Charlemagne's Government: Counts, Capitularies, and the Carolingian Renaissance

Charlemagne was born around 747-748. He was crowned jointly with his brother Carloman I after Pippin's death in 768, and became sole ruler of the reunified Frankish kingdom after Carloman I's death in 771. Charlemagne consolidated his hold over the Frankish aristocracy through oaths of fidelity, building a network of loyal men (fideles) as the backbone of royal power, and he governed largely through an itinerant court that moved with him, though from the 790s he increasingly favored Aachen as his preferred residence. Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni portrays Charlemagne as a personally charismatic leader, offering both a physical description and a portrait of his personality, though his admiring, panegyric tone leaves open the question of how far it compromises his reliability as a historical source.