Rethinking the Carolingian Reforms (Paperback)

Arthur Westwell

ISBN 10: 1526178788 / ISBN 13: 9781526178787

Published by Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2024

About this Item

Paperback. Carolingian culture has often been treated as an elite affair with little effect beyond a restricted circle close to the royal court. To do justice to the diversity of extant material, our traditional focal points need to be recontextualised. Many understudied manuscripts testify to a much wider circle of people, be it the anonymous schoolmaster who developed a better method of teaching Latin, the equally unnamed cleric who created new forms of liturgy, or all the people in monastic libraries who copied, reorganised, commented on and studied each other's books. These anonymous figures were not passive recipients of royal prescriptions. They were active agents who helped shape and reshape the ideas and ideals of their world, and their texts and manuscripts should be studied side by side with those composed by well-known authors. In so doing, a much more dynamic and collaborative image of Carolingian culture emerges. This book sets out to challenge current interpretations of Carolingian culture, and especially its perceived correctio (correction), reform or renaissance. When we consider authors who operated outside the direct sphere of influence of the court, a much more dynamic image of Carolingian culture comes into view. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781526178787

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rethinking the Carolingian Reforms (Paperback)
• Publisher: Manchester University Press, Manchester
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1526178788
• ISBN 13: 9781526178787
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The Carolingian period (c. 750-900) has traditionally been described as one of ‘reform’ or ‘renaissance’, where cultural and intellectual changes were imposed from above in a programme of correctio. This view leans heavily on prescriptive texts issued by kings and their entourages, foregrounding royal initiative and the cultural products of a small intellectual elite. However, attention to understudied texts and manuscripts of the period reveals a vibrant striving for moral improvement and positive change at all levels of society. This expressed itself in a variety of ways for different individuals and communities, whose personal relationships could be just as influential as top-down prescription. The often anonymous creators and copyists in a huge range of centres emerge as active participants in shaping and re-shaping the ideals of their world.

About the Author

Arthur Westwell is wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at the Universität Regensburg

Ingrid Rembold is a Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Manchester

Carine van Rhijn is a Lecturer in Medieval History at Utrecht University