The Carlovingian Coins

In Short

Eugène Sue’s historical tale follows the young Breton host Vortigern and his venerable grandfather Amael into the heart of Charlemagne’s imperial court at Aix-la-Chapelle. While the elderly emperor maintains his vast, glittering empire through brutal conquests and Catholic alliances, his daughters pursue forbidden loves within the palace walls. When Frankish ambitions turn toward subjugating the independent people of Armorica, the conflict shifts from political intrigue to a desperate, bloody guerrilla defense in the mountain passes and marshes of Brittany. Sue presents an anti-feudal saga of Celtic resistance against imperial overreach.

The Story

The narrative opens at the court of Charlemagne in Aix-la-Chapelle, where the young Breton Vortigern and his centenarian grandfather Amael arrive as political hostages. Amael, a veteran warrior who once saved the life of Charlemagne's grandfather at the Battle of Poitiers, carries the long memory of his people's struggle for independence. At court, the Bretons witness the stark realities behind the Emperor's grand facade: Charlemagne is an aging, gourmandizing monarch whose vast empire relies on raw power, heavy taxation, and an uneasy alliance with the Catholic clergy. Within the palace, his unmarried daughters engage in illicit romantic affairs, defying their father's strict control.

During an imperial hunt in the Forest of Oppenheim, Vortigern becomes separated from the party alongside Princess Thetralde, Charlemagne's young daughter. Lost in the dense night fog, the two take refuge in a forest hut. Though drawn to each other, Vortigern refuses to break his honor as a hostage on parole or cause grief to the Emperor, winning the girl's admiration through his restraint. Charlemagne, discovering his lost daughter, is overcome with relief and spares Vortigern from his initial rage. Meanwhile, Amael engages the Emperor in deep political and moral debates, challenging Charlemagne's claim to Christian virtue while holding thousands in slavery and brutally massacring thousands of Saxon prisoners. Amael warns the monarch that empires built on violence carry the seeds of their own destruction.

Years later, the scene shifts to the rugged landscape of Brittany. Charlemagne has died, and his son, Louis the Pious, demands that the Breton people render tribute and submit to the religious authority of the Archbishop of Tours. Led by Morvan, a humble husbandman chosen as Chief of the Chiefs, the Bretons flatly refuse to yield their ancient independence or submit to Frankish rule.

When the Frankish armies invade Armorica, the Bretons exploit their intimate knowledge of the terrain to wage a devastating campaign of resistance. In the narrow defile of Glen-Clan, the treacherous marsh of Peulven, and the dense forest of Cardik, the Breton fighters ambush the heavily armored invaders, inflicting crushing casualties on the Frankish forces commanded by the arrogant chief Neroweg. Though the Frankish empire gathers its vast legions on the moor of Kennor to crush the province, the story highlights the imperishable spirit of the Breton defenders. Decades later, Vortigern's son Rosneven records his father's passing, reflecting on the ongoing trials of a family and nation caught in the endless tide of imperial aggression.

How It Unfolds

A Breton at Court Vortigern and his grandfather Amael enter Aix-la-Chapelle as hostages, where the Roman courtier Octave introduces the youth to the opulent, gossipy world of Charlemagne's palace.

In the Imperial Bedchamber Amael confronts the aging, barefoot Charlemagne, proving his identity by recalling his service under Charles Martel eight decades earlier.

Lessons and Indulgences Charlemagne tours the Palatine school with the Bretons, lecturing his courtiers on avarice while bestowing a vacant bishopric on an honest young clerk despite court intrigue.

Lost in the Oppenheim Mist Separated from the imperial hunt, Vortigern and Princess Thetralde share a night in a ruined hut, where the Breton youth protects the princess while refusing to violate his honor.

A Father's Relief Charlemagne discovers the pair, and hearing his daughter's naive confession of Vortigern's noble conduct, forgives the youth and softens his wrath.

A Demanding Embassy Years later in Brittany, Abbot Witchaire delivers an ultimatum from Louis the Pious to Chief Morvan, who rejects all demands for tribute or submission to Frankish bishops.

Ambush in Glen-Clan The invading Frankish army enters a deadly mountain pass, where Breton defenders launch a sudden, devastating strike from the high overhanging cliffs.

Trapped in the Cardik Woods Guided by a treacherous monk, the Frankish chief Neroweg leads his retreating troops through dangerous bogs and dense forests, losing half his force to Breton traps before reaching the moor.

The People

• Amael: An ancient Breton veteran of the Battle of Poitiers whose long historical memory and sharp moral clarity allow him to challenge Charlemagne's imperial hypocrisy directly.
• Vortigern: Amael's honorable grandson, whose romantic encounter with Charlemagne's daughter tests his integrity, remaining steadfast to his parole and his homeland.
• Charlemagne: The colossal, aging Emperor of the Franks, torn between his vast civilizing ambitions, his fierce personal devotion to his family, and his ruthless use of military force.
• Thetralde: Charlemagne's young, impulsive daughter, who falls in love with Vortigern during a forest storm and candidly confesses her desire to flee with him.
• Morvan: A rustic Breton husbandman chosen as Chief of the Chiefs, who firmly rejects Frankish rule and leads his people in defending their ancient liberties.
• Abbot Witchaire: An ambitious imperial emissary who demands Breton submission, viewing Catholic doctrine as the ultimate instrument of Frankish conquest.
• Neroweg: A boastful Frankish military commander whose ignorance of the Breton wilderness leads his army into catastrophic mountain and marshland ambushes.

In Its Own Voice

"Christ said, according to St. Luke the Evangelist: The Lord hath sent me to preach deliverance to the captives--to set at liberty them that are bruised. Now, then, your dominions are full of prisoners carried by conquest from their own homes; the estates of your bishops and your abbots are stocked with slaves."

Amael delivers this stern moral rebuke directly to Charlemagne, stripping away the Emperor's claims of Christian piety.

"A Christian, according to the words of the Christ, must never hold his fellowman in bondage. All men are equal."

The ancient Breton insists on absolute human freedom during his debate over the imperial practice of slavery.

"Whoever sees the black robe of a priest, soon sees the glint of a Frank's sword."

Morvan warns the Frankish envoy that religious conversion serves merely as the vanguard for imperial military conquest.

What It's Really About

Eugène Sue uses this ninth-century narrative to attack the romanticized legacy of empire and religious authority. The book contrasts the grandiose, centralizing ambitions of Charlemagne and his successors with the organic, egalitarian democracy of the Breton people. By depicting the Frankish court as a site of moral contradiction—where brutal massacres and enslavement are justified by statecraft—Sue argues that all authority derived from conquest carries inherent decay. The true center of moral gravity rests not in imperial palaces or church hierarchies, but in free, self-governing agrarian communities fighting to preserve their land, language, and ancestral independence.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy sweeping historical fiction with a strong political conscience will find The Carlovingian Coins a compelling alternative to conventional medieval romances. Sue strips the glitter from Charlemagne's reign, replacing royal adulation with a grounded, anti-authoritarian perspective. The novel excels in its vivid, contrasting atmospheres: the bustling, decadent palace corridors of Aix-la-Chapelle give way to suspenseful, tactically detailed battle scenes amidst the crags and bogs of ancient Armorica.

While modern readers must navigate nineteenth-century melodrama, deliberate pacing, and long ideological debates between characters, these elements are balanced by sharp character sketches and dramatic action. What stays with you is Sue's unyielding sympathy for the subjugated and his vivid portrayal of a small nation's fiery refusal to be absorbed by an encroaching empire.

<ElicitationsGroup message="To explore this work or its historical context further:"> <Elicitation label="Compare Sue's portrayal of Charlemagne with historical accounts" query="How does Eugène Sue's depiction of Charlemagne in The Carlovingian Coins compare to historical chronicles like Eginhard's Life of Charlemagne?"/> <Elicitation label="Analyze the anti-feudal themes across Sue's series" query="Analyze the anti-feudal and labor themes present across Eugène Sue's series The Mysteries of the People."/> </ElicitationsGroup>