Charles DE FRANCE

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Medieval Lands by Charles Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy CHARLES, son of PEPIN "le Bref" King of the Franks & his wife Bertrada[Berta] "au Grand Pied" (near Aix-la-Chapelle 2 Apr748-Aix-la-Chapelle 28 Jan 814, bur Aix-la-Chapelle, ChapelleSainte-Marie). He is named first son of King Pépin and Bertrada inthe Cartulaire of Saint-Bertin[56]. At the coronation of his fatherin 754, Charles was also anointed by Pope Stephen III [II][57]. Onthe death of his father, he received the larger part of Austrasia,Neustria and western Aquitaine, succeeding as CHARLES I joint King ofthe Franks, jointly with his brother Carloman, and was crowned 9 Oct768 at Noyon. He suppressed the revolt of Hunald in Aquitaine in 769,over which he quarrelled with his brother Carloman[58]. On the deathof his brother in 771, he set aside the rights of his nephew andbecame sole king of the Franks. He defended the Pope against theLombards, conquering their kingdom in 773. He is recorded in chartersas having used the title "rex Francorum et Langobardorum" from 5 Jun774, adding "atque patricius Romanorum" from 16 Jul 774[59]. Heaccepted the submission of Saxony at Paderborn in 777. During hiscampaign in Spain in 778, he captured Pamplona, while Zaragoza,Huesca, Barcelona and Girona swore allegiance to him. He had his sonscrowned king of the Lombards and king of the Aquitainians by PopeAdrian I at Rome 15 Apr 781. He incorporated Bavaria and Carinthiainto his kingdom in 787, followed by Thuringia, Hessen and Alemannia,by 797. He re-established Pope Leo III after the latter was ambushedby the Romans in 799, and was crowned CHARLES I “Charlemagne” Emperorof the Romans in St Peter's Rome 25 Dec 800, which the Pope justifiedtechnically on the basis of an alleged vacancy of the imperial throne,which could not be occupied by a woman, during the reign atConstantinople of Empress Eirene. At the assembly of Thionville 6 Feb806, Emperor Charles decided the division of territories between hissons. Byzantine ambassadors from Emperor Mikhael I finally recognisedCharlemagne as emperor (although not "Roman Emperor") atAix-la-Chapelle in 812[60]. After the death of his two older sons, hecrowned his son Louis as associate emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle 11 Sep813. The necrology of Prüm records the death "814 V Kal Feb" of"Karolus imperator"[61]. The Annales Fuldenses record the death "814V Kal Feb" of "Karolus imperator" at Aachen at the age of about71[62]. m firstly (769, repudiated [770/early 771]) --- of the Lombards,daughter of DESIDERIUS King of the Lombards & his wife Ansa ---.Einhard calls King Charles's first wife "filiam Desiderii regisLangobardorum"[63]. The Annales Fuldenses record that "Berhta regina"brought "filiam Desiderii regis Langobardorum" back from Italy as thewife for "Karolo filio suo"[64]. Her husband sent her back to herfather after repudiating her. m secondly (Aix-la-Chapelle 771 before 30 Apr) HILDEGARD, daughter ofGEROLD Graf im Kraichgau [Udalrichinger] & his wife Imma(758-Thionville, Moselle 30 Apr 783[65], bur Metz, église abbatiale deSaint-Arnoul[66]). Einhard refers to Hildegard as "de genteSuavorum"[67]. Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatoris names her"Hildigardam quæ erat de cognatione Gotefridi ducis Alamannorum" andspecifies that she was the daughter of Imma[68]. The AnnalesLaurissenses record the death "783 pridie Kal Mai" of "Hildegardisregina" and her burial "iuxta urbem Mettensem in basilica apostolorumet beati Arnulfi"[69]. She died from the after effects of childbirth,according to the epitaph of her daughter Hildegard[70]. PaulusDiaconus wrote an epitaph to "Hildegardis regina"[71]. m thirdly (Worms Oct 783[72]) FASTRADA, daughter of RADULF Graf & hiswife --- (-Frankfurt-am-Main 10 Oct 794, bur Mainz, St Alban[73]).The Annales Laurissenses record the marriage in 783 at Worms of KingCharles and "domne Fastradæ regina"[74]. Einhard's Annals record theking's marriage in 783 to "filiam Radolfi comitis natione Francam,nomine Fastradam"[75]. Fastrada, wife of King Charles, is referred toas "de Orientalium Francorum, Germanorum videlicet" by Einhard[76].Her cruelty triggered the revolt of her husband's illegitimate sonPépin "le Bossu" in 792[77]. The Annales Xantenses record the deathin Frankfurt in 794 of "Fastrada regina"[78]. Einhard records thedeath in 794 of "Fastrada regina" at Frankfurt and her burial"Mogontiaci apud sanctum Albanum"[79]. Theodulf wrote the epitaph of"Fastradæ reginæ"[80]. m fourthly ([794/autumn 796]) LIUTGARD, daughter of --- (-Tours 4 Jun800, bur Tours, église Saint-Martin[81]). Einhard names "LiudgardamAlamannam" as King Charles's fourth wife, specifying that she diedchildless[82]. Angilbert's poem Ad Pippinum Italiæ regum names"Liutgardis" as the wife of King Charles[83]. The AnnalesLaurissenses Continuatio records the death "II Non Iun 800" at Toursof "domnæ Liutgardæ coniugis" and her burial at Tours[84]. Mistress (1): HIMILTRUD, daughter of ---. "Himiltrude nobili puella"is named mother of "Pippinum" in the Gesta Mettensium[85]. Mistress (2): ---. Einhard refers to "Ruodhaidem" as the daughter ofKing Charles and an unnamed concubine[86]. Mistress (3): [MADELGARD] , daughter of ---. Settipani namesMadelgardis as the mistress of King Charles, and mother of Rothildisabbess of Faremoutiers[87]. However, he cites no primary source onwhich this is based, apart from a reference to an early 9th centurylist of nuns at Faremoutiers which includes the name. No referencehas been found to her in any of the sources so far consulted. Mistress (4): GERSWINDA, daughter of ---. Einhard names KingCharles's concubine "Gersuindam Saxonici generis", and her daughterAdaltrud[88]. Mistress (5): REGINA, daughter of ---. 800. Einhard names KingCharles's concubine "Reginam", and her sons "Drogonem et Hugum"[89]. Mistress (6): ADELINDIS, daughter of ---. 806. Einhard names KingCharles's concubine "Adallindem", and her son "Theodricum"[90]. King Charles I & his second wife had nine children[91]: 1. CHARLES ([772/73]-in Bavaria 4 Dec 811[92]). He is named,and his parentage recorded, in the Gesta Mettensium, which specifiesthat he was his parents' first son[93]. The Chronicon Fontanellenserecords that Charles I King of the Franks proposed a marriage between“Offæ Rege Anglorum sive Merciorum…filiam” and “Carolus iunior”, butthat King Offa refused unless “Berta filia Caroli Magni” was alsomarried to his son which was unacceptable to the Frankish king[94].King Charles ordered an embargo on trade imports from England as aresult[95]. His father associated Charles in the government ofFrancia and Saxony in 790[96]. The Annales Laurissenses record that"rex Carolus" installed "primogenitum filium suum Carolum" in "ultraSequaname…ducatum Cenomannicum" but that this reverted to his fatherin the summer of the same year[97]. From this time Charles used thetitle king, and was crowned King of the Franks at Rome 25 Dec 800.Einhard records that "Karolum filium suum [Karoli imperatoris]"invaded "terram Sclavorum…Sorabi" in 806 as far as "super Albiumfluvium" and that "Miliduoch Sclavorum dux" was killed during thecampaign[98]. At the partition agreed at Thionville in 806, Charleswas designated sovereign of Francia (Austrasia and Neustria), northernBurgundy, northern Alemannia, Thuringia, Saxony, Frisia and theBavarian Nordgau[99]. The Gesta Francorum records the death "811 IINon Dec" of "Karolus filius imperatoris qui maior natu erat"[100].Einhard's Annales also record the death "811 II Non Dec" of "Karlusfilius imperatoris qui maior natu erat"[101]. The Annales Fuldensesrecord the death "811 II Non Dec" of "Karolus filius imperator quimaior natu erat"[102]. 2. ADELAIS (in Italy [Sep 773/Jun 774]-in Italy [Jul/Aug] 774,bur Metz, église abbatiale de Saint-Arnoul). She was born during thesiege of Pavia, but died during the return journey to France[103]."Adelaid" is named daughter of King Charles in the Pauli Gesta, whenrecording her place of burial[104]. Paulus Diaconus wrote an epitaphto "Adeleidis filia Karoli regis" specifying that she was born inItaly[105]. 