A Carolingian ‘reform of education’? The reception of Alcuin’s pedagogy

The chapter challenges the idea that a reform of education was ever designed at the Carolingian court and broadcasted to every school of the realm. It engages with the most influential scholar under Charlemagne’s rule, Alcuin, and investigates the impact of his didactic treatises on ninth-century schools. Manuscript evidence demonstrates that Alcuin did not conceive a coherent didactic programme and that his treatises on the arts of speech were not meant to be adopted in every learning context. Doubtlessly they circulated quickly, particularly during the ninth century, but not everywhere. Two case studies illustrate the patterns of transmission of Alcuin’s treatises in Carolingian Italy, both in the ninth and in the tenth century, and in East Francia. These show that the spread of Alcuin’s pedagogy was not straightforward and can neither be explained according to a top-down nor to a centre-periphery dissemination model. Alcuin’s position at court and his public authority were ultimately less relevant for the impact of both his works and his teaching methods than the personal networks he created and cultivated in his lifetime. Particular attention is paid to the following manuscripts: Munich, BSB, Clm 6407; Wolfenbüttel. HAB, 50 and 77 Weiss.; Vatican City, BAV, Vat. Lat. 11506.