July 26, 2025 • 18 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 six 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 Nottger the Stammerer, translated by
(00:22):
Arthur James Grant, Section six, Book two, Part two. And
here I must repeat that the most illustrious Charles had
men of the greatest cleverness in all offices. When the
morning lauds had been celebrated before the Emperor on the
octave of the Epiphany, the Greeks proceeded privately to sing
(00:44):
to God in their own language psalms with the same
melody and the same subject matter as wetterem hominem and
the following words in our missile. Thereupon the Emperor ordered
one of his chaplains, who understood the Green tongue, to
adopt that psalm in Latin, to the same melody, and
(01:04):
to take special care that a separate syllable corresponded to
every separate note, so that the Latin and Greek should
resemble one another, as far as the nature of the
two languages allowed. So it came to pass that All
of them have been written in the same rhythm, and
in one of them conteruit has been substituted for contrivit.
(01:29):
These same Greek envoys brought with them every kind of organ,
as well as other instruments of various kinds. All of
these were covertly inspected by the workmen of the most
wise Charles, and then exactly reproduced. The chief of these
was that musician's organ, wherein the great chests were made
of brass, and bellows of ox hide blew through pipes
(01:52):
of brass, and the bass was like the roaring of
the thunder, and in sweetness it equaled the tinkling of
lyre or. But I must not here and now speak
of where it was set up, and how long it lasted,
and how it perished At the same time as other
losses fell upon the state. About the same time, also
(02:14):
envoys of the Persians were sent to him. They knew
not where Frankland lay, but because of the fame of Rome,
over which they knew that Charles had ruled, they thought
it a great thing. When they were able to reach
the coast of Italy, they explained the reason of their
journey to the bishops of Campagna and Tuscany, of Amelia
(02:35):
and Liguria, of Burgundy and Gaul and the Abbots and
counts of those regions. But by all they were either
deceitfully handled or else actually driven off, so that a
whole year had gone round before. Weary and footsore with
their long journey, they reached x at last and saw Charles,
(02:56):
the most renowned of kings by reason of his virtues.
They arrived in the last week of Lent, and on
their arrival, being made known to the Emperor, he postponed
their presentation until Easter Eve. Then, when that incomparable monarch
was dressed with incomparable magnificence, for the chief of festivals,
(03:19):
he ordered the introduction of the envoys of that race
that had once held the whole world in awe. But
they were so terrified at the sight of the most
magnificent Charles that one might think they had never seen
king or emperor before. He received them, however, most kindly,
and granted them this privilege, that they might go wherever
(03:42):
they had a mind to, even as one of his
own children, and examine everything, and ask what questions and
make what inquiries they chose. They jumped with joy at
this favor, and valued the privilege of clinging close to Charles,
of gazing upon him, of admiring him more than all
the wealth of the east. They went up into the
(04:05):
ambulatory that runs round the knave of the cathedral and
looked down upon the clergy and the nobles. Then they
returned to the Emperor, and by reason of the greatness
of their joy, they could not refrain from laughing aloud.
And they clapped their hands and said, we have seen
only men of clay before, here are men of gold.
(04:27):
Then they went to the nobles one by one and
gazed with wonder upon arms and clothes that were strange
to them, and then came back to the Emperor, whom
they regarded with wonder still greater. They passed that night
and the next Sunday continuously in church, and upon the
most Holy Day itself they were invited by the most
(04:49):
munificent Charles to a splendid banquet along with the nobles
of Frankland and Europe. There they were so struck with
amazement at the strangeness of everything that they had hardly
eaten anything at the end of the banquet. But when
the morn leaving Typhonus bed illumined all the land with
(05:09):
Phoeba's torch. Then Charles, who would never endure idleness and sloth,
went out to the woods to hunt the bison and
the urucs, and made preparations to take the Persian envoys
with him. But when they saw the immense animals, they
were stricken with a mighty fear and turned and fled.
