UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES .:low STAIE NORMAL SClWi, THE SCHOOLS OF CHABLES THE GBEAT : PHISTF.B BV 6POTTISWOODE AHD . AMD PABUAMENT BTRKET ANASTATBCHM DRUCKCPAII1S BtRUN N.58 THE SCHOOLS OF CHAELES THE GREAT AND THE IN THE NINTH CENTUBY 2.X ^7 2. BT J. BASS MULLINGER, M.A. ST. JOHN'S COU.KQK, CAMBRIDGE AUTHOR Or ' THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE FROM THE KARLXKT TIMES TO THE ROYAL INJUNCTIONS OK !'>'> ' ETC. CRli. AWARDED THE KAYE PRIZE OP 50U-.- ANASTATIC REPRINT OP THE EDITION LONDON IR77. NEW YORK Q. E. STECMERT & CO. 1911. TO THE KEY. CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH, M.A, FELLOW Or rKTKBHOUSK THIS VOLUME IS GEATEFCLLY INSCRIBED PBEFACE. THE PERIOD and the subject to which this volume is devoted have both no ordinary claim on the attention of the student, the former, as representing the era wherein, by the common consent of the most eminent authorities, we may find the true boundary line between ancient and modern history, the latter, as containing the key to those traditions which have ever since prevailed in European education and can scarcely even yet be re- garded as superseded or effete. The present work is restricted to an attempt to place in a clearer light the character of the learning and the theory of education which mediaeval Europe inherited from a combination of pagan science and Christian theo- logy, before that learning and that education were, in turn, modified by the teaching of the Schoolmen. The follow- ing pages accordingly represent but a very limited field of enquiry in the wide province of Carolingian history ; but that field, though narrow, is not unimportant. That it is altogether erroneous to look upon the influences trans- viii PREFACE. mitted by the reforms and policy of Charles the Great as of no greater permanence than the fabric of the Empire itself, is now generally conceded, and in no respect have those influences had a more enduring effect than in con- nexion with the history of mental culture in Europe. It is indeed not a little remarkable, that in this somewhat unduly neglected ninth century we may discern, as in miniature, all those contending principles the conserva- tive, the progressive, and the speculative which, save in the darkest times, have rarely since ceased to be ap- parent in the great centres of our higher education. While the author has freely availed himself of what- ever aids or suggestions might be afforded by modern con- tiibutions to the literature of the subject, it has throughout been his endeavour, as far as practicable, to rely mainly on original research, and the references to his authorities have been systematically given. 1 The valuable correc- tions of the chronology and text of Alcuin's letters con- tained in DUmmler's Alcuiniana have been carefully noted, but it has been thought better, as a rule, to refer in the notes to the text of Migne's Patrologia (vols. c and ci), as more generally available. Two volumes treating on the same subject Dr. Karl Werner's Alcuin und sein Jahrkundert (1876) and M. 1 With the view of rendering these references more concise, a List of the Principal Authorities referred to has been prefixed, in which the title of each work is given in full, together -with the edition used the references in the text being limited to the name and the page. PREFACE. be Ve'tault's Charlemagne (1877) have appeared too late to enable the author to profit by any additional light that these writers may have thrown upon the period. In conclusion, his thanks are due to the two adjudi- cators of the Prize his lordship, the bishop of Truro, and professor Edwin Palmer, of Oxford for their kind permission to append an additional chapter, which serves to illustrate more fully the connexion of the present sub- ject with the commencement of the University of Paris and of European university history at large. February, 1877. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE CHARLEMAGNE and Napoleon I. ..... 1 The Carolingian Empire contrasted with modern France . . 1 PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY AND DECLINE OF PAGANISM PRIOK TO THE AGE OF CHARLES THE GREAT . 2 Gaul under the Empire . . . . 3 Hostility of the Church to pagan learning .... 6 The true origin of this hostility . . . 6 Pagan literature condemned by the authoritative utterance of the Church ..... 8 Counter-intolerance of paganism . . . 8 Decree of Julian against Christian teachers, A.D. 3G3 . . 9 Impolitic severity of this measure . . . 9 Testimony of Jerome to the growing neglect of pagan literature . 10 Two distinct theories as to the advantages derivable from 1he study of that literature always discernible in the Church . .10 Difficulties of the position of the Christian educator at this period . . . . . . 11 AusomTs ........ 11 Character of the education imparted in the imperial schools . . 12 Opportunities alForded by his high position and by circumstances for beneficial reforms . . . . . .13 Status of the public instructor . . . . 14 Scope afforded for private enterprise in instruction . .14 Ausonius unequal to the occasion . . . ..15 Character of his genius . . . . . .15 SlDOJUUS APOLLINARIS . . . . . lt> Circumstances of his age compared with those of that of Ausonius 17 Triviality of tone that pervades his writings . . .17 His literary sympathies opposed to the theory prevalent in the Church in his time . . . . . 18 That theory had not yet succeeded in finding complete expression in practice . . . . . . . 19 Final overthrow of the Roman or pagan traditions . 20 xii CONTENTS. PAGB THE PRANKISH INVASION AND CONQUEST . . . .20 The Frank and the Gallo-Koraan compared . . . . 20 The Frankish conquest not altogether destructive . . 22 SAXVIAN . . . . . . 22 His despair of his countrymen . . . . .23 The De Gvbernationc Dei . . . . . . 23 Change in popular feeling with respect to paganism . . 24 RISE OP THE SCHOOLS OF CASSIAN . . , . . 24 The monasticism of the West . . . . .24 Antithesis it presents to the eastern theory , . . 25 Main facts in the life of Cassian . . . . .25 His Collationes aud Instiiutiones . . , . 2(5 Ilia teaching with respect to pagan literature . . .27 His theory in relation to the study of the Scriptures . 27 The four Scriptural senses . . . . . .28 He enjoins active and laborious duties on the monk . 