3. HROTHRUDIS [Rotrud] ([775]-6 Jun 810[106]). "Hruodrudem etBertham et Gislam" are named daughters of King Charles & Hildegard byEinhard[107]. Angilbert's poem Ad Pippinum Italiæ regum names (inorder) "Chrodthrudis…Berta…Gisla et Theodrada" as daughters of KingCharles[108]. Theodulf's poem Ad Carolum Rege changes the orderslightly when he names "Berta…Chrodtrudh…Gisla …Rothaidh…Hiltrudh,Tetdrada" as daughters of the king[109]. The betrothal of"Hruodrudem…quæ filiarum eius primogenita" with "Constantino, Græcorumimperatore" is recorded by Einhard[110]. Theophanes records thatEmpress Eirene sent ambassadors to "Carolum Francorum rege" tonegotiate the betrothal of "filiæ eius Erythrus" and "filio suoConstantino", dated to 781, in a later passage recording that theempress terminating the treaty "cum Francis" (dated to 787)[111]. TheAnnales Fuldenses record the betrothal of "Hruodtrudis filia regis"and "Constantino imperator" in 787[112]. She was given the nameERYTHRO in Greek[113]. Her father kept her and her sisters at courtrefusing them permission to marry[114]. Her relationship with Rorico[I] is proved by the Annales Bertiniani which record the death "867 VId Ian" of "Hludowicus abbas monasterii et nepos Karoli imperatoris exfilia maiori natu Rohtrude"[115], read together with an earlier partof the same source in which her son Louis is named "Ludowicum abbatemmonasterii Sancti Dyonisii cum fratre ipsius Gauzleno"[116]. TheGesta Francorum records the death "810 VIII Id Iun" of "Hruoddrudfilia imperatoris quæ natu maior erat"[117]. Einhard records thedeath "VIII Id Iun 810" of "Hruodtrud filia imperatories"[118]. Thenecrology of the abbey of Saint-Denis records the death "III Non Jun"of "Rotrudis filia Karoli imperatoris"[119]. Betrothed (781, contractbroken 787[120]) to Emperor KONSTANTINOS VI, son of Emperor LEON IV &his wife Eirene (14 Jan 771-Prinkipo Island [15 Aug 797/before806][121], bur Constantinople, Monastery of St Euphrosyne). Mistress:([800]) of RORICO [I], son of GAUZLIN & his wife Adeltrudis ---(-after 1 Mar 839 [840], bur Abbaye de Saint-Maur de Glanfeuil,Anjou). He lived at the court of Charlemagne. Comte de Rennes 819.Comte du Maine [832]. 4. CARLOMAN [Pépin] (777-Milan 8 Jul 810, bur Verona, San ZenoMaggiore). "Pippinus" is named, and his parentage recorded, in theGesta Mettensium, which specifies that he was his parents' secondson[122]. He was baptised "PEPIN" in Rome 15 Apr 781 by Pope Hadrian,Settipani commenting that his name was changed from Carloman[123] butthe primary source which identifies him by this name has not so farbeen identified. Crowned PEPIN I King of Italy 15 Apr 781 at Rome. - KINGS of ITALY. 5. HLUDOWIC [Louis] (Chasseneuil-du-Poitou {Vienne} [16Apr/Sep] 778-island in the Rhine near Ingelheim 20 Jun 840, bur Metz,église abbatiale de Saint-Arnoul). He is named, and his parentagerecorded, in the Gesta Mettensium, which specifies that he was hisparents' third son, born a twin with Hlothar[124]. On his father'sdeath, he adopted the title Emperor LOUIS I “der Fromme/le Pieux” 2Feb 814, crowned at Reims [Jul/Aug] 816 by Pope Stephen IV. - see below. 6. HLOTHAR [Lothar] (Chasseneuil-du-Poitou {Vienne} [16Apr/Sep] 778-[779/780]). He is named, and his parentage recorded, inthe Gesta Mettensium, which specifies that he was his parents' fourthson "qui biennis occubuit", born a twin with Hludowic[125]. PaulusDiaconus wrote an epitaph to "Chlodarii pueri regis" naming"Karolus…rex genitorque tuus, genitrix regina…Hildigarda" andspecifying that he was a twin[126]. 7. BERTRADA [Berta] ([779/80]-11 Mar, 824 or after)."Hruodrudem et Bertham et Gislam" are named daughters of King Charles& Hildegard by Einhard[127]. Angilbert's poem Ad Pippinum Italiæregum names (in order) "Chrodthrudis…Berta…Gisla et Theodrada" asdaughters of King Charles[128]. Theodulf's poem Ad Carolum Regechanges the order slightly when he names "Berta…Chrodtrudh…Gisla…Rothaidh…Hiltrudh, Tetdrada" as daughters of the king[129].The Chronicon Fontanellense records that Charles I King of the Franksproposed a marriage between “Offæ Rege Anglorum sive Merciorum…filiam”and “Carolus iunior”, but that King Offa refused unless “Berta filiaCaroli Magni” was also married to his son which was unacceptable tothe Frankish king[130]. Her father kept her and her sisters at thecourt of Aix-la-Chapelle refusing them permission to marry, but shewas banished from court by her brother Emperor Louis I on hisaccession[131]. The Vita Angilberti records the relationship between"Berta filia [rex de regina Hildigarda]" and "domnusAngilbertus"[132]. The Chronicon Centulensis records that“Angilbertus” married “regis filiam Bertam” and that they had “duosfilios Harnidum et Nithardum”[133]. Nithard names Bertha, daughter ofKing Charles, as his mother[134]. The necrology of the abbey ofSaint-Denis records the death "V Id Mar" of "Berta filia Karoliimperatoris qui dedit superiorem Curtem"[135]. Mistress: (from [795])of ANGILBERT "the Saint", son of [NITHARD & his wife Richarda]([750]-18 Feb 814, bur Saint-Riquier, église du Saint-Sauveur et deSaint-Richard). 8. GISELA (781 before May-after 800, maybe after 814)."Hruodrudem et Bertham et Gislam" are named daughters of King Charles& Hildegard by Einhard[136]. Angilbert's poem Ad Pippinum Italiæregum names (in order) "Chrodthrudis…Berta…Gisla et Theodrada" asdaughters of King Charles[137]. Theodulf's poem Ad Carolum Regechanges the order slightly when he names "Berta…Chrodtrudh…Gisla…Rothaidh…Hiltrudh, Tetdrada" as daughters of the king[138].The Annales Laurissenses record that "filia eius [Karoli regis] domnaGisla" was baptised by "archiepiscopo…Thoma" in 781[139]. She wasbaptised in Milan in [May] 781[140]. 9. HILDEGARD (Thionville [Mar/Apr] 783-[1/8] Jun 783, burMetz, église abbatiale de Saint-Arnoul). "Hildigard" is nameddaughter of King Charles in the Pauli Gesta, when recording her placeof burial[141]. Paulus Diaconus wrote an epitaph to "Hildegardisfiliæ [Karoli regis]" specifying that she lived 40 days[142]. King Charles I & his third wife had two children: 10. THEODRADA ([785]-[9 Jan 844/853]). "Theoderadam etHiltrudem" are named daughters of King Charles & Fastrada byEinhard[143]. Angilbert's poem Ad Pippinum Italiæ regum names (inorder) "Chrodthrudis…Berta…Gisla et Theodrada" as daughters of KingCharles[144]. Theodulf's poem Ad Carolum Rege changes the orderslightly when he names "Berta…Chrodtrudh…Gisla…Rothaidh…Hiltrudh,Tetdrada" as daughters of the king[145]. Named as abbess ofNotre-Dame d'Argenteuil, near Paris by her father before 814, until828. "Ludowicus…rex" names "Theodrada amita nostra filia…avi nostri"in a charter dated 9 Jan 844 which confirms her life interest in theabbey of Schwarzach-am-Main, donated to the church of Würzburg,previously belonging to "Blutendæ filiæ Folkberti quondamcomitis"[146]. Theodrada arranged for the church of Würzburg torecognise her great niece Hildegard, daughter of Ludwig II "derDeutsche" King of the East Franks as her successor. This must havetaken place before 853, at which date Hildegard was abbess ofZürich[147]. 11. HILTRUD ([787]-after 800, maybe after 814). "Theoderadam etHiltrudem" are named daughters of King Charles & Fastrada byEinhard[148]. Theodulf's poem Ad Carolum Rege names (in order)"Berta…Chrodtrudh…Gisla…Rothaidh…Hiltrudh, Tetdrada" as daughters ofthe king[149]. She lived at her father’s court until his death in814. Wilhelm Kurze appears to have disproved the theory of thealleged marriage of Hiltrud to Eberhard [I] Graf [von Calw], a courtofficial of Emperor Charlemagne[150]. According to Rösch[151],Hiltrud was the mistress (between [799/804]) of Richwin Count ofPadua, brother of Richbod Bishop of Trier, who was at the court ofEmperor Charlemagne between 792 and 814, and was the mother of anillegitimate son by him. He cites no primary source on which this isbased and no reference to this has been found in the sources so farconsulted. It is possibly based on onomastic speculation from the useof the first name Richbod. One possible illegitimate son: a) [RICHBOD ([800/805]-killed in battle Angoulême 14 Jun 844).Abbé de Saint-Riquier 840/44. The Annales Bertiniani record that"Richbote abbas…consobrinus regum, nepos…Karoli imperatoris ex filia"was among those killed in 844[152]. It is possible, but not certain,that his mother was Hiltrud, as explained above.] King Charles I had one illegitimate child by Mistress (1): 12. PEPIN “le Bossu” ([770]-Abbey of Prüm 811). He is named,and his parentage recorded, in the Gesta Mettensium, which specifiesthat he was born before his father married Queen Hildegard[153]. Herebelled against his father in 792, allegedly due to the cruelty ofQueen Fastrada[154], was judged by an assembly at Regensburg andimprisoned in the Abbey of St-Gallen. He was transferred to the Abbeyof Prüm in 794[155]. King Charles I had one illegitimate daughter by Mistress (2): 13. CHROTHAIS [Rotaïde] ([784]-after 800, maybe after 814)."Ruodhaidem" is named daughter of King Charles and an unnamedconcubine by Einhard[156]. Theodulf's poem Ad Carolum Rege names (inorder) "Berta…Chrodtrudh…Gisla…Rothaidh…Hiltrudh, Tetdrada" asdaughters of the king[157]. King Charles I had one illegitimate daughter by Mistress (3): 14. ROTHILDIS [Rouhaut] ([784]-24 Mar 852). Abbess atFaremoutiers from before Oct 840[158]. Her parentage is proved by thenecrology of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés which records thedeath "XI Kal Apr" of "Rothildis abbatisse et monache filia regismagni Karoli"[159]. The necrology of the abbey of Saint-Denis recordsthe death "XI Kal Mar" of "Rotildis abbatissa"[160]. King Charles I had one illegitimate daughter by Mistress (4): 15. ADALTRUD . Einhard names "Adaltrud" daughter of KingCharles by his concubine "Gersuindam Saxonici generis"[161]. King Charles I had two illegitimate sons by Mistress (5): 16. DROGO [Dreux] (17 Jun 801-drowned Himeriacum, Bourgogne 8Dec 855, bur Metz, église abbatiale de Saint-Arnoul). Einhard names"Drogonem et Hugum" as sons of King Charles by his concubine"Reginam"[162]. The Annales Weissemburgenses record the birth "802aut 803 15 Kal Iul" of Drogo[163]. He and his brother Hugues, andtheir half-brother Thierry, were brought up in the palace of theirhalf-brother Emperor Louis I after their father died, but after therevolt of Bernard King of Italy in 818 they were forcibly tonsured and"put under free custody into monasteries"[164]. Abbé de Luxeuil 820.Emperor Louis installed "Druagoni fratri suo" as Bishop of Metz in823[165]. The Annales Fuldenses record that "Druogonem archicapellumet Adalbertum comitem" were sent to the east bank of the Rhine in840[166]. He became Vicar of the Pope in France in Jun 844. He diedafter falling into the River Oignon in which he was fishing[167]. Alist of bishops of Metz records "domnus Drogo archiepiscopus et sacripalate summus capellanus, filius Karoli imperatoris" as 40th bishop,holding the position for 32 years, 5 months and 7 days, his death "VIId Dec in Burgundia, prædio sancti Petri Mimeriaco" and his burial in"urbem Medimmatricorum…in ecclesia beati Iohannis apostoli"[168]. 