Einhard The Life Of Charlemagne Analysis

The Life of Einhard:

Examining Bias in Einhard’s The Life of Charlemagne

Daniel A. Lastra

History 3120: Medieval Europe

March 4th 2016 Einhard’s The Life of Charlemagne is a biography of Charlemagne written by a contemporary, and a loyal courtier of Charlemagne. Due to the closeness between the subject of the biography, and its author, it is possible to get insight into parts of Charlemagne’s life, and his reign, that might not be available otherwise. However, Einhard’s close relationship with Charlemagne, whom he describes at one point as his foster-father, may create bias in his account of Charlemagne’s rule. Indeed, Einhard’s biography at times appears to present a one-sided account of the Merovingian King’s, Charlemagne’s

Einhard is able to provide an account for the Merovingian Kings, though no living heirs were present of that Dynasty, and the dynasty had been out of power for several generations. However, Einhard is unable to do the same when it comes to the early years of Charlemagne’s life, due to nothing being written about it, and no living sources, or those familiar with it, being alive. While the early life of Charlemagne takes place contemporary to, and following, the seizure of the throne by Charlemagne’s father, he can find no similar sources to outline it. However, given that Charlemagne was the son of Pippin, who was the King of the Franks following the palace coup, and that the Carolingian dynasty recorded their deeds in annals, it seems unlikely that no deeds referring to Pippin’s son would be included within them. Further, the most influential annals, the Royal Frankish Annals, which recorded the major events for the Carolingians each year, and would likely have had information on Charlemagne, were certainly available to Einhard as it is from these very annals that Einhard drew his characterization of the Merovingian Dynasty. As Einhard had access to these records, his claim that no records of Charlemagne’s early life existed seems, at best, unlikely, and suggests that he purposely choose to ignore

Whether it is the characterization of the Merovingians, the early life of Charlemagne, and his illegitimacy, or his failed campaign as part of an attempt to aid a Muslim ally in Spain, Einhard chooses to skip over facts that may be damaging to Charlemagne, and instead focus on the great deeds of the man he describes as a foster-father. For this reason, it is important to understand, when studying Einhard’s The Life of Charlemagne, that, while it is the single best source for information on Charlemagne as Einhard was indeed a contemporary with great access to the subject, it is written with a specific agenda. This leads to omissions in order to show the greatness of the character of Charlemagne, at the expense of a full accounting of events.

Bibliography

Bouchard, Constance. “Images of the Merovingians and Carolingians.” History Compass 4, no. 2 (2006): 293-307. Accessed February 24, 2016. DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2006.00315.x

Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne, trans. David Ganz. New York: Penguin Classics, 2008.

Ganz, David. Introduction to The Life of Charlemagne. New York: Penguin Classics, 2008.

Nitze, William. “Bedier's Epic Theory and the "Arthuriana" of Nennius.” Modern Philology 39, no. 1 (1941): 1–14. Accessed February 24, 2016.