28 The monastery a school for heaven . . . .29 Points in which the rule of Cassiau harmonised -with the Fraukish character . . . . . . 20 Rapid progress of monasticism in Gaul in the fifth and sixth centuries . . . . . . .80 The monastic and episcopal schools supplant the municipal schools 81 Character of the education they imparted . . . 81 Compact between the Teutonic conqueror and the Latin clergy * 82 The tradi lions of the schools of Cassian unfavourable to the literary spirit ........ 32 Decline of theological learning in these schools . . . 33 GREGORY OF TOURS ....... 34 His testimony to the decay of learning . . 36 His representations confirmed by the internal evidence of his writings ........ 35 Testimony of Fortunatus . . . . 36 The Merovingian dynasty . . . . . .36 State of the Church under this dynasty . . . . 37 Demoralisation of the episcopal order . . . .38 Slate of the monastic discipline . . . . . 38 The fervile element in the monasteries . . . .38 Charles Marlel . . . . . . 39 Prospects of learning at the accession of Pepin-le-Bref . . 39 CHAPTER I. CHARLES THE GREAT AND ALC'UJN ; OR, THE SCHOOL OF THE PALACE. Si. COLUMBAJT . . . . . . 41 Character of his monastic rule . . . 4 .41 ST. BOMFACK . . . . . . . 41 Foundation of the abbey of Monte Casino . . 42 CONTENTS. xiii Sx. BONIFACE continued. PA(!K Introduction of the Benedictine rule . . , 42 Its leading characteristics . . . . . .42 Provision made for regular study among the monks . . 42 Boniface in Frankland . . . . . .43 Measures of Church reform .... .44 Foundation of the abbey at Fulda . . .45 Alliance between Rome and the Carolinian dynasty . . 45 Influence of Boniface with respect to education . .46 ACCESSION OP CHABLES . . . . . 47 He meets Alcuin at Parma . . ' . 47 His previous efforts in the cause of letters . . 47 Paulus Diaconus ....... 48 TEACHERS AT YORK : Elbert and Eanbald . . . . . 49 Position of Alcuin at York . . . . .60 He accepts the office of instructor of the Palace School . . 60 The episcopal or cathedral school at York . . .61 Its tradition of learning . . : . 61 THE TEACHING OF GREGORY THE GREAT . . . .62 Theories associated with the fall of Home , . 62 The pagau tradition . . . . . .63 Views of Christian writers . . ... 63 The invasion of the Lombards . . , . .63 Gregory's belief that the world was near its end , 54 General acceptance of St. Gregory's teaching in England . 64 Its transmission through the teachers of Alcuin . 64 Antagonism of this teaching to the Eastern Church . . 66 Differences between British and Latin Christianity . , . 66 Controversy concerning Easter . . . . .56 Other points of difference . . . . 67 The Roman doctrine supplants that of the British Church . 67 Bede's sympathy with the former . . . . . 68 Bede's mental characteristics . . . . .58 Alcuin's agreement with Bede . . . . 69 Harmony between his views and the Carolingian policy . . 69 THE LIBRARY AT YORK AND THE AUTHORS STUDIED BY ALCTTIN . 61 Boethius . . . . . . . . 61 Portions of his translations of Aristotle known to Alcuin . . 62 Cassiodorus . . . . . . 63 Isidorus ........ 63 Martianus Capella . . . . . 64 His allegorical treatment of his subject . . . .64 Influence attributed to his example . , . 05 Speculative character of the treatise . . . .65 Mistrust with which it was consequently regarded by the teachers at York . . . . . . . . 66 Their apprehensions not altogether without reason 66 xir CONTEXTS. TUB LIBRARY AT YORK, &c. continued. The absence and presence of the treatise alike significant . . 67 Influence of the foregoing text-books on subsequent learning . 67 Favour with which Charles regarded foreigners . . .67 Distractions of the time . . . 68 The Saxon war . . . . . . .68 ( THE PALACE SCHOOL: question of its previous existence . 68 ^-' Innovation in this school on the Gregorian tradition . . 69 Character of its members . . . . 69 Practical nature of Charles' designs . . . .70 Charles' own acquirements . . . . 70 Conditions under which Alcuin's instructions were imparted . 71 Members of the circle : Charles and his sons . .... 71 Hie sister, his wife (Liutgarda), and his daughter ... 72 Angilbert, Adelhard and Wala, Kiculfus, Einhard, Fredegis . . 72 Names assumed by members of the school . ... 72 Alcuin's admiration of Charles . . . 73 His post a laborious one . . . . . .73 Advantages under which he taught . . . 74 Alcuin not a philosopher . . . . . .74 His reputation aa a grammarian . . . 74 His instruction in GRAMMAR . . . . .75 The letter denned . . . . . . . 75 The syllable ....... 76 Strange blunders . . . . . . . 76 Limitations with which the term grammatica was employed by Alcuin ....... 76 Alcuin's views on orthography . . . . . 78 Value of his treatise . . . . . .78 Real extent of his Greek scholarship . . . . 79 Tradition of Greek learning in England . . .80 Bede's testimony . . . . . . . 80 Alcuin's Greek quotations mostly from Jerome . . 80 Inaccurate Greek forms . . . . . . 80 Illustration from Ozanam of superficial critic 'sm in relation to the learning of the period . . . . . .81 Alcuin's attempts to amuse his scholars . . 82 His RHETORIC : . . . . . . .83 His definition of rhetoric . . . . . . 83 Meagre treatment of the subject . . . .84 lie descants on the qualifications of the orator . 84 HisdJstinction between the moral philosopher and theChristian teacher ...... go His LOGIC: . . . . . . . . 86 Traditional views of the Church with respect to the dialectic rt . . . . . . .86 Alcuin's treatment of arithmetic and astronomy . . .88 CONTENTS. xr THE PALACE SCHOOL continued. PA K His explanation of an astronomical phenomenon . 88 Alcuin as a THEOLOGIAN : . . . . , .89 His controversy with the Adoptionists . . 89 His adherence to the traditions of the Latin Church . . 89 His influence specially discernible in the promotion of a spirit of deference for authority . . 90 His tendency to an allegorical interpretation of Scripture . 90 Influence of his example in this direction . . 91 The pretensions of mediaeval and modern teachers contrasted . 01 Difficulties of Alcuin's position . . . 92 His contradictions in questions of metaphysics . . .93 ' Substance,' ' essence,' and ' being ' . . 93 Divergence in theory among his successors . . '.94 Fredegis as a Realist . . . . . 95 Alcuin's chief friends : Arno, Benedict of Aniane, and Theodulfus . 96 Monasteries placed under his control . . . 96 Suspension of the Saxon war . . . . . .97 Charles' CAPITULARY of A.D. 787 . . . . . . 