July 26, 2025 • 13 mins
Dive into the intriguing life of Emperor Charlemagne through the eyes of Notker, a monk who spun tales filled with amusing anecdotes and witty narratives. Despite traditional historians dismissing Notker as ill-informed, a number of his tales, including the enigmatic story of the nine rings of the Avar stronghold, have found their way into modern Charlemagne biographies. Written for Charles the Fat, Charlemagnes great-grandson, during his visit to Saint Gall in 883, this podcast presents a unique perspective on a monumental historical figure. (Summary abstracted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline.)
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section two of the Life of Charlemagne. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
The Life of Charlemagne by Natgir the Stammerer, translated by
(00:22):
Arthur James Grant, Section two, Book one, Part two. When
Charles one day came in his journeyings to a certain palace,
a certain clerk from among the wandering monks entered the choir, and,
being completely ignorant of these rules, was soon forced to
remain stupid and silent among the singers. Thereupon, the choir
(00:45):
master raised his wand and threatened to strike him unless
he went on singing. Then the poor clerk, not knowing
what to do or where to turn, and not daring
to go out, twisted his neck into the shape of
a bow, and, with open mouth and de stended cheeks,
did his utmost to imitate the appearance of a singer.
All the rest could not restrain their laughter. But the
(01:08):
most valiant Emperor, whose mind was never shaken from its
firm base even by great events, seemed not to notice
his mockery of singing, and waited in due order until
the end of the mass. But then he called the
poor wretch before him, and, pitying his struggles in his anxiety,
soothed his fears with these words many thanks, good clerk,
(01:31):
for your singing and your efforts. Then he ordered a
pound of silver to be given him to relieve his poverty.
But I must not seem to forget or to neglect Alcuin,
and will therefore make this true statement about his energy
and his deserts. All his pupils, without exception, distinguished themselves
by becoming either holy abbots or bishops. My master Grimald
(01:55):
studied the literal arts under him, first in Gaul and
then in Italy. But those who are learned in these
matters may charge me with falsehood for saying all his
pupils without exception, when the fact is that there were
in his schools two young men, sons of a miller
in the service of the monastery of Saint Columbun, who
(02:16):
did not seem fit and proper persons for promotion to
the command of bishoprics or monasteries. But even these men were,
by the influence, probably of their teacher, advanced one after
the other to the office of minister in the monastery
of Babyo, in which they displayed the greatest energy. So
(02:37):
the most glorious Charles saw the study of letters flourishing
throughout his whole realm. But still he was grieved to
find that it did not reach the ripeness of the
earlier fathers. And so, after superhuman labors, he broke out
one day with this expression of his sorrow, would that
I had twelve clerks so learned in all wisdom and
(03:00):
so perfectly trained, as were Jerome and Augustine. Then the
learned Alcuin, feeling himself ignorant indeed in comparison with these
great names, rose to a height of daring that no
man else attained to in the presence of the terrible Charles,
and said, with deep indignation in his mind, but none
(03:21):
in his countenance. The maker of heaven and earth has
not many like to those men, And do you expect
to have twelve? Here? I must report something which the
men of our time will find it difficult to believe,
For I myself, who write it, could hardly believe it.
So great is the difference between our method of chanting
and the Roman. Were it not that we must trust,
(03:44):
rather the accuracy of our fathers than the false suggestions
of modern sloth. Well, then, Charles, that never wearied lover
of the service of God, when he could congratulate himself
that all possible progress had been made in the knowledge
of letters, was grieved to observe how widely the different provinces, nay,
(04:04):
not the provinces only, but districts and cities, differed in
the praise of God, that is to say, in their
method of chanting. He therefore asked of Pope Stephen of
Blessed Memory, the same who, after Hilderic, King of the Franks,
had been deposed and tonsured, had anointed Charles to be
ruler of the kingdom after the ancestral custom of the people.
(04:26):
He asked of Pope Stephen, I say that he should
provide him with twelve clerks deeply learned in divine song.
