Reinold (also known as Reinhold of Koln, in German as Reinhold von Köln) was a Benedictine monk who lived in the 10th century. Supposedly a direct descendant of

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 Em ...

, and the fourth son mentioned in the romantic poem Duke Aymon, by

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...

. The poem is Caxton's translation of the long French

Chanson de Geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th ce ...

, ''Les Quatre Fils Aymon'' ( The Four Sons of Aymon), where

Renaud de Montauban Renaud de Montauban (; also spelled ''Renaut'', ''Renault'', Italian language, Italian: ''Rinaldo di Montalbano'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Reinout van Montalba(e)n'') was a legendary hero and knight which appeared in a 12th-century Old French ' ...

dies in an almost identical manner.Corpus of Middle English Prose and Text
The right plesaunt and goodly historie of the foure sonnes of Aymon, Caxton, 1489 He began his religious life by entering the Benedictine monastery of Pantaleon in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, where he was appointed head of a building project occurring in the abbey. He often joined the stonemasons in their work, at times surpassing them. This led to the unsavoury event of his murder at the hands of the same stonemasons he worked with. Reinold was beaten to death with hammers and his body deposited into a pool near the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

. His body was later found through divine means, leading to the attribution of Reinold as the Patron of

Stonemasons Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

Notes

{{Authority control Benedictine monks 10th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown