[Note: All Basque words are in Italics and Bold-faced Green]
ALCUIN’S ACTIVITIES IN GERMANY *
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The activities of the Benedictine deacon, Alcuin, in England
have been reviewed by Nyland (2001).
Alcuin came to Charlemagne's Court to bring
the very best of English learning to a country where most knowledge was
retained in oral form. As in York, there was no regular Benedictine monastery
in Aachen and therefore the large scriptorium was attached to the Palatine School of Charlemagne. The Benedictine clergy
who lived there were all linguists who worked with the grammarians to develop
the German language. Already during the reign of Charles Martel and Pepin the Short a
simple version of the Palace school had existed, but training had been restricted
to court manners, procedures and protocol. Irish clergy had come to the continent in the 6th century
to bring their brand of Gnostic Christianity and had brought along their own
Gnostic Gospels. St.
Columban had established
monasteries in Luxeuil, Sanct Gallen and Bobbio and assisted in monastery
construction at Faremontiers, Jouarre and Rabais. St. Gall
had taken over at Sanct Gallen which was named after him. Virgil the
Geometer, the nemesis of Bonifacius, had been bishop in
Salzburg for many years. The scholar Donatus
had been elected bishop of Fiesole and ruled there for nearly 50
years. St. Pirmin built Reichenau, Murbach and Amorbach. Many other religious
houses had been started by the Irish such as Lumièges, Auxerre, Laon, Liège,
Trier, Würzburg, Regensburg, Rheinau, Vienna, Lucca and many others, but none
had taught secular or worldly learning. The Gnostic clergy had brought the simple message of
Jesus, of peace and love, decency and caring, without applying coercion.
Gnostic Christianity had evolved directly from the Ashera or Goddess religion, from
ash-era, asho-era: axola (care) -era (ing): "Caring"
and had retained the loving, caring deity of that religion, as opposed to
pre-Hebraic Judaism in which a jealous and tribal god-king had married the
chief priestess and placed her in an inferior position (see Raphael Patai,
"The Hebrew Goddess"). The Gnostic type of
Christianity was egalitarian and unstructured and therefore had no hierarchy
of deacons, priests, bishops and pope. They prayed directly to their Deity, a
right which was denied the people by the Roman Catholic missionaries. The
Irish Gnostic Christian clergy had made great strides in introducing a peaceful
renaissance in the Ashera religion, aimed at modernizing the age-old habits
and eliminating the human sacrifice of a young man, of which Jesus may have
been the last one (see Tammuz in: Ezekiel 8:14). As such, the Irish clergy,
who were primarily converted clergy of the Goddess religion, had fitted in
well, and were welcomed wherever they went.
They had been given all help needed to establish their monasteries.
The Gnostic Gospels they brought along did not include the Old Testament
accounts of the brutal assault on the "Land of Milk and Honey" as
documented in such graphic and gruesome detail in Numbers, Kings, Joshua and
Judges. This all changed with the coming of the priests of Orthodox Christianity, whose avowed duty
it was to destroy the old order with all means at their disposal and to
introduce Judeo-Christianity. Theirs was a belief that talked about love but
did not accept a refusal of it. Charlemagne had even issued an Edict, some
time between 782 and 785, which laid down his law among newly conquered
people. The death penalty was prescribed for anyone refusing Christian
baptism, for burning a Catholic church, stealing any of its contents,
conspiring against Christian men and for disloyalty towards the King. No
wonder the independent Germans and Friesians were disgusted and fought back,
in the process creating a fair number of martyrs, Bonifacius among them. The Benedictines had learned from the Irish experience and
as soon as it was humanly possible to do so, under abbot Pirmin, the
Reichenau monastery was taken over from the Gnostic clergy who had built it
on an island in Lake Constance, again on an ancient holy Ashera site. As did
the name Monte before, the name Reichenau reflected
the traditional Benedictine hospitality: .re - ike - ena
- au
St. Willebrord
built at Echternach, in Luxemburg: ek. - .te - er. -
.na - ak.
St Chrodegang
built at Lorsch near Mainz, a name which may come from: .lo-ortz
St. Bonifacius
established his monastery in Fritzlar in Hesse: .f. - .ri - itz. - .la - ar.
