July 26, 2025 • 15 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 (00:00):
Section nine 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.
Recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater. The Life of Charlemagne by
not cur the Stammerer, translated by Arthur James Grant, Section nine,
(00:25):
Book two, Part five. After Charles, of all the energetic Franks,
the most energetic, had stayed in that country for a
short time while he was appointing a worthy successor to
the deceased bishop. One festal day, after the celebration of Mass,
he said to his retinue, we must not let leisure
(00:48):
lead us into slothful habits. Let us go hunting and
kill something, and let us all go in the very
clothes that we are wearing at this moment. Now, the
day was cold and rainy, and Charles was wearing a
sheep skin, not much more costly than the cloak which
Saint Martin wore when with bare arms he offered to
(01:10):
God a sacrifice that received divine approval, but the others,
for it was a holiday and they had just come
from Pavia. Whither the Venetians had carried all the wealth
of the East from their territories beyond the sea. The others,
I say, strutted in robes made of pheasant skins and silk,
or of the necks, backs and tails of peacocks. In
(01:31):
their first plumage. Some were decorated with purple and lemon
colored ribbons, some were wrapped round with blankets, and some
in ermine robes. They scoured the thickets, They were torn
by branches of trees, thorns, and briars. They were drenched
with rain. They were defiled with the blood of wild
(01:53):
beasts and the filth of the skins. And in this
plight they returned home. The most crafty childs said, no
one of us must take off his dress of skins
before he goes to bed. They will dry better upon
our bodies. Then everyone more anxious about his body than
(02:14):
his dress, made search for fire and tried to warm himself.
Then they returned and remained in attendance upon Charles far
into the night before they were dismissed to their apartments. Then,
when they began to draw off their dresses of skins
and their slender belts, the creased and shrunken garments could
(02:34):
be heard even from a distance, cracking like sticks broken
when they are dry. And the courtiers sighed and groaned
and lamented that they had lost so much money on
a single day. They had received, however, a command from
the Emperor to appear before him next day in the
same skin garments. When they came, it was no longer
(02:57):
the splendid show of yesterday, for they looked dirty and
squalid in their discolored and rent clothes. Then Charlie, full
of guile, said to his chamberlain, give my sheepskin a rub,
and bring it to me. It came quite white and
perfectly sound. And Charles took it and showed it to
(03:18):
all those who were there, and spoke, as follows, most
foolish of mortal men, which of these dresses is the
most valuable and the most useful? This one of mine,
which was bought for a piece of silver, or those
of yours, which you bought for pounds, nay, for many talents.
(03:40):
Their eyes sank to the ground, for they could not
bear his most terrible censure. Your most religious father imitated
this example of the great Charles all through his life,
for he never allowed anyone who seemed to him worthy
of his notice or his teaching, to wear anything when
(04:01):
on campaign against the enemy, except the military accouterments and
garments of wool and linen. If any of his servants
ignorant of this rule happened to meet him with silk
or silver or gold upon his person, he would receive
a reprimand of the following kind, and would depart a
better and a wiser man. Here is a blaze of
(04:25):
gold and silver and scarlet. Why, you, wretched fellow, can't
you be satisfied with perishing yourself in battle? If fate
so decides, must you also give your wealth into the
hands of the enemy, which might have gone to ransom
your soul? But now well decorate the temples of the Heathen.
But now, though you know it better than I do,
(04:46):
I will tell again how, from early youth up to
his seventieth year, the unconquered Lewis delighted in iron, And
what an exhibition of his fondness for iron he made
in the presence of the legates of the Northmen. When
the kings of the Northmen sent gold and silver as
witness of their loyalty, and their swords as a mark
(05:07):
of their perpetual subjection and surrender. The king gave orders
that the precious metals should be thrown upon the floor,
and should be looked upon by all with contempt, and
be trampled upon by all as though they were dirt.
But as he sat upon his lofty throne, he ordered
the swords to be brought to him, that he might
(05:29):
make trial of them. Then the embassadors, anxious to avoid
the possibility of any suspicion of an evil design, took
the swords by the very point, as servants hand knives
to their masters, and thus gave them to the Emperor
at their own risk. He took one by the hilt
and tried to bend the tip of the blade right
(05:49):
back to the base, but the blades snapped between his hands,
which were stronger than the iron itself. Then one of
the envoys drew his own sword from its sheath and
off it like a servant to the Emperor's service, saying,
I think you will find this sword as flexible and
as strong as your all conquering right hand could desire.
