Vita Karoli Magni: Historical Commentary on Einhard\u27s Biography of Charlemagne

Bistvo magistrskega dela predstavlja historični komentar zgodnjesrednjeveškega pisnega vira Vita Karoli Magni v slovenskem prevodu Blaža Strmoleta iz leta 2013. Gre za prvi znani postantični življenjepis posvetnega vladarja, frankovskega kralja (in od leta 800 tudi cesarja) Karla Velikega, ki ga je v prvi polovici 9. stoletja napisal Einhard, eden od njegovih dvorjanov. Prva tri poglavja magistrskega dela so zasnovana kot spremna beseda: v prvem predstavljam relevantne zgodovinske okoliščine od zatona merovinške kraljeve rodbine pa vse do konca vladavine Karlovega sina Ludvika Pobožnega, v drugem se osredotočam na Einhardovo življenje in delo, tretje pa je posvečeno besedilu Vita Karoli Magni s poudarki na problemu njegove datacije, podobnostih s Svetonijevimi biografijami rimskih cesarjev, ki so Einhardu očitno služile za vzor, in vprašanjih, ki se odpirajo pri branju življenjepisa kot zgodovinskega vira. V nadaljevanju sledi historični komentar, ki temelji na pisnih virih (predvsem analih) in znanstveni literaturi.The core of this thesis is founded upon Blaž Strmole’s 2013 first Slovene translation of the historical commentary on the early medieval written record Vita Karoli Magni. Vita, the earliest known post-antique biography of a secular ruler, Frankish king (and since 800 also emperor) Charlemagne, was written in the first half of the ninth century by Einhard, one of Charlemagne\u27s courtiers. The first three chapters of this thesis are designed as preface: The first one presents relevant historical circumstances from the fall of the Merovingian royal dynasty to the end of the reign of Charlemagne\u27s son Louis the Pious, the second one focuses on Einhard\u27s life and work and the third one is built around the text Vita Karoli Magni, and highlighting the problem of dating the text, as well as revealing similarities to the biographies of the Roman emperors written by Suetonius, whose example Einhard followed, and questions arising while reading a biography as a primary source for historical research. This thesis is concluded by a historical commentary, based on written records (mostly annals) and scientific literature