See this online text:
- Charlemagne and Kingship: The Responsibility of Absolute Power (M.A. Thesis), by Jane Swotchak Ourand, Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts (1988). Available in pdf format through ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst. [Note: Although it is not certain if this text was written by a Catholic Christian, it provides a useful introduction to the political ideas of Western Christendom’s foremost prince and, we believe, an appropriate model for other Christians in political life.]
See also the texts and ebooks listed on the pages History and Biography, Secular Law and Society and Social Teaching; under sub-list IX.B. Church and State on the page Church and Ecclesiology; and on the post “Free ebook: Church and State in the Formation of Christendom, by T.W. Allies“; as well as the following:
- Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period: Political Discourse in Alcuin of York and Hincmar of Rheims, by Sophia Moesch, Ph.D. (London, New York: Routledge, 2020). Available in pdf format on this page at OAPEN. The text states: ““The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.” [Note: It is not certain if this text was written by a Catholic Christian. Nonetheless, the text is of value to researchers interested in the Christian civilisation of Latin Europe.]
- De l’Union Intime de la Foi Catholique et de la Foi Monarchique en France, par Ch. De Caqueray (Paris: Allouard et Kaeppelin, 1850). Disponible en Internet Archive et Open Library.
In belated remembrance of Charles the Great / Charlemagne, King of the Franks, Emperor of the Romans, Defender of Christendom. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project. From the text:
“[T]he most important factor that explains Charlemagne’s success and his enduring reputation lies in his conception of kingship… distinguished… by an awareness that power implies responsibility… The king’s power comes directly from God and elevates him to a status above all others, but, by its very nature, such power is limited by the king’s accountability to God for its proper exercise… [H]e saw himself as father to his people, with responsibility for their spiritual and physical well-being… [which] enjoined him to assume as his special concern the welfare of widows, orphans, the poor- all those least able to protect themselves.”