Joyeuse (; fro, Joiuse; meaning "joyous, joyful") was, in medieval legend, the sword wielded by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

as his personal weapon. A sword identified as Joyeuse was used in French royal coronation ceremonies since the 13th century, and is now kept at the Louvre museum.

Description

The overall height of the sword is with the blade portion making up of that. It is wide at the base, and thick. Its total weight is .

In legend

Some legends claim Joyeuse was forged to contain the

Lance of Longinus The Holy Lance, also known as the Lance of Longinus (named after Saint Longinus), the Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Spear, is the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion. Biblical references The l ...

within its pommel. The blade may have been smithed from the same materials as

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

Durendal Durendal, also spelled Durandal, is the sword of Roland, a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature. It is also said to have belonged to young Charlemagne at one point, and, passing through Sarac ...

and Ogier's

Curtana Curtana, also known as the Sword of Mercy, is a ceremonial sword used at the coronation of British kings and queens. One of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, its end is blunt and squared to symbolise mercy. Description The sword meas ...

.Bullfinch's Mythology, Legends of Charlemagne, Chapter 24 A children's book from the early 20th century tells that "One priceless thing Charlemagne ever carried in his belt and that was Joyeuse, the Sword Jewellous, which contained in a hilt of gold and gems the head of the lance that pierced our Saviour's side. And thereto he wore a pilgrim's pouch — 'against my faring to Jerusalem, or, if that may not be, to remind me that our life is but a pilgrim's way, and our joy but a pilgrim's rest, and our hope a palm.'" The 11th century ''

Song of Roland ''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is t ...

'' describes the sword thus: Some seven hundred years later, ''

Bulfinch's Mythology ''Bulfinch's Mythology'' is a collection of general audience works by American Latinist and banker Thomas Bulfinch, named after him and published after his death in 1867. The work was a highly successful popularization of Greek mythology for En ...

'' described Charlemagne using ''Joyeuse'' to behead the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

commander Corsuble as well as to

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

his comrade

Ogier the Dane Ogier the Dane (french: ; da, ) is a legendary paladin of Charlemagne who appears in many Old French ''chansons de geste''. In particular, he features as the protagonist in ''La Chevalerie Ogier'' (ca. 1220), which belongs to the ''Geste de Doo ...

. The town of

Joyeuse Joyeuse (; fro, Joiuse; meaning "joyous, joyful") was, in medieval legend, the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon. A sword identified as Joyeuse was used in French royal coronation ceremonies since the 13th century, and is now ...

, in

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

named Joyeuse.

Baligant In ''The Song of Roland'', Baligant is the Emir of Babylon (i.e., Cairo, not the Mesopotamian Babylon), who tries to aid the defense of Zaragoza (sometimes spelled "Saragossa") from Charlemagne. He is sometimes described as a man from ancient time ...

, a general of the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

in ''

The Song of Roland ''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is t ...

'', named his sword

Précieuse Précieuse (; Old French: ''Preciuse'') is the sword of Baligant, the Saracen king in the French epic ''The Song of Roland''. Baligant allegedly named his sword in response to hearing that Charlemagne's sword A sword is an edged, bladed wea ...

, in order not to seem inferior to Charlemagne. Louis XIV of France

Coronation sword of the French kings

A sword identified with Charlemagne's ''Joyeuse'' was carried in front of the Coronation processions for

French king France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...

s, for the first time in 1270 ( Philip III), and for the last time in 1824 (

Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...

). The sword was kept in the

Treasury of Saint-Denis The Treasury of Saint-Denis, kept at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris until the French Revolution, was the main repository of the ''regalia'' of the Kingdom of France, including the ''ancien régime'' portion of what are now known as the Fren ...

since at least 1505, before it was moved to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in 1793. This ''Joyeuse'' as preserved today is a composite of various parts added over the centuries of use as coronation sword. But at the core, it consists of a medieval blade of

Oakeshott type The Oakeshott typology is a way to define and catalogue the medieval sword based on physical form. It categorises the swords of the European Middle Ages (roughly 11th to 16th centuries) into 13 main types, labelled X through XXII. The historian a ...

XII, mostly dated from about the 10th century. Martin Conway argued the blade might date from the early 9th century, suggesting that it was indeed the sword of Charlemagne, while

Guy Laking Sir Guy Francis Laking, 2nd Baronet (21 October 1875 – 22 November 1919) was an English art historian and the first keeper of the London Museum from before its opening until his death. Life Laking was born in 1875, the only son of King Ed ...

dated it to the early 13th century. Some authors have even argued that the medieval blade may have indeed been replaced by a modern replica in 1804 when the sword was prepared for the coronation of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. The Louvre's official website dates the pommel from the 10th to 11th centuries, the

crossguard On a sword, the crossguard, or cross-guard, the individual bars on either side known as quillon, is a bar of metal at right angles to the blade, placed between the blade and the hilt. The crossguard was developed in the European sword around the ...

to the 12th and the

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. As well, rifles may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbine rifles and Lever action, lever-action ...

to the 13th century.Coronation sword and scabbard of the Kings of France
on the Official Website of the Louvre.

Gallery

References

{{Matter of France Charlemagne Medieval European swords Objets d'art of the Louvre Individual weapons Medieval legends