As a member of King Charlemagne's court, Einhard had a close view of Charlemagne's reign as King of the Franks. To Einhard, Charlemagne was the ideal king. He had all of the characteristics that Einhard felt a good king should have. He felt that the ideal king would be brave, educated, worldly, strong, and powerful, among other things. In Einhard's opinion, Charlemagne represented all of the things that he felt an ideal king should represent. Einhard felt that the ideal king should be well rounded and it was Charlemagne's well-rounded way of ruling his nation that made him the ideal king to Einhard.
An important characteristic of Einhard's ideal king is power. The king must be powerful and rule over his nation with intensity. Charlemagne fit into this ideal. He was a powerful ruler who was brave and fierce. The power of the Franks was always a thing of jealousy to the Greeks and Romans (Einhard 43). Emperors from other nations wanted alliances and friendships with Charlemagne because they knew that he was someone that they would rather have as a friend than as an enemy. Charlemagne succeeded in establishing good national relations with other empires, which was another quality that Einhard felt was important. Einhard's ideal king was also not afraid to go out and defend the empire that he ruled so powerfully. Charlemagne often went out into the field of battle with his army. There were three things that Einhard also felt were important that a king do. These were to defend, increase, and beautify the kingdom. Charlemagne succeeded in doing so.
Einhard's ideal king is an educated and worldly king, one who is wise and interested in the arts. He says of Charlemagne, "The king, who excelled all the princes of his time in wisdom- (Einhard 33). Charlemagne was also well educated. And although Charlemagne began his ventures into education late in life, thus making it harder for him to succeed with his education, Einhard saw Charlemagne's desire for education and credited him for his aspirations.
