Written by a friend and confidant: the contemporary and vividly told biography of Emperor Charlemagne
Einhard: Vita Caroli Magni
Monastery of Seligenstadt (Germany) — Second half of the 9th century

Einhard: Vita Caroli Magni
Monastery of Seligenstadt (Germany) — Second half of the 9th century
The first historical period-oriented biographical work since ancient times is devoted to Charlemagne (742–814)
Einhard combined personal observations as a friend with material from imperial biographies, e.g. by Suetonius
The author created a lively image of Charlemagne, and one of the most famous medieval histories
Einhard: Vita Caroli Magni
Short Description
Charlemagne, the greatest monarch of medieval Europe, grandfather of the European Union, was a Frankish warlord who so greatly valued knowledge that he planted the seeds of the Renaissance with the numerous monasteries, scriptoria, and schools he established. Einhard was an advisor to the Kaiser as well as his master builder and teacher, in addition to being his friend. Written roughly two decades after Charlemagne's death, the account is a combination of the author's own personal observations and experiences with exemplary behaviors and personality traits obtained from older sources, especially Suetonius.
Einhard: Vita Caroli Magni
Few literary works from the Middle Ages are still so well known today among those interested as Einhard's biography of Charlemagne. Written after 830, 2 decades after the death of the Kaiser, Vita Caroli Magni is the first historical period oriented biographical work since ancient times. As an advisor to the Kaiser as well as his master builder and teacher at the Hofschule, the author was an intimate friend of Charlemagne's who combined his own personal observations and experiences with exemplary behaviors and personality traits obtained from older sources, whereby the imperial biographies by Suetonius served as a role model. With his biography, Einhard draws not only a lively, human, occasionally natural as well as idealistic picture of the acts and personality of the most important ruler of the Middle Ages, he simultaneously creates, one of the most famous historical works realized in the highest artistic achievement reached during this epoch.
Codicology
- Size / Format
- 86 pages / 22.5 × 16.6 cm
- Date
- Second half of the 9th century
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Artist / School
- Author: Einhard
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Einhard: Vita Caroli Magni“
Einhard: Vita Caroli Magni
- Publisher
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Graz, 1991
- Limited Edition
- 200 copies
- Binding
- Cloth
- Commentary
-
1 volume by Wolfgang Milde and Thomas Wurzel
Language: German - More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
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