97 Alcuin's hand discernible . . . . . .99 Charles obtains the services of teachers of singing, grammar, and arithmetic from Rome . . . . . . . 100 Council of Aachen, A.D. 789 ...... 100 The Roman method of chanting enjoined . . . 100 Defective state of MSS. at this period . . . . .100 Charles causes a Homilary to be prepared for use in the churches . . 101 Capitularies respecting the clergy . . . . .101 Capitulary of A.D. 789 . . . . . . . 102 Every monastery to have its school .... 102 THEODTTLFVS : his Capitulary to the clergy of his diocese . , . 102 He initiates a system of free education .... 102 Criticisms of Gibbon and Lorenz on the period compared . . 103 Circumstances that induce Alcuin to wish to retire from his post . 104 His ordeals in the Palace School . . . , 104 Frequent journeys ....... 105 Excitement of successive wars . . . . . 105 Laxity of the court life . . . . . .106 Alcuin revisits England . . . . . 106 Disagreement between the Mercian and the Prankish court . . 106 War averted by Alcuin's efforts . . . . . 107 Subsequent events iu England ...... 107 THE CAROLINES ...... . ... . . . 107 Alcuin created abbat of St. Martin of Tours .... 108 xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. AtCDIN AT TOURS; OB, THE SCHOOL OF THE MONASTERY. I'AOS Alcuin's aims and sentiments as al>bat ..... 110 IDs increasing austerity in relation to classical literature . . . ] 10 Mis measures of reform . . . . . . .111 Hia letter to Charles . . . . . . . Ill His representations to Charles somewhat at variance with his actual discipline . . . . . . .111 Story told of Sigulfua . . . . . ..Ill Alcuin's general discipline . . . . . .113 Numerous students from England . . . . . 118 Envy of the Neustrians . . . . . . . 113 Alcuin's preference for his own countrymen . . . 114 Difference in this respect between him and Charles . . .114 THK IKISH MONASTERIES ix IUK SIXTH AND SEVENTH CENTURIES . 115 Columban's successes in Frankland . . . . 116 Controversy between the Celtic and Latin Churches . .116 The light in which such controversies present themselves in history . . . . . . . . 116 Other points of divergence between the Celtic and the Latin clergy . . . . . . . .117 Denial by the former of the authority of Rome . . 117 Resemblance between the Celtic and the Eastern theological spirit . . . .-. . . . 118 Boniface and the Irish clergy . . . . . 119 Astronomical knowledge possessed by the latter . . . 119 Charles' interest in astronomical questions . . . . 120 His relations with Ireland ...... 120 He welcomes Clement of Ireland at Aachen, and appoints him head of the Paiace School . . . . . . 121 Alcuin's discomfiture ....... 121 Alarm of the orthodox party . . . . . 122 Alcuin'* further correspondence with Charles .... 123 His triumph over the Adoptionists . . . . . 1 23 He declines to accompany Charles to Rome .... 124 He congratulate* him on his accession to the imperial dignity . .124 His dispute with Theodulfus . . . . .125 His last illness and death . . . . . . 125 His character and (services estimated ..... 126 CHAPTER III. RABAND8 MAURUS ; OR, THE SCHOOL AT PTJLDA. Charles' final labours . . . . . . . 128 LBWIS THE Pious ....... 128 Hi* measures of rnform . . . , . 129 Benedict of Aniane . 129 CONTENTS. xvii FAOB The COUNCIL OT AACHEN . . . . . . 129 The Benedictine rule generally enforced .... 129 Scholars not designed for the religious life to be separated from the oblati in the monastic schools . . . . . 180 THE EPISCOPAL SCHOOLS . . . . . .130 Character of the education there given . . . 131 The schools at Orleans and Rheims .... 131 The monastic schools at Corbey, St. Riquier, St. Martin of Metz, St. Bertin, &c. . 132 DECLINE ov THE SCHOOL AT TOURS . . . . . 133 Fredegis ...... 133 Alcuhi's forebodings verified . . . . . . 134 Fees exacted from the scholars . . 134 LEWIS' REFORMS . . . . . 135 Petition of the bishops for the founding of three public schools 136 Outbreak of civil war . . . . . 136 Lament of Floras . . , . . . .137 RABANPS MAURTTS . . . . . . . 188 He is sent from Fulda to Alcuin at Tours . . .139 His return to Fulda . . . . . . . 139 Is appointed teacher of the monastery school . . . 139 Calamitous experiences of the community . . . 139 Misrule of Ratgar . ..... 140 Sufferings and discontent of the monks . . . . 140 Their efforts to obtain redress ..... 141 Ratgar is deposed and Eigil appointed in his place . . .141 The monastery school reopened . . . . . ] 42 Rabanus' De Itistitvtione Clericorum . . . . 142 The rules therein laid down derived mainly from the Fathers . 143 Greater liberality of sentiment than in Alcuin's writings . . 143 Ilia estimate of pagan literature, rhetoric, and dialectic . . 144 His view with respect to pagan philosophy . . . 145 Hie commentary on St. Matthew . . . . .345 Extravagancies of his anagogical interpretation . . . 146 His superiority to Alcuin in his interpretation of natural phe- nomena ........ 147 His theory of subjective illusions . . . . 147 He rebukes the superstition of the native peasantry . . 148 His own superstitious veneration of relics . . . . 149 Points of contrast with Alcuin ..... 160 Testimony of Einhard to the clearness of his instruction . . 150 Testimonies of Church writers to his merits . . . 151 His activity as a founder . . . . . 161 His PUPILS: "Walalrid Strabo, Otfried of Weissenberg, Rudolfus, Liutpert, &c. . . .... 152 Difficulties involved in the theory that Rabanus was the author of the gloss discovered by Cousin . . . . 153 a xviii CONTENTS. RABANTTS MAURTTS continued PACK His aympathies as a politician . . . . .166 Hia loyalty to Lewis the Pious and to Lothair . . . 166 He retires to Peters berg . ... . ,165 His writings while in retirement , . . . 166 His relations to Lothair and Lewis the German . ... 166 He i elected archbishop of Maintz . . . . 166 Influence of the episcopal order at this period . . 166 CHAPTER IV. LUPUS SERVATUS; OR, THE CLASSICS IN THE NINTH CENTURY. Lupus and Alcuin contrasted , . . . 168 Lupus 1 early education . . . . . 168 His removal to Fulda and education under Rabanus and Einhard . 1 6'.) His return to Feme res and promotion to the abbatship . .169 Intercourse between monastic communities at this period , .169 CHARLES THE BALD . ,, , .160 His literary sympathies . . .160 Pi faculties that attended his reign , .. . 160 The invasions of the Northmen t . , . . 