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SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - CHARLEMAGNE 00
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THE LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
THE SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY______________________________
OCTOBER 29, 2006
Charlemagne
En: [ˈʃa(ɹ).lə.meɪn]; Fr: [ʃaʀ.lə.ˈmaɲ])
(Latin: Carolus Magnus, meaning Charles the Great) (742 or 747 – 28 January 814) was the King of the Franks (768–814),
who conquered Italy and took the Iron Crown of Lombardy in 774 and, on a visit to Rome in 800, was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, presaging the revival of the Roman imperial tradition in the West in the form of the Holy Roman Empire (though this term was not in use during Charlemagne's life time). By his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define Western Europe and the Middle Ages. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture
The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, his original name in the Old Frankish language was never recorded, but early instances of his name in Latin read
"Carolos" or "Karol's".
He succeeded his father and co-ruled with his brother Carloman until the latter's death in 771. Charlemagne continued the policy of his father towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and waging war on the Saracens, who menaced his realm from Spain. It was during one of these campaigns that Charlemagne experienced the worst defeat of his life, at Roncesvalles (778). He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, especially the Saxons, and after a protracted war subjected them to his rule. By converting them to Christianity, he integrated them into his realm and thus paved the way for the later Ottonian Dynasty.
Today regarded as the founding father of both France and Germany and sometimes as the Father of Europe, he was the first ruler of a Western European empire since the fall of the Roman Empire.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Date and place of birth
3 Names of Charlemagne
4 Personal appearance
4.1 Dress
5 Language
6 Life
6.1 Early life
6.2 Joint rule
6.3 Conquest of Lombardy
6.4 Saxon campaigns
6.5 Spanish campaign
6.6 Charles and his children
6.7 During the Saxon peace
6.8 Avar campaigns
6.9 Saracens and Spain
6.10 Imperator
6.11 Danish attacks
6.12 Death
7 Administration
7.1 Monetary reforms
7.2 Education reforms
7.3 Writing reforms
7.4 Political reforms
7.4.1 Organisation
7.4.1.1 Capital
7.4.1.2 Household
7.4.1.3 Officials
7.4.1.4 Legal system
7.4.1.5 Subdivision
7.4.1.6 Placitum Generalis
7.4.1.7 Oaths
7.4.1.8 Capitularies
7.4.2 Imperial coronation
7.4.3 Divisio regnorum
8 Cultural significance
9 Family
9.1 Marriages and heirs
9.2 Concubinages and illegitimate children
10 Notes
11 See also
12 Sources
13 Further reading
14 External links
[edit] Background
Carolingian dynasty Pippinids
Pippin the Elder (+ 640)
Grimoald (+ 662)
Childebert the Adopted (+ 662)
Arnulfings
Arnulf of Metz (+ 640)
Chlodulf of Metz (+ 696)
Ansegisel (+ before 679)
Pippin the Middle (+ 714)
Grimoald II (+ 714)
Drogo of Champagne (+ 708)
Theudoald (+ 714)
Carolingians
Charles Martel (+ 741)
Carloman (+ 754)
Pippin the Younger (+ 768)
Carloman (+ 771)
Charlemagne (+ 814)
Louis the Pious (+ 840)
After the Treaty of Verdun (843)
Lothair I
(Middle Francia)
Charles the Bald
(Western Francia)
Louis the German
(Eastern Francia)
A Frankish king (center), like Charlemagne, depicted in the Sacramentary of Charles the Bald (about 870).By the 6th century, the Franks were Christianised, and the Frankish Empire ruled by the Merovingians had become the most powerful of the kingdoms which succeeded the Western Roman Empire. But following the Battle of Tertry, the Merovingians declined into a state of powerlessness, for which they have been dubbed do-nothing kings (French: rois fainéants). Almost all government powers of any consequence were exercised by their chief officer, the mayor of the palace or major domus.
In 687, Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at Tertry and practically became the sole governor of the entire Frankish kingdom. Pepin himself was the grandson of two most important figures of the Austrasian Kingdom, Saint Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen. Pepin the Middle was eventually succeeded by his illegitimate son Charles, later known as Charles Martel (the Hammer). After 737, Charles governed the Franks without a king on the throne but desisted from calling himself "king". Charles was succeeded by his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, the father of Charlemagne. To curb separatism in the periphery of the realm, the brothers placed on the throne Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian king.
