Charlemagne retired to rest burdened with care, but awoke with fresh hope and new desire for action. His predecessors had made their first residence in Paris; he, German in body and soul, much as he enjoyed the healthiness of Roman life, left for the banks of the Rhine, and, as has been related, selected Aix-la-Chapelle as his residence in his latter days. There was not a detail of public administration which escaped his attention or upon which he did not expend his extraordinary creative ability. When it was necessary he sat in majesty upon his throne. In the academy he devoted himself with no less assiduity to the promotion of great truths. Indeed, it is difficult to say in what capacity he most excelled—as a war hero, lawgiver, judge, or teacher. Those who saw him in plain attire upon one or other of the royal estates, directing and disposing, might well imagine that the great Charlemagne perfectly filled the role of farmer.
Under Charlemagne’s management the crown possessions became models of husbandry. Nothing escaped his attention, and whatever he planned was successful. The stewards received lists containing the names of species of corn, kitchen herbs, fruit trees, medical simples, which were to be planted, cultivated, and looked after in field and garden. He ordered poultry, geese, and doves to be kept at the mills so that the superfluous grain should not be wasted. He laid out fish-ponds, constructed apiaries, planted noble vineyards, and introduced improved methods of wine-making. Nor did he confine himself to the strictly useful. He arranged for the keeping of pheasants and peacocks. He cultivated great quantities of flowers in the beautiful pleasure gardens. He employed gardeners, fish-masters, and bee-keepers. He arranged to have experts in the making of butter and cheese teach the people. Upon the crown estates as well as upon others, wolf-hunters were posted, who had to deliver annually a certain number of skins or suffer a penalty. Whatever produce from the crown property was unnecessary for use at the court was sold, and a yearly account of it was kept. The supervision of the house stewards extended to the slightest detail. Charlemagne was far from avaricious. His household never suffered for lack of anything. Whenever corn was disposed of he arranged to sell the measure about a denier below the ordinary price. He had the highest sense of order in the management of affairs, and looked upon disorder, whether in the State, the family, or intellectual matters, as conducive to disastrous results. He did not live upon the fat of the land, but upon the abundance from his own estates.
Let us consider the conditions of industry and business in Charlemagne’s Empire. His wars were in no wise detrimental to material prosperity. Arrow, missile, and helmet makers, as well as sword and bow and bullet makers, were in demand. At the royal palaces there were blacksmiths, armorers, gold and silver smiths, shoemakers, tailors, millers, turners, masons, wheelwrights, builders, brass-workers, tanners, soap-boilers, fowlers, potters, bakers, joiners, saddlers, net-weavers, coopers, architects, glass-blowers, parchment makers, painters, and dyers. After Charlemagne’s order that monks who failed in studies should make themselves useful as handworkers, there was an active emulation among all the artisans employed at the palaces, the monasteries, and in the cities. Ferdinand Pfalz states in his “Scenes in City Life” that under Charlemagne, notwithstanding his frequent wars, the cities enjoyed material prosperity:
“The Rhine, Meuse, and Scheld were crowded with freight vessels; and at the landing-places, as at Worms, Mainz, Cologne, Dorstadt, Maestricht, Ghent, and Bruges, or in the harbors at the mouth of the Scheld there were busy scenes. The Strasburg merchants shipped down the Rhine to the sea and the Frisians to Worms. The great Emperor regarded this expansion of commerce with delight. The old and patched Roman walls were soon too restricted for the increasing urban populations. Churches and seats of the nobility spread out into the suburbs, which eventually had to be enclosed in a ring of walls.”
Order in housekeeping both in court and state affairs Charlemagne regarded as vitally necessary to sovereignty. The whole Empire was divided into districts and to each district a competent official was assigned, whose duty it was to see that the Capitularies were respected. Special judges appeared from time to time, made examinations, and reported to the Emperor. In deliberations on the affairs of the Empire, Charlemagne summoned the leading feudal owners and the high churchmen in May, which is the origin of the name “Mayfield” given to these meetings.
Chapter IX
Last Days and Death
It is not remarkable that the fame of such a sovereign spread far and near throughout the world. Representatives of all nations were found at his court. The heathen Avar with braided frontlets, the haughty Count of Lombardy in silk and peacock feather, the turbaned Arab, the fierce Saxon, the lithe Anglo-Saxon, the Bavarian, and the Frank mingled with white-robed priest, dark-cowled monk, and gowned Jew. Princes of Asia and Africa contended for the favor of the great Western Emperor, among them Harun-al-Rashid (“Aaron the Just”), Mohammedan caliph of Asia. Charlemagne had sent an embassy to this powerful prince, who ruled at the marvellous city of Bagdad, asking him to extend his protection to Western Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem. Harun graciously acceded to this request. He sent Charlemagne the banner of Jerusalem and the keys to the Holy Sepulchre as a symbol of his sovereignty over that city. These gifts were followed by others, costly gold-embroidered silken stuffs, frankincense, balsam, and spices, also monkeys and an elephant. The chronicles state that in return Charlemagne sent him Spanish horses and mules and Frisian robes, white, gray, sapphire, and variegated, besides hounds of the largest and best kind for chasing and catching lions and tigers. Charlemagne had a hospital built in Jerusalem where needy pilgrims could be cared for. Ibrahim, the African prince who ruled over Mauritius, sent him a Libyan lion, a Numidian bear, Iberian steel, and purple from Tyre. Another gift by Harun was a brass water-clock, which was so constructed that a hand revolved during the twelve hours; and as each was completed, brass balls falling upon a metal basin gave out a clear tone announcing the hour.
Charlemagne was at this time over sixty years of age. His white hair and beard added to his majestic appearance. His fourth wife had recently died, and he now, upon suggestions from Rome, considered a union with the Empress Irene of Greece. The real nefariousness of this woman was not revealed until later; and at this time the Emperor knew no reason why he should not marry her. But it is to be remembered that in every action Charlemagne conducted himself not as a private person, but as the ruler of a great empire. The only question which arose in his mind was whether such a union would accrue to the advantage of the Christian world and his own people. He decided that it would, and entered upon the preliminaries of a settlement. Then came news of the dethronement of Irene and her banishment to Lesbos—an event which was subsequently justified and which proved to be very fortunate for him.
An agreement was made with the Saxons in the year 803 at Selz on the Saale, which secured peace for the future. In consideration of the restoration of their old rights and customs they promised to refrain from any resistance to the spread and maintenance of Christianity in Saxony, and to accept the incorporation of their country as part of the Frankish Empire.
In 808 the aged hero again took the field. He led an expedition against Gottfried, King of Denmark, who in years past had been so busy inciting Saxon revolt. But the Emperor’s purpose was not to obtain satisfaction for old offences, but to stamp out new hostilities. The Obotrites, allies of the Franks, had been suddenly attacked by Gottfried; Danish vessels had harried the German coast; and the Danes had made several landings and pillaged and murdered. Driven back by Carl, the Emperor’s oldest son, Gottfried reached a spot several miles beyond the Schley, where a wall had been constructed across the country, still known as the “Danewerk.” During this expedition the Emperor was thrown from his horse, which caused his lance to fly from his hand, and his sword to drop from his belt. Many regarded this as an unfortunate omen; but Gottfried and Charlemagne did not meet on the field. Gottfried was slain by some of his own people, and Hemming, his brother and successor, hastened to send a peace embassy to Charlemagne. A treaty was negotiated by which Denmark renounced all claim upon the territory for which it had striven, south of the Eider, which was recognized as the northern boundary of the Frankish Empire.