Charlemagne's correctio: a local perspective

One of the many terrains on which Charlemagne exceeded his predecessors is that of his ambitions to improve, or « correct », his kingdom. The programme of what has become known as the Carolingian reforms was as ambitious as it was wide-ranging, for at least in theory it intended to reach every last inhabitant of the kingdom. It was believed that the moral improvement of all Franks would lead the kingdom to peace and ever-lasting glory. To this end well-educated priests were needed to school the general population. The education of more or less everybody was central to the purposes of reform. Understandably, the idea that Charlemagne and his court intellectuals were both willing and able to set in motion reform and education programmes on such a scale has thus far been treated with caution or outright scepticism. The chances that such ideals of improving the lives and mores of every last Frank ever moved beyond the court and the direct circles around it seem rather slim. The extant manuscript evidence seems to confirm this idea ; what remains of the lower levels of Frankish society is rather modest. The author explores some texts and manuscripts that show that there is nevertheless no reason to be overly pessimistic about the local effects of Charlemagne’s correctio.