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1. Einhard
Einhard was a Frankish scholar and courtier under Charlemagne and his son Louis.

Einhard: The Life of Charlemagne

The wars which this most powerful king waged during the forty-seven years of his reign increased
the Frank kingdom. More than double its former territory was added to it. The Emperors of
Constantinople sought alliance, even when they suspected him of designing to wrest the empire
from them, because of his assumption of the title Emperor. He fitted out a fleet for war with the
Northmen and caused watch to be kept in all the harbors and mouths of rivers. In the South along
the whole coast of Italy as far as Rome he took the same precautions against the Moors, who had
recently begun their piratical practices. Charles was large and strong, his height seven times the
length of his foot. His appearance was always dignified although his belly was rather prominent. He
built his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, and lived there constantly during his latter years. He wore the
national Frank, dress, a linen shirt and breeches, a tunic fringed with silk, hose fastened by bands
and shoes, a close-fitting coat of otter or marten skins, a blue cloak, and he always had a sword girt
about him, usually one with a gold or silver hilt and belt. He despised foreign costumes and never
allowed himself to be robed in them, except twice in Rome. Charles was temperate in eating, and
particularly in drinking; but he could not easily abstain from food, and often complained that fasts
injured his health. His meals consisted of four courses, not counting the roast. While at table, he
listened to reading or music. He was fond of St. Augustine's books, especially the one entitled "The
City of God." He was so moderate in the use of wine that he rarely allowed himself more than three
cups in the course of a meal. Charles had the gift of ready and fluent speech, studied Latin and
could understand Greek. Alcuin of Britain, the greatest scholar of the day, was his teacher in
rhetoric, dialectics, and astronomy. He also tried to write, and used to keep tablets and blanks in
bed under his pillow, that at leisure hours he might accustom his hand to form the letters; however,
as he did not begin his efforts in due season, but late in life, they met with ill success. Finding the
laws of his people defective he determined to correct them and caused the unwritten laws of all
the tribes that came under his rule to be compiled and reduced to writing. He began a grammar of
his native language.

He cherished the Christian religion and built the beautiful basilica at Aix-la-Chapelle. Throughout his
whole reign the wish nearest at heart was to re-establish the ancient authority of the city of Rome
under his care and by his influence, and to defend and protect the Church of St. Peter, and to
beautify and enrich it out of his own store above all other churches. Although he held it in such
veneration, he only repaired to Rome four times during the whole forty-seven years that he
reigned. The Romans inflicted many injuries upon the Pontiff Leo, so that he had been compelled to
call upon the King for help. Charles accordingly went to Rome, to set in order the affairs of the
Church. It was then that he received the titles of Emperor and Augustus [Dec 25, 800], to which he
at first had such an aversion that he declared that he would not have set foot in the Church that
day if he could have foreseen the design of the Pope. The Roman emperors took this step very ill;
he addressed them as brothers and made their haughtiness yield to his magnanimity. Toward the
close of his life, he summoned Louis his son and the chief men of the kingdom of the Franks and
appointed Louis, with their unanimous consent, to rule with himself over the whole kingdom. Then,