Einhard
Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart;
Public life
Einhard was from the eastern German-speaking part of the
He died at Seligenstadt in 840.
Private life
Einhard was married to Emma, of whom little is known. There is a possibility that their marriage bore a son, Vussin. Their marriage also appears to have been exceptionally liberal for the period, with Emma being as active as Einhard, if not more so, in the handling of their property.[3] It is said that in the later years of their marriage Emma and Einhard abstained from sexual relations, choosing instead to focus their attentions on their many religious commitments. Though he was undoubtedly devoted to her, Einhard wrote nothing of his wife until after her death on 13 December 835, when he wrote to a friend that he was reminded of her loss in ‘every day, in every action, in every undertaking, in all the administration of the house and household, in everything needing to be decided upon and sorted out in my religious and earthly responsibilities’.[4]
Religious beliefs
Einhard made numerous references to himself as a "sinner" according to his strong Christian faith.[5] He erected churches at both of his estates in Michelstadt and Mulinheim. In Michelstadt, he also saw fit to build a basilica completed in 827 and then sent a servant, Ratleic, to Rome with an end to find relics for the new building. Once in Rome, Ratleic robbed a catacomb of the bones of the Martyrs Marcellinus and Peter and had them translated to Michelstadt. Once there, the relics made it known they were unhappy with their new tomb and thus had to be moved again to Mulinheim. Once established there, they proved to be miracle workers. Although unsure as to why these saints should choose such a "sinner" as their patron, Einhard nonetheless set about ensuring they continued to receive a resting place fitting of their honour.[6] Between 831 and 834 he founded a Benedictine Monastery and, after the death of his wife, served as its Abbot until his own death in 840.
Local lore
Local lore from Seligenstadt portrays Einhard as the lover of Emma, one of Charlemagne's daughters, and has the couple elope from court. Charlemagne found them at Seligenstadt (then called Obermühlheim) and forgave them. This account is used to explain the name "Seligenstadt" by folk etymology.[7] Einhard and his wife were originally buried in one sarcophagus in the choir of the church in Seligenstadt, but in 1810 the sarcophagus was presented by the Grand Duke of Hesse to the count of Erbach, who claims descent from Einhard as the husband of Imma, the reputed daughter of Charlemagne. The count put it in the famous chapel of his castle at Erbach in the Odenwald.[8]
Works
The most famous of Einhard's works is his biography of Charlemagne, the
Einhard is also responsible for three other extant works: a collection of letters, On the Translations and the Miracles of SS. Marcellinus and Petrus, and On the Adoration of the Cross.[9][10] The latter dates from ca. 830 and was not rediscovered until 1885,[11] when Ernst Dümmler identified a text in a manuscript in Vienna as the missing Libellus de adoranda cruce,[12] which Einhard had dedicated to his pupil Lupus Servatus.[13][14]
The Arch of Einhard was a reliquary made by Einhard, which reproduced on a small scale a Roman triumphal arch that represented the victory of Christianity. It has not survived.
See also
References
- ^ Hodgkin 222.
- ^ Smith 62
- ^ Smith 58.
- ^ From Einhard’s letter of April 836 to Lupus of Ferrieres. Qtd. in Smith 55.
- ^ Smith 60–61.
- ^ Smith 67.
- ^ "Der hessische Spessart" par. 4.
- ^ Schaff par. 164.
- ^ Thorpe.
- ^ Müller 252.
- ^ "Einhard ca. 770–840" par. 3.
- ^ Dümmler.
- ^ Levison 271.
- ^ Stofferahn par. 10.
Bibliography
- "Der hessische Spessart" (in German). HR Online. Retrieved 25 March 2010.[permanent dead link]
- Dümmler, Ernst (1885). "Ein Nachtrag zu Einhards Werken". Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde. 11: 231–38. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- "Einhard c. 770–840". Enotes. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ISBN 9781406730265.
- Levison, Wilhelm; Wilhelm Wattenbach; Rudolf Buchner (1952). Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter, Vorzeit und Karolinger: Heft. Die Karolinger vom Anfang des 8. Jahrhunderts bis zum Tode Karis des Grossen (in German). H. Böhlaus Nachfolger. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- Müller, Bianca (2009). Persönlichkeit Karl des Großen nach Einhards Vita Karoli Magni. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-640-47253-6.
- Schaff, Philip. ""Einhard"". History of the Christian Church. Vol. IV: Mediaeval Christianity. A.D. 590-1073. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- Smith, Julia (March 2003). "Einhard". S2CID 161939220.
- Stofferahn, Steven A. (2010). "Knowledge for Its Own Sake? A Practical Humanist in the Carolingian Age". The Heroic Age. 13. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- Tischler, Matthias M. (2001) Einharts Vita Karoli. Studien zur Entstehung, Überlieferung und Rezeption (MGH. Schriften 48, I–II), Hanover: Hahn. ISBN 3-7752-5448-X.
- Thorpe, Lewis G.M. (1969). Einhard and Notker the Stammerer: two lives of Charlemagne. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-044213-7. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- Noble, Thomas F.X. (2009). Charlemagne and Louis the Pious: Lives by Einhard, Notker, Ermoldus, Thegan, and the Astronomer. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0-27-103715-8. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
- Chiesa, Paolo, ed. (2014). Eginardo, Vita Karoli. Firenze: Edizioni del Galluzzo. ISBN 978-88-8450-537-8.
External links
- Works by Einhard at Project Gutenberg
- Holland, Arthur William (1911). "Einhard". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 9. (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 134–135.
- Schlager, Patricius (1909). "Einhard". In Catholic Encyclopedia. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company. pp. 82–83.
- Works by or about Einhard at Internet Archive
- Works by Einhard at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Vita Karoli Magni—Einhard's Life of Charlemagne, Latin text at The Latin Library
- Einhard. Life of Charlemagne at Project Gutenberg, translated by Grant, A.J. (1905). Early lives of Charlemagne by Eginhard and the Monk of St Gall. London: Moring.
- Einhard-Preis Literature prize awarded by the Einhard-Foundation of Seligenstadt to authors for writing an outstanding biography
- Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes
- "Einhardus". Repertorium "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages" (Geschichtsquellen des deutschen Mittelalters).
- Einhardi vita Karoli Magni Archived 2007-12-29 at the Bibliotheca Augustana
- The Einhard Way from Michelstadt to Seligenstadt
- Home page of the Einhard Foundation at Seligenstadt
- Home page of the Einhard Society, Seligenstadt