The Book of Emperors: A Translation of the Middle High German Kaiserchronik

XXXVIII. Charles I, “the Great”

318 XXXVIII Charles I, “the Great” Charles (Karl) the Great, king of the Franks (768-814) and emperor (800-814), figures very prominently in both French and German medieval history and legends. Familiar to the English-speaking world by his French name, Charlemagne, the French count him among their kings although without a number. His grandson , Charles the Bald, is the official French King Charles I. The German-speaking world calls him Karl I. He is the founder of the Carolingian Empire, which gave the Germanic Franks their claim to have succeeded the Romans and Byzantine Greeks as heirs to the Roman Empire. True to form, the Book of Emperors treats Charlemagne as the leader whose prowess renewed the Roman Empire after the Greeks had failed to run it honorably. In the minds of most medieval Germans who thought about it, the coronation of Charlemagne as Roman emperor meant a transfer of imperial authority to German rulers. The Book of Emperors author correctly states that Charlemagne’s coronation took place on Christmas Day, 800, after Charlemagne had invaded Italy to right the wrongs done to Pope Leo III. Making the two men into biological brothers is a new touch of our author—adopted in several subsequent works1 —probably to make the two leaders’ cooperation seem more natural or simply to make a better story. The historical Leo III (Pope 795816 ) was probably born in Rome. Many earlier accounts, including 1. It is included in one of the stories in Der Stricker, an anonymous thirteenthcentury collection of parables in verse form. Schröder, p. 380. Almost the whole Book of Emperors’ Charlemagne chapter was included in Deutsche Sagen – Gesammelt durch die Brüder Grimm (Munich and Leipzig: Georg Müller, no date); first edition with introduction, 1816, Vol. II, pp. 107-115. Charles I 319 some from Charlemagne’s own time, recorded that Leo had been blinded. Einhard and some others added that his tongue had been cut out—by supporters of a rival claimant to the papacy.2 Foremost on our author’s mind is driving home the point of the re-fusion of church and state in the Christian Empire begun by Constantine I. Having Charlemagne rescue and restore the pope to his office, with his prayers restoring the pope’s sight, has its symmetry in the pope’s making Charlemagne into the new Roman emperor. As is true of other exemplary rulers in the Book of Emperors, the Imperial Law guides him as he promotes peace and justice throughout his realm. His responsibility is all the heavier, since the Greeks had allowed much of the Imperial Law to be forgotten during their poor stewardship of the Empire. An angel dictates the missing parts, however, and Charles establishes a law code complete down to details of sumptuary laws concerning peasants’ clothing and details of permissible and non-permissible weapons for their position of subordination, as established by church-state cooperation. While Charlemagne had many legends to his name by the twelfth century, most of them centered on his battles or other adventures. The historical Charlemagne was, in fact, an effective lawgiver, and our book reintroduces a focus on him as a reformer of laws, which other sources would then pass on. Charlemagne’s expedition in 778 against Muslims in Spain lived on in many medieval legends, including the Song of Roland. Various Amazon legends had entered medieval historiography since the eighth century. They are contained in the works of Fredegar and Paulus Diaconus , among others. The Book of Emperors, however, is the earliest surviving source to work the story of an army of maidens into the account of Charlemagne in Spain. This version was subsequently 2. These include Einhard, Vita Karoli from 830 (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1955), Quellen zur karolingischen Reichsgeschichte, Vol. I, p. 198, and Angilbert (disputed author), Karolus Magnus et Leo Papa or Carmen de Karolo Magno, dated as early as 801 or 802 (Hannover: Hahn, 1892), Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores. Vol. II, pp. 393-403. 320 Chapter Thirty-eight passed on in several German sagas, and appeared as late as 1589 in the Saxon Chronicle of Panonius. Many medieval Charlemagne legends dwell on a substantial sin he committed, usually a matter of sexual excess or deviance—in some sagas including sorcery-induced necrophilia.3 Our author notes that Charlemagne had a sin—he was human and consequently not perfect—but his emphasis is entirely...