Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/183

 Charlemagne '47 The intellectual conditions are discussed in MULLINGER, Schools of Charles the Great, and WEST, Alcuin. EINHARD, Life of Charlemagne, translated by Turner. An inexpen- sive English version of this extraordinary little work. KITCHIN, History of France, Book II, Part II, Chapter III. GREGOROVIUS, Rome in the Middle Ages, Vol. II, Book IV, Chapters IV-VII, and Vol. Ill, Book V, Chapter I. MORLEY, Mediaval Tales, Parts I and II, furnishes examples of the romances which in later years wove themselves about the name of the great emperor. EBERT (see above, p. 34), Vol. II, Book IV, gives an excellent C. Materials account of the literary activity of Charlemagne's time. for advanced LAVISSE, Histoire de France, Vol. II, Part I. study. LAMPRECHT, Deutsche Geschichte, Vol. II, Book V, Chapters I-1I. GEBHARDT (see above, p. 57), where the reader will find references to the abundant literature on this subject in German. ABEL and SIMSON, Jahrbucher der deutschen Geschichte, " Unter Karl dem Grossen," 2 vols., 1866-1883. The most exhaustive technical treat- ment (see below, pp. 261 sq.). RlCHTER, Annalen der deutschen Geschichte im Mittelalter, Vol. II, "The Carolingian Period," 1885-1887 (see below, p. 262). MATHEWS, Select Mediceval Documents (1892), pp. 9-14, gives brief extracts from the Latin text of documents important for the history of the Church and the Empire. In the times of Charles Martel and Pippin a new kind of histori- The sources, cal source makes its appearance, the annals. These had a peculiar origin. The day upon which the great Christian festival of Easter fell each Origin of the year was a matter of the utmost importance to all the monasteries and annals, churches ; but the time varies in such a way that it is little wonder that the monks and churchmen of the eighth century were commonly unable to master the rules for determining the recurrence of the festival. Tables of the dates of Easter were therefore prepared and were welcomed every- where. The wide margins invited a brief record opposite each year, of some occurrence which had made the year memorable in the particular abbey or the neighboring region. Rude and trivial as these entries often were, they tended to grow fuller as the eighth century advanced, and now serve to establish the dates of many important events. These scanty histories were, however,