Karls Lebensende (Karlmeinet, Teil 6 – 1320/40)
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Chansons de Geste
Karls Lebensende (Karlmeinet, Teil 6 – 1320/40)
von Keller, A. (ed.): Karl Meinet. (=StLV 45) Stuttgart 1858. Reprint 1971.
KM6-1:
533, 13: Karl travels to St Dyonis and adjudges rights to the abbey: Kings may be crowned and bishops invested only with the abbot’s consent. Every household in France shall give four pennies each year to be liberated from serfdom.
Motif References:
P 19 Other motifs connected with kings
P 50.0.1 King and vassals: obligations of vassals to king [Feudality: mutual relationship between king and vassals]
P 120 Church dignitaries
KM6-2:
533, 55: Karl prays to the relics of St Dyonis for salvation of the warriors who died in Spain and for those who give four pennies to St Dyonis each year. The following night, the saint appears to Karl and tells him that his prayer is answered: God saved the souls of the Christian warriors; he will also take care of those who give four pennies to the abbey each year.
Motif References:
V 50 Prayer
V 229 Saints – miscellaneous
V 520 Salvation
E 754 Saved souls
KM6-3:
534, 25: The people who donate four pennies and their descendants are called the free of St Dyonis (inheritable). This is why France is called “Franckrich”.
Motif References:
Z 702 (Hi) Eponymous account of place name
KM6-4:
535, 4: Karl names his son Ludewich, the king of Equitante (Aquitaine), as his successor in a public ceremony. Ludewich is crowned king and consecrated as emperor and has to swear an oath that his successor must be a good and pious German (this is the origin of the German empire).
Motif References:
P 13.5 Crowning [and making] of kings
P 17.0.2 Son succeeds father as king
M 150 Other vows and oaths
Z 701 (Bm) Eponymous account of nation’s founding
KM6-5:
535, 34: In his seventy-second year, Karl gets ill after a bath. He calls for his chaplain Hildebald, confesses, communicates and receives the extreme unction. He makes his last will and testament, raises his hands and prays to God for salvation. He thanks his princes for their loyalty and dies.
Motif References:
P 16 End of king’s reign
V 29 Confession – miscellaneous motifs
V 39 Sacrament – miscellaneous motifs
V 50 Prayer
KM6-6:
536, 36: At the moment of his death, the bridge in Mentze burns down; a bishop in Vyanne sees black devils in church, which want to take Karl’s soul with them at Last Judgment, but fail, as St Jacob puts stones, chalk and wood on his scales (symbolizing Karl’s donations). The devils return to hell, as Karl’s soul is saved.
Motif References:
Z 143 Symbolic color: black
Q 147 Supernatural manifestations at death of pious person
Q 172 Reward: admission to heaven
V 229 Saints – miscellaneous
Z 292 Death of hero [heroine]
G 303.4 The devil’s physical characteristics
F 402.1.5.1 Demons seek to carry off king’s soul
V 520 Salvation
E 751.1 Souls weighed at Judgment Day
E 754 Saved souls
E 756.4 Saint wrests souls from demons
F 960.2 Extraordinary nature phenomena at death of holy [pious] person (hero)
KM6-7:
Pope Leo travels to Aachen, whereto also counts, dukes, abbots and bishops come. A grave is erected in the dome. Princes embalm Karl’s corpse, dress and crown him, seat him on a chair with a bible in his right hand, a scepter in his left. In front of him, they put a golden shield which the Romans once gave to him. Karl’s corpse is carried into church; public mourning. The pope sings mass. Karl is laid down in the grave, which is filled with herbs and then closed. The year of his death is 814.
Motif References:
P 19 Other motifs connected with kings
V 69 Funeral rites – miscellaneous
Z 292.1 (Bm) Hero’s corpse embalmed
P 683 (Bm) Embalming
KM6-8:
Motif References:
W 11.2 Munificent monarch
P 12 Character of kings
P 14 Particular practices of kings
H 71.6 Bright eyes as sign of royalty (nobility)
V 111 Churches
F 533 Remarkably tall man
F 541.1 Flashing eyes
F 575.2 Handsome man
F 610 Remarkably strong man
F 632 Mighty eater
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