19 May
804 A.D. Alcuin, Charlemagne’s
Scholar, Dies.
Graves, Dan.
“Alcuin, Charlemagne’s Finest Scholar.” Christianity
Today. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/alcuin-charlemagnes-finest-scholar-11629759.html. Accessed Apr 23, 2014.
England lost
her greatest teacher and Western Europe gained one of the finest scholars it
would see for centuries, when Alcuin of York in England, met Charlemagne in
Parma in 781. The noble-born Englishman had risen to the leadership of the
school at York, earning himself an international reputation. Charles convinced
him to share his talents with his empire and bestowed on him the abbeys of
Ferrières and St. Loup. Steeped in the pedagogical tradition of Bede, Alcuin
stirred the Franks to acquire the little learning they were to possess in the
so called "Dark Ages."
From 782 to
790 he transplanted Anglo-Saxon learning to the continent. In addition to
preparing elementary textbooks in dialog form and brain teasers which called
for the shrewd use of geometry and algebra, he reformed Frankish laws and
advised the emperor. It was Alcuin who urged Charlemagne to delay answering
Pope Leo III, forcing the prelate to come to the emperor. Unfortunately, the
emperor did not listen when Alcuin urged him not to force conversion on the
heathen Saxons, who eventually retaliated with war and slaughter.
Alcuin
founded the Carolignian palace library and developed a script of small
characters called Carolignian Minuscule which allowed more letters than before
to be written on a single expensive page of parchment. Of great beauty, this
script was later employed by the earliest printers. Manuscripts copied under
Alcuin's headship were renowned for their calligraphy.
In 790 Alcuin
returned to England but was recalled to the continent by Charlemagne within a
few years. The teacher-priest was given the additional abbey of St. Martin in
Tours. Immediately it became a Mecca for the scholars of Europe, eager to learn
from the master. One of his most notable students was the encyclopedist
Rhabanus Maurus. Alcuin summed up his own contribution, saying, "[I]
dispensed the honey of the scripture, intoxicated my students with the wine of
ancient learning, fed them the apples of grammatical refinement, and adorned
them with the knowledge of astronomy."
Actually,
Alcuin cared for astronomy only to the extent it was useful to calculate the Christians' all important date: Easter. Neither his astronomy nor his other
writings were very original. His letters, however, open a window onto the age.
312 survive, addressed to recipients by some personal characteristic or by
their latinized names. All were written in Latin, as were his sermons, poems, theology, epistles, and history.
Alcuin was
strictly orthodox, a purveyor of the gospel and virtue. He raised the level of
knowledge of churchmen and stimulated the mind of an age besieged by barbarian
invasions. In doing so, he molded the tenor of Europe's subsequent thought and
left a legacy of trained minds to keep alive the embers of religion, culture,
and science in Europe. He died on this day, May 19, 804.
Resources:
1. "Alcuin." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.
Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1997.
2. "Alcuin of York." Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
Edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie. New York: Scribner's, 1970.
3. Burns, J. A. The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
4. Bury, J. B., et al. Cambridge Medieval History, Vol III. Germany and
the Western Empire. Cambridge, England: University Press, 1957 - .
5. Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy. Various
editions.
6. Kunitz, Stanley L. "Alcuin." British Authors Before 1800; a biographical
dictionary. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1952.
7. Runes, Dagobert D. A Treasury of Philosophy. New York:
Philosophical Library, 1945.
8. Shook, L. K. "Alcuin of York." Dictionary of the Middle Ages.
Edited by Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Scribner's, 1982 - 1989.
9. West, Andrew Fleming. Alcuin and the Rise of the Christian Schools.
New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1892.
10. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.
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