Summary Of Einhard's Life Of Charlemagne

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Einhard composes Life of Charlemagne in 825 AD with the intention of commemorating King Charles’s well rounded devotion to his kingdom and his family, as he went beyond the expected duties of a King. Throughout the course of his life, Einhard had became very fond of the King and felt it his responsibility to preserve his knowledge of the King’s great deeds subsequent to the King’s death. Einhard provides a detailed piece of writing in which he eternalizes the deeds enacted by the King through which the King’s devotion, to both his kingdom and his family, is reflected. First, Einhard provides some detail about rulers who came before King Charles. In doing so, he provides the reader the opportunity to create a comparison in which King Charles …show more content…
Through his many battles and friendly alliances, he was able to do just that. He “refused to back away from a war already in progress or to leave a job undone, until he had by sheer determination and persistance completely achieved the goal he had set for himself” (138). When it came to a war against the Lombards, King Charles “did not stop until he had, by means of a long siege, worn King Desiderius down and had accepted his complete surrender” (138). Even when a war became unbelievably difficult against worthy rivals, “the king’s greatness [of spirit] and steadfast determination—both in bad times and good—could not be conquered by their fickleness or worn down by the task he had set himself” (139). “These were the wars that that mighty king waged with great skill and success in many lands over the forty-seven years he reigned. In those wars he so splendidly added to the Frankish kingdom that he nearly doubled its size” (140). In addition to the successful expansion, King Charles “increased the glory of his kingdom by winning over kings and peoples through friendly means” …show more content…
After becoming emperor, he “realized there were many deficiencies in the laws of his people” that would remain present after his passing if not corrected (145). In preparation for his succession, out of devotion to leaving his kingdom better off than he received it, he decided “to fill in what was lacking, to reconcile the disagreements, and also to set right what was bad and wrongly expressed” within the laws (145). He also “decided to draw up a will, so that he might make his daughters and illegitimate children to some part of his estate” (146). He divided up his things and desired for each of the four portions to be divvied out to specific recipients. One part was to go to “each metropolitan city” (147). Another was to be “divided by his sons and daughters, and by the sons and daughters of his sons in a fair and reasonable partition” (147). The third part “should be set aside for the poor” and finally, the fourth part “set aside to support the male and female servants of the palace itself” (147). Not only did the king ensure that, as to be expected, his children would inherit his riches, but also that his beloved kingdom would also benefit from his wealth upon his

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