(05:30):
But the undaunted hero Charles, riding on a high metal charger,
drew near to one of these animals, and, drawing his sword,
tried to cut through its neck. But he missed his aim,
and the monstrous beast ripped the boot and leg thongs
of the Emperor, and, slightly wounding his calf with the
tip of its horn, made him limp slightly. After that,
(05:53):
furious in the failure of its stroke, it fled to
the shelter of a valley, which was thickly covered with
stones and trees. Nearly all the servants wanted to take
off their own hose to give to Charles, but he
forbade it, saying I mean to go in this fashion
to Hildegarde. Then Isambard, the son of Warren, the same
(06:15):
Warren that persecuted your patron. Saint Othmar ran after the beast, and,
not daring to approach him more closely, threw his lance
and pierced him to the heart between the shoulder and
the windpipe, and brought the beast yet warm, to the Emperor.
He seemed to pay no attention to the incident, but
(06:36):
gave the carcass to his companions and went home. But
then he called the Queen and showed her how his
leg coverings were torn, and said, what does the man
deserve who freed me from the enemy that did this
to me? She made answer, he deserves the highest boon.
Then the Emperor told the whole story, and produced the
(06:57):
enormous horns of the beast in witness of his truth,
so that the Empress sighed and wept and beat her breast.
But when she heard that it was Isambard who had
saved him from this terrible enemy, Isambard, who was in
ill favor with the Emperor, and who had been deprived
of all his offices, she threw herself at his feet
(07:18):
and induced him to restore all that had been taken
from him, and a largesse was given to him. Besides,
these same Persian envoys brought the Emperor an elephant, monkeys, balsam, gnard,
ungwins of various kinds, spices, scents, and many kinds of drugs,
in such profusion that it seemed as if the East
(07:40):
had been left bare that the west might be filled.
They came by and by to stand on very familiar
terms with the Emperor, And one day, when they were
in especially merry mood and a little heated with strong beer,
they spoke in jest as follows, Sir Emperor, your power
is indeed great, but much less than the report of it,
(08:02):
which has spread through all the kingdoms of the East.
When he heard this, he concealed his deep displeasure and
asked jestingly of them, why do you say that, my children?
How did that idea get into your heads? Then they
went back to the beginning and told him everything that
had happened to them in the lands beyond the sea.
(08:23):
And they said, we Persians and the Medes, Armenians, Indians, Parthians, Elamites,
and all the inhabitants of the East fear you much
more than our own ruler Haroun, and the Macedonians and
all the Greeks. How shall we express it. They are
beginning to fear your overwhelming greatness more than the waves
(08:44):
of the Ionian Sea. And the inhabitants of all the
islands through which we passed were as ready to obey you,
and as much devoted to your service as if they
had been reared in your palace and loaded with your favors.
But the nobles of your own kingdom, it seems to us,
care very little about you, except in your presence. For
(09:06):
when we came as strangers to them and begged them
to show us some kindness for the love of you,
to whom we desired to make our way, they gave
no heed to us and sent us away empty handed.
Then the Emperor deposed all counts and abbots through whose
territories those envoys had come from, all the offices that
(09:28):
they held, and find the bishops in a huge sum
of money. Then he ordered the envoys to be taken
back to their own country with all care and honor.
There came to him also envoys from the King of
the Africans, bringing a Marmorian lion and a Numidian bear
(09:48):
with Spanish iron and Tyrian purple, and other noteworthy products
of those regions. The most munificent. Charles knew that the
king and all the inhabitants of Africa were oppressed by
constant poverty, and so not only on this occasion, but
all through his life, he made them presents of the
(10:08):
wealth of Europe, corn and wine and oil, and gave
them liberal support. And thus he kept them constantly loyal
and obedient to himself, and received from them a considerable tribute.
Soon after, the unwearied Emperor sent to the Emperor of
the Persians horses and mules from Spain Frisian robes white, gray, red,
(10:32):
and blue, which in Persia, he was told, were rarely
seen and hardly prized. Dogs too, he sent him of
remarkable swiftness and fierceness, such as the King of Persia
had desired for the hunting and catching of lions and tigers.
