Chapter I: Front Matter

_Life Stories for Young People_

CHARLEMAGNE

_Translated from the German of
Ferdinand Schmidt_

BY
GEORGE P. UPTON

_Author of "Musical Memories," "Standard Operas," etc.
Translator of "Memories," "Immensee," etc._

WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS

CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1910

Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1910
Published September 24, 1910

THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS
[W · D · O]
NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A

Translator's Preface

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, might well have been entitled Charles the Greatest. He was great in war and great in peace--a great conqueror, great law-maker, great scholar, great organizer, great civilizer. He subdued savage nations, introduced learning, extended religion, encouraged the arts and sciences, and established one of the mightiest empires of the olden times. All the races of Germany, of Italy, and of France were welded by him into one great monarchy. He maintained and extended the influence of Christian culture. A large part of his life was spent in the field, and yet he found time for the political establishment and development of a great empire, for the reorganization of the Church, for the promotion of education, for the conservation of classic culture, and for an astonishing display of many-sided activity. Gibbon, the historian, says of him:

"The dignity of his person, the length of his reign, the prosperity of
his arms, the vigor of his government, and the reverence of distant
nations, distinguish him from the royal crowd: and Europe dates a new
era from his restoration of the Western Empire."

He was a monarch whose life was characterized by extraordinary activity and energy, by nobility of purpose and wisdom in administration, and by a constructive genius and innate capacity for wise and generous ruling, which have rarely been found in "the royal crowd." As one of the most conspicuous figures in history, the events of his life as narrated in this volume deserve careful study at the hands of youth.

G. P. U.

Chicago, _July 1910_.

Contents

Chapter Page
I Ingelheim 11
II Retrospect 20
III Charlemagne and Desiderius 30
IV The First Eleven Years of the Saxon War 45
V Wittekind's Baptism 55
VI Thassilo and the Avars 58
VII The Coronation at Rome 64
VIII Victories of Peace 72
IX Last Days and Death 91
Appendix 101

Illustrations

Charlemagne and Desiderata _Frontispiece_
Charlemagne, Charles Martel, Clovis, Pepin the Short 26
Wittekind's Submission 56
Charlemagne and Alcuin 78
Otto the Third in the Crypt of Charlemagne 96

Charlemagne