Analyzing Einhard's In The First Belief System

The Life of Charlemagne is an edited version from the original book Two Lives of Charlemagne. The author of the original biography is Einhard, who was his close friend and younger contemporary. He wrote this biography, after his death in 814 CE to honor Charlemagne and his contributions to the Frankish dynasty. In the historical context Charlemagne is believed to have contributed largely in flourishing the Carolingian Empire. In the book, The Life of Charlemagne, Einhard describes Charlemagne’s personal life rather than the actual historical legacies. The biography seems to have many personal bias opinions which makes the source hard to trust. One example from the text itself is when he describes King Charlemagne’s physical appearance, “His neck was short and rather thick, and his stomach a trifle too heavy, but the proportions of the rest of the body prevented from noticing these blemishes (Brophy, 250).” Even Though, the author describes the king with great details, he is positive throughout each text and avoids giving any flawed comments.

Charlemagne, was a man influenced in learning and education, in fact William the Conqueror made alterations to the English language dictionary. He incorporated various words from other languages such as French. Yet, stronger in education, Charlemagne was surrounded by scholars from different areas and he opened a palace school where he recruited the best teachers. Adding to this, both conquerors, incorporated religion in their skills of conquering. This means, faith was an important element on how they ruled and their actions. However, Charlemagne and William indeed were very different. In fact, Charlemagne’s rule was maintained by the strength of his personality, meaning a unified royal authority came first. While William the Conqueror was desperate on winning more lands and was brutal on battles, Charlemagne focused his reign on education and

God then commands Death to show Everyman who is outside of the law of God what must come to him without escape or delay, the day of reckoning for all. Death encounters Everyman and has questioned him about why he has neglected God, “Everyman, stand still! Whither art thou going thus gaily? Hast thou thy Maker forget?” (Anonymous). Death dispenses the bad news that his day of reckoning for his sins has come and he must give account to God. Upon hearing that his time has come to an end he begins to fear his journey to go before God and give an answer to how he lived his life on earth. Everyman bribes Death to give him another day. Everyman’s argument is that Death did not give him a warning and now he wants to find a companion to accompany him on this journey of reckoning. As time nears Everyman struggles with his ignorance and therefore begins to seek and call upon his earthly friends such as Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, and Goods. Everyman discovers that one by one his acquaintances and possessions, whom he held dear to his heart and promised to be with him till the end, all abandon him in his time of need.

After having read both versions of the life of Charlemagne there is no doubt that they differ greatly in the sense of style, audience, and emotion. By reading these two descriptions of Charlemagne's life we are able to decipher somewhat of the life he led as a shaper of early medieval European history. However, both of these versions possess the admiration of a noble man who they believe is worthy enough to be noted in history to some degree.

Although it is difficult to compare these two books they both possess differences and similarities to one another. For example, in Einhard's book Charlemagne's first wife was the daughter of Desiderius, the King of the Longobards. It goes on to say that she was dismissed and never gave a reason why. In Notker's book, he says that Charlemagne had just defeated the Longobards and in order to keep them from breaking away from the Franks, he married the daughter of the King. She later became sick and was bedridden; therefore, she could not have any children. In Charlemagne eyes she was already dead so he picked another wife, Hildegard. Here is an event in Charlemagne's life that was viewed and recorded in two different ways by Einhard and Notker. Both accounts is accepted, but one must choose the one they feel is more accurate or more believable.

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.

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 Life of Charlemagne, written by the Frankish scholar Einhard, is a biography on the personal life and achievements of Charlemagne, a ruler of the Franks and the king of Italy. He ruled from 774-800. Einhard, a male Frankish scholar, was born to noble parents in the Main Valley, around 770 A.D. He was educated in the monastery of Fulda, and shortly after sent to the palace school of Charlemagne in Aachen. Eventually becoming a personal adviser and a close friend to the king of the Franks, he influenced the king in all the ways of higher thinking and even inspired the king to desire a higher education for himself. The king even tried his hand at learning to write, however to no avail. Einhard was able to give deeper insight into the life of Charlemagne, as he was present during many of the events that took place. He also had the advantage of hearing firsthand accounts from the king. The Life of Charlemagne is thought to have been written between 829 to 836, composed by Einhard while living in Seligenstadt. Einhard wrote the accounts of Charlemagne so that there would be a historical account describing the emperor’s day to day life. “His two immediate reasons for writing were the personal knowledge which he possessed of Charlemagne, and the debt of gratitude which he owed to this remarkable king and emperor.” He was a man that possessed a drive for knowledge and insight into the future. By working under Charlemagne, he was able to grow in that knowledge and even

