Carolus Magnus

Thirty kilometres south of where we are staying the Frankish king Charlemagne had his seat at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle). On Christmas Day 800, Charlemagne, who had fought Moors in Spain and expanded his kingdom in wars against Saxons in Germany and Lombards in Italy, was crowned Imperator Romanum by the Pope in Rome. This was of course a misnomer, since the Roman Empire ended more than three hundred years before that date, and also because Carolus Magnus was a Germanic king born in what would become Belgium and probably spoke a language that was the precursor to Limburgish Dutch. Regardless, Charlemagne's relationship with the Roman Catholic church would lead to the formation of the Holy Roman Empire in the next century. The emperors were crowned in Charlemagne's cathedral for the next 600 years.
Aachen today is a university city in Nordrhein-Westphalia, very close to the borders wiht the Netherlands and Belgium. It is, fittingly, part of the Aachen-Liege-Maastricht international metropolitan area.

The map above shows some important HRE cities in this area. Treves is Trier, where Heather and I went last week. Bonn is just south of Cologne, and Liege is to the southwest of Aix-La-Chapelle (Aachen). Note the Rhine river, with Bingen (home of Hildegard), Worms (where Martin Luther was admonished by the Church), and Speyer, which along with Mainz and Worms is the location of a Romanesqe "Imperial Cathedral."


Note the varying architectural styles of the cathedral, which was begun over 12oo years ago.


This is the orignial octagonal section of the cathedral, from Charlemagne's time. It was the first post-classical cupola to be built north of the Alps.



Charlemagne's statue in front of the gothic Rathaus. Note his battle dress, scepter, and globus cruciger (in his left hand), which symbolises the church's dominance over the temporal world.

The stained glass, while beautiful, is quite modern, as Aachen cathedral was partly damaged during the Second World War. The "Radiant Madonna" carving hanging from the ceiling is from 1524.

This, along with Trier, was the most important historical place we have visited on this trip. I'll post more pictures of Aachen later, as there was much more to see in the city, especially fountains and Gothic architecture.

We're about to have lunch and then we're off to Maastricht...