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.
Einhard, as a servant of Charlemagne, had witnessed the entire life of his king. It made him possible to describe the personal life of his king in great detail. For example, he stated what activities his king chiefly enjoyed, what clothes he was accustomed to wear, and even what he used to do between meals. According to Einhard, “In summer, after the midday meal, he would take off his clothes and shoes as if it were night and would rest for two or three hours.” This indicated that Einhard described the adult life of his king with details and that Einhard knew the subject he was writing about extremely well. His writing also showed the military campaign that Charlemagne conducted. For instance, he stated, “While he was vigorously and almost constantly pursuing the war with the Saxons, and had placed garrison at suitable points along the frontier, he attacked Spain with as large a force as he could” (Einhard, p. 24). While Einhard’s work mostly focused on the official life of Charlemagne and his military campaign, Notker’s writing consisted of anecdotes about the king based on the stories he heard during his childhood. Notker, as mentioned earlier, was born twenty-five years after the death of Charlemagne and wrote the biography seventy years after the king’s death. In often cases, the anecdotes tended to be exaggerated; therefore, they seemed as if they were myths or fictional stories. Also, Notker’s writing was
Einhard divides his discussion of Charlemagne into three distinct sections, perhaps in imitation of the king’s will, which is also partitioned into the same three underlying themes: church, empire, and intellect.
Charlemagne is a known for his success to try to maintain his empire. This new empire will embrace the unity of Christian faith. Under Charlemagne, new lands are conquered and a Renaissance is embraced. He even tries to revive the Christian faith. Charlemagne is a man that hopes to be an inspiration to the next generation. These deeds of Charlemagne is seen in the Two Lives of Charlemagne. In the Two lives of Charlemagne, both Notker’s and Einhard’s goal is to portray Charlemagne as a man of good character, a man that accomplishes many deeds and a man that hopes to provide an outlet for the next generation.
After contemplating Einhard’s purpose for writing The Life of Charlemagne it is important to examine his qualifications for doing so. Early on in the introduction there is a brief history on Einhard and his education.
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.
The Relationship of Political and Religious Societies in the Age of Charlemagne, Based of Einhard's The life of Charlemagne sections 15-33
The reason Einhard wrote his biography of Charlemagne was to explain to the world how this man, who was also his personal friend, was a great leader. Einhard begins by telling some history of Charlemagne’s family and ancestry. Einhard then goes on to tell about every war Charlemagne was ever involved in. Einhard’s main reason for writing this description of Charlemagne’s reign is just to inform people of what he believe to be the reign of the greatest ruler of all time. He seemed proud to have lived at the same time as Charlemagne. He thought Charlemagne made no mistakes in the wars he was involved with. Einhard was proud of what Charlemagne did for the churches at the time of his reign. “Whenever he discovered one in his kingdom that was old and ready to collapse he charged the responsible bishops and priests with restor...
...ard 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 do not seem believable. In Einhard, we learn the facts because he was alive and official of Charlemagne and shared a close relationship with him. He is a primary source of the history recorded. In Notker, we see Charlemagne's sense of humor and his compassion, forgiveness, his sense of equality and fairness. In the many anecdotes of Notker, Charlemagne comes alive and tells a great story of Charlemagne's life. He did write his book seventy years after Charlemagne's death so he is a secondary source, but his source is viewed as being a good source to use to learn about the life of Charlemagne.
Every historian interprets the past differently and with distinctive perspectives, resulting in many sides to one story. Often the reader must decide which perspective is more logical, likely, or coherent. Recounting one war took a lot of time and effort because of the necessity to include all sides of the story. Becher, Barbero, Collins and Backman have approached the life of Charlemagne with different points of view; however, Barbero seems to have the strongest argument for the cause of the Saxon War. The other historians were less willing to see the Saxon war as a religious war. The life of Charlemagne was interesting to historians because it was filled with many vigorous wars that he fought including the infamous Saxon War. From the beginning of his life, Charlemagne was destined to rule a nation and lead his people into war, achieving both triumphant victories and devastating defeats. He died of sickness in old age, thus leaving the kingdom in the hands of his son. The Saxon war was the most persistent, yet hostile war he fought because of the determination and severity of the enemy. However, the questions remain: “What actually caused the Saxon war? What gave it life? What are all the different events that occurred during this war? What are some of the strategies used during this war?” The wars he fought resulted in his success as a ruler and as a historical figure to reflect on when considering the greatness of kings.
“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.
The one thing that kept Charlemagne motivated throughout his entire life was his deep devotion to the church. Charlemagne was a tall young man with light blond hair, and was described by his secretary as, “face laughing and merry. . . his appearance was always stately and dignified.” (World book 452) Charlemagne had great wit, but was stern at times. He had simple and moderate tastes; he enjoyed hunting, riding and swimming. Charlemagne had a large wardrobe with many Frankish dresses, linen shirts and breeches, silk-fringed tunics, hoses wrapped with bands, and for the winter he had coats made of otter or marten skins. Charlemagne asked his people to improve their lifestyles, but he divorced two of his four fives without any given cause.
"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
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, /