(Jody Gray) I found this definition, Hero/Heroine refer to characters in heroic poetry that, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice, that is, heroism, for some greater good. Relating to National heroes, I found an award in honor of Charlemagne “personages of merit who have promoted the idea of western unity by their political, economic and literary endeavors.” Also, The national anthem, “El Gran Carlemany”, the nation of Andorra credits Charlemagne with its independence. National heroes: monuments erected (a favorite representation is of a warrior on horseback, his sword raised), particularly at historical sites they are associated with; "romanticised" paintings of battles (realistically, battle scenes are horrific, not beautiful), coronations, etc; a eulogy or "romanticised" poem is written for them; (Legacy) historians write about them: their conquests (referred to as expeditions, campaigns or crusades -they were military commanders who won decisive battles), their expansion of the kingdoms (e.g. Carolingian rulers "united all" the Frankish realms, by conquest and subjugation; also, expand and protect trade routes), laws written that helped create civilized (structured) societies, elevated learning, arts, etc; (in Christian publications) glorification and justification of battles: conversion from paganism (idolatry), protection from peril (of Christian institutions), missionary work (in this case, Germany and Scandinavia), building of churches and monasteries, piety (constant prayer/mass, penitence for sins). Heroes create loyalty, unite people, create models to emulate, “ideals” and ideology -national heroes were later used to create Nationalism that justified war...
*Pepin of Herstal [https://en.wikipedia.], was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the Franks upon his conquest of all the Frankish realms. He united all the Frankish realms by the conquests of Neustria and Burgundy in 687. He increased the power of the Franks by his subjugation of the Alemanni, the Frisians, and the Franconians. He also began the process of evangelisation in Germany. Pepin’s statesmanship was notable for the further diminution of Merovingian royal authority, and for the acceptance of the undisputed right to rule for his family.
*Mayor of the Palace [https://en.wikipedia.], was the manager of the household of the Frankish king. Rise of Carolingian Dynasty - During the [Merovingian Dynasty] 7th century it evolved into the “power behind the throne” in the northeaster kingdom of Austrasia.
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| 732, Battle of Tours by Charles de Steuben, 1834-1837 |
*Charles Martel [https://en.wikipedia.] National Hero. 732, Battle of Tours - Charles saved Christianity and Western civilization by this battle. “European schoolchildren learn about the Battle of Tours in much the same way that American students learn about Valley Forge and Gettysburg.” German historians are especially ardent in their praise of Charles; that he saved Europe and Christianity from then all-conquering Islam, praising him also for driving back the ferocious Saxon barbarians on his borders. Ranke: “when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defense calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions.” Skilled as an administrator and ruler, Charles organized what would become the medieval European government: a system of fiefdoms, loyal to barons, counts, dukes and ultimately the King, or in his case “Mayor of the Palace, Duke of the Franks”. His close coordination of church and state began the medieval pattern for such government. He created what would become the first western standing army since the fall of Rome by maintaining a core of loyal veterans around which he organized the normal feudal levies. In essence, he changed Europe from a horde of barbarians fighting with one another, to an organized state. 19th century sculpture (above) at the Palace of Versailles, France. [https://en.wikipedia.]
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| Tomb,Saint-Denis, created under Louis IX |
Reference Books: Military Commanders: the 100 Greatest Throughout History (2004). World Military Leaders: a biographical dictionary (2007). “Charles Martel” In The Catholic Encyclopedia. (1908). Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe (1854). “Tours (Poitiers)” 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present. (1999). The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo. (1862). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. (1993). Providence: Studies in Western Civilization -“The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited” (1993).
