Greatness conjures up various thoughts for modern people such as a strong, smart, kind, and/ or heroic individual due to pop culture. In general greatness refers to some person, place, or thing that is beyond the realm of mediocracy. During the early middle ages two different kings were referred to as great by their people Charlemagne king of the Franks from 768-814 and Alfred king of the Anglo-Saxons from 871-899. During the middle ages the criteria for greatness could include a kings contributions to education, his dedication to religion, and/or his success in warfare. Education is a highly regarded matter that kings took interest in to further themselves and certain classes within their kingdom. Charlemagne took an interest in the liberal …show more content…
Charlemagne was known to be successful in warfare Einhard said, “Such are the wars, most skillfully planned and successfully fought, which this most powerful king waged during the forty-seven years of his reign.” This shows not only his success in warfare, but also his diligence and fortitude to deal with wars throughout his kingship. On the contrary, Alfred handled warfare differently. He dealt with a new kind of warfare, Vikings, with their naval forces were constantly trying to loot and pillage. Although he fought back multiple times the Vikings were a constant challenge for Alfred. For instance in 881 “A sea battle was joined: there was savage fighting everywhere.” The Vikings were killed and all their ships were captured on the way home Vikings from East Anglia attacked and ultimately had victory over Alfred’s army. Alfred actually paid them off before to avoid being attacked, which does not seem like something Charlemagne would do. According to his track record Charles the Great probably would have ordered his men to fight, but he never had to deal with naval threats. Although he didn't have the same type of threats he still successfully won many of his military undertakings. It would not be presumptuous to say that Charlemagne is definitely a leader in warfare in comparison to