161 Lupus in the capacity of a soldier . . ,, . . , , 161 Contiscation of monastic lauds by the nobility , . . . 162 St. Judoc taken from Ferrieres . . , ... , .102 Remonstrance of Lupus with Charles .' .,.., .163 Language of the Council of Thionville -. < ' . . 163 Services of Lupus to the state . , . - , . . 164 Tardiness in the work of restitution , . .-.->. . .164 His services to the Clmrch . . , . > . 164 Probable date of his death . . . t . v . . 166 Hw devotion to letters and exalted conception of their use . . 166 His literary correspondence . . . . . . 166 He deplores the spirit with which learning is regarded by the majority 106 His perseverance in the search for books . . . 106 His literary criticism* . . . . . 167 Enumeration of classical authors that appear to have been known to him . . . ..... 168 Difficulties and dangers that attended his efforts , . ," ., . . 169 The influence of his classical studies discernible 16U CHAPTER V. JOHN SCOTUS EKIGENA ; OB, THE IRISH SCHOOL. Observation of Thomas Gale . . . . .171 John the connectiDg link between preceding schools of learning and the acholaetic philosophy . . . 171 CONTENTS. xix VACB His birth and early education ...... 172 His reception at the court of Charles the Bald . . . ] 73 Character of that monarch . . 173 His liberal patronage of learning . , 174 Influx of Irish scholars into Franklaud . . . .174 Circumstances of John Scotus 1 arrival contrasted with those of Alcuin'e 174 flis extensive attainments .... . 1 74 His knowledge of Greek . . . . . . 175 His Celtic culture . . . . . . ,176 Influence exercised on his mind by the TitnoGiu and the Pseudo- Dionysius ... , 176 The latter treatise described . . . . 1 76 John invited by Charles the Bald to undertake its translation , . 177 Testimony of Anastasius to his success . . .. . 177 Influence of the treatise on his philosophy . . , , 173 The Timaeut. . . . , . 178 The Platonic theory not reconcileable with predostinarianism . .179 Hinemar invites John to reply to Gotteschalk . . 179 Gori'ESCHAlK'8 PREVIOUS CAREER . ,. ,179 His theory of predestination . ... 180 It divides the Frankish theologians . , , 181 Gotteschalk strenuously opposed by Kabanus . . . 181 His efforts at propagating his doctrine , 4 ,182 His appeal to the Synod of Maintz . ... 182 His condemnation and disgrace . , , . .182 His sentence at the Council of Chiersy , . . 183 Counter movement in his favour ..... 183 John Scotus' De Praedestinatione . . , . . . 184 He employs the aid of dialectic ...... 184 Maintains that religion and true philosophy cannot be opposed . . 185 His fourfold method of argument ..... 185 Features in his treatise that specially evoked opposition . . 186 PlUJDEXTItTS . . . . . , . .187 His reply to John Scotus . . . . . . 187 Small value of these treatises in relation to the question at issue . 188 Sequel of the controversy in the ninth century . , 189 Value of its literature as illustrative of the progress towards scholas- ticism ......... 189 Doubts respecting John's latter career , , s 190 Quid distat inter ?....,. 190 The connexion between this era and that of the University of Paris . 191 Conclusion . 192 %* The subjoined list of works frequently referred to in the following pages is here given in order to obviate unnecessary repetition of the title of each work and the edition used. ALCCINIAHA : ed. Wattenbach and Dummlcr iu Jaffe, Bibliothfca Serum Gcrma- nicarvm, 1873. AMPERE: Histoire Litteraire de la France avant et sous . Charlemagne, par J. J. Ampere. 3 v. 1870. BALUZH : (Etienne) Capiiularia Begum Francorum. 2 v. 1780. CAROLINA : (Einhardi Epistolae, Einhardi Vita Caroli Magni, etc.) iu Jaffe, Billiotheca Serum Gcrmanicarum, 1867. COSSABT : Labbi and Cossart, Concilia, ed. Mansi. 1759-98. LUMMLEH: (Ernst) Geschlchte des Ost-FrankischenReichs, 1872. GUIZOT: Hiatoire de la Civilisation en France. 5 v. 1829-32. HArniAu : Histoire de la Philosophic Scholastique. Vol. i. 1872. Liox MAITUB: Les Ecolcs Episcopates et Monastiques de V Occident depuis C/uirle- magnejusqu'a Philippe- Auguste. 1866. MILMAN : (Dean) History of Latin Christianity. 9 v. 1867. MONNIKH : Alcuin et Charlemagne. 1 864. OZANAH : La Civilisation Chretienne chez les Francs. 1855. PAXQRAVB '. History of England and Normandy. Vol. i. 185. PEIITZ: Monumenta Germaniae Historica,. 1826-69. PHANTL: Geschichte der Logik im Abendlande. Vols. i-iv. 1855-70. KABAKI MACHI OPEBA : the edition in 6 volumes by Colvener. 1626. THE SCHOOLS OF CHARLES THE GREAT. ^^^MMMVV* INTRODUCTION. IT is a well-known story concerning the first Napoleon, that INTKOD. when, on his return from the campaign which was crowned ~ rf by the splendid victory of Austerlitz, the adornment of Paris, magne and as the capital of the newly inaugurated Empire, came again l apo ' under discussion, he abandoned a design that he had before conceived of erecting on the Place Vendome a column crowned by a statue of Charlemagne, and that there rose instead a column made from cannon taken on the field of the late battle, and surmounted by a statue of himself. His change of purpose was warmly commended by a few The Caro- discerning judges, who had severely criticised the earlier idea, jvofh-e and had failed to perceive any legitimate connexion between contrasted ^ the great emperor of Western Christendom and an emperor ^ the very coinage of whose realm bore on its reverse the V words Republique Fran^aise. To the student of mediaeval \l history it soon indeed becomes apparent that differences yet more considerable than those involved in dynastic descent separate the empire of Charles the Great from that of modern Prance. In that imperial figure which, like some magnifi- cent colossus, flings its shadow athwart the boundary that . divides the ancient from, the modern era, lie sees a ruler of purely Teutonic blood, king* of the Lombards, emperor of the Romans, the lord of more than half the Christian world. The kingdom which Louis xi received from Charles vui, or even that over which Louis xiv ruled after the peace of Westphalia, resembles the domain which Charles the Great B 2 INTRODUCTION. JNTROD. bequeathed to Lewis the Pious, only as the province of a vast emphe. Charles himself was German, profondement Germain, as Ampere candidly admits. He spoke the Ger- man tongue ; while the language spoken in Neustria and Aquitaine the countries that lay within the boundaries of modern France was an unformed patois, a corrupt Latin not yet sufficiently transformed