Alcuin : his life and legacy / Douglas Dales.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dales, Douglas.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Alcuin, 735-804.

Alcuin.

Educators--Great Britain--Biography.

Educators.

Great Britain.

Education, Medieval.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

223 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : James Clarke & Co., 2012.

Summary:

Douglas Dales provides a comprehensive study of the life of one of the most underrated figures of the early medieval Western Church. Alcuin left behind him a varied selection of correspondence and other documents which attest to his prominence as a statesman, theologian, poet, friend, and teacher. The author deftly deals with the primary manuscript evidence to record Alcuin's transition from a precocious schoolboy of noble lineage in York to his involvement with Charlemagne, Offa, and the papacy in Rome. Alcuin's life and career are closely followed in this definitive book, which is the first study to fully examine the full span of Alcuin's life and the lasting effect of his actions. Alcuin was a conscious heir to the rich traditions of the English Church, and his skill as a poet of prayer, as well as an educator, marks Alcuin out as a seminal influence upon his own generation and those that came after him. This book examines the life and career of Alcuin in England and on the continent; it also considers his legacy as a churchman and a leading political figure. This book demonstrates that Alcuin's Christian cultural inheritance and historical significance is at the forefront of his life and legacy. This gives a fascinating backdrop to the subtle and nuanced elements of Alcuin's personality and relationships which the author carefully gleans from the surviving evidence. This authoritative and ground-breaking work illuminates for the reader the importance of Alcuin to the period, its literacy, imperialism, and monasticism. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 England

Chapter 1 York 19

Chapter 2 Emissary 31

Chapter 3 Letters to England 43

Chapter 4 Alcuin and Offa 55

Part 2 Charlemagne

Chapter 5 Charlemagne 69

Chapter 6 Alcuin and Charlemagne 79

Chapter 7 Statesman 93

Chapter 8 Rome 107

Chapter 9 Crisis and Coronation 119

Part 3 Legacy

Chapter 10 Abbot of Tours 127

Chapter 11 Alcuin and Monasticism 139

Chapter 12 Letters, Friends, and Manuscripts 151.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0227173465

9780227173466

OCLC:

835099312

Publisher Number:

99953810870