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EduFixersHistoryMckitterick’s Views on History of Charlemagne’s Glory

Mckitterick’s Views on History of Charlemagne’s Glory

Subject: History
Pages: 5
Words: 1426
Reading time:
6 min
Study level: PhD

Introduction: Carl the Great

The most glorious king of the Franks, an outstanding politician an a man of great political power, Charlemagne not only contributed to the development of the history of the Franks, but also had an important influence on the rest of the world, hence, promoting the further evolution of the world politics and having impact on the further state of various countries’ affairs, both concerning home and foreign policy. However, it cannot be doubted that several viewpoints concerning the history of Charlemagne’s reign exist, which demands a research and the re-evaluation of the existing viewpoints conducted. Tracking the three events that took place in the course of Charlemagne’s reign and had the most impressive impact on the state of Franks and the state’s relationships with the other countries, one can come to the conclusion concerning the disagreements between McKitterisk’s opinion and the ideas expressed by the other historians. Moreover, observing the conflicting and at some point completely mismatching points of view, one can obtain a more credible picture of the world in the time of Charlemagne, which will help understand the peculiarities of the epoch and assess the historical facts in a more objective way.

Charlemagne’s Conquests: Royal Blood Shedding

Creating an atmosphere of the IX century in the book and making the reader plunge into the Medieval Era, McKitterick explains the most essential conquests made in the era of Charlemagne from a viewpoint which is quite different from the ones of the other historians mentioned in her book. Conveying the idea that the conquests made by the Franks served to build new relationships with the neighbors, namely, the countries that had considerable impact on the world politics, McKitterick shapes the idea of the importance of the international relationships for Charlemagne in rather understandable form: “Conquest of the Saxons brought new neighbours1.” The above-mentioned reasoning contrasts to one of the historian whom the author mentions in her book, concerning not the idea but the shape the latter is presented in:

In the Saxon House of Welf’s wife, scholars see the so-called Ekbertin-Cobbo kin-group, a Saxon aristocratic kin-group with outstanding Frankish connections who appear as the dominant family between the Rhine and the Weser after the Frankish conquest of Saxony2.

Therefore, it is obvious that McKitterick has omitted several historical issues, yet she has managed to convey the essence of the conquests by Charlemagne.

The King’s Share: The Results of the Conquests

Speaking of the results of the conquest, McKitterick makes clear and concise comments concerning the outcomes and the impact the conquests had both on the state and on the people living in it. Therefore, it can be deduced that McKitterick offers the relevant information that is summarized in an entertaining manner. In addition, McKitterick adds the relevant information concerning the Christianization: “Yet the long-drawn-out war of conquest in Saxony is matched by the slow progress of Christianization and even longer process of conversion3.”

In contrast to the approach offered by McKitterick, one of the historians whose works McKitterick refers to in her book provides an all-embracing and vast description of the annexing made in the course of the conquest:

Thus passed away one of the Germanic states which had arisen on the ruins of the Roman Empire. Charlemagne now placed on his own head the famous “Iron Crown,” and assumed the title of “King of the Franks and Lombards, and Patrician of the Romans4.”

Approaching McKitterick’s work from the historical viewpoint, one would find it reasonable to claim that the research conducted by the historian is rather impressive and all-embracing. In addition, McKitterick managed to approach the complicated material in rather unusual way, marking the essential details and omitting the ones that impede the reading and the understanding of the material, thus, making the book a perfect material for studying the epoch of Charlemagne’s reign.

The Accession to the Throne: The Road Paved with Thorns

When analyzing the peculiarities of the work offered by McKitterick, one must also consider the way the author offers the reads the information concerning Charlemagne’s accession to throne. It is obvious that some of the details usually explained thoroughly in academic books are omitted in McKitterick’s work.

According to McKitterick, Charlemagne simplified the string of the events that led to Charlemagne’s crowning and the further actions of the king. It is important to mark, though, that the author did not omit the relevant information in the given case, exposing the results of Charlemagne’s actions to the public, thus, making it clear that the king did not fulfill the actions that he was supposed to, which concerned the building of monasteries:

Instead, Charlemagne simply took over the patronage of existing foundations by granting lands and various privileges, made some of them into ‘royal monasteries’ by taking them under his special protection (a move often accompanied by immunity ad freedom of abbatial elections), confirmed existing lands of rights to property, or settled disputes over land5.

In contrast to the simple and clear layout offered by McKitterick, one of the historians the latter refers to in her book, Barbara Rosenwein considers the background story of Charlemagne coming to reign in a rather detailed way, which hinders the understanding of the issue. Starting with Charlemagne’s father and the further royal heritage, Rosenwein offers a description of Charlemagne’s first actions and their consequences6, which sounds considerably overloaded, as well as the book by Althoff, who offers rather extensive picture of the conquests and the consequences of the latter7.

