st. augustine: african founder of western civilization 1

7/28/2019 St. Augustine: African Founder of Western Civilization 1

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October 21, 1985 NEW SOLIDARITY Page 5

St. Augustine: African Founding Father

of Western Civilization, Part I

by Stephen Douglas

St. Ambrose (at left) gives Augustine his first communion following

his conversion to Christianity in 386. In 391, Augustine was ordained

as a priest in Hippo, in North Africa.


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World citizens and nation-builders from around the globe will be gathering

in Rome on Nov. 1-3 to attend a conference on St. Augustine, sponsored by

the Schiller Institute, called "Let's Build the City of God." At the confer-

ence, the general staff required to launch large-scale infrastructural, publichealth, agricultural, and industrial development projects that are desperately

needed, on an emergency basis, in International Monetary Fund-ravaged

Africa, will be established.

That conference will not mark the first time that city-builders have gathered

together, to conspire in St. Augustine's name, to rescue civilization from a

Dark Age of ignorance, backwardness, disease, and death. That is precisely

what the Augustinian circles associated with the great Alcuin of York did

with Charlemagne, at the Palace School in Aachen, during the last several

decades of the 8th century. Based explicitly on the blueprint for developing

civilization outlined in St. Augustine's City of God, Alcuin, the director of

the school, worked with Charlemagne to launch building projects,

educational programs, and state policies, that propelled civilization out of

the Dark Age into which it had been plunged after the deaths of St. Ambrose

and St. Augustine, approximately 400 years earlier. Indeed, it was widely

reported among his contemporaries that Charlemagne's favorite book was

the City of God, and that he was fond of having it read at dinner, and other

social occasions.

In the following brief survey of aspects of St. Augustine's towering influence

on history, we will focus first on his influence on the development of

Western civilization, through Alcuin's work at the court of Charlemagne.

Then we will outline, in St. Augustine's own words, what he viewed to be

the epistemological-philosophical content of Christian doctrine, and its

relationship to Plato. In conclusion, we will summarily review some of the

most important features of Augustine's work in the 4th and 5th centuries,

focusing, in particular, on his campaigns against Gnostic cults.

The Plague of the Roman Empire and Its Aftermath

The period during and following the sackings of Rome in the 5th century

was one of the blackest, most barbaric periods in all of human history. As

waves of barbarian invaders swept across Europe and into Italy, and North

Africa, under the watchful, approving eyes of the Roman oligarchy (which

had largely relocated itself to Constantinople by then), famine, plague, and


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pestilence ravaged most of the territory that had formerly been incorporated

under the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire. The centuries of evil slave-

labor practices, and primitive accumulation schemes, which were the

hallmark of the Roman Empire, had destroyed the population and itsproductive potentials in much the same way that the International Monetary

Fund's conditionalities policies have destroyed large parts of the world

today. An environment was created which was more conducive to the spread

of disease than human life. Devastating plague swept the old confines of the

Roman Empire, as a direct consequence of these conditions.

The wicked emperor Justinian's mid-6th-century rampages on the Italian

peninsula, along with his so-called "legal reforms," severely aggravated

what was already an abominable situation. An estimated 100 million people

died in the "Justinian Plague."

The light of civilization had been all but extinguished. It flickered, dimly,

primarily in monastic communities in Ireland, and also Spain. Monastic

libraries in Ireland, in particular, were the repositories of many of St

Augustine's works, as well as those of other Church fathers, along with

numerous manuscripts from ancient Greece and Rome.

It was under these aversive circumstances that Augustinian networks among

the Irish, and in England, among the Anglo-Saxons (or English), launched

evangelizing-civilizing projects onto the European mainland, beginningearly in the 7th century. Late in the 7th century, the all-important monastery

schools at Wearmouth (674) and Jarrow (682), in Northumbria in northern

England, were established. Benedict Biscop, the founder of these two

institutions, became in 680 the teacher and mentor of the Northumbrian

Bede (673-735), known to history as the Venerable Bede. It was Bede who

developed to become the towering intellectual figure of the generation of

church leaders that decisively shaped the development of Alcuin.

Augustine's influence on Bede was enormous, as Bede, himself, testifies in

numerous locations. On Christian Doctrine, the tract written by St. August-

ine between the years 396 and 427, was of particular importance for Bede.

The guidelines for Christian education which Augustine specifies in that

work, were the guidelines which Bede (and so many other members of his

city-building faction) used to design the educational curriculum for students

during this era.


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Portrayal of Four Evangelists, from a Carolingian manuscript, dated c. 800

ADthe year Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Rome.

Bede's close friend and associate, Egbert, was ordained Archbishop of York

in 732, and established a cathedral school there that year. Shortly thereafter,

Aelbert, Egbert's former student, assumed the responsibilities for directing

the school. Alcuin came under his tutelage when he entered the school


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At the Palace School at Aachen, Charlemagne, under Alcuin's direction,

brought together the Christian world's greatest scholars in the first stage of

what was to become the first drive for mass education in modern history.

c. 745 at about the age of 10. When Egbert died in 766, Aelbert was made

Archbishop of York, and Alcuin became master of the cathedral school there.

That was the position which Alcuin occupied when he first met

Charlemagne in Pavia in northern Italy in 781.

Boniface

The other key Augustinian figure organizing on the continent in this period

was the English missionary, Boniface. Born c. 675, Boniface (his original

name was Wynfrith) deployed to initiate the Christianizing of the Frisia areain 716. The impact he had on the political map of Europe in the 8th century

can hardly be overstated. In 719, he went to Rome to receive an official

commission from Pope Gregory II as a missionary to the heathen in

Germany.


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He worked very closely with the Carolingian leader in France, Charles

Martel. Martel was the most powerful figure in northern Europe, at this

time. In 732, he led the forms that defeated the Arabs at the battle of

Poitiers, and drove them south to the Pyrenees. In 723, Martel officiallytook Boniface under his protection, stating in a circular that was issued that

year, "Let it be known that the apostolic father, Bishop Boniface, has come

into our presence and begged our protection. Know then that it has been our

pleasure to do this."

Working with the backing of Martel and Pope Gregory III, Boniface estab-

lished the four bishoprics of Salzburg, Ratisbon, Freising, and Pasau in 739.

In the next two years, he set up four more new bishoprics, such that by 741,

he was the "Archbishop of East France," responsible for fully eight bishop-

rics. Under Boniface's guidance, his student, Sturmi, established the abbey

at Fulda in Hessean institution which was to produce some of the most

important Augustinian Christian leaders in Europe in the centuries to come.

Boniface did more than any other figure of his age to consolidate a central-

ized, top-down, diocesan organizational structure of the Church, that worked

closely with Rome. In the process, he established a very close relationship

between the Church and secular dynasts which became the axis around

which all European politics revolved in subsequent centuries. This relation-

ship was already developed to such an extent in Boniface's lifetime that, firsthe, in 751, and then Pope Stephen II in 754, formally anointed Pippin King

of the Franks.

It must be emphasized here that, in speaking of the shape of the institutional

form Boniface and his associates gave to the Church, dating back to the

Synod of Whitby in England, we are speaking of the form which they gave

to the Church in the course of their efforts to most effectively communicate

the Augustinian content of Christian doctrine to the "sheep" they were

shepherding and organizing. For these Augustinian Church shepherds, the

particular form they determined for the Church was a function of the contentof the principles which they were attempting to order society in Europe.

Alcuin, Charlemagne, and the Christian Imperium

Charlemagne was Alcuin's leading pupil at the Palace School which started

in 782. The curriculum was organized basically along the lines outlined by

St. Augustine in his On Christian Doctrine. As we mentioned, Charle-


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magne's favorite book was Augustine's City of God. In his biography of

Charlemagne, Einhard reports that Charlemagne enjoyed reading the City of

Godto his dinner guests. On one occasion, Charlemagne was reported to

have demanded of Alcuin, "Why can I not have 12 clerks such as Augustineand Jerome?" To which Alcuin replied, "What? The Lord of heaven had but

two such, and wouldst thou have 12?"

Educators from all over Europe were assembled at the extraordinary Palace

School in Aachen. Peter of Pisa, Paulinus, and Paul the Deacon were

brought in from Italy to teach at the school. Adalard and Angilbert, two

prominent Frankish scholars, were also brought in for the effort. And

Theodulf, a Christian scholar from Narbonne, took up residence at the

school, along with several collaborators of Alcuin's from Northumbria who

accompanied Alcuin on his trip from England to Aachen in 782.

With Alcuin's guidance and direction, Charlemagne implemented the

policies of a philosopher-king. Alcuin's educational policy was the hub

around which all the other policies revolved. In 787, Charlemagne issued

his famous capitulary on education. This extraordinary directive has no

known precedent. It was the first call for mass public education in modern

history. It reads in part as follows:

Be it known to your devotion, pleasing to God, that in conjunc-

tion with our faithful we have judged it to be of utility that, inthe bishoprics and monasteries committed by Christ's favor to

our charge, care should be taken that there shall be not only a

regular manner of life and one conformable to holy religion, but

also the study of letters, each to teach and learn according to his

ability and the divine assistance. . . .

There has arisen in our minds the fear lest, if the skill to write

rightly were thus lacking, so too would the power of rightly

comprehending the Sacred Scriptures be far less than was

fitting, and we all know that though verbal errors be dangerous,

errors of the understanding are yet more so. We exhort you,

therefore, not only not to reject the study of letters, but to apply

yourself thereto with perseverance and with that humility which

is well pleasing to God; so that you may be able to penetrate

with greater ease and certainty the mysteries of the Holy


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Scriptures. For as these contain images, tropes, and similar

figures, it is impossible to doubt that the reader will arrive far

more readily at the spiritual sense, the better he is

instructed in learning. Let there, therefore, be chosen for thiswork men who are both willing and able to learn, and also

desirous of instructing others; and let them apply themselves

with a zeal equaling the earnestness with which we recommend

it to them. (Emphasis added.)

