The Study of the Bible in the Carolingian Era

Knowledge of the Bible was the foundation of Carolingian intellectual life. Charlemagne's great capitulary, the Admonitio generalis, and his De litteris colendis leave no doubt that correct understanding of scripture, by both laity and the clergy responsible for communicating its message, was central to the king's efforts to lead his people to salvation. Biblical exegesis was the ovewhelmingly dominant form of literary production during the Carolingian epoch, not only in terms of the many origin…