Bonifacius'
other favorite was Fulda in Hesse-Nassau: fu - ul. - .da
Bishop
Butchard's monastery was at Würtzburg: urtz ' bu - urg
It was the same
place where the Irish monk Kilian had built: .ki - ili - an.
ALCUIN'S
ASSOCIATES IN GERMANY
When Alcuin
arrived at the Court in Aachen he met there the deacon Peter of Pisa, a specialist in
grammar and correct usage of words, as shown in Greek and Latin texts. Peter
also was one of the main grammarians of the German language. Alcuin had been
hired to train the clergy who would bring the newly made-up language to the
people and soon wrote a textbook "for the use of his pupils and for the
love of his lord" meaning Charles. Where the serious Alcuin became
Charles' advisor in matters of education, civilization and government, Peter
advised the king for a variety of gayer purposes and wrote a number of poems
under Charles' name. When Alcuin met Peter, he was already aging and
declining fast in health and influence but his funny streak stayed with him
until the end. Another teacher of grammar in the palace school was Paul the Deacon,
who was also learned in Latin and Greek. To please Princess
Adelga, the daughter of Desiderius (king of Lombard
Italy), he translated and censored into suitable Christian language the
"Roman History" written by Eutropius. ade - el. - .ga
Desiderius
Paul also wrote the first commentary on the "Little Rule"
of St. Benedict. In spite of being very productive and appreciated, Paul was
quite unhappy at the Court and he eventually left to live at Monte Cassino.
His unhappiness pours out of a letter he wrote to Abbot Theodemar: "They are Catholics here, it is
true, and they practice Christian ways; they welcome me, all of them and are
kind to me, for the love of our Father Benedict and your own high fame. But
in comparison with your monastery this Palace is a prison and when I think of
the peace there, life here is one hurricane! Only in body I am here. Please
dear brothers, please keep on asking our blessed common Father and Teacher
St. Benedict that by his merits he may prevail with Christ and send me back
without delay" (Duckett, p. 100). Under Charles' constant urging, life in Aachen must have
been like living in a pressure cooker, there was so much to do, so little
time and so few of them to do it. Burnout was taking its toll. However, before Paul left for Monte
Cassino he abridged for king Charles the Roman "On the meaning of
words" by Pompeius Festus. He also wrote many little riddles, fables,
reflections and happy guessing games all designed to familiarize the students
with the newly created German language. He and Peter of Pisa exchanged poems
and problems of the imagination, many of them written under the name of
Charles. Of interest are Paul's fables on the sick lion, the vengeful fox,
the hungry calf, and the thin-legged stork. He even wrote on gout and fleas
and how to stop these plagues. One of Alcuin's closest friends was Paulinus, a teacher of literature
who had been in Aachen for several years before Alcuin came. When Paulinus
had gone to live in Aquileia, Alcuin wrote: "I have always loved you
dear friend, ever since I came to know you. I have inscribed the name of my
Paulinus, not on waxed tablets where it could be rubbed out, but in my heart
for always. Do not forget the name of your Alcuin in your prayers".
Peter, Paul and Paulinus had been full-time teachers, leaders of discussions
in the humanities, but there were others such as Angilbert, a young lad who became a
Court poet and close associate of Charles. Angilbert
St.
Riquier
Angilbert loved learning, the arts, the beauty of the
world, but above all he loved king Charles' daughter. Charles did not approve
and sent him to the abbey of St. Riquier near Amiens as abbot, where he
contributed greatly to the glory of its architecture and the books with which
he endowed the abbey at Centula. CHARLEMAGNE IN GERMANY
Charlemagne proved to be a master of strong-handed tactics
.in converting people to Christianity while in Germany. Alcuin did not interfere in the procedure
of conversion, but considered it an unavoidable process necessary to crate
converts. A look at the meaning of
Charlemagne's name is worthwhile. The name Charlemagne comes from: Caroli
magni rex; or written with the VCV formula: .ka-aro-oli
.ma-ag.-.ni .re-ek.-.s.: .ka - aro - oliaka - aro - oliakatsbako - arro - oliotuperfect - proud – holy "Perfect, proud and holy ... .ma - ag. - .niema - agu - unieman - aguregin - unibertsalto be devoted - to worship – general .... devoted to general worship, .... .re - ek. - .s.are - eko - osaarretatu - ekoizpen – osatze .... foresaw the creation of unity".
