Charlemagne [Hardcover]

Matthias Becher (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300097964 | ISBN-13: 978-0300097962 | Publication Date: November 1, 2003

Charlemagne, ruler of the vast Frankish kingdom from 768 to his death in 814 and emperor from the year 800, is 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 centre of classical learning and a focus of the Carolingian Renaissance. This book is an introduction to Charlemagne's life and legend. Matthias Becher describes Charlemagne's rise to emperor and traces his political and military manoeuvering 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 readable, this life of Charlemagne provides useful information about a remarkable man and his times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Becher succeeds in combining a masterful account of the life stages of the "powerful figure" and the myth of Charlemagne with a precise and impressive representation of his era." Die Zeit

From the Back Cover

"Becher succeeds in combining a masterful account of the life stages of the 'powerful figure' and the myth of Charlemagne with a precise and impressive representation of his era."-Die Zeit

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300097964
• ISBN-13: 978-0300097962
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,763,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Carolingian Renaissance, September 28, 2010

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A Certain Bibliophile (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charlemagne (Hardcover)

Charlemagne is unique in being one of a set of historical figures whose best biographers write short, pithy, insightful works about them. Einhart's "Vita Karoli Magni," contemporaneous with Charlemagne, set the model. Notker Balbulus' "Gesta Caroli Magni," written later in the ninth century, set begin a long trend of mythologizing Charlemagne's role in Frankish history. This volume, a very serviceable contribution by Matthias Becher, adds to this "tradition of brevity," while never falling into Notker's tendency to apotheosize.

The story begins on Christmas Day of the year 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of the Romans," an event which will lay the formation for the rise of medieval Europe. In a Europe where the Roman Emperor had been gone for centuries, how was it that Charlemagne had consolidated the disparate Merovingian territories into a united Frankish kingdom? This question is at the heart of the book.

When Charlemagne's father, Pippin the Short died, he left Charlemagne and his brother Carloman I as co-emperors. After just a few years of rule, however, Carloman died unexpectedly at the age of twenty, leaving his older brother as the sole ruler from 771 until his death 43 years later. Becher covers many of the most interesting topics of Charlemagne's reign in detail: the conquering of the Saxons, Avars, and Bavarians, the political influence of Leo III, his vastly influential educational reforms (due in part to his brilliant librarian at Aachen, Alcuin), and changes in ecclesiastical structure. Becher ends the discussion with "Epilogue: Hero and Saint," discussing how Charlemagne's complex role in Frankish history has been taken up by historians over the past twelve centuries, from Notker to Ranke.

This book, along with Einhart and Notker, serve as a wonderful introduction to Charlemagne's life and times. For the more sophisticated student who wishes to fill in the gaps left by these three accounts, Rosamond McKitterick's much more extensive "Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity" comes highly recommended.