The Carolingian Empire covered much of the Western and Central Europe but it collapsed in less than hundred years after the death of Charlemagne in 814. Several factors led to the fall of the Carolingian Empire. The division of Frankish lands among the male members of the Carolingian dynasty was a major factor. The Carolingians extended their rule over most Western and Central Europe in less than one half of a century and became regarded as the renewers of the Roman Empire after the Imperial coronation of Charlemagne in 800. The Carolingian Empire achieved its greatest territorial extent during the reign of Charlemagne (768-814) who added Lombardy, Saxony, Danubian Plain and Spanish March to the Realm of the Franks. However, Charlemagne’s empire started to decline already under his successor Louis the Pious (814-840) and collapsed by the end of the 9th century.