King Charles tried to be
everywhere and be all things, a super-human effort in which he succeeded because
of determination, a brilliant mind and an iron constitution. Barely back from
his military campaigns, he would attend to his school, asking questions,
encouraging, criticizing, and always full of new ideas. If he had been near
an established monastery, he would bring rare books and ancient poetry of his
people that he ordered copied. At the king's request, the Benedictine
grammarians were busily preparing a book of instruction in grammar for the
new language. As illiterate as he was, he even took a personal interest in
the word-invention process when he designed new names for the 12 months of
the year and the directions of the winds. Charlemagne's
names for the months:
Charlemagne's
names for the winds:
INTRODUCING THE
NEW LANGUAGE
On March 23, 789 Charlemagne sent
out a "General
Admonition", a series of Edicts. They dealt with the
duties and behavior of the bishops, priests, deacons and monks. There is no doubt
that Edict #72 was written by Alcuin who had long advocated the establishment
of schools for the common people throughout the land. The new German
language, having advanced enough so simple sentences could be spoken, King
Charles decided that it was time to rule that: "There be
schools to teach boys to read. Correct, we command you, with due care the
copies of the psalms, the written signs, the chants, the calendar, the grammar
in each monastery and diocese, and the Catholic books, because often people
wish to pray to the Lord, but do so badly, because the books are at fault.
And do not allow your boys to corrupt the books by their own reading or
writing" (Ducket p122). Alcuin's residential schools
proved to be very effective in spreading the new language and religion. The
boys were like prisoners and often brutally and degradingly treated,
especially if they tried to speak their mothers' tongue, the universal language,
or reverted to "pagan" practices. This system of education was so
successful that it continued in use. Centuries later the colonial powers
applied it throughout the world by giving the churches the right to
"educate" native children. The mere speaking of their native
language often resulted in corporal and other punishment. Until the late 20th
Century, Canada used this abominable system to force a European education
onto its large native population. It was only abandoned after the boys'
complaints of sexual harassment and gross indecency by many of the clergy
were finally taken seriously. As literacy spread among the
people living near clergy who had been trained by Alcuin, Charles'
enthusiasm for the new language became infectious and popular. Many persons
who still had knowledge of the Universal
Language, started to use it to invent new words
and names, but like Charlemagne, only rarely following the strict rules by
which the Benedictine linguists worked. For many years to come, this word and
name invention game would be a popular pastime until the new language was
saturated with acrostically mutilated words and names, and the population in
the main centers was comfortable with the new language. The time had thus come for the
final solution of the "Ashera Problem". Away from population centers,
in many small isolated farming, herding and fishing communities, the
universal language was still spoken, especially in southern Germany, the Alps
and northern Italy, the very population from which the Benedictines for over
1,000 years had obtained the needed linguist/grammarians. These last pockets
of Ligurian/Basque speakers were then removed around 1,600 A.D. by condemning
all those women as witches who still taught the Ligurian language to their
children. In the records of the Inquisition the women’s' speech is invariably
recorded as "utterings" or "incantations", certain proof
of witchcraft, which meant that Exodus 22:18 had to be invoked: "Thou
shalt not suffer a witch to live." In fact, the church knew very well
that witchcraft was impossible,
that it didn't exit. Their witch hunt was just a cover for their incredibly
brutal holocaust, designed to wipe out the last remnants of the universal
language and with it the legends passed on by the women. The operations manual of the
Inquisition, The Malleus Maleficarum (Kramer), written
by the Dominicans, provided all necessary justification for this terrible and
incomprehensible injustice. It was estimated by archaeologist Marija Gimbutas
at Stanford University, that up to nine million people, overwhelmingly women,
were condemned to an excruciatingly painful and cruel burning death. To the
eternal credit of the Benedictines, their Order appeared to have wanted no
role in this holocaust. Those monks and priests who dared to speak out
against this most horrible crime of all times were reminded of the Pope'
warning: "People who hold that witches do not exist are to be regarded
as notorious heretics" (Kramer & Spencer 1991, p.8 & 275) which meant burning at the stake. All
Basque women on the French side of the Spanish border were also declared to
be witches and many courageous Basque- speaking priests protested; they were
subsequently tortured into confessing that they had conducted black masses
and were also burned (de Lancre). Today many
university linguists are still instructed to teach that the universal
language never existed. They all meekly comply! KING CHARLES' WIVES
Sadness fell over the entire
school when it was announced that the young Queen Hildegard had died. She was
king Charles' third wife and had been only 12 years old when she married him
and in the 12 years of married life had given birth to 9 children of which 3
had died in infancy. Alcuin had much appreciated the beautiful young woman.