to be recognised as Trench. Paris, the modest Lutetia whose Gallic simplicity had won the affections of Julian, was as yet but a third-rate provin- cial town * which the lord of Rome and Aachen once visited in the course of a long progress amongst a string of its lowly fellows.' ' Four centuries were yet to elapse before, uuder the rule of another dynasty and another race, the Neustrian land was to become a terror to Western Europe, the rude patois to have developed into the language not only of France but of the court and the legislature of England, the pro- vincial town to have become transformed into a splendid capital whose genius and learning attracted admirers and disciples from all parts of Christendom. It will not be irre- levant to our main enquiry if, before entering upon any dis- cussion of the state of education in the times of Charles the Great, we devote a few pages to a consideration of the vicissitudes of political power and the traditions of learning during the dim and troublous period that separates his reign from that of Augustulus and the suspended succession of the Western Emperors. Progress of The history of Western Europe, long before the rise of Sty and * ue Carolingian dynasty, had begun to assume that character decline of which gives to the annals of Christendom an interest far sur- passing that of all other histories, in the manner in which * fc exlli ^ t3 P ar % i n conflict, partly in fusion, the Aryan and tha Great, the Semitic traditions and habits of thought. With the commencement of the seventh century, it is trne, the long but unequal struggle between Christianity and paganism must have seemed definitely at an end. The legislation of Theodosius had repressed the ancient worship in the East; that of Honorius had confiscated its material resources in 1 Freeman, Essays (First Series), p. 176. INFLUENCE OF ROME. 3 the West. Even so early as the time of Theodosius II the INTROD. eastern ruler could venture to assume that the old faith was virtually extinct. 1 A like fate might well seem to be over- taking pagan learning. At Athens the fiat of Justinian had closed the schools of philosophy and driven its last adherents into exile. At Alexandria, where eclecticism had sought to mediate between that philosophy and Christian dogma, the Saracen, scornful alike of Christian and pagan culture, had given the literary treasures of the Serapeum to the flames and was reigning with undisputed sway. It was precisely when Christianity thus began to receive the unquestioning allegiance of the Latin race, that a new field of conquest opened up before it amid the Teutonic na- tions. The records of that conquest, although chequered with much that is melancholy and repulsive, still form un- doubtedly one of the most glorious chapters in the history of the Church. As the thought and literature of subjugated Greece had led captive the conquering Roman, so the reli- gion and culture of Christian Borne subdued the strong will and overthrew the gods of the victorious Teuton. The days of the decline of the Roman power were indeed, as has been truly said, the days of its greatest conquests ; the victories gained on the Metaurus, at Pydna, and on the Halys, shine with but an evanescent lustre when compared with those won by the faith, the laws, and the institutions of Christian Rome. Of all the races subdued by the arms of pagan Rome Oauluuder none appear eventually to have yielded a more complete *|^ " submission to her rule, or to have enjoyed a larger share of prosperous contentment beneath her sway, than the inhabi- tants of southern Gaul. It had been the constant endeavour of the emperor Augustus to lead them to forget their ancient freedom and to abolish or transform their national institu- tions. With this view he sought to obliterate all distinctions of race and all local traditions. He redistributed the privi- leges of states and cities, shifted the centres of government, 1 ' Pagani qui supersunt . . . quamquam jam nullos esse credamus, etc.' Cod. Theod. xrv xx. B 2 4 INTRODUCTION. INTROD. ignored the distinctions between Celt and Iberian, and pushed back the northern boundary of Aquitania from the Garonne to the Loire. His efforts were crowned by almost complete success. The Gaul of the south, when the work of subjugation had been once decisively accomplished, desisted from the struggle for freedom, and sank, like the kindred race in Britain, into contented acquiescence with his lot. No vigorous resistance like that offered by Lutetia to the arms of Caesar, and for which she paid so dearly in her en- forced obscurity among the Vecfigales no sudden insurrec- tion like that of Civilis is recorded on the part of the pleasure-loving natives of Narbonnensis and Aquitania. Throughout the tranquil and prosperous age of Hadrian and the Antonines, a halo of prosperity, refinement, and classic culture surrounds the Gallic cities. It became their pride to share in the splendour and to reflect the civilisation of Rome. The native idioms well-nigh disappeared. At Lugdunum, before the close of the second century, Latin appears to have become the vernacular speech.' The inhabi- tants of Auvergne, the foremost province in wealth and perhaps in learning, delighted, according to Sidonius Apollinaris, to believe that along with the founders of the Roman power they could trace back a common descent from Trojan ancestors. 2 The Burgundians, with equal pride, asserted their descent from Rome. 3 But precisely in proportion as they embraced the institu- tions and customs of ancient Rome, the Gauls shared in the degeneracy of the empire. Even so early as the first cen- tury, the historian had described them as dites et imbelles ; 4 and while, on the one hand, the Gaul sought to dignify his descent by claiming affinity with the Roman, the German, on the other hand, deemed his ancestry best vindicated by 1 Amp&re, i 143. 9 ' Audebant se quondam fratres Latio dicere, et sanguine ab lliaco populos computare.' Sidon. Apoll. Epist. vii 7. * T TOU Geou, iva eV tK?va ra (dvopvOa 6pfj,f)v ls airoo~xov. Apost. Const, bk. I, c. 6 ; Cote^jrius, Patres Apost. i 206. DECREE OF JULIAN. 9 Homer with a view to denouncing all that Homer held most INTROD. sacred and venerable, was malevolent and base. If they ^ were determined to reject the belief of Greece and Borne, Julian let them quit the schools of grammar and rhetoric and limit Christian their instruction to expounding the pages of the Evangelists teachers, in the churches of the Galileans. 