Alcuin
Anglo-Saxon scholar and teacher who shaped the Carolingian Renaissance.
Einhard's Life of Charlemagne called him "The most learned man anywhere to be found".[1] Born around 735 in Northumbria, the Anglo-Saxon Alcuin (also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin) worked as a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher within the 8th-century Carolingian Empire.[1]
Quick Facts
- Occupation
- Deacon of the Catholic Church
- Birthplace
- York, Northumbria
- Place of death
- Tours, Francia
- Notable works
- Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes; Quaestiones in Genesim
- Era
- Medieval philosophy; Carolingian Renaissance
- Main interests
- Mathematics
- Philosophy
- Christian theology
- Poetry
- Born
- c. 735
- Died
- 19 May 804 (aged around 69)
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Charlemagne abolished the death penalty for paganism in 797, and Alcuin's arguments seem to have prevailed.[2] In 790, Alcuin returned to England but was invited back to fight the Adoptionist heresy.[3] He was back at Charlemagne's court by mid-792 and wrote letters about the Viking attack on Lindisfarne in July 793.[4] Alcuin died on 19 May 804 and was buried at St. Martin's Church.[5]
He is honoured in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church on 20 May.[6] Prior to his teaching duties, Alcuin held the position of court chancellor in Aachen.[1] In 782, Alcuin took charge of Charlemagne's Palace School located in Aachen.[3]
What the cited sources add
A BBC Radio 4 programme description notes Alcuin promoted education as a goal in itself and had a fundamental role in the Carolingian Renaissance.[7] The same source describes a portrait of Alcuin in a Bible made at his monastery in Tours, showing him with a tonsure and a halo.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Alcuin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Einhard 2003, p. 54 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alcuin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Needham 2000, p. 52 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alcuin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burns 1907 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alcuin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Crossley-Holland, "The Anglo-Saxon World: An Anthology", Oxford University Press, 24 June 1999, p. 186 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alcuin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Duckett 1951, p. 305 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alcuin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Why Alcuin – Church in Touraine", churchintouraine.org; "Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018", Church Publishing, 17 December 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time, Alcuin", BBC. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Alcuin (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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