After reading two versions of “The Life of Charlemagne”, one written by a person who lived with Charlemagne, and one who didn’t, it is evident that Charlemagne is portrayed in a negative way by the author, the Monk of St. Gall, and in a positive way by Einhard. Einhard was very close to Charlemagne. He lived at the same time and with Charlemagne himself. His version of “The Life of Charlemagne” was writing right after his death. The Monk of St. Gall wrote his version more than 70 years after Charlemagne’s death. He did not live with or even at the same time as Charlemagne. This is probably one of the reasons the view on the ruler are completely different.

We now leave this in-depth description of Charlemagne given by Einhars, and take a look at a new essay by Fichtenau entitled "A New Portrait of Charlemagne." Instead of describing Charlemagne as Einhard does, we find that Fichtenau's essay rather rebuilds Charlemagne. Fichtenau talks about how things like his personality were strung together in the wrong way by Einhard. He talks about how his personality is predictable, because all Emperors must have the same values. He talks of how in generosity, as Einhard's description showed as being out of the kindness of his heart, was actually a result of what actions would follow his generous jesters. Fichtenau uses his whole essay to rebuild Charlemagne to what kind of ruler he believes he is. He does say that without the great ruling and personality of Charlemagne, then it would have taken generations for this empire to reach its peak. "What remains is

Einhard, born in 775 in an ancient Frankish homeland, in a valley of the River Main, was taken into Charlemagne’s court sometime between 791 and 792. After the scholar Alcuin retired to the monastery, Einhard became a go to source for answers for Charlemagne. After Charlemagne’s death Einhard felt compelled to write a biography about his king and friend, writing that, ○“In any event, I would rather commit my story to writing, and hand it down in posterity, in partnership with others, so to speak, that to suffer the most glorious life of this most excellent king, the greatest of all the princes of his day, and his illustrious deeds, hard for men of later times to imitate, to be wrapped in the darkness of oblivion” (Einhard 16). Einhard spent twenty-two years in Charlemagne’s court and ○“Although

"'It seems, if I hear right, that you can see/ beforehand that which time is carrying,/ but you're denied the sight of present things.'/ ŒWe see, even as men who are farsighted,/ those things,' he said, Œthat are remote from us;/ the Highest Lord allots us that much light./ But when events draw near or are, our minds/ are useless; were we not informed by others,/ we should know nothing of your human state./ So you can understand how our awareness/ will die completely at the moment when/ the portal of the future has been shut'" (X, 97-108).

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, reigned during a time of much turmoil and upheaval in Europe during middle ages. Charlemagne’s background and family history contributed much to his rise to power. The triumphs of his past lineage prepared him to take on the task of governing the Frankish Empire, and defending it from invaders. Charlemagne accomplished much during his supremacy. He not only brought education back into medieval Europe, but also invented an efficient way to govern his people. His conquests against the many adversaries of the Holy Roman Empire expanded his empire across the majority of Europe. His conquests also formed strong ties between the Catholic Church and the State. Charlemagne’s drive to convert Europe’s primitive

By the Cross and the Sword : Charlemagne’s Impact on the West. “He who ordains the fate of kingdoms in the march of the centuries, the all-powerful Disposer of events, having destroyed one extraordinary image, that of the Romans, which had, it was true, feet of iron, or even feet of clay, then raised up, among the Franks, the golden head of a second image, equally remarkable, in the person of the illustrious Charlemagne. Notker the Stammerer, the monk of St. Gall, wrote these words in AD 844 to describe the reign of the most influential Frankish king Charlemagne ( Lectures 1). Charlemagne, son of Pepin the Short, ruled the Franks for 47 years (Koeller 1). The Carolingian Dynasty, of which Charlemagne was a member, was

a) Christians believe many different things about God’s nature; due to the huge spectrum of Christians that there are. However, as a general rule they perceive God as being one of the following four things: