In the middle of the 9th century flourished Sedulius Scotus, the author of a commentary on Porphyry and a guide for princes entitled (De rectoribus Christianis,> and Joannes Scotus Eriugena, the author of a commentary on the Gospel of Saint John and glosses on Martianus Capella and Boethius, besides his philosophical work, divisione In the latter half of this century appeared the monk of Saint Gall, Notker Balbulus, who wrote legends and anecdotes, Caroli Magni.) Besides the writers mentioned above, each of whom wrote in several departments of lit erature, there were several authors during the first part of the Carolingian period who at tained prominence in some one particular field, In philology and grammar, mention might be made of Servatus Lupus, abbot of Ferrieres, and Eric and Remi of Auxerre, authors of glosses and commentaries on the Bible, Pris clan, Boethius, Martianus Capella and Aristotle. In poetry stands forth the name of Theodulf (c. 760-821) who occupies the first place among the Carolingian poets, and in history, the names of Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810-879), the compiler of an historical work, (Chronographia tripartita,' and other historical works, Willi bald, the author of a life of Saint Benedict, and Einhard (c. 770-840), a layman, educated at Fulda. The latter composed in admirable Latin a (Life of Charlemagne,' modeled after the (Life of Augustus) of Suetonius, and sev eral other works of an historical character.
In the 10th century the monastery of Gan dersheim was famous as the retreat of the nun-poetess, Hroswitha (c. 930-c. 1002). With a view to providing the age with a purer litera ture than that of Latin comedy, she composed six moral and religious plays, in which she imitates Boethius as well as Terence. Two biblical poems, six legends and two epics are ample evidence of her industry and an excep tional number of recent editions of her plays attests her enduring popularity. In the mid dle of this century also appeared an epic which in some ways indicates the high-water mark of pure literature in mediaeval Latin. This is the (Waltharius) of the monk Ekkehard. The fas cinating story of the elopement of Walter of Aquitaine with the Burgundian princess Hilde gunde forms the theme of the poem and is treated with exceptional good taste and dra matic skill—a Teuton legend in Latin dress. Other important personages in this century were Gerhert, later Sylvester II, a writer on Phil osophical, mathematical and physical subjects who was a great admirer of the classics, and Luitprand, a Lombard, important for Italian history.
The 11th century saw the rise of the Goliard songs popular with itinerant clerical students. These were lyrical in form, but they were often far from lyrical in substance and feeling, so that the Goliards were finally suppressed. These songs seem to have been the precursors of modern college songs of the type of the 'Gaudeamus 3. Scholastic Although during the two centuries following the reign of Charle magne letters suffered a partial eclipse due to the last great invasion from the North, in the monasteries the classic authors were still read and studied and copied—in frict it is to the tireless work of the monks that we owe the preservation of the classical texts —and in this manner the way was paved for the great scholastic movement which followed. The rise
of the universities and the elaboration of scholastic philosophy after the Crusades brought about another linguistic creative pe riod. Scholasticism, however, in the broad sense of the word, began much earlier than the mediaeval schools. There is no absolute break between the patristic and the scholastic literature. The Church Fathers who flourished before the fall of Rome were followed by the writers of compendia of universal knowledge, such as Cassiodorus, Isidore and Bede, through whom the slow demarcation of the field of philosophy was brought about and philosophical problems gradually assumed their proper place, but until the 12th century there was a lack of systematization. The last great representative of scholastic philosophy cast in the non-system atic form is Saint Anselm (c. 1033-1109), a native of Lombardy who later became arch bishop of Canterbury.
Scholasticism, in the more restricted sense, begins with the 12th century. On the ground that truth cannot contradict truth, it seeks to harmonize the teachings of the Christian re ligion with the results of philosophical investi gation. This is not the proper place, however, for a history of scholasticism, except in so far as it produced works of literary merit. It will be sufficient for our purpose to mention merely its chief exponents. After Roscelin and Wil liam of Champeaux comes Peter Abelard (1079-1142), famed as a teacher and of great influence in the next century. His most im portant contribution to philosophy and theology was his
Strictly literary productions, however, were comparatively rare in the 12th century. John of Salisbury (c. 1115-80) has left us lives of Saints Anselm and Thomas of Canterbury and several other historical and philosophical works, and Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) has left us, among other works, his We con sideratione ad Eugenium,) the chief idea of which is that the reformation of the Church should begin with the sanctity of its head. In the field of poetry the writers are more numer ous, Among these are the prolific hymn-writer, Adam of Saint Victor, °the foremost among the sacred Latin poets of the Middle Ages)) (Trench) ; Bernard of Cluny, author of the hymn the Golden,' besides a. satiric poem contemptu munch' ; Joseph of Exeter with his epic on the Trojan War; Hildebert, author of lives of Queen Radegundis, etc., be sides hymns and other poems, and Walter of Chatillon, in whose occurs the well-known hexameter (Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim' (He falls into Scylla's jaws who would escape Charybdis).