*Pepin the Short. [https://en.wikipedia.] Statue (left) in Wurzburg, Bavaria, Germany. The first Carolingian King of the Franks. *Donation of Pepin [https://en.wikipedia.] in 756 provided a legal basis for the erection of the Papal States, which extended the temporal rule of the Popes beyond the duchy of Rome. Background. In 751, Aistulf, king of the Lombards, conquered what remained of the exarchate of Ravenna, the last vestige of the Roman Empire in northern Italy. (also, in 751, Pope Zachary had Pepin the Younger crowned king in place of the powerless Merovingian figurehead king Childeric III.) In 752, Aistulf demanded the submission of Rome and a tribute of one gold solidus per capita. Pope Stephen II and a Roman envoy, John the Silentiary, tried by negotiations and bribes to convince Aistulf to back down. When this failed, Stephen sent envoys to Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, with a letter requesting his support and the provision of a Frankish escort so that Stephen could go to Pepin to confer… (they met in 753) Roman Catholic tradition asserts that it was then and there that Pepin executed in writing a promise to convey to the Papacy certain territories that were going to be wrested from the Lombard's. 7/28/754, Pope Stephen anointed Pepin, as well as his two sons Charles and Carloman at Saint-Denis (coronation rites of French kings). In return, in 756, Pepin and his Frankish army forced the last Lombard king to surrender his conquests, and Pepin officially conferred upon the pope the territories belonging to Ravenna… laying the deeds and keys to the cities upon the tomb of Saint Peter… The Donations made the Pope for the first time a temporal ruler… Pepin confirmed his Donations in Rome in 756, and in 774 his son Charlemagne again confirmed and reasserted the Donation. [https://en.wikipedia.-Papal States]. In 781, Charlemagne codified the regions over which the pope would be temporal sovereign: the Duchy of Rome was key, but the territory was expanded to include Ravenna, the Duchy of Pentapolis, parts of the Duchy of Benevento, Tuscany, Corsica, Lombardy and a number of Italian cities. The cooperation between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor.
(Pepin the Short) A great man in his own right; he continued to build up the heavy cavalry. He not only contained the Iberian Muslims, he drove them out of what is now France. He managed to subdue the Aquitaine's and the Basques after three generations of on-off clashes, so opening the gate to central and southern Gaul and Muslim Iberia. He continued his father’s expansion of the Frankish church (missionary work in Germany and Scandinavia) and the institutional infrastructure (feudalism) that would prove the backbone of medieval Europe. He made the Carolingians the ruling dynasty of the Franks and the foremost power of Europe. Pepin the Short was undefeated during his lifetime. He died during a campaign, in 768 (age 54) and interred in the church of Saint Denis -tomb of Pepin the Short.
Reference Books: “Pepin the Short”, Catholic Encyclopedia (1913). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. (1993).
(left) Stained-glass of Charlemagne, railway station of Metz, France, representing the imperial protection over Metz during the German annexation of the city. *Charlemagne: https://en.wikipedia. *National Hero. Charlemagne has been called the “Father of Europe”, as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. All Holy Roman Emperors considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagne’s empire, up to the last Emperor Francis II and the French and German monarchies.
The city of Aachen has, since 1949, awarded an international prize (Karlspreis de Stadt Aachen) in honor of Charlemagne. It is awarded annually to “personages of merit who have promoted the idea of western unity by their political, economic and literary endeavors.” The national anthem, “El Gran Carlemany”, the nation of Andorra credits Charlemagne with its independence. The Economist features a weekly column entitled "Charlemagne", focusing generally on European affairs and, more usually and specifically, on the European Union and its politics. A 2010 episode of QI discussed the mathematics completed by Mark Humphrys that calculated that all modern Europeans are highly likely to share Charlemagne as a common ancestor [https://en.wikipedia. Most recent common ancestor].
(left) 1868, equestrian monument to Charlemagne by Louis Jehotte was inaugurated on the Boulevard d’Avroy in Liege. In the niches of the neo-roman pedestal are six statues of Charlemagne’s ancestors (Saint Begge, Pepin de Herstal, Charles Martel, Bertrude, Pepin de Landen and Pipin the Bref). [https://en.wikipedia.]
