Carolingian nobleman

FRANKISH nobleman from the CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE, 9th century AD. Mostly based on the miniatures from the Stuttgart Psalter, a Carolingian manuscript from Germany dating to the first half of the 9th century.

During the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, the Germanic tribe of the Franks, ruled by the Merovingian dynasty, migrated to the Roman province of Gaul and created their own kingdom there. In the 8th century, after conquering Visigothic Hispania, the armies of the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus crossed the Pyrenees and marched into Gaul. In 732 AD, the Frankish military leader Charles Martel, considered the founder of the Carolingian dynasty, led the Merovingian army that defeated the invading Muslim army at the battle of Poitiers (also known as the battle of Tours), in what is now western France. Because of Charles Martel’s victory against the gigantic Umayyad Caliphate, his son Pepin the Short became the first Carolingian king of the Franks. In 768 AD, Pepin was succeeded by his son, Charlemagne. As king of the Franks, Charlemagne conquered north-eastern Hispania from the Arabs (where he created the buffer zone known as the Hispanic March, establishing what we know today as the “Catalan Counties”). He conquered northern Italy as far south as Rome from the Lombards and fought the pagan Saxons in northern Germany and the semi-nomadic Avars in Central Europe. But in 800 AD, after years ruling as a king, Charlemagne was crowned emperor, with the intention of symbolically restoring the Western Roman Empire. The Carolingian Empire was born. Charlemagne’s reign coincided with the beginning of the Viking Age, and his expansion into Saxony made Charlemagne’s territories an easy target for Danish raids. Subsequent rulers of the Carolingian dynasty, whether they ruled only as kings while the empire was divided, or as emperors, would have to face not only the constant threat of Viking raids on the coast and along the rivers, including multiple Viking sieges of Paris, but also the incursions of the Magyars by land, while the counts of Barcelona defended the southern border of the Carolingian Empire against incursions from Al-Andalus.

References:
- Bronze fittings of the sword scabbard suspension based on Carolingian imports found in Östra Paboda, Sweden (replica by L An Mil).
- Bronze strap end of the main belt (the rectangular one) based on a Carolingian import found in Björkö, Sweden (replica by True History Shop).
- Bronze buckles and fittings of the leg garters based on Carolingian imports found in Duesminde, Denmark (replica by True History Shop).
- Knife and its decorated leather sheath (known as a “sax” or “seax” of broken back type, used by the Anglo-Saxons and the Carolingians) based on the one traditionally attributed to Charlemagne, from the treasury of the Aachen Cathedral (Germany). For the bronze fittings I used replicas made by Jackhammer Forge.
- Golden brooch with enamel, pearls and a garnet cabochon, from Oldenburg-Wechloy (Germany). I combined two replicas, by True History Shop and by Katthund Workshop.
- Enamelled Carolingian finger ring from Central Europe, replica by Armour and Castings.
- Carolingian sword found in Ballinderry, Ireland. Replica by Swordmakery ElGur.
- “Tulip” boots based on the Stuttgart Psalter. Reconstructed by Meister Knieriem.
- Silk brocade of the tunic with Sasanian simurgh motif by Kazar Bazar.