17. HUGO [Hugues] "l´Abbé" ([802/06]-killed in battle Angoulême14 Jun 844, bur Abbaye de Charroux). Einhard names "Drogonem etHugum" as sons of King Charles by his concubine "Reginam"[169]. He isnamed "Hugo venerabilis filius Karoli regis magni" in the Cartulaireof Saint-Bertin[170]. He and his brother Drogo, and theirhalf-brother Thierry, were brought up in the palace of theirhalf-brother Emperor Louis I after their father died, but after therevolt of Bernard King of Italy in 818 they were forcibly tonsured and"put under free custody into monasteries"[171]. Monk at Charroux 818.Abbé de Saint-Quentin 822/23, Abbé de Lobbes. Abbé de Saint-Bertin836[172]. Abbé de Noaillé. Arch-chancellor of Emperor Louis I834-840. The Vita Hludowici Imperatoris records that "Hugonem fratremsuum sed et Adalgarium comitem" visited the emperor [in 836][173]. Hejoined Charles "le Chauve" in Sep 841 after the battle of Fontenoy,becoming his Arch-chaplain[174]. The Annales Fuldenses record that"Hugo abbas, patruus Karoli et Rihboto abbas, Rhaban quoque signifer"were killed "844 VII Id Jun" in the battle in which "Pippini duces"defeated the army of Charles II " le Chauve" King of the Franks[175]. King Charles I had one illegitimate son by Mistress (6): 18. THEODERIC [Thierry] (807-after 818). Einhard names"Theodricum" as son of King Charles by his concubine"Adallindem"[176]. The birth of "imperatori filius nomineTheodericus" is recorded in 807[177]. He and his half-brothers Drogoand Hugues were brought up in the palace of their half-brother EmperorLouis I after their father died, but after the revolt of Bernard Kingof Italy in 818 they were forcibly tonsured and "put under freecustody into monasteries"[178]. The Catholic Cyclopedia, Charlemagne (French for Carolus Magnus, or Carlus Magnus ("Charles the Great");German Karl der Grosse). The name given by later generations to Charles, King of the Franks,first sovereign of the Christian Empire of the West; born 2 April,742; died at Aachen, 28 January, 814. Note, however, that the place ofhis birth (whether Aachen or Liège) has never been fully ascertained,while the traditional date has been set one or more years later byrecent writers; if Alcuin is to be interpreted literally the yearshould be 745. At the time of Charles' birth, his father, Pepin theShort, Mayor of the Palace, of the line of Arnulf, was, theoretically,only the first subject of Childeric III, the last Merovingian King ofthe Franks; but this modest title implied that real power, military,civil, and even ecclesiastical, of which Childeric's crown was onlythe symbol. It is not certain that Bertrada (or Bertha), the mother ofCharlemagne, a daughter of Charibert, Count of Laon, was legallymarried to Pepin until some years later than either 742 or 745. Charlemagne's career led to his acknowledgment by the Holy See as itschief protector and coadjutor in temporals, by Constantinople as atleast Basileus of the West. This reign, which involved to a greaterdegree than that of any other historical personage the organicdevelopment, and still more, the consolidation of Christian Europe,will be sketched in this article in the successive periods into whichit naturally divides. The period of Charlemagne was also an epoch ofreform for the Church in Gaul, and of foundation for the Church inGermany, marked, moreover, by an efflorescence of learning whichfructified in the great Christian schools of the twelfth and latercenturies. To the fall of Pavia (742-774) In 752, when Charles was a child of not more than ten years, Pepin theShort had appealed to Pope Zachary to recognize his actual rule withthe kingly title and dignity. The practical effect of this appeal tothe Holy See was the journey of Stephen III across the Alps two yearslater, for the purpose of anointing with the oil of kingship not onlyPepin, but also his son Charles and a younger son, Carloman. The popethen laid upon the Christian Franks a precept, under the gravestspiritual penalties, never "to choose their kings from any otherfamily". Primogeniture did not hold in the Frankish law of succession;the monarchy was elective, though eligibility was limited to the malemembers of the one privileged family. Thus, then, at St. Denis on theSeine, in the Kingdom of Neustria, on the 28th of July, 754, the houseof Arnulf was, by a solemn act of the supreme pontiff established uponthe throne until then nominally occupied by the house of Merowig(Merovingians). Charles, anointed to the kingly office while yet a mere child, learnedthe rudiments of war while still many years short of manhood,accompanying his father in several campaigns. This early experience isworth noting chiefly because it developed in the boy those militaryvirtues which, joined with his extraordinary physical strength andintense nationalism, made him a popular hero of the Franks long beforehe became their rightful ruler. At length, in September, 768, Pepinthe Short, foreseeing his end, made a partition of his dominionsbetween his two sons. Not many days later the old king passed away. To better comprehend the effect of the act of partition under whichCharles and Carloman inherited their father's dominions, as well asthe whole subsequent history of Charles' reign, it is to be observedthat those dominions comprised: •first, Frankland (Frankreich) proper; •secondly, as many as seven more or less self-governing dependencies,peopled by races of various origins and obeying various codes of law. Of these two divisions, the former extended, roughly speaking, fromthe boundaries of Thuringia, on the east, to what is now the Belgianand Norman coastline, on the west; it bordered to the north on Saxony,and included both banks of the Rhine from Cologne (the ancient ColoniaAgrippina) to the North Sea; its southern neighbours were theBavarians, the Alemanni, and the Burgundians. The dependent stateswere: the fundamentally Gaulish Neustria (including within its bordersParis), which was, nevertheless, well leavened with a dominantFrankish element; to the southwest of Neustria, Brittany, formerlyArmorica, with a British and Gallo-Roman population; to the south ofNeustria the Duchy of Aquitaine, lying, for the most part, between theLoire and the Garonne, with a decidedly Gallo-Roman population; andeast of Aquitaine, along the valley of the Rhone, the Burgundians, apeople of much the same mixed origin as those of Aquitaine, thoughwith a large infusion of Teutonic blood. These States, with perhapsthe exception of Brittany, recognized the Theodosian Code as theirlaw. The German dependencies of the Frankish kingdom were Thuringia,in the valley of the Main, Bavaria, and Alemannia (corresponding towhat was later known as Swabia). These last, at the time of Pepin'sdeath, had but recently been won to Christianity, mainly through thepreaching of St. Boniface. The share which fell to Charles consistedof all Austrasia (the original Frankland), most of Neustria, and allof Aquitaine except the southeast corner. In this way the possessionsof the elder brother surrounded the younger on two sides, but on theother hand the distribution of races under their respective rules wassuch as to preclude any risk of discord arising out of the nationalsentiments of their various subjects. In spite of this provident arrangement, Carloman contrived to quarrelwith his brother. Hunald, formerly Duke of Aquitaine, vanquished byPepin the Short, broke from the cloister, where he had lived as a monkfor twenty years, and stirred up a revolt in the western part of theduchy. By Frankish custom Carloman should have aided Charles; theyounger brother himself held part of Aquitaine; but he pretended that,as his dominion were unaffected by this revolt, it was no business ofhis. Hunald, however, was vanquished by Charles single-handed; he wasbetrayed by a nephew with whom he had sought refuge, was