King and emperor: a new life of Charlemagne

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Publisher
University of California Press
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Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language
English

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"King and Emperor takes on the compelling suspense of good detective work as well as good history."—The Wall Street Journal Charles I, often known as Charlemagne, is one of the most extraordinary figures ever to rule an empire. Driven by unremitting physical energy and intellectual curiosity, he was a man of many parts, a warlord and conqueror, a judge who promised "for each their law and justice," a defender of the Latin Church, a man of flesh and blood. In the twelve centuries since his death, warfare, accident, vermin, and the elements have destroyed much of the writing on his rule, but a remarkable amount has survived. Janet Nelson's wonderful new book brings together everything we know about Charles I, sifting through the available evidence, literary and material, to paint a vivid portrait of the man and his motives.   Building on Nelson’s own extraordinary knowledge, this biography is a sort of detective story, prying into and interpreting fascinating and often obdurate scraps of evidence, from prayer books to skeletons, gossip to artwork. Charles’s legacy lies in his deeds and their continuing resonance, as he shaped counties, countries, and continents; founded and rebuilt towns and monasteries; and consciously set himself up not just as King of the Franks, but as the head of the renewed Roman Empire. His successors—even to the present day—have struggled to interpret, misinterpret, copy, or subvert his legacy. Janet Nelson gets us as close as we can hope to come to the real figure of Charles the man as he was understood in his own time.

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ISBN
9780520314207
9780520973947

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Choice Review

This biography seeks to reveal traces of Charlemagne's voice and personality as embedded in classical sources. To that end, Nelson (emer., King's College London, UK) translates extracts from Carolingian annals, often composed within or near the lifetime of her subject, while sprinkling contemporary scholarly reflections of more nuanced aspects of Charlemagne's life throughout her narrative. Drawing consistently from Annales regni Francorum and Vita Karoli by the Frankish scholar Einhard, Nelson recounts how Charlemagne manipulated church institutions and secular appointments as tools of governance and for the collection of revenues. Further, by probing Charlemagne's military campaigns and conquests and the division of the conquered territories among loyal Franks, the text details a limited form of what today would be considered ethnic cleansing, a pattern repeated in his conquests of Lombardy, Bavaria, Saxony, and Aquitaine. Nelson also treats Saxon rebellions and Avar military threats, which absorbed much of Charlemagne's attention and military resources. Although Nelson highlights Charlemagne's religious links to the Roman pontiff and Trinitarian Christianity, his primary concerns never strayed far from securing and expanding his borders while carefully engineering a long-term vision of dynastic planning. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals. --David Aaron Meier, Dickinson State University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
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