After Carloman resigned his office, Pepin had Childeric III deposed with Pope Zachary's approval. In 751, Pepin was elected and anointed King of the Franks and in 754, Pope Stephen II again anointed him and his young sons, now heirs to the great realm which already covered most of western and central Europe. Thus was the Merovingian dynasty replaced by the Carolingian dynasty, named after Pepin's father Charles Martel.
Under the new dynasty, the Frankish kingdom spread to encompass an area including most of Western Europe. The division of that kingdom formed France and Germany;[2] and the religious, political, and artistic evolutions originating from a centrally-positioned Francia made a defining imprint on the whole of Western Europe.
[edit] Date and place of birth
Charlemagne is traditionally believed to have been born on April 2, 742; however, several factors have led to a reconsideration of this date. First, the year 742 was calculated from his age given at death, rather than from attestation in primary sources. Another date is given in the Annales Petarienses, April 1, 747. In that year, April 1 was at Easter. The birth of an emperor at eastertime is a coincidence likely to provoke comment, but there was no such comment documented in 747, leading some to suspect that the Easter birthday was a pious fiction concocted as a way of honoring the Emperor. Other commentators weighing the primary records have suggested that his birth was one year later, in 748. At present, it is impossible to be certain of the date of the birth of Charlemagne. The best guesses include April 1, 747, after April 15, 747, or April 1, 748, in Herstal (where his father was born), a city close to Liège, in Belgium, the region from where both the Merovingian and Carolingian families originate. He went to live in his father's villa in Jupille when he was around seven, which caused Jupille to be listed as a possible place of birth in almost every history book. Other cities have been suggested, including, Prüm, Düren, and Aachen.
[edit] Names of Charlemagne
Because of the number of languages spoken within his Empire, Charlemagne's name has been preserved in many different languages in different forms. The language of Charlemagne itself does not exist anymore, but evolved into the Franconian languages. "Charles" derives from a Germanic stem meaning "man" or "free man".[3] It is related to the English "churl". In many Slavic languages, the very word for "king" derives from Charles' Slavicised name.
Modern variants in Germanic languages (except English) are:
Danish: Karl den Store
Dutch: Karel de Grote
Frisian: Karel de Grutte
German: Karl der Große
Luxembourgish: Karel de Groussen
The Germanic name was Latinised (Latin: Carolus Magnus) and preserved in the modern Romance languages (as well as English):
Catalan: Carlemany
French: Charlemagne and Charles le Grand, from the Old French Charles le Magne
Italian: Carlo Magno and Carlomagno
Spanish: Carlomagno
Walloon: Tchårlumagne and Tchåle li Grand
Modern variants in and the Slavic languages influenced by the Germanic name are:
Croatian: Karlo Veliki
Czech: Karel Veliký
Polish: Karol Wielki
Slovak: Karol Veľký
Slovenian: Karel Veliki
Serbian: Карло Велики or Karlo Veliki
[edit] Personal appearance
Portrait of Charlemagne, whom the Song of Roland names the "King with the Grizzly Beard"—Facsimile of an engraving from the end of the sixteenth century.Though no description from Charlemagne's lifetime exists, his personal appearance is known from a good description by Einhard, author of the biographical Vita Caroli Magni. He is well known to have been tall, stately, and fair-haired, with a disproportionately thick neck. His skeleton was measured during the 18th century and his height was determined to be 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in [2]), and as Einhard tells it in his twenty-second chapter:
Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though not disproportionately tall (his height is well known to have been seven times the length of his foot); the upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry. Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified, whether he was standing or sitting; although his neck was thick and somewhat short, and his belly rather prominent; but the symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects. His gait was firm, his whole carriage manly, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his size led one to expect.
