Act 1: Intro

It is the year of our lord 814, and Europe has just begun to emerge from the dark ages of ignorance and chaos following the fall of the Roman Empire a few hundred years earlier

The scene is the imperial palace at Aachen - now in modern day Germany - where an old and great warrior-king lies dying in his bed; surrounded by his noble family, his courtiers, and many great scholars and churchmen from all over Europe

This king has fought many bruising and brilliant military campaigns and has now reached the then considered great age of 72 years and will die, not on the battlefield, but in his bed

The dying monarch is: king Charlemagne! First Holy Roman Emperor, king of the Franks, a christian warrior-king

As the life slowly ebbs from his still magnificent frame, the king calls out to Einhart, his most trusted palace official