Charlemagne, Mary’s Son (I)

The great Emperor Charlemagne was anointed in the Basilica of Aachen, which he had previously dedicated to the Mother of God. He kept a relic of the Blessed Virgin’s belt, a gift from the Empress of Constantinople, as a treasured possession, and he wore a medal of Mary on a golden chain around his neck. In his old age, he asked to be buried with a statue of the Virgin upon his heart. After his death, the Council of Mainz imposed the feast of the Assumption on the whole of the Frankish Empire. The reign of Charlemagne marked the end of feudality and the beginning of the unification of Europe, born at the same time as Christendom, under the protection of the Mother of God.