Charlemagne’s High Stakes Family Feud

Tags

Antoine Verard, art, Charlemagne, Chronicles of France, family feuds, Lombardy, Middle Ages, Pope Hadrian

From Wikimedia Commons, public domain image

Even centuries after the events, one of Charlemagne’s family feuds inspired artists, such as Antoine Verard. His 1493 hand-painted print in Chronicles of France depicts King Charles meeting with Pope Hadrian I in the 770s.

The true story that inspired this image involves Charles and his ex-father-in-law, along with his widowed sister-in-law and her sons, and the fate of Rome hung in the balance. For more, I invite you to read my guest post on Unusual Historicals.