sent to Rometo answer for the violation of his monastic vows, and at last, afteronce more breaking cloister, was stoned to death by the Lombards ofPavia. For Charles the true importance of this Aquitanian episode wasin its manifestation his brother's unkindly feeling in his regard, andagainst this danger he lost no time in taking precautions, chiefly bywinning over to himself the friends whom he judged likely to be mostvaluable; first and foremost of these was his mother, Bertha, who hadstriven both earnestly and prudently to make peace between her sons,but who, when it became necessary to take sides with one or the othercould not hesitate in her devotion to the elder. Charles was anaffectionate son; it also appears that, in general, he was helped topower by his extraordinary gift of personal attractiveness. Carloman died soon after this (4 December, 771), and a certain letterfrom "the Monk Cathwulph", quoted by Bouquet (Recueil. hist., V, 634),in enumerating the special blessings for which the king was in dutybound to be grateful, says, Third . . . God has preserved you from the wiles of your brother . . .. Fifth, and not the least, that God has removed your brother fromthis earthly kingdom. Carloman may not have been quite so malignant as the enthusiasticpartisans of Charles made him out, but the division of Pepin'sdominions was in itself an impediment to the growth of a strongFrankish realm such as Charles needed for the unification of theChristian Continent. Although Carloman had left two sons by his wife,Gerberga, the Frankish law of inheritance gave no preference to sonsas against brother; left to their own choice, the Frankish lieges,whether from love of Charles or for the fear which his name alreadyinspired, gladly accepted him for their king. Gerberga and herchildren fled to the Lombard court of Pavia. In the mean whilecomplications had arisen in Charles' foreign policy which made hisnewly established supremacy at home doubly opportune. From his father Charles had inherited the title "Patricius Romanus"which carried with it a special obligation to protect the temporalrights of the Holy See. The nearest and most menacing neighbour of St.Peter's Patrimony was Desidarius (Didier), King of the Lombards, andit was with this potentate that the dowager Bertha had arranged amatrimonial alliance for her elder son. The pope had solid temporalreasons for objecting to this arrangement. Moreover, Charles wasalready, in foro conscientiae, if not in Frankish law, wedded toHimiltrude. In defiance of the pope's protest (PL 98:250), Charlesmarried Desiderata, daughter of Desiderius (770), three years later herepudiated her and married Hildegarde, the beautiful Swabian.Naturally, Desiderius was furious at this insult, and the dominions ofthe Holy See bore the first brunt of his wrath. But Charles had to defend his own borders against the heathen as wellas to protect Rome against the Lombard. To the north of Austrasia layFrisia, which seems to have been in some equivocal way a dependency,and to the east of Frisia, from the left bank of the Ems (about thepresent Holland-Westphalia frontier), across the valley of the Weserand Aller, and still eastward to the left bank of the Elbe, extendedthe country of the Saxons, who in no fashion whatever acknowledged anyallegiance to the Frankish kings. In 772 these Saxons were a horde ofaggressive pagans offering to Christian missionaries no hope but thatof martyrdom; bound together, normally, by no political organization,and constantly engaged in predatory incursions into the lands of theFranks. Their language seems to have been very like that spoken by theEgberts and Ethelreds of Britain, but the work of their Christiancousin, St. Boniface, had not affected them as yet; they worshippedthe gods of Walhalla, united in solemn sacrifice - sometimes human -to Irminsul (Igdrasail), the sacred tree which stood at Eresburg, andwere still slaying Christian missionaries when their kinsmen inBritain were holding church synods and building cathedrals. Charlescould brook neither their predatory habits nor their heathenishintolerance; it was impossible, moreover, to make permanent peace withthem while they followed the old Teutonic life of free villagecommunities. He made his first expedition into their country in July,772, took Eresburg by storm, and burned Irminsul. It was in January ofthis same year that Pope Stephen III died, and Adrian I, an opponentof Desiderius, was elected. The new pope was almost immediatelyassailed by the Lombard king, who seized three minor cities of thePatrimony of St. Peter, threatened Ravenna itself, and set aboutorganizing a plot within the Curia. Paul Afiarta, the papalchamberlain, detected acting as the Lombard's secret agent, was seizedand put to death. The Lombard army advanced against Rome, but quailedbefore the spiritual weapons of the Church, while Adrian sent a legateinto Gaul to claim the aid of the Patrician. Thus it was that Charles, resting at Thionville after his Saxoncampaign, was urgently reminded of the rough work that awaited hishand south of the Alps. Desiderius' embassy reached him soon afterAdrian's. He did not take it for granted that the right was all uponAdrian's side; besides, he may have seen here an opportunity make someamends for his repudiation of the Lombard princess. Before taking uparms for the Holy See, therefore, he sent commissioners into Italy tomake enquiries and when Desiderius pretended that the seizure of thepapal cities was in effect only the legal foreclosure of a mortgage,Charles promptly offered to redeem them by a money payment. ButDesiderius refused the money, and as Charles' commissioners reportedin favour of Adrian, the only course left was war. In the spring of 773 Charles summoned the whole military strength ofthe Franks for a great invasion of Lombardy. He was slow to strike,but he meant to strike hard. Data for any approximate estimate of hisnumerical strength are lacking, but it is certain that the army, inorder to make the descent more swiftly, crossed the Alps by twopasses: Mont Cenis and the Great St. Bernard. Einhard, who accompaniedthe king over Mont Cenis (the St. Bernard column was led by DukeBernhard), speaks feelingly of the marvels and perils of the passage.The invaders found Desiderius waiting for them, entrenched at Susa;they turned his flank and put the Lombard army to utter rout. Leavingall the cities of the plains to their fate, Desiderius rallied part ofhis forces in Pavia, his walled capital, while his son Adalghis, withthe rest, occupied Verona. Charles, having been joined by DukeBernhard, took the forsaken cities on his way and then completelyinvested Pavia (September, 773), whence Otger, the faithful attendantof Gerberga, could look with trembling upon the array of hiscountrymen. Soon after Christmas Charles withdrew from the siege aportion of the army which he employed in the capture of Verona. Herehe found Gerberga and her children; as to what became of them, historyis silent; they probably entered the cloister. What history does record with vivid eloquence is the first visit ofCharles to the Eternal City. There everything was done to give hisentry as much as possible the air of a triumph in ancient Rome. Thejudges met him thirty miles from the city; the militia laid at thefeet of their great patrician the banner of Rome and hailed him astheir imperator. Charles himself forgot pagan Rome and prostratedhimself to kiss the threshold of the Apostles, and then spent sevendays in conference with the successor of Peter. It was then that heundoubtedly formed many great designs for the glory of God and theexaltation of Holy Church, which, in spite of human weaknesses and,still more, ignorance, he afterwards did his best to realize. Hiscoronation as the successor of Constantine did not take place untiltwenty-six years later, but his consecration as first champion of theCatholic Church took place at Easter, 774. Soon after this (June, 774)Pavia fell, Desiderius was banished, Adalghis became a fugitive at theByzantine court, and Charles, assuming the crown of Lombardy, renewedto Adrian the donation of territory made by Pepin the Short after hisdefeat of Aistulph. (This donation is now generally admitted, as wellas the original gift of Pepin at Kiersy in 752. The so-called"Privilegium Hadriani pro Carolo" granting him full right to nominatethe pope and to invest all bishops is a forgery.) To the baptism of Wittekind (774-785) The next twenty years of Charles' life may be considered as one longwarfare. They are filled with an astounding series of rapid marchesfrom end to end of a continent intersected by mountains, morasses, andforests, and scantily provided with roads. It would seem that the keyto his long series of victories, won almost as much by moralascendancy as by physical or mental superiority, is to be found in theinspiration communicated to his Frankish champion by Pope Adrian I.Weiss (Weltgesch., 11, 549) enumerates fifty-three distinct campaignsof Charlemagne; of these it is possible to