Early Medieval Europe - Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance

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• published: 20 Feb 2016
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Carolingian Renaissance is a cultural and intellectual revival and the first of three medieval renaissances, which started during the reign of Charlemagne in the late 8th century. When Charlemagne takes power, the ancient schools of the Roman Empire are long gone. Culture took refuge in monasteries. children for the monastic life we ​​learned there. At the same time, the clergy and laity are increasingly uneducated. In 789, in a broad program of reforms, Charlemagne entrusted the teaching of the Church, demanding that each monastery every bishopric opened schools to teach reading to children from books carefully corrected. The program covers the basic skills, reading (of course Latin), writing and arithmetic. But also singing for church services and "notes", a kind of shorthand for the future chancery employees. Emperor's objectives are clear: the practice of religion and the execution of administrative tasks. Charlemagne known fact that it is necessary that the clergy be educated and provided with correct versions of the sacred text in order to evangelize and mentor populations. It is also aware of the importance of writing to govern and unify the various territories of the empire. Administrative staff must know how to read and to interpret his orders write to write reports. The language, Latin, must be pure in order to be understood by all. But Charlemagne's efforts are not always followed up. On several occasions, it must renew its instructions on schools. His successor, Louis the Pious, also legislates a lot in this area. The cultural level of the clergy increases, timidly under Charlemagne and more markedly throughout the ninth century. Many cultural centers bloom throughout the Empire and the Carolingian scholars write correct Latin which will remain for centuries the international language of religion and culture. However, the population remains outside of this cultural renaissance: the majority is expressed in Germanic or Romance language; she does not understand Latin and has no opportunity to consult books, extremely rare items at the time. If schools providing elementary knowledge remain unevenly distributed across the Empire, many centers of study are developed however in the Palace of the Emperor or in large monasteries and bishoprics. Harking back to ancient times, these institutions organize education in two levels: the trivium grouping three humanities (grammar, dialectic and rhetoric), followed quadrivium devoted to scientific disciplines (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy). These seven are the liberal arts disciplines. This organization studies the basis for school and university education during the Middle Ages. In these schools, we rediscover the authors of Latin Antiquity, one learns to read the Bible and the great theologians of the first centuries. The renewal of the studies also concerns sciences, be it astronomy or medicine. Led by recognized scholars as Alcuin Theodulf or Rabanus Maurus, these centers provide training of the intellectual elite and the cultural revival of the Carolingian period. It is a meeting of the teachers came from all backgrounds, who bring with them their knowledge and culture, at the crossroads of ancient and Byzantine tradition and the franc and German heritage. It was here that merges the ninth century, this patchwork behind Western culture. The Mighty Kingdom by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/