the carolingian age reflections on its place in the history of the middle ages

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The Carolingian Age: Reflections on Its Place in the History of the Middle AgesAuthor(s): Richard E. SullivanSource: Speculum, Vol. 64, No. 2 (Apr., 1989), pp. 267-306Published by: Medieval Academy of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2851941

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2/41

The

CarolingianAge:

Reflectionsn Its Place inthe

History

fthe Middle

Ages

By

Richard E. Sullivan

The purpose of thisessay is to reflect n the Carolingianage and on the

assumptions

that have

governed

the

study

of this

mportant

egment

of the

early

Middle

Ages.'

I

am concerned with two issues: what

happened during

the

Carolingian period,

and where the

period

should be located

in

the

arger

historical

ontext.

That

is

to

say,

the discussion s both historical nd histo-

riographical.

t is

intended

not

only

for

Carolingian

specialists,

ut

also

for

otherswho have

reason to consider the

origins

nd

development

of

medieval

history.

There

has been

a

massive

outpouring

of

scholarship

on

the

early

Middle

Ages

and on

Carolingian

history

ver the last half

century.2

A

generation

ago

it was

possible

to read that ittlewas to be

gained

fromfurther

tudy

of

the real dark

ages,

the

period extending

from

he

fallof

the

Roman

Empire

to

about 1000.3

Early

medieval

history

as

nevertheless

ecome the

object

of

intense

research,

especially

n the last

three decades. Evidence

of

this

renais-

This

essay

was

originally

presented

as

a

plenary

address delivered

on

May

10,

1986,

at the

Twenty-First

nternational

Congress

on

Medieval

Studies

sponsored

by

the Medieval Institute

of Western

Michigan University.

n

revising

the

original

paper

the

author received

invaluable

assistance from

many

generous colleagues, especially

Professor

Thomas F. X. Noble of the

University

f

Virginia

and

Dr.

Luke

Wenger

of the Medieval

Academy

of America.

2No

attempt

will be made in this

essay

to

provide

a

guide

to all of this scholarship;the

documentation s confined to studies

which

exemplify

he

points

being

made. The

following

abbreviations

re used:

Annales Annales:

Economies,

ocietes,

ivilisations

DA

Deutsches

rchiv

iir

Erforschung

es Mittelalters

EHR

English

Historical eview

FMSt Friihmittelalterliche

tudien

HJ

Historisches

ahrbuch

HZ

Historische

eitschrift

MA

Le

Moyen

Age

Settimane Settimane

di studio del Centro

italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo

SM Studimedievali

VuF

Vortrage

und

Forschungen

ZKG

Zeitschrift

uir

irchengeschichte

3

On

this

point,

see William

Carroll

Bark,

Origins

f

theMedieval

World,

tanford Studies

in

History,

conomics,

and

Political Science

14

(Stanford,

Calif.,

1958),

pp.

3-4.

SPECULUM 64

(1989)

267


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3/41

268

The

Carolingian Age

sance can be found

in

the

establishment

n

Europe

of

highly

visible

and

productive

research

centersdedicated

to the

nvestigation

f

the

early

Middle

Ages, notably

the

Centro italiano

di studi sull'alto

medioevo

at

Spoleto,

the

InstitutfurFrihmittelalterforschungf the University f Mtnster,and the

Centre de recherches

sur

l'Antiquite

tardive

et le

Haut

Moyen-age

of

the

University

f Paris X-Nanterre. Since World

War

II

early

medieval studies

have

also taken

on

new

vigor

n

North America.

All this

ttention

o the

early

Middle

Ages,

of

whichthe

Carolingian

period

is a

crucial

part,

has

nurtured new

approaches

and

emphases

in

Carolingian

studies.

What has

yet

to

happen,

however,

s the

development

of a

synthesis

that does

justice

to the advances that have been

made in our

understanding

of

particular opics.

After

reading

hundreds

of

articles

nd

monographs

on

a

variety

f

Carolingian subjects,

sense a

kind

of

aimlessness,

n

absence

of

cohesion, in Carolingian studies.A symptom f thisuncertaintys perhaps

provided by

the theme selected

for the

twenty-seventh

ettimana

at

Spoleto

in

1979: Nascita

dell'Europa

ed

Europa

carolingia:

Un'equazione

da verifi-

care. 4 The

thinly

eiled

question

that

gives

substance to

this

title

nevitably

prompts

the

thought

hat

something

may

be amiss

n

the basic

presumptions

underlying

he conventional

approach

to

the

Carolingian period.

It is

time,

then,

to

examine

the current

rajectory

f

Carolingian scholarship.

f the

old

paradigms

are found

wanting,

cholars

must

develop

new

ones that

will

direct

their

research toward

more

productive

nds.

At

the heart of what

I believe to be a malaise

in

Carolingian

studies s the

issue

of

periodization.

mposed

artificially

n

the

past, periodization

oncepts

serve historians s hermeneutical

devices that

give

impetus,

direction,

nd

meaning

to research and

interpretation. hey pose questions

about

segments

of

the

past

and

challenge investigators

o demonstrate

the

unique,

organic

character

of

a discrete

chronological

period.

To the

extent that scholars

succeed

in

this

effort,

he

period

earns

a distinct

lace

in

the

larger

historical

continuum.

Periodization

concepts

do not

live

forever;

the

landscape

of

history

s

strewnwith their

bones.

The

critical

moment

n

the

life of

a

periodization

paradigmcomes whenscholarlynvestigation eginstoproduce a knowledge

base that no

longer

supports

the

postulates

that had been

thought

to define

the

unique

character of

a

period.

When this

happens,

consensus

is

under-

mined,

and the

scholarly

ommunity

ends to

fragment

n

the absence of

a

conceptual

nstrument o

guide

the formulation f common

problems.

A

new

scheme becomes

necessary,

both

to accommodate what

has

already

been

learned and to

provide

a focus for

subsequent

study.

Carolingian historiography ppears

to

be

approaching

this

kind

of critical

juncture.

If it is true that

the

dissolution

of

a once vital

paradigm

is

upon

us,

the

implications

re

far-reaching.

More than

the future

course of

Caro-

lingian

studies is at stake. A

major

redefinition f the

Carolingian period

4

For

the

results,

ee Nascita

dell'Europa

d

Europa

carolingia:

Un'equazione

a

verificare,

vols.,

Settimane

27

(Spoleto,

1981).




4/41

The

Carolingian

Age

269

would

entail an

equally

substantial

revision

in

our

understanding

of

the

development

of

medieval

history

s

a

whole.

I

Perhaps

I

can

best frame

the

issue

I

wish to

analyze

by citing

two books.

The

first

work,

Henri

Pirenne's

Mahomet

t

Charlemagne,

osthumously ub-

lished in

1937,5

has

played

a crucial role in

defining

n

acceptable

periodi-

zation

scheme for the

Carolingian age

and thus

n

giving hape

to

Carolingian

studies

for

almost a half

century.

The

second,

Robert

Fossier's

Enfance

de

l'Europe,

Xe-XIIe

siecle:

Aspects

conomiques

t

ociaux,

ublished

n

two

volumes

in

1982,

brazenly

challenged

the

validity

f

that

periodization

paradigm.6

Although sometimes uspectthat the Pirenne thesis s fadingfromthe

vocabulary

of historical

iscourse,

t should not be

necessary

here to

recapit-

ulate

the

path

that Pirenne followed

to

reach his

seminal

conclusion,

quoted

from

he

English

translation

f

his

great

work:

It

is therefore

trictly

orrect

to

say

that

without Mohammed

Charlemagne

would

have been

inconceiv-

able. 7

What

is

relevant here

is

what

this

conclusion

meant

in

terms

of

defining

precise

character

for

the

Carolingian

age.

