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LIFE OF ALCUIN
CHAPTER I. EDUCATION AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF ALCUIN
UNTIL HIS FIRST APPEARANCE AT THE COURT OF CHARLEMAGNE. AD 735-782.
THE eighth century after the birth of Christ commenced under
circumstances the most unfavourable to the arts and sciences of the western
world. The successful irruption of the Arabs into Spain, repelled the
civilization introduced by Christianity, and confined it to the mountains of
Asturias and Biscay. The constant feuds between the Lombards and the Greeks,
scared the gentle muses from the north of Italy; and they found no refuge
amongst the Franks, now immersed in barbarism, and distracted by internal discord,
in consequence of the weakness of the Merovingian house. Germany and
Scandinavia were still under the dominion of Paganism. The kingdom of the
Anglo-Saxons alone offered them an asylum. The Anglo-Saxons had been converted
to Christianity by the immediate influence of Rome, and were therefore in more
intimate union with the papal see than any other of the western churches. The
archbishop of Canterbury dying at Rome in the year 668, whither he had gone to
solicit the pontifical ratification of his title, the pope Vitalianus determined to raise to the archiepiscopal throne a prelate elected by himself.
He nominated Adrian, an African, who declined the proffered dignity, and
recommended a monk in Rome named Theodore, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, whom,
at his own request, he promised to accompany. The Anglo-Saxons made no
opposition to the right thus arrogated by the pope. Theodore accepted the
appointment; and at the age of sixty-six departed with his friend Adrian for
England. These men were well versed in Latin and Greek literature; and,
speaking those languages with equal fluency, they awakened among the
Anglo-Saxons an ardent desire for learning, and drew around them a multitude of
scholars, several of whom made such progress that, according to Bede, they were
as well acquainted with Greek and Latin as with their mother tongue. After
having held the archbishopric twenty-one years, Theodore died : his friend
Adrian survived him nearly eighteen years. Their pupils diffused the knowledge
they had acquired throughout England, and established schools in every
monastery, for the education, not only of the clergy, but also for such of the
laity as evinced any inclination for literature. The only deficiency was a
competent supply of books. Theodore had brought with him Josephus, the poems of
Homer, and probably several other works of inferior note : still they were
inadequate to assuage the thirst for knowledge which had been excited. Many
journeys to Rome were therefore undertaken, in order to augment the number of
books from the collections in that city; and a library began to be the pride
and ornament of monasteries. Benedict, the founder of the abbey at Weremouth, distinguished himself by repeated visits to
Rome, for the sake of introducing into his own country many works then entirely
unknown. From his school, issued one of the most influential scholars of the
early part of the middle ages, the venerable Bede, whose learning and writings
embraced the most opposite branches of knowledge, and were held in equal estimation
with those of the early fathers of the church. At that period Aldhelm and Winfrid were no less
celebrated; the former for his skill in the learning of the schools and the
cloister, the latter for his indefatigable zeal in preaching the faith of Christ
to the heathen population of Germany. The merit of these men consists, not so
much in any new discoveries in the field of literature, as in their
preservation and diffusion of existing knowledge. They erected a barrier
against the threatening tide of barbarism; and in the seclusion of the
cloister, unruffled by the storms that agitated the world, they cherished the
glorious flower of learning, until a more propitious season again called it
forth into the light. The object of the monasteries being thus attained, their
utility ceased; and any attempt now to restore them for the purpose of
intellectual improvement, would be to retrograde instead of to advance. Amongst
the schools thus established in the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, that at York
became the most famous, after Egbert had been appointed archbishop of York and
director the school. Youths of the noblest families were here instructed in the
rules of grammar, in the other liberal arts, and in the various branches of
theology.
Alcuin was born at York about the year 735: at least some inference to
that effect may be deduced from a letter written by him to the fraternity of
that city, in which he observes that it had watched over the tender years of
his childhood with a mother’s love, had borne with his thoughtless boyhood with
pious patience, and with fatherly chastisement had brought him up to man’s
estate. He was of noble origin; but neither the name of his parents, nor any
particulars of his family, have been transmitted to posterity either by himself
or others. Having in early youth been designed for the church, he was brought
up in a monastery, and after a suitable preparation, entered Egbert’s school.
The archbishop himself, and Aelbert one of his
relations, who afterwards succeeded him in that dignity, superintended the
school. They divided the subjects of instruction between them, Egbert
undertaking the explanation of the New Testament, and Aelbert the sciences and general literature. Alcuin enumerates the various subjects in
which the latter gave instruction: Grammar, Rhetoric, Jurisprudence, Poetry,
Astronomy, Physics, and the explanation of the Old Testament. It is to him,
therefore, that he ascribes the greater part of the advantages received by
himself and the young people of York. He applauds Aelbert’s endeavours to draw around him youths of distinguished talents, and to attach
them to him by his instructions and his kindness. This Alcuin himself
experienced. Nothing shows more conspicuously the high estimation in which he
was held by his master, than the fact, that he selected him for the companion
of his expeditions to foreign countries for the purpose of transplanting to his
native soil whatever he might discover of novelty and value either in books or
in the pursuits of science. The age of Alcuin at that time probably exceeded
twenty, and he, was qualified both by years and education to avail himself of
all the advantages which such a journey offered to the lover of literature.
They travelled through France into Italy, and to their ultimate
destination—Rome.
He mentions neither the impression made upon his young mind by his
wanderings among the Franks, nor the feelings awakened in him by the first view
of the city of Rome. We may, however, suppose that the ignorance and rude
manners of the Franks tended to make Rome appear to still greater advantage.
