Powerful rulers, valiant heroes, fierce warriors – these are some of the most memorable people of medieval Europe whose stories have been passed down to us through the annals of history. Undoubtedly, among the most famous of these celebrated and chronicled figures was none other than the exalted Charlemagne, king of the Franks (747–814), whose accomplishments were not limited to his brilliant martial success on the battlefield but also included the many reforms and developments that took place in contemporaneous musical compositions and practices—notably the development and institutionalization of Frankish (Gregorian) chant as the Catholic Church’s official liturgical song.
Certainly, Charlemagne’s political deeds and contributions to Western music history have been well documented and studied over the centuries; however, it is not he, primarily, who is the focus of this article. Instead, we turn our attention to the man who penned an important compilation of anecdotes about Charlemagne, including his involvement with music, and who also documented some of the principal musical activities that took place in early medieval Europe. He was a significant composer himself.
Notker’s Early Life and the Origin of His Unusual Name
Notker was born c. 840 to an affluent family who lived within the vicinity of the esteemed Abbey of St. Gall in what is presently Switzerland. As a young boy, he was orphaned and was subsequently placed under the guardianship of a man named Adalbert, who was formerly one of Charlemagne’s soldiers.
After some time, Adalbert passed on his guardianship of Notker to the monastery at St. Gall, where his own son Werinbert lived as a monk. It was here that Notker received his education and where he would later become a librarian and distinguished teacher, positions that he held until his death in 912.
Notker depicted in the 11th century – Krakow, Jagiellonian Library, Depositum (Ms. Berol. Theol. Lat. Qu. 11), f. 144r – Tropary-Sequentiary (https://www.e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bj/Berol-Theol-Lat-Qu-0011)
From his youth, Notker’s most distinct characteristic was his prominent stutter, an attribute that would earn him the Latin epithet “Balbulus” (in English, “the Stammerer”) during his tenure as a faculty member at the monastery of St. Gall. The reason for this unflattering nickname was simply to differentiate Notker from two other instructors who shared his first name.
Physically, Notker was markedly frail; however, Ekkehard IV of St. Gall noted that despite his physical limitations, Notker was incredibly intelligent. This is evident in the many works of literature Notker produced as a scholar and poet, as well as his work as a composer of plainchant. In the words of Ekkehard:
Notker was frail in body, though not in mind, a stammerer in voice but not in spirit; lofty in divine thoughts, patient in adversity, gentle in everything, strict in enforcing the discipline of our convent, yet somewhat timid in sudden and unexpected alarms except in the assaults of demons, whom he always withstood manfully. He was most assiduous in illuminating, reading, and composing…
Telling Charlemagne’s Story: Music and Majesty in the Gesta Karoli
A picture from the 15th century depicting the emperor Charlemagne.
One of the written works for which Notker is most reputed is titled Gesta Karoli Magni (“The Deeds of Charlemagne the Great”). Written between 884 and 887 for Charlemagne’s great-grandson, Emperor Charles the Fat (d. 888), the Gesta Karoli Magni regales its readers with various anecdotes that provide (sometimes amusing) commentary on ninth-century political matters.
As explained by historian Jonathan R. Lyon, Notker aimed less for historical accuracy in his account of Charlemagne’s deeds and more toward creating a clear connection between Charles the Fat and his great ancestor. In essence, there was a concerted effort to underscore the supremacy of Carolingian rulers. This was often accomplished by telling stories about Charlemagne whose narrative centred upon extolling the emperor’s unparalleled, positive qualities such as valour and generosity.
In addition to stories that highlighted Charlemagne’s greatness as a ruler and a scrupulous human being, Notker’s Gesta Karoli Magni also provides us with stories that recount Charlemagne’s involvement with music. Historically, Charlemagne did, indeed, significantly contribute to the development and propagation of Gregorian chant when he declared that it should become the official music of the Catholic Church.
In his writings, Notker upholds Charlemagne’s important relationship with music by providing anecdotes that highlight his expectation for the production of exceptionally high-calibre music in his realm (especially the music of his choir). For example, as told by musicologist Margot Fassler, Notker writes that Charlemagne was directly involved in the direction of the music surrounding him, as he was a skilled singer and would “point out the person he wanted to read in the [religious] service and then clear his throat when he wanted the singer to stop.”