For Pirenne the Caro-

lingian

period

marked the

beginning

of

a

new era. In

part

as

a result

of

the

final

collapse

of

Romanitas

rought

about

by

the

Moslem

disruption

of Med-

iterranean

unity

and in

part

as

a

consequence

of

creative nitiatives nder-

taken in

the

Carolingian

world,

a

new

order took

shape

in the

European

West

n

the

eighth

century.

irenne

suggested

thatthe fundamental ontours

of that

new order

could best be

discerned

n

the economic

and social

patterns,

the

political

order,

and the intellectual ife

of

the

Carolingian

age,

but

it was

implicit

n

his

basic

argument

hat

major

transformation

ffecting

ll

aspects

of

life

occurred in

the crucial

Carolingian

age,

where the

Middle

Ages

had

their

beginning. 8

The

impact

of

Pirenne's

periodization

model was

immediate and massive

with

respect

to

the

Carolingian

age.

That fact

s sometimes eiled

by

the well-

knowndebate surrounding he Pirenne thesis. n fact, hatdebatewaschiefly

concerned

with Pirenne's

analysis

of what

happened before

he

Carolingian

era.

There was

almost universal

acceptance

of Pirenne's

postulation

hat

the

Carolingian

era

marked the birthof

Europe,

the creation

of a new

civiliza-

tional

order

which left

an

indelible

stamp

on future Western

European

history.

Proof of

that

impact

abounds not

only

in

monographic

literature

dating

from

about

1940

but

also,

more

dramatically,

n

highly

nfluential

synthetic

reatments f the

early

Middle

Ages

and

in standard medieval

5For thestory fhow this eminalworkevolved,see Bryce Lyon,HenriPirenne:ABiographical

and

Intellectual

tudy

Ghent, 1974).

6

For the

purpose

of

this

ssay,

ee also Robert

Fossier,

t

al.,

Le

moyenge,

3

vols.

Paris,

1982-

83).

7

Henri

Pirenne,

Mohammed

nd

Charlemagne,

rans.

Bernard Miall

(London,

1939),

p.

234.

8

Ibid.,

p.

234.




5/41

270 The

Carolingian Age

history

extbooks,

ften

the itmuswhere

conceptual

consensus

s

registered.9

All

these

works

shared

a common characteristic:

hey

ocated

the birth of

Europe,

the

beginning

of

the

Middle

Ages,

the

point

of transitionfrom

ancienttomedieval, n tie Carolingian age, themajorcharacteristicf which

was the

establishment

f a new civilizational

rder. Pirenne's

most

significant

achievementwas to articulate

paradigm

which

permitted

cholars

to

agree

that

the

Carolingian

era

possessed

its own

identity,

hat it

represented

a

radical break

with

he

past

and

the

creationof new societalfoundations

which

marked the birth f

Europe.

To

give

substance

to

the terms

f so

provocative

a

periodization

cheme was

sufficient

hallenge

to nurture

massive

ollective

scholarly

ffort efined

by

the termsof the

Pirenne

paradigm.

Let

us move from 1937 and

the

Carolingian

birthof

Europe

to

1982

and

Fossier's

Enfance

de

l'Europe.

The entire

thrust f Fossier's

treatment

f the

tenth,eleventh,and twelfth enturies s to claim for thatperiod what the

Pirenne thesis

posited

for the

Carolingian age.

He

argues

that Western

Eu-

ropean

civilization

aw its

genesis during

the few decades

clustered

on either

side

of

the

year

1000.

Not

only

does

he

shift

he date of

the birth

of

the first

Europe,

but

also

he insists that

the

infant ooks

different.As

revealed

by

demographers, anthropologists, limatologists,

conomic

historians,

nd ar-

chaeologists,

he contours

of this autre

moyen

ge

(a

phrase

borrowedfrom

Jacques

Le

Goff)

were

shaped by

the

activities

f the

ignoble

ratherthan

by

a

social elite. In its essential

structures hat world arose

de

novo,

formed

by

creative

responses

to the

challenges

and the

stresses

supplied by

climatic

changes,

population growth,

herelaxationof the

tyranny

f ancient

kinship

ties,

and the

regrouping

of

human

beings

into

a

more

stable

political-eco-

nomic-social

tructure

efined

by

the

seigneurial system.

For Fossier the

discovery

f

this new

first

urope

reduces the

Carolingian

revival

to

an

episode

without

consequence

and

makes

Charlemagne

un

9

For

example,

H.

St.

L.

B;

Moss,

The

Birth

of

theMiddle

Ages,

395-814

(Oxford, 1935);

Ferdinand

Lot,

Christian

Pfister,

nd

Francois

L.

Ganshof,

Les destinies e

I'empire

n

occident,

ew

ed., Histoiregenerale,ed. GustaveGlotz,Histoiredu moyen ge 1 (Paris, 1940-41); Christopher

Dawson,

The

Making of

Europe:

An

Introductiono

the

History

f

European

Unity

New

York,

1945);

C.

Delisle

Burns,

The

First

urope:

A

Study f

the

stablishment

f

Medieval

Christendom,

.D.

400-

800

(London,

1947);

and Heinrich

Dannenbauer,

Die

Entstehung

uropas:

Vonder

Spdtantike

um

Mittelalter,

vols.

(Stuttgart,

959-62).

Moss's book

extended

the

sweep

of

the

Pirenne thesisto

broader

ground

by

suggesting

hat not

only

n

the

West

but also

in

Byzantium

nd the Moslem

world

there

occurred between the death

of

Theodosius

and

that

of

Charlemagne

critical

devel-

opments

which

ikewise

ignaled

the

birth

f

new,

unique

civilizational

atterns.

his

challenging

suggestion

mboldened some

scholars

to enfold

both

East and West

nto

a

grand

scheme which

highlighted

he

tripartition

f the unified

classical Mediterranean

world

among

three

heirs

of

the Roman

Empire,

each of which

reached

a

crucial

uncture in the

eighth

entury;

ee

Richard

E.

Sullivan,

Heirs

of

theRoman

Empire

Ithaca,

N.Y.,

1960);

Robert

Folz,

et

al.,

De

l'antiquite

u

mondemedievale, euples et civilisations,Histoire generale 5 (Paris, 1972); Handbuchder euro-

ptischen

Geschichte,

d. Theodor

Schieder,

1:

Europa

im

Wandel

von derAntike um

Mittelalter,

d.

Theodor

Schieffer

(Stuttgart,

976);

and

Judith

Herrin,

TheFormation

f

Christendom

Princeton,

N.J.,

1987).

Even

a

cursory

examination of American textbooks

of medieval

history

written

between

World

War

I

and about 1950

leaves no doubt that the Pirenne thesis

had a

profound

impact

on

their

tructure

nd

emphasis.




6/41

The

Carolingian Age

271

souverain

antique

rather than

Europae pater. '0

Fossier is

willing

to con-

cede

some

continuities cross the divide

separating

the

Carolingian

world

from the

civilizational

rder

emerging

after

1000,

but for him

these were

only

surface

phenomena

which n no

way permitus to argue that the pow-

erful

upsurge

occurring

n the

West after 1000 was

a

consequence

of

evolu-

tion from

a

Carolingian

base. He

argues

that

up

until about 950 there

was

littleto

allow one to

foresee

the

birth,

et alone

the

triumph,

of

a

petite

Europe

occidentale.

Only

in

the East

-

in

the

Byzantine

nd Islamic worlds

-

was there

vitality

nd

creativity.

n

the

West

prior

to

the

mid-tenth

entury

nothing

meets the

eye except

ruins and

mediocrity.

ut

once

into

the tenth

century

here was

a dramatic

reversal

which

resulted

n the

reorganization

of the

moribund

societies

of the

West.

Wrenching

tself

from

ts

position

of

fetal

dependence,

Western Christendom ook

on

a

life

of its

own,

unique

in all its features. Le 'vrai'Moyen-agecommence. 1

In

evoking

the

names

of Pirenne

and Fossier

I

have no intention

f

claim-

ing

for

either

a

place alongside

Augustine

of

Hippo

or Karl Marx or Arnold

Toynbee

as formulators

of

grand

designs

within which

the total

human

experience

or

any

of

its

parts

can be

fitted.