In April 2014, on the occasion of the 1200th anniversary of Charlemagne’s death, public art Mein Karl by Ottmar Horl at Katschhof place was installed between city hall and the Aachen cathedral, displaying 500 Charlemagne statues.
(Jody Gray) The important historical events of Charlemagne are covered in the Blog Post: Carolingian Dynasty 714-1124. http://historicalandmisc. There are many illustrations for Charlemagne, including: Map of the Frankish Kingdom, showing the conquests of Charlemagne (768-814). Frederick II’s gold and silver casket for Charlemagne. Reliquary bust of Charlemagne made around 1350, which contains the king’s skullcap, kept in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. There are many paintings included on Charlemagne’s Wikipedia page.
(left, Statue by Coracchini, 1725 at St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Italy. On Christmas Day, 800 AD, Charlemagne was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Italy by Pope Leo III. [Pope Leo III and Charlemagne], like their predecessors, held the Roman Empire to be one and indivisible... Charlemagne’s coronation as Emperor, though intended to represent the continuation of the unbroken line of Emperors from Augustus to Constantine VI… By bestowing the Imperial crown upon Charlemagne, the Pope arrogated to himself “the right to appoint… the Emperor of the Romans… establishing the imperial crown as his own personal gift but simultaneously granting himself implicit superiority over the Emperor whom he had created.” “Charles was the Emperor of the ecclesia as the Pope conceived it, of the Roman Church, regarded as the universal Church”... Charlemagne used these circumstances to claim that he was the renewer of the Roman Empire. (“Charles, most serene Augustus crowned by God, the great, peaceful emperor ruling the Roman empire”) and (“Emperor of the Romans”)... The papacy itself never forgot the title nor abandoned the right to bestow it. When the family of Charles ceased to produce worthy heirs, the Pope gladly crowned whichever Italian magnate could best protect him from his local enemies. The empire would remain in continuous existence for nearly a millennium, as the Holy Roman Empire. [https://en.wikipedia.] Papal States.
Historian, Biographer of Charlemagne: Einhard [https://en.wikipedia.] was a Frankish scholar and courtier; a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious. He was from the eastern German-speaking part of the Frankish Kingdom. Born into a family of landowners of some importance; educated by the monks of Fulda. Einhard's position while with Charlemagne was that of a modern minister of public works [infrastructure, public buildings, etc.] so that he had intimate knowledge of his court; he was also given the responsibility of many of Charlemagne’s abbeys.
He wrote Vita Karoli Magni [https://en.wikipedia.] (suggested dates 817 to 833). It is said that his book was expressly intended to convey his appreciation for advanced education. Reliability. Most biographies of the Middle Ages related only good deeds of their subject, with many embellishments to improve their subject. Einhard’s biography, however, is considered, for the most part, to be a trustworthy account of Charlemagne’s life. It is considered an excellent account of earlier Medieval life. “Almost all our real, vivifying knowledge of Charles the Great is derived from Einhard, and that Vita Karoli Magni is one of the most precious literary bequest of the early Middle Ages.”
Appearance: “He was heavily built, sturdy, and of considerable stature, although not exceptionally so, since his height was seven times the length of his own foot. He had a round head, large and lively eyes, a slightly larger nose than usual, white but still attractive hair, a bright and cheerful expression, a short and fat neck, and he enjoyed good health, except for the fevers that affected the last few years of his life. Towards the end, he dragged one leg. Even then, he stubbornly did what he wanted and refused to listen to doctors, indeed his detested them, because they wanted to persuade him to stop eating roast meat, as was his wont, and to be content with boiled meat.” The physical portrait provided by Einhard is confirmed by contemporary depictions such as coins and his 8-inch bronze statuette kept in the Louvre. In 1861, Charlemagne’s tomb was opened by scientists who reconstructed his skeleton and estimated it to be 6’5:. And estimate of his height from an X-ray and CT scan of his tibia performed in 2010 is 6’. This puts him in the 99th percentile of height for his period, given the average male height of his time was 5’7”. The width of the bone suggested he was slender but not robust in body build.
