Charlemagne and Ids Empire 379 there was only the very expensive parchment to write upon. While this had the advantage of being more durable than papy- rus, its high cost discouraged the copying of books. The eighth century — that immediately preceding Charlemagne's coronation — is commonly regarded as the most ignorant, the darkest, and the most barbarous period of the Middle Ages. Yet, in spite of this dark picture, there was promise for the The elements future. It was evident, even before Charlemagne's time, that preserved^y Europe was not to continue indefinitely in the path of ignorance. '^^^ Church Latin could not be forgotten, for that was the language of the Church, and all its official communications were in that tongue. Consequently it was absolutely necessary that the Church should maintain some sort of education in order that there might be persons who knew enough to write a Latin letter and conduct the church services. Some of those who learned Latin must have used it to read the old books written by the Romans. Then the textbooks of the later Roman Empire^ continued to be used, and these, poor as they were, contained something about grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and other subjects. It seemed to Charlemagne that it was the duty of the Church not only to look after the education of its own officers but to provide the opportunity of at least an elementary education for the people at large. In accordance with this conviction, he issued (789) an order to the clergy to gather together the children of both freemen and serfs in their neighborhood and establish schools " in which the boys may learn to read." ^ It would be impossible to say how many of the abbots and Establish- bishops established schools in accordance with Charlemagne's monastery recommendations. It is certain that famous centers of learning t^g°P!fchool existed at Tours, Fulda, Corbie, Orleans, and other places during of the his reign. Charlemagne further promoted the cause of education by the establishment of the famous " School of the palace " for the instruction of his own children and the sons of his nobles. He placed the Englishman Alcuin at the head of the school, 1 See above, p. 324. 2 See Readings, chap. vii.
