This window celebrates the life of Charlemagne who was canonized by the anti-Pope, Pascal III. Charlemagne was never recognized by the church as a saint, but he was held in high esteem in medieval France. Later he would be revered as a king among kings, who was a strong leader and conqueror, as well as a great thinker and promoter of education.
The window was donated by the Guild of Furriers who took Charlemagne as one of their patrons because he was a hunter.
The window relates to two periods in Charlemagne's life. The lower half of the window tells the story of Charlemagne's crusade to Jerusalem. We see an angel coming to Charlemagne in a dream and telling him that he would deliver Jerusalem from the [G 27 / Saracen] infidels. We then see the battle against the Saracens in Jerusalem, with Charlemagne's Christian army wearing helmets and carrying flat-topped shields and the Saracens wearing conical helmets and carrying circular shields. Charlemagne then goes to Constantinople where he meets Constantine who gives him relics including the [G 29 / Sancta Camisia], parts of the crown of thorns and cross, as well as Christ's shroud. Charlemagne then returns to France and offers the relics on the Altar of the Cathedral in Aix-la-Chapelle. He is accompanied by a young man, who is thought to be his nephew, Roland.
Charlemagne's grandson, Charles the Bald, gave relics - supposedly original objects from Christ's Passion - to the Royal Abbey of Saint-Dennis. The story of Charlemagne's crusade to Jerusalem may have been written by a monk at Saint-Dennis in the 11th century to try to promote these relics' authenticity. There is no real evidence that this journey was ever taken, but nevertheless it was a popular medieval story.
The upper half of the window illustrates a story known as the pseudo-Turpin Chronicle because it was wrongly thought that Turpin, Archbishop of Reims, had written it. This chronicle is better known as the Song of Roland, and we now know that it was written by several authors in the 11th and 12th centuries. This celebrates the stories of Charlemagne and his triumphs against the infidels in Spain.
