His language was German, his capital in Aachen, and Germans consider him the first German Emperoro as well as the greatest.
The French believe him French, point out that he was King of the Franks, and call his capital Aix-la-Chapelle, named in reference to the lovely octagonal chapel that is built there. They, too, consider him their first Emperor and, perhaps, their greatest.
In English we call him by his French name, Charlemagne, who conquered vast territories to build an empire that included all of modern France, Belgium, and Holland, virtually all of Germany and Austria, half of italy, part of Hungary, and a few northeastern provinces of Spain. He established the
Carolingian dynasty that ruled intermittently until 987, and in several Slavic languages (as well as Turkish) the word "king" derives from the German version of his name (Karl); for example,
král in Czech and
król in Polish. He thus shares a distinction with Julius Caesar, whose name was the origin of the words
kaiser in German and
tzar in Russian.
Charlemagne died on this day (28 Jan 814 CE) almost 1,200 ago, probably from influenza. He was 71. His tomb lies in his chapel in the cathedral at Aachen. It bears the inscription:
Sub hoc conditorio situm est corpus Karoli Magni et orthodoxi imperatoris, qui regnum francorum nobiliter apliavit, et per annos XLVII felicites rexit. {Beneath this tomb lies the body of Charles, Great and orthodox Emperor, who led the Kingdom of the Franks with greatness and ruled it successfully for 47 years.}
Although Charlemagne had been a loyal supporter of the Church and spreader of the faith, he was canonized only in 1165 CE because, in the words of historian Norman Davies, "...the process was obstructed for 351 years by reports that his sexual conquests were no less extensive than his territorial ones." Sadly for the Great Charles, he never became a '
proper' saint because he was canonized by Paschal III, an
'anti-Pope' set up by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa {"
Red Beard"} in competition with the '
legitimate' popes of the Catholic Church in Rome.
It is now 2012 CE and another election year...and we are still influenced by the politics associated with wealth, religion, power, culture, and sex.
And so it goes...
Richard
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