Charlemagne

Written by Frank Einhard (ca. 770-840). Translated by Qi Guogan, the author was a classical scholar in the Frankish Kingdom during the era of Charlemagne and the most famous biographer in medieval Europe. This book was written by the author after the death of Charlemagne in memory and admiration for the late king, imitating the writing style of the Roman historian Suetonius' "The Twelve Caesars". The book is divided into two parts, with a total of 33 sections, describing Charlemagne's "career at home and abroad" and "private life and character" respectively. Although the author has the intention of being grateful, the work also truly shows the life and daily life of Emperor Charlemagne as a soldier, so it is an excellent biography. Its main flaw is that the author did not explain the background of the times in which the characters live; affected by the times, the works inevitably contain some religious mystery. In addition, the whole book only has 20,000 to 30,000 words, so the records are inevitably brief. The monks of St. Gall's Abbey who were at the same time as Einhard also wrote a biography of Charlemagne, injecting more ink into the character's historical background. The above two biographies were translated by Qi Guogan, published in a collection by The Commercial Press in 1979, and included in the "Chinese Translation of World Academic Masterpieces Series".