CHAP. II. comes Clement of Aachen, him head Palace School. another Clement, known as Clement of Ireland, accompanied by one or two companions, presented himself at the hospitable court, he was cordially welcomed; that the monarch was He weldelighted with the readiness and clearness with which the new-comers responded to his questions; and that, as the Ireland at final result, the heterodox Clement was installed in the chair and once filled by Alcuin. This important change appears to appoints have taken place within two years after Alcuin's retirement of the to Tours. The discipline of the monastery was already beginning to assume a character more consonant with his views, and the Turonese rusticity' to disappear before his continuous efforts. We gather something of a feeling of chagrin at the forgetfulness shewn by his court friends, but he consoled himself with the thought that in the Palace School his teaching was sustained by Witzo and Fredegis, and was thankful to have gained the repose he sought. We can hardly be surprised that the news of the installation of Clement proved a severe shock to his mental tranquillity. discom He appears first to have become apprised of the change through a correspondence with Charles himself. The latter Alcuin's had recently been writing to Alcuin for explanations respect- fiture. ing certain celestial phenomena by which he was somewhat perplexed, and had submitted the replies he had received to the Irish scholars just recently arrived at Aachen. Their criticisms only added still further to his perplexity, and in the sequel, after a long silence, he wrote again to Alcuin, restating his difficulties and soliciting further explanations. So far as we can judge from the facts, it seems unquestionable that Clement and his colleagues shewed a decided superiority in scientific knowledge; and Charles' letters, which unfortunately have not come down to us, seem to have wounded Alcuin's self-esteem very nearly. In a notable reply, more pathetic than dignified, he betrays his sense of injured merit and recalls his past services. He is like Entellus (the poor old man could not forget his Vergil) summoned again to put on the caestus with a young and vigorous Dares. Simpleton that I was and ignorant,' he goes on to say, 'little dreaming CHAP. II. Alarm of the ortho dox party. that the school of the Egyptians' had gained an entrance into David's glorious palace. When I went away, I left the Latins there; I know not who introduced the Egyptians. It is not so much that I have been ignorant of the Memphian method of calculation, as attached to the Roman custom; for I long ago entered the land of promise and left the Egyptian darkness behind.' Charles, it would seem, was desirous of seeing his former instructor confronted with his critics, and perhaps promised himself no little entertainment from the encounter. Though far away, engaged in punishing the Saxons on the other side of the Elbe for the murder of some of his ambassadors, he wanted Alcuin to come to him. Alcuin is alarmed at the very notion. Quid valet infirmitas Flacci inter arma? quid inter apros lepusculus? At the close of his letter Charles had suggested, that should Alcuin discover anything erroneous in his former expositions, he hoped he would condescend to correct it. Alcuin discerns in this suggestion an implied censure, and hastens to vindicate himself. Never, he warmly asserts, has he been so tenacious of his errors or confident of his powers, as to be unwilling to retract his first opinion when better advised. It is evident indeed that he was deeply pained, and, in fact, the intelligence must have been heard with something like consternation by every supporter of orthodoxy in Gaul. It sent a shudder though Benedict in his cell on the distant Aniane; it startled even the astute Theodulfus in his episcopal palace at Orleans. The latter had long been distinguished as a strenuous opponent of the Irish school of theology. There are still extant some verses addressed by nomers. 1 In allusion to a difference in the method of the Alexandrian astroSo in Bede (III XXV) Anatolius is said by Wilfrid to have computed 'according to the custom of the Egyptians.' 'Annum autem civilem id est solarem Aegyptii ab autumno, a brumi incipiunt Romani.' Bede, De temporum ratione (quoted by Dümmler, Alcuiniana, p. 408). 2 Et ut ad rem veniam, ac ignorantiae fomentis caput percussi medicari incipiam ego imperitus, ego ignarus, nesciens Aegyptiacam scholam in palatio Davidicae versari gloriae: ego abiens Latinos ibi dimisi. Nescio quis introduxit Aegyptios. Nec tam indoctus fui Memphiticae supputationis quam benevolus Romanae consuetudinis.' Migne, c 266. The passage has been ludicrously misunderstood by Ampère, iii 27. him to Charles in the year in which Alcuin retired to Tours, and written not improbably with the design of averting the very event above recorded. In these he inveighs with peculiar bitterness against the Scottellus. The Irish theologian is stigmatised as a lawless thing,' 'a deadly foe,' 'a dull horror,' 'a malignant pest,' one who, though versed in many subjects, knows nothing for certain or true, and even in subjects of which he is ignorant fancies himself omniscient.'1 СНАР. further corre with Charles, however, was not one to be diverted from his designs by a mere outbreak of theological jealousy, and the Irish school would appear to have made good their footing in the palace for the greater part of the ninth century. The Alcuin's more immediate result was, that Alcuin found himself involved in a heavy astronomical correspondence, in which he spondence labours painfully to explain more to the satisfaction of his Charles. royal