The Roman tradition of realistic personal portraiture was in complete eclipse at this time, where individual traits were submerged in iconic typecastings. Charlemagne, as an ideal ruler, ought to be portrayed in the corresponding fashion, any contemporary would have assumed. The images of enthroned Charlemagne, God's representative on Earth, bear more connections to the icons of Christ in majesty than to modern (or antique) conceptions of portraiture. Charlemagne in later imagery (as in the Dürer portrait) is often portrayed with flowing blond hair, due to a misunderstanding of Einhard, who describes Charlemagne as having canitie pulchra, or "beautiful white hair", which has been rendered as blonde or fair in many translations. The Latin word for blond is flavus, and rutilo, meaning auburn, is the word Tacitus uses for the hair of Germanic peoples.
[edit] Dress
Charlemagne wore the traditional, inconspicuous and distinctly non-aristocratic costume of the Frankish people, described by Einhard thus:
He used to wear the national, that is to say, the Frank dress: next to his skin a linen shirt and linen breeches, and above these a tunic fringed with silk; while hose fastened by bands covered his lower limbs, and shoes his feet, and he protected his shoulders and chest in winter by a close-fitting coat of otter or marten skins.
He accessorised too, wearing a blue cloak and always carrying a sword with him. The typical sword was of a golden or silver hilt. However, he wore fancy jewelled swords to banquets or ambassadorial receptions. Nevertheless:
He despised foreign costumes, however handsome, and never allowed himself to be robed in them, except twice in Rome, when he donned the Roman tunic, chlamys, and shoes; the first time at the request of Pope Hadrian, the second to gratify Leo, Hadrian's successor.
He could rise to the occasion when necessary. On great feast days, he wore embroidery and jewels on his clothing and shoes. He had a golden buckle for his cloak on such occasions and would appear with his great diadem, but he despised such apparel, according to Einhard, and usually dressed as the common people.
[edit] Language
Charlemagne's native tongue is a matter of controversy. He spoke the Germanic language of the Franks of his day, which should be called Old Frankish, but linguists differ on the identity and periodisation of the language, some going so far as to say that he did not speak Old Frankish, as Charlemagne was born in 742 or 747. Frankish had become extinct during the early 7th century, so that it is reconstructed from its descendant, Old Low Franconian, also called Old Dutch, and from loanwords to Old French. Linguists know very little about Old Frankish, as it attested mainly as phrases and words in the law codes of the main Frankish tribes (especially those of the Salian and Ripuarian Franks), which are written in Latin interspersed with Germanic elements.[4]
The area of Charlemagne's birth does not make determination of his native language easier. Most historians agree he was born around Liège, like his father, but some say he was born in or around Aachen, some fifty kilometres away. At that time, this was an area of great linguistic diversity. If we take Liège (around 750) as the centre, we find Low Franconian in the north and northwest, Gallo-Romance (the ancestor of Old French) in the south and southwest and various Old High German dialects in the east. If Gallo-Romance is excluded, that means he either spoke Old Low Franconian or an Old High German dialect, probably with a strong Frankish influence.
Apart from his native language he also spoke some Latin and understood a bit of Greek: Grecam vero melius intellegere quam pronuntiare poterat, "He understood Greek better than he could pronounce it."[5]
[edit] Life
Much of what is known of Charlemagne's life comes from his biographer, Einhard, who wrote a Vita Caroli Magni (or Vita Karoli Magni), the Life of Charlemagne.
[edit] Early life
Charlemagne was the eldest child of Pepin the Short (714 – 24 September 768, reigned from 751) and his wife Bertrada of Laon (720 – 12 July 783), daughter of Caribert of Laon and Bertrada of Cologne. The reliable records name only Carloman and Gisela as his younger siblings. Later accounts, however, indicate that Redburga, wife of King Egbert of Wessex, might have been his sister (or sister-in-law or niece), and the legendary material makes him Roland's maternal uncle through Lady Bertha.
Einhard says of the early life of Charles:
It would be folly, I think, to write a word concerning Charles' birth and infancy, or even his boyhood, for nothing has ever been written on the subject, and there is no one alive now who can give information on it. Accordingly, I determined to pass that by as unknown, and to proceed at once to treat of his character, his deed, and such other facts of his life as are worth telling and setting forth, and shall first give an account of his deed at home and abroad, then of his character and pursuits, and lastly of his administration and death, omitting nothing worth knowing or necessary to know.
This article follows that general format.
On the death of Pepin, the kingdom of the Franks was divided—following tradition—between Charlemagne and Carloman. Charles to
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