Fulrad

In 710 Fulrad was born in Alsace, Francia. He joined the abbey of Saint-Denis, and in 750 he was elected its abbot. Fulrad founded new monasteries and operated them himself in the beginning; the monasteries were located in Alsace-Lorraine and Alemannia. he was first Pippin III and then Charlemagne's “arch-Chaplain”; He also had great significance in shaping Western European history. For instance, he motivated the Franks in siding with the Papacy, rather than the Byzantines; this was a strategic diplomatic initiative that would end with Charlemagne becoming the Emperor from 800-14; but Fulrad would not see the result of his actions, as it occurred eleven years after his death in 784. ==Fulrad's Testament==

Fulrad's Testament (Latin: Fulrad's Testimonium), gives an account of early Carolingian society. In the “testament”, Fulrad presents a survey of certain places and gave a detailed account of the religious, political and economic differences between the towns. Some Historians have seen the importance of Fulrad's account of early Carolingian history; the places he placed under the royal abbey were used as a defense against Eastern Nobility. However, the eastern lands were economically important, and the abbey of Saint-Denis could benefit from expanding into that region. Fulrad's testament is also seen as an important look into the lives of Carolingian characters as he identifies certain people and traces their lineage. This lineage part of the testament was and is considered so important that Alain Stoclet's who wrote “Autour de Fulrad de Saint-Denis (v. 710-784)”, devoted a whole chapter on the “genealogica et prosopographica” of Abbot Fulrad. == Fulrad and Pippin III ==

Abbot Fulrad was the counselor of Pippin III. Historians have written about this friendship, and examples of it are seen in distinctively in certain dealings with the papacy and with Pippin's burial. Even before this, in 750, Fulrad was a servant of Pippin, being his consular and “Arch-Chaplain”. of going to “win over…[pope] [Zachary]” on the matter of “changing government”. Pippin’s Charter of 755 According to a papal biographer, with Pepin as King, Pippin III “ordered a charter to be drawn up”. This charter gave all the land of: the Lombard king, donations of St. Peter to all future popes; which included such towns as Ravenna, San Marino, Gubbio and Northern Umbria. Burial of Pippin III Abbot Fulrad had such an impact on Pepin III, that the latter's final wishes and resting place were all connected to Fulrad and his abbey of Saint-Denis. Pippin became very ill at his campaign of Aquitaine in the city of Saintes. He traveled to Saint-Denis where he would be buried. Pippin, at his own request asked to be buried at Saint-Denis next to the saint; also he wanted to be buried at the abbey where Fulrad, his Arch-Chaplin and “one of his staunchest political [allies]” was the Abbot. == Fulrad and Charlemagne ==

Fulrad was also the Arch-Chaplin and Counselor to Charlemagne. He was at the side or of great help for Charlemagne with Regnum Francorum (Latin for Francia), war with the Saxons, dealing with the papacy with Charlemagne's promise of a “Donation” [and] royal Mandatum”, and with the exchange with Pope Hadrian. “Regnum Francorum” Charlemagne awarded the “estates in Alsace and Alemannia” to the abbey of Saint-Denis; Fulrad already had expanded the interest of Saint-Denis in these areas. From autumn 774 through the summer of 775, Fulrad stayed and supported Charlemagne at court until Charlemagne left to invade Saxony in the summer of 775. During his time at the courts, Charlemagne authorized many charters in favor of Fulrad's abbey of Saint-Denis. The charters were granted because Fulrad successfully guiding Carolingian policy in Italian affairs; however it is to be “understood as [an] illustrative of royal policies involving the monastery of Saint-Denis as a major cog in Charlemagne’s kingdom-side administration”. == Francia ==

Fulrad is viewed as the figure that truly helped develop the growing kingdom of Francia. One historian notes that Fulrad was one of the few “Neustrian figures”, to come and support the cause and be in the service of the new rising dynasty. The monastery of Saint-Denis, which Fulrad was the abbot, became a burial place for Carolingian monarchy; Abbot Fulrad's Monastery of Saint-Denis became the “royal mausoleum” of the Frankish kings. Abbot Fulrad and the First Carolingian kings destroyed “the Merovingian church of Saint-Denis. Fulrad and the Carolingian kings would build a basilica, helping to aerate the “first actual Carolingian church”. == New Basilica of Saint-Denis ==

Abbot Fulrad oversaw the new construction of the basilica of Saint-Denis. Construction began in 754 and was completed under Charlemagne, who was present at its consecration in 775. Much of what is now known about the Carolingian church at St Denis resulted from a lengthy series of excavations begun under the American art historian Sumner McKnight Crosby in 1937. The structure was about eighty meters long, with an imposing facade, a nave divided into three sections by two rows of marble columns, a transept, and apse at the east end. Fulrad's church had smaller elements such as arches and transepts, it did however have classical elements had its design, strong Byzantine influence and metal work throughout the Basilica. During important religious celebrations, the interior of the church was lit with 1250 lamps. This same basilica is where many of the Merovingian and the Carolingian monarchs were buried in the crypts. He believed the old design from 775 “ would have been viewed with extreme suspicion by a…building inspector”. The new church was completed in 1144 demonstrating a major architectural achievement; “Gothic was born”. == Death and successors ==

Abbot Fulrad died on 16 July 784. When Fulrad died, Charlemagne chose Angilram, the bishop of Metz and Hildebald of Cologne to be the new abbots of Saint-Denis to carry on the work of abbot Fulrad. ==Notes==