Lesson 90 - Week 18 Review

1) What was the Carolingian Renaissance, and why was it significant?

The Carolingian Renaissance was a period of "rebirth" and reconstruction during the reign of Charlemagne. This great king of the Franks made many tireless efforts to rebuild his empire to an orderly and honorable estate. His goal was that the realm no longer be uncivilized and undivided, rampaged by Barbarians. He was passionate for education, establishing many schools at monasteries and abbeys. Primarily, he sought for the proper tutelage of the clergy and laity. But it was his desire that an education should be a accessible resource, both for the rich and the poor. Charlemagne was a Christian and wanted the Germanic groups under his control to convert to this faith. Yet he also desired to retain ancient Roman literature and architecture in his endeavors, without cherishing their pagan beliefs. This was the heart of this revival, to renew Rome's timeless, classic and beautiful works. Their Latin language was kept alive, thanks to the masterly reprinting of it by philosophers/scholars. Namely, Alcuin of York and Paul the Deacon offered their services, copying out manuscripts for Charlemagne. He found monks who might complete the task of finding/writing out the most accurate Biblical texts.

Carolingian "minuscule" was also an enormous achievement, because it created a much more intelligible form of writing. Before it's creation, most documents were very painful and difficult to read. They were oftentimes composed all in capital letters, or without spaces between words! One can imagine that people had little motivation to read such things.Afterward, however, there was a integrated system of writing style that everyone in Europe came to employ. Scholars could better comprehend each other's translations, even if they came from different parts of the kingdom.

Charlemagne also had an impact with Carolingian architecture, when he built a court chapel, the Palace of Aechen. With the help of talented artists, this chapel was modeled and constructed after the style of the old Byzantine Empire. This palace still exists today and is the finest relic of Carolingian architecture. 

3) Who was the Venerable Bede, and why was he significant?

St. Bede was a Roman Catholic and English monk, born in 673. He was trained at the early age of 7, at the Benedictine monastery of St.Peter. He is largely renown because he wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. This was an impressive account of Christian churches in Britain, which Bede published when he was 59. It would come to be a popular,reliable reference on the Anglo-Saxon history and make Bede the "Father of English history". 

The Venerable Bede opened people's eyes to a time period in English history that they'd been ignorant of before. He translated more than forty books, spanning topics like nature, astronomy, and poetry. The first "martyrology" was the brain-child of Bede's, a retelling of the lives of saints.