The Pope yielded assent to his virtuous wish in his
divinely inspired design, and sent to him in Frankland from
the Apostolic Sea, clerks skilled in divine song, and twelve
(04:47):
in number, according to the number of the twelve Apostles. Now,
when I said Franklin just above, I meant all the
provinces north of the Alps. For as it is written
in those days, ten men shall take hold out of
all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold
of the skirt of him that is a Jew. So
(05:08):
at that time, by reason of the glory of Charles, Gauls, Aquitanians, Eduans, Spaniards,
Germans and Bavarians thought that no small honor was paid
to them if they were thought worthy to be called
the servants of the Franks. Now, when the aforementioned clerks
were departing from Rome, being like all Greeks and Romans,
(05:32):
torn with envy of the glory of the Franks, they
took counsel among themselves and determined so to vary their
method of singing, that his kingdom and dominion should never
have cause to rejoice in unity and agreement. So when
they came to Charles, they were received most honorably and
dispatched to the chief places. And thereupon each in his
(05:55):
allotted place, began to chant as differently as possible, and
to tear each others to sing in like fashion, and
in as false a manner as they could invent. But
as the most cunning Charles celebrated one year the feast
of the Birth and Coming of Christ at trev Or Metz,
and most carefully and cleverly grasped and understood the style
(06:18):
of the singing, And then the next year passed the
same solemn season at Paris or Tour, but found that
the singing was wholly different from what he had heard
in the preceding year. As moreover, he found that those
whom he had sent into different places were also at
variance with one another. He reported the whole matter to
Pope Leo of Holy Memory, who had succeeded Stephen. The
(06:41):
Pope summoned the clerks back to Rome and condemned them
to exile or perpetual imprisonment, and then said to Charles,
if I send you others, they will be blinded with
the same malice as their predecessors and will not fail
to cheat you. But I think I can satisfy your
wishes in this way. Send me two of the cleverest
(07:02):
clerks that you have by you, in such a way
that those who are with me may not know that
they belong to you, And with God's help, they shall
attain to as perfect a knowledge of those things as
you desire. So said so done. Soon the Pope sent
them back excellently trained to Charles. One of them he
(07:23):
kept at his own court, the other, upon the petition
of his son Drogo, bishop of Metz, he sent to
that cathedral. And not only did his energy show itself
powerful in that city, but it soon spread so widely
throughout all Franklin that now all in these regions who
use the Latin tongue call the ecclesiastical chant Metensian, or
(07:48):
if they use the Teutonic or Tuthiscan tongue, they call
it mete, or if the Greek form is used, it
is called metisk. The most pious Emperor also ordered Peter,
the singer, who had come to reside with him, to
reside for a while in the monastery of Saint Gall.
There too, Charles established the chanting as it is to day,
(08:11):
with an authentic song book, and gave most careful instructions,
being always a warm champion of Saint Gall, that the
Roman method of singing should be both taught and learned.
He gave to the monastery also much money in many lands.
He gave too, relics contained in a reliquary made of
solid gold and gems, which is called the shrine of Charles.
(08:35):
It was the habit of the most religious and temperate
Charles to take food during Lent at the seventh hour
of the day, after having been present at the celebration
of Mass and evening lauds. And in so doing he
was not violating the fast, for he was following the
Lord's command in taking food at an earlier hour than usual. Now,
(08:57):
a certain bishop, who offended against the priests accept of
Solomon in being just but foolish, took him unwisely to
task for this. Whereupon the most wise Charles concealed his
wrath and received the bishop's admonition in all humility, saying,
good sir, Bishop, your admonition is good. And now my
(09:18):
advice to you is that you should take no food
until the very humblest of my servants who stand in
my court have been fed. Now, while Charles was eating,
he was waited upon by dukes and rulers and kings
of various peoples. And when his banquet was ended, than
those who served him fed, And they were served by
(09:38):
counts and prefects and nobles of different ranks. And when
these last had made an end of eating, then came
the military officers, and the scholars of the palace, then
the chiefs of the various departments of the palace, then
their subordinates, then the servants of those servants, so that
the last comers did not get a mouthful of food
(09:59):
before the middle of the When therefore lent was nearly ended,
and the bishop in question had endured this punishment all
the time, the most merciful Charles said to him, now,
sir Bishop, I think you have found out that it
is not lack of self restraint, but care for others
which makes me dine in lent before the hour of evening.