Her charming personality had enlivened the Court: Hildegard: il. - .de - ega
- ard.
Charles did not remain single for
long. A year later he married an eastern Frank known now as Fastrada. As beloved as Hildegard had
been, Queen Fastrada became greatly disliked. Einhard, Charles' biographer,
relates stories about her cruelty that even made her own people, the eastern
Franks, rise in revolt. Fastrada was obviously
not the name by which she called herself: fa - aztra - ada
Although the uprising of her
people was quickly squashed, a second, potentially more serious one started
soon after. It was prompted by Charles' own son Pippin the Hunchback, because he
and the Frankish nobles could not bear the cruelty of the Queen. Charles was warned just in time
about the revolt and the leaders died by the sword and the gallows. Charles
could not kill his own son but banished him to the monastery of Prüm in
Lorraine. Fastrada died after 11 years of marriage. She had given birth to
two daughters, Hiltrud and Theodrada, both of whom became abbesses in France.
The fifth queen of Charles was Liutgard, of German origin, according to
Theodulf a gracious, courteous and generous person, delighting in books and
the arts. Liutgard's name confirms this: .li - ut. - .ga
- ard
Where Queen Hildegard had been a
much-appreciated student of Alcuin, Queen Liutgard became his friend and
confidante. They helped each other whenever in need and he admired her
greatly during the few years of her life at the Court. ALCUIN'S TEACHING METHOD
Alcuin was an extremely devoted teacher, administrator and disciplinarian
and a stimulator of young and old but he was neither an original thinker, a
poet, nor a philosopher. He was content to compile his lessons by borrowing
from established authorities, which often made his treatises dull and dry.
However, he was rich in experience and knowledge of human nature, had an
encyclopedic knowledge of available information, and knew exactly in which
books this was to be found. Through prolific correspondence with his many
friends, all over western Europe, he was knowledgeable about all that was
going on in monasteries and schools and even in Rome. To teach the new German language,
Alcuin had adopted the method of dialogue, question and answer. He insisted
on proper pronunciation in reading and gave careful instruction in the
mysteries of metre and rhythm. In his book On
Orthography he lists many words in alphabetical order and teaches
proper form, declension and usage so that his students would write and speak
correctly. He pointed out pitfalls in Latin such as the initial "a"
in ara (altar) and hara (pigsty); the
confusion of "b" and "v" in bile
and vile, acerbus (harsh) and acervus (heap). His
sources were Bede, Priscian and Cassiodorus with a little Alcuin added. He
also compiled a long list of simple questions and not so logical answers,
especially designed to increase the student's vocabulary and usage of the new
language. The answers he devised were not so much intended as a good response
to the questions as to familiarize the students with the usage of the newly invented words. 1. What is writing? the guardian of history. 2. What is speech? the revealer of the spirit 3. What gives birth to speech? the tongue. 4. What is the tongue? the lash of the air. 5. What is air? the guardian of life. 6. What is life? the joy of the blessed, the sorrow of the sad, the looking for death. 7. What is death? an inevitable happening, an uncertain pilgrimage, the tears of the living, the basis of last wills and testaments, the thief of man 8. What is man? the bondsman of death, a passing wayfarer, a guest sojourning on earth. 9. To what is man like? to an apple on a tree.10. How is he placed? like a lantern in the wind.30. What are the lips? the doors of the mouth.31. What is the throat? the devourer of food.39. What is the stomach? the cook of food.49. What is day? the simulant of toil. 51. What is the moon? The eye of the night, the giver of dew, the foreteller of storms. |