A crusader in the twelfth-century imperial court chapel: identifying Albert of Aachen as Albert of Sponheim*

Abstract

Albert of Aachen has remained a mystery since his discovery in the 1580s. I identify him as Albert of Sponheim, a key chaplain and notary at the courts of Conrad III and Frederick Barbarossa. This identification rests on his Aachen connections, his relationship with the imperial chancellor Adalbert of Saarbrücken and ties to the Burgundian aristocracy, as well as remarkable similarities in writing style. The distinctive diplomatic phrases Albert of Aachen employs – borrowed from Gottschalk of Aachen (chief propagandist of Emperor Henry IV) – match those reintroduced by Albert of Sponheim in the mid-twelfth-century imperial chancery. I argue that these two Alberts were the same person. Additionally, I propose that Albert authored Aachen’s forged foundation charter, which aligns with both the crusade historian and later imperial notary in perspective and stylistic approach. Thus, rather than an unknown Albert who briefly wrote early in the twelfth century before vanishing, we can trace the career of an accomplished historian, notary and diplomat whose connections informed his extensive writing.