Sorry about that, but for some now lost reason the universities of
Melbourne do not celebrate Labour Day, so lectures and tutes will be
running as usual. You might picture yourself like this on Monday
perhaps:
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| Einhard, Charlemagne's biographer |
I've put the link to Einhard's biography of Charlemagne over on the
right under Interesting Stuff. It's not very long and is actually quite
entertaining reading.
Charlemagne’s reign was total on all aspects of Carolingians lives, however I would argue that his impact on education was the most influential. I feel that Einhard would disagree with me however. Charlemagne strongly stressed that his citizens be literate in liberal arts, as he him self was an avid learner. He brought scholars from all over Europe to his court. This formed the basis of “systematic hand-copying”. Alcuin, one of Charlemagne’s scholars conducted a school at Charlemagne’s palace he taught many things we still learn today. Grammar being one of the most important, with the transition between Merovingian transcripts to Carolingian, a more clear and practical way of writing. Not stopping at grammar however Alcuin brought Charlemagne everything from music, arithmetic, astronomy etc. Another key factor was women, they were encouraged to be literate at this time period, some times succeeding the men in their education. Monks were also to be learned in literature under Charlemagne’s rule. All of this brought a higher understanding of the world and a more civilized culture. Although I believe Charlemagne’s educational reforms triumphed over his military conquest, Einhard I believe, feels oppositely. I draw this conclusion by the way Einhard uses euphemisms whilst talking about Charlemagne’s battles. He really believed he was a great warrior and he goes in depth about what the accumulation of these lands did for the Frankish Dynasty.
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