(10:23):
Once he asked a bishop for his blessing, and he, thereupon,
after blessing the bread, partook of it first himself, and
then wanted to give it to the most honorable Charles, who, however,
said to him, you may keep all the bread for yourself,
and much to the bishop's confusion, he refused to receive
his blessing. The most careful Charles would never give more
(10:47):
than one county to any of his counts, unless they
happened to live on the borders or marches of the barbarians.
Nor would he ever give a bishop any abbassy or
church that was in the royal gift, unless there were
very special reasons for doing it. When his counselors or
friends asked him the reason for this, he would answer,
with that revenue or that estate, with that little abbey
(11:09):
or that church. I can secure the fidelity of some
vassal as good a man as any bishop or count,
and perhaps better. But when there were special reasons, he
would give several benefices to one man, as he did,
for instance, to Udalric, brother of the Great Hildegarde, the
mother of kings and emperors. Now Udalric, after Hildegard's death,
(11:30):
was deprived of his honors for a certain offense, and
a buffoon thereupon said in the hearing of the most
merciful Charles. Now has Udalric, by the death of his sister,
lost all his honors, both in East and west. Charles
was touched by these words, and restored to him at
once all his former honors. He opened his hands most
(11:53):
widely and liberally when justice bade him to certain holy places.
As will appear in the sequel, there was a certain
bishopric which lay full in Charles's path when he journeyed,
and which indeed he could hardly avoid, and the bishop
of this place, always anxious to give satisfaction, put everything
that he had at Charles's disposal. But once the emperor
(12:15):
came quite unexpectedly, and the bishop, in great anxiety, had
to fly hither and thither like a swallow, and had
not only the palaces and houses, but also the courts
and squares swept and cleaned, And then, tired and irritated,
came to meet him. The most pious Charles noticed this,
and after examining all the various details, he said to
(12:38):
the bishop, my kind host, you always have everything splendidly
clean for my arrival. Then the bishop, as if divinely inspired,
bowed his head and grasped the king's never conquered right hand, and,
hiding his irritation, kissed it and said, it is but right,
my lord, that wherever you come, all things should be
(13:00):
thoroughly cleansed. Then Charles of all kings, the wisest understanding
the state of affairs, said to him, if I empty,
I can also fill. And he added, you may have
that estate which lies close to your bishopric, and all
your successors may have it until the end of time.
(13:23):
End of Section two
Section two of the Life of Charlemagne. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
The Life of Charlemagne by Natgir the Stammerer, translated by
(00:22):
Arthur James Grant, Section two, Book one, Part two. When
Charles one day came in his journeyings to a certain palace,
a certain clerk from among the wandering monks entered the choir, and,
being completely ignorant of these rules, was soon forced to
remain stupid and silent among the singers. Thereupon, the choir
(00:45):
master raised his wand and threatened to strike him unless
he went on singing. Then the poor clerk, not knowing
what to do or where to turn, and not daring
to go out, twisted his neck into the shape of
a bow, and, with open mouth and de stended cheeks,
did his utmost to imitate the appearance of a singer.
All the rest could not restrain their laughter. But the
(01:08):
most valiant Emperor, whose mind was never shaken from its
firm base even by great events, seemed not to notice
his mockery of singing, and waited in due order until
the end of the mass. But then he called the
poor wretch before him, and, pitying his struggles in his anxiety,
soothed his fears with these words many thanks, good clerk,
(01:31):
for your singing and your efforts. Then he ordered a
pound of silver to be given him to relieve his poverty.
