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Primary sourceDocument741-829, this manuscript c. 900

Royal Frankish Annals

741-829, this manuscript c. 900

An official year-by-year court chronicle recording Charlemagne's reign, wars and coronation from the Frankish court's own point of view.

This official chronicle, written by people close to his court, records Charlemagne's wars, campaigns and coronation as the regime wanted them remembered.

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Manuscript page in Latin handwriting, black ink with red rubricated headings, on aged parchment. Text includes the entry for the year 814 and the red closing line 'Finiunt gesta domni Karoli magni et praecellentissimi Francorum imperatoris'.
Royal Frankish Annals, entry for 814. Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 473, fol. 143v.

About this source

What it is

The Royal Frankish Annals are a Latin chronicle recording events year by year from 741 to 829. Their author is unknown, but the detailed knowledge of court affairs suggests they were written by people close to the king. A surviving manuscript page shown here records the entry for 814, the year of Charlemagne's death, held in Vienna.

Why it matters

These annals are a crucial source for Charlemagne's wars and reign, but they were written to present the Carolingian dynasty favourably. Early versions skip over Frankish defeats and embarrassing episodes, such as a plot against Charlemagne, while a revised version later admits some of them. This makes the annals both a source of facts and an example of how rulers could shape their own historical record.

Look closer

  • Why would a court chronicle leave out a defeat or a rebellion?
  • What does the difference between the original and revised texts tell us about how history can be rewritten?
  • What does the annalists' treatment of Charlemagne versus his son Louis reveal about their attitudes?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Charlemagne on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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