point to only twelve orfourteen which were not undertaken principally or entirely inexecution of his mission as the soldier and protector of the Church.In his eighteen campaigns against the Saxons Charles was more or lessactuated by the desire to extinguish what he and his people regardedas a form of devil-worship, no less odious to them than the fetishismof Central Africa is to us. While he was still in Italy the Saxons, irritated but not subdued bythe fate of Eresburg and of Irminsul had risen in arms, harried thecountry of the Hessian Franks, and burned many churches; that of St.Boniface at Fritzlar, being of stone, had defeated their efforts.Returning to the north, Charles sent a preliminary column of cavalryinto the enemy's country while he held a council of the realm atKiersy (Quercy) in September, 774, at which it was decided that theSaxons (Westfali, Ostfali, and Angrarii) must be presented with thealternative of baptism or death. The northeastern campaigns of thenext seven years had for their object a conquest so decisive as tomake the execution of this policy feasible. The year 775 saw the firstof a series of Frankish military colonies, on the ancient Roman planestablished at Sigeburg among the Westfali. Charles next subdued,temporarily at least, the Ostali, whose chieftain, Hessi, havingaccepted baptism, ended his life in the monastery of Fulda (see SAINTBONIFACE; FULDA). Then, a Frankish camp at Lübbecke on the Weserhaving been surprised by the Saxons, and its garrison slaughtered,Charles turned again westward, once more routed the Westfali, andreceived their oaths of submission. At this stage (776) the affairs of Lombardy interrupted the Saxoncrusade. Areghis of Beneventum, son-in-law of the vanquishedDesiderius, had formed a plan with his brother-in-law Adalghis(Adelchis), then an exile at Constantinople, by which the latter wasto make a descent upon Italy, backed by the Eastern emperor; Adrianwas at the same time involved in a quarrel with the three Lombarddukes, Reginald of Clusium, Rotgaud of Friuli, and Hildebrand ofSpoleto. The Archbishop of Ravenna, who called himself "primate" and"exarch of Italy", was also attempting to found an independentprincipality at the expense of the papal state but was finally subduedin 776, and his successor compelled to be content with the title of"Vicar" or representative of the pope. The junction of the aforesaidpowers, all inimical to the pope and the Franks, while Charles wasoccupied in Westphalia, was only prevented by the death of ConstantineCopronymus in September, 775 (see BYZANTINE EMPIRE). After winningover Hildebrand and Reginald by diplomacy, Charles descended intoLombardy by the Brenner Pass (spring of 776), defeated Rotgaud, andleaving garrisons and governors, or counts (comites), as they weretermed, in the reconquered cities of the Duchy of Friuli, hastenedback to Saxony. There the Frankish garrison had been forced toevacuate Eresburg, while the siege of Sigeburg was so unexpectedlybroken up as to give occasion later to a legend of angelicintervention in favour of the Christians. As usual, the almostincredible suddenness of the king's reappearance and the moral effectof his presence quieted the ragings of the heathen. Charles thendivided the Saxon territory into Missionary districts. At the greatspring hosting (champ de Mai) of Paderborn, in 777, many Saxonconverts were baptized; Wittekind (Widukind), however, already theleader and afterwards the popular hero of the Saxons, had fled to hisbrother-in-law, Sigfrid the Dane. The episode of the invasion of Spain comes next in chronologicalorder. The condition of the venerable Iberian Church, still sufferingunder Moslem domination, appealed strongly to the king's sympathy. In777 there came to Paderborn three Moorish emirs, enemies of theOmmeyad Abderrahman, the Moorish King of Cordova. These emirs didhomage to Charles and proposed to him an invasion of Northern Spain;one of the, Ibn-el-Arabi, promised to bring to the invaders'assistance a force of Berber auxiliaries from Africa; the other twopromised to exert their powerful influence at Barcelona and elsewherenorth of the Ebro. Accordingly, in the spring of 778, Charles, with ahost of crusaders, speaking many tongues, and which numbered among itsconstituents even a quota of Lombards, moved towards the Pyrenees. Histrusted lieutenant, Duke Bernhard. with one division, entered Spain bythe coast. Charles himself marched through the mountain passesstraight to Pampelona. But Ibn-el-Arabi, who had prematurely broughton his army of Berbers, was assassinated by the emissary ofAbderrahman, and though Pampelona was razed, and Barcelona and othercities fell, Saragossa held out. Apart from the moral effect of thiscampaign upon the Moslem rulers of Spain, its result wasinsignificant, though the famous ambuscade in which perished Roland,the great Paladin, at the Pass of Roncesvalles, furnished to themedieval world the material for its most glorious and influentialepic, the "Chanson de Roland". Much more important to posterity were the next succeeding events whichcontinued and decided the long struggle in Saxony. During the Spanishcrusade Wittekind had returned from his exile, bringing with himDanish allies, and was now ravaging Hesse; the Rhine valley from Deutzto Andenach was a prey to the Saxon "devil-worshipers"; the Christianmissionaries were scattered or in hiding. Charles gathered his hostsat Düren, in June, 779, and stormed Wittekind's entrenched camp atBocholt, after which campaign he seems to have considered Saxony afairly subdued country. At any rate, the "Saxon Capitulary" (seeCAPITULARIES) of 781 obliged all Saxons not only to accept baptism(and this on the pain of death) but also to pay tithes, as the Franksdid for the support of the Church; moreover it confiscated a largeamount of property for the benefit of the missions. This wasWittekind's last opportunity to restore the national independence andpaganism; his people, exasperated against the Franks and their God,eagerly rushed to arms. At Suntal on the Weser, Charles being absent,they defeated a Frankish army killing two royal legates and fiveCounts. But Wittekind committed the error of enlisting as allies thenon-Teutonic Sorbs from beyond the Saale; race-antagonism soonweakened his forces, and the Saxon hosts melted away. Of the so-called"Massacre of Verdun" (783) it is fair to say that the 4500 Saxons whoperished were not prisoners of war; legally, they were ringleaders ina rebellion, selected as such from a number of their fellow rebels.Wittekind himself escaped beyond the Elbe. It was not until afteranother defeat of the Saxons at Detmold, and again at Osnabrück, onthe "Hill of Slaughter", that Wittekind acknowledged the God ofCharles the stronger than Odin. In 785 Wittekind received baptism atAttigny, and Charles stood godfather. Last steps to the imperial throne (785-800) The summer of 783 began a new period in the life of Charles, in whichsigns begin to appear of his less amiable traits. It was in this year,signalized, according to the chroniclers, by unexampled heat and apestilence, that the two queens died, Bertha, the king's mother, andHildegarde, his second (or his third) wife. Both of these women, theformer in particular, had exercised over him a strong influence forgood. Within a few months the king married Fastrada, daughter of anAustrasian count. The succeeding years were, comparatively speaking,years of harvest after the stupendous period of ploughing and sowingthat had gone before; and Charles' nature was of a type that appearsto best advantage in storm and stress. What was to be the WesternEmpire of the Middle Ages was already hewn out in the rough whenWittekind received baptism. From that date until the coronation ofCharles at Rome, in 800, his military work was chiefly in suppressingrisings of the newly conquered or quelling the discontents of jealoussubject princes. Thrice in these fifteen years did the Saxons rise,only to be defeated. Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, had been a more or lessrebellious vassal ever since the beginning of his reign, and Charlesnow made use of the pope's influence, exercised through the powerfulbishops of Freising, Salzburg, and Regensburg (Ratisbon), to bring himto terms. In 786 a Thuringian revolt was quelled by the timely death,blinding, and banishment of its leaders. Next year the Lombard prince,Areghis, having fortified himself at Salerno, had actually beencrowned King of the Lombards when Charles descended upon him atBeneventum, received his submission, and took his son Grimwald as ahostage, after which, finding that Tassilo had been secretlyassociated with the conspiracy of the Lombards, he invaded Bavariafrom three sides with three armies drawn from at least fivenationalities. Once more the influence of the Holy See settled theBavarian question in Charles' favour; Adrian threatened Tassilo withexcommunication if he persisted in rebellion, and as the Duke's ownsubjects refused to follow him to the field, he personally madesubmission, did homage, and in return received from Charles a newlease of his duchy (October, 787). During this period the national discontent with Fastrada culminated ina plot in which Pepin the Hunchback, Charles' son by Himiltrude, wasimplicated, and though his life was spared through his father'sintercession, Pepin spent what remained of his days in a monastery.Another son of Charles (Carloman, afterwards called Pepin, and crownedKing of Lombardy at Rome in 781, on the occasion of an Easter visit bythe king, at which time also his brother Louis was crowned King ofAquitaine) served his father in dealing with the Avars, a pagan dangeron the frontier, compared with which the invasion of Septimania by theSaracens (793) was but an insignificant incident of border warfare.These Avars, probably of Turanian blood, occupied the territoriesnorth of the Save and west of the Theiss. Tassilo had invited theirassistance against his overlord; and after the Duke's final submissionCharles invaded their country and conquered it as far as the Raab(791). By the capture of the famous "Ring" of the Avars, with its nineconcentric circles, Charles came into possession of vast quantities ofgold and silver, parts of the plunder which these barbarians had beenaccumulating for two centuries. In this campaign King Pepin ofLombardy cooperated with his father, with forces drawn from Italy; thelater stages of this war (which may be considered the last of Charles'great wars) were left in the hands of the younger king. The last stages by which the story of Charles' career is brought toits climax touch upon the exclusive spiritual domain of the Church. Hehad never ceased to interest himself in the deliberations of synods,and this interest extended (an example that wrought fatal results inafter ages) to the discussion of questions which would now be regardedas purely dogmatic. Charles interfered in the dispute about theAdoptionist heresy (see ADOPTIONISM; ALCUIN; COUNCIL OF FRANKFORT).His interference was less pleasing to Adrian in the matter ofIconoclasm, a heresy with which the Empress-mother Irene and Tarasius,Patriarch of Constantinople, had dealt in the second Council ofNicaea. The Synod of Frankfort, wrongly informed, but inspired byCharles, took upon itself to condemn the aforesaid Council, althoughthe latter had the sanction of the Holy See (see CAROLINE BOOKS). Inthe year 797 the Eastern Emperor Constantine VI, with whom his motherIrene had for some time been at variance, was by her dethroned,imprisoned, and blinded. It is significant of Charles' position as defacto Emperor of the West that Irene sent envoys to Aachen to laybefore Charles her side of this horrible story. It is also to be notedthat the popular impression that Constantine had been put to death,and the aversion to committing the imperial sceptre to a woman's hand,also bore upon what followed. Lastly, it was to Charles alone that theChristians of the East were now crying out for succour against thethreatening advance of the Moslem Caliph Haroun al Raschid. In 795Adrian I died (25 Dec.), deeply regretted by Charles, who held thispope in great esteem and caused a Latin metrical epitaph to beprepared for the papal tomb. In 787 Charles had visited Rome for thethird time in the interest of the pope and his secure possession ofthe Patrimony of Peter. Leo III, the immediate successor of Adrian I, notified Charles of hiselection (26 December, 795) to the Holy See. The king sent in returnrich presents by Abbot Angilbert, whom he commissioned to deal withthe pope in all manners pertaining to the royal office of RomanPatrician. While this letter is respectful and even affectionate, italso exhibits Charles' concept of the coordination of the spiritualand temporal powers, nor does he hesitate to remind the pope of hisgrave spiritual obligations. The new pope, a Roman, had bitter enemiesin the Eternal City, who spread the most damaging reports of hisprevious life. At length (25 April, 799) he was waylaid, and leftunconscious. After escaping to St. Peter's he was rescued by two ofthe king's missi, who came with a considerable force. The Duke ofSpoleto sheltered the fugitive pope, who went later to Paderborn,where the king's camp then was. Charles received the Vicar of Christwith all due reverence. Leo was sent back to Rome escorted by royalmissi; the insurgents, thoroughly frightened and unable to convinceCharles of the pope's iniquity, surrendered, and the missi sentPaschalis and Campulus, nephews of Adrian I and ringleaders againstPope Leo, to the king, to be dealt with at the royal pleasure. Charles was in no hurry to take final action in this matter. Hesettled various affairs connected with the frontier beyond the Elbe,with the protection of the Balearic Isles against the Saracens, and ofNorthern Gaul against Scandinavian sea-rovers, spent most of thewinter at Aachen, and was at St. Riquier for Easter. About this time,too, he was occupied at the deathbed of Liutgarde, the queen whom hehad married on the death of Fastrada (794). At Tours he conferred withAlcuin, then summoned the host of the Franks to meet at Mainz andannounced to them his intention of again proceeding to Rome. EnteringItaly by the Brenner Pass, he travelled by way of Ancona and Perugiato Nomentum, where Pope Leo met him and the two entered Rome together.A synod was held and the charges against Leo pronounced false. On thisoccasion the Frankish bishops declared themselves unauthorized to passjudgment on the Apostolic See. Of his own free will Leo, under oath,declared publicly in St. Peter's that he was innocent of the chargesbrought against him. Leo requested that his accusers, now themselvescondemned to death, should be punished only with banishment. After his coronation in Rome (800-814) Two days later (Christmas Day, 800) took place the principal event inthe life of Charles. During the pontifical Mass celebrated by thepope, as the king knelt in prayer before the high altar beneath whichlay the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul, the pope approached him, placedupon his head the imperial crown, did him formal reverence after theancient manner, saluted him as Emperor and Augustus and anointed him,while the Romans present burst out with the acclamation, thricerepeated: "To Carolus Augustus crowned by God, mighty and pacificemperor, be life and victory" (Carolo, piisimo Augusto a Deo coronato,magno et pacificio Imperatori, vita et victoria). These details aregathered from contemporary accounts (Life of Leo III in "lib. Pont.";"Annales Laurissense majores"; Einhard's Vita Caroli; Theophanes).Though not all are found in any one narrative, there is no good reasonfor doubting their general accuracy. Einhard's statement (Vita Caroli28) that Charles had no suspicion of what was about to happen, and ifpre-informed would not have accepted the imperial crown, is muchdiscussed, some seeing in it an unwillingness to imperial authority onan ecclesiastical basis, others more justly a natural hesitationbefore a momentous step overcome by the positive action of friends andadmirers, and culminating; in the scene just described. On the otherhand, there seems no reason to doubt that for some time previous theelevation of Charles had been discussed, both at home and at Rome,especially in view of two facts: the scandalous condition of theimperial government at Constantinople, and the acknowledged grandeurand solidity of the Carolingian house. He owed his elevation not tothe conquest of Rome, nor to any act of the Roman Senate (then a meremunicipal body), much less to the local citizenship of Rome, but tothe pope, who exercised in a supreme juncture the moral supremacy inWestern Christendom which the age widely recognized in him, and towhich, indeed, Charles even then owed the title that the popes hadtransferred to his father Pepin. It is certain that Charles constantlyattributed his imperial dignity to an act of God, made known of coursethrough the agency of the Vicar of Christ (divino nutu coronatus, aDeo coronatus, in "Capitularia", ed. Baluze, I, 247, 341, 345); alsothat after the ceremony he made very rich gifts to the Basilica of St.Peter, and that on the same day the pope anointed (as King of theFranks) the younger Charles, son of the emperor and at that timeprobably destined to succeed in the imperial dignity. The Roman Empire(Imperium Romanum), since 476 practically extinguished in the West,save for a brief interval in the sixth century, was restored by thispapal act, which became the historical basis of the future relationsbetween the popes and the successors of Charlemagne (throughout theMiddle Ages no Western Emperor was considered legitimate unless he hadbeen crowned and anointed at Rome by the successor of St. Peter).Despite the earlier goodwill and help of the papacy, the Emperor ofConstantinople, legitimate heir of the imperial title (he still calledhimself Roman Emperor, and his capital was officially New Rome) hadlong proved incapable of preserving his authority in the Italianpeninsula. Palace