Einhard's Life of Charlemagne

Here is King Charles of the Franks, Charlemagne, the Father of Europe, Holy Roman Emperor (748-814 CE). His biography is from one of his closest advisors and confidantes, the scholar Einhard (775-840 CE), with an introduction by the medieval scholar abbot Walafridus Strabo (808-849 CE). Both Strabo and Einhard make efforts to convince their readers and listeners that this account is absolutely historically perfect because Einhard was there. As such, we are supposed to receive it as uncritically as we would a sermon from the Bible. Such ideas of objective impartiality were well-accepted in this age. But finding Einhard's oblique opinions hidden in the reportage makes for fascinating research. For example, Queen Fastrada seems to represent all that was ever wrong about the reign of Charles to Einhard, and the concubine who followed her is so little loved that he omits her name from the historical record entirely, pretending that he doesn't recall the name of the mother of one of the children of the King.

Einhard speaks on the 47 years of war and conquest, but also on the domestic and personal sides of Charles. He covers something of the history of the French royal houses and discusses the religion, law, and culture of the 8th - 9th century Franks. But as with any story of Charlemagne, this account encompasses the known world, from Persia to Denmark, from Scotland to Beneventum. What is so fascinating about this account is that it is such a clear and extended look at an individual who lived over 1200 years ago--and not just any individual but one of the most extraordinary figures in the historical record. Einhard works quite hard to try to communicate the grandeur and force of Charlemagne as a person, hoping to convey to us how a single man was able to build such a great empire.

This is a new adaptation I've written from public-domain versions of the text which attempts to make it as accessible and clear to a modern audience as possible. As such, it is not a word-perfect translation. Certain flourishes have been edited out and other concepts and passages have been expanded so that the audience might understand them better. Apologies for the French accent.

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