Chapter9presentation

Chapter Nine:Chapter Nine:

Charlemagne and the Charlemagne and the Rise of Medieval CultureRise of Medieval Culture

Culture and Values, Culture and Values, 66thth. Ed.. Ed.Cunningham and ReichCunningham and Reich

Charlemagne: Charlemagne: Ruler and DiplomatRuler and Diplomat


Papal Coronation– Pope Leo III, Christmas 800 – crowned

Charles the Great (Charlemagne) emperor– This act marked the revival of Western

Roman Empire– The coronation was seen as rebellious by the

Byzantine courtConstantinople’s emperor considered

Charlemagne a usurper


Developed a Feudal Administration– Lesser rulers bound by acts of fealty

(loyalty or devotion) to higher rulersLesser rulers: landowners who derived rights

to own and rule land from ties to emperor


– Emperor issued legal decrees – detailed sets of instructions that touched on a wide variety of secular and religious issuesModeled on old Imperial Rome decress Legates of the emperor carried decrees to regions

and reported back on acceptance and implementation


– Bureaucratic (fixed routine or pattern) systemRequired a class of civil servants w/ literacy

– LiteracyMiddle Ages is also referred to as “Dark Ages”People had little contact w/ outside worldPeriod of isolated ignorant people

– Confined to their own surroundings and general conditions of life


– Charlemagne ruled an immense kingdom and had extensive diplomatic contacts outside that kingdomHe regularly received envoys from

Constantinople at his palace in AachenLearned to speak Greek to understand envoys

from ConstantinopleHe was able to maintain diplomatic relations with

emperor in Constantinople


Foreign Relations– Byzantines, Muslims

Warlike relations with Muslims in the West– Charlemagne’s grandfather (Charles the Hammer or Charles

Martel) defeated Muslims at Battle of Poitiers in 732– Charlemagne’ fought Muslims at Cordoba

Close diplomatic ties w/ caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid

Negotiated successful protections for Christian holy places in Muslim-held Palestine

Palestinian monks gave him keys to the church of the Holy Sepulchre and other shrines

Charlemagne: Charlemagne: Economic DevelopmentsEconomic Developments

Stabilized the currency– Denier – standard coin (Fig. 9.1)

Struck at the royal mint in FrankfurtPresence in archaeological finds from Russia to England

Trade Fairs – exchange of goods and services– I.e., foodstuffs, honey, & wine

Jewish immigrants provided merchant class for commerce– Operated as middlemen in France for markets throughout

the Near East Trade Routes – Rhine and Moselle rivers

Charlemagne: Charlemagne: Economic DevelopmentsEconomic Developments

Import / Export Relationships– Iron Broadswords – forged in Cologne and

sold to Arabs in Middle East– Embargo against export to land of the

VikingsVikings used the swords in attacks

against the Franks

Learning Learning in the Time of Charlemagnein the Time of Charlemagne

“Palace School” at AachenScholar-teachers – came from various places;

hired for several purposes– Charlemagne wished to establish a system of

education for the young of his kingdomDevelop literacy

Curriculum – Seven Liberal Arts– Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, dialectic), Quadrivium

(arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy)– Study was based on mastery of texts


– Few books were available and writing was done on slates or waxed tablets

– Parchment was too expensiveCharlemagne need scholars for text reform

– Halt the corruption of existing texts, especially those used in church worship

– Literary revival = Liturgical revival– Vision was people who could read aloud and

sing in church from decent, reliable textsLiteracy as prerequisite for worship


Alcuin of York- worked at task of revising the liturgical books– Published a Sacramentary – book of prayers and

rites for the administration of the sacraments of the churchBecame obligatory for Frankish kingdom churches in

785Gregorian chant (name after Pope Gregory the Great)

– Corrected errors in the Vulgate Bible– All learning would lead to a better grasp of

revealed truth – the Bible


– Alcuin developed Frankish school systemSchools centered in monasteries and townsAttempts were made to attach schools to parish churches in

rural areasThe establishment of the schools was accomplished through

decrees and capitularies

Literacy and Women– Evidence of learning among aristocratic women– Dhouda (not a nun) – wrote a sort of manual for Christian

living to instruct her own son– Illuminated manuscripts suggest literacy

Mostly written by nuns in convents

Benedictine MonasticismBenedictine Monasticism

Early monasticism– From the Greek monos (alone)– Eastern tradition of asceticism (self-denial)

and eremitism (the solitary life) came into the West

– Varying monastic lifestyles; some very simple, others had lively intellectual traditionWandering monks – traveled from monastery to

monastery– No predominate rule of life

Benedictine MonasticismBenedictine MonasticismThe Rule of St. Benedict (Benedict of Nursia in