revolutions and heresy, not to speak of fiscaloppression, racial antipathy, and impotent but vicious intrigues, madehim odious to the Romans and Italians generally. In any case, sincethe Donation of Pepin (752) the pope was formally sovereign of theduchy of Rome and the Exarchate; hence, apart from its effect on hisshadowy claim to the sovereignty of all Italy, the Byzantine ruler hadnothing to lose by the elevation of Charles. However, the event ofChristmas Day, 800, was long resented at Constantinople, whereeventually the successor of Charles was occasionally called "Emperor",or "Emperor of the Franks", but never "Roman Emperor". Suffice it toadd here that while the imperial consecration made him in theory, whathe was already in fact, the principal ruler of the West, andimpropriated, as it were, in the Carolingian line the majesty ofancient Rome, it also lifted Charles at once to the dignity of supremetemporal protector of Western Christendom and in particular of itshead, the Roman Church. Nor did this mean only the local welfare ofthe papacy, the good order and peace of the Patrimony of Peter. Itmeant also, in face of the yet vast pagan world (barbarae nationes) ofthe North and the Southeast, a religious responsibility, encouragementand protection of missions, advancement of Christian culture,organization of dioceses, enforcement of a Christian discipline oflife, improvement of the clergy, in a word, all the forms ofgovernmental cooperation with the Church that we meet with in the lifeand the legislation of Charles. Long before this event Pope Adrian Ihad conferred (774) on Charles his father's dignity of PatriciusRomanus, which implied primarily the protection of the Roman Church inall its rights and privileges, above all in the temporal authoritywhich it had gradually acquired (notably in the former Byzantine Duchyof Rome and the Exarchate of Ravenna) by just titles in the course ofthe two preceding centuries. Charles, it is true, after his imperialconsecration exercised practically at Rome his authority as Patricius,or protector of the Roman Church. But he did this with all duerecognition of the papal sovereignty and principally to prevent thequasi-anarchy which local intrigues and passions, family interests andambitions, and adverse Byzantine agencies were promoting. It would beunhistorical to maintain that as emperor he ignored at once the civilsovereignty of the pope in the Patrimony of Peter. This (the Duchy ofRome and the Exarchate) he significantly omitted from the partition ofthe Frankish State made at the Diet of Thionville, in 806. It is to benoted that in this public division of his estate he made no provisionfor the imperial title, also that he committed to all three sons "thedefence and protection of the Roman Church". In 817 Louis the Pious,by a famous charter whose substantial authenticity there is no goodreason to doubt, confirmed to Pope Paschal and his successors forever,"the city of Rome with its duchy and dependencies, as the same havebeen held to this day by your predecessors, under their authority andjurisdiction", adding that he did not pretend to any jurisdiction insaid territory, except when solicited thereto by the pope. It may benoted here that the chroniclers of the ninth century treat as"restitution" to St. Peter the various cessions and grants of citiesand territory made at this period by the Carolingian rulers within thelimits of the Patrimony of Peter. The Charter of Louis the Pious wasafterwards confirmed by Emperor Otto I in 962 and Henry II in 1020.These imperial documents make it clear that the acts of authorityexercised by the new emperor in the Patrimony of Peter were only suchas were called for by his office of Defender of the Roman Church.Kleinclausz (l'Empire Carolingien, etc., Paris, 1902, 441 sqq.) deniesthe authenticity of the famous letter (871) of Emperor Louis II to theGreek Emperor Basil (in which the former recognizes fully the papalorigin of his own imperial dignity), and attributes it to AnastasiusBibliotheca in 879. His arguments are weak; the authenticity isadmitted by Gregorovius and O. Harnack. Anti-papal writers haveundertaken to prove that Charles' dignity of Patricius Romanorum wasequivalent to immediate and sole sovereign authority at Rome, and inlaw and in fact excluded any papal sovereignty. In reality this Romanpatriciate, both under Pepin and Charles, was no more than a highprotectorship of the civil sovereignty of the pope, whose localindependence, both before and after the coronation of Charles, ishistorically certain, even apart from the aforesaid imperial charters. The personal devotion of Charles to the Apostolic See is well known.While in the preface to his Capitularies he calls himself the "devoteddefender and humble helper of Holy Church", he was especially fond ofthe basilica of St. Peter at Rome. Einhard relates (Vita, c. xxvii)that he enriched it beyond all other churches and that he wasparticularly anxious that the City of Rome should in his reign obtainagain its ancient authority. He promulgated a special law on therespect due this See of Peter (Capitulare de honoranda sedeApostolica, ed. Baluze I, 255). The letters of the popes to himself,his father, and grandfather, were collected by his order in the famous"Codex Carolinus". Gregory VII tells us (Regest., VII, 23) that heplaced a part of the conquered Saxon territory under the protection ofSt. Peter, and sent to Rome a tribute from the same. He received fromPope Adrian the Roman canon law in the shape of the "CollectioDionysia-Hadriana", and also (784-91) the "Gregorian Sacramentary" orliturgical use of Rome, for the guidance of the Frankish Church. Hefurthered also in the Frankish churches the introduction of theGregorian chant. It is of interest to note that just before hiscoronation at Rome Charles received three messengers from thePatriarch of Jerusalem, bearing to the King of the Franks the keys ofthe Holy Sepulchre and the banner of Jerusalem, "a recognition thatthe holiest place in Christendom was under the protection of the greatmonarch of the West" (Hodgkin). Shortly after this event, the CaliphHaroun al Raschid sent an embassy to Charles, who continued to take adeep interest in the Holy Sepulchre, and built Latin monasteries atJerusalem, also a hospital for pilgrims. To the same period belongsthe foundation of the Schola Francorum near St. Peter's Basilica, arefuge and hospital (with cemetery attached) for Frankish pilgrims toRome, now represented by the Campo Santo de' Tedeschi near theVatican. The main work of Charlemagne in the development of Western Christendommight have been considered accomplished had he now passed away. Of allthat he added during the remaining thirteen years of his life nothingincreased perceptibly the stability of the structure. His militarypower and his instinct for organization had been successfully appliedto the formation of a material power pledged to the support of thepapacy, and on the other hand at least one pope (Adrian) had lent allthe spiritual strength of the Holy See to help build up the newWestern Empire, which his immediate successor (Leo) was to solemnlyconsecrate. Indeed, the remaining thirteen years of Charles' earthlycareer seem to illustrate rather the drawbacks of an intimateconnection between Church and State than its advantages. In those years nothing like the military activity of the emperor'searlier life appears; there were much fewer enemies to conquer.Charles' sons led here and there an expedition, as when Louis capturedBarcelona (801) or the younger Charles invaded the territory of theSorbs. But their father had somewhat larger business on his hands atthis time; above all, he had to either conciliate or neutralize thejealousy of the Byzantine Empire which still had the prestige of oldtradition. At Rome Charles had been hailed in due form as "Augustus"by the Roman people, but he could not help realizing that manycenturies before, the right of conferring this title had virtuallypassed from Old to New Rome. New Rome, i.e. Constantinople, affectedto regard Leo's act as one of schism. Nicephorus, the successor ofIrene (803) entered into diplomatic relations with Charles, it istrue, but would not recognize his imperial character. According to oneaccount (Theophanes) Charles had sought Irene in marriage, but hisplan was defeated. The Frankish emperor then took up the cause ofrebellious Venetia and Dalmatia. The war was carried on by sea, underKing Pepin, and in 812, after the death of Nicephorus, a Byzantineembassy at Aachen actually addressed Charles as Basileus. About thistime Charles again trenched upon the teaching prerogative of theChurch, in the matter of the Filioque although in this instance alsothe Holy See admitted the soundness of his doctrine, while condemninghis usurpation of its functions. The other source of discord which appeared in the new Western Empire,and from its very beginning, was that of the succession. Charles madeno pretence either of right of primogeniture for his eldest son or toname a successor