Daily Medieval

I outlined yesterday the complicated relationship between the Franks under Charlemagne, the Lombards in Italy, and the Byzantine Empire. Th...

When the report of the Second Council of Nicaea  (in 787 CE) was written up approving the use of icons for religious purposes, it mentioned ...

Mosaic art—arranging pieces of stone, glass (called  tesserae ), or other material to make shapes and pictures—has existed since the 3rd mil...

Widukind (seen here as a memorial in Hereford, Germany) was a Saxon leader who organized the chief opposition to Charlemagne's conquest...

The Saxon Wars (see Part 1 ) were a series of campaigns led by Charlemagne to incorporate and Christianize Saxony. A first phase was complet...

In January of 772CE, a church in Deventer in the Netherlands was sacked and burned by Saxons who objected to missionary work in their lands....

This post referred to the Song of Roland  as foundational to of the Matter of France. The Matter of France, also known as "The Carolin...

In 778, Basques ambushed the rearguard of Charlemagne's army as it was going northward through the Ronceveaux Pass in the Pyrenees. They...

Charlemagne thought trying to retake parts of the Iberian Peninsula back from the Moors was a good idea, so he accepted an invitation from S...

I have mentioned before the disagreements, after the death of Muhammad, over which direction the faith should go. The Rashidun Caliphate wa...

When speaking of the Carolingian Renaissance, the most common name mentioned is Alcuin, but there were many other scholars involved. One of ...

The  Opus Caroli regis contra synodum  ("The work of King Charles against the Synod"), also known as  Libri Carolini  ("Charl...

Charlemagne made sure all of his children had decent careers, even those who were illegitimate. By his concubine Gersuinda, he had a daughte...

Charlemagne believed strongly in education for all his children; his daughters learned to read and write as well as his sons. He was also cl...

Charlemagne's fourth son, his third by his wife Hildegarde, was Louis, called "the Pious" in later life. He was born 16 April ...

Dynasties, royal or otherwise, often re-use names of ancestors. Charlemagne's second son by his wife Hildegarde was named Carloman (777 ...

Charles the Younger (c.772 - 811) was the eldest legitimate son of Charlemagne, born to his second wife, Hildegarde. Like all Charlemagne...

Charlemagne's first known child was Pepin the Hunchback by his concubine Himiltrude. Born about 768, he was raised at his father's ...

Charlemagne outlived his third wife, Fastrada , who died in August 794. Before the year was out, the 50-year-old monarch had acquired a four...

Just because Charlemagne was married doesn't mean he didn't also have concubines. Charlemagne's biographer Einhard describes fou...