(06:11):
Then the Emperor a true emperor, he, as the prophet
Isaiah says in his prophecy, consider the rock. Whence he
were hewn for he out of all the vast population
of Germany, by the single favor of God, rose to
the level of the strength and courage of an earlier generation.
The Emperor, I say, bent it like a vine twig
(06:34):
from the extreme point back to the hilt, and then
let it gradually straighten itself again. Then the envoys gazed
upon one another and said, in amazement, would that our
kings held gold and silver so cheap, and iron so
precious as I have mentioned the Northman, I will show,
by an incident drawn from the reign of your grandfather,
(06:57):
in what slight estimation, they hold faith and baptism. Just
as after the death of the warrior king David, the
neighboring peoples, whom his strong hand had subdued for a
long time, paid their tribute to his peaceful son Solomon.
Even so, the terrible race of the Northmen still loyally
(07:17):
paid to Lewis the tribute which through terror they had
paid to his father, the most august Emperor Charles. Once
the most religious Emperor Louis, took pity on their envoys
and asked them if they would be willing to receive
the Christian religion, And when they answered that always, and everywhere,
(07:39):
and in everything they were ready to obey him. He
ordered them to be baptized in the name of Him,
of whom the most learned Augustine says, if there were
no Trinity, the truth would never have said, go and
teach all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Ghost. The nobles of the palace adopted
(08:02):
them almost as children, and each received from the Emperor's
chamber a white robe, and from their sponsors a full
frankish attire of costly robes and arms and other decorations.
This was often done, and from year to year they
came in increasing numbers, not for the sake of Christ,
(08:25):
but for earthly advantage. They made haste to come, not
as envoys any longer, but as loyal vassals on Easter eve,
to put themselves at the disposal of the Emperor. And
it happened that on a certain occasion they came to
the number of fifty. The Emperor asked them whether they
(08:46):
wished to be baptized, and when they had confessed, he
bade them for with be sprinkled with holy water, as
linen garments were not ready in sufficient numbers. He ordered
shirts to be cut up and so together into the
fashion of raps. One of these was forthwith clapped upon
the shoulders of one of the elder men, And when
(09:08):
he had looked all over it for a minute, he
conceived fierce anger in his mind and said to the Emperor,
I have gone through this washing business here twenty times already,
and I have been dressed in excellent clothes of perfect whiteness.
But a sack like this is more fit for clodhoppers
than for soldiers. If I were not afraid of my nakedness,
(09:31):
for you have taken away my own clothes and have
given me no new ones, I would soon leave your
rap and your Christ as well. Ah, how little do
the enemies of Christ value the words of the Apostle
of Christ, where he says, all ye that are baptized
in Christ, put on Christ, and again, ye that are
(09:54):
baptized in Christ, are baptized in His death. Or that
pas which is aimed especially at those who despise the
faith and violate the sacraments, crucifying the Son of God
afresh and putting him to an open shame. Oh, would
that this were the case only with the heathen, and
(10:15):
not also among those who were called by the name
of Christ. Now I must tell a story about the
goodness of the first Lewis, and then I shall come
back to Charles. That most peaceable Emperor Lewis, being free
from the incursions of the enemy, gave all his care
to the works of religion, as for instance, to prayer,
(10:38):
to works of charity, to the hearing and just determinations
of trials at law. His talents and his experience had
made him very skillful in this latter business. And when
one day there came to him one who was considered
a very achitophel by all, and tried to deceive him,
he gave him this answer, fallow with courteous, mean and
(11:02):
kindly voice, though with some little agitation of mind, most
wise anselm. He said, if I may be allowed to
say so, I would venture to observe that you are
deviating from the path of rectitude. From that day the
reputation of that legal luminary sank to nothing in the
(11:24):
eyes of all the world. Moreover, the most merciful Lewis
was so intent on works of charity that he liked
not merely to have things done in his sight, but
even to do them with his own hand. Even when
he was away. He made special arrangements for the trial
of cases in which the poor were concerned. He chose
(11:47):
one of their own number, a man of small bodily strength,
but apparently more courageous than the rest, and gave orders
that he should decide offenses committed by them, and should
see to the restoration of stolen property, the requital of
injuries and wounds, and in cases of greater crimes, to
the infliction of mutilation, decapitation, and the exposure of the
(12:10):
bodies on the gallows. This man established dukes, tribunes, centurions
and their representatives, and performed his task with energy. Moreover,
the most merciful Emperor, worshiping Christ in the persons of
all the poor, was never weary of giving them food
(12:31):
and clothing, and he did so especially on the day
when Christ, having put off his mortal body, was preparing
to take to himself an incorruptible one. On that day,
it was his practice to make presents to each in
every one of those who served in the palace or
did duty in the royal court. He would order belts,
(12:52):
leg coverings, and precious garments brought from all parts of
his vast empire to be given to some of his nobles.