The Liber Hymnorum: Notker’s Musical Legacy in Medieval Liturgy
Folio from an 11th-century copy of Liber Hymnorum – Jagiellonian Library, Berol. Ms. Theol. Lat. Qu. 11
Notker’s writings about music were not entirely contained within an anecdotal Carolingian narrative. In fact, he penned a compilation of sacred texts and liturgical chant melodies called the Liber Hymnorum, which gained widespread popularity across tenth- and eleventh-century Germanic Europe.
Created c. 860, the melodies contained within the Liber Hymnorum were called “sequences,” which were a type of chant sung during the medieval Mass prior to the intoning of the Gospel. The text of a sequence was based upon biblical themes relevant to the liturgical day’s scriptural readings. According to Notker, he added newly composed texts to existing, well-known chant melodies.
One of the most famous of these texts is titled Sancti Spiritus and tells the biblical account of Christ’s ascension into Heaven. Although Notker’s name is not nearly as recognizable as Charlemagne’s, his writings on the famed emperor—as well as his own personal contributions to the compilation and development of sequences—have carved for him an unforgettable impression upon the history of Western music as well as Carolingian studies.
Lasting Impact and Remembered Legacy
Notker’s influence extended well beyond his lifetime. His musical innovations contributed to the Carolingian Renaissance’s cultural revival and helped solidify the foundation of medieval liturgical practice for centuries to come. The sequences he helped popularize became essential features in the medieval Mass and were widely copied in manuscripts throughout Latin Christendom.
Moreover, Notker stands as a rare example of a monastic intellectual whose contributions spanned literature, music, and historical storytelling. He combined reverence for tradition with creative expression, all while working from the scriptorium of St. Gall—a center of learning and musical excellence.
Today, Notker Balbulus is remembered not just as “the Stammerer,” but as a voice that helped preserve and shape the spiritual soundscape of medieval Europe.
Sonja Maurer-Dass is a Canadian musicologist and harpsichordist. She is a PhD candidate in Musicology at The University of Western, researching 18th-century French musical exoticism in the operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau. She holds a master’s degree in Musicology specializing in late medieval English choral music from York University (Toronto, Canada) and has written for The Medieval Magazine and Ancient History Magazine.
By Sonja Maurer-Dass
Powerful rulers, valiant heroes, fierce warriors – these are some of the most memorable people of medieval Europe whose stories have been passed down to us through the annals of history. Undoubtedly, among the most famous of these celebrated and chronicled figures was none other than the exalted Charlemagne, king of the Franks (747–814), whose accomplishments were not limited to his brilliant martial success on the battlefield but also included the many reforms and developments that took place in contemporaneous musical compositions and practices—notably the development and institutionalization of Frankish (Gregorian) chant as the Catholic Church’s official liturgical song.
Certainly, Charlemagne’s political deeds and contributions to Western music history have been well documented and studied over the centuries; however, it is not he, primarily, who is the focus of this article. Instead, we turn our attention to the man who penned an important compilation of anecdotes about Charlemagne, including his involvement with music, and who also documented some of the principal musical activities that took place in early medieval Europe. He was a significant composer himself.
Notker’s Early Life and the Origin of His Unusual Name
Notker was born c. 840 to an affluent family who lived within the vicinity of the esteemed Abbey of St. Gall in what is presently Switzerland. As a young boy, he was orphaned and was subsequently placed under the guardianship of a man named Adalbert, who was formerly one of Charlemagne’s soldiers.
After some time, Adalbert passed on his guardianship of Notker to the monastery at St. Gall, where his own son Werinbert lived as a monk. It was here that Notker received his education and where he would later become a librarian and distinguished teacher, positions that he held until his death in 912.
From his youth, Notker’s most distinct characteristic was his prominent stutter, an attribute that would earn him the Latin epithet “Balbulus” (in English, “the Stammerer”) during his tenure as a faculty member at the monastery of St. Gall. The reason for this unflattering nickname was simply to differentiate Notker from two other instructors who shared his first name.
Physically, Notker was markedly frail; however, Ekkehard IV of St. Gall noted that despite his physical limitations, Notker was incredibly intelligent. This is evident in the many works of literature Notker produced as a scholar and poet, as well as his work as a composer of plainchant. In the words of Ekkehard:
Notker was frail in body, though not in mind, a stammerer in voice but not in spirit; lofty in divine thoughts, patient in adversity, gentle in everything, strict in enforcing the discipline of our convent, yet somewhat timid in sudden and unexpected alarms except in the assaults of demons, whom he always withstood manfully. He was most assiduous in illuminating, reading, and composing…
Telling Charlemagne’s Story: Music and Majesty in the Gesta Karoli
One of the written works for which Notker is most reputed is titled Gesta Karoli Magni (“The Deeds of Charlemagne the Great”). Written between 884 and 887 for Charlemagne’s great-grandson, Emperor Charles the Fat (d. 888), the Gesta Karoli Magni regales its readers with various anecdotes that provide (sometimes amusing) commentary on ninth-century political matters.
