King and Emperor

A New Life of Charlemagne

Janet L. Nelson

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780520314207
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520973947
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

"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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• King and Emperor
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Maps
• List of Genealogies
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Family Stories Charles Might Have Known
• 3 The Child in the Picture
• 4 Family Fortunes
• 5 Charles in Italy
• 6 Peace and War: 774–9
• 7 The Family Deployed, ‘. . . all Saxony subjugated’
• 8 Boundary- crossings
• 9 Franks, Bavarians and New Thinking: 787–9
• 10 The Regensburg Years
• 11 Saxons, Saracens, Northmen and the Council of Frankfurt: 792–4
• 12 The Beginning of the End of the Saxon Wars: 792–9
• 13 Interesting Times, Dangerous Times
• 14 Fin de siècle – début de siècle: Romanum gubernans imperium
• 15 The Aachen Years
• 16 ‘Charles, by the bounty of divine grace emperor and augustus . . . to his beloved and honourable brother Michael glorious emperor and augustus’
• Notes on the Illustrations
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgements
• Index