Taking the Power in the King’s Hands: Charlemagne Comes to Reign

It is also important to mark that Charlemagne’s accession to the throne was also depicted rather vividly by one of the authors whom McKitterick refers to in her book, namely, Amy Remensnyder. However, it is important to mention that the latter was also preoccupied with depicting the details concerning the king’s accession, which did not arrest the reader’s attention, but provided the opposite effect. Depicting the peculiarities of the king’s accession and even the way the king ordered to decorate the palace and the throne itself, Remensnyder seems to over-saturate the nook with excessive details and descriptions: “… silver columns that carry the golden seat of a throne, as always having been ready to fight for his king, and as having favored among all the monasteries in Aquitaine those which Charlemagne had built or restored8.” Thus, it can be deduced that McKitterick’s book offers rather facts-packed reading than a plethora of unnecessary descriptions.

The Role of Aachen: The King’s Capital

Another essential issue that McKitterick touches upon in her book, the role of Aachen, is explained in rather plain yet creative way. Marking that the “plurality of political and administrative centers and the maintenance of communications between these centers and the surrounding regions9” played a great role in the policy of the kingdom, McKitterick does not explain precisely how Aachen influenced the latter, leaving explanations to the further researches. However, the historians mentioned in McKitterick’s works mark that the given issue is quite transparent. For instance, Nelson explains that Aachen was chosen as the capital for a specific and not quite political reason: “Charlemagne chose Aachen for his principal residence in his later years, says Einhard, because of the baths, and because he and his Franks loved swimming – indeed while Charlemagne was merely good at hunting, at swimming he positively excelled10.” Brooks, another historian mentioned in McKitterick’s book, however, marks that there were considerable historical issues concerning the choice of the principal city, namely, the fact that the palace chapel was created there11.

Conclusion: The Glory of the Past

Drawing parallels between the ordinary, time-tested versions of the story of Charlemagne’s reign and the events that took place as the King ruled the Franks, one can claim with considerable certainty that McKitterick’s book offers an easier and less controversial understanding of the historical events. Creating one-dimensional image of the king, McKitterick manages to convey the main ideas that concern Charlemagne reign, yet it must be admitted that, omitting certain details, the author somehow diminishes the image of the king and the scale of the events. Sacrificing certain information for the sake of the text memorability and readability, McKitterick avoids using excessive details, resorting to clear and concise information, wording each historical fact so that it could be easily retained in the people’s memory and so that the information could be more entertaining for the target audience. Therefore, it can be considered that the book discussed in the given paper suggests rather unusual method of offering the information concerning historical events and personalities.

Bibliography

  1. Althoff, Gerd. Family, Friends and Followers: Political and Social Bonds in Medieval Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  2. Brooks, Nicolas. The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. Leicester, UK: Leicester University Press, 1984.
  3. McKitterick, Rosamond. Charlemagne. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  4. Nelson, Janet L. “Aachen as a Place of Power.” In Topographies of Power in the Early Middle Ages, edited by Frans Theus, Mayke De Jong, Carine van Rhijn, 217-242. Berlin: BRILL, 2001.
  5. Remensnyder, Amy G. Remembering the King Past: Monastic Foundation Legends in Medieval Southern France. Ithaca, NY: Cornel University Press, 1995.
  6. Rosenwein, Barbara H. Negotiating Space: Power, Restraint, and Privileges of Immunity in Early Medieval Europe. Ithaca, NY: Cornel University Press, 1999.
  7. Webster, Hutton. Early European History. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing.

Footnotes

  1. Rosamond McKitterick, Charlemagne, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 255.
  2. Rosamond McKitterick, Charlemagne, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 37
  3. Rosamond McKitterick, Charlemagne, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 252.
  4. Hutton Webster, Early European History, (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing), 328.
  5. Rosamond McKitterick, Charlemagne, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 297.
  6. Barbara H. Rosenwein, Negotiating Space: Power, Restraint, and Privileges of Immunity in Early Medieval Europe. Ithaca, NY: Cornel University Press, 1999), 119.
  7. Gerd Althoft, Family, Friends and Followers: Political and Social Bonds in Medieval Europe (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 18.
  8. Amy G. Remensnyder, Remembering the King Past: Monastic Foundation Legends in Medieval Southern France, (Ithaca, NY: Cornel University Press, 1995), 192.
  9. Rosamond McKitterick, Charlemagne, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 137.
  10. Janet L. Nelson, “Aachen as a Place of Power,” in Topographies of Power in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Frans Theus, Mayke De Jong, Carine van Rhijn, (Berlin: BRILL, 2001), 217.
  11. Nicolas Brooks, The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066 (Leicester, UK: Leicester University Press, 1984), 108.