1 Such were the grounds on which the philosophic emperor justified his expulsion of the Christians from the office of public instructors. His veto, it is to be observed, did not ex- tend to the Christian learner. Tertulliau himself had con- ceded that the children of the faithful must still seek the elements of knowledge where alone they were to be acquired, 2 and Julian, on the other hand, hoped that in such an atmo- sphere they would unlearn the narrow bigotry of their reli- gious creed. Even his positive enactment, if we accept the Im poiitic severity of view of Baur, 3 was not designed to drive the Christian from this mea- the centres of civilisation and intellectual culture, but simply sure> to afford protection to the pagan faith, and to make the missile of its adversaries recoil on their own ranks. But even by contemporary writers it was regarded as an act of excessive severity. In the language of Gregory Nazianzen it seemed to limit to the exclusive possession of a party that which was rightly the property of the whole intellectual world; 4 and Ammianus Marcellinus, pagan though he was, denounced it as illud inclemens, obruendum perenni silentio. 5 But however Julian's defenders may seek to justify or extenuate his decree, it is certain that in the sequel it proved 1 Et & rovr Ti/ita>raTovs VTro\a[iftdvov (Kf\fVf, \pumavovs TTOiBfixreats /"} p.tTf\fiv. "iva prj, (prjvlv, aKovafJxvoi TTJV yXwrrav, rroi'/ia>? irpbs rovt SiaXticriKovs rS>v 'EXXiji/cov diravranriv. Socrates, Hut. Eccl. ra 12. Migne (S. G.), Ixvii 412. 8 ' Huic necessitas ad excusationem deputatur, quia aliter discere non potest.' De Idolol c. 10 ; Migne, i 675. * Die Christliche Kirche, ii 42. See also Gieseler, i 313, note 5. 4 'Us aXXorpiov ica\ov pas, rS>v X5yai/ rjfias dirr)\a as tn i s tradition of the Latin Fathers to the ad- gathered strength, the classical spirit declined. From the derivaWe days when Tertullian first denounced the ancient literature, from the down to the days of Bossuet and Fenelon, two contending pagan theories are distinctly present in the Christian Church the literature theory of those who advocated the doctrine of the African alwuys discernible father, and the theory of those who contended that the Church. l -^P 1 **' <"* Eustochium, Migne, xxii 410. 2 ' Quotusquisque nuno Aristotelem legit P Quanti Platonia vel libros novere, vel nomen ? Vix in angulis otiosi senes eos recolunt. Rusticanofl vero et piscatores nostros totus orbis loquitur, uuivereus mundus sonat.' Pi'tef. ad Comment, in Epist. ad QaMas, lib. ill, c. 6 ; Migne, xxvi 401 . THE IMPERIAL SCHOOLS. U knowledne and study of the masterpieces of antiquity might INTROD. fitly and advantageously, under certain limitations, find a place in the education of Christian youth. At the time, how- ever, that Jerome wrote, those who upheld the former view laboured under one signal disadvantage that in the West no distinct scheme of Christian education had as yet been put forth as a substitute for the scheme of paganism. Unless therefore. all system and method were to be discarded, the Christian schoolmaster could only follow in the track marked out by the imperial schools, and thus, as we shall shortly see, was still compelled to have recourse to pagan authors. The Difficulties man might be censured for devoting' his mature powers to of *? position of the study of profane literature ; but the boy and the youth the Chris- must perforce still derive their training from the page of Horace and Vergil, of Terence and Pliny, of Quintilian and Donatus. It is easy also to understand that in times when, notwithstanding the activity of thought and speculation, all technical knowledge was experiencing a general decline, the teachers in those schools to which southern Gaul was in- debted for so much of her renown felt little inclined to de- part from their inherited traditions. Autun, already famed for her schools in the days of Tacitus, and rejoicing in the proud appellation of ' the Celtic Rome' Treves, which had imparted to St. Ambrose his Gallic style, and within whose precincts Lactantius had composed treatises which recalled the classic eloquence of Cicero Clermont, where the princi- ples of Eoman jurisprudence were taught and elucidated Besan9on, Lyons, Vienne, Narbonne, Toulouse and Bordeaux, schools of scarcely inferior note all alike exhibited that tena- cious adherence to tradition which is nowhere more conspic- uous than in the history of the great centres of learning. During the period that the Church found itself con- fronted by this dilemma, the name most prominently associ- # 390t ' ated with education is undoubtedly that of Ausonius, whose long life extended nearly from the commencement to the close of the fourth century. The education generally imparted in his day might well have exercised the capacity of a great reformer. It had become almost all that education ought 12 INTRODUCTION. Character of the education imparted in the imperial schools. INTROD. not to be mechanical, lifeless, artificial, and wanting in everything that could stimulate the reasoning and reflective powers. In the arts' course, grammar and rhetoric were the only subjects that received much attention ; the former, how- ever, as defined by Suetonius, had long been employed to denote much more than a technical knowledge of the laws of speech, and included an extended and critical acquaint- ance with the principal Latin authors. 1 Even in Ausonius' own time there were ' grammarians J who were also philolo- gists and students of comparative jurisprudence. But, for the most part, the study, as pursued in his day, was closely associated with rhetoric, and in common with that art had acquired a singularly effete and meretricious character. Ever since the time when Vespasian founded the imperial schools the training there imparted had remained unaltered, though the less genuine elements more and more preponde- rated over the more useful and solid. It was the training of which the letters of the younger Pliny a reflect the influence and also supply an interesting record, and which is more broadly discernible in the writings of Tertullian, Arnobius, and Apuleius the training of the dialectician and rhetori- cian, wherein all mental culture was made subservient to the supposed requirements of the forensic orator. Its most prominent feature was the committing to memory long passages from the poets and orators, a practice which, how- ever beneficial in moderation, was carried to an injurious excess. The memory acquired abnormal strength, but its developement was out of all just proportion to the finer mental powers, and tended to an almost entire extinction of originality of thought. Even in their own compositions the scholars generally fell back for ideas on Cicero, Horace, or Vergil, and their theses became one continuous process of ingenious but mechanical reproduction. Sometimes a far more rational exercise they rendered a passage from the poets into their own prose ; sometimes themselves attempted the art of metrical composition. But, in either case, it was 1 See author's History of the University of Cambi'idge, p. 7, n. 2. 