Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Charlemagne the great legacy
Einhard's life of charlemagne
Charlemagne the great legacy
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Charlemagne the great legacy
Ava Parker
History 225: Medieval Europe
2/12/16
Reflection paper #1
Two Lives of Charlemagne
These two historians have joined together to provide a dramatic, rich, informative and varied picture of Charlemagne, from two different perspectives. Einhard, member of the Royal court along with close friend of Charlemagne writes from a personal perspective. His closeness to Charlemagne was such that he could remember important parts of the King’s life during the years he knew him. By the time he started writing his accounts of the King, the King had already died, which to some extent makes me question how much of his writing is true and how much of it is filled in for dramatic effect. The main goal of Einhard’s work was to tell the official life
The two narratives of Charlemagne’s life written by Einhard and Notker differed in the style of writing. Einhard wrote the biography mostly in a chronological order. He began with the history of the previous kings who governed the Franks before Charlemagne, went on with the birth of Charlemagne and his life, and ended with his death. This biography also indicated all the major events of his life that Einhard knew such as the war against the Northmen and the Aquitanian war. As a result, Einhard’s work was well organized and easy to follow. However, Notker’s work consisted of stories or tales that were not arranged systematically. Although the stories were certainly interesting, they were written in a random order which made them seem more like a leisure reading than a historical biography of a king. This difference in the style between the two biographies can be explained by the different purposes in which each writings had. Einhard wrote the memoir for history to remember his emperor. He stated, “but I had resolved rather to risk the judgements of men, and to endanger my own feeble talent by writing, than to neglect the memory of so great a man for the sake of sparing
Before Charlemagne and the Carolingian empire, there was in no proper sense a “Western Europe”. For the romans, everything geographically was centered around Mare Nostrum, the medditerrian.* The lands surrounding the Mediterranean sea, Hispania, Italy, Greece, and north Africa were all seen as being closer to together geographically and culturally, then the lands of Gaul or Germania. Even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Europe was seen as everything away from the northern coast of the Mediterranean, usually only Gaul and Rhineland.*
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.
Overall, I think there is some really great information out there about the lives of Charlemagne, no matter which version of himself you're looking into. What we really need to remember is that we currently have no way of knowing anything more about him than what has already been written down and, for the most part, based off a very personal opinion of Charlemagne. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although it can make learning about Charlemagne a little tough; we just have to realize that there are some really great resources out there to inform us about his life, as long as you are taking the uncertainty and personal bias into account while doing the research, I think the information can be utilized extremely well.
Great leaders come once in a generation. Two tremendous examples of historical leadership come in the form of Beowulf and The Rule of Saint Benedict. Beowulf and The Rule of Saint Benedict provide clear depictions of ideal leaders and subjects.
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...
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 ...
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.
Throughout the middle ages, many empires were working on expanding their territory, but it was not always a success unless they had the appropriate leadership to guide them in the right direction. The main empire that grew to extraordinary lengths is that of the Roman Empire. Through many conquests and battles and with an amicable government, it attained its fortune. However, on the other hand, there was another government that shared similarities with that of Rome; this was the empire of Charlemagne, otherwise known as the Carolingian Empire, but it failed to have a prosperous eternity.
I absolutely believe Charlemagne was one of the greatest emperors of all time. No one is perfect, but he really created an empire at least as great as what the Roman Empire once was. I was not fond of killing people if they didn’t follow a religion, but in reality, they had no choice. I believe they were lucky to at least get that much of a chance to live since after all, they were the ones who got conquered by him. I did like how he set the law down and basically showed other territories who is boss and not to mess with. I learned a lot researching about Charlemagne and enjoyed reading about his distinguishing and diverse empire.
"Charlemagne." Myths and Legends of the World. Ed. John M. Wickersham. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Web. 19 May 2015.
Christians went from being persecuted to dominating Rome rather quickly. In a world where separation between church and state does not exist, a Christian becoming the sole emperor of Rome symbolized a huge turning point in history. The power switched and the Pagans in turn became persecuted. Christians rose up and took control of all aspects of Roman society. The Pagan past was destroyed, banned, or forgotten about. Those Christians that did not agree with how things were being run either left the empire and became monks or formed their own sect. All of Rome changed.
Upon the death of his father and Galerius, the two Roman emperors at the time (approx. 315 CE), Constantine considered himself the new leader of Rome, even though Galerius had attributed Lucinius as ruler of the east. Maxentius opposed Constantine, and a battle would ensue to determine the ruler. Constantine defeated Maxentius, and his adoption of Christianity happened leading up to the battle. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that Constantine saw a burning cross with the words “In this sign thou shalt conquer,” (Constantine I).
Constantine I, was a Roman Emperor in 330, Constantine decided to make Constantinople the new seat of the Roman Empire: it could be said that this was the real starting date of the Byzantine Empire. While the Western Roman Empire crumbled and fell by 476, the Byzantine one flourished and lasted until 1453 when Constantinople was finally taken by Ottomans. Byzantine Empire was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. In the course of the fourth century, the Roman world became Increasingly Christian, and the Byzantine Empire was certainly a Christian state.