The historical literature of the period also shows the influence of this religious “Renaissance.” Hagiographical works were popular, but in general critical ability was wanting in them. But some advance was made, for although the traditional lines of narrative are preserved, more biographical details are given and the style is improved. This type of Carolingian literature can best be studied in Eigil’s life of Sturm, in the biographies of Gregory of Utrecht, by Liudger, and in Alcuin’s “Life of Willibrord.” Some of the annals compiled at this time follow preëxisting models, while others show a distinct improvement, especially the “Royal Annals,” which were compiled under the influence of the royal “littérateurs.” The most noteworthy of this type are the annals of Lorsch, which follow the course of contemporary history down to the year 829; they have been assigned without sufficient reason to Einhard, since it is known that works of a similar character, the “Gesta,” of the bishops of Metz, were composed by Paul the Deacon.
The greatest monument of the literary revival is Einhard’s “Life of Charles.” Its author, who had studied at Fulda, and become a member of the court circle sometime between 791 and 796, was a favorite of the Emperor, and received as a gift several abbeys. Suetonius was taken as a model by Einhard, but was not slavishly followed. He oftentimes changes the phrases of his original, and, copyist as he is, he leaves on the reader the impression of freshness and vigor. Allowing himself to be guided by his original, he sets down much information which the ordinary medieval biographer leaves unmentioned.
Many letters of this time have been preserved, among the most interesting being the correspondence of Alcuin. Poetry was widely read, and all sorts of subjects were treated in verse. Especial attention was given to metrical inscriptions intended to be placed over the doors of churches or private houses, on walls, altars, tombs, and in books. The acrostic form was extremely popular and applied with great ingenuity. For the more serious poetic efforts, the most popular models were the Christian poets, Prudentius and Fortunatus. But pagan authors were by no means neglected, for Ovid, Virgil, Martial, Horace, Lucan, and Propertius all found imitators. Attempts were made to revive epic poetry, some of the writers, as in the case of Hugelbert, by no means doing discredit to their classical models.
While Latin was the official language, Charles did all he could to encourage his native Teutonic speech; he made collections of the folklore poetry of his own people, directed the preparation of a “Frank” grammar, and tried to introduce the custom of using the Teutonic names for the months of the year and winds. But throughout the greater part of Gaul the “Romance” tongue predominated, though educated people did not care to employ it. Charles’ biographer tells us that the Emperor spoke it along with Frankish and Latin. At the Council of Tours, in 813, the bishops decided that the homilies should be translated into Romance in order to be understood by the congregation.
Warlike songs in the vernacular, celebrating the exploits of the Franks, are mentioned. The great deeds of the Emperor himself had this popular recognition, especially the expedition into Spain and the wars of the Saxons, which excited the popular fancy. That the actual combatants were accustomed to recount, in verse, both Frankish and Romance, the events they themselves had witnessed, is known from the case of Adalbert, a veteran of the wars with the Avars and the Slavs, whose narrative was taken down by a monk of St. Gall, and transcribed into Latin.
Carolingian art, like Carolingian literature, was pre-eminently religious. The revival of art was to a great extent a restoration, i.e., an attempt to keep already existing church buildings from falling into ruin. This process of destruction was due to the avarice and carelessness of the generations immediately preceding the founding of the Empire. New churches were also constructed, the work of building being laid on the various communities and superintended by the bishops and the counts. The Emperor’s minister of public works was Einhard, to whom have been attributed, without sufficient ground, however, some of the greatest monuments of the period, the bridges at Mainz, the palace and church at Aix, and the palace at Ingelheim. Though the monuments of Carolingian architecture were scattered over a wide extent of territory, Germany, Gaul, and Lombardy, few have survived. Wood was used for both basilicas and country churches, especially in the Northern parts of the Empire, and such buildings were naturally not durable. Where stone was employed, restoration has so altered the original construction that few examples of the architecture of this period can be identified with certainty. The basilica type of church, usual in Merovingian France, was retained, but more attention was given to the technique of ancient art. Einhard, we know, read Vitruvius. An original feature of the Carolingian age was the lantern tower, square or cylindrical, erected at the transept crossing, and surmounted by a cupola containing the church bells.
Byzantine architecture was much admired in court circles, and the desire to imitate the earlier periods of Græco-Roman art led to a systematic plundering of the ancient buildings in the Italian peninsula, from which all sorts of architectural fragments, great and small, were carried across the Alps, to be incorporated, generally without much sense of proportion or fitness, in the newly constructed edifices. The most interesting example of this revived Byzantine architecture is the Emperor’s own chapel at Aix, which still serves as a nave in the existing church. Workmen from all quarters of the civilized world were sent for to engage in its construction; marbles, sculpture, and mosaics were brought from Italy, chiefly from Ravenna. Eighteen years elapsed before the church was completed, and it was consecrated with imposing ceremonial by Leo III, on January 1, 805. It is a copy of the well-known church of St. Vitalis in Ravenna. Around an octagonal center, which measures fourteen and a half meters, there are galleries in two stories, to which access is given by turrets containing winding staircases. The Emperor’s contemporaries were not conscious of the mistakes in the execution of this copy of a famous Byzantine model, and the chapel of Aix was spoken of by Einhard as admirable and of supreme beauty. It was followed by others in the same style, one of which, at Germain-des-Près, still preserves, despite restoration, distinct traces of the original design.
The age was remarkable, also, for the extension and building of monastic foundations. These buildings, as compared with the later monastic structures, followed a simple plan, with the church edifice forming the center of the complex. Around the square cloister were placed the common room, the school, the library, the refectory, and the dormitory. Near by were the abbot’s home, the guest chamber, and the infirmary. An idea of the extent of these buildings may be had from the dimensions of a well-known French abbey, St. Wandrile, where the refectory and the dormitory measure 208 feet long by 27 feet wide. As to secular architecture, it is represented solely by the imperial palaces at Nymwegen, Ingelheim, and Aix.
The palace at Aix, like the church, has for its model a building at Ravenna, the so-called palace of Theodoric. As all of the dependents of the court had to be accommodated, the ground floor covered a considerable space. In the center were the apartments of the imperial family, the audience chamber, the baths. In a large wing of the building, connecting it with the chapel, there was room for the school, the library, the archives. In interior decoration stucco, mosaic work, and mural painting were used rather than sculpture, in which art Carolingian workers showed little skill. The Emperor, though he prohibited the worship of images, expressly directed the use in church of mural paintings, with subjects taken from the Scriptures. In the palaces the same art was used to illustrate the secular history of the Empire.
The Emperor’s deeds were depicted on the walls and explained in poetical inscriptions. Mosaic was used for floors and wall spaces, and red and green porphyry were especially sought after for the decorative designs that often covered the interior of the cupola, as at Aix, where the Christ is represented on a gold background covered with red stars, blessing twelve aged men at his feet, and accompanied by two angels.