Charlemagne
The two lives of Charlemagne as told by Einhard and Notker the Stammerer are very different accounts of the life of the great Emperor. Einhard gives us a historical overview of the life of Charlemagne who lived from 742 to 814 A.D. Charlemagne was also known as Charles the Great and the King of the Franks.Charles was one of four children born to Pepin the Short, A Mayor of the Palace of the Carolingian Empire. He had one brother, Carloman and two sisters, Gisela and Pepin.Since women at the time didn’t inherit power, when Pepin the Short died, the kingship of the Carolingian Empire was divided and shared by Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman. Unfortunately, Carloman died early and unexpectedly as a young man and the entire land of the Franks was given to Charlemagne. This kingdom was vast and covers what would today include parts of the countries of Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and France.
Charlemagne took very good care of his mother who lived with him at the palace and died at a ripe old age. His brother Pepin died as a child and his sister Gisela spent her entire life as a religious in a nunnery. Charlemagne had four wives and four concubines. From these relationships he had fourteen children. He insisted on educating all of his children both the boys and the girls. The boys leaned how to hunt and use arms while the girls learned womanly things like weaving. Charlemagne was a devoted father and when he wasn’t fighting a war and was at home, he insisted on eating dinner with his children and also took them with him on many of his journeys. He was so attached to his daughters that he refused to give them away in marriage with the result that two of them ended up having illegitimate...
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...ut who lost heart at the last moment and succeeded only in slashing him across the eyes. The pope summoned Charlemagne to Rome and bestowed the crown of Emperor and Augustus upon him. The Pope’s attackers fled when they heard that Charlemagne was coming but they were found and punished some were imprisoned and other condemned to death.
The Charlemagne of Einhard is a man of many notable characteristics and accomplishments. Einhard gives a sense of what the important events and people in Charlemagne’ s life were. Einhard gives a more detailed and colorful background to many of the events even if some of his descriptions and stories are not believable.
In Einhard, we learn the facts. In Notker, we see Charlemagne’s sense of humor, and his compassion; his forgiveness; his sense of equality and fairness. In the many anecdotes
Of Notker, Charlemagne comes alive.
Charlemagne is described by Janet Nelson as being a role model for Einhard. Einhard himself writes in the first paragraph of The Life of Charlemagne, “After I decided to write about the life, character and no small part of the accomplishments of my lord and foster father, Charles, that most excellent and deservedly famous king, I determined to do so with as much brevity as I could.” I feel that these are sincere words about the man who cared for Einhard. I feel that Einhard’s purpose for writing The Life of Charlemagne is to praise the works of his “foster-father” and create a historical document that would describe the great deeds of Charlemagne so that he would not be forgotten throughout time as a great leader and man.
Charlemagne—Charles, King of the Franks—obviously has a fan in Einhard. His powerful work, The Life of Charlemagne, details the king’s life from the building of his empire, through the education of his children, and culminating in his final living words: the division of his possessions and the instructions for the preservation of his kingdom. At first glance, the inclusion of Charlemagne’s will seems an odd choice to end an essay that demonstrates thoroughly the specifics of the great man’s life. After all, who needs to know which child gets his gold, and which archbishop he favored the most. Einhard reveals the ignorance in this assumption by doing just the opposite: using Charlemagne’s will as the final and most convincing illustration of the king’s life and character.
The most famous work about Charlemagne is a book entitled The Two Lives of Charlemagne which consists of two separate biographies published into one book and tells the story of Charlemagne's life as two different people experienced it. Apart from this, there are many other places you can turn to learn more about the life of the king of the Franks, including letters, capitularies, inventories, annals, and more. However, each of these sources seem to paint a different picture of Charlemagne. In one, he seems to be a very average guy; in another, a mythical being, almost god-like; and a strong and firm political leader in yet another. It is because of this of this that we will never really know exactly who Charlemagne was or what he was like, but we do have an idea of what he did and how he lived thanks to those who decided to preserve it.
Critical questions can arise about Einhard's work for the simple fact he was a palace official of Charlemagne. Einhard was a minister of his Royal Majesty. He was highly respected for his knowledge, intellect, brilliance, integrity and character. He shared a personal relationship with the King and his family. It can be believed that his book was to make sure that the greatness of Charlemagne was recorded for history and maybe not the facts. The way he recorded the history of Charlemagne could have been more ...
...become great and victorious. There is the concept of how everything that Charlemagne did was for his enemies to be converted to Christianity and nothing else. Through the different interpretations, the argument for religious motives was the strongest. Charlemagne used military tactics in a misguided attempt to further the kingdom of God.
Throughout the Ages there have been many leaders who were known for their great rule. One of these great men during the 8th century was Charlemagne. The Life of Charlemagne was written by Einhard, a Frankish elite who had the privilege of working in the courts of Charlemagne. The book did not come out till after Charlemagne’s death but, it goes through his life in a thematic fashion. Einhard sets the book by first addressing deeds, habits, and then administration. This writing was one of the first of its kind. While there were many biographies written on the lives of saints known as hagiography, this was the first of its kind to be written about a secular ruler since the time of Antiquity. I will begin by talking about Charlemagne’s rise to power, then about his character and personality, and finally his relationship with his family.
