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Charlemagne or Karl “the Great” (ruled AD 768-814) is regarded by scholars and lay people alike as one of the greatest Europeans in history. Today, both the French and Germans claim him as one of their earliest known and most revered monarchs due to his great deeds and the fact that he was one of the best recorded early medieval European kings.

Like his Frankish ancestors, Charlemagne saw the importance in fostering trade within his realm. The emperor continued with his predecessors’ policies of promoting trade fairs and towns, but then took things to the next logical level by expanding trade to neighboring kingdoms. Slaves, wine, grains, and hand made goods were exported from the Carolingian Empire along the Rhine River to the North and Baltic seas where they arrived in such places to the north as London and Sweden. The trade network helped to revitalize the depressed economic conditions of former Roman territories of the west and north and brought regions such as Scandinavia, which were not part of the Roman Empire, into this new system. Charlemagne also developed regular trade with the Byzantine Empire to the east and the various Islamic dynasties in North Africa and the Near East. <ref> Misbach, p. 267</ref> The creation of a widespread trade network was truly remarkable, but it would not have been possible without technological advances that were made in the agricultural sector during the Carolingian Empire.

When the Carolingian Empire came to power, most western European peasants were still using Roman era farming methods and technologies. Not only were most of these methods and technologies outdated and extremely labor intensive, they were also better adapted to the longer growing seasons of the Mediterranean basin. Two of the most important technological advances in farming that were made during the Carolingian Empire were the invention of the heavy wheeled moldboard plow and the modern horse harness. <ref> Misbach, p. 268</ref> These innovations helped to make farming less labor intensive, which meant that either more land could be worked by an individual or more time could be dedicated to other pursuits. Along with these agricultural inventions, Charlemagne and the Carolingians began view farming itself in a much different and more efficient way than the Romans did.