Charlemagne is one of the most important figures in the history of Europe. Interest in his person has remained unbroken throughout the centuries, and is still as intense today. So too in the 15th century, at the height of the Italian renaissance, the Carolingian ruler attracted a great deal of attention. About 1460 the Florentine humanist Donato Acciaiuoli (1428/9-1497), diplomat, translator and member of the Platonic Academy, wrote a description of the life of Charlemagne in Latin. It is presented in this volume in a critical edition.