The Carolingians and the Written Word

by Rosamond McKitterick

This pioneering book studies the function and status of the written word in Carolingian society in France and Germany in the eighth and ninth centuries. It demonstrates that literacy was by no means confined to a clerical élite, but was dispersed in lay society and used for government and administration, as well as for ordinary legal transactions among the peoples of the Frankish kingdom. While employing a huge range of primary material, the author does not confine herself to a functional analysis of the written word in Carolingian northern Europe but goes on to assess the consequences and implications of literacy for the Franks themselves and for the subsequent development of European society after 1000.

Genres: History, Medieval History, Nonfiction, Academic, European History

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Rosamond Deborah McKitterick is one of Britain's foremost medieval historians. Since 1999, she has been Professor of Medieval History at the University of Cambridge where she is a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College. Much of her work focuses on the Frankish kingdoms in the 8th and 9th centuries and uses palaeographical and manuscript studies to illuminate aspects of the political, cultural, intellectual, religious and social history of the early Middle Ages.

From 1951 to 1956 McKitterick lived in Cambridge, England, where her father had a position at Magdalene College. In 1956 she moved with her family to Western Australia where she completed primary and secondary school and completed an honours degree at the University of Western Australia. She holds the degrees of M.A., Ph.D., and Litt.D.

In 1971 she returned to Cambridge University to pursue her career. She was a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge and then became a Professorial Fellow of Sidney Sussex. She is also on the Editorial Board of the journal 'Networks and Neighbours'.

She married David John McKitterick, Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge, and they have one daughter.

Reviews

[Chris Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Here is a scholarly book that, for the most part reads like a good novel. For monolingual Neanderthals like me, she doesn't translate all her quotes, but, on the other hand she does not use a lot of them; only when necessary. One gets the feeling (probable correctly) that she has read every document that is available that is mentioned. She makes her case that Franco-Alemania was much better read and served by libraries, scriptoria, and literate nobles, than is generally thought. She also shows the debt due to the Moravingians for their starting point in transformation from Roman to Medieval writings. Excellent read with the exception of about four pages that come across like the begats in the Bible.

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was dull.
I give this three stars because, if this were my field, it would be great. McKitterick has tons of research behind her and lays out a really convincing argument for the presence and importance of literacy in the Carolingian empire. Each chapter is ridiculously thorough and has tons of notes to other scholars if you should choose to pursue further interest. Unfortunately, I don't really care much about the Carolingians, paleography, diplomatics, or most of what's in this book. The best part was the chapter on the economics of books during the early middle ages because codicology (the making of books) is really neat, and the economic ramifications of making and owning books were really interesting to think about. But that was the shortest chapter, and most of the book was so dense it was just overwhelming, which quickly becomes boring. I skimmed the last 60 or so pages because I just couldn't handle the intricacies of the information anymore.
So, if this is your thing, this is a great book for learning about how and why people argue that literacy didn't just suddenly show up in the 12th century. If that's not so much your thing, skip it.

[Tristan Rasmvs · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit too much centred on the idea of Roman Latin entering the Carolingian world through Sankt Gallen's monastery, and takes for granted the difference in oral traditions within the entire Carolingian empire. She had to do what she could with the sources that are available, and on that part she did an amazing job describing relations between oral tradition and the written word. But other perspectives could have been more addressed, such as the Merovingian past, that is a bit portrait as a dark age, and the diverse population of the Carolingian empire.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literacy and writing were important to the Carolingians as the emperor established and expanded the administrative state. No shortage of eager bureaucrats to 'spread the word' in written form, either. Dense, rich, meaty, foundational research, including important work on the literacy already widespread before the Carolingians, based on the author's research on the pre-Carolingian St. Gall charters and manuscripts.