The Death of King Charlemagne: Key Facts, Date and Stories

The Death of King Charlemagne: Key Facts, Date and Stories

Charles the Great, often known as Charlemagne controlled an empire that included the majority of Western Europe between 768 and 814 CE. After years of nonstop fighting, he ruled over the territories that are now France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other countries.

Out of the violence came the Carolingian Renaissance, a resurgence that came after the dynasty that Charlemagne’s great-grandfather founded. This period saw an acceleration in the production of art and literature that both honoured history and pushed for a newly structured Christian civilization.

Let’s take a look at his days as king and the key facts about his death. 

1. King Charlemagne required an oath of loyalty to him

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Each and every one of Charlemagne’s subjects had to take an oath of allegiance to him as their ruler back in 789. The oath’s conditions were straightforward: the subjects were to abstain from harming the monarch personally, from inviting his enemies into the kingdom, and from providing shelter for them inside the country.

Emperor Charlemagne, however, required his subjects to sign a new oath that was far more elaborate and demanding in a capitulary of 802 that he issued. The Oath of 802 expanded the list of prohibited actions: subjects were not to resist the emperor’s instructions, not to provide shelter for the emperor’s fugitive slaves or serfs, and not to disregard the emperor’s call to battle.

2. His health started declining in his 60s

Although he continued to be active in governance well into his older life, Charlemagne’s physical condition started to deteriorate in his early sixties. He suffered a severe fall off the back of his horse. Hunting became a frustrating activity for him because he had excruciating leg pain. He found it impossible to even walk.

3. He took part in his last military expedition in 810

In 810, he took part in his last military campaign, and in 811, he made his last significant journey away from Aachen. He travelled to the mouths of the Rivers Seine and Scheldt to inspect recently constructed defensive structures meant to ward off Viking attackers. Charlemagne made plans for how his movable goods would be divided following his passing in the same year, 811. He passed away on January 28, 814.

4. Charlemagne wanted to be buried at the monastery of St. Denis 

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Early in his life, Charlemagne had declared his desire to be buried at the St. Denis abbey, which had been the customary resting place for Frankish kings. Yet either that desire had been forgotten or it had been disregarded. Under the west entrance of the palace church in Aachen is where Charlemagne’s grave is located.

5. King Charlemagne’s bones were moved on several occasions

Without a doubt, Charlemagne was not buried in a Roman tomb according to accounts written before his death. And at various stages during the Middle Ages, bones thought to be Charlemagne’s were transported to different locales. For instance, it was later claimed that a famous Aachen sacred relic, a 14th-century golden statue of Charlemagne, included a portion of the emperor’s skull.

Yet, experts have X-rayed, poked, and prodded bones taken from the Proserpina Sarcophagus on multiple occasions since 1988. The bones in the sarcophagus belonged to a tall, skinny, elderly man with a gimpy knee and heel. They confirmed that it was indeed Charlemagne.

6. King Charlemagne crowned his son Louis as co-emperor

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Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, was made co-emperor by Charlemagne in 813. When Charlemagne, who had ruled for more than four decades, passed away in January 814 at the age of 72, Louis became the sole emperor. His empire at the time of his passing included a sizable portion of Western Europe.

7. He died from a lung infection

Theodoro Matteini, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Charlemagne’s cause of death was an infection of the membranes lining the lungs. In his last days, he suffered from chest pains, breathing problems and a high fever. As his health deteriorated in the years before his death he had other illnesses that put him at risk, however, even then he managed his empire quite well up until he died. His death signalled the end of an era that had a significant impact on the political climate of medieval Europe. 

He had a testament that divided up his property but was not updated before he passed away. The split of his kingdom between Louis’s own sons following his father’s death, in accordance with precedent, set the groundwork for the modern states of Germany and France. He was succeeded by his son Louis, but his empire only lasted another generation in its entirety.

On January 28, 814, in Aachen, King Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, passed away at the age of 70. For many years to come, his legacy would remain. Even though the strength of the Holy Roman Empire weakened over the following centuries and the title lost its significance, it was not abolished until Napoleon, in an unexpected way, did so in 1806—roughly 1,000 years after it had been formed.