Italy)– “Magna Carta of monasticism”– Prologue and 73 chapters – set the ideal for

monastic life– Charlemagne had Alcuin of York bring the rule to

his kingdom and impose it in the monasteries of the Frankish kingdom

– Live a family life in a community under the direction of a freely elected father (the abbot)

– Poverty: possess nothing of their own – Stability: live in one monastery; not wander


– Obedience: to the abbott – Chastity: remain unmarried

Daily life: balance of common prayer, work, and study– Prayer: duly appointed hours of liturgical

praise; marked intervals (times) of the day“Divine Office” – public recitation of psalms,

hymns, prayers, and Scripture readings– Benedictine lifestyle summed up on motto:

“Pray and work”

Benedictine MonasticismBenedictine MonasticismHorarium – typical daily schedule (see page 201)

– Determined by sunrise and sunset2:00 A.M. Rise2:10-3:30 Nocturns (later called Matins; longest office of

the day)3:30-5:00 Private reading and study5:00-5:45 Lauds (2nd office; “morning prayer”)5:45-8:15 Private reading and Prime (1st of short offices;

sometimes a communal Mass, in some places a light breakfast

8:15-2:30 Work punctuated by short offices Tierce, Sext, and None (3rd, 6th, and 9th hours)


2:30-3:15 Dinner3:15-4:15 Reading and private religious exercises4:15-4:45 Vespers – break – Compline (night

prayers)5:15-6:00 To bed for the night

– Regimen changed on feast days (less work and more prayer)

– During the summer: rise earlier; work later in the day when the sun was down; more food

Women and the Monastic LifeWomen and the Monastic LifeScholastica (d. 543)

– St. Benedict’s sister – head of monasteryBrigid of Ireland (d. 525) – legends of being a

miracle worker and teacher– Contemporary of Scholastica– Reputation as a saint– Churches were dedicated to her

Hilda, abbess of Whitby (England, 614-680)– Ruled monastic center of learning– Held episcopal gathering to determine church policy– Encouraged lay learning

Women and the Monastic LifeWomen and the Monastic LifeHildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

– Writer, painter, illustrator, musician, critic, preacher

– Wrote treatise on prayer, philosophy, medicine, and devotion

– Scivias (The Way to Knowledge), Physica, Causae et Curae (medical treatise), Symphonia (music), Ordo Virtutum (morality play)Commissioned illustrations for Scivias, but the

originals were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in WWII

Copies do exist (fig. 9.2)

From the Scivias, Hildegard of Bingen

Monasticism Monasticism and Gregorian Chantand Gregorian Chant

Monasteries and Opus Dei (work of God)Main occupation of the monk was Opus Dei

– Liturgical common prayer of the monastic horariumLife centered around the monastic church, prayed 7 times

a day– Centrality of liturgy – texts were needed for religious

services as well as reading– Copying, correcting, and illuminating manuscripts

was an important part of lifeLectio divina (divine reading) – studied scriptures as a

lifelong occupation


Monasteries were also centers for development of sacred music– Charlemagne was very interested in church

musicBrought monks from Rome to stabilize and reform

church music in his kingdom as part of liturgical renovation

Diverse traditions of ecclesiastical music:– Gregorian Chant – Pope Gregory the Great

Roman music


– Milan: Ambrosian music – honor of St. AmbroseNoted hymn writer

– Mozarabic chant – regional style of music in Spain

– Frankish chant – had own peculiar style of chant like Mozarabic

All styles derive from earlier models of music with roots in Hebrew, Greco-Roman, and Byzantine styles


Gregorian chant and Carolingian reform– Gregorian chant wasn’t codified until 11th or 12th

centuries, so it is difficult to precisely reconstruct the music of Charlemagne’s court

Gregorian chant characteristics– Monophonic: single melodic line; lacked musical

accompaniment – Melismatic: extensive elaboration of a final syllable

(or any syllable) by a chain of intricate notes– Acapella: without music accompaniment


– Cantus planus: elaborate music forms used for hymns of the office and Mass chantsPlainsong or plainchant

– Neums: basic symbols used in the notation of Gregorian chant

Liturgical Music Liturgical Music and the Rise of Dramaand the Rise of Drama

The Liturgical Trope– Trope – development connected with melismatic

chantWords that were verbal elaborations, an embellishment

– Verbal elaborations of textual content– Added to the long melismas– Aid in memorization– Origin of drama in the West

