"When we come to Rome you will know that I am naming you my heir. One day you will rule over all my lands..."

It was A.D. 781 and Carl was only a child. But his father was Charlemagne, the most powerful man of his time, and the words that he spoke were no idle promise. Even as a child Carl knew his father's driving ambition was to control a mighty kingdom and rule it from the highest throne in Christendom—the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor. Time and again Charlemagne rode to battle with Carl by his side. Pagan tribes were conquered and Christianity was spread throughout the vast kingdom. The magnificence of Charlemagne's court was part of Carl's daily life, and he also shared its tragedies—the massacre of the Saxons at Verdun, the death of Queen Hildegarde, the treasonous uprising plotted by Carl's half brother, hunchbacked Gobbo.

But the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor still beckoned, and no obstacle could deter Charlemagne from reaching the goal he had set for his future. Finally, on Christmas Day of A.D. 800, amid the pomp and pageantry of St. Peter's in Rome, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III, and Carl knew that his father's dream had at last come true.

Barbara Willard vividly re-creates the atmosphere of the Middle Ages and the thrilling story of a lifelong adventure.

From the dust jacket