Excerpt from Essentials in Mediaeval History: From Charlemagne to the Close of the Fifteenth Century In a large number of colleges, the first course in European history consists of a general survey of mediaeval and modern history; and with the increased acceptance by secondary schools of the programme in history prepared by the Committee of Seven of the American Historical Association, it is becoming feasible to begin such a course with the time of Charlemagne. Even with this limitation, however, it is still a problem, in many institutions, how to cover in the limited time at the disposal of the instructor the many topics which such a course should comprise. Especially is this the case now that the best authorities - wisely enough - are insisting upon a fuller and more detailed treatment of more recent history, that included (let us say) within the limits of the last century and a half. The great problem is, then, how to compress the earlier part of the course so as to give adequate time for the more vital things nearer our own day. One way which has been proposed for accomplishing this is the elimination of a great deal of what is usually taught concerning the political history of the Middle Ages. One advocate of this method proposes the heroic policy of skipping directly from Charlemagne to Otto I. The author of this book believes heartily in the principle underlying this proposal, though he doubts the wisdom of its literal application. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."