In the Middle Ages, as in the ancient world, natural phenomena and calamities were seen as omens of a major event. Of course, most of these signs were recollected after the event they supposedly foretold had occurred. Following the death of Charlemagne on 28 January 814, Einhard wrote:
Very many omens had portended his approaching end, a fact that he had recognized as well as others.
Eclipses both of the sun and moon were very frequent during the last three years of his Ufe, and a black spot was visible on the sun for the space of seven days. The gallery between the basilica and the palace, which he had built at great pains and labor, fell in sudden ruin to the ground on the day of the ascension of our Lord. The wooden bridge over the Rhine at Mayence... was so completely consumed in three hours by an
Charlemagne’s crown is preserved in Aachen, where his reliquary is also kept. The crown resembles the one he is wearing on the reliquary.
Accidental fire that not a single splinter of it was left, except what was under water. Moreover, one day in his last campaign into Saxony against Godfred, King of the Danes, Charles himself saw a ball of fire fall suddenly from the heavens with great light, just as he was leaving camp before sunrise to set out on
The march. It rushed across the clear sky from right to left, and everybody was wondering what was the meaning of the sign, when the horse which he was riding gave a sudden plunge, head foremost, and fell, and threw him to the ground so heavily that his cloak buckle was broken and his sword belt shattered.
Clergy were occupied with converting the pagans, they made a number of compromises about the dates of Christian feasts. Even the date of Christmas, Christ’s birth, was assigned to December 25 to coincide with pagan winter solstice celebrations. The Gospels did not give a date for Jesus’ birth. The revelries lasted 12 days as they had during the Roman holidays that were traditionally held at the same time. Other feast days, such as Michaelmas, marked the end of harvest in September. St. Martin’s Day, celebrated on November 11, was the traditional butchering day.
Ordinary people’s understanding of Christianity was very slight and somewhat tentative. Many people combined old and new beliefs by worshipping both the old gods and the new one. To discourage this practice, the clergy sought to turn the old gods, such as Venus, Mars, andjupiter, into demons who tempted Christians’ souls. Christians who still worshipped these representatives of the devil would go to HeU, the clergy promised. Artists represented HeU on church waUs as a terrifying place where demons tormented sinners with forks and threw them into burning pits. Even with such powerful weapons for dissuading people a tone of exasperation often crept into the clergy’s sermons; “For to light candles before rocks and trees and streams and at crossroads—is this anything else but the worship of the devil? To observe divinations andauguries and days of the idols—is this anything else but the worship of the devil?’’ asked Bishop Martin of Braga. The population, however, went on saying speUs over their land, giving herbs to their sick, and consulting men and women thought to have the power to find lost animals or make love potions.
Charlemagne spent the last years of his life at his favorite residence of Aachen. There he had built a beautiful chapel decorated with gold and silver in the Byzantine style that stiH stands today. Einhard wrote that as he neared death, Charlemagne called his son, Louis, to him and before all the chief men of the kingdom, placed the imperial crown on Louis’s head, proclaiming him emperor. Charlemagne then spent the fall hunting, but injanuary became very ill. After a reign of 47 years, he died at the age of 72.
While Louis took the title of emperor, he was not able to fill the shoes of his
World History
