Education in the era of the Carolingian renaissance and the heritage of Marcian Capella

Abstract

Background. The Carolingian Renaissance is an important milestone in the history of Medieval Europe, when trends began to take shape, which will be developed at the beginning of the 2nd millennium. The changes in the consciousness of the intellectual elite of that time caused the transformation of the education system, in which the program of the seven liberal arts begins to play an important role, which is associated with the name of Marcian Capella. The purpose of the study is to analyze the changes in the education system in the era of the Carolingian Renaissance through the prism of the heritage of Marcian Capella. Materials and methods. The realization of research tasks was achieved on the basis of the use of written sources of the 8th – 9th centuries, including in Latin, and documents extracted from the “Migne Patrologia Latina”. The methodological potential includes: a narrative (descriptive-narrative) method, accompanied by an analysis of written sources, and a historical-comparative method, the use of which makes it possible to compare the Carolingian Renaissance from the point of view of the development of education with the previous period and subsequent epochs, as well as biographical, chronological and general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction). Results. The ideas of the main figures of the Carolingian Renaissance (Alcuin, Theodulf, Rabanus the Moor, John Scotus Erigena) are studied in the context of their influence on the system and content of education. The increasing role and importance of secular sciences in the form of liberal arts is noted. The high popularity of the pedagogical treatise of Marcian Capella in this period is considered. Conclusions. The study of changes in the education system in the era of the Carolingian Renaissance through the prism of the legacy of Marcian Capella allows us to identify the main trends in the cultural and, in general, historical development of Western Europe in the Middle Ages.

Keywords

• carolingian renaissance
• marcian capella
• education
• liberal arts
• pedagogical treatise