Charlemagne

by Matthias Becher; translated by Karl der Grosse

• ISBN13: 9780300107586
• ISBN10: 0300107587
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-05-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Charlemagneruler of the vast Frankish kingdom from 768 to his death in 814 and Holy Roman emperor from the year 800is considered the father of Europe. He founded the first empire in western Europe after the fall of Rome, and his court at Aix-la-Chapelle was a center of classical learning and a focus of the Carolingian Renaissance. This book is a splendid introduction to Charlemagne's life and legend. Matthias Becher describes Charlemagne's rise to emperor and traces his political and military maneuvering against the Saxons, the Lombards, and others, as Charlemagne incorporated these lands into his own realm. Becher points out that under Charlemagne, jury courts were introduced, the laws of the Franks revised and written down, new coinage introduced, weights and measures reformed, and a Frankish grammar begun. Charlemagne tried to give his kingdom a spiritual basis by referring to antique traditions, says Becher, and he explores the tensions that existed in Charlemagne's court between modern ideas and traditional thinking. He concludes by discussing Charlemagne's kinship network, the evolving arrangements for his succession, the effects of his reign, and his posthumous fame. Concise, insightful, and eminently readable, this biography of Charlemagne provides a wealth of information about a remarkable man and his times.

Author Biography

Matthias Becher is professor of medieval history at the Universität Bonn, Germany.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(6)
I The Highpoint of his Reign: The Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day in the Year 800	7	(12)
II From the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West to Charlemagne's Accession to Power in 768: A Short History of the Kingdom of the Franks	19	(22)
III Charlemagne's Youth and the First Years of his Reign: From Son of the Mayor of the Palace to Conqueror of Italy	41	(18)
IV The Expansion of the Frankish Kingdom in the East: Saxons, Bavarians, and Avars	59	(22)
V Charlemagne, the Papacy, and the Byzantine Emperor	81	(18)
VI Ruling the Empire	99	(22)
VII Charlemagne's Family and the Arrangement of his Succession	121	(14)
VIII Epilogue	135	(16)
Hero and Saint: The Afterlife of Charlemagne
Chronology	151	(4)
Suggestions for Further Reading	155	(12)
Index	167