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Charlemagne (2 April 742 – 28 January 814 CE), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus or Karolus Magnus, French: Charles Le Grand or Charlemagne, German: Karl der Grosse, Italian: Carlo Magno or Carlomagno) or Charles I, was King of the Franks who united most of Western Europe during the Middle Ages and laid the foundations for modern France and Germany. He took the Frankish throne from 768 and became King of Italy from 774. From 800 he became the first Holy Roman Emperor - the first recognized Roman emperor in Western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state he founded is called the Carolingian Empire.<br/><br/> The oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, Charlemagne became king in 768 following the death of his father. He was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. Carloman's sudden death in 771 under unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the undisputed ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. Charlemagne continued his father's policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy, and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them upon penalty of death, at times leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden. Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter's Basilica.<br/><br/> Called the 'Father of Europe' (pater Europae), Charlemagne united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of cultural and intellectual activity within the Catholic Church. Both the French and German monarchies considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagne's empire.<br/><br/> Charlemagne died in 814, having ruled as emperor for just over thirteen years. He was laid to rest in his imperial capital of Aachen in what is today Germany. His son Louis the Pious succeeded him.
The <i>Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry</i> is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of French Gothic manuscript illumination, showing the late International Gothic phase of the style. It is a book of hours: a collection of prayers to be said at the canonical hours.<br/><br/> It was created between c. 1412 and 1416 for the extravagant royal bibliophile and patron John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers. When the three painters and their sponsor died in 1416, possibly victims of plague, the manuscript was left unfinished.<br/><br/> It was further embellished in the 1440s by an anonymous painter, who many art historians believe was Barthelemy d'Eyck. In 1485-1489, it was brought to its present state by the painter Jean Colombe on behalf of the Duke of Savoy. Acquired by the Duc d'Aumale in 1856, the book is now MS 65 in the Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/>Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/>Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/>Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/>Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The River Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river. From its Himalayan source on the Tibetan plateau, it flows some 4,350 km (2,703 miles) through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, finally draining in the South China Sea.<br/><br/> The recent construction of hydroelectric dams on the river and its tributaries has reduced the water flow dramatically during the dry season in Southeast Asia.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The River Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river. From its Himalayan source on the Tibetan plateau, it flows some 4,350 km (2,703 miles) through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, finally draining in the South China Sea.<br/><br/> The recent construction of hydroelectric dams on the river and its tributaries has reduced the water flow dramatically during the dry season in Southeast Asia.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The River Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river. From its Himalayan source on the Tibetan plateau, it flows some 4,350 km (2,703 miles) through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, finally draining in the South China Sea.<br/><br/> The recent construction of hydroelectric dams on the river and its tributaries has reduced the water flow dramatically during the dry season in Southeast Asia.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pak Ou Caves are upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers. Legend maintains that King Setthathirat discovered these two caves in the 16th century CE, and they have been venerated ever since. Both caves are full of Buddha images, some of venerable age.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dr Paul Neis undertook a scientific mission to Cochinchina and Laos on behalf of the French Minister of Public Education. He returned to Bangkok by way of Chiang Mai and north Thailand. His mission lasted for 19 months between 1882 and 1884.
The Pak Ou Cave—plus the Tham Ting (lower cave) and the Tham Theung (upper cave)—are caves situated near the confluence of the Mekong and the Ou rivers some 25 km north of Luang Prabang. The caves are notable for their miniature Buddha sculptures, which have been placed on altars among the stalagmites by local villagers for centuries. After visiting the cave on the Mekong expedition in 1867, Francis Garnier described coming upon the cave as a “striking impression.”
This illustration by Louis Delaporte is one of dozens he produced during his two-year venture (1866-68) with the Mekong Exploration Commission sponsored by the French Ministry of the Navy, the intention of which was to lay the groundwork for the expansion of French colonies in Indochina. Traveling the Mekong by boat, the small French delegation voyaged from Saigon to Phnom Penh to Luang Prabang, then farther north into the uncharted waters of Upper Laos and China's Yunnan province, before returning to Hanoi in 1868 by foot, accompanied by porters and elephants.
French expeditioner Garnier wrote: “Despite the originality of this religious decoration, I wondered if it did not lessen the natural grandeur of this cave and whether the sparkling of stalactites might not have been preferable to the faded gilt and colors stained by humidity of these Buddhist trinkets. Travelers and river boatmen are the pious clientele of this cave and the priests who tend it and dwell on the opposite bank, in the village of Pak Hou, never lack flowers or offerings.”
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand. The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand. The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand. The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.<br/><br/> The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.<br/><br/> The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.<br/><br/> The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.<br/><br/> The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.<br/><br/> The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.<br/><br/> The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.<br/><br/> The largest Sea Gypsy group are the Urak Lawoi, numbering around 3,000. They live in simple shacks on beaches stretching south from Phuket to the Tarutao islands and make a living by fishing and beachcombing. Their two largest settlements are at Ko Sirey and Rawai in the southeast of Phuket island.
The River Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river. From its Himalayan source on the Tibetan plateau, it flows some 4,350 km (2,703 miles) through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, finally draining in the South China Sea.<br/><br/> The recent construction of hydroelectric dams on the river and its tributaries has reduced the water flow dramatically during the dry season in Southeast Asia.
The River Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river. From its Himalayan source on the Tibetan plateau, it flows some 4,350 km (2,703 miles) through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, finally draining in the South China Sea.<br/><br/> The recent construction of hydroelectric dams on the river and its tributaries has reduced the water flow dramatically during the dry season in Southeast Asia.
The River Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river. From its Himalayan source on the Tibetan plateau, it flows some 4,350 km (2,703 miles) through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, finally draining in the South China Sea.<br/><br/> The recent construction of hydroelectric dams on the river and its tributaries has reduced the water flow dramatically during the dry season in Southeast Asia.
The River Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river. From its Himalayan source on the Tibetan plateau, it flows some 4,350 km (2,703 miles) through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, finally draining in the South China Sea.<br/><br/> The recent construction of hydroelectric dams on the river and its tributaries has reduced the water flow dramatically during the dry season in Southeast Asia.