Their

respective

positions

do

suggest,

however,

hat

fter

fifty ears

of

historical

nvestigation

t has

become

plausible

to locate the

beginning

of the

Middle

Ages

two

centuries

ater than

Pirenne

had

placed

it.

The event critical

o

any

periodization

ystem

s

the

birth

f a

civilizational rder.

Fossier

asks us to

consider

major

chronological

redefinition.

He attributes o

a

different et

of

players

the

responsibility

or

thecrucial actions

shaping

the new order- not

kings

nd

prelates

and men

of

learning

but

brutal,

unruly

seigneurs,

near-savage peasants,

crude

mer-

chants and

artisans,

and

renegade

clerics. And

he draws the

visage

of

this

new

order with a different et of

distinguishing

eatures

not

an

imperial

state nd

a

universal hurch

and a

learned

literary

ulture,

but

socioeconomic

structures

deeply

rooted

in a

particular

mode

of

agricultural

production,

bonding relationships

mbedded

in

unique

kingship

and

dependency

pat-

terns,

nd

mentalities

haped

by pagan perceptions

uperficially

masked

by

an

extremely

ransparent

veil of

Christianity.

f

all this s

true,

then

indeed

we have arrived at une autre moyen age and a new periodization cheme

which

calls for

a

fundamentalreassessment

f how

we

interpret

ny aspect

of

medieval

civilization.

What Fossier has

suggested

as

a

more

convincing

way

of

periodizing

me-

dieval

history

s not

a

product

of

scholarly

egerdemain.

Rather,

t s

a

logical

conclusion to

be derived from the

collective

thrust

of

scholarly

effort

d-

dressed to a

variety

f

ssues

over the ast

half

century.

entral

to

the

scholarly

enterprise

which

appears

to be

producing

a reformulation

f

the

basic con-

figuration

f

medieval

history

as been

Carolingian

scholarship.

t is

time

to

look to

the course of that

scholarly

effort o

as

to better

understand

the

massivetransformation e have suggested.

10

See

D. A.

Bullough,

Europae

Pater:

Charlemagne

and

His Achievements

n

the

Light

of

Recent

Scholarship,

EHR

85

(1970),

59-105.

1

Fossier,

et

al.,

Le

moyen

ge,

2:6.




7/41

272 The

Carolingian Age

2

A

review of

Carolingian

scholarship

over

the last

half

century

ffers

on-

vincingproofthat the Pirennethesis,bypostulating hattheCarolingian age

witnessedthe birth of

Europe

and

the

beginning

of the Middle

Ages,

gave

Carolingian

studies

a distinctive

hape.

That

paradigm

set a

specific

genda

to

which scholars of

every persuasion

-

political,

conomic, social,

religious,

literary,

inguistic,

rtistic could

profitably

evote their

energies.

It

called

upon

them

to establish

the

exact circumstances hat defined

the

disjuncture

setting

he

Carolingian age

apart

from the

previous age.

It

was crucial that

the

new,

innovative

aspects

of the

Carolingian experience

be delineated.

Attention eeded to be

given

to what

distinguished

he first

urope

not

only

fromthe classical world but also from

other

contemporary

ultures:

Byzan-

tine, Moslem, Slavic,Scandinavian,Celtic,Anglo-Saxon. Finally, twas vital

to

identify spects

of

the

Carolingian

achievementwhich asserted

a

decisive

formative

nfluenceon the future

European

world.

As

assorted

Carolingianists

roceeded

with

this

genda

from heirvarious

specialized

perspectives,

heir

efforts

onverged

on one

overarching

heme

which

I

would submit has

provided

the central focus for the

study

of the

Carolingian

world for most of the

past fifty

ears.

The

strongest

ase for the

claim that

the

Carolingian

age

witnessed he birthof the first

urope

rested

on the

emergence

of certain

common,

unifying,

niversal,

pan-European

developments pointing

toward the

establishment

f

a

single

civilizational

order. That

approach

was not

entirely

ew;

even observers

iving

during

the

Carolingian

age

dimlyrecognized

the

centrality

f this

theme

n

theirtimes.

Certainly variety

f scholars

after

the

Carolingian

era and before Pirenne

were

attracted

to the

common,

unifying

imensions

of

Carolingian

history,

thus

establishing

tradition for

this

approach.

And

in

accounting

for

the

passion

with

which

Carolingianists

ver

the

past

fifty

ears

have

pursued

the

universalizing,

unifying

features

of

the

Carolingian

experience

one must

always

be

mindful

f

an

important

imensionof

twentieth-centuryuropean

consciousness.

Most

Carolingianists

were members of an

intelligentsia

es-

peratelyseeking common denominators n the European experience that

would

provide

a

rallyingpoint

against

forces

of national and

ethnic

hatred,

global

warfare,

otalitarianism,

nd

class conflict hat eemed

to

push

Western

civilization

oward

the fate

predicted

in

the

Spenglerian

prophecy.

Where

better

o

find

Europe's

most

precious

commonalities han

at

the fountainhead

of

the

European experience

where

presided

one of

Europe's

few

shared

heroes

-

Karl

der

Grosse,

Charlemagne,

Carolo

Magno,

Charles

the Great?

But

neither

traditionnor

anomie

sufficed

o

focus

so

sharply

he

thrust

f

Carolingian

scholarship

over the

last

fifty

ears.

What was

decisive

was a

persuasive

periodization

scheme

which could be

given

substance

by

identi-

fyingand

describing

the shareable,

unifying

nstitutional nd

ideological

patterns

nstituted

y

the

Carolingian

elite to draw into

an

organic

order the

diverse

peoples

occupying

he

territory

ontrolled

by

the

Carolingian

dynasty.

The

creation

and

dissemination

of these commonalities

et the

Carolingian

age

apart

from

he

past

and from ther

contemporary

ocieties

nd

permitted




8/41

The

Carolingian Age

273

the

creative

forces

of

that

age

to fashion an

inheritance which

could be

transmitted

o sustain a

unique

Western

European

culture

n

the

post-Caro-

lingian

age.

An example - one of but many- of this central feature ofCarolingian

studies s

supplied by

Carolingian

religious

historians.

A

survey

of the

fruits

of

their

cholarly

abors eaves no doubt that

their nterest as focused

chiefly

on

developments

ffecting

he societas hristiana

n

a

common

way

and

point-

ing

toward

the unification f

that

extensive

ommunity.

he crucial

themes,

regularly

ounded

in

the

major

general

treatments f

Carolingian

religious

history,

ave been

pursued

in

infinite

etail

by

legions

of scholars

studying

specific

spects

of

religious

ife.'2

Particularly

nthralling

as been the

effort

to chart

the

path

followed

by

the

papacy

between

Gregory

I and

John

VIII

in

establishing

tself as

a

unifying,

irective force over Western Christen-

dom.13

Directly

related to that theme is the

unique relationship

stablished

between the

Carolingian

state and the

religious

establishment.14

Scholars

12

As

illustrative

f

this

emphasis,

see Emile

Amann,

L'epoque arolingienne,

istoire de

l'eglise

depuis

les

origines usqu'a

nos

jours,

ed.

Augustin

Fliche

and Victor

Martin,

6

(Paris,

1947);

Handbuch

der

Kirchengeschichte,

d. Hubert

Jedin,

3: Die

mittelalterliche

irche,

.

Halbband: Vom

kirchlichen

riihmittelalterur

gregorianischeneform,y

Friedrich

Kempf,

Hans-Georg

Beck,

Eugen

Ewig,

and

Josef

Andreas

Jungmann Freiburg,

1966)

(English

translation s Handbook

f

Church

History,

d. Hubert

Jedin

and

John

Dolan,

3:

The Church

n

the

Age of

Feudalism,

rans. Anselm

Biggs

[New

York,

1969]);

David Knowles

withDmitri

Obolensky,

TheMiddle

Ages,

The Christian

Centuries

2

(New

York,

1968); J.

