Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne and Carolingian Values

A Paper by M. Rinn

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Einhard’s opus The Life of Charlemagne portrays the Carolingian king in a saintly manner, extolling all of the king’s words and deeds in a short biography that echoes the flattering portrait of Augustus Caesar written by Suetonius. In addition to giving a biography of one of the most important Frankish kings, the work also gives insight into the virtues valued in Carolingian society. This insight allows us to better understand the medieval world and what encouraged Charlemagne to be such an ambitious ruler.

The first thing that Einhard elaborates on to a length extent is on Charlemagne’s linage and how he became king. He first discusses the previous line of kings, the Merovingians, who he describes as “devoid of vital strength” to rule, informing the reader that the real power lay with the Mayor of the Palace. He goes on to describe the former ruling family in a derogatory manner, focusing on the lack of power in their title. In particular the disdain shows when Einhard reports that the former king “used to ride in a cart, drawn by a yoke of oxen driven, peasant-fashion, by a Ploughman” and that “The Mayor of the Palace took charge of the government and of everything that had to be planned.” The contrast between the powerless Merovingian king whose only mode of transport was an ox and who lacked any real power versus the Mayor of the Palace who had the ultimate control in governmental affairs demonstrates the importance of having power and being able to yield it was of great importance to the Carolingians. More importantly, it demonstrates the pride they took in their power. Whereas the old kings eventually became figure heads, the Carolingians demonstrated a refusal to do just that and earned loyalty without paying people off. This suggests that they saw loyalty as something that should always be given freely and without charge, rather than bought to ensure the family’s safety and royal title.

Life of Charlemagne also places a great deal of emphasis on military prowess. This begins in the fifth chapter where Einhard describes the Aquitanian War and how Charlemagne proceeded to bring the work of his father to a completion and did so “with the greatest vigor.” He then continues to describe how Charlemagne came to the aid of the pope who was being attacked by the Lombards. Here it is said that “Charles did not cease, after declaring war, until he had exhausted King Desiderius by a long siege [773], and forced him to surrender at discretion,” another testament to Charlemagne’s tenacity and skill in warfare. These exploits on the battle field continue well into chapter fifteen, which finally concludes with a look at how much land Charlemagne managed to capture during his various wars. The amount of time spent on describing the wars that Charlemagne conducted and how much land he was able to add to his kingdom in the process firmly cements the idea that the Carolingian society had a firm emphasis not only on power, but on being able to actively display one’s military might. Each time a battle is described, Charlemagne is always pictured as a fearsome and unrelenting warrior who will not stop attacking until his opponent surrenders. Even against the Saxons, who put up a great struggle against the Franks, Charlemagne is described as a person who“King, who excelled all the princes of his time in wisdom and greatness of soul” and “did not suffer difficulty to deter him or danger to daunt him from anything that had to be taken up or carried through, for he-had trained himself to bear and endure whatever came, without yielding in adversity, or trusting to the deceitful favors of fortune in prosperity.” Not only is Charlemagne being praised for his ability as a military commander, he is being praised as a warrior as well for enduring the hardships of the war with the Saxons despite what the group throws at him. This not only helps to highlight Carolingian society’s emphasis on military prowess and being able to fight, but being able to endure all of the hardships that go along with warfare.

In addition to military might and being able to yield power, Einhardt also shows a softer side of Carolingian values which focus primarily on kindness and education. The kindness is a key feature in the overall portrait of Charlemagne. Einhard states that, “He was by nature most ready to contract friendships, and not only made friends easily, but clung to them persistently, and cherished most fondly those with whom he had formed such ties.” This is reflected in the book’s preface by Einhard himself who calls Charlemagne his foster father and states that he has a compulsion to share his acts of greatness with the world. The kindness that Einhard describes extends directly towards Charlemagne’s family, which he takes great care to discuss. He first focuses on how graceful Charlemagne acted towards those who he did not get along with, such as his brother, saying“his unfriendliness and jealousy most patiently, and, to the wonder of all, could not be provoked to be angry with him.” He then moves on to discussing Charlemagne’s children, legitimate and otherwise, describing how he “never took his meals without them when he was at home, and never made a journey without them.” Moreover, he saw to it that they were all educated in “the liberal arts” and later on “the boys had to learn horsemanship, and to practise war and the chase, and the girls to familiarize themselves with cloth-making, and to handle distaff and spindle, that they might not grow indolent through idleness.” These statements clearly spell out the fact that Carolingian society saw education, to a certain extent, was not to be limited by one’s gender. However, the distinction later on does inform modern historians that there were distinct gender roles and that they were enforced after sharing a same basic education in liberal studies. This emphasis on education and liberal arts is reflected when Einhard describes Charlemagne’s own education, emphasizing his skill at languages, especially Latin as well as his interest in the liberal arts, understanding and studying of grammar, rhetoric and even his ability to write. Einhard’s attention to Charlemagne’s education continues to reflect the importance of education in the Carolingian society, suggesting that while not everyone might have reaches the educated level of Charlemagne, nor were they expected to, there was still some desire to be able to accomplish perhaps one or two of the achievements that Charlemagne did.

While The Life of Charlemagne is primarily a biography of the Frankish king, it also provides insight into the values of the Carolingian society that he came from. Overall there was a great emphasis on power, both in the government and on the battle field. As the society lived in a time of turmoil and constant warfare, this is of no great surprise to anyone. However, there is also an emphasis on kindness, especially towards the family, and education so that one might better themselves and live in a just manner when not caught in times of war. The combination of these values that seem at odds with each other simply goes to show how complex the society of the Carolingians was and part of what makes the dynasty so fascinating to study.