But I must not seem to forget or to neglect Alcuin,
and will therefore make this true statement about his energy
and his deserts. All his pupils, without exception, distinguished themselves
by becoming either holy abbots or bishops. My master Grimald
(01:55):
studied the literal arts under him, first in Gaul and
then in Italy. But those who are learned in these
matters may charge me with falsehood for saying all his
pupils without exception, when the fact is that there were
in his schools two young men, sons of a miller
in the service of the monastery of Saint Columbun, who
(02:16):
did not seem fit and proper persons for promotion to
the command of bishoprics or monasteries. But even these men were,
by the influence, probably of their teacher, advanced one after
the other to the office of minister in the monastery
of Babyo, in which they displayed the greatest energy. So
(02:37):
the most glorious Charles saw the study of letters flourishing
throughout his whole realm. But still he was grieved to
find that it did not reach the ripeness of the
earlier fathers. And so, after superhuman labors, he broke out
one day with this expression of his sorrow, would that
I had twelve clerks so learned in all wisdom and
(03:00):
so perfectly trained, as were Jerome and Augustine. Then the
learned Alcuin, feeling himself ignorant indeed in comparison with these
great names, rose to a height of daring that no
man else attained to in the presence of the terrible Charles,
and said, with deep indignation in his mind, but none
(03:21):
in his countenance. The maker of heaven and earth has
not many like to those men, And do you expect
to have twelve? Here? I must report something which the
men of our time will find it difficult to believe,
For I myself, who write it, could hardly believe it.
So great is the difference between our method of chanting
and the Roman. Were it not that we must trust,
(03:44):
rather the accuracy of our fathers than the false suggestions
of modern sloth. Well, then, Charles, that never wearied lover
of the service of God, when he could congratulate himself
that all possible progress had been made in the knowledge
of letters, was grieved to observe how widely the different provinces, nay,
(04:04):
not the provinces only, but districts and cities, differed in
the praise of God, that is to say, in their
method of chanting. He therefore asked of Pope Stephen of
Blessed Memory, the same who, after Hilderic, King of the Franks,
had been deposed and tonsured, had anointed Charles to be
ruler of the kingdom after the ancestral custom of the people.
(04:26):
He asked of Pope Stephen, I say that he should
provide him with twelve clerks deeply learned in divine song.
The Pope yielded assent to his virtuous wish in his
divinely inspired design, and sent to him in Frankland from
the Apostolic Sea, clerks skilled in divine song, and twelve
(04:47):
in number, according to the number of the twelve Apostles. Now,
when I said Franklin just above, I meant all the
provinces north of the Alps. For as it is written
in those days, ten men shall take hold out of
all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold
of the skirt of him that is a Jew. So
(05:08):
at that time, by reason of the glory of Charles, Gauls, Aquitanians, Eduans, Spaniards,
Germans and Bavarians thought that no small honor was paid
to them if they were thought worthy to be called
the servants of the Franks. Now, when the aforementioned clerks
were departing from Rome, being like all Greeks and Romans,
(05:32):
torn with envy of the glory of the Franks, they
took counsel among themselves and determined so to vary their
method of singing, that his kingdom and dominion should never
have cause to rejoice in unity and agreement. So when
they came to Charles, they were received most honorably and
dispatched to the chief places. And thereupon each in his
(05:55):
allotted place, began to chant as differently as possible, and
to tear each others to sing in like fashion, and
in as false a manner as they could invent. But
as the most cunning Charles celebrated one year the feast
of the Birth and Coming of Christ at trev Or Metz,
and most carefully and cleverly grasped and understood the style
(06:18):
of the singing, And then the next year passed the
same solemn season at Paris or Tour, but found that
the singing was wholly different from what he had heard
in the preceding year. As moreover, he found that those
whom he had sent into different places were also at
variance with one another. He reported the whole matter to
Pope Leo of Holy Memory, who had succeeded Stephen. The
(06:41):
Pope summoned the clerks back to Rome and condemned them
to exile or perpetual imprisonment, and then said to Charles,
if I send you others, they will be blinded with
the same malice as their predecessors and will not fail
to cheat you. But I think I can satisfy your
wishes in this way. Send me two of the cleverest
(07:02):
clerks that you have by you, in such a way
that those who are with me may not know that
they belong to you, And with God's help, they shall
attain to as perfect a knowledge of those things as
you desire. So said so done. Soon the Pope sent
them back excellently trained to Charles. One of them he
(07:23):
kept at his own court, the other, upon the petition
of his son Drogo, bishop of Metz, he sent to
that cathedral. And not only did his energy show itself
powerful in that city, but it soon spread so widely
throughout all Franklin that now all in these regions who
use the Latin tongue call the ecclesiastical chant Metensian, or
(07:48):
if they use the Teutonic or Tuthiscan tongue, they call
it mete, or if the Greek form is used, it
is called metisk. The most pious Emperor also ordered Peter,
the singer, who had come to reside with him, to
reside for a while in the monastery of Saint Gall.
