
Joyeuse
Sign in to savethumb|right|Albrecht Duerer portrait of [[Charlemagne with Joyeuse]] In medieval legend, Joyeuse (; ; meaning 'joyous, joyful') was the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon.
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Épée du sacre des rois de France, dite Joyeuse - Musée du Louvre Objets d'art MS 84.jpg
- Height
- 100.5
- Width
- 22.6
Show 4 more facts
- inventory number
- MS 84
- Commons category
- Joyeuse (sword)
- inception
- 0950-00-00
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Legend
- Makers and make
- Medieval literature
- Prince Charles aka Mainet
- Modern retellings
- Coronation sword of the French kings
- Gallery
- Eponymy
- Explanatory notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Primary sources
- Retellings
- Secondary sources
thumb|right|Albrecht Duerer portrait of [[Charlemagne with Joyeuse]] In medieval legend, Joyeuse (; ; meaning 'joyous, joyful') was the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon.
In medieval legend, there are several versions regarding its make and origin. There is the topos that it was crafted by Galant (Wayland Smith) as mentioned in the chanson de geste of Fierabras. The hilt of Joyeuse contained a fragment of the Holy Lance that cured Longinus of blindness, and that relic accounted for its "joyous" name, as well as the French war cry Monjoie according to Chanson de Roland. The relic was among the gifts from the Emperor of Constantinople according to the Old Norse sagas. It is possible that young Charlemagne (pseudonym Mainet) while living in Spain had obtained the sword from King Galafre of Toledo, but the French did not survive complete, but the German version states the sword he got was called Galosovele, while the Spanish version does indeed state that Galfre's daughter Galiana (Galienne, Charlemagne's first wife according to the Mainet tradition) gave Maynet the sword Joyosa.