Table Of ContentAN EMPIRE OF MEMORY
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An Empire of
Memory
The Legend of Charlemagne, the Franks, and
Jerusalem before the First Crusade
MATTHEW GABRIELE
1
3
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Whatishistorybutafableagreedupon?
(attributedtoNapoleonBonaparte)
Languagehasalwaysbeenthepartnerofempire.
(AntoniodeNebrija,Gramáticadelalenguacastellana,1492)
ThetombtheywereabouttoenterhadnotbeenopenedsinceJanuary29,814,the
day on which the Most Serene Augustus Crowned by God the Great Peaceful
Emperor, Governing the Roman Empire, King of the Franks and Lombards
Through the Mercy of God, died. By then he was already wise beyond mortals,
an inspirer of miracles, the protector of Jerusalem, a clairvoyant, a man of iron, a
bishop of bishops. One poet proclaimed that no one would be nearer to the
apostolic band than he. In life he’d been called Carolus. Magnus first became
attachedtohisnameinreferencetohisgreatheight,butnowindicatedgreatness.
His French label, though, was the one used most commonly, a merger of Carolus
andMagnusintoanamepresentlyutteredwithheadsbowedandvoiceslow,asif
speakingofGod.Charlemagne.
(SteveBerry,TheCharlemagnePursuit,2008)
For Rachel and Uly
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
ListofImages x
Abbreviations xi
Introduction:LookingforCharlemagne 1
I. THE FRANKS REMEMBER EMPIRE
1.TheBirthofaFrankishGoldenAge 13
TheFranksafterCharlemagne 15
ReligiousHousesandtheirCharlemagnes 23
TheExpandingEmpire 30
2.TheNarrativesofCharlemagne’sJourneytotheEastbefore1100 41
ADonationtoSt.AndrewonMonteSoratte:c.970 41
TheFoundationofCharroux:c.1095 44
ACapetianTranslatio:c.1080 51
TheRelationshipamongtheSources 60
II. JERUSALEM
3.NewJerusalemsandPilgrimagetotheEastbefore1100 73
JerusalemandtheWestbeforetheEleventhCentury 73
JerusalemandPilgrimagefromtheWestduringtheEleventhCentury 79
III. THE FRANKS RECREATE EMPIRE
4.TheFranks’ImaginedEmpire 97
AChristianRealm 98
TheEmpiretoCome 107
TheFranksattheEndofHistory 115
5.TheFranksReturntotheHolyLand 129
FrankishIdentityintheEleventhCentury 130
CallingtheFrankstoHolyWar:IdeasBecomeAction 139
Appendix1:LegendforFigure1.1 160
Bibliography 164
Index 193
Acknowledgments
Itisimpossibletoproperlyrecognizeinjustafewwordsallthosewhohaveaided
meoverthepreviousyears.MythanksshouldfirstextendtoChuck,whoprovided
theinspirationforthisbook.Fortheirgenerousfinancialsupport,Iwouldliketo
thankVirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversity(VirginiaTech),especial-
lytheCollegeofLiberalArtsandHumanSciencesandtheDepartmentofReligion
andCulture,theNationalEndowmentfortheHumanities,theMedievalAcademy
ofAmerica,theMellonFoundation,theDepartmentofHistoryattheUniversity
ofCalifornia,Berkeley,andtheHonorsProgramattheUniversityofDelaware.My
thanks extend to Nottingham Medieval Studies and the Center for Medieval and
Renaissance Studies at UCLAfor permissionto reprint portions of my previously
published articles and to Elizabeth Pastan, the Warburg Institute, the Aachen
CathedralTreasury,theBibliothèqueNationaledeFrance,CambridgeUniversity
Press, and Anton Hiersemann Verlag for permission to reprint their respective
images.Also,myresearchwouldhavebeenimmenselymoredifficultifitwerenot
for the librarians and staff members at the University of California, Berkeley,
including the Robbins Collection at Boalt School of Law, Virginia Tech, the
University of Virginia, the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris, the British Library,
the Bodleian Library, the Warburg Institute, and the Institute of Historical
Research.
