Charlemagne and Samedan

24 January 2023

Charlemagne was the most powerful ruler of the Carolingian dynasty. He was born in 747 or 748, became emperor on Christmas eve in 800 and died in Aachen on 28 January 814.

In and around the church of St Peter in Samedan, so the story goes, more than 30 descendants of Charlemagne are buried, more than anywhere else. In any case, the fact is that Charlemagne was present in today’s Graubünden in the 774s because he campaigned against the Lombards.

More than half of the tombstones in and around the church of San Peter are dedicated to relatives of Von Plantas. The Von Planta dynasty provided the most important political, military and religious leaders in Graubünden in the late Middle Ages and beyond. Their family tree might also go back to Charlemagne. Fact or fiction, it says something about this emperor’s prestige in this region.

Source: Kirche San Peter Samedan