Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 16879
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Smith , Julia M. H.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Einhard: The Sinner and the Saints (Read 15 March 2002)
  • Source: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Sixth Series 13, ( 2003): Pages 55 - 77.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Carolingian Empire Einhard, Historian Husbands Imma, Wife of Einhard Lay Piety Noble Men Noble Women Wives
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Germany
  • Century: 8-9
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: One figure. Figure One Einhard and Imma plan their Foundation at Mulinheim (now Seligenstadt), mid-nineteenth-century engraving from J. Schopp, "Der Name Seligenstadt" (Speyer, 1965).
  • Table:
  • Abstract: This essay offers a major reassessment of the career of Einhard, biographer of Charlemagne, and an analysis of elite lay piety in the Carolingian era. Einhard's life (c. 770-840) is discussed in terms of childhood, youth, marriage and old age, with emphasis on the significance of his wife, Imma. His personal relationship with the relics which he had translated from Rome to Seligenstadt and his self-description as a "sinner" offer insights into his religiosity. Einhard and Imma are also situated in a broader discussion of the religious activities of other elite married couples of their day. Monastic foundations, relic collecting, Christian household morality and close engagement with the Psalter characterise a distinctive conjugal Christianity in the Carolingian period [Reproduced by permission of the Royal Historical Society.].
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  • Author's Affiliation:
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 2003.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00804401