for himself. As Pepin the Short had divided theFrankish realm, so did Charles divide the empire among his sons,naming none of them emperor. By the will which he made in 806 thegreater part of what was later called France went to Louis the Pious;Frankland proper, Frisia, Saxony, Hesse, and Franconia were to be theheritage of Charles the Young; Pepin received Lombardy and its Italiandependencies, Bavaria, and Southern Alemannia. But Pepin and Charlespre-deceased the emperor, and in 813 the magnates of the empire didhomage at Aachen to Louis the Pious as King of the Franks, and futuresole ruler of the great imperial state. Thus is was that theCarolingian Empire, as a dynastic institution, ended with the death ofCharles the Fat (888), while the Holy Roman Empire, continued by Ottothe Great (968-973), lacked all that is now France. But the idea of aEurope welded together out of various races under the spiritualinfluence of one Catholic Faith and one Vicar of Christ had beenexhibited in the concrete. It remains to say something of the achievements of Charlemagne athome. His life was so full of movement, so made up of long journeys,that home in his case signifies little more than the personalenvironment of his court, wherever it might happen to be on any givenday. There was, it is true, a general preference for Austrasia, orFrankland (after Aachen, Worms, Nymwegen, and Ingleheim were favouriteresidences). He took a deep and intelligent interest in theagricultural development of the realm, and in the growth of trade,both domestic and foreign. The civil legislative work of Charlesconsisted principally in organizing and codifying the principles ofFrankish law handed down from antiquity; thus in 802 the laws of theFrisians, Thuringians, and Saxons were reduced to writing. Among theseprinciples, it is important to note, was one by which no free mancould be deprived of life or liberty without the judgment of hisequals in the state. The spirit of his legislation was above allreligious; he recognized as a basis and norm the ecclesiasticalcanons, was wont to submit his projects of law to the bishops, or togive civil authority to the decrees of synods. More than once he madelaws at the suggestion of popes or bishops. For administrativepurposes the State was divided into counties and hundreds, for thegovernment of which counts and hundred-men were responsible. Side byside with the counts in the great national parliament (Reichstag,Diet) which normally met in the spring, sat the bishops, and thespiritual constituency was so closely intertwined with the temporalthat in reading of a "council" under Charles, it is not always easy toascertain whether the particular proceedings are supposed to be thoseof a parliament or of a synod. Nevertheless this parliament or dietwas essentially bicameral (civil and ecclesiastical), and theforegoing descriptions applies to the mutual discussion of res mixtaeor subjects pertaining to both orders. The one Frankish administrative institution to which Charles gave anentirely new character was the missi dominici, representatives (civiland ecclesiastical) of the royal authority, who from being royalmessengers assumed under him functions much like those of papallegates, i.e. they were partly royal commissioners, partly itinerantgovernors. There were usually two for each province (an ecclesiasticand a lay lord), and they were bound to visit their territory(missatica) four times each year. Between these missi and the localgovernors or counts the power of the former great crown-vassals(dukes, Herzöge) was parcelled out. Local justice was administered bythe aforesaid count (comes, Graf) in his court, held three times eachyear (placitum generale), with the aid of seven assessors (scabini,rachimburgi), but there was a graduated appeal ending in the person ofthe emperor. While enough has been said above to show how ready he was to interferein the Church's domain, it does not appear that this propensity arosefrom motives discreditable to his religious character. It would beabsurd to pretend that Charlemagne was a consistent lifelonghypocrite; if he was not, then his keen practical interest in all thatpertained to the services of the Church, his participation even in thechanting of the choir (though, as his biographer says, "in a subduedvoice") his fastidious attention to questions of rites and ceremonies(Monachus Sangallensis), go to show, like many other traits related ofhim, that his strong rough nature was really impregnated with zeal,however mistaken at times, for the earthly glory of God. He sought toelevate and perfect the clergy, both monastic and secular, the latterthrough the enforcement of the Vita Canonica or common life. Titheswere strictly enforced for the support of the clergy and the dignityof public worship. Ecclesiastical immunities were recognized andprotected, the bishops held to frequent visitation of their dioceses,a regular religious instruction of the people provided for, and in thevernacular tongue. Through Alcuin he caused corrected copies of theScripture to be placed in the churches, and earned great credit forhis improvement of the much depraved text of the Latin Vulgate.Education, for aspirants to the priesthood at least, was furthered bythe royal order of 787 to all bishops and abbots to keep open in theircathedrals and monasteries schools for the study of the seven liberalarts and the interpretation of Scriptures. He did much also to improveecclesiastical music, and founded schools of church-song at Metz,Soissons, and St. Gall. For the contemporary development of Christiancivilization through Alcuin, Einhard, and other scholars, Italian andIrish, and for the king's personal attainments in literature, seeCAROLINGIAN SCHOOLS; ALCUIN; EINHARD. He spoke Latin well, and lovedto listen to the reading of St. Augustine, especially "The City ofGod". He understood Greek, but was especially devoted to his Frankish(Old-German) mother tongue; its terms for the months and the variouswinds are owing to him. He attempted also to produce a German grammar,and Einhard tells us that he caused the ancient folksongs andhero-tales (barbara atque antiquissima carmina) to be collected;unfortunately this collection ceased to be appreciated and was lost ata later date. From boyhood Charles had evinced strong domestic affections. Judged,perhaps, by the more perfectly developed Christian standards of alater day, his matrimonial relations were far from blameless; but itwould be unfair to criticize by any such ethical rules the obscurelytransmitted accounts of his domestic life which have come down to us.What is certain (and more pleasant to contemplate) is the picture,which his contemporaries have left us, of the delight he found inbeing with his children, joining in their sports, particularly in hisown favourite recreation of swimming, and finding his relaxation inthe society of his sons and daughters; the latter he refused to givein marriage, unfortunately for their moral character. He died in hisseventy-second year, after forty-seven years of reign, and was buriedin the octagonal Byzantine-Romanesque church at Aachen, built by himand decorated with marble columns from Rome and Ravenna. In the year1000 Otto III opened the imperial tomb and found (it is said) thegreat emperor as he had been buried, sitting on a marble throne, robedand crowned as in life, the book of the Gospels open on his knees. Insome parts of the empire popular affection placed him among thesaints. For political purposes and to please Frederick Barbarossa hewas canonized (1165) by the antipope Paschal III, but this act wasnever ratified by insertion of his feast in the Roman Breviary or bythe Universal Church; his cultus, however, was permitted at Aachen[Acta SS., 28 Jan., 3d ed., II, 490-93, 303-7, 769; his office is inCanisius, "Antiq. Lect.", III (2)]. According to his friend andbiographer, Einhard, Charles was of imposing stature, to which hisbright eyes and long, flowing hair added more dignity. His neck wasrather short, and his belly prominent, but the symmetry of his othermembers concealed these defects. His clear voice was not so sonorousas his gigantic frame would suggest. Except on his visits to Rome hewore the national dress of his Frankish people, linen shirt anddrawers, a tunic held by a silken cord, and leggings; his thighs werewound round with thongs of leather; his feet were covered with lacedshoes. He had good health to his sixty-eighth year, when fevers setin, and he began to limp with one foot. He was his own physician, weare told, and much disliked his medical advisers who wished him to eatboiled meat instead of roast. No contemporary portrait of him has beenpreserved. A statuette in the Musée Carnavalet at Paris is said to bevery ancient.

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Titel	Familienstammbaum Engelken
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Hochgeladen	2014-12-22 06:03:51.0
Einsender	Roger Engelken
E-Mail	rengelken@msn.com
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