The Long Hair Kings Summary

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.

The first account of Charlemagne's life was by his courtier, Einhard, who thought it would be a tragedy if history forgot such a noble ruler. Furthermore, not only does he believe that it should be him to write about Charlemagne's life, but only him. He

2. What do these duties reveal about the basis of local rule in post-carolingian society?

The two lives of Charlemagne as told by Einhard and Notker are two medieval sources about the accounts of the life Charlemagne. Modern sources by Matthew Innes and Rosamond Mckitterick discuss how history was recorded during the medieval period and how it was suppose to be viewed in the early ages. Observing each of these sources helps get an understanding of how the writing of history is important in recorded history and how it affected how the history of Charlemagne was recorded.

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

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.

He is also remembered because of the Carolingian Renaissance which took place under his direction and leadership. Although he was not a learned man, he revered and respected knowledge. He attracted many scholars to his palace. Theology and the literary

In St. Gall’s version of “The Life of Charlemagne” the author does not give any background information at all. The reason St. Gall is writing this version of Charlemagne’s life is to blame him for the attacks going on at present times. He gives no information about Charlemagne’s family or ancestors. The author immediately begins to start his complaining about how Charlemagne basically did nothing good for the empire he was ruling. “After the omnipotent ruler of the world, who orders alike the fate of kingdoms and the course of time, had broken the feet of iron and clay in one noble statue, to wit the Romans, he raised by the hands of the illustrious Charles the golden head of another, not less admirable, among the Franks”. At the beginning of this quote, Einhard is praising Charlemagne. St. Gall is placing Charlemagne at the same level as the Romans, saying God has raised up Charlemagne to succeed them. Then, at the end of the quote, it is unclear why St. Gall says that the bishop falls of his horse. To me, this seems some sort of a negative passage making the reader think Charlemagne is somewhat incompetent. This being the first entry in this author’s text, it immediately gives off a negative feeling towards Charlemagne. The reader immediately has a negative bias towards Charlemagne

This period has become known as the Carolingian Dynasty. The sense of renewal in a newly stabilized society was stimulated by an elite group of scholars gathered to Charlemagne’s court. During this time, there was a strong flourish of arts, literature, architecture, and religion.

The author gives a detailed account of Alys appearances since it portrays her personality too. Many traits that a woman wears on the outside is assumed to be on the inside as well. This woman was neither modest in dress nor her behavior. She was a woman who has gapped teeth, wears excess amounts of jewelry, and she wears dark colored lip stain. The gapped teeth where a sign of lose legs. The excess amount of jewerlier is a sign of boastfulness, and finaly her dark lip color draws attention to herself. All of her looks her broad hips reflect her tramp side. Her personality is big and clever. She is everything a woman should not be. She lacks ethics that girls of that time were supposed to have had. She barges in on conversation and demands

Introduction In both the past and present, numerous scholars and historians have considered the Carolingian dynasty to be one of the greatest Frankish noble families to have ruled Europe during the Medieval Period. The present thesis, which is structured in [x] parts, aims to verify that the Carolingians used many forms of propaganda to assume and strengthen their claims to power of the Frankish throne and the Holy Roman Empire. The forms of propaganda used by the Carolingian dynasty include: divine right of kings, use of the written word, and religious iconography in the visual arts. Attention will be given to illuminated manuscripts, Frankish annals, and iconography used during the Carolingian Renaissance.

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

The Song of Roland although fictional tries to be somewhat historically accurate when speaking of Charlemagne’s reign as Emperor and describing what he was like as a person along with some of the trials

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

The year 869 saw Charles extending his authority from West Francia into Lotharingia. The expansion of Charles’s power over two Carolingian realms was accompanied by the expectation that his reign would result in peace and harmony. Peace was the condition for which a king should strive; it should be the end result of the effort of a righteous ruler whose effective governance served to maintain a communion with God. This ideal of earthly peace was considered a likeness of the eternal kingdom. Yet, earthly peace was unstable and susceptible to disruption; war and disputes inside the Carolingian kingdom could obstruct the flow of grace. Eriugena’s own eschatological ideas played an important part in his advising Charles to abide by the principles supported by this Christian concept of peace. His promotion of Charles’s