Alcuin

Alcuin
/al"kwin/, n. (Ealhwine Flaccus) A.D. 735-804
English theologian and scholar: teacher and adviser of Charlemagne.
Also, Alchuine. Also called Albinus.

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born с 732, in or near York, Yorkshire, Eng.
died May 9, 804, Tours, France

Anglo-Latin poet, educator, and cleric.

As head of Charlemagne's Palatine school, he introduced the traditions of Anglo-Saxon humanism into western Europe and was the foremost scholar of the revival of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He also made important reforms in the Roman Catholic liturgy, prepared an important new edition of the Vulgate Bible, wrote a number of poems, and left more than 300 Latin letters, a valuable source for the history of his time. Although traditionally identified as the author of the Caroline books and as the creator of Carolingian miniscule, Alcuin is now recognized as having played a less important role in the creation of both. He was also an important political adviser and confidant of Charlemagne.

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▪ Anglo-Saxon scholar

born c. 732, , in or near York, Yorkshire, Eng.
died May 19, 804, Tours, France
 Anglo-Latin poet, educator, and cleric who, as head of the Palatine school established by Charlemagne at Aachen, introduced the traditions of Anglo-Saxon humanism into western Europe. He was the foremost scholar of the revival of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He also made important reforms in the Roman Catholic liturgy and left more than 300 Latin letters that have proved a valuable source on the history of his time.

      Alcuin's first 50 years were spent in Yorkshire, where he was first a pupil and, after 778, headmaster of the cathedral school of York, the most renowned of its day. He wrote a long poem, probably shortly before he left York, telling of the renowned men in that city's history. In 781 he met Charlemagne in Italy and accepted his invitation to Aachen, where the king was gathering the leading Irish, English, and Italian scholars of the age. The school, where Charlemagne himself, his family, his friends, and his friends' sons were taught, became a lively centre of discussion and exchange of knowledge. Alcuin introduced the methods of English learning into the Frankish schools, systematized the curriculum, raised the standards of scholarship, and encouraged the study of liberal arts for the better understanding of spiritual doctrine. In 796 he left the court to become abbot of the Abbey of St. Martin at Tours, where he encouraged the work of his monks on the beautiful Carolingian minuscule script, the ancestor of modern Roman typefaces.

      Alcuin's formative influence in the development of Roman Catholicism in western Europe is ascribed mainly to his revision of the liturgy of the Frankish (Frank) church. He was responsible for the introduction of the Irish Northumbrian custom of singing the creed. He arranged votive masses for particular days of the week in an order still followed by Catholics, reedited the Latin Vulgate, and wrote a number of works on education, theology, and philosophy.

      Alcuin's life embodies contradictions. His leadership in church and state was remembered throughout the Middle Ages, yet he remained only a deacon. Though he was the foremost teacher in a rude age, his writings show no originality. He loved Charlemagne and enjoyed the king's esteem, but his letters reveal that his fear of him was as great as his love. Most of his poetry is mediocre. Toward the end of his life he acquired a great reputation for holiness, but he is not included in the canon of saints.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Alcuin — • Lengthy article on the educator, scholar, theologian, liturgist, who died in 804 Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Alcuin     Alcuin      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Alcuin — of York ( la. Alcuinus) or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus (c. 735 ndash; May 19, 804) was a scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Egbert at York. At the invitation …   Wikipedia

  • Alcuin —     Au début du IXe siècle, à cette époque de grande construction, l’œuvre d’Alcuin (735 804) a eu une réelle importance dans la direction intellectuelle de l’Europe pendant tout le Moyen Age. Né l’année même de la mort de Bède le Vénérable,… …   Philosophie du Moyen Age

  • ALCUIN — ALCUIN, lat. ALBINUS FLACCUS (730 env. 804) Clerc anglo saxon, né à York, Alcuin fut dans cette ville l’élève d’Aelbert, auquel il succéda à la tête de l’école cathédrale. Il fut alors regardé comme l’un des maîtres de la culture chrétienne… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • ALCUIN° — (Albinus Flaccus; c. 735–804), educator and tutor of Charlemagne from 781. Born in York, he was educated in a school where one of his teachers had been a student of Bede. Author of several books and educational manuals, Alcuin s exegetical works… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Alcuin — Alcuin, Alcwin, auch Albinus, 732 bei York geb., studirte an der Domschule von York und wurde später deren Vorsteher. 781 von Karl d. Gr. nach Paris berufen, wurde er Vorsteher der Palastschule, Mitglied der Akademie und erwarb sich um die… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Alcuīn — Alcuīn, geb. 735 (739) zu York, wurde 766 Rector der Schule daselbst; machte eine Reise nach Rom u. kam auf der Rückreise zu Pavia in die Bekanntschaft Karls d. Gr.; dieser berief ihn 782 zu sich u. bediente sich seines Rathes in der Cultivirung… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Alcuin — [al′kwin] A.D. 735? 804; Eng. theologian & writer: advisor in the court of Charlemagne …   English World dictionary

  • Alcuin — Raban Maur (gauche), soutenu par Alcuin (milieu), dédicace son œuvre à l archevêque Otgar de Mayence (droite) Alcuin d York, en vieil anglais Ealhwine, latinisé Albinus et surnommé Flaccus (Northumbrie, vers 730 – Tours, 804), étai …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Alcuin — Hrabanus Maurus (links), unterstützt von Alkuin (mitte), übergibt sein Werk an Otgar von Mainz (rechts) – Darstellung aus manuscriptum Fuldense um 830 Alkuin, angelsächsisch Ealhwine, auch Alhwin, Alchoin, inschriftlich ALCHVVINVS, latinisiert… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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