The lower orders would get Frisian cloaks of various colors.
His grooms, cooks and kitchen attendants got clothes of linen
and wool, and knives according to their needs. Then, when
(13:13):
according to the acts of the apostles, there was no
one that was in need of anything, there was a
universal feeling of gratitude. The ragged poor, now decently clad,
raised their voices to Heaven with a cry of Kyrie
Elayson to the blessed Lewis. Through all the wide courts
(13:35):
and the smaller openings of a which the Latins usually
call porches, and all the knights who could embrace the
feet of the Emperor, and those who could not get
to him, worshiped him afar off. As he made his
way to church. On one of these occasions, one of
the fools said in jest, O, happy Lewis, who on
(13:57):
one day hast been able to close so many people
by Christ. I think that no one in Europe has
clothed more than you this day, except Acto. When the
Emperor asked him how it was possible that Acto should
have clothed more. The jester, pleased to have secured the
attention of the Emperor, said, with a grin, he has
(14:21):
distributed to day a vast number of new clothes. The Emperor,
with the sweetest possible expression on his face, took this
for the silly joke it was, and entered the church
in humble devotion, and there behaved himself so reverently that
he seemed to have Our Lord Jesus Christ himself before
(14:42):
his bodily eyes. It was his habit to go to
the baths every Saturday, not for any need there was
of it, but because it gave him an opportunity of
making presents. For he used to give everything that he
took off, except his sword and belt, to his attendants.
His liberality reached even to the lowest grades, insomuch that
(15:05):
he once ordered all his attire to be given to
one Stracholf, a glazier and a servant of Saint Gaul.
When the servants of the barons heard of this, they
laid an ambuscade for him on the road and tried
to rob him. Then he cried out, what are you doing.
You are using violence to the glazier of the Emperor.
(15:26):
They answered, you can keep your office. But here the
manuscript ends, and the further adventures of Stracholf are left
to conjecture. End of book two, end of section nine,
end of the Life of Charlemagne by knot Ker the
Stammerer
Section nine 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.
Recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater. The Life of Charlemagne by
not cur the Stammerer, translated by Arthur James Grant, Section nine,
(00:25):
Book two, Part five. After Charles, of all the energetic Franks,
the most energetic, had stayed in that country for a
short time while he was appointing a worthy successor to
the deceased bishop. One festal day, after the celebration of Mass,
he said to his retinue, we must not let leisure
(00:48):
lead us into slothful habits. Let us go hunting and
kill something, and let us all go in the very
clothes that we are wearing at this moment. Now, the
day was cold and rainy, and Charles was wearing a
sheep skin, not much more costly than the cloak which
Saint Martin wore when with bare arms he offered to
(01:10):
God a sacrifice that received divine approval, but the others,
for it was a holiday and they had just come
from Pavia. Whither the Venetians had carried all the wealth
of the East from their territories beyond the sea. The others,
I say, strutted in robes made of pheasant skins and silk,
or of the necks, backs and tails of peacocks. In
(01:31):
their first plumage. Some were decorated with purple and lemon
colored ribbons, some were wrapped round with blankets, and some
in ermine robes. They scoured the thickets, They were torn
by branches of trees, thorns, and briars. They were drenched
with rain. They were defiled with the blood of wild
(01:53):
beasts and the filth of the skins. And in this
plight they returned home. The most crafty childs said, no
one of us must take off his dress of skins
before he goes to bed. They will dry better upon
our bodies. Then everyone more anxious about his body than
(02:14):
his dress, made search for fire and tried to warm himself.
Then they returned and remained in attendance upon Charles far
into the night before they were dismissed to their apartments. Then,
when they began to draw off their dresses of skins
and their slender belts, the creased and shrunken garments could
(02:34):
be heard even from a distance, cracking like sticks broken
when they are dry. And the courtiers sighed and groaned
and lamented that they had lost so much money on
a single day. They had received, however, a command from
the Emperor to appear before him next day in the
same skin garments. When they came, it was no longer
(02:57):
the splendid show of yesterday, for they looked dirty and
squalid in their discolored and rent clothes. Then Charlie, full
of guile, said to his chamberlain, give my sheepskin a rub,
and bring it to me. It came quite white and
perfectly sound. And Charles took it and showed it to
(03:18):
all those who were there, and spoke, as follows, most
foolish of mortal men, which of these dresses is the
most valuable and the most useful? This one of mine,
which was bought for a piece of silver, or those
of yours, which you bought for pounds, nay, for many talents.
