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- Herausgeber: Bauer World Press
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
The Life of Charlemagne: Vita Karoli Magni by Einhard (Bauer World Press)
The
Vita Karoli Magni, or
The Life of Charlemagne, is an esteemed historical text composed by Einhard, a learned contemporary and confidant of Emperor Charlemagne. Composed in the early 9th century, this biographical account stands as a paragon of Carolingian historiography and offers profound insight into the life and deeds of one of medieval Europe's most eminent sovereigns.
Through a new translation and contextual commentary, the Bauer World Press Edition of the
Vita Karoli Magni aims to be the most comprehensive rendition of the twenty-first century. It will attempt to serve not only as a translation, but a contribution. It will attempt to weave a cohesive narrative around the lands, peoples, and key figures during the early days of the Carolingian Empire.
Many chapters have been augmented with information pertinent to the reader, endeavouring to provide context for both those well-versed with, and new, to the chronicles of Charlemagne. Finally, it will shed light on an often overlooked figure, the man behind the quill - Einhard.
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Bauer World Press
VITA KAROLI MAGNI
Written by Einhard
Preface, Translation, and Commentary
by Ingall Nocturne
Contents
VITA
KAROLI
MAGNI
Prologue
Having resolved to chronicle the life, habits, and deeds of my lord and patron, King Charlemagne, the most excellent and deservedly famous of all kings. I have done my utmost to be concise, avoiding any prolixity that might weary those who despise narrative. I have taken care to omit nothing that might come to my attention, though I am well aware that there are many who do not consider the present age worthy of record, viewing it as deserving of consignment to oblivion through neglect. They would rather see the great deeds of past men, recorded by learned and eloquent writers, ascribed falsely to their own names; rather than depriving posterity of writing nothing at all.
Be this as it may, I see no reason why I should refrain from entering upon a task of this kind, for I am certain that no one can write more truthfully about these things than I, who was present at them, and which, as they say, I saw with my own eyes, and know with full certainty. Moreover, I was not sure whether anyone else would undertake the task, and I judged it better to share this story, rather than allow the memory of such a great man, whose life and inimitable deeds were unparalleled in our epoch, be lost to time.
There are other reasons as well, which alone might have been sufficient to compel me to write this book. It was the care and nurturing that had been bestowed upon me, and the enduring friendship that had been established between the King, his children, and myself, from the time I took up my abode at his court. This bond so closely bound me to him, so deeply indebted me to him, both in life - and in death. I should appear deservedly ungrateful were I to forget all the benefits he had conferred upon me, and to allow his life, the most illustrious and renowned of all men, to lack due eulogy, as if he had never lived. It would be fitting tribute to a man of such great merit, to attempt to describe his life and deeds in writing, even though my own talents are insignificant and almost nonexistent, sweating to conjure the eloquence of Cicero.
So here is a book that recounts the life of a great and illustrious man. There is nothing for you to marvel at or admire except his deeds; unless, perhaps, you are surprised that a barbarian poorly-versed in the Roman tongue should have imagined that he could write Latin in an acceptable and useful manner, and should have become so swollen with audacity as to disregard Cicero's words when he said in the first book of the Tusculan Disputations, "It is the height of folly for anyone to commit his thoughts to paper when he can neither arrange them well nor write them agreeably, nor furnish any kind of pleasure to the reader." The great orator's opinion might have deterred me from writing, had I not fortified myself with the reflection that it was better to risk the condemnation of men and put my talents on trial by writing, than to spare my reputation and neglect the memory of such a great man.
