Images from history:
Carolingian miniatures
1. Miniature from the Gospel of Ebbo: Saint Mathew. Before 823 A.D. (Epernay: Bib. Munic.) 17x14 cm. The
Gospel was written at Hautvillers for Archbishop Eboo of Rheims (d. 843). Ebbo was a commoner who rose
in the context of the court school and from there was assigned the archbishopric of Reims. Under his direction
and that of his successor, Hincmar, Reims became the major episcopal center in Europe. This miniature reflects
features that came to identify the Reims school, such as the stylized trees with curved trunks, the nervously
intense linearity, and the light ink sketchiness that recalls Ancient Romen rotulus illustrations.
2. Miniature from the Four Gospels: Saint Mathew. Reims school, 845-882 (New York: Morgan Library
M.728 f.14 v.). The Four Gospels were produced under the rule of Archbishop Hincmar of Reims (845-882),
Europe's most powerful politician in the ninth century.
3. Miniature from the Four Gospels, showing Saint Mark. Reims school, 845-882. (New York: Morgan Library).
The court "school" created by Charlemagne and carried on by his son Louis the Pious, was actually a talent
pool within the travelling palatium from which kings could draw developed or talented individuals
to carry out political functions and to draw together the cultural threads and political interests of Europe into
a somewhat coherent whole. In this sense, Charlemagne (and Louis the Pious) are credited as the founders of
a "Europe." However, the sense of a Europe as a distinct entity (God's chosen people led by a new Moses) goes
back to at least the time of Charles Martel (714-741), and probably emerged from the policies employed
in the seventh-century by the Pippinidae lineage in their struggles against the Erchinoalds.
4. Miniature from Stuttgart Psalter, Ps 143, 10, showing David and Goliath. First quarter of the 9th c. A.D.
(Stuttgart: Wurt. Landesbib. Folio 158 v.). Corbie school. In antique style in the sense of a informal narrative
sketched quickly with the thin inks suited to the rotulus form of book. In a monastery such as Corbie, such
ancient books were read and copied, although the bulk of ancient learning was preserved in the Moslem
world and introduced to Europe in later centuries. Here is also a good example of Carolingian miniscule
handwriting.
5. Miniature from Hrabanus' De Laud showing Louis the Pious as defender of the Cross. (Wien:
Aust. Nat. Lib. Cod. 652). Fulda School, circa 840 A.D. Louis (813-840) has been grossly underestimated in
historiographic tradition, falling under the shadow of his more fameous father, Charlemagne. In fact Louis
resolved the traditional tension between kings and the top aristocracy by creating a constitutional framework
in which the state became an instrument of their private interests.
2. Miniature from the Four Gospels: Saint Mathew. Reims school, 845-882 (New York: Morgan Library
M.728 f.14 v.). The Four Gospels were produced under the rule of Archbishop Hincmar of Reims (845-882),
Europe's most powerful politician in the ninth century.
3. Miniature from the Four Gospels, showing Saint Mark. Reims school, 845-882. (New York: Morgan Library).
The court "school" created by Charlemagne and carried on by his son Louis the Pious, was actually a talent
pool within the travelling palatium from which kings could draw developed or talented individuals
to carry out political functions and to draw together the cultural threads and political interests of Europe into
a somewhat coherent whole. In this sense, Charlemagne (and Louis the Pious) are credited as the founders of
a "Europe." However, the sense of a Europe as a distinct entity (God's chosen people led by a new Moses) goes
back to at least the time of Charles Martel (714-741), and probably emerged from the policies employed
in the seventh-century by the Pippinidae lineage in their struggles against the Erchinoalds.
4. Miniature from Stuttgart Psalter, Ps 143, 10, showing David and Goliath. First quarter of the 9th c. A.D.
(Stuttgart: Wurt. Landesbib. Folio 158 v.). Corbie school. In antique style in the sense of a informal narrative
sketched quickly with the thin inks suited to the rotulus form of book. In a monastery such as Corbie, such
ancient books were read and copied, although the bulk of ancient learning was preserved in the Moslem
world and introduced to Europe in later centuries. Here is also a good example of Carolingian miniscule
handwriting.
5. Miniature from Hrabanus' De Laud showing Louis the Pious as defender of the Cross. (Wien:
Aust. Nat. Lib. Cod. 652). Fulda School, circa 840 A.D. Louis (813-840) has been grossly underestimated in
historiographic tradition, falling under the shadow of his more fameous father, Charlemagne. In fact Louis
resolved the traditional tension between kings and the top aristocracy by creating a constitutional framework
in which the state became an instrument of their private interests.