Iconography of Charlemagne

The rich iconography of Charlemagne is a reflection of Charlemagne's special position in Europe's collective memory, as the greatest of the Frankish kings, founder of the Holy Roman Empire, unifier of Western Europe, protector of the Catholic Church, promoter of education and of the Carolingian Renaissance, fictional precursor of the crusades, one of the Nine Worthies, a (contested) Catholic saint, and a national icon in Andorra, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

His gait was firm, his whole carriage manly, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his size led one to expect.Contemporaneous depictions of Charlemagne and related rulers suggest he sported a mustache, but not a beard.

In the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperial eagle (Reichsadler) emblem was attributed retroactively to Charlemagne, at the latest at the time of his reburial under Emperor Frederick II in 1215.

Meanwhile, following the marriage of Isabella of Hainault with Philip II of France in 1180, the French Capetian dynasty promoted its own claims to the memory and legacy of Charlemagne, including by linking him to the fleur-de-lis.

[6] In line with the prevailing conventions of precedence among European monarchies, French depictions generally placed the Imperial eagle on the more honorable left-hand half of the shield (worn on the right-hand side when displayed on Charlemagne's coat), as was naturally done in the Empire.