The motto ''Renovatio regni Francorum'' ("renewal of the kingdom of the Franks") was used by several monarchs of the Carolingian, Widonid and

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

dynasties in the 9th through 11th centuries. It served to emphasise the importance of the ethnic

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, ...

and the Frankish tradition in the multinational empires of the Carolingians and Ottonians. It may have been used as early as 813 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 ...

, but it was definitely used by his successor as emperor,

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

, on a metal

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

during his religious reforms. It originally referred to the internal religious renewal of the

Frankish empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...

. The motto was used only sporadically by the later Carolingians. Louis's younger son,

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 ...

, put it on his coins early in his reign probably to appeal to the ethnically Frankish nobility of his kingdom. After he became emperor in 875, he combined on his new seal his father's formula with that of his grandfather, '' renovatio Romanorum imperii'' ("renewal of the empire of the Romans"), to create a new motto: ''renovatio imperii Romani et Francorum''. The motto ''renovatio regni Francorum'' was used again by the emperors

Charles the Fat Charles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandso ...

(881–888), Guy (891–894), Lambert (892–898) and Arnulf (896–899). Between 1003 and 1007, King

Henry II of Germany Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler o ...

resurrected the motto for his own program of religious reform. He was also asserting his connection with the Carolingian past and the parity of the German kingdom with the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. Henry used it from his election as king of Germany and before he had been crowned emperor in Rome. He was the first non-emperor to use the motto and by doing so clearly expressed the "imperial" nature of the German kingship. Traditionally, Henry II's adoption of this motto has been seen as a conscious break with his predecessor, Otto III, who had favoured Charlemagne's motto ''renovatio Romanorum imperii''. The idea that this change of motto indicated an abrupt change of governing program has been questioned.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{refend Latin mottos Carolingian Empire Holy Roman Empire Francia