Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Saint of the Day, October 30, 1972
Here is an excerpt on Charlemagne taken from the renowned historian, J.B. Weiss’ História Universal:
“In 772, at the age of 30, Charles took over the government of the Kingdom of the Franks. He was rightly called Charles the Great, a name he deserved as a general and conqueror, organizer and legislator of his vast empire, and as the driving force of spiritual life throughout the West.
“Under his governance, Christian ideas achieved victories over the barbarians. His life was a constant struggle against the rudeness and barbarism that threatened the Catholic religion and the new culture then emerging.
Monument on Notre Dame square in Paris representing Charlemagne with his peers, Roland and Olivier.
“He undertook no fewer than 53 military expeditions, eighteen against the Saxons, one against Aquitaine, five against the Lombards, seven against the Arabs of Spain, one against the Thuringeans, four against the Avars, two against the Britons, one against the Bavarians, four against the Slavs, five against the Saracens of Italy, three against the Danes, and two against the Greeks.
“At Christmas in the year 800, Pope St. Leo III elevated him to the dignity of Emperor thus founding the Holy Roman German Empire, the noblest temporal institution of Christendom. Charles died on 29 February 814, after receiving Holy Communion. According to legend, he was buried in a niche at the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle sitting upright on a throne, girt with his sword, and holding he book of the Gospels in his hands.
“He is the model of Catholic emperors, the prototype of the knight, and the central figure of most chansons de geste of the Middle Ages.”
At St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, a few steps after entering the central nave, one admire the famous “porphyretic circle,” a great disc of porphyry—a superb, wine-colored marble. Upon it, Charlemagne was sacred Emperor by Pope Leo III at Christmas of the year 800.
I don’t know why, speaking about Charlemagne and his deeds and greatness, also brings to mind the extraordinary figure of Moses, with his own deeds and his greatness. Moses established order among the chosen people, who were a pre-figure of Christendom. He was the one who received the revelation of the Ten Commandments of the Law, led the chosen people to the gates of the Promised Land, took them out of captivity and thus established the basic elements for them to settle down and for the Savior to be born from them.
