Charles the Great, better known as Charlemagne- a name given to him after his death, was the king of Franks. He ruled the Western Europe beginning in 768 until 814. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that came from today’s Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, and Germany. Charlemagne was born on January 28th, 742. He was a staunch Christian, whose mission was to spread the Christian religion all over his kingdom. He was also a very skilled military leader, whose goal was to unite the Germans. Charles the Great was the first of the Holy Emperors to be crowned. As for a Christian his coronation was led by the Pope, Leo the III, and took place in Rome on Christmas day of the year 800. Charlemagne was named the Emperor of Rome although the title …show more content…
Einhard had known the Great Emperor personally; he was a child when Charlemagne was already an adult. The writer felt a great respect towards his king. In his book, Einhard represents Charles the Great as his big authority figure. He portrays Charlemagne as a great Christian who “practiced the Christian religion with great devotion and pity, for he had been brought up in this faith since earliest childhood” (Einhard, 79). Einhard also shows Charlemagne as a skilled military leader. The author points out that the Saxon War (which lasted 33 years) was brought to “a swift conclusion under the direction of the young Charles” (Einhard, 68). Einhard does also give out lots of evidence which proves that Charlemagne was a truly great emperor, a loving father, and that he contributed to the creation of common laws and language. In his piece, Einhard also includes a brief description Charlemagne’s testament and of what had happened in the empire after the king’s death in 814. All in all the writer, who knew the Great Emperor of Rome personally, portrays Charlemagne as a leading light of his times yet not to an extent. He does not omit to evoke the King as a human full of emotion and sympathy by bring up, for example, how Charlemagne “burst into tears” after having to bury his child (Einhard, 74). Nevertheless, Notker the Stammer does not give such an ideal picture of Charlemagne. While reading through Notker’s piece one can quickly observe that Charles the Great was more of a legendary personage for the writer. Since the author did not grow up when Charlemagne was ruling the empire, all he knew about the Great King was from what other people had told him. Similarly to Einhard, however; Notkar portrays Charlemagne’s achievements and accomplishments with a great respect and calls him a true emperor and a great king. For Notker, however; Charles the Great isn’t that much