The Carolingian Renaissance lasted through the reign of Emperor Charlemagne and his son, King Louis the Pious. It was a cultural movement among the Franks to elevate them into a civilized culture. Their barbarian heritage haunted them, and the Carolingian Renaissance was a self-conscious cultural ploy. It attempted to Romanize the Franks and preserve classical antiquity in a Christian style. There wasn’t a rebirth during the movement, as with most Renaissances; rather, the Carolingians attempted to copy and preserve Greek and Roman culture by morphing it with themselves.
On the literate front, Charlemagne recognized the importance of education. There was a problem during the Middle Ages in Francia. The cathedral churchmen—bishops and deacons—were most educated, but most were celibates. They didn’t pass their knowledge on to their children since they didn’t have any. Charlemagne noticed the disconnect: Why weren’t the educated teaching the uneducated? To combat the illiterate epidemic, he launched the cathedral schools in AD 787. By his request, many of the Catholic churches opened schools during the week. These cathedral schools later morphed into European universities. That same educational structure permeates modern culture in the form of universities and colleges. This modern form of education dates back to the Carolingian Renaissance and is credited to Charlemagne.
When it came to writing, there was regional independence at the time. Styles of handwriting varied so much regionally that reading manuscripts from another locality was tedious and in some cases, almost impossible. This was preposterous since they all spoke the same language. As difficult as reading was, the writing was even more tedious. All the letters were capitalized, and there was no singularity regarding the alphabet. There was too much regional difference. The Carolingian Renaissance addressed this issue by developing the Carolingian minuscule. It adopted the use of lowercase letters, which made writing and reading easier, but most importantly, it created a consistent literate standard in Francia.
Economically and politically, Charlemagne’s conquest of Western Europe started the Renaissance on a prosperous note. Small towns, which formerly lacked economic significance, developed into large and prosperous trading centers. The interregional commodity trading business created an influx of wealth among small towns. It gave the towns partial political independence. The lucrative slave trading business also impacted the town economies, once again creating wealth among the population (slaves excluded). However, this growing political and economic independence caused problems for the Carolingian family. Charlemagne conquered a vast region under his reign. His successors struggled to maintain control over these cities. Northern Italy rejected their rule, but the Carololingians could not reassert dominance in that region without forfeiting authority in Germany. As soon as an army reconquered Northern Italy, Germany rebelled. When Germany was reconquered, Northern Italy rebelled. The Carolingians lost control. They stretched themselves too thin. The economic independence in towns translated into political independence.
In conclusion, the Carolingian Renaissance lasted from Charlemagne to Louis the Pious. The goal was to preserve classical culture and civilize Francia. Through the Renaissance, they created cathedral schools, which later morphed into European universities; the Carolingian minuscule, a universal writing alphabet that included lowercase letters; and small towns became trading centers, giving each town economic prosperity and political independence.
Asher Sisneros 