#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 44 Spirits: My saintly great grandfather Charlemagne

 My grandmother had hanging on her wall a genealogy chart that showed the family's descent from the Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne or Charles the Great. While I cannot personally vouch for the accuracy of this entire line, I have seen a fair amount of documentation about Charlemagne's descendants, and I think this is probably true. If so, that would make him my 39X-great grandfather. 

Now what most people don't know about Charlemagne is that in addition to being Emperor, warrior, etc. he was also declared a saint of the Catholic Church, or at least beatified, which is a step on the way to sainthood. So that makes me the descendant of an almost-saint!  Pretty cool, huh? Now, since he was declared a saint by one of the Catholic Church's sketchier popes, some people don't regard this as valid, but, hey, I'm going to go with it. 

Charles, born in 747, was the son of Pepin the Short, and was named for his grandfather, Charles the Hammer (really into those nicknames!)  As a young man, he joined his father in many battles that helped to create the Frankish empire, Germanic tribes who lived in the lower Rhine area at the edge of the Roman Empire. On his father's death in 768, he became the King of the Franks, at first ruling jointly with his brother Carloman (strained relationship there).  But at age 24, Charles became the sole ruler of the Franks.

Charlemagne (apparently even during his lifetime, he was referred to as Charles the Great) continued his father's policy of protection of the papacy and became its staunchest defender, removing the Lombards from power in Northern Italy and leading an incursion into Moorish Spain. (You can see how this would have endeared him to the popes.) He also campaigned against the Saxons, Christianizing them (on penalty of death).  Charlemagne's sword (La Joyeuse or The Joyful) attained near mythic status, and it is alleged to be the sword used in the coronation of French kings. (It is currently on display at the Louvre in Paris.)

Convert or Die!

Abul Abbas

Charlemagne has been called "the Father of Europe" as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire and also pulled in places that had never been part of the Roman Empire. He established his capital at Aachen (now Aix-La-Chappelle) in western Germany. He even had contact with the Caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, who gifted him with an elephant named Abul-Abbas. 

He reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, after having rescued Leo from the Romans who were trying to rip out his eyes and tongue. That Holy Roman Emperor title was a somewhat controversial move that was fiercely resented by the Empress Irene of Constantinople who also coveted that title. Much warfare ensued.

Leo crowns the Holy Roman Emperor

Charlemagne died in 814 after contracting an infectious lung disease. He was buried in the Cathedral at Aachen. This was one of the laments on his death:

From the lands where the sun rises to western shores, people are crying and wailing ... the Franks, the Romans, all Christians, are stung with mourning and great worry ... the young and old, glorious nobles, all lament the loss of their Caesar ... the world laments the death of Charles ... O Christ, you who govern the heavenly host, grant a peaceful place to Charles in your kingdom. Alas for miserable me.

Charlemagne's Casket

Charlemagne married at least four times and had eighteen children with his ten wives/concubines. (I assume the popes were willing to overlook the concubine part in light of his protecting the papacy and all.) His longest marriage was to another future saint, Blessed Hildegarde of Alemania (my 39X-great grandmother). She died in 783 and his buried at Metz, where her tomb has become a place of pilgrimage.

Hildegarde and Charlemagne had nine children in their 12 years of marriage. Of his four sons who lived to adulthood, only the youngest, Louis the Pious, lived to succeed him.  Charlemagne’s son Pepin of Italy is my 38x-great grandfather. Charlemagne's Carolingian dynasty is the direct ancestor of many of the royal houses of Europe. In fact, by one account, practically everyone with Western European ancestry that goes back to the 9th century has a connection to Charlemagne. Talk about influence!

In addition to his military prowess, Charlemagne also reformed the economic system, introducing a new monetary standard and standardized ways of accounting for income and expenses. 

He was also a great lover of learning and education and ordered that his children and grandchildren be well educated. He greatly increased the number of monastic schools and book copying centers. (Remember that books were created by painstaking hand copying.) During the "Carolingian Renaissance," there was a great flowering of scholarship, literature, art, and architecture. The emperor often had books read to him during meals and created a royal library that included not only books on Christian faith but also works on history, music, art, and law. Additionally, he developed a standardized form of writing known as Carolingian miniscule that became the basis for modern European printed alphabets.

Carolingian Miniscule

As Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne also instituted reforms of the church including strengthening the church's power structure, improving clergy's skill and moral quality, standardizing liturgical practices, and rooting out paganism. 

One Catholic site refers to Charlemagne as the "King who fought off the Dark." "There is no denying that Charlemagne's rule was like a beacon shining out of the dark ages lighting the way to the great triumphs of the thirteenth century." OK.  Perhaps a little overblown. 

Charlemagne's legacy also lives on in the legends of King Arthur since their 12th-century author based them largely on the exploits of Charlemagne. 

So, about that sainthood thing.  Charlemagne was revered as a saint in the Holy Roman Empire even shortly after his death as a cult sprang up around him. The Apostolic See does not recognize his invalid canonization by Antipope Paschall III in 1165. (All of Paschall's ordinances were later annulled by the Third Lateran Council.) However, his beatification by Pope Benedict XIV in the 18th century has been acknowledged and is celebrated on January 28.  

Thus, it looks like I am descended from two Blesseds: Charlemagne and Hildegarde. Their descendants include many fascinating characters including Louis the Pious, Charles the Bald, Louis the Stammerer, Phillip the Amorous, Charles the Fat, (You just have to love those nicknames! Shuddering to think what nickname my descendants might give me.) William the Conqueror, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth II and a full-fledged saint, Louis IX of France.   

My connection (through Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy) comes down to my 8X-great grandparents Howell Powell and Elizabeth Gorsuch who crossed the ocean from Great Britain to Virginia in the 1660's and later moved to Talbot County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 

It will be quite a challenge to go back and fill in all those other generations back to Blessed Charlemagne, but it will be an interesting tour through the nobility of Europe.