Carolingian culture: emulation and innovation (review)

Abstract

208 Reviews Christ. It should stimulate areconsiderationof stereotyped readings of other images and in other periods. Ann Moffatt Department of Art History Australian National University McKitterick, Rosamond, ed., Carolingian culture: emulation and innovation, Cambridge, Cambridge University press, 1994; paper; pp. xvii, 334; 21 plates; R.R.P. AUS$49.95. The volume of work on Carolingian topics emanating from Cambridge continues to sweU and this book of studies by different bands wUl strengthen its reputation. Some of the chapters constitute bulletins on work in progress or summaries of questions from major scholars. Janet Nelson provides an intriguing discussion of kingship and emphe. John Marenbon offers an upbeat assessment of Carolingian thought, suggesting that it was creative in ways which were to prove influential. Rosamond McKitterick illuminatingly examines script and book production, while George Henderson writes on art. Other chapters tackle subjects which may be thought to be more marginal but which turn out to have wide interest. Grammar is dealt with by Vivien Law, German vernacular literature is assessed by Cyril Edwards, and music is discussed by Susan Rankin in an outstanding and penetrating essay. Elsewhere, Giles Brown contributes a somewhat dense introduction to the Carolingian Renaissance, Mary Garrison looks at the emergence of Latin literature, in particular poetry, at the court of Charlemagne, Matthew Innes and the editor consider the writing of history, and the editor contributes a short chapter on the legacy of the Carolingians. None of these essays is less than instructive and helpful, and some are brilliant Occasionally one would like to know more. To what extent are the arguments provided for Einhard's Life of Charlemagne having been written within a few years of the death of its subject (p. 204 ff.) weakened by that author's comment that Italy did not suffer grave damage from the Moors, nor Gaul and Germany from the Northmen, in Charlemagne's days ('... diebus suis ... ' [cap. 17])? The phrase suggests the perspective of someone looking back from a time when these threats to security had become much more pronounced. Reviews 209 Seven of the ten contributors are from Cambridge and many of the pieces have the feeling of the solid grounding in manuscripts which characterizes a good deal of work in tbefieldcoming out of that Univeristy. While Gregory the Great is mistakenly credited with having been concerned about lips singing the praises of love instead of Jove (p. 3), slips in the editing of what must have been a difficulttextare very few. The layout of the pages is as pleasing as that of a good Carolingian manuscript, and the illustrations are reproduced with exemplary clarity. The editor and the press are to be congratulated on the production of a book which is a delight to handle and use. John Moorhead Department of History University of Queensland Miller, Maureen C, The formation of a medieval church: ecclesiastical change in Verona, 950-1150, Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press, 1993; cloth; pp. xvui, 216; 6 illustrations; R.R.P. US$38.50. The period between the mid tenth century and the mid twelfth century was the most important era of change in the medieval European Church. It was during this time, and especially from the mid-eleventh century, that the Church developed into what w e think of as its typically 'medieval' form, with a hierarchical organization reaching its apex in the Pope, a well trained and organized clergy dedicated to poverty, chastity, and the care of souls, and a growing number of spiritually dynamic religious orders. Above all, the Church was characterized by an aggressive assertion of its independence from the control of secular society and its rulers. The process by which this 'medieval' Church developed is largely attributed to the 'Gregorian Reform' of the eleventh century, epitomized by Pope Gregory VII. From Miller's study of Verona, however, a rather different picture emerges. By looking in detaU at the fortunes of the diocese of Verona during this critical period in the history of the Church, she is able to show that the reality is more complex and capable of a different interpretation. Verona was chosen for her study, originally for a doctorate at Harvard university, because there remains a...