Life of Charlemagne

E360640

Life of Charlemagne is a medieval Latin biography of the Frankish king and emperor Charlemagne, written by his courtier Einhard and regarded as one of the most important historical sources on his life and reign.

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All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Life of Charlemagne canonical 2
Life of Charles the Great 1

Statements (52)

Predicate Object
instanceOf historical source
literary work
medieval Latin biography
alternativeTitle Vita Karoli
Vita Karoli Magni
surface form: Vita Karoli Magni Imperatoris
approximateCompositionDate c. 817–830
author Einhard
authorEducation educated at the court of Charlemagne
authorOccupation courtier of Charlemagne
royal official
circulation widely read in the Middle Ages
commissionedBy Emperor Louis the Pious
surface form: Louis the Pious
countryOfOrigin Carolingian Empire
surface form: Frankish Empire
dateWritten early 9th century
describes Carolingian Empire
Charlemagne’s court and household
Charlemagne’s military campaigns
Charlemagne’s personal habits and character
Charlemagne’s religious policies
Kingdom of the Franks
surface form: Frankish kingdom

coronation of Charlemagne as emperor in 800
genre biography
hagiographic biography
hasPart account of Charlemagne’s death
account of Louis the Pious’s accession
narrative of Charlemagne’s deeds
prologue
hasTranslation English
French
German
many modern languages
historicalPeriodDescribed early 9th century
late 8th century
reign of Charlemagne
influenced historiography of Charlemagne
later medieval biographies of rulers
influencedBy De vita Caesarum
surface form: Suetonius’s Lives of the Caesars
language Latin
literaryForm prose
literaryPeriod Carolingian Renaissance
mainSubject Charlemagne
manuscriptTradition survives in numerous medieval manuscripts
modeledOn Roman imperial biography
originalTitle Vita Karoli Magni
placeOfComposition Aachen
preservedIn monastic libraries
setting Frankish court
significance important example of Carolingian Latin prose
key source for Carolingian political history
major primary source for the life of Charlemagne
usedAsSourceBy modern historians of the early Middle Ages
writtenByEyewitness true

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Einhard notableWork Life of Charlemagne
Vita Karoli Magni titleTranslation Life of Charlemagne
Vita Karoli Magni alternativeTitle Life of Charlemagne
this entity surface form: Life of Charles the Great