Important
Rulers of the Early Middle-Ages
Constantine VII.
"The Purpleborn" - * 905, †
959
Until 944 Constantine was kept
away from the
throne by Romanos I., his father in law. He wrote historical treatises
(ceremony books) and scientific excerpts. He reformed the current
scripture style from Majuscle to the new Byzantinean Minuscle. For his
son, he
compiled the textbook 'De administratione Imperii', where a number of
contradictions against the 'Cronilce of Theopanes' and the western
records can be found.
Theoderic the Great
- * ~545, † 526
King of the Ostrogotes from the
Amalan dynasty. In Italy he could conquer
an own realm, acknowledged by the Emperor at Byzantium. He was married
to Autofleda, the sister of Clovis I. The 30th anniversary of his
reign, he celebrated at Rome in the year 500 A.D.
Chlovis the Great -
* 466, † 511
Chlovis I., started as a ruler
of the Salfranks around Tournai. He
subdued the Franc tribes and conquered the rest of Gallia. In 498 he
adopted the Catholic creed and was christened at Reims. After his death
his four sons Theuderich, Chlodomer, Childebert and Chlothar broke the
realm apart an took their see at Reims,
Orléans, Paris and Soissons.
Charlemagne - * 747,
† 814
Early in the year 1000 C.E. the
Emperor Otto III. visited
Aachen. Here, says the tradition,
he uncovered the relics of his ancester Charlemagne. Otto removed the
burial objects and extracted a tooth
from the skull. He replaced the missing nose of the dead by a gold
sheet, before he left the crypt.The rememberance for Charlemagne
as the most popualr ruler of the Francians persisted over the
centuries. However, physical evidence for his person and his
activities is virtually non-existent. Noticeable are the biographical
parallels with Theoderic (Italy, Rome) and Clovis I. (conquests of
Francia, Christianisation). The well-known KRLS-Signum and the coins
attributed to Charlemagne have been assigned likewise to Charles III.
Simplex.
Austrapius, Charl of
the Menapians - * 440, † 508
Austrapius was the last Charl
(King, 'Earl') to rule over the Menapian people. This tribe had settled
around the villages of Cassel and Tournai in southern Belgium
since the times of Julius Cesar. Disprived of power by Clovis I. the
Menapians and their former king were relocated into the Haspengau in
eastern Belgium around the cities of Landen,
Tongern, Heerstal and
Aachen.
Carolus IV. Nazon -
*
480, † 516
Although the son of the former
king Austrapius, Carolus was the
only one of Clovis's potential successors who survived the massacres in
510. His (nick-) name 'Charly the Nose' may seen as a hint that his
nose
was cut off to make him uneligible as a ruler.
Pippin I. the Elder
- * 576, † 639
Pippin I. was great- grandchild
of Carolus Nazon. Together with Arnulf
of
Metz, he is said to have installed the young Chlothar II. on the
throne. He
was the first in the long row of Carolingian Majordomo (Home
Master, 'Heimerich') wich eventually substituded the Meroving kings.
Karl III. "Simplex"
- * 879, † 929
At first excluded from the
succession on the throne, he became coronated king of western Francia
in 893 at Reims. After the occupation of Lorraine in 911, his reign
became extended. When he lost the battle at Soissons he was captured
and imprisoned for the rest of his days.
Heinrich I. - * 876,
† 936
Heinrich I. ('majordomo') was
the son of count Otto the Illustrious. In 919
he was elected as king of Saxonia at Fritzlar. Thietmar of Merseburg
denotes him as 'nepos' and 'proximus' of Karl III., indicating a close
relation by blood. If Heinrich and Karl were both sons of the Otto the
Illustrious, there will be a direct descendence between Otto III., the
great-grandchild of Heinrich and the the recovered 'Charlemagne'.
Without this link, Otto's action at Aachen would be difficult to
understand.
Otto III. - * 980,
† 1002
Otto III. was the great-grandchild of
Heinrich I. He began his reign in 983 and became ruler of the Holy
Roman Empire from 996 until
1002. His predominant intention was the Renovatio imperii Romanorum.
In 998 he requested Pope Gregory V., his cousin 'to purge the
centuries'. Early in the year 1000 he presented the remains of his
ancestor Càrolus, making thus the original (short) chronology
inconceivable.
More detailed biographies can be found in textbooks or under
www.genealogie-mittelalter.de
H.-E. Korth 11/2008