Dress. “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 wore a blue cloak and always carried a sword typically of a gold or silver hilt. He wore fancy jeweled 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.” 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 (type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty), but he despised such apparel, according to Einhard and usually dressed like the common people.
Homes. Charlemagne had residences across his kingdom, including numerous private estates that were governed in accordance with the Capitulare de villis. A 9th century document detailing the inventory of an estate at Asnapium listed amounts of livestock, plants and vegetables and kitchenware including cauldrons, drinking cups, brass kettles and firewood. The manor contained seventeen houses built inside the courtyard for nobles and family members and was separated from its supporting villas.
Manner. Charles was temperate in eating, and particularly so in drinking, for he abominated drunkenness in anybody, much more in himself and those of his household; but he could not easily abstain from food, and often complained that fasts injured his health. He very rarely gave entertainments, only on great feast-days, and then to large numbers of people. His meals ordinarily consisted of four courses, not counting the roast, which his huntsmen used to bring in on the spit; he was more fond of this than of any other dish. While at table, he listened to reading or music. The subjects of the readings were the stories and deeds of olden time: he was fond, too of St. Augustine’s books, and especially of the one entitled “The City of God.” Charlemagne threw grand banquets and feasts for special occasions such as religious holidays and four of his weddings. When he was not working, he loved Christian books, horseback riding, swimming, bathing in natural hot springs with his friends and family and hunting. Franks were well known for horsemanship and hunting skills. Charles was a light sleeper and would stay in his bed chambers for entire day at a time due to restless nights. During these days, he would not get out of bed when a quarrel occurred in his kingdom. Instead of handling business in a professional manner, he called all members of the situation into his bedroom to be given orders. Einhard tells again in the 24th chapter: “In summer after the midday meal, he would eat some fruit, drain a single cup, put off his clothes and shoes, just as he did for the night, and rest for two or three hours. He was in the habit of awaking and rising from bed four or five times during the night.”
Death. In 813, Charlemagne called Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, his only surviving legitimate son, to this court. There Charlemagne crowned his son as co-emperor and sent him back to Aquitaine. He then spent the autumn hunting before returning to Aachen on Nov. 1. In January, he fell ill with pleurisy. In deep depression (mostly because many of his plans were not yet realized), he took to his bed on Jan. 21. Einhard: “He died Jan. 28, the seventh day from the time that he took to his bed, at 9am, after partaking of the Holy Communion, in the seventy-second year of his age and the forty-seventh of his reign. He was buried at Aachen Cathedral, Aachen, Germany [https://en.wikipedia.]
The earliest surviving planctusI [a lament or dirge, expressing grief or mourning aka eulogy], the Planctus de obitu Karoli, was composed by a monk of Bobbio, which he had patronized. A later story, told by Otho of Lomello, Count of the Palace at Aachen in the time of Otto III, would claim that he and Emperor Otto had discovered Charlemagne’s tomb: the emperor, they claimed, was seated upon a throne, wearing a crown and holding a scepter, his flesh almost entirely in-corrupt. In 1165, Frederick I reopened the tomb again and place the emperor in a sarcophagus beneath the floor of the cathedral. In 1215 Frederick II re-interred him in a casket made of gold and silver.
Throne of Charlemagne [https://en.wikipedia.], Aachen Cathedral, Aachen, Germany. A throne erected in the 790s by Charlemagne, as one of the fittings of his Palatine chapel in Aachen; until 1531, it served as the coronation throne of the Kings of Germany (31 coronations) -Charlemagne himself was not crowned on this throne. Description. very plain and simple and entirely free of elaboration. The seat consists of four marble plates held together by bronze clamps. According to the modern theory, the marble and steps were taken from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem around 800. Another (unverified) interpretation claims they are the steps of Pilate’s palace, which Jesus climbed up after he was whipped. There are fine, incised lines on one of the two side-plates, which served as the board for an ancient game of Nine Men’s Morris [strategy board game dating at least to the Roman Empire]. The back plate shows an early depiction of the crucifixion. Based on the surface treatment and the presence of etchings from several eras of pagan and Christian themes, it can be concluded that when the plates were installed here, they had belonged to at least two contexts already.
