and he wanted to make sure his greatness was recorded. He also felt a sense of indebtedness for his patrons care, nurturing and comfortable lifestyle he enjoyed at the palace. Whereas Einhard wrote his book from the historical perspective and his personal knowledge of the Emperor, Notker the Stammerer wrote his book seventy years after he death of Charlemagne in the form of a series of anecdotes about Charlemagnes care of the church primarily from the stories told to him as a child by a priest named Werinbert. Adalbert, who was Werinberts father was he source of the stories about Charlemagne campaigns of war against other nations. These anecdotes in some cases support and elaborate on the basic information provided by Einhard. In other cases, the anecdotes embellish with fantasy and fiction so that little credibility can be given to his accounts.Although it is difficult to compare these two books because they are not at all similar, some comparisons can be made. Einhard said that Charlemagnes first wife was the daughter of Desiderius, the King of the Longobards. He states that that he dismissed his wife after a year and nobody new why he had done that. In Notkers book, he explains that Chrlemagne had just defeated the Longobards and in order to keep them from seceding from the Franks, he married the daughter of the King. Because she later became sick, was bedridden and couldnt have any children, she was treated like she was already dead and Charlemagne picked another wife,Hildegarde. In Einhards account of the war with the Longobards, he states that the war had been begun at the request of Hadrian, the bishop of Rome and also had been initially started by Charlemagnes father, Pepin the Short. He states that Charlemagne fought the war with more energy than his father and that after a long siege forced the surrender of Desiderius. Charlemagne also sent his son, Adlagis into exile, restored all that had been taken from the Romans back to ...
