The Carolingians and the Written Word

This pioneering book studies the function and status of the written word in Carolingian society in the eighth- and ninth-centuries.

Rosamond McKitterick (Author)

9780521315654, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 June 1989

308 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.46 kg

"McKitterick has written an important book which more than repays careful study. She has opened areas for examination which will be expanded, and those topics which she has neglected -- inscriptions are a good example, which she notes -- will be developed. Her fine manuscript index is very helpful.... McKitterick's work makes a contribution to current historical debate far in excess of its intended compass." Bernard S. Bachrach, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

This pioneering book studies the function and status of the written word in Carolingian society in France and Germany in the eighth- and ninth-centuries. It demonstrates that literacy was by no means confined to a clerical élite, but was dispersed in lay society and used for government and administration, and for ordinary legal transactions among the peoples of the Frankish kingdom. While exploiting a huge range of primary material, Professor McKitterick does not confine herself to a functional analysis of the written word in Carolingian northern Europe but goes on to assess the consequences and implications of literacy for the Franks themselves and for the subsequent development of European society after 1000. Key topics discussed include law and the use of the written word, the conduct and record of legal transactions, the economic and social status of the book in Carolingian society, the methods evolved to organize and define written knowledge, and the whole question of lay literacy.

List of maps and tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1. The spoken and the written word
2. law and the written word
3. A literate community: the evidence of the charters
4. The production and possession of books: an economic dimension
5. The organization of written knowledge
6. The literacy of the laity
Epilogue
Index of manuscripts
General index.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]