M.

Wallace-Hadrill,

The Frankish

hurch,

xford

History

of

the ChristianChurch

(Oxford,

1983);

Pierre-Patrick

erbraken,

Les

premiers

iecles hretiens:u

college

postolique

l'empire arolingien,

ew

ed.

(Paris, 1984);

and

Gert

Haendler,

Die

lateinische

Kirche mZeitalter er

Karolinger, irchengeschichte

n

Einzeldarstellung

1/7

Berlin,

1985).

13

For

example,

Amann,

L'epoque

carolingienne, assim;

Franz X.

Seppelt,

Das

Papsttum

m

Frihmittelalter:

eschichte

er

Pdpste

vom

Regierungsantritt

regors

es Grossen is zur Mittedes 11.

Jahrhunderts,

eschichte des

Papsttums

2

(Leipzig,

1934);

Johannes

Haller,

Das

Papsttum:

dee

und

Wirklichkeit,

ev.

ed.,

5

vols.

(Basel,

1951-53),

1:345-559; 2:1-178;

Yves

Congar, L'eglise

de

S.

Augustin

l'epoque

moderne,

istoire de

dogma

3,

Christologie-sot6riologie-mariologie

(Paris,

1970),

chs.

2-3;

and

Walter

Ullmann,

A

Short

History f

the

Papacy

n

theMiddle

Ages

London,

1972),

pp.

4-115.

14

The

phenomenon

in

question

is described

by

Gabriel Le

Bras,

Sociologie

de

l'6glise

dans

le hautmoyenage inLe chiese eiregni ell'Europa ccidentalei loro apportionRoma ino ll'800,

2

vols.,

Settimane

7

(Spoleto,

1960),

2:595-611.

Studies

llustrating

his

point

ncludeKarl

Voigt,

Staat und

Kirche

on

Konstantin

em

Grossen

is umEnde

der

Karolingerzeit

Stuttgart,

936);

Louis

Halphen,

Charlemagne

t

l'empire

arolingien,

'6volution

de l'humanit633

(Paris,

1947)

(English

translation s

Charlemagne

nd

the

Carolingian mpire,

rans.

Giselle de

Nie,

Europe

in

the Middle

Ages

3

[Amsterdam,

1977]);

Robert

Folz,

L'idge

d'empire

n occident

u Ve au XIVe

siecle,

ollection

historique

Paris,

1953),

pp.

11-46

(English

translation s The

Concept

f

Empire

n Western

urope

from

he

ifth

o

the ourteenth

entury,

rans. Sheila

Ann

Ogilvie

[London, 1969],

pp.

3-35);

H.-

X.

Arquilliere,

L'Augustinismeolitique:

ssai sur

la

formation

es theories

olitiques

u

moyen-age,

L'6glise

et l'6tat

u

moyen-age

2,

2nd

ed.

(Paris,

1955);

Das

Konigtum:

eine

geistigen

nd

rechtlichen

Grundlagen,

uF 3

(Lindau, 1964),

especially

the articles

by Eugen

Ewig,

Heinrich

Buttner,

nd

Theodor

Mayer;

Marcel

Pacaut,

La

thgocratie:

'eglise

t

e

pouvoir

u

moyen

ge,

Collection histo-

rique

(Paris,

1957),

pp.

35-62;

Josef

Semmler,

Reichsidee und kirchliche

Gesetzgebung

[bei

Ludwig

dem

Frommen],

ZKG 71

(1960),

37-65;

Walter

Mohr,

Die

karolingische

eichsidee,

evum

Christianum:

Salzburger

Beitrage

zur

Religions-

nd

Geistesgeschichte

es Abendlands

5

(Muns-

ter,

1962);

Karl

Frederick

Morrison,

The

Two

Kingdoms:

cclesiology

n

Carolingian

olitical

hought

(Princeton,

N.J.,

1964);

Hans Hubert

Anton,

Fiirstenspiegel

nd

Herrscherethos

n der

Karolingerzeit,

Bonner

historische

Forschungen

32

(Bonn, 1968),

especially

pp.

357-444;

Y.

M.

J. Congar,




9/41

274

The

Carolingian

Age

following

this

line of

investigation

have

especially

stressed the

emerging

symbiosis

etween

state and

church,

which

mutually

einforced

he

drive on

the

part

of

each to

unify

ociety.

The

result

was

an

intermingling

f

interests

and activities o intimate hatCarolingianists eelcomfortable n employing

such terms

as

rex-sacerdos,

piscopus-comes,

ay

abbot,

ministerial

ingship,

es

publica

Christiana,

nd

imperium

hristianum

o

characterize the

Carolingian

politico-religious

stablishment

always

within

a

context

that

emphasizes

the

unifying

mpact

of

the

emergent theocracy.

Other

prime

focuses

of

investigation

nto

Carolingian religious history,

ikewise

stressing

unifying

and

universalizing

tendencies in the

Carolingian

world,

include the

stan-

dardizing

of

the

norms

definingreligious

behavior;'5

the

effort o'

mpose

a

uniform

organizational

structure n

the

Carolingian

church;'6

the encour-

L'ecclesiologie

u haut

moyenge

de saint

Gregoire

e

Grand la

desunion

ntre

yzance

t

Rome

(Paris,

1968);

Paola

Maria

Arcari,

dee e

sentimenti

olitici

ell'alto

medioevo,

niversita

di

Cagliari,

Pub-

blicazioni

della

Facolta

di

Giurisprudenza,

erie

2/1

Milan,

1968);

Walter

Ullmann,

The

Carolin-

gian

Renaissance

nd the dea

of

Kingship,

he

Birbeck

Lectures,

1968-69

(London,

1969);

Gerd

Tellenbach,

Die

geistigen

und

politischen

Grundlagen

der

karolingischen

hronfolge:

Zugleich

eine

Studie

fiber

kollektive

Willensbildung

und

kollectives

Handeln

im

neunten

Jahrhundert,

FMSt

13

(1979),

184-302;

Johannes

Fried,

Der

karolingische

Herrschaftsverband m

9.

Jh.

zwischen

Kirche' und

'K6nigshaus, '

HZ

235

(1982),

1-43;

Brigitte

zab6-Bechstein,

Libertas

Ecclesiae:

Ein

Schliisselbegriff

es

Investiturstreitsnd seine

Vorgeschichte,

.-11.

Jahrhundert,

tudi

Gregoriani

12

(Rome, 1985);

and

Uta-Renate

Blumenthal,

The

nvestiture

Controversy:

hurch

nd

Monarchy

rom

heNinth o the

Twelfth

entury

Philadelphia,

1988).

15

Carlo de

Clercq,

La

legislation

eligieuse

ranque:

Etude ur

es

actesde

conciles

t es

capitulaires,

les

statuts

iocesains

t

es

regles

monastiques,

:

De

Clovis

&

Charlemagne

507-814)

(Louvain,

1936);

2:

De

Louis le

Pieux

a

la

fin

du

IXe

siecle

814-900)

(Antwerp,

1958);

Antonio

Garcia

y

Garcia,

Historiadel

derecho

an6nico,

1: El

primer

milenio,

nstitutode

historia

de la

teologia

espafola,

Subsidia

1

(Salamanca,

1967);

Hubert

Mordek,

Dionysio-Hadriana

und

Vetus

Gallica: Histo-

risch

geordnetes

und

systematisches

irchenrecht m

Hofe

Karls

des

Grossen,

Zeitschrift

er

Savigny-Stiftungfiir

echtsgeschichte,

an.

