Vita Karoli Magni

La Chanson de Roland, or The Song of Roland, is the oldest surviving French poem. It is also the oldest and greatest of the chansons de geste, medieval epic poems written in French. In old French, "geste" means a deed or action, often of heroic proportions. A hundred or so of these epic poems survive, dating from around the year 1100 to the late fourteenth century. In their time, they were exceedingly popular. Although we know neither the identity of The Song of Roland 's composer nor the date of

perspective of another. It is typically written in third person, different from an autobiography which is written by that particular person on their own lives, written in the first person. One such biography was Einhards, Life of Charlemagne, or Vita

Einhard’s opening chapter of his biography, Life of Charles the Great, provides its audience with an extremely harsh representation of late Merovingian kings. For a long time, he claims, these kings have had no true power or authority, and possessed nothing more than an empty title. The impression given is that it is the mayor of the palace, instead, who holds true power in the kingdom; all of the wealth and all authoritative responsibility. The king then, can be seen as nothing more than a figurehead

Einhard: The Life of Charlemagne is a book wrote in imitation of the Roman biographer Suetonius and translated by Samuel Epes Turner. Einhard took it upon himself to narrate the history of Charlemagne illustrating all private and public deeds that he knew of. He decided to write this because of his dedication and accurate knowledge of his beloved king. Einhard is a credible source due to the fact that he had a constant, deep friendship with the king as well as he received a sense of care the king

Emperor Charlemagne Traits Marking a Great Ruler History, through the ages, has listed many kings, rulers, and military generals, all of whom together, fill volumes about the individual traits and strengths that made them, either individually or as a whole, noteworthy. One of the most notable of the early Middle Ages was Emperor Charlemagne, ruler of the Franks for forty-seven years, from 768 A.D. until his death in January 28, 814, according to Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne. The man was described

In Einhard's Life of Charlemagne and Notker’s Deeds of Charlemagne, the authors express different views of Charlemagne however, they both portray Charlemagne as an influential king through the advancements he made for his kingdom as well as his work with the church. The Life of Charlemagne, written by Einhard, gives a detailed look into the professional life of the great king Charlemagne. Einhard was one of Charlemagne's servants who was able to give the readers a more closely analyzed view of the

The Life of Charlemagne was written by Einhard to honor Charlemagne. He claimed that after the last Merovingian King fell, there was no more power within the dynasty. Einhard described the Merovingian kings as weak, in order to show how powerful Charlemagne was. He was extremely biased in his favor of the patron. He lived during Charlemagne’s life and believed that he could accurately portray him. On Christmas day 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor. Although emperors existed before him, which implicated

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

Another aspect of Einhard’s writing that must be questioned is his mention of friendships with other kings as this is another area which seems to have a strong subtext. Einhard mentions that Charlemagne made some alliances through friendship however these friendships often have a deeper reason for their existence than purely his friendly nature: fear. When “Alfonso [II], the king of Galicia and Asturias… ordered that in Charle’s presence he was only to be referred to as his subject” he may have been

In their combined work, “Two Lives of Charlemagne,” authors Einhard and Notker the Stammerer express the qualities one should possess in order to be considered a good king. Einhard chooses to focus more on the aggressive, war-like qualities of King Charlemagne while Notker tends to focus on Charlemagne’s religious approach to ruling a kingdom. However, both writers consistently agree throughout their respective pieces that King Charles took pity on and gave to the poor, fostered good relationships