Carolinus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carolinus (or Karolinus) is an instructional poem written in Latin by twelfth-century poet Gilles de Paris for the future King Louis VIII of France.[1] It is an example of the Mirror for Princes genre, which gained renewed popularity in many parts of Europe in the twelfth century.[2] It was written between 1196 and 1200, and exists in two manuscripts from the early thirteenth century. It contains over two thousand verses in five sections. It is written as a biography of Charlemagne, showing how his life exemplified the four cardinal virtues, and urging Louis, who was thirteen years old in 1200, to follow this example and become a new Charlemagne.[3]
The book is divided between five parts as such:
- Prologue
- Book I
- Book II
- Book III
- Book IV
- Book V