The King of Persia cast a careless eye over the
other presents, but asked the envoys what wild beasts or
(10:55):
animals these dogs were accustomed to fight with. He was
told that they would pull down quickly anything they were
set on to. Well, he said, experience will test. That
next day, the shepherds were heard crying loudly as they
fled from a lion. When the noise came to the
palace of the king, he said to the envoys, Now,
(11:16):
my friends of Franklin, mount your horses and follow me.
Then they eagerly followed after the king, as though they
had never known toil or weariness. When they came in
sight of the lion, though he was yet at a distance,
the said trap of the said traps said to them,
now set your dogs on to the lion. They obeyed
(11:38):
and eagerly galloped forward. The German dogs caught the Persian lion,
and the envoys slew him with swords of northern metal,
which had already been tempered in the blood of the Saxons.
At this sight, Haroon, the bravest inheritor of that name,
understood the superior might of Charles from very small indications,
(12:00):
and thus broke out in his praise. Now I know
that what I heard of my brother Charles is true.
How that by the frequent practice of hunting, and by
the unwearied training of his body and mind, he has
acquired the habit of subduing all that is beneath the heavens.
How can I make worthy recompense for the honors which
(12:20):
he has bestowed upon me. If I give him the
land which was promised to Abraham and shown to Joshua,
it is so far away that he could not defend
it from the barbarians, or if, like the high souled
king that he is, he tried to defend it. I
fear that the provinces which lie upon the frontiers of
the Frankish Kingdom would revolt from his empire. But in
(12:45):
this way I will try to show my gratitude for
his generosity. I will give that land into his power,
and I will rule over it as his representative. Whenever
he likes, or whenever there is a good opportunity, he
shall send me envoys, and he will find me a
faithful manager of the revenue of that province. Thus was
(13:08):
brought to pass what the poets spoke of as an impossibility.
The Parthian's eyes, the Aarar's stream shall greet, and Tigris
waves shall lave the German's feet. For through the energy
of the most vigorous Charles, it was found not merely possible,
(13:30):
but quite easy for his envoys to go in return.
And the messengers of Haroun, whether young or old, passed
easily from Parthia into Germany and returned from Germany to Parthia.
And the poet's words are true whatever interpretation the Grammarians
put on the river rar whether they think it an
(13:51):
affluent of the Rhone or the Rhine, for they have
fallen into confusion on this point through their ignorance the locality.
I could call on Germany to bear witness to my words.
For in the time of your glorious father Lewis, the
land was compelled to pay a penny for every acre
of land held under the law toward the redemption of
(14:12):
Christian captives in the Holy Land. And they made their
wretched appeal in the name of the dominion anciently held
over that land by your great grandfather Charles and your
grandfather Lewis. Now, as the occasion has arisen to make
honorable mention of your never sufficiently praised father, I should
(14:33):
like to recall some prophetic words which the most wise
Charles Is known to have uttered about him. When he
was six years old and had been most carefully reared
in the house of his father, he was thought and
justly to be wiser than men sixty years of age.
His father, then, hardly thinking it possible that he could
(14:56):
bring him to see his grandfather. Nevertheless, took him from
from his mother, who had reared him with the most
tender care, and began to instruct him how to conduct
himself with propriety and modesty in the presence of the Emperor,
and how if he were asked a question, he was
to make answer and show in all things deference to
(15:17):
his father. Thereafter he took him to the palace, and
on the first or second day, the Emperor noted him
with interest, standing among the rest of the courtiers. Who
is that little fellow, he said to his son, and
he had for answer, He is mine, sir, and yours.
If you deigned to have him, so he said, give
(15:38):
him to me. And when that was done, he took
the little fellow and kissed him, and sent him back
to the place where he had formerly stood. But now
he knew his own rank, and thought it shame to
stand lower than any one who was lower in rank
than the Emperor. So with perfect composure of mind and body,
(15:58):
he took his place on terms of equality with his father.
