"Barbero's lively and entertaining study provides a superb overview of the latest scholarship on the Carolingian age and constructs a compelling argument for Charlemagne's pivotal role as the father of Europe. We gain a sense of the look and feel of peasant villages, the dynamic interplay of monastic economies and long-distance trade, and the manipulation of justice by local notables. This is histoire totale at its best."—Sharon Farmer, author of Surviving Poverty in Medieval Paris

"This up-to-date account focuses on the man and his times while clearly and judiciously dealing with key historio-graphical issues. Barbero explores and explodes the myths that have grown up around the emperor."—Barbara H. Rosenwein, Loyola University

The most important study of Charlemagne in a generation, this biography by distinguished medievalist Alessandro Barbero illuminates both the man and the world in which he lived. Charles the Great—Charlemagne—reigned from a.d. 768 to a.d. 814. At the time if his death, his empire stretched across Europe to include Bavaria, Saxony, parts of Spain, and Italy. With a remarkable grasp of detail and a sweeping knowledge of Carolingian institutions and economy, Barbero not only brings Charlemagne to life with accounts of his physical appearance, tastes and habits, family life, and ideas and actions but also conveys what it meant to be king of the Franks and, later, emperor. He recounts how Charlemagne ruled his empire, kept justice, and waged wars. He vividly describes the nature of everyday life at that time, how the economy functioned, and how Christians perceived their religion. Barbero's absorbing analysis of how concepts of slavery and freedom were subtly altered as feudal relations began to grow underscores the dramatic changes that the emperor's wars brought to the political landscape. Engaging and informed by deep scholarship, this latest account provides a new and richer context for considering one of history's most fascinating personalities.