Abt. 56

(1969),

39-69;

and

idem,

Kirchenrecht

nd

Reform

im

Frankenreich:

ie

Collectio

Vetus

Gallica,

die

alteste

ystematische

anonessammlung

es

frinkischen

Gallien. tudien

nd

Edition,

eitrage

zur

Geschichteund

Quellenkunde

des

Mittelalters

(Berlin,

1975).

16

In discussingCarolingian developments in church organizationthe general surveysof

church

history

noted in n.

12,

above,

all

emphasize

the

progress

made

toward a

uniform

organizational

tructure s

a

key

featureof

Carolingian

ecclesiastical

history.

lso

illustrative

re

the

following:

Histoire

es

nstitutionsfrancaises

u

moyen

ge,

ed.

Ferdinand

Lot

and

Robert

Fawtier,

3:

Institutions

ecclesiastiques,y

Jean-Francois

Lemarignier,

ean

Gaudemet,

and

Guillaume Mollat

(Paris,

1962),

pp.

7-48;

Heinrich

Buttner,

Mission

und

Kirchenorganisation

es

Frankenreiches

bis zum

Tode

Karls

des

Grossen,

in

Karl der

Grosse:

ebenswerknd

Nachleben,

d.

Wolfgang

Braunfels,

4

vols.

(Dusseldorf,

1965),

1:454-87;

G. W.

O.

Addleshaw,

The

Development

f

the

Parochial

System

rom

Charlemagne

768-814)

to

Urban

I

(1088-1099),

St.

Anthony's

Hall

Publi-

cations

6

(London,

1954);

Friedrich

Kempf,

Primatiale und

episkopal-synodale

trukturder

Kirche

vor

der

gregorianischen

Reform,

Archivum

istoriae

ontificiae

6

(1978),

27-66;

and

Cristianizzazione

d

organizzazione

cclesiasticaelle

ampagne

ell'alto

medioevo:

spansiona resistenze,2

vols.,

Settimane28

(Spoleto,

1982).

This

particular

emphasis

in

treating

Carolingian

church

organization

has been

powerfully

nfluenced

by

the

picture

that

emerges

from the

study

of

canon

law;

see,

for

example,

such

works as

Willibald

M.

Plochl,

Geschichte

es

Kirchenrechts,

nd

ed.,

1:

Das

Recht

esersten

hristlichenJahrtausends:onder

Urkirche

is

um

Grossen

chisma

Vienna,

1960);

Garcia

y

Garcia,

Historia el

derecho

an6nico, ;

and

H. E.

Feine,

Kirchliche

echtsgeschichte:

Die

katholische

irche,

th ed.

(Cologne,

1972).




10/41

The

Carolingian Age

275

agement

of clerical

collegiality;'7

the

quest

for doctrinal18 and

liturgical'9

17

Suggestive

on

this theme

are H.

Marot,

La

collegialite

t le vocabulaire

episcopal

des Ve

au

VIIe sickle,

nd Y. M.

J.

Congar,

Notes sur la destinde l'idee du

collegialit6episcopale

en

occident

au

moyen

age

(VIIe-XVIe

siecles),

both

in

La collegialite

piscopale:

istoire t

theologie,

Unam

sanctam

52

(Paris,

1965),

pp.

59-98,

99-129.

See

also

Gilles

Gerard

Meersseman,

Die

Klerikervereine on Karl dem

Grossen

bis Innocenz

III.,

Zeitschriftiir

chweizerische

irchenge-

schichte6

(1952),

1-42, 81-112;

Saint

Chrodegang,

ommunications

presentees

u

colloque

tenu

a Metza l'occasion du douzieme centenaire

de sa mort

Metz,

1967);

JosefSiegwart,

Der

gallo-

frankische

Kanonikerbegriff,

eitschrift

ur

schweizerische

irchengeschichte

1

(1967),

193-244;

Ferminio

Poggiaspalla,

La vita

comunedel clero dalle

origini

lla

riforma regoriana,

Uomini e

dottrine

14

(Rome,

1968);

Jean Imbert,

Disciplina

et communio

a

l'epoque carolingien,

nd

Yves

M.

J.

Congar,

De

potestate

sacerdotali

et de ecclesia

ut

ecclesiarum

communione saeculi

VII,

VIII

et

IX,

both in Communione

nterecclesiale:

ollegialitd-Primato-Ecumenismo,

cta con-

ventus nternationalis e historia ollicitudinismniumecclesiarum,Romae, 1967, ed. Giuseppe

d'Ercole and Alfons

M.

Stickler,

vols.,

Communio

12-13

(Rome,

1972),

2:519-46,

961-81;

Gilles Gerard

Meersseman,

Ordo

fraternitatis:

onfraternitepietd

dei laica

nel

medioevo,

vols.,

Italia

sacra:

Studi

e documenti

di storia

ecclesiastica

Rome,

1977),

1:3-214;

Hermann

Josef

Sieben,

Pseudoisidor oder der Bruch

mit der altkirchlichenKonzilsidee:

Das

Zeugnis

der

Kirchenrechtssammlungen

is

zum

Decretum Gratians

einschliesslich,

heologie

nd

Philosophie

53

(1978),

498-537;

Hans Hubert

Anton,

Zum

politischenKonzept karolingischer

ynode

und

zur

karolingischenBriidergemeinschaft,

J

99

(1979),

55-132;

Hermann

Josef

Sieben,

Das

Konzilsidee

er

alten

Kirche,

Konziliengeschichte,

eihe

B:

Untersuchungen

Paderborn,

1979);

and

idem,

Die Konzilsidee es lateinischen

ittelalters

847-1378),

Konziliengeschichte,

eihe

B:

Untersuchungen

Paderborn, 1984).

18

Illustrativeof the

tendency

to see

Carolingian theology

n terms of a reconciliationof

doctrinaldifferences re such

general

treatments s M. L. W. Laistner,

Thought

nd Lettersn

Western

urope,

A.D. 500

to

900,

2nd

ed.

(Ithaca,

N.Y.,

1957),

pp.

286-314;

Gert

Haendler,

Epochenkarolingischer

heologie:

ine

Untersuchung

iber

die

karolingischen

utachten um

byzanti-

nischen

ilderstreit,

heologische

Arbeiten

10

(Berlin,

1958);

Otto

W.

Heick,

A

History f

Christian

Thought,

(Philadelphia,

1965),

pp.

246-54;

Marta

Cristiani,

La controversia ucaristica

nella

cultura del secolo

IX, SM,

3rd

ser.,

9

(1968),

167-233;

Jaroslav

Pelikan,

The

Christian

radition:

A

History f

the

Development

f

Doctrine,

: The Growth

f

Medieval

Theology

600-1300)

(Chicago,

1978);

and

Handbuch er

Dogmen-

nd

Theologiegeschichte,

d.

Carl

Andresen,

1:

Die

Lehrentwicklung

im Rahmen der

Katholizitdt,

y

Carl

Andresen,

Adolf Martin

Ritter,

Klaus

Wessel,

Ekkehard

Muhlenberg,

and

Martin

Anton

Schmidt

Gottingen,

1982).

While

the

boundary

between

the-

ology

and

philosophy

was

indistinct n the

Carolingian

age,

historiansof

philosophy

of

the

Carolingianage have concentrated heir ttention n effortsmade to utilizephilosophy s a tool

to

clarify

octrinal

concepts;

this

focus has led most

of them

quickly

to

John

Scottus

Erigena,

who

emerges

as the

only Carolingian philosopher

of note and

thus as the

epitome

of

Carolingian

philosophy;

ee

Maurice de

Wulf,

Histoire

e la

philosphie

edievale,

:

Des

originesjusqu'd

afin

du

XIIe

siecle,

th ed.

(Louvain,

1934),

pp.

121-66

(English

translation s

History f

MedievalPhilos-

ophy,

,

trans. Ernest C.

Messenger

[New

York, 1952],

pp.

116-36);

Etienne

Gilson,

History f

Christian

hilosophy

n the

Middle

Ages

(New

York,

1955),

pp.

