Charlemagne:
Charlemagne was also
known as Karl and Charles the Great, ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to
814. In 771, Charlemagne became king of the Franks, a Germanic tribe in
present-day Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and western Germany.
He wanted to unite all Germanic peoples into one kingdom, and convert people to
Christianity.He did this by using
warfare. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned
emperor of the Romans. When he died in
814, Charlemagne’s empire included most of Western Europe.He is referred to by some as the father of
Europe.
John Ball: John Ball was an
English priest involved in the peasant revolt in 1381.He was known as a preacher who taught the
doctrines of John Wycliffe and especially by his strong feelings on the
principle of social equality. Because of this value, he got in trouble with the
archbishop of Canterbury, and on three occasions he was sent to prison. He was excommunicated,
and in 1366 people were forbidden to hear him preach. He urged his supporters to
kill the principal lords of the kingdom and the lawyers and he was one of the
people who rushed into the Tower of London to seize Simon of Sudbury,
archbishop of Canterbury. When the rebels left, Ball fled to the midland
counties, but was taken prisoner at Coventry and executed in the presence of
Richard II. on the 15th of July 1381.