Codex Bernensis 363 and Carolingian-Era Cultural Activity in Northern Italy

Abstract

Manuscript Bern 363 has been studied before for its transmission of the works of Virgil and Horace as well as late antique texts, for its links to Carolingian-era poetry circles, and for its marginalia indicating Irish intellectual networks in the ninth century. This article builds on previous studies, using some of their methodologies to explore other evidence the manuscript provides. In doing so, it reveals Bern 363 as arguably a quintessential example of the circumstances of local intellectual activity in the Carolingian period – activity often linked to but separate from the high culture of the royal court and ecclesiastical elite.