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Charlemagne and Louis the Pious
Lives by Einhard, Notker, Ermoldus, Thegan, and the Astronomer
320 pages | 1 map | 6 x 9 | 2009
ISBN 978-0-271-03573-4 | cloth: $84.00
Paperback edition is not available in the U.S.
Carolingian historical texts have long stood at the base of our modern knowledge about the eighth and ninth centuries. The ninth century gave birth to a new revival of secular biography, which has come to be recognized as one of the brightest bands in the spectrum of Carolingian historical writing. This collection brings together, for the first time in one volume, the five royal/imperial biographies written during the Carolingian period.
Thomas F. X. Noble's new English translations of these five important texts—Einhard's Life of Emperor Charles, Notker's Deeds of Charles the Great, Ermoldus Nigellus's Poem in Honor of Louis, Thegan's Deeds of Emperor Louis, and the Life of Louis by "the Astronomer"—are each accompanied by a short introduction and a note on "Essential Reading." Offering details on matters of style, sources used by the author, and the influence, if any, exerted by the text, Noble provides a context for each translation, without compromising the authors intended voice. By "reuniting" these five essential medieval texts in an English translation, this volume makes these voices accessible to scholars and non-experts alike throughout the Anglophone world.
Thomas F. X. Noble is Professor and Chair, Department of History, at the University of Notre Dame.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Einhard, The Life of Charles the Emperor
Introduction
The Life of Charles the Emperor
Notker the Stammerer, The Deeds of Emperor Charles the Great
Introduction
The Deeds of Emperor Charles the Great
Ermoldus Nigellus, In Honor of Louis
Introduction
In Honor of Louis, the Most Christian Caesar Augustus, by Ermoldus Nigellus, an Exile
Thegan, The Deeds of Emperor Louis
Introduction
The Deeds of Emperor Louis
The Astronomer, The Life of Emperor Louis
Introduction
The Life of Emperor Louis
Index