Les richesses de Charlemagne et le poids du pain à l’abbaye de Lagrasse, d’après les Gesta Karoli Magni ad Carcassonam et Narbonam (XIIIe siècle)

Abstract

The wealth of Charlemagne and the importance of bread at the Abbey of Lagrasse, after the Gesta Karoli Magni ad Carcassonam et Narbonam (XIIIth century) Fixed in canon law at the beginning of the XXth century, before being revived in a non-critical fashion in an historical perspective, the modem definitions of “relics” do not have a great deal in common with medieval practices, which are characterised by a much greater variety. The problem has to be looked at in wider terms, for example by means of the concept of memory. The Abbey of Lagrasse, the name of which signifies “wealth”, the riches of which were attributed to Charlemagne, offers in this perspective a case for relevant study. This article studies the objects linked to Charlemagne in the Gestes of Charlemagne at Carcassonne and Narbonne, both an original account and a novel, written at the time of Abbot Bernard III (1237 -1255), in a moment of crisis. What are these objects, how were they organised in the account, and how did they relate to the realities of the abbey ? In addition to the ecclesiastical buildings, the relics of saints, the liturgical objects and land, of which the dimension of memory is frequent in medieval churches but give way here to a remarkably global approach, it seems that a central role is given to a stone that appears to weigh bread. This was supposedly found in the head of an enormous fish, placed by the emperor on the altar at the end of a series of dramatic events, which is presented as the foundation object, emblematic of the good management of the wealth of the abbey.