Aachen, Germany

StuffIn trying to research the city of Aachen, how it got to be the city it is today, how it began and why it is still where political events in Europe are held, I found the answer to much of this, is Charlemagne.  He put Aachen on the map, so to speak. He chose it for his home, and he built his palace and cathedral here in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. We can’t really look at Aachen without looking at Charlemagne and how it all began.

Aachen had been a Roman city, but the Romans left it, as they left most of their conquered territories in Europe, and returned to Rome in the 5th and 6th Centuries. They left a large void when they did so, and no one ruler had the ability to fill that void, at least until Charlemagne came along and tried to recreate the Roman Empire. Charlemagne wanted the glory of Ancient Rome, he saw himself as a conqueror, a unifier, and a ruler to rival Constantine. He called Aachen a third Rome, and spent his life trying to follow in the footsteps of the great Roman Emperors, eventually succeeding in having himself created Holy Roman Emperor. At this point, as has been said before, it was neither Holy, Roman, or an Empire.

Charlemagne had an advantage before becoming King of the Franks, which was arranged by his father Pippin III. Pippin took the throne from the Merovingian King of the Franks, Childeric III, in 753-754.  Pippin was able to do so because he had made an agreement with Pope Stephen II, where he agreed to protect the Pope in Rome, in return for Papal sanction of his right to the Frankish throne. Pippen also intervened with his military to restrain Lombard threats to Rome, and in what has become known as the donation of Pippin, in 756 he bestowed on the Papacy a block of territory stretching across central Italy, which formed the basis of the Papal States. These territories would be ruled by the Pope. This early arrangement with the Papacy would give Charlemagne a great advantage over his rivals in the future.

In 771 Charlemagne became King of the Franks. Although already crowned previously with his brother Karlmann, prior to his father Pippin’s death in 768, it wasn’t until his brother Karlmann died in 771 that Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Franconian kingdom. It is somewhat difficult to write subjectively about Charlemagne, not for lack of sources, but because the sources were hired BY Charlemagne. They lived in his court and wrote about him during his own lifetime. While contemporary, we have to always remember their bias. I doubt those who lived in the Kingdoms he conquered would write such glowing commentary of the man, but we also should not diminish his accomplishments. One of the most important sources we have is ‘The Life of Charlemagne’ by Einard (770-840), Einhard was a court scholar and friend to Charlemagne. 

Einard describes Charlemagne for his in his 9th Century work: ‘Charlemagne was powerful and strong and fairly tall, but not abnormally so…He had a round head, his eyes were very big and lively; he had a longish nose, lovely grey hair and a cheerful, happy face. His neck was somewhat sort and fat and he had a noticeable paunch…’ We also know he was a highly educated ruler, who did not rely on his advisors but took a very hands-on approach to his Kingdom.  Charlemagne is known to have been a strong swimmer, and liked to exercise in the water.  It may have part of the reason that he chose Aachen to build his palace. He and would often entertain in the bath waters of Aachen’s thermal spas. Einhard tells us he was moderate in his eating and drinking, and ‘hated to see drunkenness in any man’.

Please continue the story with Aachen Cathedral.