His initial reason for traveling to Rome was to “set the affairs of the church in order, because all was confusion;” however, his final trip to Rome caused him to be crowned emperor. (christ203). One of the affairs of the church was that Pope Leo “tore out his eyes and cut out his tounge” (christ203). Although Charlemagne did not expect to be crowned emperor, it allowed the pope to obtain military security from Charlemagne (book). “He was the first Emperor to rule since the Fall of Rome”-reword (livescience.com) His motto as Emperor was “Revival of the Roman empire.” (book). Charlemagne also realized the laws of the Romans were faulty. “He decided to add what was missing, sort out the discrepancies, and correct what was wrong.” (chrisitan203). Pope Leo then said "life and victory to Charles Augustus, crowned by God, the great and peaceful emperor of the Romans." (add somewhere)
“The apprenticeship of a King” describes how Charlemagne gained power through conquest and diplomacy. In 768, King Pippin died and his kingdom was divided between his two sons. Charles, the elder, and the younger was Carloman. The author says that little is known of Charles’ boyhood. When he was of the right age, it is recorded that he worked eagerly at riding and hunting. It was the custom of the Franks to ride and be practiced in the use of arms and ways of hunting. We may reasonably infer that acquiring these skills formed a major part of his early education. Charles was not a “man of letters” and the author makes no attempt at explaining this other than to point out that literacy was considered unimportant at that time for anyone other than the clergy and Charles didn’t become interested in “letters” until later in life. Bullough explains a number of experiences in public duties and responsibilities, which were assigned to Charles by his father, thus, giving him an apprenticeship to rule the kingdom. For some reason tension between Charles and his brother began shortly after their accession. The author explains a number of conflicts. The younger brother died however, at the end of 771 and a number of prominent people in his kingdom offered allegiance to Charles. Bullough names and explains those subjects. The result was the re-uniting of those territories, which helped to establish the kingdom of the Franks.
"Charlemagne." Myths and Legends of the World. Ed. John M. Wickersham. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Web. 19 May 2015.
Charlemagne’s humility shows through Einhard’s telling of his life. Some of the evidence that Einhard provides is more subtle and through other parts of his life. The best example of this is the description of Charlemagne’s piety. A notable example would be his charity to the poor. One of his motives of establishing good foreign relations was to be able to help poor Christians in foreign lands. This would be something unheard of in the Roman empire. Charlemagne’s devotion to his faith led him to help others, even those outside his own jurisdiction that he did not have to help. More obvious evidence of Charlemagne’s humility is in the way he dresses. With the exception of formal occasions, he dresses like the common man. Charlemagne was a rich and powerful man, but he chose to adorn himself with simple clothes when he did not have to pull out all the stops for festivals or other formal events. In both secular and religious life, Charlemagne proved to be a more humble
The collection Two Lives of Charlemagne contains two different biographies of Charlemagne who was a king of the Franks and a christian emperor of the West in the 8th century. The first biographical account was written by his courtier Einhard who knew him personally and well. On the other hand, the second account was penned by Notker the Stammerer was born twenty-five years after the king’s death. Even though these two versions indicate the same king’s life, there were many differences between the two. Einhard’s writing focused on the emperor’s official life and his military campaign. However, Notker provided more of a perspective about the king’s legacy and seemed more hyperbolic as well as mythical. This paper will compare and contrast the
The relationship between politics and faith in the age of Charlemagne would not have been possible or necessary without the people's true belief in their religion. Einhard himself reveals the depth of his faith when he sites the numerous omens foretelling Charles' death, as well as speaking of the "Divine ordination, (page295)" of Louis. The business of religion was taken seriously by all parties mentioned in Einhard's Life, and the church, being an integral part of the western world, could thus hardly have been ignored. In addition, the strong forces of competing religions made the question of faith one of great import in the West, making a solid Catholic union absolutely necessary. The alliance of Rome and the Frankish Empire was not entirely without its drawbacks, but its rewards are seen in the survival of Charlemagne's name into the present.
to find not just a banquet, but a sentencing. Bruno, a rival German Pope is dragged in chains before Pope Adrian who humiliates him and tells him to “crouch before papal dignity” (3.1:903). Even though both these men share a faith, this does not result in any mercy on Pope Adrian’s part. This religious conflict would have resonated with an audience watching during the Reformation. Despite Bruno’s attempts to reason with him, Pope Adrian intends to depose the Holy Roman Emperor who elected him, declaring that “he grows too proud in his authority, /
Pepin, in the Merovingian tradition of the time. split his kingdom between his two sons. Three years later Carloman died and Charlemagne took control of the entire kingdom. He inherited great wealth and a powerful army, built by his father and grandfather. Charlemagne used the army.