The most prophetic Charles noticed this, and, calling his son Louis,
told him to find out the name of the boy,
and why he acted in this way, and what it
was that made him bold enough to claim equality with
his father. The answer that Lewis got was founded on
(16:21):
good reason. When I was your vassal, he said, I
stood behind you and among soldiers of my own rank,
as I was bound to do. But now I am
your ally and comrade in arms, and so I rightly
claim equality with you. When Lewis reported this to the Emperor,
the latter gave utterance to words something like these. If
(16:43):
that little fellow lives, he will be something great. I
have borrowed these words from the life of Saint Ambrose,
because the actual words that Charles used cannot be translated
directly into Latin. And it seems fair to apply the
prophecy which was made of Saint Ambrose to Lewis, for
Lewis closely resembled the Saint, except in such points as
(17:06):
are necessary to an earthly commonwealth, as for instance, marriage
and the use of arms, and in the power of
his kingdom and his zeal for religion. Lewis was, if
I may say so, superior to Saint Ambrose. He was
a Catholic in faith, devoted to the worship of God
and the unwearied ally protector and defender of the servants
(17:29):
of Christ. Here is an instance of this, when our
faithful abbot Hartmut, who is now your hermit, reported to
him that the little endowment of Saint Gaul, which was
due not to royal munificence but to the petty offerings
of private people, was not defended by any special charter
such as other monasteries have, nor even by the laws
(17:52):
that are common to all people, and so was unable
to procure any defender or advocate. King Lewis himself resists
did all our opponents, and was not ashamed to proclaim
himself the champion of our weakness in the presence of
all his nobles. At the same time, too, he wrote
a letter to your genius directing that we should have
(18:13):
license to make petition after taking a special vote for
whatever we would through your authority. But alas what a
stupid creature I am, I have been probably drawn aside
by my personal gratitude for the special kindness he showed
us away from his general and indescribable goodness and greatness
(18:34):
and nobleness. End of Section six
Section six 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 Nottger the Stammerer, translated by
(00:22):
Arthur James Grant, Section six, Book two, Part two. And
here I must repeat that the most illustrious Charles had
men of the greatest cleverness in all offices. When the
morning lauds had been celebrated before the Emperor on the
octave of the Epiphany, the Greeks proceeded privately to sing
(00:44):
to God in their own language psalms with the same
melody and the same subject matter as wetterem hominem and
the following words in our missile. Thereupon the Emperor ordered
one of his chaplains, who understood the Green tongue, to
adopt that psalm in Latin, to the same melody, and
(01:04):
to take special care that a separate syllable corresponded to
every separate note, so that the Latin and Greek should
resemble one another, as far as the nature of the
two languages allowed. So it came to pass that All
of them have been written in the same rhythm, and
in one of them conteruit has been substituted for contrivit.
(01:29):
These same Greek envoys brought with them every kind of organ,
as well as other instruments of various kinds. All of
these were covertly inspected by the workmen of the most
wise Charles, and then exactly reproduced. The chief of these
was that musician's organ, wherein the great chests were made
of brass, and bellows of ox hide blew through pipes
(01:52):
of brass, and the bass was like the roaring of
the thunder, and in sweetness it equaled the tinkling of
lyre or. But I must not here and now speak
of where it was set up, and how long it lasted,
and how it perished At the same time as other
losses fell upon the state. About the same time, also
(02:14):
envoys of the Persians were sent to him. They knew
not where Frankland lay, but because of the fame of Rome,
over which they knew that Charles had ruled, they thought
it a great thing. When they were able to reach
the coast of Italy, they explained the reason of their
journey to the bishops of Campagna and Tuscany, of Amelia
(02:35):
and Liguria, of Burgundy and Gaul and the Abbots and
counts of those regions. But by all they were either
deceitfully handled or else actually driven off, so that a
whole year had gone round before. Weary and footsore with
their long journey, they reached x at last and saw Charles,
(02:56):
the most renowned of kings by reason of his virtues.
