But one may infer a purpose beyond immortalization or a philosophical wish for meaning. For the eighth century in Europe was one of belief in authority, even on the part of the nobility, and a related and largely unambiguous respect for power. Still, there is room for subtlety. For a well-presented, well-argued biography that declares moral weight for Charlemagne's actions could have the effect of providing comfort to administrators (kings) who might invoke the name of Charlemagne when performing certain political feats of their own.
Accordingly, it is important to note that, after Einhard establishes Charlemagne's authority over the whole of the Frankish (domestic) kingdom, he proceeds to discuss what would today be called his foreign policy and what Einhard himself refers to as "all the wars that Charlemagne waged" (p. 59). His method of introducing Charlemagne's military exploits begins after a brief mention of (as it were) a police action that had the effect of settling a few territorial scores regarding Frankish claims on the Aquitaine. Thence Einhard proceeds to an account of how Charlemagne responded to the pope's earnest plea to cross the treacherous Alps, save the Church of Rome from the dastardly Longobards, who had seized military control of Italy and who not incidentally had given Charlemagne's brother and rival sanctuary after the civil war (pp. 60-61). This is important because embedded into Einhard's transition from Charlemagne's holy war toward his wars of outright and fairly brutal conquest is a moral argument justifying such conquest.
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