Prologus
Uitam et conversationem et ex parte non modica res gestas domini et nutritoris mei Karoli, excellentissimi et merito famosissimi regis, postquam scribere animus tulit, quanta potui brevitate conplexus sum, operam inpendens, ut de his quae ad meam notitiam pervenire potuerunt nihil omitterem neque prolixitate narrandi nova quaeque fastidientium animos offenderem; si tamen hoc ullo modo vitari potest, ut nova scriptione non offendantur qui vetera et a viris doctissimis atque disertissimis confecta monumenta fastidiunt. Et quamquam plures esse non ambigam, qui otio ac litteris dediti statum aevi praesentis non arbitrentur ita neglegendum, ut omnia penitus quae nunc fiunt velut nulla memoria digna silentio atque oblivioni tradantur, potiusque velint amore diuturnitatis inlecti aliorum praeclara facta qualibuscumque scriptis inserere quam sui nominis famam posteritatis memoriae nihil scribendo subtrahere, tamen ab huiuscemodi scriptione non existimavi temperandum, quando mihi conscius eram nullum ea veracius quam me scribere posse, quibus ipse interfui, quaeque praesens oculata, ut dicunt, fide cognovi et, utrum ab alio scriberentur necne, liquido scire non potui.
Satius que iudicavi eadem cum aliis velut communiter litteris mandata memoriae posterorum tradere quam regis excellentissimi et omnium sua aetate maximi clarissimam vitam et egregios atque moderni temporis hominibus vix imitabiles actus pati oblivionis tenebris aboleri. Suberat et alia non inrationabilis, ut opinor, causa, quae vel sola sufficere posset, ut me ad haec scribenda conpelleret, nutrimentum videlicet in me inpensum et perpetüa, postquam in aula eius conversari coepi, cum ipso ac liberis eius amicitia; qua me ita sibi devinxit debitoremque tam vivo quam mortuo constituit, ut merito ingratus videri et iudicari possem, si tot beneficiorum in me conlatorum inmemor clarissima et inlustrissima hominis optime de me meriti gesta silentio praeterirem patererque vitam eius, quasi qui numquam vixerit, sine litteris ac debita laude manere; cui scribendae atque explicandae non meum ingeniolum, quod exile et parvum, immo poene nullum est, sed Tullianam par erat desudare facundiam.
En tibi librum praeclarissimi et maximi, viri memoriam continentem; in quo prateter illius facta non est quod admireris, nisi forte, quod homo barbarus et in Romana locutione perparum exercitatus aliquid me decenter aut commode Latine scribere posse putaverim atque in tantam inpudentiam proruperim, ut illud Ciceronis putarem contemnendum, quod in primo Tusculanarum libro, cum de Latinis scriptoribus loqueretur, ita dixisse legitur: ‘Mandare quemquam’, inquit, ‘litteris cogitationes suas, qui eas nec disponere nec inlustrare possit nec delectatione aliqua adlicere lectorem, hominis est intemperanter abutentis et otio et litteris.’ Poterat quidem haec oratoris egregii sententia me a scribendo deterrere, nisi animo praemeditatum haberem hominum iudicia potius experiri et haec scribendo ingenioli mei periculum facere quam tanti viri memoriam mihi parcendo praeterire.
PART I
HIS EXPLOITS
AT HOME AND ABROAD
The Merovingians
The Merovingian line, from which the Frankish monarchs traditionally selected their kings, is said to have endured until the reign of King Childeric. However, it was during his rule that Pope Stephen commanded the deposition and tonsuring of Childeric, subsequently confining him to a monastery.
Although the Merovingian dynasty formally ended with King Childeric, its vitality had long since waned, offering little of substance beyond the nominal title of king. Indeed, the true power and wealth of the kingdom had come to reside with the palace prefects, known as the majores domus, to whom the real authority of the empire belonged.
The king was thus reduced to a mere figurehead, adorned with unkempt hair and beard, seated upon the throne as a symbol of kingship, yet devoid of any real influence. He was left to receive envoys from various regions, responding to them as instructed or commanded by the palace prefects, as though he acted of his own volition.
Apart from the empty title of royalty and a precarious stipend of life provided by the palace prefect at his discretion, the king possessed no assets of his own save for a small estate where he maintained a humble abode and a few servants who attended to his basic needs and showed him deference. Wherever he traveled, he did so in a wagon drawn by oxen, driven by a rustic ox-cart driver in the traditional manner. He would attend the annual public assembly of his people held for the benefit of the kingdom and then return to his estate. Nevertheless, the administration of the kingdom, and all matters pertaining to its governance, both domestic and foreign, were managed by the palace prefect.
