Volume 27, Number 17 · November 6, 1980
The Ghost Goes West
By J.M. Wallace-Hadrill
The Plan of St. Gall
by Walter Horn, by Ernest Born
University of California Press, 982, 1,073 illustrations pp., $725.00 (limited edition of 150 copies)
Historians take much innocent pleasure in detecting medieval renaissances. The renaissance of the twelfth century was a real one; so too was that of the ninth—the renaissance particularly associated with the names of Charlemagne, his son Louis, and his grandsons. For Charlemagne, the political stability of western Europe, especially after he became emperor in 800, hinged upon a Christian ideal. Society was to be reformed, first morally and then spiritually. There can be no question of the immense seriousness of his purpose. He pursued it with relentless zeal, as we can see in surviving legislation, directives, and correspondence; and he pursued it with the help of some very remarkable men, attracted to his court from England, Ireland, Italy, and Spain.
Review, 2879 words
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