Book contents
- Making the Holy Roman Empire Holy
- Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Fourth Series
- Making the Holy Roman Empire Holy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Sacrum imperium: Lombard Influence and the Sacralisation of the State in the mid-Twelfth Century (1125–1167)
- 2 Sacrum imperium II: The Barometer of Lombard Influence at Court (1167–1190 and Beyond)
- 3 The Cult of Charlemagne from His Death to the Accession of Frederick Barbarossa (814–1152)
- 4 The Canonisation of Charlemagne in 1165
- 5 The Barbarossaleuchter: Imperial Monument and Pious Donation
- 6 The Reliquary Shrine of Saint Charlemagne: The High Point of the Sacrum imperium?
- Conclusion
- Appendix The Decorative Imagery of the Karlsschrein
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - The Cult of Charlemagne from His Death to the Accession of Frederick Barbarossa (814–1152)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 May 2024
- Making the Holy Roman Empire Holy
- Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Fourth Series
- Making the Holy Roman Empire Holy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Sacrum imperium: Lombard Influence and the Sacralisation of the State in the mid-Twelfth Century (1125–1167)
- 2 Sacrum imperium II: The Barometer of Lombard Influence at Court (1167–1190 and Beyond)
- 3 The Cult of Charlemagne from His Death to the Accession of Frederick Barbarossa (814–1152)
- 4 The Canonisation of Charlemagne in 1165
- 5 The Barbarossaleuchter: Imperial Monument and Pious Donation
- 6 The Reliquary Shrine of Saint Charlemagne: The High Point of the Sacrum imperium?
- Conclusion
- Appendix The Decorative Imagery of the Karlsschrein
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The third chapter delivers a reassessment of the cult of Charlemagne from his death in 814 to Frederick Barbarossa’s accession in 1152. The use of local Aquensian and regional Lotharingian material shows that the widely known developments of the memory of Charlemagne had a particular regional and unique local tendency. Sulovsky’s focus in this chapter is on the Karlsdekret, a forgery pretending to be Charlemagne’s foundation charter for the city and convent of Aachen. Where historians previously dated it to before about 1147, Sulovsky affirms that the forged seal of Charlemagne, the Karlssiegel, which dates to the late 1120s, must have been impressed on the original copy of the forgery. Thus, the forgery was an imitation of an imperial charter, and it was designed to impress Lothar III in 1127. This small find redates and reshapes all of what we know about the rise of the cult of Charlemagne in crusade-era Europe. Aachen had a particular stake in shaping the memory of its most famous patron, but it also wielded an influence over it as it contained his tomb.
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- Making the Holy Roman Empire HolyFrederick Barbarossa, Saint Charlemagne and the <i>sacrum imperium</i>, pp. 118 - 137Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024