Commentary on Chapter 1
King Childeric III (717-c.755), or "Childeric the Idiot", ruled as King of the Franks from 743-751, his dominion encompassing modern France and western Germany. However, the power of the major domus, the palace prefect, or mayor of the palace, had grown so formidable that the Franks had dispensed with the formal installation of a king since 737.
In a bid to quell internal dissensions and fortify the legitimacy of the major domus, the palace prefect saw fit to install a symbolic king upon the throne. The question that naturally arises is this: whose authority was so prodigious as to place and remove kings at his will? Who was this palace prefect?
Capitulum I
Merovingii
Gens Meroingorum, de qua Franci reges sibi creare soliti erant, usque in Hildricum regem, qui iussu Stephani Romani pontificis depositus ac detonsus atque in monasterium trusus est, durasse putatur. Quae licet in illo finita possit videri, tamen iam dudum nullius vigoris erat, nec quicquam in se clarum praeter inane regis vocabulum praeferebat. Nam et opes et potentia regni penes palatii praefectos, qui maiores domus dicebantur, et ad quos summa imperii pertinebat, tenebantur. Neque regi aliud relinquebatur, quam ut regio tantum nomine contentus crine profuso, barba summissa, solio resideret ac speciem dominantis effingeret, legatos undecumque venientes audiret eisque abeuntibus responsa, quae erat edoctus vel etiam iussus, ex sua velut potestate redderet; cum praeter inutile regis nomen et precarium vitae stipendium, quod ei praefectus aulae prout videbatur exhibebat, nihil aliud proprii possideret quam unam et eam praeparvi reditus villam, in qua domum et ex qua famulos sibi necessaria ministrantes atque obsequium exhibentes paucae numerositatis habebat. Quocumque eundum erat, carpento ibat, quod bubus iunctis et bubulco rustico more agente trahebatur. Sic ad palatium, sic ad publicum populi sui conventum, qui annuatim ob regni utilitatem celebrabatur, ire, sic domum redire solebat. At regni administrationem et omnia quae vel domi vel foris agenda ac disponenda erant praefectus aulae procurabat.
Charlemagne's Ancestors
Charlemagne's father, Pepin the Short, holding the office of major domus at the time of Childeric's deposition, was already treating it as if the position were hereditary. Pepin's own father, Charles Martel, had effectively subdued the tyrants that sought dominion over Franconia. Moreover, Charles Martel had successfully repelled the Saracens in their attempts to seize Gaul, vanquishing them in two notable engagements: one near the city of Poitiers in Aquitaine, and another near Narbonne, by the River Berre, thereby compelling their retreat to Spain. Charles Martel administered the office of major domus—a position bestowed upon him by his father, Pepin of Herstal—with exceptional skill and efficacy. This honour was not traditionally conferred merely upon any individual, but upon those of notable lineage and considerable affluence.
During the tenure of Pepin the Short, who, alongside his brother Carloman, inherited the office of major domus from their father and grandfather, the brothers administered their responsibilities with notable concord for several years, in a manner reminiscent of the reign of King Childeric. Carloman, for reasons not entirely elucidated but seemingly driven by a predilection for contemplative scholarship, relinquished the burdensome administration of the temporal realm and withdrew to Rome. There, he exchanged his secular raiment for the garb of a monk at the monastery of St. Sylvester on Mount Soracte.
Carloman relished this period of tranquility for several years, in the company of fellow brothers who had joined him in his spiritual retreat. However, the arrival of numerous French nobles, journeying to Rome to honour their former sovereign and fulfill their devotions, increasingly intruded upon the solitude he so deeply cherished. As these frequent visitations increasingly disrupted his serene purpose, Carloman found it necessary to relocate. He retired to the province of Samnium and took up residence at the monastery of St. Benedict on Monte Cassino, where he devoted the remainder of his life to devout religious practice.