As explained by historian Jonathan R. Lyon, Notker aimed less for historical accuracy in his account of Charlemagne’s deeds and more toward creating a clear connection between Charles the Fat and his great ancestor. In essence, there was a concerted effort to underscore the supremacy of Carolingian rulers. This was often accomplished by telling stories about Charlemagne whose narrative centred upon extolling the emperor’s unparalleled, positive qualities such as valour and generosity.
In addition to stories that highlighted Charlemagne’s greatness as a ruler and a scrupulous human being, Notker’s Gesta Karoli Magni also provides us with stories that recount Charlemagne’s involvement with music. Historically, Charlemagne did, indeed, significantly contribute to the development and propagation of Gregorian chant when he declared that it should become the official music of the Catholic Church.
In his writings, Notker upholds Charlemagne’s important relationship with music by providing anecdotes that highlight his expectation for the production of exceptionally high-calibre music in his realm (especially the music of his choir). For example, as told by musicologist Margot Fassler, Notker writes that Charlemagne was directly involved in the direction of the music surrounding him, as he was a skilled singer and would “point out the person he wanted to read in the [religious] service and then clear his throat when he wanted the singer to stop.”
The Liber Hymnorum: Notker’s Musical Legacy in Medieval Liturgy
Notker’s writings about music were not entirely contained within an anecdotal Carolingian narrative. In fact, he penned a compilation of sacred texts and liturgical chant melodies called the Liber Hymnorum, which gained widespread popularity across tenth- and eleventh-century Germanic Europe.
Created c. 860, the melodies contained within the Liber Hymnorum were called “sequences,” which were a type of chant sung during the medieval Mass prior to the intoning of the Gospel. The text of a sequence was based upon biblical themes relevant to the liturgical day’s scriptural readings. According to Notker, he added newly composed texts to existing, well-known chant melodies.
One of the most famous of these texts is titled Sancti Spiritus and tells the biblical account of Christ’s ascension into Heaven. Although Notker’s name is not nearly as recognizable as Charlemagne’s, his writings on the famed emperor—as well as his own personal contributions to the compilation and development of sequences—have carved for him an unforgettable impression upon the history of Western music as well as Carolingian studies.
Lasting Impact and Remembered Legacy
Notker’s influence extended well beyond his lifetime. His musical innovations contributed to the Carolingian Renaissance’s cultural revival and helped solidify the foundation of medieval liturgical practice for centuries to come. The sequences he helped popularize became essential features in the medieval Mass and were widely copied in manuscripts throughout Latin Christendom.
Moreover, Notker stands as a rare example of a monastic intellectual whose contributions spanned literature, music, and historical storytelling. He combined reverence for tradition with creative expression, all while working from the scriptorium of St. Gall—a center of learning and musical excellence.
Today, Notker Balbulus is remembered not just as “the Stammerer,” but as a voice that helped preserve and shape the spiritual soundscape of medieval Europe.
Sonja Maurer-Dass is a Canadian musicologist and harpsichordist. She is a PhD candidate in Musicology at The University of Western, researching 18th-century French musical exoticism in the operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau. She holds a master’s degree in Musicology specializing in late medieval English choral music from York University (Toronto, Canada) and has written for The Medieval Magazine and Ancient History Magazine.
Click here to read more from Sonja Maurer-Dass
Further Readings
Einhard and Notker the Stammerer. Two Lives of Charlemagne. Translated with an introduction and notes by David Ganz. Penguin Classics, 2008.
Fassler, Margot. Music in the Medieval West: Western Music in Context. W.W. Norton and Company, 2014.
Hsy, Jonathan, Tory V. Pearman, and Joshua R. Eyler, editors. A Cultural History of Disability in the Middle Ages. Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
Lyon, Jonathan R. Corruption, Protection and Justice in Medieval Europe: A Thousand-Year History. Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Noble, Thomas F.X., translator. Charlemagne and Louis the Pious: Lives by Einhard, Notker, Ermoldus, Thegan, and the Astronomer. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009.
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