patron the various celestial phenomena, and especially the changes of the moon.2 Charles, in return, shewed himself not indifferent to his old instructor's feelings, and, a few months later, we find him sending Fredegis to Tours with presents, which Alcuin gratefully acknowledged. Perhaps he began to think that it would not be a matter of regret if Charles' thoughts could be diverted into another channel, for in the same letter he takes occasion to urge the necessity for the speedy suppression of the Adoptionists.3 triumph over the tionists. The refutation of Felix, bishop of Urgel, the leading re- His presentative of this sect, was the concluding triumph in Alcuin's career. In the year 800, Charles visited St. AdopMartin's shrine at Tours, and on his departure was accompanied by Alcuin. They proceeded by Orleans and Paris to Aachen, where, in the king's presence, together with that of numerous dignitaries of the Church, Alcuin held what he 1 Migne, cv 322. 2 See Epist. 98 to 112 in Alcuiniana; Dümmler's arrangement of this portion of Alcuin's correspondence is a valuable correction of the confusion introduced by the old arrangement of Frobenius, and I have accordingly here given the references to his volume. 3 Alcuiniana, p. 420. 4 Pertz, i 117; see also Dümmler's notes in Alcuiniana to Epist. 132, 133, 147. СНАР. He declines to accompany Rome. himself styles a great dispute' (magnam contentionem) with Felix.1 Here he was far more in his element than he would have been when arguing points of astronomical science with Clement of Ireland, and Felix eventually confessed himself completely vanquished. From this time we may date the gradual disappearance of the Adoptionist party, at least so far as known under their distinctive appellation. Somewhat earlier in the same year, Liutgarda, Charles' best-loved wife, in whose esteem Alcuin had always held a foremost place, died while on a visit to Tours, and was interred in the splendid cathedral. The letter which Alcuin addressed to the royal widower on the occasion is still extant.2 Liutgarda's death in no way diminished Charles' regard for one whom she had so highly honoured, and when, Charles to towards the close of the year, he was preparing for his last visit to Rome, he strongly urged that Alcuin should accompany him. The latter, however, who had recently been attacked by fever, shrank from the risks and toils of such a journey; he preferred, he said, the smoky roofs of Tours to the gilded splendour of Rome, involved as the great city then was in domestic discord.3 Alcuin accordingly was not a spectator of the famous event, when the imperial crown was placed on the head of Charles, and the monarch rose up, no longer Patricius, but Imperator et Augustus. On Charles' gratulates return to Frankland, the abbat of Tours sent Candidus to accession meet him, and penned a letter of congratulation; 5 but there is no evidence that he at all adequately grasped the significance of an event fraught with momentous consequences in relation to European history. He con him on his to the imperial dignity. In the following year we find him dedicating his Commentary on the Gospel of St. John to Gisla and Rotruda, Charles' sister and daughter. In the year ensuing, the 1 'Cum Felice heretico magnam contentionem in praesentia domni regis et sanctorum patrum habuimus.' Pertz, i 187; see also Dümmler's notes in Alcuiniana to Epist. 132, 133, 147. 2 Epist. 138 (ed. Dümmler). 3 Epist. 119: ibid. p. 487. 4 Pertz, i 189. 5 Alcuiniana, Epist. 159 and 170. 6 Ibid. Epist. 158. CHAP. II. dulfus. letters given by the emperor to his missi dominici shew that his efforts for the improvement of the people were not diminished,' though Alcuin was no longer at his side. Among the newly created missi was Theodulfus, hitherto His dispute with Alcuin's cordial friend, but whom an unfortunate event soon Theoafter alienated, while in Lorenz's opinion it hastened Alcuin's end. A monk, already condemned by justice, had escaped from prison and taken refuge in the sanctuary of St. Martin of Tours. Over this, as the church of the monastery, Alcuin held jurisdiction. The monk was pursued by the soldiery of Theodulfus, from whose custody he had effected his escape. Their unceremonious entrance into the venerated edifice aroused the susceptibilities of the citizens of Tours, and an alarming collision ensued, which was only terminated by the intervention of Alcuin. In some manner, which is not altogether clear, the exercise of his authority excited not only the anger of Theodulfus, but the displeasure of Charles himself. It was probably the old question between monastic immunities and episcopal and civil rights. The letter addressed by Charles to Alcuin, and the severity with which those of the monks of St. Martin who had taken part in the broil were treated, proved a cruel blow to the abbat's feelings.2 From this time his health rapidly declined, and repeated attacks of fever warned him of his approaching end. His last acts were marked by the same dignified sense of responsibility and duty that characterised his whole career. The vast revenues of the monastery were accurately ascertained and recorded in a formal register. Fredegis was appointed his successor at Tours; Sigulfus, at Ferrières. Then he wrote his farewell letters-to Charles, soliciting the imperial sanction of his plans relating to the monastic appointments and revenues, thanking him for all the favours that had cheered his earthly pilgrimage,' and bidding him a final adieu to Leo III, beseeching plenary absolutionand to Arno. He would fain have seen his best-loved friend 1 See Capitula data missis dominicis, Baluze, i 360. His last illness and death. |