111-28;

Aim6

Forest,

F. Van

Steenberghen,

and

M.

de

Gandillac,

Le

mouvementoctrinal

u XIe au XIVe

siecle,

Histoire

de

l'6glise,

ed.

Fliche and

Martin,

13

(Paris,

1951),

pp.

9-32;

Cesare

Vasoli,

Filosofia

medioevale,

Storia della

filosofia

(Milan, 1961),

pp.

40-77;

The

Cambridge istory f

Later Greek nd

Early

Medieval

Philosophy,

d. A. H.

Armstrong

Cambridge,

1970),

pp.

518-33, 565-86;

Stephen

Gersh,

From

amblichus o

Eriugena:

An

Investigationf

the

Prehistory

nd Evolution

f

thePseudo-

Dionysian

radition,tudien zur Problemgeschichteer antikenund mittelalterlichen

hilosophie

8

(Leiden, 1978);

John

Marenbon,

Early

Medieval

hilosophy

480-1150):

An ntroduction

London,

1983),

pp.

45-89;

and Michael

Haren,

Medieval

Thought:

he Western

ntellectual radition

rom

Antiquity

o

the

Thirteenth

entury

New

York,

1985),

pp.

37-82.

For studies

of

John

Scottus

Erigena,

see

Mary

Brennan,

A

Bibliography

f Publications

n the Field of

Eriugenian

Studies,

1800-1975,

SM,

3rd

ser.,

18

(1977),

401-47.

The basic

study

still remains

Maieul

Cappuyns,




11/41

276

The

Carolingian Age

uniformity;

he

effort o

shape

an

educational

program

which would

engen-

Jean

Scot

Erigene:

a

vie,

on

oeuvre,

a

pensee

Louvain,

1933;

repr.

Brussels,

1964),

but

significantnew

departures

have

emerged

recently

n the

proceedings

of a seriesof conferencesdevotedto

Erigena;

see The Mind

of

Eriugena,Papers

of a

Colloquium,

Dublin,

14-18

July

1970,

ed.

John

J.

O'Meara and

Ludwig

Bieler

(Dublin,

1973);

Jean

Scot

Erigene

t

'histoire

e la

philosophie,

aon,

7-12

juillet

1975,

Colloques

internationaux u Centre

national de la recherche

cientifique

61

(Paris, 1977);

Eriugena:

Studien

u seinen

Quellen,

Vortrage

des III. Internationalen

Eriugena-

Colloquiums, Freiburg

m

Breisgau,

27.-30.

August

1979,

ed.

Werner

Beierwaltes,

Abhandlun-

gen

der

Heidelberger

Akademie der

Wissenschaften,

hil.-hist.

Klasse,

Jahrgang

1980,

3. Ab-

handlung (Heidelberg,

1980);

and

Jean

Scot

ecrivain,

ctes du IVe

colloque

international,

Mon-

treal,

28

aout-2

septerbre

1983,

ed.

G.

H.

Allard,

Cahiers

d'etudes

medievales:

Cahier

special

1

(Montreal,

1986).

Carolingian

scholars have

expended

considerable

energy

dentifying

he

sources utilized

by Carolingian

theologians-philosophers;

n a

general way,

their efforts

reate

theimpressionthat a major consequence of the Carolingianintellectual evivalwas to discover

a

common

treasury

of

derived wisdom

from which all could draw

to

illuminate the faith.

Illustrative re the

works

of

Gersh

and

Haren,

cited

above,

as well as

Karl F.

Morrison,

Tradition

and

Authority

n theWestern

hurch,

00-1140

(Princeton,

N.

J.,

1969),

and

J.

C.

Frakes,

The Fate

of

Fortune n the

arly

Middle

Ages:

The Boethian radition

Leiden, 1988).

Another focal

point

of

scholarly

nteresthas been an

effort o find common

ground

in

Carolingian

ntellectual ife n

the

advance of a

dialectical

method. See

Hans

Liebeschutz,

Wesen und Grenzen

des karolin-

gischen

Rationalismus,

Archiv

ur

Kulturgeschichte

3

(1951),

17-44;

Lorenzo

Minio-Paluello,

Nuovi

impulsi

llo studio della

logica:

La seconda

fase della

riscoperta

i

Aristotele

di

Boezio,

in La

scuola nell'occidenteatino

dell'alto

medioevo, vols.,

Settimane

19

(Spoleto,

1972),

2:743-66,

841-45;

John

Marenbon,

From

the

Circle

of

Alcuin to

the

School

of

Auxerre:

ogic,

Theology,

nd

Philosophy

n

the

Early

Middle

Ages,Cambridge

Studies

in Medieval Life and

Thought,

3rd

ser.,

15

(Cambridge,

1981);

PierreRiche, Divina

pagina,

ratio et auctoritasdans la

theologie

caro-

lingienne,

n

Nascita

dell'Europa

d

Europa carolingia,

:719-63;

Gangolf

Schrimpf,

as Werk es

Johannes

cottus

riugena

m Rahmendes

Wissenschaftsverstandnisses

einer

eit:

Einfiihrung

u

Peri-

physeon,

eitrage

zur

Geschichte

der

Philosophie

und

Theologie

des

Mittelalters,

.F.

23

(Miin-

ster,

1982);

and

Carlos

Steel,

Nobis

ratio

sequenda

est: Reflexions ur le rationalismede

Jean

Scot

Erigene,

in Benedictine

ulture,

50-1050,

ed. W. Lourdaux and D.

Verhelst,

Mediaevalia

Lovaniensia,

ser.

1,

Studies 11

(Louvain, 1983),

pp.

173-89.

19

Cyrille

Vogel,

Les

motifsde la romanisation du culte sous

Pepin

le

Bref

(751-768)

et

Charlemagne

(774-814),

in Cultocristiano: olitica

mperialearolingia,

-12

ottobre

1977,

Con-

vegni

del Centro di studi sulla

spirituality

medievale,

Universita

degli

studi di

Perugia

18

(Todi,

1979),

pp.

13-41,

accurately

ummarizes he central oncern of the modern

study

f

Carolingian

liturgy: Tous les historiens e la liturgie nt aborde d'une maniere ou d'autre le problem de

la

romanisation

p.

16,

n.

1).

Vogel's

contribution

o

sustaining

hat

emphasis

has been consid-

erable; see,

for

xample,

Les

changes

liturgiques

ntre

Rome et es

pays

francs

usqu'a l'epoque

de

Charlemagne,

n

Le

chiese ei

regni all'Europa

ccidentale,:185-295;

La reforme

iturgique

sous

Charlemagne,

in Karl der

Grosse,

:217-32;

La

reforme

cultuelle sous

Pepin

le Bref et

sous

Charlemagne

(deuxieme

moitiedu VIIIe siecle

et

premier

quart

du

IXe

siecle),

in Erna

Patzelt

nd

Cyrille

Vogel,

Das

karolingische

enaissance

Graz, 1965),

pp.

173-242;

and Introduction

aux

sources

e

l'histoire

u

culte hretienu

moyen

ge,

Biblioteca

degli

Studi

medievali 1

(Spoleto,

1966;

2nd

ed.,

1975)

(English

translation s Medieval

Liturgy:

n

Introductiono

the

Sources,

ev.

and trans.

William

G.

Storey

nd Niels

Krogh

Rasmussen,

with

he assistance

f

John

K.

Brooks-

Leonard

[Washington,

D.C.,

1986]).

Other

significant

works

illustrating

he

point

are

Josef

Andreas

Jungmann,

Missarum ollemnia:

ine

genetischerklirung

der romischen

esse,

6th ed.

(Vienna, 1966)

(English

translation rom the second German ed. as The Mass

of

theRomanRite:

Its

Origin

nd

Development

Missarum

ollemnia),

vols.,

trans. Francis

A.