3 See especially Epist. i 18 ; v 3 ; vn 17 ; vin 12 and 26. ATJSONIUS. 13 a mere trickery of words, wherein the thought was entirely INTROD, subordinated to the expression, while the fantastic diction ' ' ' and far-fetched imagery combined to form a style which could only be paralleled by the compositions of Les Precieuses or those of our English Euphuists. Greet, though it would appear to have been familiar to the scholars of the extreme south, of Aries and Marseilles, was almost unknown in the more northern cities. Ausonius himself appears to have learned nothing more than the rudiments as a boy. In short, of the system of public instruction that prevailed from the first to the fifth century, it may with justice be said, that by the prominence which it assigned to the mere ornamenta of pagan culture, to the rejection of the more in- tellectual and useful elements, it afforded the best justifica- tion of the veto which the Church had already pronounced with respect to the whole body of pagan literature. Such were the tendencies of learning in the age wherein Opportu- / Ausonius was called upon to act, and rarely does the history ^j^ded of letters present to our notice a more disappointing career, by his His experience was considerable ; his opportunities were t ^ ^~ great. He had been educated at Toulouse, and had himself b 7 circum- taught grammar for five years in his native city of Bordeaux, beneficial He had subsequently been appointed a public instructor in refonns - rhetoric ; and after a lengthened tenure of this post had been made the tutor of the youthful Gratiau at Treves. By his imperial pupil he was, it is no exaggeration to say, trusted and honoured as no tutor had ever been before. He suc- ceeded to the quaestorship ; he was twice appointed prefect. The first time, as prefect of Italy, he had jurisdiction over not only the great cities of the peninsula, but also those of Africa over Carthage, then in the zenith of her literary fame. The second time, as prefect of the Gauls, he ruled not only the cities of his native land, but also those of Spain and of Britain. The dignity of the consulship crowned the imposing array of his distinctions. If we add to this widely extended political influence the respect commanded by his excellent moral qualities, it is difficult to suppose that there was any reasonable amount of reform which he could not have effected 14 INTRODUCTION. Status of the public instructor. INTROD. in the educational institutions of his time. Ciroumstances again were highly favourable to such reform. At 110 period do we find the function of the public teacher more respectfully regarded by the public at large. That robust good sense which, in spite of many defects, distinguished the legislation of Valeutinian, had reinvigorated the whole system of instruc- tion throughout the empire. The instructors appointed by the state received adequate and even liberal salaries ; they were exempted from most of the civic and municipal burdens j 1 they were honoured by titles and dignities. Their labours were also largely supplemented by the enterprise of private teachers. An edict of the year 864 had made the office of the teacher practically free. 2 A decree of Gratian, promul- gated twelve years later, had required that public instructors should be appointed in all the chief cities of Gaul, and had fixed the amount of their salaries, 3 but there is satisfactory evidence that a large body of teachers, not recognised by official authority, still pursued their calling and found scope for their activity. Ausonius himself had taught grammar for five years in a private capacity, before, in his thirtieth year, he received a public appointment in his native city. 4 The conditions therefore under which the work of education was carried on in his time closely approximated to those Scope afforded for private enterprise in instruc- tion. 1 ' Sin absque Lonore counectivae cujuslibet scholae regimen fuerint nacti, absolutes militia inter eoa, qui duces fuerint provinciaruin, numerari jubemus.' Cod. Thcod. lib. vt, tit. 13 (ed. Haenel),p. 545; see also p. 1321. 2 ' Vita pariter et facundia idoneus vel novum instituat auditorium vel repetat intermission.' Ibid. p. 1322, dat. m Id. Janu. 364. 3 ' Per ouineni dioecesini commissam Magniu'centiae tuae, frequentissiinis in civitatibus quae pollent et eminent claritudine praeceptorum optiini quique evudieiidae praesideant juventuti, rhetores loquimur et grammaticos atticae romanaeque doctrinae.' Impp. Valena, Gratianus et Valentintanus Antvnio Tf. P. Galliumm, Ibid. p. 1325. 4 ' Noa ad Grammaticen stadium convertimus et mox Rhetorices etiam quod satis attigimus. Nee fora non celebrata mihi ; sed cura docendi Cultior : et nomen Grammatici merui. Exactisque dehinc per trina decennia fastis Asserui doctor municipalem operain.' Quoted by Kaufmann, von Raumer, Hist. Taschenbuch (1860), p. 91. AUSONIUS. 