(03:40):
Their eyes sank to the ground, for they could not
bear his most terrible censure. Your most religious father imitated
this example of the great Charles all through his life,
for he never allowed anyone who seemed to him worthy
of his notice or his teaching, to wear anything when
(04:01):
on campaign against the enemy, except the military accouterments and
garments of wool and linen. If any of his servants
ignorant of this rule happened to meet him with silk
or silver or gold upon his person, he would receive
a reprimand of the following kind, and would depart a
better and a wiser man. Here is a blaze of
(04:25):
gold and silver and scarlet. Why, you, wretched fellow, can't
you be satisfied with perishing yourself in battle? If fate
so decides, must you also give your wealth into the
hands of the enemy, which might have gone to ransom
your soul? But now well decorate the temples of the Heathen.
But now, though you know it better than I do,
(04:46):
I will tell again how, from early youth up to
his seventieth year, the unconquered Lewis delighted in iron, And
what an exhibition of his fondness for iron he made
in the presence of the legates of the Northmen. When
the kings of the Northmen sent gold and silver as
witness of their loyalty, and their swords as a mark
(05:07):
of their perpetual subjection and surrender. The king gave orders
that the precious metals should be thrown upon the floor,
and should be looked upon by all with contempt, and
be trampled upon by all as though they were dirt.
But as he sat upon his lofty throne, he ordered
the swords to be brought to him, that he might
(05:29):
make trial of them. Then the embassadors, anxious to avoid
the possibility of any suspicion of an evil design, took
the swords by the very point, as servants hand knives
to their masters, and thus gave them to the Emperor
at their own risk. He took one by the hilt
and tried to bend the tip of the blade right
(05:49):
back to the base, but the blades snapped between his hands,
which were stronger than the iron itself. Then one of
the envoys drew his own sword from its sheath and
off it like a servant to the Emperor's service, saying,
I think you will find this sword as flexible and
as strong as your all conquering right hand could desire.
(06:11):
Then the Emperor a true emperor, he, as the prophet
Isaiah says in his prophecy, consider the rock. Whence he
were hewn for he out of all the vast population
of Germany, by the single favor of God, rose to
the level of the strength and courage of an earlier generation.
The Emperor, I say, bent it like a vine twig
(06:34):
from the extreme point back to the hilt, and then
let it gradually straighten itself again. Then the envoys gazed
upon one another and said, in amazement, would that our
kings held gold and silver so cheap, and iron so
precious as I have mentioned the Northman, I will show,
by an incident drawn from the reign of your grandfather,
(06:57):
in what slight estimation, they hold faith and baptism. Just
as after the death of the warrior king David, the
neighboring peoples, whom his strong hand had subdued for a
long time, paid their tribute to his peaceful son Solomon.
Even so, the terrible race of the Northmen still loyally
(07:17):
paid to Lewis the tribute which through terror they had
paid to his father, the most august Emperor Charles. Once
the most religious Emperor Louis, took pity on their envoys
and asked them if they would be willing to receive
the Christian religion, And when they answered that always, and everywhere,
(07:39):
and in everything they were ready to obey him. He
ordered them to be baptized in the name of Him,
of whom the most learned Augustine says, if there were
no Trinity, the truth would never have said, go and
teach all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Ghost. The nobles of the palace adopted
(08:02):
them almost as children, and each received from the Emperor's
chamber a white robe, and from their sponsors a full
frankish attire of costly robes and arms and other decorations.
This was often done, and from year to year they
came in increasing numbers, not for the sake of Christ,
(08:25):
but for earthly advantage. They made haste to come, not
as envoys any longer, but as loyal vassals on Easter eve,
to put themselves at the disposal of the Emperor. And
it happened that on a certain occasion they came to
the number of fifty. The Emperor asked them whether they
(08:46):
wished to be baptized, and when they had confessed, he
bade them for with be sprinkled with holy water, as
linen garments were not ready in sufficient numbers. He ordered
shirts to be cut up and so together into the
fashion of raps. One of these was forthwith clapped upon
the shoulders of one of the elder men, And when
(09:08):
he had looked all over it for a minute, he
conceived fierce anger in his mind and said to the Emperor,
I have gone through this washing business here twenty times already,
and I have been dressed in excellent clothes of perfect whiteness.