Brunner

[New

York,

1951-55]);

Michel

Andrieu,

Les ordines omani u

haut

moyen ge,

5

vols.,

Spicilegium

sacrum

lovaniense,

Etudes

et

documents

11,

23, 24,

28,

29

(Louvain, 1956-61),

especially

2:xvii-xlix;

and

Nikolaus

Staubach,

'Cultus divinus'

und

karolingische

Reform,

FMSt

18

(1984),

546-81.

The fruit f

this

approach

is

clearly

evident

n

general

treatments

f

the

Carolingian liturgy;




12/41

The

CarolingianAge

277

der

normative lerical

conduct and

consistent,

niform

pastoralactivity;20

he

drive to

establish tandard

monastic

practices

s

defined

by

the

Benedictine

rule;21 nd the

search

for

a uniform

missionary

method

thatwould

eliminate

paganismas a divisiveforce withinChristian ociety.22he combinedweight

see,

for

example, Gregory

Dix,

The

Shape

of

the

Liturgy,

nd

ed.

(Westminster,

945);

Theodor

Klauser,

A

Short

History

f

theWestern

iturgy:

n Account

nd

Some

Reflections,

rans.

John

Halli-

burton,

2nd

ed.

(Oxford, 1979),

especially

ch.

2;

A.

G.

Martimort,

'eglise

n

priere:

ntroduction

a

la

liturgie,

rd ed.

(Paris, 1965);

and

Hermann

A.

J.

Wegman,

Geschichte

er

Liturgie

m Westen

und

Osten

Regensburg,

1979),

especially

ch. 3.

20

Emile

Lesne,

Histoire

e

la

proprietecclesiastique

n

France,

5:

Les

ecoles

e

la

fin

du VIIIe

siecle

a

la

fin

du XIIe siecle

Lille, 1940);

Josef

Fleckenstein,

Die

Bildungsreform

arls

des

Grossen ls

Verwirklichung

er norma ectitudinis

Freiburg

m

Breisgau,

1953);

Percy

Ernst

Schramm,

Karl

der Grosse: Denkart und Grundauffassung.Die von ihm bewirkteCorrectio 'Renaissance'),

HZ 198

(1964),

306-45;

Wolfgang

Edelstein,

Eruditio nd

sapientia:

Weltbild nd

Erziehung

n

der

Karolingerzeit.

ntersuchungen

u

Alkuins

riefen

Freiburg

m

Breisgau,

1965);

Wolframvon

den

Steinen,

Der

Neubeginn,

n Karl der

Grosse, :9-27;

La scuolanell'occidenteatino ell'altomedioevo

(see

n.

18,

above);

and Pierre

Riche,

Les ecoles t

'enseignement

ans 'occidenthretien

e la

fin

du

Ve

siecle u

milieu u XIe

siecle,

Collection

historique

Paris,

1979).

21

The

best

description

of the

Carolingian

effort o

impose

unity

on the

monastic

world

has

been

provided by

the

studies

of

Josef

Semmler

although

he

has

strong

reservations bout the

success of these

efforts);

onvenient ummaries

of

his

position

an be found

n

Karl der

Grosse

und

das

frankische

Monchtum,

n Karl der

Grosse,

:255-89,

and

Benedictus

II:

Una

regula-

una

consuetudo,

n

Benedictine

ulture,

d. Lourdaux and

Verhelst,

p.

1-49,

which

cite Semm-

ler's other

important

tudies. Other

influentialworks on this theme are

J. Winandy,

L'oeuvre

monastique

de saintBenoit

d'Aniane,

in

Melanges

benedictins

ublics

l'occasion u XIVecentenaire

de la mort

e saintBenoit

ar

les moznes e

l'Abbaye

e

Saint-Jerome

e

Rome

Paris,

1947),

pp.

235-

58;

Philibert

chmitz,

L'influence

de

saint

Benoit d'Aniane dans

l'histoire

de l'ordre de

saint

Benoit,

in

II monachesimo

ell'altomedioevo

la

formazione

ella civility

ccidentale,

ettimane

4

(Spoleto,

1957),

pp.

401-15;

Friedrich

Prinz,

MonastischeZentren

m

Frankenreich,

M,

3rd

ser.,

19

(1978),

571-90;

R6ginald Gr6goire,

II

monachesimo

carolingio dopo

Benedetto

d'Ani-

ane

(t821),

Studiamonastica 4

(1982),

349-88;

Gerard

Moyse,

Monachisme et

r6glementation

monastique

en Gaule avant Benoit

d'Aniane,

in Sous a

regle

e SaintBenoit: tructures

onastiques

et

societes n France

du

moyen

ge

a

lI'poque

moderne,

bbaye

b6endictine

Sainte-Marie de

Paris,

23-25

octobre

1980,

Centre

de recherchesd'histoire

t

de

philologie

de

la

VIe

sectionde

l'Ecole

pratique

des hautes etudes

5,

Hautes etudes m6dievales

et modernes 47

(Geneva, 1982),

pp.

3-

19; and Pius Engelbert, Regeltextund Romverehrung:Zur Frage der Verbreitung er Regula

Benedicti

im

Frtihmittelalter,

omische

uartalschrift

ir

chrzstliche

ltertumskundend

Kirchenge-

schichte

1

(1986),

39-60.

Tracing

the

progress

toward a

single

model

of

monastic ife has been

a

central

concern

of

general

historians f

early

medieval

monasticism,

s is illustrated n such

works

as Philibert

chmitz,

Histoire

e l'ordre e

Saint-Benoit,

vols.

(Maredsous,

1941-56;

2nd

ed. of vols.

1-2,

1948),

1:15-134; Jean D6carreaux,

Les

moines

t la civilisationn occident es

invasions

Charlemagne

Paris,

1962)

(English

translation

s

Monks nd

Civilization

rom

heBar-

barian

nvasions o the

Reign of Charlemagne,

rans. Charlotte

Haldane

[London,

1964]);

Friedrich

Prinz,

FriihesMinchtum

m Frankenreich: ulturund

Gesellschaft

n

Gallien,

den Rheinlanden

nd

Bayern

m

Beispiel

der monastischen

ntwicklung

4.

bis 8.

Jahrhundert)

Vienna, 1965);

and

Jean

Decarreaux,

Moines

et

monasteres

lI'poque

de

Charlemagne

Paris, 1980).

22

General orientations

tressing

he

theme of a common

missionary

method are

provided

by

Richard E. Sullivan,

Carolingian

Missionary

Theories, The Catholic istorical eview 2

(1956),

273-95;

Hans Diedrich

Kahl,

Bausteine zur

Grundlegung

einer

missionsgeschichtlichen

ha-

nomenologie

des

Hochmittelalters,

n Miscellaneahistorica

cclesiastica,

ongres

de

Stockholm,

aoit, 1960,

Bibliotheque

de

la Revue d'histoire

ecclesiastique

38

(Louvain,

1961),

pp.

50-90;

Wolfgang

H.

Fritze,

Universalis

gentium

confessio:

Formeln,

Trager

und

Wege

universalmis-

sionarischenDenkens

im 7.

Jahrhundert,

MSt

3

(1969),

78-130.

The focus

on

this theme

in




13/41

278

The

Carolingian

Age

of this

scholarship

has

persuasively

nclined

Carolingianists

o think

n

terms

of

the

emergence

of

a

Carolingian

Romano-Frankish Church to

replace

the churches

which

occupied

the

Carolingian space prior

to the

Carolingian

age. And no less surelythese scholarshave seen in this Romano-Frankish

church the

prototype

of the

medieval universal

church,

that

is,

the

post-

Carolingian

church.

Comparable

assessments of

the thrust

of

scholarship

devoted

to other

aspects

of the

Carolingian age

-

political,

conomic, social, intellectual,

it-

erary,

rtistic would

produce

a result

imilar o that

uggestedby

thisbrief

overview

of

the central

concerns

of

religious

historians

of

the

Carolingian

age.

