Carolingian renaissance

Carolingian renaissance

Charlemagne instituted a revival of learning designed to enhance the glory of the kings, educate their officials, reform the liturgy and purify the faith. The Carolingian renaissance, like those in the Byzantine and Islamic worlds, revived the learning of the past, bringing back the study of Roman imperial authors such as Suetonius and Vergil and the works of the church fathers. Scholars worked to establish complete and accurate texts of everything they read and prized.

The Carolingian renaissance depended on an elite staff of scholars such as Alcuin (732-804), a member of the circle of scholars whom Charlemagne recruited to form a center of study, yet its educational program was broad. Charlemagne ordered that the cathedrals and monasteries in his kingdom teach reading and writing to all who were able to learn, and some churchmen expressed hopes of schools in small villages, perhaps even for girls. Even though this never happened, it showed that before the Islamic madrasa system, the Carolingians were thinking about education for more than a small elite.

Art, like scholarship, served Carolingian political and religious goals. Artists illuminated texts, adding exuberant decoration and design, often portraying architectural elements as bands of color and humans with great liveliness.

The renaissance was long lasting, even after the dynasty itself had ended. Locating understanding and transmitting models of the past continued in many monastic schools. In the 12th century, scholars would build upon the foundations it laid.