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

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

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 The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

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

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; 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 Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

Durendal Durendal, also spelled Durandal, is the sword of Roland, a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature. The sword is famous for its hardness and sharpness. Sources including '' La Chanson de Rola ...

and

Ogier Ogier the Dane (; ) is a legendary paladin of Charlemagne who appears in many Old French ''chanson de geste">chansons de geste''. In particular, he features as the protagonist in ''La Chevalerie Ogier'' (), which belongs to the ''Geste de Doon de ...

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

.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'' () is an 11th-century based on the deeds of the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French lite ...

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

Bulfinch's Mythology ''Bulfinch's Mythology'' is a collection of tales from myth and legend rewritten for a general readership by the American Latinist and banker Thomas Bulfinch, published after his death in 1867. The work was a successful popularization of Greek my ...

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

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

commander Corsuble as well as to

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

his comrade

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

. The town of

Joyeuse Joyeuse (; ; 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 kept at the L ...

, in

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

named Joyeuse.

Baligant In ''The Song of Roland'', Baligant is the Emir of Babylon (i.e., Cairo, not the Mesopotamian Babylon), who brings an immense army to aid his vassal King Marsile (a.k.a. "Marsillion") in defending Zaragoza (sometimes spelled "Saragossa") from Ch ...

, a general of the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

in ''

The Song of Roland The ''Song of Roland'' () is an 11th-century based on the deeds of the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French li ...

'', named his sword

Précieuse ; ) 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 and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intend ...

, 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 A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

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, king of the Fra ...

s, for the first time in 1270 ( Philip III), and for the last time in 1825 (at the

Coronation of Charles X The coronation of Charles X of France, Charles X took place on 29 May 1825 in Reims, where he was crowned King of France and Navarre. The ceremony was held at the Reims Cathedral, Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims in Reims, the traditional site for ...

). 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 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 an ...

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 Napoleon I and his wife Joséphine were crowned Emperor and Empress of the French on Sunday, December 2, 1804 (11 Frimaire, Year XIII according to the French Republican calendar, commonly used at the time in France), at Notre-Dame de Paris in ...

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

crossguard A sword's crossguard or cross-guard is a bar between the blade and hilt, essentially perpendicular to them, intended to protect the wielder's hand and fingers from opponents' weapons as well as from his or her own blade. Each of the individual b ...

to the 12th and the

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. Rifles and other long guns may also be stored in scabbards by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring ...

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 in the Louvre Individual weapons Medieval legends Matter of France Holy Lance The Song of Roland