Hi everyone!
Week 3 is all about the Carolingians and the Carolingian Empire! Some historians devote all of their time and energy to studying this period and it is, as we shall learn this week, incredibly important in the shaping of the later Middle Ages in Europe.
Our readings this week consist of a long extract from a secondary source (Medieval Civilization) by Kay Slocum and the full text of a primary source, The Life of Charlemagne, by a fellow called Einhard.
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| Charlemagne as he appeared in the imagination of the 16th-Century German Painter - Albrecht Durer |
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| An image of Einhard from a later medieval manuscript |
Einhard is a classic example of the opportunities provided by monasteries for lower status individuals to gain an education and rise in worldly status. Einhard (c.775 - 840) was of a lower status, however, his parents sent him to be educated at a great monastery named Fulda. He became an excellent scholar and part of Charlemagne's administrative team at his court. Later in life Einhard became the personal secretary of Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious.
When reading Einhard's Life of Charlemagne try to ask yourself the 5 'Ws' of document analysis that we discussed in our last tutorial:
Who was Einhard?
When did he write the Life?
What is it?
Where did he write it?
Why did he write it? (Why do you think he wrote it and why does he say he wrote it?)
Some other questions to ask could be:
What were Einhard's literary influences?
Can we rely on his account?
What portrait of Charlemagne does he create? What values and vision of kingship does he celebrate?
Our other source today, the extract from Kay Slocum's Medieval Civilization, gives us a broad, sweeping history of the Carolingian period and provides us with a lot of context to help us understand Einhard's Life.
Some broad questions to ask when reading this text could be:
How did Charlemagne manage to conquer and control such vast territory?
How would you characterize the relationship between the Church (especially the papacy) and Charlemagne (and his successors) during this period?
What do scholars mean when they refer to the 'Carolingian Renaissance'? What ideals lay behind the renaissance and in what ways did it impact Carolingian culture?
Why is the coronation of Charlemagne in 800 as Holy Roman Empire so important? Does it create a new vision of kingship?
As always your comments can be based on these, or the tutorial discussion questions in our reader, however they do not have to. All of your thoughts, questions, and reflections are welcome!
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I know that many of you (including myself!) have been struggling with the geography of Europe in the early medieval period. I've uploaded a map below that I think manages to find a good balance between simplicity and detail. I hope it will help us all get these place names straight!
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| Map of the Carolingian Empire |
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Just for fun!
Here is a link to another text that Einhard wrote. It's about the translation of the bones of the saints Marcellinus and Peter from their original resting place in Italy across the Alps to the Carolingian Empire. Translation is a fancy word used to describe the movement of relics (bits of saints preserved and venerated as holy objects in the Church). It is a wonderful adventure story full of grave-robbing, hiding from the authorities, and sneaking around! It gives us wonderful insight into early medieval religious culture. Remember from last week the section in our readings on the importance of relics and saints to early medieval people? This story gives us a brilliant snapshot of that part of early medieval culture!
http://www.archive.org/stream/MN5140ucmf_5/MN5140ucmf_5_djvu.txt
And also just for fun.......here is a link to a 12th century poem called The Song of Roland. It celebrates a great battle fought by the forces of Charlemagne during one of his military campaigns. What ideals and values are celebrated in the poem? Do you think they reflect Carolingian culture or 12th century culture?
http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/basis/roland-ohag.asp
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Happy reading everyone!
Diana
And also just for fun.......here is a link to a 12th century poem called The Song of Roland. It celebrates a great battle fought by the forces of Charlemagne during one of his military campaigns. What ideals and values are celebrated in the poem? Do you think they reflect Carolingian culture or 12th century culture?
http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/basis/roland-ohag.asp
.....
Happy reading everyone!
Diana
