Angelbert was a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

soldier and poet, possibly from Aquitaine. His "Verses on the Battle that was Fought at Fontenoy" are a first-hand description of the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by th ...

of 25 June 841, in which he participated with the army of

Lothair I Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...

. They are an important piece of battle literature from the twilight of the

Carolingian Renaissance The Carolingian Renaissance was the first of three medieval renaissances, a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire. It occurred from the late 8th century to the 9th century, taking inspiration from the State church of the Roman Emp ...

. Historian

Bernard Bachrach Bernard Stanley Bachrach (born 1939) is an American historian. He taught history at the University of Minnesota from 1967 until his retirement in 2020. He specializes in the Early Middle Ages, mainly on the topics of medieval warfare, medieval J ...

has examined them as a source for the emotional effects of battle during the ninth century. According to his poem, Angelbert fought on the front line, stationed on a hill overlooking a stream. He was the only survivor (''solus de multis remani'') of the men in his unit. The night after the battle is "especially terrible". The day after the battle he cannot hold back tears, but he urges the other survivors to hold them back. This battle, he says, should be forgotten: ''Laude pugna non est digna, nec canatur melode'' ("The battle does not deserve to be praised or to be the subject of fine song"). Two major streams of interpretation of Angelbert's poem exist. The first sees it as a "ballad of victory" rooted in vernacular Germanic poetry. Angelbert is assumed to have spoken

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

, and the imagery of birds and beasts consuming the corpses of the dead has been assumed to be borrowed from Old High German literature. There is no such surviving literature with such imagery and it is supposed to have existed on analogy with

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

and

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

traditions of the same. The imagery is also found in other Carolingian poetry, e.g. of Radbod of Utrecht and

Florus of Lyons Florus of Lyon ( la, Florus Lugdunensis), a deacon in Lyon, was an ecclesiastical writer in the first half of the ninth century. A theologian, canonist, liturgist, and poet, he ran the scriptorium at Lyons. He was considered one of the foremost auth ...

, and it probably reflects the reality of battle, not Germanic tradition The breaking of family bonds mentioned by Angelbert is common to the '' Hildebrandslied'', but the themes of mistaken identity and heroic duty are absent from Angelbert and Carolingian Latin poetry in general. The "Battle of Fontenoy" also differs from vernacular Germanic literature, like the '' Ludwigslied'', as it has much historical detail. Angelbert wrote "in order to describe the actual events of his own lifetime," which has more in common with contemporary Latin trends. The latinity of the "Battle of Fontenoy" is learned, and it has the marks of a ''

planctus A ''planctus'' (" plaint") is a lament or dirge, a song or poem expressing grief or mourning. It became a popular literary form in the Middle Ages, when they were written in Latin and in the vernacular (e.g., the ''planh'' of the troubadours). The ...

'' in the Carolingian tradition. It has the interesting features of citing

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

's lament of the death of

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

in '' II Samuel'' (1:21), and its effect on nature, which

Paulinus II of Aquileia Saint Paulinus II ( 726 – 11 January 802 or 804 AD) was a priest, theologian, poet, and one of the most eminent scholars of the Carolingian Renaissance. From 787 to his death, he was the Patriarch of Aquileia. He participated in a number of synod ...

cites in his ''planctus'' on the death in battle of Eric of Friuli. Rhythmically, the poem is an imitation of

Venantius Fortunatus Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus ( 530 600/609 AD; french: Venance Fortunat), known as Saint Venantius Fortunatus (, ), was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a bishop of the Early Church who has been venerate ...

' '' Pange, lingua, gloriosi proelium certaminis''. The strophes begin with the letters of the alphabet from A to P as a mnemonic device aiding recitation. Angelbert's poem is preserved in manuscript BnF lat. 1154, originally from

Saint Martial of Limoges Saint Martial (3rd century), called "the Apostle of the Gauls" or "the Apostle of Aquitaine", was the first bishop of Limoges. His feast day is 30 June. Life There is no accurate information as to the origin, dates of birth and death, or the acts ...

in Aquitaine;

Pippin I of Aquitaine Pepin I or Pepin I of Aquitaine (French: ''Pépin''; 797 – 13 December 838) was King of Aquitaine and Duke of Maine. Pepin was the second son of Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye. When his father assigned t ...

was an ally of Lothair. The poem presents the partisan viewpoint of Lothair and Pippin's men;

represents the view of the other side, of

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...

and

Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...

, in his "Lament on the Division of the Empire".Godman, 50, says that "Fontenoy, in Angelbert's eyes, was a crime." Angelbert refers to the ''rupta pace'' (broken peace) and the ''fract ... lex Christianorum'' (broken law of Christians).

Notes

{{reflist Writers from the Carolingian Empire Medieval Latin-language poets 9th-century writers in Latin Carolingian poets