Son of Charlemagne

Title: Son of Charlemagne
Author: Barbara Willard
Major Themes: Charlemagne, Frankish Kingdom, Holy Roman Empire
Synopsis: Charlemagne, one of the world’s greatest leaders, is described through the eyes of his second son.

In our study of world history, we have now reached the time of the Franks, and have just read a couple of books about Charlemagne. Barbara Willard has done a superb job, in Son of Charlemagne, at bringing him and his family and time to life. As far as I could tell, the history was very accurate, and the story moves along quite well. I really enjoyed this book!

As the story opens, Charlemagne and his family are on their way to Rome to meet with the pope. In their camp in the snow on top of the Alps, Charlemagne tells his second son that he will be his heir, rather than the oldest son, who is a hunchback. While in Rome, the two youngest sons are crowned kings of other parts of Charlemagne’s realm. How will the family cope with these decisions, and what effect will they have on the boys’ lives? It is fascinating to see how events played out, and how the various characters changed over the years.

No warnings!