Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages

by Dan Jones

Both Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious saw the Rule of Saint Benedict as a useful way to bring order to Christian practice and exercise meaningful imperial power over the ordinary lives of their subjects. This was an especially pressing matter in the case of monks, who occupied an awkward position outside direct ecclesiastical control, as unanswerable to bishops as they were to secular lords. Meanwhile, founding Benedictine monasteries in newly conquered pagan territories was also a reliable way to promote good Christian practice on the fringes of empire—a form of colonization and missionary activity rolled into one. Finally, the Carolingians recognized that monasteries were the only real way to provide serious education, where clever young men (and women) could learn to parse Christian scripture while also studying Latin and pagan writings preserved from the ancient world.