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043 - 12 The Writers of the Times · Short History of the Christian Church

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  Speaker 1: Part two, Chapter twelve of Short History of the Christian
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  Speaker 1: Church by John Fletcher Hurst. This LibriVox recording is in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain, Chapter twelve. The writers of the times,
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  Speaker 1: the classic masters of Greek and Roman thought, were at
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  Speaker 1: no time entirely forgotten. It is a peculiarity of the
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  Speaker 1: age that all the temporal rulers, beginning with Charlemagne, though
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  Speaker 1: often profoundly ignorant, were never wholly forgetful of the debt
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  Speaker 1: of their people to the creators of literature. Now and then,
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  Speaker 1: even a barbaric ruler surrounded himself with scholars who not
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  Speaker 1: only reflected their learned light on the court, but were
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  Speaker 1: of influence in promoting a thirst for knowledge throughout the dominions.
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  Speaker 1: The example of the goth Ulphilas, one of the most
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  Speaker 1: thorough scholars of his day, was powerful over rulers and
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  Speaker 1: the scholars of their courts in the later times. Scholars
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  Speaker 1: before Charlot were numerous, and yet because of the general
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  Speaker 1: distractions of the times, were not of wide influence. The
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  Speaker 1: most learned men were servants of the church, and hence
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  Speaker 1: science was confined chiefly to theology. Boethius and Cassiodorus, who
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  Speaker 1: furnished under the patronage of the Ostrogothic court, contributed largely
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  Speaker 1: to the preservation of both the Classic and the Patristic writings.
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  Speaker 1: The monasteries of Scotland and Ireland produced many scholars whose
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  Speaker 1: fame went into all lands. The communication between those countries
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  Speaker 1: and Rome was frequent, and many treasures were taken back
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  Speaker 1: to them from Italy, which proved of great value for
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  Speaker 1: the study of the Greek and Roman writers, and of
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  Speaker 1: the fathers as well. For many centuries, Theodore of Tarsus,
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  Speaker 1: the venerable Bede, and the scholar Hadrian were at the
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  Speaker 1: head of Anglo Saxon learning. The most powerful promoter of
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  Speaker 1: learning in Britain was Alfred the Great. The War of
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  Speaker 1: Races had done much to destroy all taste for scholarship.
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  Speaker 1: The ravages of the Scandinavian piratical tribes made the land
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  Speaker 1: a waste, but that wise king restored science to its
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  Speaker 1: former elevated position. His own example was a model of
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  Speaker 1: literary aspiration. He founded monasteries, churches and schools, and built
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  Speaker 1: the school which afterwards grew into the University of Oxford.
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  Speaker 1: He invited learned men into the country, and he himself translated,
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  Speaker 1: though very freely the works of Boethius and Eurosius, made
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  Speaker 1: a paraphrase of Bede's ecclesiastical History, and translated and circulated
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  Speaker 1: among his clergy Gregory's book on Pastoral Care. The scholars
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  Speaker 1: of Charlemagne's court constituted a bright galaxy of masters in literature.
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  Speaker 1: The emperor was constantly in search of learned men. He
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  Speaker 1: did not care where they came from or what their
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  Speaker 1: opinions were. The brightest ornament of his reign was Alanine,
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  Speaker 1: an Anglo Saxon. While this man was on a journey
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  Speaker 1: to Rome, he was introduced to Charlemagne. This was in
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  Speaker 1: seven eighty one and down to his death in eight
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  Speaker 1: o four. Charlemagne would not permit the calm and learned
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  Speaker 1: scholar to leave his service. He commanded Alanine to superintend
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  Speaker 1: all the educational movements of his broad dominions. He sent
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  Speaker 1: him on important diplomatic missions, and found that he could
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  Speaker 1: trust him in the most delicate duties. In seven ninety
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  Speaker 1: six he gave him the Abbyssy of Tours, which became
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  Speaker 1: through Alanine a celebrated seed of learning. Paul Diacinus was
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  Speaker 1: of Lombard origin. He had been a member of the
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  Speaker 1: court of the Lombard king Desiderius. Yet Charlemagne, after subjugating
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  Speaker 1: the Lombards, him to his service, but the scholar was
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  Speaker 1: ill at ease. The loss of his country was a
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  Speaker 1: sorrow which he could not overcome, and after getting released,
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  Speaker 1: he withdrew to his former monastery, Monte Cassino, and died there.
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  Speaker 1: It is from paul Diacinus's poem on John the Baptist
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  Speaker 1: that Guido of Arezzo derived his names for the musical
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  Speaker 1: notes out queant laxis rey sonare febreez mi rajastorum fa
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  Speaker 1: muliitorum solve polutum labre reatum sancte. Johannes Leedrod of Leon,
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  Speaker 1: Theodolf of Orlean and Paulinus of Aquileia were also bright
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  Speaker 1: lights of Charlemagne's court end of Chapter twelve