Iwouldbenothingwithoutmyteachers.DanielF.Callahandeservesmyspecial
thanks for mentoring me as an undergraduate and pointing me towards the
CharlemagnelegendwhenIwasattheUniversityofDelaware.Hehascontinued
to be a friend. At Cal, my graduate advisor, Geoffrey Koziol, has always been
supportive both of my work and of my professional development. Thomas A.
Brady,Jr.,DavidHult,LuminitaFlorea,MaureenMiller,thelateGerardCaspary,
and the late Robert Brentano all provided helpful advice and support. I learned a
great deal during my summer at a NEH-sponsored seminar inYarnton, England,
especiallyinconversationwithIrvResnick,KarenKletter,RachelStocking,Adam
Serfass,andJohnOtt.Inturn,myownstudentsatCalandVirginiaTechremind
meofwhy Ido what Ido. Iamespecially grateful tomyundergraduate assistant,
RachelHarris,forherpatienceandherknowledgeofVT’slibraries.
Oneofthegreatpleasuresinacademiaismeetingotherpeopleandsharingideas.
Ihavebeenparticularlyfortunateinthisregard.TheanonymousreadersatOxford
University Press offered many constructive thoughts on drafts of this manuscript.
TheEarlierMedievalEuropeSeminarsattheIHR,led(whenIwasthere)byAlan
Thacker,MichaelClanchy,JohnGillingham,andJintyNelson,wereinvaluablein
exposingmetoscholarshipthatchallengedmyown.TheCenterforMedievaland
RenaissanceStudiesSeminarssponsoredbyUCLAandtheHuntingtonLibrarydid
much the same. In London and thereafter, Theo Riches lent a critical eye to my
workandquicklybecameafriend.MycompatriotsatCal,KathleenStewartFung,
Acknowledgments ix
RosalindJaegerReynolds,andSamCollinshavebeenfriendsformanyyearsnow.
R. I. Moore, Jason Glenn, Amy Remensnyder, Paul Kershaw, Tom Madden,
David Warner, Peggy Brown, Scott Bruce, Deborah Gerish, Niall Christie, Mi-
chael Frassetto, Nick Paul, Paul Hyams, Julie Hofmann, Jonathan Jarrett, Kate
McGrath,DavidPerry,WendyHoofnagle,JaceStuckey,andAnneLatowskyhave
allprovidedmuchencouragementandmanyusefulsuggestionsalongtheway.Jay
RubensteinandBrettWhalendeservespecialthanksforreadingthismanuscriptin
variousdraftstagesandbeingextremelygenerousinsharingtheirownwork.
At Virginia Tech, there are too many people toname individually. All of them
have helped me make Blacksburg home. Everyone in my department of Religion
andCulture(andformerlyintheDepartmentofInterdisciplinaryStudies)hasbeen
almostunbelievablysupportiveofmyworkinallofitsiterations,inthelibrary,in
theclassroom,andinthemeetingroom.Thesamecanbesaidtoagreatnumberof
people in other departments throughout the university, especially those affiliated
withVT’sMedievalandEarlyModernStudies.
Finally,themostimportantpeopletothankarefriendsandfamily.Thankstoall
ofourfriendswemetinDelaware,Berkeley,London,andBlacksburg.Thanksto
allmyfamilyandespeciallytomyparents,TobieandMaureenGabriele,mysister
Nicole,herhusbandJeff,theirdaughterPaige,mybrotherTimh,hiswifeAmanda,
and their daughter Alice. Just thanks for everything. My son Ulysses is my joy in
life. I am always proud of you. Fishsticks and Pfeffernüssen. Finally, Rachel, my
wife,deservesmorethanksandpraisethanIcaneverofferher.Sheismytrueand
abiding love. All I can say is, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, won-
derful,andmostwonderful,andyetagain,wonderful.Thankyou.