They arrived in the last week of Lent, and on
their arrival, being made known to the Emperor, he postponed
their presentation until Easter Eve. Then, when that incomparable monarch
was dressed with incomparable magnificence, for the chief of festivals,
(03:19):
he ordered the introduction of the envoys of that race
that had once held the whole world in awe. But
they were so terrified at the sight of the most
magnificent Charles that one might think they had never seen
king or emperor before. He received them, however, most kindly,
and granted them this privilege, that they might go wherever
(03:42):
they had a mind to, even as one of his
own children, and examine everything, and ask what questions and
make what inquiries they chose. They jumped with joy at
this favor, and valued the privilege of clinging close to Charles,
of gazing upon him, of admiring him more than all
the wealth of the east. They went up into the
(04:05):
ambulatory that runs round the knave of the cathedral and
looked down upon the clergy and the nobles. Then they
returned to the Emperor, and by reason of the greatness
of their joy, they could not refrain from laughing aloud.
And they clapped their hands and said, we have seen
only men of clay before, here are men of gold.
(04:27):
Then they went to the nobles one by one and
gazed with wonder upon arms and clothes that were strange
to them, and then came back to the Emperor, whom
they regarded with wonder still greater. They passed that night
and the next Sunday continuously in church, and upon the
most Holy Day itself they were invited by the most
(04:49):
munificent Charles to a splendid banquet along with the nobles
of Frankland and Europe. There they were so struck with
amazement at the strangeness of everything that they had hardly
eaten anything at the end of the banquet. But when
the morn leaving Typhonus bed illumined all the land with
(05:09):
Phoeba's torch. Then Charles, who would never endure idleness and sloth,
went out to the woods to hunt the bison and
the urucs, and made preparations to take the Persian envoys
with him. But when they saw the immense animals, they
were stricken with a mighty fear and turned and fled.
(05:30):
But the undaunted hero Charles, riding on a high metal charger,
drew near to one of these animals, and, drawing his sword,
tried to cut through its neck. But he missed his aim,
and the monstrous beast ripped the boot and leg thongs
of the Emperor, and, slightly wounding his calf with the
tip of its horn, made him limp slightly. After that,
(05:53):
furious in the failure of its stroke, it fled to
the shelter of a valley, which was thickly covered with
stones and trees. Nearly all the servants wanted to take
off their own hose to give to Charles, but he
forbade it, saying I mean to go in this fashion
to Hildegarde. Then Isambard, the son of Warren, the same
(06:15):
Warren that persecuted your patron. Saint Othmar ran after the beast, and,
not daring to approach him more closely, threw his lance
and pierced him to the heart between the shoulder and
the windpipe, and brought the beast yet warm, to the Emperor.
He seemed to pay no attention to the incident, but
(06:36):
gave the carcass to his companions and went home. But
then he called the Queen and showed her how his
leg coverings were torn, and said, what does the man
deserve who freed me from the enemy that did this
to me? She made answer, he deserves the highest boon.
Then the Emperor told the whole story, and produced the
(06:57):
enormous horns of the beast in witness of his truth,
so that the Empress sighed and wept and beat her breast.
But when she heard that it was Isambard who had
saved him from this terrible enemy, Isambard, who was in
ill favor with the Emperor, and who had been deprived
of all his offices, she threw herself at his feet
(07:18):
and induced him to restore all that had been taken
from him, and a largesse was given to him. Besides,
these same Persian envoys brought the Emperor an elephant, monkeys, balsam, gnard,
ungwins of various kinds, spices, scents, and many kinds of drugs,
in such profusion that it seemed as if the East
(07:40):
had been left bare that the west might be filled.
They came by and by to stand on very familiar
terms with the Emperor, And one day, when they were
in especially merry mood and a little heated with strong beer,
they spoke in jest as follows, Sir Emperor, your power
is indeed great, but much less than the report of it,
(08:02):
which has spread through all the kingdoms of the East.
