Charlemagne by TWIN COLUMNS

This is the story of Charles the Great — or Charlemagne — the warrior-king, considered by many to be the Pater Europae (“Father of Europe”). Part work of historical fascination, part work of hagiography, this is not a simple celebration of Charlemagne the man or of his dynasty. It is rather an attempt to explore and exhume the world of the Carolingians, invoking Charlemagne’s experiences and accomplishments as the King of the Franks (and later as Imperator Romanorum).

Emerging from the Germanic tribes of Western Europe, the Franks were a collection of people existing in numerous, small kingdoms. From these kingdoms, the Merovingians — a Frankish family founded by Clovis — succeeded in conquering most of Roman Gaul in the sixth century. As a result, they reigned as royalty for nearly three-hundred years. However, their dynasty grew weak and, due to unsustainable practices, were unable to keep their gathered power and authority.

It was during the eighth century that the Carolingians emerged from the landholding aristocracy of Austrasia, and through a combination of power and support, became the “mayors” of the regna of the Frankish Kingdom. After being crowned king, Peppin the Short made considerable strides in the procurement of land for the Franks. At the time of his death, the succession of kingship fell to both of his sons, a customary practice of the Carolingians. His sons — Carloman and Charles (Charlemagne) — were each given a part of the kingdom to rule, having been effectively elevated from lords to kings. However, after Carloman suddenly died, Charlemagne was made the sole ruler of the Frankish Kingdom.

After being crowned the King of the Franks, Charlemagne followed in his father’s steps and turned his attention to Italy and conquered the Lombards, incorporating theirs lands into the Frankish Kingdom and assuming for himself the Lombard crown. After turning his attention to the Spanish Muslims with little success, Charlemagne’s army was attacked at the rear guard by a band of Christian Basques. The event is known as the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, and is the inspiration for one of the great epic poems of the eleventh and twelfth centuries: the Song of Roland.

Charlemagne devoted much of his time and energy to the expansion of the eastern frontier. He conquered and absorbed Bavaria, he wiped out the Avar state, and then engaged in a long and exhaustive military effort against the Saxons of northern Germany. Over the course of a thirty-two year campaign, Charlemagne fought against and conquered the Saxons, time and time again, only to have them rebel when the Frankish army withdrew. Supposedly in a fit of exasperation, Charlemagne ordered the execution of 4,500 Saxon prisoners in a single day — known as the Massacre of Verden.

Though Charlemagne’s military career was prolific, his staying power as a preservationist of western intellectual thought is also worth noting. He possessed a remarkable admiration for learning and for education. The period of his reign is often known as the Carolingian Renaissance, due to the flourishing of scholarship, literature, art, and architecture that characterize it. However, unlike the Italian Renaissance to come centuries later, the Carolingian Renaissance’s main intellectual task can be distilled down to its rescue of Continental culture from ignorance. Francia had no professional class of educators. Moreover, the Church seemed the West’s only hope for educational reform, given its “almost complete monopoly on literacy.” As such, Charlemagne did all that he could to force the cathedrals and monasteries to create schools that would preserve and disseminate the fundamental elements of classical thought. Most of the surviving works of classical Latin were copied and preserved by Carolingian scholars.

In an effort to increase the intellectual standards of his kingdom and support education and learning within, Charlemagne assembled scholars at his court from all over Europe. Chief among these was Alcuin of York, a sincere product of the Northumbrian Renaissance, and an extraordinarily educated man in his time.

In 781, Alcuin met with Charlemagne and was invited by him to join the Frankish court in Aachen (the location of Charlemagne’s royal court). This invitation was no mere house-call: Charlemagne was interested in a total educational overhaul. After acquiring permission of his own king and his archbishop, Alcuin accepted Charlemagne’s invitation and took over the responsibilities of directing the palace school at Aachen.

Even at court, Charlemagne promoted learning among his kith and kin at the palace school. Prior to Charlemagne's development of it and of his hiring of Alcuin, the school likely would have existed for royal training, as the children of the emperor would be in need of education. Charlemagne, however, laid further emphasis on intellectual development and training. Among the learners of the palace school were his children, the queen, Charlemagne's sister, and courtiers. Alcuin's agenda at Aachen was comprised of the trivium, along with selections from the quadrivium. Alcuin's approach may be said to typify the entire philosophy of the Carolingian Renaissance: “to produce accurate copies of important traditional texts, to encourage the establishment of schools, and in every way possible to cherish and transmit the Classical-Christian cultural tradition, without, however, adding to it in any significant way.”

On Christmas Day, 800, Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Romanorum, “Emperor of the Romans.” This was a monumental moment in European history, not only because it fortified Charlemagne’s power, but also because it expanded the power of the Pope as one who can endow men with the authority of the Church and make them emperors of Rome (a theme that would continue into the future).
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Dreamy, ambient, gauzy, swollen. Charlemagne is a meditative journey through the eighth-century world of Francia, as well as a focused rumination on the person of Charlemagne and his lasting influence on Europe.
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Einhard and Notker the Stammerer, Two Lives of Charlemagne. Translated by David Ganz. 2008.

Fichtenau, Heinrich. The Carolingian Empire: The Age of Charlemagne. Translated by Peter Munz. 1964.

Hollister, C. Warren. Medieval Europe: A Short History. 1998.

The Song of Roland. Translated by Dorothy L. Sayers. 1957.

Nestled into the lush forested Idaho Panhandle, TWIN COLUMNS composes ambient synthwave, bringing together influences both ethereal & haunting.

Side project of
Soul▲Craft

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