e may reasonably expect.
The two Charlemagne biographers, especially Einhard, portray their subject in a positive light. They lived and wrote in an era --the early Middle Ages--when it was taken for granted that a good leader was a powerful military leader, with the ability to be ruthless when necessary. Einhard knew and served Charlemagne personally; he can in no way be considered an objective observer. He sees Charlemagne as a god-like character living in a world of mere mortals. As we read in the Introduction, Einhard's work "in a number of ways . . . seems deliberately to obscure the truth, and always in favour of Charlemagne." Certainly Einhard
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