In all

these areas the

search

has focused with

singular

consistency

n

forces

mpelling

fragmented,

isorganized

society

oward

unitary

atterns,

toward common institutional

nd

ideological grounds,

toward a

holistic

ivi-

lization.A measure of theoutcome of thisscholarly ffort an be found in a

number

of

excellent

works

of

synthesis

whichbuild

impressive

ases for both

the

uniqueness

and the

holistic character

of the

Carolingian age.23

These

works and the

scholarship upon

which

they

are built have left medievalists

in

general

hard

pressed

to

deny

that

omething

id

happen during

the

eighth

and ninthcenturiesto

create a distinctive

rder which

possessed

not

only

ts

own

organic

features but

also sufficient

otency

to exercise

a

formative

influence n future

European

society.

This conclusion has

provided

the

key

element

n

sustaining

meaningful

nd

widely ccepted

scheme

for

period-

izing

Western

European history.

No less

significantly,

his same conclusion

has

given

impetus

and focus to a collective research effortdevoted to the

Carolingian age.

3

Does the

paradigm

still

hold?

Was the

Carolingian age

a discrete

period

during

which was formed

a new order

that broke

decisively

with the

past

and established a take-off

point

for a distinctiveWestern

European

civili-

zation

bearing

the ndelible

stamp

of

ts

Carolingian

ancestry?

would

suggest

the

treatment

f

missionary

ctivity

s illustrated

y

such works as Theodor

Schieffer,

Winfrid-

Bonifatius

nd die

christliche

rundlegungEuropasFreiburg,

1954;

repr.

with

updated

bibliography,

Darmstadt,

1972);

Richard E.

Sullivan,

The

Carolingian

Missionary

nd the

Pagan, Speculum

28

(1953),

705-40;

Die Kirche n

ihrer

Geschichte,

d. Kurt Dietrich Schmidt and Ernst

Wolf, 2,

Leiferung

E:

Geschichte

des

Fruhmittelalters nd

der

Germanenmission,

y

Gert

Haendler,

and Geschichteder

Slavenmission,

y

Giinther

t6kl

G6ttingen,

961);

Heinz

Lowe, Pirmin,

Willibrord

und Bonifatius: hre

Bedeutung

ffir ie

Missionsgeschichte

hrer

Zeit,

n La conver-

sione l

cristianesimo

ell'Europa

ell'alto

medioevo,

ettimane

14

(Spoleto,

1967),

pp.

217-61;

and

Kirchengeschichte

ls

Missionsgeschichte,

/1:

Die

Kirche

esfriiheren

ittelalters,

d. Knut Schaferdiek

(Munich,

1978).

23For example, Donald Bullough,TheAgeof CharlemagneLondon, 1965); Jacques Boussard,

The

Civilization

f

Charlemagne,

rans.

Frances

Partridge,

The World

University

ibrary

London,

1968);

Edouard

Perroy,

Le

monde

arolingien

Paris,

1974);

Friedrich

Heer,

Charlemagne

nd His

World

New

York,

1975);

Jan

Dhondt,

Le haut

moyenge

(VIIIe-XIe siecles),

d. and trans. Michel

Rouche,

Histoire universelle

Bordas

(Paris,

1976);

Handbuch

der

europdischen

eschichte,

d.

Schieder,

1:527-632;

and Pierre

Riche,

Les

carolingiens:

nefamille

uifit

'Europe

Paris, 1983).




14/41

The

Carolingian

Age

279

that

t

is

increasingly

ifficult o sustain

the

conceptual

framework

mplicit

in

the Pirenne

paradigm

and

increasingly empting

o

explore

alternative

schemata.

I

am

convinced,

in

fact,

hat

patterns

merging

n

currentCaro-

lingian scholarship, oupled withdevelopments nmedievalhistorical tudies

in

general,

force

one to wonder whetherthe

generally

ccepted

version of

the

Carolingian

world

is

an

imagined

world,

existing nly

n

the minds of

modern

historians.

Perhaps

the

quintessential icture

of the

imagined

Car-

olingian

world has

been

provided

by

one

of the most

dramatic and

well-

publicized

feats

of recent

Carolingian

scholarship,

he much-acclaimed

cale

model

reconstruction

f

the

plan

of

St.

Gall

by

Walter Horn and Ernest

Born.24Withall due

creditto the

scholarly

xpertise

nd the

ngenuity

which

undergird

that

model,

it

represents

n

imagined

monastic

complex,

one

that

dmittedly

ever

existed. We

can

only guess

at

how

the

plan might

have

been realized, at one or more locations, findeed itwas intendedas a blue-

print

for

planners

and builders.

In

a number

of

ways

the

picture

of the

Carolingian

world

drawn

by

the mainstream

f

Carolingian

scholarship

driv-

en

by

the Pirenne

periodization

model has features

trikingly

omparable

to

the

paradigmatic

Carolingian

monastic

complex

derived from the

plan

of

St. Gall:

its

composition

has been determined

n

the

main

by

extracting

he

common elements

found

in the

often

cryptic

Carolingian

sources

(chiefly

written),

nterconnecting

hose

elements into

generalized

institutional nd

ideological

structures,

nd

calling

the resultant

onstruct

arolingian reality.

Certaintrends n current cholarship

reinforce

ach

other n

presenting

serious

challenge

to the traditional

onceptual

framework

urrounding

Car-

olingian historiography

nd

in

altering

he

picture

f

Carolingian reality.

he

first rend involves the

effort

o

define

the demarcation

of

the

Carolingian

age

from what

preceded

and

followed

t. If the

Carolingian

era

constituted

a

discrete

period

during

which

something

both

unique

and

significant

happened,

then one

should

be

able

to delineate

specific

hronological

bound-

aries marked

by

decisive

events

denoting

clear

disjunctures

with what

went

before

and

what came after.

The definition

f such boundaries has

become

increasingly

ifficult,

eriouslyundermining

the

certainty

hat

the

Carolin-

gian age did standunmistakably iscrete.

Conventional

Carolingian historiography

as

generally greed

on the

start-

ing

point

for

the

Carolingian

era. The

crucial

disjuncture

occurred

about

750,

highlighted

by

the

Moslem

rupture

of Mediterranean

unity,

he usur-

pation

of the Frankish

throne

by

the

Arnulfings

n

751,

the

formulation f

a

new

concept

of

kingship,

he

establishment

n

754

of the

papal-Frankish

alliance,

and the

initiation

n the 740s

of a

major

effort t

religious

reform

linking

he

new

dynasty

o the

spiritual

vant-garde

of the era.

The massive

investigation

evoted to

these

particular

ssues

is

proof enough

of

the

con-

tinuing

onviction

hat

they

were of crucial

mportance

n

signaling

he birth

pangs

which

produced

the first

urope.

24

Walter

Horn and

Ernest

Born,

The

Plan

of

St.

Gall: A

Study

f

theArchitecturend

Economy

f,

and

Life

n

a

Paradigmatic

arolingian

Monastery,

vols.,

California

Studies

in

the

History

of

Art

19

(Berkeley,

1979).




15/41

280 The

Carolingian

Age

However,

it

has

become

increasingly

ifficult o

sustain

the

faith

on this

point.

The more

assiduously

the

Carolingian age

has

been

investigated

nd

the

more

attentively

he

results f these researcheshave

been

correlated

with

investigations f the pre-Carolingianperiod, the less decisive these events

appear

as critical

turning

points along

the historical ontinuum.

That

the

Moslem intrusion nto the Mediterranean

pace

was

decisively

isruptive

has

long

been

contested,

generally

successfully.25

ntensive

and

increasingly

o-

phisticated

nvestigations

f economic

history

make

untenable

any

periodi-

zation scheme

depending

on economic

disjuncture

n the

mid-eighth

en-

tury.26

urrent

nterpretations

f the

dyn

the carolingian age reflections on its place in the history of the middle ages

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