Polycarp, John Chrsysostom and Charlemagne

Saint Polycarp, Apostolic Father and pupil of John the Baptist, is shown on the left side of the miniature (feast day January 26). When he refused to sacrifice to the idols and proclaimed to be a Christian, he was stabbed to death with a dagger and died a martyr’s death. On the right we see John Chrysostom (Jan Guldemond in Dutch, feast day January 30) who was a philosopher and famous orator from Antioch. He was responsible for revising the Greek Liturgy, which caused him to be banned from his homeland twice: once in 403 A.D. and once in 404 A.D. He eventually died in exile. Prominently present in the middle of the miniature is Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor (feast day January 28). On Christmas Day of the year 800 A.D. Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III and was declared a saint in 1165 by Antipope Paschal III. Even though this technically makes his canonisation null and void, Charlemagne is still revered as a saint, especially in the diocese of Aachen.