Commentary on Chapter II
The office of the major domus encompassed the governance of two principal regions: Neustria and Austrasia. Neustria covered much of what is now northern France. This included the regions around Paris, extending westward towards the Normandy region, and southward towards parts of the Loire Valley. It generally encompassed the area from the Seine River in the north to the Loire River in the south. Austrasia included a large portion of what is now eastern France, parts of western Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Its territory stretched roughly from the Rhine River to the Vosges Mountains in the west, and extended into the regions of modern-day Alsace and Lorraine in France, and parts of the Rhineland in Germany. In tracing the lineage of Charlemagne's family, beginning with the earliest major domus, the sequence is as follows:
Pepin II of Herstal: 635-714
Neustria, 687-695
Austrasia, 680-714
Charles Martel: c.688-741
Austrasia, 715-741
Neustria, 718-741.
Carloman: c.713-754
Austrasia, 741-747 (shared with Pepin the Short)
Pepin the Short: c.714-768
Neustria, 741 to 751
Austrasia, 741 to 751 (shared with Carloman until 747)
The initial engagement described by Einhard is the Battle of Poitiers (732), also commonly referred to as the Battle of Tours. This significant confrontation occurred between the Frankish Christian forces, commanded by Charles Martel, and the Umayyad Muslim army led by Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, the governor of Al-Andalus. Al-Andalus, at that time, encompassed the regions of present-day Spain, Portugal, and southern France, all part of the broader Umayyad Caliphate. The victory of Charles Martel in this battle is acclaimed as a pivotal moment in thwarting the expansion of Islam into Europe.
The subsequent battle, known as the Battle of the River Berre (737), witnessed Charles Martel’s Frankish forces clashing with the Umayyad Muslim troops under the command of Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, the governor of Septimania (modern-day southern France) on behalf of Al-Andalus. Charles Martel's triumph in this encounter effectively halted the further advance of Umayyad forces beyond the Pyrenees.
Mount Soracte, where Carloman first embraced monastic life, is today known as Monte Soratte, situated approximately 45 kilometers north of Rome.
Capitulum II
Progenies Caroli
Quo officio tum, cum Hildricus deponebatur, Pippinus pater Karoli regis iam velut hereditario fungebatur. Nam pater eius Karolus, qui tyrannos per totam Franciam dominatum sibi vindicantes oppressit et Sarracenos Galliam occupare temptantes duobus magnis proeliis, uno in Aquitania apud Pictavium civitatem, altero iuxta Narbonam apud Birram fluvium, ita devicit, ut in Hispaniam eos redire conpelleret, eundem magistratum a patre Pippino sibi dimissum egregie administravit. Qui honor non aliis a populo dari consueverat quam his qui et claritate generis et opum amplitudine ceteris eminebant.
Hunc cum Pippinus pater Karoli regis ab avo et patre sibi et fratri Karlomanno relictum, summa cum eo concordia divisum, aliquot annis velut sub rege memorato tenuisset, frater eius Karlomannus — incertum quibus de causis, tamen videtur, quod amore conversationis contemplativae succensus — operosa temporalis regni ad- ministratione relicta, Romam se in otium contulit, ibique habitu permutato monachus factus in monte Soracte apud ecclesiam beati Silvestri constructo monasterio cum fratribus secum ad hoc venientibus per aliquot annos optata quiete perfruitur. Sed cum ex Francia multi nobilium ob vota solvenda Romam sollemniter commearent et eum velut dominum quondam suum praeterire nollent, otium, quo maxime delectabatur, crebra salutatione interrumpentes locum mutare conpellunt. Nam huiuscemodi frequentiam cum suo proposito officere vidisset, relicto monte in Samnium provinciam ad monasterium sancti Benedicti situm in castro Casino secessit et ibi quod reliquum erat temporalis vitae religiose conversando conplevit.
