Name the biographer of Charlemagne.

Einhard was the biographer of Charlemagne. His work, the Vita Karoli Magni, or The Life of Charlemagne, is the best-known near-contemporary biography of the Frankish ruler.

Einhard was a scholar, courtier, and administrator who joined Charlemagne’s court around 791 or 792. He was associated with the Carolingian intellectual revival and helped supervise major building projects, including work at Aachen and Ingelheim. After Charlemagne died in 814, Einhard served his son, Louis the Pious.

Written roughly between 817 and 830, the biography portrays Charlemagne’s family, government, wars, education, religion, and personal habits. Einhard modeled its structure partly on the classical Roman biographer Suetonius.

Readers should remember that Einhard was not a detached modern historian. He had served Charlemagne and admired him, so the biography contains praise and selective omissions. Notker the Stammerer wrote another later life, but Einhard is the canonical answer to this question.