Karelsprivilege is a legendary privilege that

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 ...

allegedly paid to the

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

led by

Magnus Forteman Magnus Forteman (809) was the legendary first potestaat (or magistrate governor) and commander of Frisia which is now part of Germany and the Netherlands. His existence is based on a sage's writings. According to one of these sagas, he was the f ...

to thank them for the support that was given to his attack on Rome. Since the 13th century, the Frisians regularly mentioned in legal and historical works. The authenticity of the privilege has been heavily contested, especially after the Middle Ages. The privilege formed the basis of the so-called

Frisian freedom Frisian freedom ( fy, Fryske frijheid; ; ) was the absence of feudalism and serfdom in Frisia, the area that was originally inhabited by the Frisians. Historical Frisia included the modern provinces of Friesland and Groningen, and the area of We ...

. It was recognized as genuine by a number of Holy Roman emperors. An affirmation and recognition of the privilege was given by Emperor

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

in 1039. The original has been lost. According to tradition it was inscribed on the wall of a church, which could be the church of

Almenum Almenum is a historic locality in the northern Netherlands, near Midlum, Friesland the site of the first Christian church in Friesland. Saint Boniface set up a local church in the locality in 754. The location of the church is on the Terp of Al ...

, Ferwoude or Oldeboorn. Copies were made and circulated during the Middle Ages. Some or all of these copies were likely forgeries. In the Middle Ages, only the original, and undamaged sealing wax impressions, were accepted as valid. Forged documents were common, and a well-organized archive of treaty documents that could serve as a reference did not exist. Medieval literature mentioned a link between the

Frisian eagle A Frisian eagle is a specific kind of eagle in Dutch heraldry, consisting of half of a black double-headed eagle on the ''dexter'' side of a shield parted per pale. It originated as a mark of favour granted to certain Frisian noblemen by the Hol ...

as a

heraldic charge In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an '' escutcheon'' (shield). That may be a geometric design (sometimes called an '' ordinary'') or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or o ...

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

and the . This is unclear because in the time of Charlemagne there were no family or regional coat of arms existing, but it could have been used as a banner in that period. Other names used for this charter are: Magnuskerren, , , or .

Background

Between 650 and 750 the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

significantly expanded their realm. At that time they conquered a large part of Frisia. That conquest was not complete. The part already conquered remained in unsettled ownership (see the death of

Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

). Frisia east of the

Lauwers The Lauwers () is a river in the Netherlands. It forms part of the border between the provinces of Friesland and Groningen. From the 730s to Widukind's defeat in 785, it was part of the border of the Frankish Empire. The former Lauwerszee and ...

, together with

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, continued to oppose the Franks. Only Charlemagne eventually succeeded, in breaking the last resistance by the Saxons in 785. The Saxons were led by

Widukind Widukind, also known as Wittekind, was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province, massacred tho ...

and were beaten during the

Saxon Wars The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought ...

. One of Charlemagne's first steps after the conquest of the Saxons was enumerating the local customs For Frisia that meant the codification of the {{lang, la,

Lex Frisionum ''Lex Frisionum'', the "Law Code of the Frisians", was recorded in Latin during the reign of Charlemagne, after the year 785, when the Frankish conquest of Frisia was completed by the final defeat of the Saxon rebel leader Widukind. The law code co ...

. To what extent this led to the imposition of law on the Frisians is unknown. The core of the privilege would have been that this freedom was returned to the Frisians. The obligations the Lex said the Frisian received the freedom to apply those rights, but not that they were forced to do so.

Meaning

Although the existence of the privilege has been challenged, the Frisian Countries up to the beginning of the sixteenth century developed in a unique way, without the feudal system introduced by Charlemagne in other areas of Western Europe.

Bibliography

* Friesche Almanac 189

beware, PDF of 7.3 Mb)

Literature

* A. Janse, ''De waarheid van een falsum. Op zoek naar de politieke context van het Karelsprivilege , De Vrije Fries'', (The truth of a falsehood. Looking at the political context of the Karelsprivilege, in ''The Free Frisian''), volume LXXI (1991) p7-28 * T. van der Laars, ''Wapens, vlaggen en zegels van Nederland'', (weapons, flags and seals in the Netherlands), Amsterdam (1913), reprint 1989, pp 57–60. History of Friesland History of Groningen (province) Medieval law