Post date: Oct 31, 2016 10:42:01 PM
In Shinner's class, we talked for a few minutes on the reputation surrounding Charlemagne. Most of us had heard of him while very few of us could give any details. We knew he had been a conqueror and great ruler, hence Charles the Great, but none of us could tell you anything concrete about him. In Einhard's Life of Charlemagne, he goes into a lot of detail about his life which does humanize him, yet there still seems to leave something to be desired. Already having done Augustus and other great Roman rulers, Charlemagne seems like a wannabe Roman Emperor. He did a lot of great things under his rule such as the expansion of his empire, the Caroline minuscule,and the Carolingian Renaissance. The most notable thing I found in Einhard's work was that he educated his daughters. He seemed a brilliant military strategist, leader, and Catholic but he did not seem to make any accomplishments in his own name. The expansion of his empire had already been done before and the Caroline minuscule was created by someone under his rule. He also did a lot for expanding Christianity but that seems to be the Catholic Church's history. Nothing he did really stood out to me as his beside the empire he created that fell apart with his grandsons.
The Charlemagne we meet in The Song of Roland seems to me an almost entirely different man. Here is a person stolen from Greek and Roman epics and inserted into this song. He is a wise old king who seems to garner respect from everyone and is feared all over, which makes sense with his empire expansion. Charlemagne is contrasted with Marsilla to create this dynamic of Christians versus pagans and good versus evil. There is an interesting dynamic happening as the pagans must be clearly characterized as evil yet still be formidable opponents for the Christians. All of the Christians seem to have this desire to please Charlemagne with winning battles yet know that if things go south he will be able to avenge them. He seems to be taking on almost a god-like role as he is seen as the avenger and the person who will set things right so that the "good guys" will win. This idea is also repeated when the pagans cry out that Charles is coming after they had been defeated. Charlemagne seems to be coming on judgment day as the pagans express their wrongdoings in order to receive mercy.
Depending on who is describing Charlemagne, there seems to differing opinions of him. However both views express a powerful and accomplished Christian man.