Karelsprivilege

Karelsprivilege is a privilege that Charlemagne allegedly paid to the Frisians led by Magnus Forteman to thank them for the support that was given at the attack on Rome. Since the 13th century, the Frisians regularly mentioned Karelsprivilege 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 Friese freedom. It has been adopted by a number of German emperors. An affirmation and recognition of the privilege was given by Emperor Conrad II in 1039.

The original has been lost, according to some it was inscribed on a wall of a church, which could be the church of Almenum, Ferwoude or Oldeboorn. Copies have been made that are passed down to the present Also there were forgeries produced.

In the Middle Ages, only the original, and undamaged sealing wax impressions, were accepted as valid. There were also forged documents in circulation and a well-organized archive of treaty documents that could serve as a reference did not exist. The old literature has mentioned a link between the Frisian eagle as a heraldry coat of arms device and the Karelsprivilege. This is unclear because in the time of Charlemagne there were no family or regional coat of arms existing, but probably it was used as the banner in that period.

Other names used for this charter are: Magnuskerren, Friezenprivilege, Vrijheidsprivilege, Libertas Frisonica or Previlegii Frisiorum Caroli Magni.

Background

Between 650 and 750 the Franks 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, for example see the death of Boniface, while Frisia east of the Lauwers, together with Saxony continued to oppose the Franks.

Only Charlemagne succeeded, eventually in breaking the last resistance by the Saxons in 785. The Saxons were led by Widukind and were beaten during the Saxon Wars. One of his first steps after that victory was enumerating the local customs. For Frisia that meant the codification of the Lex Frisionum. 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, for the right to be granted, was returned to the Frisians. The obligations the Lex said, were a privilege of duty: the Frisian received the freedom to apply those rights, he was no longer forced to do so.

Meaning

Although the existence of the privilege has been challenged, it may be stated that the Frisian Countries up to the beginning of the sixteenth century almost entirely lacked the feudal structure as proposed by Charlemagne.

Bibliography

* Friesche Almanac 1892 [http://www.wumkes.nl/periodieken/fa/fa_1892.pdf] (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.