“With few books and still less paper, writing was a luxury as well as a gift. Nearly all instruction was oral, and writing was not depended upon in study. It is true Charlemagne did not need to economize in paper; but his teachers had accustomed themselves to instruct their pupils with extracts and selections, which were committed to memory and not written upon tablets. They did not expect great elaboration of detail from their scholars and brought their studies to a close without practising the art which with us is considered the beginning. The writing and preparation of diplomas was the work of expert secretaries.”
As Charlemagne had acquired the art of writing he thus surpassed the princes and notables of his time in this also.
The Emperor took special pains at meals that while the body was nourished the soul and mind should not be neglected. He was fond of pleasant entertainment, and if conversation was not so interesting as he wished, the chaplain would read from some good book. As gormandizing was distasteful to him, the dinner consisted of only four courses, something unheard-of in court life at that time. He drank but three times at table, and regarded drunkenness as a vice. He was delighted beyond measure when surrounded by his own family, something he rarely enjoyed because of his many campaigns.
An extraordinarily tender relation existed between Angilbert, who bore the academic name of Homer, and Charlemagne’s beautiful daughter Bertha. Upon one occasion they sat engaged in pleasant conversation without noticing that night was approaching. What might have happened if the Emperor had been aware of this it is difficult to conjecture. The hours passed swiftly and daybreak drew near. It was not a Romeo and Juliet morning of lark and nightingale greetings to the sun, but a cold winter morning with freshly fallen snow on the ground. How was Angilbert to get away without leaving accusing footprints in the snow? At this juncture, Charlemagne, who had risen early, went to the window and beheld his loved daughter Bertha carrying Angilbert on her back through the snow, after which she returned to her chamber. Charlemagne kept silent about the escapade, and it was not until some time afterwards that he confided to his friend what he had seen that night.
It was devout piety that induced Charlemagne to build the stately Cathedral. The music of the Italian masters was heard there for the first time, and the art of song was fostered by his chapel. The German language was employed there for the first time in divine service, much to the surprise of the Franks. The peal of the organ which Harun-al-Rashid presented to the Emperor was also first heard there. The chronicles of Saint Gall, to which we are indebted for so much interesting information concerning Charlemagne, relate that “the wonderful instrument, by the aid of its metal action and leathern bellows, filled the air with resonant thunder and anon with the soft tones of the lyre, as if worked by magic.”
Wood and stone, music, tapers, and incense, however, are of little account by themselves. Indeed they sometimes prove detrimental to the service, which should be the worship of God in spirit and in truth. There had been much pomp in the service before the time of Charlemagne. Indeed, the churches vied with each other in religious spectacles, and there was very little change in these matters among the clericals or laity in his time. When the clericals had finished their churchly duties they sought relief from their exertions in worldly pleasures. They were often seen in courtly attire engaged in hunting, in military exercises, or riding to banquets. It was irksome to bishops and abbés when they had to be satisfied with such a table as Charlemagne set forth. He was determined from the very first that there should be a radical change in church observances, and that the first step should be the establishment of higher standards in the behavior of clericals, and the suppression of covetousness, vanity, and personal show among them. He sternly rebuked a bishop who had provided himself a golden crozier set with pearls and precious stones. “We expect our pastors to bear the cross of Christ,” he told him, “but they abandon their poor sheep and seek to vie with kings and emperors in splendor and majesty.” He also required them to evince a spirit of reverence in all their actions.
He assigned a young priest, who came to him highly recommended, to an important position. Thereupon the priest mounted his horse which was standing waiting for him and would have hurried away to the hunt. Charlemagne called him back and said: “Forsooth, I observe that you are far too active for a priest. It will be better, therefore, for you to follow me in my campaigns as a soldier, for the Kingdom of Heaven is much disturbed by these storms of war.”
The clericals often accompanied him, not for fighting, but to render spiritual help whenever it was needed. Certain monks who had distinguished themselves by works of mercy and the transcribing of useful books were allowed the privilege of hunting as exceptions, because he thought they might strengthen themselves and at the same time secure skins for book covers, girdles, and gloves.
Charlemagne labored incessantly for the highest interests of Church and State. He held two annual assemblies, one military and the other of a deliberative nature, in which these interests were discussed. It is surprising to find that he held forty-two synods for that part of the Empire alone, in which church matters were regulated and educational questions settled. He issued four hundred and seventy-seven edicts appertaining to the subjects contained in the famous “Capitularies,” besides six hundred and seventy-four of a political character. Although many of these are not applicable to modern conditions, it must be remembered that one time is not all time; that the wisdom of the lawgiver must be measured by the conditions of those for whom laws are made; and that results must be decided upon their merits or demerits. All his contemporaries are agreed that his laws resulted in great benefit for the Empire.
It often happened in these assemblies that when the decisions of famous men in the olden times were considered, a feeling of doubt would seize upon Charlemagne. Upon one such occasion he declared: “Oh that I had twelve such learned advisers as Hieronymus and Augustine were!” To which Alcuin replied: “The ruler of heaven and earth did not have any, and you are longing for twelve of them.”