [2] The dates of these landmarks are as follows:-- Constantinople was founded 330, A.D.; Alaric captured Rome 410; The Hegira, or Flight, of Mohammed occurred 622; America was discovered 1492; The Reformation began with Luther’s nailing his 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg in 1517; And the great French Revolution occurred between 1789 and 1795, the dreadful climax being in 1793. [3] New Rome was Constantinople, the seat of the Eastern, or Byzantine empire. [4] Justinian, Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565, is chiefly known to fame by his important work, the codification of the Roman laws. It was his generals Belisareus and Narses who destroyed the Vandal kingdom in Africa and the Ostragothic kingdom in Italy, restoring those countries to the Byzantine sway. In 550 several Spanish cities both on the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic, were ceded to Justinian, and they did not shake off the yoke until 620: so that for 70 years Rome had the empty honor of numbering Spain among her provinces. [5] One of the fifteen decisive battles of the world was that fought in the year 732, the battle-field being between the cities of Tours and Poitiers, France. By English historians it is usually called the battle of Tours, while the French call it Poitiers. It was here that Charles Martel checked the tide of the Moorish invasion into Europe.