For if any place in the western world could captivate a young mind ardent in
the pursuit of knowledge, it was Rome—once the metropolis of the civilized
world, and whose very ruins recalled to mind the magnificence of by-gone
centuries, and the once flourishing state of science and of art. Even at that
time, Rome, more than any other spot in the west of Europe, was the abode of
the sciences; and had already laid the foundations of a new universal dominion,
which, more powerful than that destroyed by the Germans, was to be upheld not
by force of arms, but by spiritual power; and which, by means of prejudice and
superstition, was one day to bind the nations of the earth in inextricable
chains. Alcuin’s residence at Rome probably strengthened the ideas he had early
conceived of the dignity of the pope, and prepared him to contribute a stone to
the boldly constructed edifice of the hierarchy.
After his return, Alcuin remained at York as assistant to his master Aelbert, till the latter was appointed to the archbishop’s
see on the death of his relation Egbert, which took place on the 11th of
November, 766. Being prevented by his office from devoting the same care as
formerly to the school, Aelbert consecrated Alcuin
deacon, and inducted him into the situation he himself had occupied, and
committed to him the superintendence of the library attached to the school. If
we compare this collection of books with the admiration and excessive encomiums
of contemporaries, and consider that throughout the whole kingdom of France,
its equal not only did not exist, but could not be procured, we may form some
idea of the state of literature at that period, and of what Charles and Alcuin
effected. “Here”, says Alcuin, in a poem, wherein he celebrates the church of
York, its superintendents and its saints, “here may be found monuments of the
ancient fathers, works produced in Latium by the Romans themselves, and those
which were transferred to them from the glorious land of Greece; truths
received by the Hebrew nation from above, which Africa has with pure light
extended”. If the following list does not comprise all the books, we may rest
assured that the principal are enumerated. Aristotle, Cicero, Pompeius (Justin’s Abridgment), Pliny, Virgil, Statius,
Lucan and Boethius are the only classical authors whom he specifies. In
addition to these, a few ancient grammarians, some Christian poets, and the
fathers of the church, in the Latin tongue, are mentioned. Even in those days,
as in the times of antiquity, instruction was chiefly oral, the art of printing
not having as yet given rise to the great and extensive prevalence of books. A
school was therefore elevated into importance by the fame of an able teacher;
and the flourishing institution at York derived this advantage from Alcuin :
even foreigners resorted thither to pursue their theological studies. Liudger, a native of Friesland, of noble birth, who was
afterwards canonized, repaired to York, and perhaps many others, whose names
being unaccompanied by any remarkable event, have not descended to posterity.
Alcuin maintained a correspondence by letter with the most distinguished among
his scholars, many of whom were subsequently summoned to fill the highest
offices.
Aelbert died on the 8th November, 780, and was succeeded by Eanbald,
a pupil in the school at York. In order to obtain for him the archbishop’s
pall, Alcuin the following year travelled to Rome. At the same time, Charles,
king of France, accompanied by his family, was on his way back from that city,
where he had passed the winter. He was returning to his own country, meditating
splendid projects for the amelioration of his people, but in considerable
embarrassment as to the means of effecting his wishes. A great mind, like that
possessed by Charles, could not behold the ruins of antiquity, without
regretting that so highly cultivated an era should have passed away, and
without wishing again to call it into existence. A fortunate chance led him to
Parma, whilst Alcuin was there, who, if not personally, was at all events by
reputation well known to him. After a conversation, in which the king probably
communicated to him his designs for the improvement of his people by education,
and his difficulty in finding competent instructors, he requested Alcuin to
become the organizer of all the institutions which he meditated establishing in
France. Alcuin promised to comply with the king’s wishes, if permitted by his
superiors, and, in that case, to return to him after the completion of his
present commission.
On his arrival at York, he easily obtained the permission required, and
returned, accompanied by some of his pupils as assistants. Amongst these were Wizo surnamed Candidus, Fredegisus or Fridugisus surnamed
Nathaniel, and Singulfus, all of whom we shall have
occasion to mention frequently, and who deserved and enjoyed his confidence for
the faithful service which they rendered him. Osulf,
however, who likewise followed him, had not sufficient firmness to withstand temptation,
but yielded himself up to a course of life unworthy of a scholar, and still
more unworthy of an ecclesiastic. Alcuin tried every means to bring him back
into the right path. He wrote three letters to him, the language of which is
forcible and earnest, addressing him in terms alternately eloquent and feeling.
“Why”, he exclaims in one passage to his lost son, “why hast thou abandoned thy
father who has educated thee from thy childhood, who has instructed thee in the
liberal sciences, and led thee in the ways of virtue, and furnished thee with
the doctrines of eternal life? Why hast thou joined thyself to a troop of
harlots, to the revels of the drunkard, to the follies of the vain? Art thou
that youth who was praised by every tongue, lovely in every eye, commended to
every ear? Alas! alas! now thou art censured by every tongue, hateful to every
eye, and cursed to every ear”. He represents to him, in the strongest colours
of those times, the torments of hell and the joys of heaven. Then he attempts to
work upon his feelings of ambition, and proposes to him, as an example, his
fellow-pupil, Eanbald of York. But neither the hopes
nor fears of an obscure futurity, nor the sentiments of honour had the effect
upon him which Alcuin desired to produce.
With these pupils, as assistants in his new and important vocation,
Alcuin arrived in France in the year 782.
ALCUIN’S RESIDENCE DURING EIGHT YEARS
AT THE COURT OF CHARLEMAGNE. AD 782-790.
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