Charlemagne's Elephant Abdul-Abbas
"One elephant was known in Europe during the Middle Ages, and that beast might have been the model for European understanding of pachyderms into the modern age. Abdul-Abbas, Charlemagne’s elephant was, perhaps, the most famous elephant to have ever lived." from the video introduction
"Abul-Abbas was an Asian elephant given to Emperor Charlemagne by the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, in 798. Abul-Abbas was a white elephant, a rare and impressive gift.
Abul-Abbas's journey from the Abbasid empire to Europe started with a crossing of the Mediterranean Sea by ship, which landed at Portovenere in October 801.
The embassy to the Frankish court was led by the governor of Egypt, Ibrahim Ibn al-Aghlab, (in response to a mission despatched by Charlemagne to the caliph's court in 797) the elephant and his mahout, a Jewish North African named Isaac, spent the winter in Vercelli, and in the spring they started the march over the Alps to the Emperor's residence in Aachen, arriving on July 1, 802.
Abul-Abbas was exhibited on various occasions when the court was assembled and was eventually housed in Augsburg in southern Bavaria.
In 804 the Danish king Godfred attacked a trading village near Denmark and moved the people by force to his newly-built trading village in Hedeby; his goal was to secure Denmark's part of the trade in the northern countries. Charlemagne mobilized his troops against the Danes and sent for his elephant to join in the mighty battle.
In 810, when he was in his forties, Abul-Abbas died at Lippeham on Luneburg Heath, probably of of pneumonia after crossing the cold water in the Rhine.
It should take another 400 years before the next elephant in Europe, known as The Cremona elephant came to Germany in 1229..." from the article Abul-Abbas
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