''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 Louis VIII (5 September 1187 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As a prince, he invaded Kingdom of England, England on 21 May 1216 and was Excommunication in the Catholic Church, excommunicated by a ...

. It is an example of the

Mirror for Princes Mirrors for princes or mirrors of princes () constituted a literary genre of didactic political writings throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It was part of the broader speculum or mirror literature genre. The Latin term ''speculum reg ...

genre, which gained renewed popularity in many parts of Europe in the twelfth century. 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 Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, showing how his life examplified the four

cardinal virtues The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in classical philosophy. They are prudence, Justice (virtue), justice, Courage, fortitude, and Temperance (virtue), temperance. They form a Virtue ethics, virtue theory of ethics. The t ...

, and urging Louis, who was thirteen years old in 1200, to follow this example and become a new Charlemagne.

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Further reading