There too, Charles established the chanting as it is to day,
(08:11):
with an authentic song book, and gave most careful instructions,
being always a warm champion of Saint Gall, that the
Roman method of singing should be both taught and learned.
He gave to the monastery also much money in many lands.
He gave too, relics contained in a reliquary made of
solid gold and gems, which is called the shrine of Charles.
(08:35):
It was the habit of the most religious and temperate
Charles to take food during Lent at the seventh hour
of the day, after having been present at the celebration
of Mass and evening lauds. And in so doing he
was not violating the fast, for he was following the
Lord's command in taking food at an earlier hour than usual. Now,
(08:57):
a certain bishop, who offended against the priests accept of
Solomon in being just but foolish, took him unwisely to
task for this. Whereupon the most wise Charles concealed his
wrath and received the bishop's admonition in all humility, saying,
good sir, Bishop, your admonition is good. And now my
(09:18):
advice to you is that you should take no food
until the very humblest of my servants who stand in
my court have been fed. Now, while Charles was eating,
he was waited upon by dukes and rulers and kings
of various peoples. And when his banquet was ended, than
those who served him fed, And they were served by
(09:38):
counts and prefects and nobles of different ranks. And when
these last had made an end of eating, then came
the military officers, and the scholars of the palace, then
the chiefs of the various departments of the palace, then
their subordinates, then the servants of those servants, so that
the last comers did not get a mouthful of food
(09:59):
before the middle of the When therefore lent was nearly ended,
and the bishop in question had endured this punishment all
the time, the most merciful Charles said to him, now,
sir Bishop, I think you have found out that it
is not lack of self restraint, but care for others
which makes me dine in lent before the hour of evening.
(10:23):
Once he asked a bishop for his blessing, and he, thereupon,
after blessing the bread, partook of it first himself, and
then wanted to give it to the most honorable Charles, who, however,
said to him, you may keep all the bread for yourself,
and much to the bishop's confusion, he refused to receive
his blessing. The most careful Charles would never give more
(10:47):
than one county to any of his counts, unless they
happened to live on the borders or marches of the barbarians.
Nor would he ever give a bishop any abbassy or
church that was in the royal gift, unless there were
very special reasons for doing it. When his counselors or
friends asked him the reason for this, he would answer,
with that revenue or that estate, with that little abbey
(11:09):
or that church. I can secure the fidelity of some
vassal as good a man as any bishop or count,
and perhaps better. But when there were special reasons, he
would give several benefices to one man, as he did,
for instance, to Udalric, brother of the Great Hildegarde, the
mother of kings and emperors. Now Udalric, after Hildegard's death,
(11:30):
was deprived of his honors for a certain offense, and
a buffoon thereupon said in the hearing of the most
merciful Charles. Now has Udalric, by the death of his sister,
lost all his honors, both in East and west. Charles
was touched by these words, and restored to him at
once all his former honors. He opened his hands most
(11:53):
widely and liberally when justice bade him to certain holy places.
As will appear in the sequel, there was a certain
bishopric which lay full in Charles's path when he journeyed,
and which indeed he could hardly avoid, and the bishop
of this place, always anxious to give satisfaction, put everything
that he had at Charles's disposal. But once the emperor
(12:15):
came quite unexpectedly, and the bishop, in great anxiety, had
to fly hither and thither like a swallow, and had
not only the palaces and houses, but also the courts
and squares swept and cleaned, And then, tired and irritated,
came to meet him. The most pious Charles noticed this,
and after examining all the various details, he said to
(12:38):
the bishop, my kind host, you always have everything splendidly
clean for my arrival. Then the bishop, as if divinely inspired,
bowed his head and grasped the king's never conquered right hand, and,
hiding his irritation, kissed it and said, it is but right,
my lord, that wherever you come, all things should be
(13:00):
thoroughly cleansed. Then Charles of all kings, the wisest understanding
the state of affairs, said to him, if I empty,
I can also fill. And he added, you may have
that estate which lies close to your bishopric, and all
your successors may have it until the end of time.
(13:23):
End of Section two
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