Gerbert of Aurillac and the Study of Rhetoric in Tenth-Century Rheims

Abstract

Gerbert of Aurillac (ca. 945-1003), who served as scholasticus of the cathedral school of Rheims from 972-980 and 984-989/991, is a seminal figure in the intellectual life of the tenth-century Latin West. Yet while his contributions to the study of the quadrivium have been examined in detail, his efforts to revive the study of classical rhetoric at Rheims have received less scrutiny. This paper brings together different strands of evidence - Gerbert’s letters and synodal acts, rhetorical manuscripts brought to Rheims or copied at his behest, the History of Richer of St. Remi (an admirer, and possibly a student of Gerbert, whose work reflects his teachings), and the contemporary rhetorical treatise of Notker Labeo of St. Gall - to draw conclusions about the sources, methods, and aims of Gerbert’s instruction in rhetoric. The evidence indicates that the focuses of the rhetorical curriculum at Rheims under Gerbert - controversiae, status-theory, and the moral-philosophical applications of rhetoric articulate...