The wooden interior structure, supported a now-lost marble seating plate. Radiocarbon dating shows that this oak wood panel dates to ca. 800… for protection against the bombing and fire-fighting water in the 2nd World War, it was covered with tar paper and buried in sand… The types of stone incorporated into this are from ancient ruins (white marble from Egypt) and were laid in the Italian representational style… The four columns of the stone podium could represent the world by the temporal sovereign with its four elements (fire, water, air, and earth), its four seasons, and it four cardinal directions. A reference to the four rivers of the Garden of Eden, which brought prosperity to the earth could also be seen.
Charlemagne was crowned, Holy Roman Emperor at Basilica of St Denis, Paris, France [https://en.wikipedia.] The Basilica became a place of pilgrimage and the burial place of French kings with nearly every king from the 10th to the 18th centuries being buried there: Henry I; Charlemagne; Pepin the Short; Robert II the Pious; Hugh Capet; Charles Martel; Louis VII the younger; Philip I the Amorous; Louis VI the Fat; Philip II Augustus; Louis VIII the Lion; Louis IX; Philip III the Bold; Philip IV the Fair; Louis X the Quarreler; Philip V the Tall; Charles IV the Fair.
French Revolution. The abbey, a symbol of the royals, was completely demolished in 1792; only the church was left standing. Fortunately the many sepulchral monuments had been safely stowed away. The effigies of many of the kings and queens are on their tombs, but their bodies were removed in August 1793 to celebrate the revolutionary Festival of Reunion, then the Bourbon and Valois monarchs were removed to celebrate the execution of Marie Antoinette in October 1793. The bodies were dumped into three trenches and covered with lime to destroy them. Archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir saved many of the monuments by claiming them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments. The bodies of several Plantagenet monarchs of England were removed from Fontevraud Abbey during the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte reopened the church in 1806, but left the royal remains in their mass graves. In 1817 the restored Bourbons ordered the mass graves to be opened, but only portions of three bodies remained intact. The remaining bones from 158 bodies were collected into an ossuary in the crypt of the church, behind marble plates bearing their names... The corpse of King Louis VII, who had been buried at Barbeau Abbey and whose tomb had not been touched by the revolutionaries, was brought to Saint-Denis and buried in the crypt. In 2004 the mummified heart of the Dauphin, the boy who would have been Louis XVII, was sealed into the wall of the crypt.
Reference Books: Charlemagne: Father of a Continent. (2004). Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity. (2008). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. (1993). (Jody Gray) interesting, I don’t see the Catholic Encyclopedia, that included, Pepin the Short and Charles Martel. Explanation: Anti pope Paschal III. [https://en.wikipedia.] In 1164, Guido was elected as the successor, took the name Paschal III and was consecrated by Henry II of Leez, bishop of Liege. He was established at Viterbo and successfully prevented the legitimate pontiff from reaching Rome. In order to gain more support from Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Paschal canonized Charlemagne in a magnificent celebration at Aachen in 1165. He soon lost the support of Burgundy, but the emperor crushed opposition in Germany, and gained the cooperation of Henry II of England. (Paschal was driven from Rome, leading to the return of Alexander III in 1165.)
The Catholic Church has never recognized Charlemagne’s canonization, since Paschal was an anti-pope. In 1179, the Third Council of the Lateran annulled all of his ordinances, including the canonization. Charlemagne remained in good regard still, however, among Catholics, and Prosper Gueranger even composed a prayer to Charlemagne.
Conclusion: of these heroic Carolingians, Pepin the Short and Charles Martel have the honor of being featured in the Catholic Encyclopedia; Charlemagne was beatified, celebrated on Jan. 28.
