The legend of the Frankish emperor Charlemagne is widespread through the literature of the European Middle Ages. This book offers a detailed and critical analysis of how this myth emerged and developed in medieval German and Dutch literatures, bringing to light the vast array of narratives either idealizing, if not glorifying, Charlemagne as a political and religious leader, or, at times, criticizing or even ridiculing him as a pompous and ineffectual ruler. The motif is traced from its earliest origins in chronicles, in the Kaiserchronik, through the Rolandslied and Der Stricker's Karl der Große, to his recasting as a saint in the Zürcher Buch vom Heiligen Karl.
- ISBN10 1843845830
- ISBN13 9781843845836
- Publish Date 15 January 2021
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Imprint D.S. Brewer
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 259
- Language English