When he heard this, he concealed his deep displeasure and
asked jestingly of them, why do you say that, my children?
How did that idea get into your heads? Then they
went back to the beginning and told him everything that
had happened to them in the lands beyond the sea.
(08:23):
And they said, we Persians and the Medes, Armenians, Indians, Parthians, Elamites,
and all the inhabitants of the East fear you much
more than our own ruler Haroun, and the Macedonians and
all the Greeks. How shall we express it. They are
beginning to fear your overwhelming greatness more than the waves
(08:44):
of the Ionian Sea. And the inhabitants of all the
islands through which we passed were as ready to obey you,
and as much devoted to your service as if they
had been reared in your palace and loaded with your favors.
But the nobles of your own kingdom, it seems to us,
care very little about you, except in your presence. For
(09:06):
when we came as strangers to them and begged them
to show us some kindness for the love of you,
to whom we desired to make our way, they gave
no heed to us and sent us away empty handed.
Then the Emperor deposed all counts and abbots through whose
territories those envoys had come from, all the offices that
(09:28):
they held, and find the bishops in a huge sum
of money. Then he ordered the envoys to be taken
back to their own country with all care and honor.
There came to him also envoys from the King of
the Africans, bringing a Marmorian lion and a Numidian bear
(09:48):
with Spanish iron and Tyrian purple, and other noteworthy products
of those regions. The most munificent. Charles knew that the
king and all the inhabitants of Africa were oppressed by
constant poverty, and so not only on this occasion, but
all through his life, he made them presents of the
(10:08):
wealth of Europe, corn and wine and oil, and gave
them liberal support. And thus he kept them constantly loyal
and obedient to himself, and received from them a considerable tribute.
Soon after, the unwearied Emperor sent to the Emperor of
the Persians horses and mules from Spain Frisian robes white, gray, red,
(10:32):
and blue, which in Persia, he was told, were rarely
seen and hardly prized. Dogs too, he sent him of
remarkable swiftness and fierceness, such as the King of Persia
had desired for the hunting and catching of lions and tigers.
The King of Persia cast a careless eye over the
other presents, but asked the envoys what wild beasts or
(10:55):
animals these dogs were accustomed to fight with. He was
told that they would pull down quickly anything they were
set on to. Well, he said, experience will test. That
next day, the shepherds were heard crying loudly as they
fled from a lion. When the noise came to the
palace of the king, he said to the envoys, Now,
(11:16):
my friends of Franklin, mount your horses and follow me.
Then they eagerly followed after the king, as though they
had never known toil or weariness. When they came in
sight of the lion, though he was yet at a distance,
the said trap of the said traps said to them,
now set your dogs on to the lion. They obeyed
(11:38):
and eagerly galloped forward. The German dogs caught the Persian lion,
and the envoys slew him with swords of northern metal,
which had already been tempered in the blood of the Saxons.
At this sight, Haroon, the bravest inheritor of that name,
understood the superior might of Charles from very small indications,
(12:00):
and thus broke out in his praise. Now I know
that what I heard of my brother Charles is true.
How that by the frequent practice of hunting, and by
the unwearied training of his body and mind, he has
acquired the habit of subduing all that is beneath the heavens.
How can I make worthy recompense for the honors which
(12:20):
he has bestowed upon me. If I give him the
land which was promised to Abraham and shown to Joshua,
it is so far away that he could not defend
it from the barbarians, or if, like the high souled
king that he is, he tried to defend it. I
fear that the provinces which lie upon the frontiers of
the Frankish Kingdom would revolt from his empire. But in
(12:45):
this way I will try to show my gratitude for
his generosity. I will give that land into his power,
and I will rule over it as his representative. Whenever
he likes, or whenever there is a good opportunity, he
shall send me envoys, and he will find me a
faithful manager of the revenue of that province. Thus was
(13:08):
brought to pass what the poets spoke of as an impossibility.
