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The fantasy was especially pronounced in a small epic written by a clergyman at the Cloister at Siegberg around the end of the 11th Century. The epic was dedicated to the deceased Archbishop Anno of Cologne. It included an introductory story of how the Germans – this was the first time this word (Deutsch) was used repeatedly – had struggled against Caesar. The Swabians, The Bavarians, and the Franks. Indeed everyone had proved to be so brave that even though the Romans were victorious, the glory of these “German men” became recognized. With this story, the learned cleric made a formidable beginning. He portrayed the Germans, who had never identified themselves as a nation either before or immediately after his epic, as somehow equal to the Germani, against whom, true enough, Caesar had fought.

The equation “the Gauls = the French” soon followed the equation “the Germani = the Germans.” With these historically inaccurate equations, one could construct a long rivalry between the French and German noblemen of the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, the greatest innovation from these equations did not occur for several centuries.

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