The “Cologne Notice”
On Christmas Day 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome. What decisions and discussions led to that event? The account by Charlemagne’s biographer, Einhard, is well-known. But here’s a source that’s often neglected, though it was written much closer to events than Einhard’s Vita Karoli.
The ‘Cologne Notice’ is not strictly speaking a historical work, but rather a text about dating (computus) and the age of the world. It was written, probably contemporaneously (i.e. in the year it describes), into a manuscript linked to Archbishop Hildebold of Cologne (Cologne, DS 83 II, fol. 14v). Exactly how it should be interpreted is open to debate (especially its cryptic reference to imperium). However, it seems to suggest that rather than being a surprise or unwelcome news to the Byzantines, Charlemagne’s coronation in 800 had been long-planned in negotiations with Empress Irene.
For a discussion of this text (in English), see Laury Sarti, Orbis Romanus: Byzantium and the Legacy of Rome in the Carolingian World (Oxford, 2024), pp. 27-33
Translation by CW, January 2025
From Adam to the Passion of Christ, there are 5228 years. From the beginning of the world, according to the truth of the Hebrews as Jerome translated,[1] up to this year, the 31st year of the reign of King Charles – this is the year when he received one third of the people of Saxony as guests [marginal note: hostages], and when envoys came from Greece to hand over imperium to him – there are 5998 years. According to the Septuagint,[2] 6268 years; from the Incarnation of the Lord, 798 years. Whoever does not agree with this, let him study and read and calculate better.
[1] This is a reference to St Jerome’s Latin translation of the Old Testament from its original Hebrew, completed c. 400.
[2] This is a reference to the Vetus Latina translation of the Old Testament, which was based on an earlier Greek translation. Differences in the translation mean that the chronological reckoning differs from that of Jerome’s translation.