The Parthian's eyes, the Aarar's stream shall greet, and Tigris
waves shall lave the German's feet. For through the energy
of the most vigorous Charles, it was found not merely possible,
(13:30):
but quite easy for his envoys to go in return.
And the messengers of Haroun, whether young or old, passed
easily from Parthia into Germany and returned from Germany to Parthia.
And the poet's words are true whatever interpretation the Grammarians
put on the river rar whether they think it an
(13:51):
affluent of the Rhone or the Rhine, for they have
fallen into confusion on this point through their ignorance the locality.
I could call on Germany to bear witness to my words.
For in the time of your glorious father Lewis, the
land was compelled to pay a penny for every acre
of land held under the law toward the redemption of
(14:12):
Christian captives in the Holy Land. And they made their
wretched appeal in the name of the dominion anciently held
over that land by your great grandfather Charles and your
grandfather Lewis. Now, as the occasion has arisen to make
honorable mention of your never sufficiently praised father, I should
(14:33):
like to recall some prophetic words which the most wise
Charles Is known to have uttered about him. When he
was six years old and had been most carefully reared
in the house of his father, he was thought and
justly to be wiser than men sixty years of age.
His father, then, hardly thinking it possible that he could
(14:56):
bring him to see his grandfather. Nevertheless, took him from
from his mother, who had reared him with the most
tender care, and began to instruct him how to conduct
himself with propriety and modesty in the presence of the Emperor,
and how if he were asked a question, he was
to make answer and show in all things deference to
(15:17):
his father. Thereafter he took him to the palace, and
on the first or second day, the Emperor noted him
with interest, standing among the rest of the courtiers. Who
is that little fellow, he said to his son, and
he had for answer, He is mine, sir, and yours.
If you deigned to have him, so he said, give
(15:38):
him to me. And when that was done, he took
the little fellow and kissed him, and sent him back
to the place where he had formerly stood. But now
he knew his own rank, and thought it shame to
stand lower than any one who was lower in rank
than the Emperor. So with perfect composure of mind and body,
(15:58):
he took his place on terms of equality with his father.
The most prophetic Charles noticed this, and, calling his son Louis,
told him to find out the name of the boy,
and why he acted in this way, and what it
was that made him bold enough to claim equality with
his father. The answer that Lewis got was founded on
(16:21):
good reason. When I was your vassal, he said, I
stood behind you and among soldiers of my own rank,
as I was bound to do. But now I am
your ally and comrade in arms, and so I rightly
claim equality with you. When Lewis reported this to the Emperor,
the latter gave utterance to words something like these. If
(16:43):
that little fellow lives, he will be something great. I
have borrowed these words from the life of Saint Ambrose,
because the actual words that Charles used cannot be translated
directly into Latin. And it seems fair to apply the
prophecy which was made of Saint Ambrose to Lewis, for
Lewis closely resembled the Saint, except in such points as
(17:06):
are necessary to an earthly commonwealth, as for instance, marriage
and the use of arms, and in the power of
his kingdom and his zeal for religion. Lewis was, if
I may say so, superior to Saint Ambrose. He was
a Catholic in faith, devoted to the worship of God
and the unwearied ally protector and defender of the servants
(17:29):
of Christ. Here is an instance of this, when our
faithful abbot Hartmut, who is now your hermit, reported to
him that the little endowment of Saint Gaul, which was
due not to royal munificence but to the petty offerings
of private people, was not defended by any special charter
such as other monasteries have, nor even by the laws
(17:52):
that are common to all people, and so was unable
to procure any defender or advocate. King Lewis himself resists
did all our opponents, and was not ashamed to proclaim
himself the champion of our weakness in the presence of
all his nobles. At the same time, too, he wrote
a letter to your genius directing that we should have
(18:13):
license to make petition after taking a special vote for
whatever we would through your authority. But alas what a
stupid creature I am, I have been probably drawn aside
by my personal gratitude for the special kindness he showed
us away from his general and indescribable goodness and greatness
(18:34):
and nobleness. End of Section six
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