Quem Quæritis – short dialogue sung by two singers or choirs (see page 204)


Quem Quæritis elaborated into the form of a short play– By 11th and 12th centuries the dialogue was

elaborated beyond word of the Bible– More speakers added– Stories became more complex

These tropes were eventually moved from the church to the public square– By the 1300’s plays were performed in

conjunction with feast days


– Plays were usually Bible stories– Began to include lives of the saints and

allegoriesAllegories (symbolic narratives) were about

virtues and vices

The Morality Play: The Morality Play: EverymanEveryman15th century play

– Personification of abstractions representing a common medieval theme:

Struggle for the soulPlot: Everyman must face God in final judgment.

– Virtues: Confession, Good Deeds, & KnowledgeLinks liturgical and secular dramaAllegorical, moralistic

– Instructs for moral conversion

The Morality Play: The Morality Play: EverymanEverymanReligious themes

– Life as a pilgrimage– The inevitability of death (memento mori –

Keep death before your eyes!)– Faith vs. Free Will

Faith alone does not save; Knowledge, Good Deeds, and Confession makes the difference between salvation and damnation

– The Play was meant to instruct for purposes of moral conversion

The Morality Play: The Morality Play: EverymanEveryman

Liturgical overtones with pageant quality– Solemn wearing of gowns– Stately pace of the speeches– Seriousness of the message

Nonliturgical DramaNonliturgical DramaPlays existed that did not depend on liturgical

worshipHroswitha (d. 1000) – German nun-poet

– Collection of legends written in Latin and 6 plays modeled on Roman dramatist Terence

– Poetry, legends, playsTheophilus (prose legend)– selling of one’s soul to the

devil for material gain and public gloryThe Conversion of the Harlot Thaïs

– Probably meant to be read aloud or acted out– Heavily moralistic to educate and convert

The Legend of Charlemagne:The Legend of Charlemagne:Song of RolandSong of Roland

Frankish kingdom was fractured and the Dark Ages began after Charlemagne’s death– Charlemagne’s era was a sort of Golden Age

Charlemagne canonized 1165– Reliquaries and commemoratives: paintings,

candelabrum, portrait bust holds skull fragments

– See Fig. 9.3 – gold reliquary that houses the bones of on of Charlemagne’s arms


Epic poems were written about himSongs and poems about

Charlemagne’s deeds and life– Chansons de geste (songs of deeds) – chansons d’histoire (songs of history)

Song of Roland is the best and most famous


– 300 years of oral tradition begin the song– Charlemagne’s battle with the Basques (778) is

described in the song– It is an epic poem– Subject matter is glory of military campaign,

chivalric nature of the knight, possibility of human deviousness, and clash of good and evil

Military and religious ideals– 11th c. martial virtues and chivalric code


Anti-Muslim bias– In the story Muslims attack the retreating army

while it’s under the command of Roland; Roland’s army is defeated, but he sounds an alarm and Charlemagne raises up an army and comes to the aid of Roland. Charlemagne, with divine aid, is victorious.

Oral tradition, jongleurs (wandering minstrels)– Poem was meant to be heard, not read– Recited for illiterate audiences

The Visual Arts:The Visual Arts:

The Illuminated BookThe Illuminated BookArtistic effort was expended on the

production and illumination of manuscripts– Illumination is just a form of illustration and

decoration of a textCarolingian manuscripts were made of

parchment– Papyrus was unavailable and papermaking

process was unknown to the Franks– Influenced by Roman, Byzantine, and Celtic

styles


The Illuminated BookThe Illuminated BookGospel Book of Charlemagne (Fig. 9.4)

– Roman style: Toga-clad like Roman consuls; attempt at three-dimensionality

– Depicts 4 evangelists and their symbolsUtrecht Psalter (820-840)

Psalter is a psalmbook – Masterpiece of the Carolingian Renaissance

Illustrated psalmsMobile figures, show nervous energyPraising God (based on Psalm 150) in Fig. 9.5Lavish purple and silver manuscripts imitate Byzantine style


The Illuminated BookThe Illuminated BookIvory carving become a new art formCarved ivory book covers were used

Crucifixion panel (Fig. 9.6)– Made at the palace workshop in Aachen sometime

in 9th century– Read clockwise from bottom left: Last supper,

betrayal in the garden, soldier piercing Jesus’ side, soldier offers vinegar-soaked sponge, women at the tomb, doubting Thomas

