The Carolingian Renaissance(late 8th to 9th century), was the first of the three Medieval renaissances(yes more renaissance’s have occurred), which began when Charlemagne and his advisors decided to bring order to the places that they controlled. Like most renaissance’s that have occurred, the Carolingian Renaissance like other renaissance’s shared many components with later renaissances but to a lesser degree, which is why it is not widely known to have happened. So why was this renaissance significant?
The main aim or goal of this renaissance was to restore a civilization that was similar to Rome, but also a civilization that had a Christian emphasis as well(the Franks were Catholics). The Franks definitely looked up to Rome in many ways, and were highly influenced by civilization. Charlemagne began to seek out artists, writers, builders, and other people of skill that would help him reach his vision or goal.
The significance of this renaissance was due to the fact that the Franks had been the first of the Germanic or barbarian tribes who had converted to Christianity. Because they were the most powerful and strongest of the tribes they were able to influence the spread of Christianity, and also build upon it too. Also because of their influence they were able to do some important things including: the establishment of Cathedral schools, which would later develop into early European universities, and the copying and preservation of the old Catholic written works. Even though the copying of manuscripts has already been done, the Franks copied these manuscripts in a new and much better writing style. Before this writing style, written works were written without punctuation, lower case letters, and spaces, which meant that reading and writing was a painful process, because the writing was unreadable. But this new writing style contained all of those things that were lacking in the previous way.
The Carolingian Renaissance, like other renaissance’s after it, was a time of building upon the good things of the old, and making it better. This renaissance in particular was significant because the Franks were the most influential and powerful out of the Germanic tribes, and also because during this renaissance the Franks made some important changes including the writing style which was much needed. This is why the Carolingian renaissance was significant.
The Dreamer 