Early Lives of Charlemagne

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Charlemagne’s impact on Europe – on the world – cannot be underestimated. He brought together diverse cultures in his empire, supported scholarship, and established the power of the Christian church. In Early Lives of Charlemagne, we receive two views of the emperor within a century of his death. According to translator and editor A.J. Grant, the differences are instructive. In the treatment by Eginhard, who was Charlemagne’s personal secretary, we read a restrained, positive, well-arranged narrative that distorts the facts of history wonderfully little. In contrast, the Monk of Saint Gall’s version was written about seventy years after the emperor’s death, when the mist of legend and myth steamed up rapidly from the grave of a well-known figure. Taken together, these essays provide information not only about Charles the Great, but also about the task of writing history and biography.