15 which modern experience seems to have finally accepted as re- INTROD. presenting a just mean between purely legislative and purely spontaneous action. The state, by fixing and securing a certain standard, protected the public from mere charlatans and adventurers; while the opportunities afforded, on the other hand, for private enterprise acted as a check upon a too perfunctory discharge of the official duties. The most zealous reformer could scarcely have asked for more favourable con- ditions ; and had Ausoiirus, in that plenitude of power and confidence which he enjoyed, been endowed with the capacity to discern the critical character of his time, he might not improbably have arrested the growing illiberality of the Church and have rendered signal and lasting service to the cause of learning. Unfortunately, he was wholly unequal to the occasion. Ausonius He either failed to realise the opportunity, or he preferred not to grapple with the difficulty. Ampere has very happily compared him and his brother rhetoricians to a set of Chinese mandarins, expending their energies on a series of literary futilities, and perfectly content so to do, while com- fortably conscious that, whatever the abstract value of their productions, they were thus advancing themselves on the path that led to emolument and high office. Ausonius indeed owes his reputation with posterity mainly to his Mosella, a really admirable description of the scenery of the beautiful river. Whether, as some critics hold, the predominance of Character poetry of this character is always to be regarded as a sign of a degenerating literary taste is a question into which we cannot here enter, but it is undeniable that the admirers of graceful Latin verse and the admirers of descriptive poetry alike still turn with pleasure to this fine poem. Admirably true to nature, the accuracy of its details may still be recognised by the wanderer along the river's course. Cuvier, it is said, found it of real service in enabling him to identify the different species of fish that formerly existed in those waters. Otherwise there is little that Ausomus has be- queathed to posterity which, regarded simply as poetry, might not very well be spared. Feats of perverted ingenuity 16 INTRODUCTION. INTROD. like his Inconnexa, or pedantic stanzas like his Parentalia, are valuable only as curiosities of literature or for the historical facts they incidentally supply. Yet in trifles like these a virtuous and able man, of Christian faith l and classic culture, frittered away his leisure, his powers, and his oppor- tunities. We see him, as his own muse depicts him, dreamily watching the fisher lad who plies his craft on the banks of the river, inhaling the perfume of the surrounding rose gardens, and composing verses in which the concluding syllable of one line is echoed by the commencing syllable of the next. Eminently a trifler and unprescient of the future ; while at his feet the murmuring Moselle steals on, by woods and vineyards and castled heights, to join the rapid Rhine, beyond which Nemesis is already forging the bolt of vengeance and retribution. Sidonius It is not improbable that Ausonius, who had seen the A P? lh " Franks retreating before Gratian, may have died still b. 430 ; cherishing the fond illusion that the empire would always be able to hold its own against the barbarians ; but in the fol- lowing century, the age of Sidonius Apollinaris, no such belief could any longer exist. * The last of the gentleman bishops of the Roman age,' as he has been styled, Sidonius witnessed in strange conjunction the old learning, the new faith, and the pagan invader triumphing in Gaul. During the interval between his age and that of Ausonius the diver- gence between the Roman and the Christian tradition of learning becomes yet more strongly marked. Claudian, the last representative of the purely classical genius, who died at the commencement of the century, still preserved much of the antique spirit, but only by a process of self -isolation. * His muse,' to quote the language of Ozanam, ' chanted her graceful strains out of hearing of the Ambrosian chant at 1 The facts advanced by Beugnot (Hist, de la Destmction du Paffanisme, ii 76) to shew that Ausonius was of pagan belief have been disproved by Ampere (i 247-50) ; see also an article by G. Kaufmann, Rhetorensckulen und Klogterschulen ; oder heidnische und christliche Oultur in Qattien wdhrend des 5. und 6. Jahrhunderts, in von Rauraer's HistarUche* Ttischenbuch, 1869, pp. 10, 11. ' Man hatto,' says Docking in his edition of the Mosetta, p. 43, ' statt der Frage, ob Ausonius Christ gewesen eei, eher die aufstellen sollen : wot fur ein Christ Ausonius gewesen sei P ' SIDONIUS APOLLINAR1S. 17 Milan.' Sidonius, in turn, offers the last eminent example, INTRO D. for a long period, of an attempted combination of classic and Christian culture. 1 Sidonius was a native of Lyons, where he was born about the year 430, of noble parents, the representatives of a family from which the illustrious house of the Poliguacs claim to trace their pedigree. He was sou-in-law of the emperor Avitus, to whom he addresses some of his most elaborate panegyrics compositions which afford excellent illustra- tion of the literary taste of the period. His connexions and high position, together with a certain similarity in his writings, at once suggest a comparison with Ausonius, but the difference in the circumstances of their times is all- Circum- important. The age in which Sidonius lived was one in ^ n ^e f which the most sanguine and the most discerning observer compared might alike well have despaired of the future of civilisation. S that of 6 In his earlier years, it is true, some rays of hope might still have seemed to linger over the prospect. The first efforts of his muse were called forth to commemorate the brief suc- cesses of Ae'tius, as the * liberator of the Iioire ; ' and he listened, while yet a youth, to the tidings of the dread struggle at Chalons. But the Frank had already crossed the Ehine, to be driven back no more ; and a few years later Sidonius witnessed the occupation of Clermont, afterwards the seat of his own episcopate, by the Gothic invader. In his maturer years he saw the insignia of imperial power trans- ferred from Italy to Nova Roma, and the verses are still extant in which he plaintively concedes the inferiority of the western to the eastern capital. He died only four years before the Frankish advance under Clovis upon Soissons. That a writer whose lot Was cast in such troublous times Triviality should have left behind little save elaborate panegyrics, f tone * OJ ' thatper- tnfling extemporaneous verse, and letters which rarely vadeshis writings. 1 As regards Sidouius, the uncritical optimism of M. Chaix in bis St. Sidoine Apollinaire et son stecle (2 v. 1866), and the hasty verdict of Niebuhr (Klwne Schriften, p. 325), are corrected by Kaufinann's criticisms : see Inaugural-Dissertation (Gottingen, 1864) and article in Schweizer Museum, 1865. See also observations of J. W. Loebell in his Gregor von Tours (ed. 1869), p. y