With an empire so vast it redefined Europe, Charlemagne found his heart anchored to a humble soldier who lived four centuries earlier. This is the little-known story of the visionary emperor and his profound connection to Saint Martin of Tours.

Charlemagne is often celebrated as the “Father of Europe.” He was King of the Franks from 768 and became the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800, uniting much of Western and Central Europe.

Modern European countries owe their boundaries and history to Charlemagne’s legacy. One of his descendants almost ruled over the Italian peninsula 200 years later.

His reign sparked the Carolingian Renaissance, a golden age of intellectual and cultural revival. His military campaigns expanded his empire through aggression and enforced Christianity. He was a patron of education and religion, surrounding himself with brilliant minds¹. Charlemagne’s legacy is that he unified Roman, Christian, and Germanic traditions². This was the foundation of modern Europe.

Charlemagne is a distant relative of mine; my 33 x great-grandfather!

St Martin of Tours

Saint Martin of Tours was born long before Charlemagne around 316^{3 4}. His pagan parents lived in Pannonia (modern-day western Hungary)⁵. Aged 15, his father^{6 7} enlisted him in the Roman army^{8 9 10}, but he soon became unhappy with military life. He cut his military cloak in half^{11 12 13} to share with a freezing beggar¹⁴ in Amiens, France^{15 16}. That night, he dreamt of Jesus wearing the torn cloak^{17 18 19}. This dream convinced him to convert to Christianity. His eventual departure from the army in 356²⁰ marks him as one of history’s first conscientious objectors. He became a monk, founded the first monastery in Gaul^{21 22}, and became Bishop of Tours^{23 24 25} in 371^{26 27 28} . Martin died in 397²⁹. His widespread veneration made him the first non-martyr^{30 31} the Roman Catholic church celebrated³².

The legend of Saint Martin was deeply ingrained in the Carolingian dynasty. The remaining half of Martin’s cloak, known as the cappa, became a treasured relic³³ and it was stored in the basilica in Tours³⁴ Frankish Kings used to carry it into battle³⁵.

This gave rise to two modern linguistic terms³⁶:

• The term “chaplain”, meaning the priests who guarded it
• The term “cappella” for the small churches which housed it.

Saint Martin’s legacy of military service turned pious devotion was inspirational to Charlemagne. He saw the saint as the ultimate Christian knight and protector of the Franks. This devotion drew Charlemagne to Tours, which was a major pilgrimage center by his time. He appointed his trusted advisor Alcuin to manage the abbey and its scriptorium, further solidifying the city’s political and religious importance in his empire.

Charlemagne’s wife and St Martin

In 794^{37 38}, or perhaps 796³⁹, Charlemagne married Luitgard, an Alamannian noblewoman from the Sundgau region. She was his fifth, and final wife. Described by Alcuin as a calm, pious woman who loved conversing with learned men, she brought stability to the court but bore no children^{40 41}. She fell ill while accompanying Charlemagne on a tour of Neustria, and died on June 4, 800⁴², at the monastery of Saint Martin in Tours. Charlemagne chose to bury her at the Basilica⁴³, a testament to his devotion to the saint. The exact location of Luitgard’s tomb is unknown. Tradition holds they buried her beneath what is now known as the Tour Charlemagne.

The Basilica of Saint Martin endured a tumultuous history following Luitgard’s burial. Rebuilt and expanded into a massive Romanesque structure in the 11th and 13th centuries, it became one of the most prominent pilgrimage sites in medieval Christendom. It suffered from Viking raids, fires, and a sacking by Huguenots in 1562, before facing its demise during the French Revolution⁴⁴. The Church deconsecrated it and used as a stable for some time⁴⁵. By 1802 it was completely demolished by 1802, its stones sold to make way for new streets⁴⁶. Today, a modern Neo-Byzantine basilica houses the saint’s rediscovered relics. They built this between 1886 and 1924, making it a recent addition. Only two 11th-century towers, the Tour Charlemagne and the Tour de l’Horloge remain. They stand as silent sentinels of the original grand edifice where a queen once rested.

References

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Remember: links were correct at time of publication.