But a sack like this is more fit for clodhoppers
than for soldiers. If I were not afraid of my nakedness,
(09:31):
for you have taken away my own clothes and have
given me no new ones, I would soon leave your
rap and your Christ as well. Ah, how little do
the enemies of Christ value the words of the Apostle
of Christ, where he says, all ye that are baptized
in Christ, put on Christ, and again, ye that are
(09:54):
baptized in Christ, are baptized in His death. Or that
pas which is aimed especially at those who despise the
faith and violate the sacraments, crucifying the Son of God
afresh and putting him to an open shame. Oh, would
that this were the case only with the heathen, and
(10:15):
not also among those who were called by the name
of Christ. Now I must tell a story about the
goodness of the first Lewis, and then I shall come
back to Charles. That most peaceable Emperor Lewis, being free
from the incursions of the enemy, gave all his care
to the works of religion, as for instance, to prayer,
(10:38):
to works of charity, to the hearing and just determinations
of trials at law. His talents and his experience had
made him very skillful in this latter business. And when
one day there came to him one who was considered
a very achitophel by all, and tried to deceive him,
he gave him this answer, fallow with courteous, mean and
(11:02):
kindly voice, though with some little agitation of mind, most
wise anselm. He said, if I may be allowed to
say so, I would venture to observe that you are
deviating from the path of rectitude. From that day the
reputation of that legal luminary sank to nothing in the
(11:24):
eyes of all the world. Moreover, the most merciful Lewis
was so intent on works of charity that he liked
not merely to have things done in his sight, but
even to do them with his own hand. Even when
he was away. He made special arrangements for the trial
of cases in which the poor were concerned. He chose
(11:47):
one of their own number, a man of small bodily strength,
but apparently more courageous than the rest, and gave orders
that he should decide offenses committed by them, and should
see to the restoration of stolen property, the requital of
injuries and wounds, and in cases of greater crimes, to
the infliction of mutilation, decapitation, and the exposure of the
(12:10):
bodies on the gallows. This man established dukes, tribunes, centurions
and their representatives, and performed his task with energy. Moreover,
the most merciful Emperor, worshiping Christ in the persons of
all the poor, was never weary of giving them food
(12:31):
and clothing, and he did so especially on the day
when Christ, having put off his mortal body, was preparing
to take to himself an incorruptible one. On that day,
it was his practice to make presents to each in
every one of those who served in the palace or
did duty in the royal court. He would order belts,
(12:52):
leg coverings, and precious garments brought from all parts of
his vast empire to be given to some of his nobles.
The lower orders would get Frisian cloaks of various colors.
His grooms, cooks and kitchen attendants got clothes of linen
and wool, and knives according to their needs. Then, when
(13:13):
according to the acts of the apostles, there was no
one that was in need of anything, there was a
universal feeling of gratitude. The ragged poor, now decently clad,
raised their voices to Heaven with a cry of Kyrie
Elayson to the blessed Lewis. Through all the wide courts
(13:35):
and the smaller openings of a which the Latins usually
call porches, and all the knights who could embrace the
feet of the Emperor, and those who could not get
to him, worshiped him afar off. As he made his
way to church. On one of these occasions, one of
the fools said in jest, O, happy Lewis, who on
(13:57):
one day hast been able to close so many people
by Christ. I think that no one in Europe has
clothed more than you this day, except Acto. When the
Emperor asked him how it was possible that Acto should
have clothed more. The jester, pleased to have secured the
attention of the Emperor, said, with a grin, he has
(14:21):
distributed to day a vast number of new clothes. The Emperor,
with the sweetest possible expression on his face, took this
for the silly joke it was, and entered the church
in humble devotion, and there behaved himself so reverently that
he seemed to have Our Lord Jesus Christ himself before
(14:42):
his bodily eyes. It was his habit to go to
the baths every Saturday, not for any need there was
of it, but because it gave him an opportunity of
making presents. For he used to give everything that he
took off, except his sword and belt, to his attendants.
His liberality reached even to the lowest grades, insomuch that
(15:05):
he once ordered all his attire to be given to
one Stracholf, a glazier and a servant of Saint Gaul.
When the servants of the barons heard of this, they
laid an ambuscade for him on the road and tried
to rob him. Then he cried out, what are you doing.
You are using violence to the glazier of the Emperor.
(15:26):
They answered, you can keep your office. But here the
manuscript ends, and the further adventures of Stracholf are left
to conjecture. End of book two, end of section nine,
end of the Life of Charlemagne by knot Ker the
Stammerer
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