Charlemagne and the Rise of Medieval Culture

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Charlemagne and the Rise of Medieval Culture

• The Carolingian, Monastic, and Romanesque Phases
  of the Medieval Period

Culture and Values Chapter 09
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Outline Chapter 9 Charlemagne and The Rise Of
Medieval Culture
Charlemagne as Ruler and Diplomat Learning in
the Time of Charlemagne Benedictine Monasticism
The Rule of Saint Benedict Women and the
Monastic Life Monasticism and Gregorian Chant
Liturgical Music and the Rise of Drama The
Liturgical Trope The Quem Quæritis Trope The
Morality Play Everyman Nonliturgical Drama The
Legend of Charlemagne Song of Roland The Visual
Arts The Illuminated Book Charlemagne's Palace
at Aachen The Carolingian Monastery The
Romanesque Style
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Timeline Chapter 9

• 8th-9th centuries - Irish Book of Kells
• - Death of Venerable Bede, author of
  Ecclesiastical History
• of the English People and other religious
  writings
• - Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Rome
• by Pope Leo III
• c. 810 - Gregorian plain chant (cantus planus)
  obligatory in
• Charlemagne's churches
• 814 - Carolingian monasteries adopt Rule of
• Saint Benedict of Nursia (480-547?)
• 1066 - Norman invasion of England by William the
  Conqueror
• c. 1071-1112 - Pilgrimage church at Santiago de
  Compostela, Spain
• 1096-1120 - Abbey Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay
  
• c. 1125 St. Bernard of Clairvaux denounces
• extravagances of Romanesque
  decoration
• 1098 - Song of Roland, chanson de geste inspired
  by Battle of
• Roncesvalles, written down after 300
  years of oral tradition
• 1165 - Charlemagne canonized at Cathedral of
  Aachen

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Carolingian Renaissance
Our attention in this chapter shifts from
Byzantium to the West and, more specifically, to
the rise of the kingdom of the Franks under
Charlemagne. The so-called Carolingian
Renaissance rekindled the life of culture after
the dark period following the fall of the last
Roman emperor in the West in the late fifth
century and the rise of the so-called barbarian
tribes.
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Holy Roman Empire
Charlemagne's reign saw the standardization of
monasticism, worship, music, and education in
the church. Those reforms would give general
shape to western Catholicism that, in some ways,
endured into the modern period. Equally
important was Charlemagne's assumption of the
title of Holy Roman Emperor. That act would
establish a political office that would exist in
Europe until the end of World War I in the
twentieth century. It also became a cause for
friction between Rome and Constantinople because
the Byzantine emperors saw Charlemagne's act as
an intrusion on their legitimate claim to be the
successors of the old Roman Empire.
Seals of Charlemagne, derived from antique
intaglio gems. This one depicts a Roman emperor.
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Feudal Society
The Carolingian world was essentially rural and
feudal. Society was based on a rather rigid
hierarchy with the emperor at the top, the nobles
and higher clergy below him, and the vast sea of
peasants bound to the land at the bottom of the
pyramid. There was little in the way of city life
on any scale. The outpost of rural Europe was the
miniature town known as the monastery or the
stronghold of the nobles. The rise of the city
and increased social mobility would eventually
destroy the largely agricultural and feudal
society as the High Middle Ages emerged in the
eleventh century.
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The Myth of Charlemagne and the Crusades
Finally there was Charlemagne as a mythic figure
who eventually would be drawn larger than life in
the Song of Roland. The growth of such myths
always occurs because they have some deep desires
behind them. In the case of Charlemagne, the
desire was to describe the ideal warrior who
could perform two very fundamental tasks for
Europe vanquish the Islamic powers which
threatened Christian Europe and provide a model
for a unified empire (the Holy Roman Empire) that
would be both a perfect feudal society and one
strong enough to accomplish the first task of
destroying Islam. Not without reason was the
Song of Roland a central poem for the
firstcrusaders who turned their faces to the
East.
Map of Crusades, 1000 1200
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The Book of Kells, 800 AD, Iona, off the west
coast of Scotland
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Gospel Book of Charlemagne, Aachen, early 9th
century
St. Matthew
St. Mark Ebbo
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Utrecht Psalter, The First Illustrated Psalter in
the World9th Century, Hauteviller, France, 820 -
840
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Crucifixion, Palace School of Charlemagne, Ivory,
9th century
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Palace and Chapel of Charlemagne
792 805 AD, Aachen
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CHRISTIAN ART OF ROMANESQUE PERIOD

• Romanesque means Roman like
• Interest in monumental architecture
• Massive stone arches and masonry walls support
  more weight than previously to yield larger,
  interior space
• Result
• More massive pressure on side walls
• Lack of windows so more wall space
• exists to hold up structure
• Light sacrificed so images transferred to outside
• in stone relief.
• Typically uses round arches

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Romanesque Churches - Interiors
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Church of Saint Sernin, Toulouse
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France Saint-Gilles-du-GardBenedictine Abbey of
Saint-Gilles, 1140 AD
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Benedictine Abbey Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine
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Tympanum and south portal of St.- Pierre,
Moissac. c. 1115-1135