– The two top scenes are the ascension and Pentecost

– The beardless Christ and flow of drapery indicate familiarity with Byzantine art


The Illuminated BookThe Illuminated BookDagulf Psalter – includes both illumination and

ivorywork– Made as a gift for Pope Hadrian I– Psalms are not illustrated; artist enlarges and illuminates

(decorates) the initial letter (Fig. 9.7)– Celtic in style– Ivory covers: two scenes on each panel (Fig. 9.8)– Top left: David in his court; Bottom left: David singing

psalms with lyre– Top right: Saint Jerome receiving letter to correct the

psalter; Bottom right: Jerome in the act of working on the psalter


The Illuminated BookThe Illuminated BookAnother advance in manuscript production

was fine handwriting or calligraphyCarolingian miniscule – precise and

rounded form of lettering– Majuscule – capital letter

Crisp and legible – became the standard form of manuscript writing

From Gospel Book of Charlemagne

Crucifixion

From Dagulf Psalter

Charlemagne’s Palace at AachenCharlemagne’s Palace at AachenWanted kingdom modeled on ancient Rome

– Favorite book was The City of God– He made ideals from the book visible in

buildingsRoyal palace and chapel at Aachen

– All the buildings except chapel have been destroyed

– Aachen city hall (built 14th century) covers the palace site

– Long, one-story building– Main Room: large royal hall, lavishly decorated

Charlemagne’s Palace at AachenCharlemagne’s Palace at Aachen

– Focal point of the hall was the emperor’s throne at western end

– Open courtyard in front of palace– Royal hall was joined to chapel by a long

wooden gallery– See Model reconstruction (fig. 9.9)

Charlemagne’s Palace at AachenCharlemagne’s Palace at AachenChapel – central plan was octagonal

– Church of San Vitale (Ravenna) was model (fig. 9.10)Cloisters surrounded main nave (octagon) of church

– Altar dedicated to the Savior – at eastern end of chapel (liturgical services)

– Chapel to the Virgin – located below Savior’s altar (reliquary)Housed St. Martin of Tours’ cape

– Richly ornamented, decorated with mosaics and frescoes

Charlemagne’s Palace at AachenCharlemagne’s Palace at AachenCharlemagne’s Throne – located in chapel

– Could view liturgical services in Savior chapel while also viewing Virgin chapel with its relics

– Throne had curved back and armrests; mounted by six stone stepsArrangement was taken from description of King

Solomon’s throne (I Kings 10:18-19)Charlemagne was thought of as the “new Solomon”Ambitious builder, shrewd lawyer, symbol of nation

unity

The Carolingian MonasteryThe Carolingian Monastery

Monastery as “miniature civic center”– A center of life for rural populations– Complexity of function and design

Kept learning alive and worship intact; shelters for travelers, hospitals; places of refuge, granaries, centers of law, milling and brewing

– Center of life for rural populations– Physical character of the buildings

changed: became intricate complex of buildings (Table 9.1)

The Carolingian MonasteryThe Carolingian MonasterySaint Gall plan – plan for ideal monastery

(Fig. 9.11)– Developed about 820 at Benedictine abbey of

Saint Gall in present day Switzerland– Basilica style church with numerous

entrances, 2 round towers– Designed to house 120 monks, 170 serfs– Plan was never realized in stone

The Carolingian MonasteryThe Carolingian Monastery To the north of church: rectangular garden space

surrounded by the cloister (covered walkway), monks’ dormitory, dining hall, kitchens

To the south of church: copying room (scriptorium), house for the abbot, school, guest house

To the extreme south: workshops and outbuildings To the east beyond the church: infirmary, gardens,

and cemetery See fig. 9.4, page 212

The Romanesque StyleThe Romanesque StyleLarge, “Roman-looking” architecture (1000-1200)Influenced by travel, expansion

– Pilgrimages Use of heavy stone arches

– Larger, more spacious interiors– Heavy walls could support stone arches– Fireproof stone and masonry roofs– Church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse

Accommodated large groupsFig. 9.12, 9.13

The Romanesque StyleThe Romanesque StyleGenerous exterior decoration (sculpture)

– Lack of interior light drove artists outside– Portal (doorway) was popular place for decoration

– people would pass through (Figs. 9.14, 15, 16)– Jamb, capital, trumeau (other places for

decoration)– Tympanum: half-moon shaped space above door

(mandorla: center almond shape; archivolts: outer arches)Church of Sainte Madeleine at Vézelay

– Fig. 9.17

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