Charlemagne Character Analysis

Charlemagne was a Frankish king, later emperor, whose rule lasted from 742 CE until 814 CE. Charles the Great was revered as one of the greatest kings of the Early Middle Ages, an attitude that was perpetuated by the early authors’ writings about him and his reign. One such author is an eighth-century scholar named Einhard who born in 770 CE in the eastern part of Frankland. After receiving an education from a local monastery, Einhard went on to become not only a member of Charlemagne’s court but also his close friend. It was this friendship which leads Einhard to write his biography The Life of Charlemagne, in which he portrays Charlemagne as totally devoted to his family and friends. Einhard portrays clearly just how much Charlemagne loves his family. The first relationship written about is that of Charlemagne and his father, Pippin, and his brother, Carloman. Upon his death, Pippin split the inheritance of his kingdom between his two sons, has was customary of Frank royalty. Charlemagne is meant to be seen as better than his father and almost perfect when compared to his brother. Charlemagne is able to win
Charlemagne “wept as though he had lost a brother or a very dear son” after the death of his best friend. While most of Charlemagne’s friendships were born out of political convince, such as the one with the emperor of Constantinople, they were also very real and genuine to Charlemagne. Einhard describes Charlemagne has an excellent friend “He embraced them [his friendships] readily and maintained them faithfully, and he treated with the utmost respect all whom he had admitted into the circle of his friends.” This show that Charlemagne thought of his friendships as more than just the exchanging of presents. These friends were both his allies and comrades, who enriched his empire. Einhard himself was considered a dear friend of