The Homilary of Charles, written at about this time, stated: "As it is our

desire to improve the condition of the Church, we make it our task to restore

with the most watchful zeal the study of letters, a task almost forgotten

through the neglect of our ancestors. We, therefore, enjoin on our subjects,

so far as they are able, to study the liberal arts, and we set them the

example."

Another capitulary, issued from Aachen in 802, stated: "Every one should

send his son to study letters, and the child should remain at school with all

diligence until he should become well instructed in learning."

Theodulf, Bishop of Orleans, responded to Charlemagne's first directive by

issuing the following instructions to the clergy in his diocese: "Let the

priests hold schools in the towns and villages, and if any of the faithful wish

to entrust their children to them for the learning of the letters, let them notrefuse to receive and teach such children. . . . And let them exact no price

from the children for their teaching, nor receive anything from them, save

what their parents may voluntarily offer from affection."

There are two particularly notable aspects of these educational edicts issued

by Charlemagne-Alcuin. One is that Charlemagne was taking responsibility

for the educational development of the clergy as well as laymenand

indeed, saw the Church as the most viable institution through which the

education of laymen could be effected.

The other most notable aspect of these proclamations of State is what was

defined as the relationship between education and faith. The formulation in

these edicts on this issue is strictly Augustinian. Faith is truly Christian faith

(and not some form of paranoid belief), only insofar as faith is continuously

informed by a process of education which is improving one's powers of

judgment and reason. Faith, as defined by Alcuin, is active and purposeful,


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not passive or contemplative, a la Aristotle. An individual is truly faithful,

according to Alcuin, only to the extent that he is acting on the basis of faith

which is informed by the development of "God's image" in manhis mind.

Charlemagne was Alcuin's leading pupil at Aachen, and enjoyed

reading St. Augustine's City of Godto his dinner guests.

Augustine addresses this issue throughout all of his writings. We quote here

from a famous passage in On Christian Doctrine which had enormous

influence on the shape that the monastery and cathedral school curricula

took during this period.

If those who are called philosophers, especially the Platonists,

have said things which are indeed true and are well accommod-


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ated to our faith, they should not be feared; rather, what they

have said should be taken from them as from unjust possessors

and converted to our use. . . . Even some truths concerning the

worship of one God are discovered among them.

Alcuin-Charlemagne's educational policy defined the content of the

conception of the "Christian Imperium" which Charlemagne first articulated

in about 794. The conception of State which guided the deployments of

Alcuin and Charlemagne was that which Augustine had developed in the

"City of God." The raison d'etre of the state was the elevation of its citizens'

souls. Church-State relations were subordinated to that end. Charlemagne's

was an empire whose growth was measured not merely by territorial

expansion, but rather principally by the development and education of the

population of the realm.

Alcuin sought to do nothing less than make Charlemagne into a philosopher-

king. He writes in one of his letters to the King:

Happy is the people ruled by a good and wise Prince, as we

read in Plato's dictum that kingdoms are happy if philosophers,

that is lovers of wisdom, are their kings, or if kings devote

themselves to philosophy. For nothing in the world can be

compared to wisdom. . . . I know it was your chief concern, to

love and preach it.

Indeed, another letter from Alcuin attests to the fact that Charlemagne's

efforts to make Aachen the "Athens of Frankland" were widely known

throughout Europe: "For so many follow your well-known interest that a

new Athens is created in France, indeed a far finer one. For that which is

ennobled by the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ surpasses all academic

education; that which had only Plato's teaching owed its reputation to the

seven arts, while ours is enriched by the sevenfold Spirit and so excels all

earthly wisdom."

Alcuin directed Charlemagne to be ruthless in fulfilling the leadership

responsibilities: "The people should be led, not followed, as God has

ordained; hence, power and wisdom is given by God to His chosen, power

to crush the arrogant and defend the lowly against the wicked, and wisdom

to rule and teach his subjects with virtuous care. . . . Those who say, 'The


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voice of the people is the Voice of God,' are not to be listened to, for the

unruliness of the mob is always close to madness."

At the same time, Alcuin did not hesitate to rebuke Charlemagne at pointswhen the King's conduct was contrary to those development policies which

he had charted for the realm. Alcuin repeatedly took the King to task on the

issue of Saxon policy, bitterly criticizing the harsh tithe (tax) policy that was

Under Alcuin's guidance, following St. Augustine's

teachings in "The City of God," Charlemagne tried to

create an "Athens in Frankland."

imposed on the Saxons. In a letter to Megenfrid, Charlemagne's Treasurer,

Alcuin wrote: "Faith, as St. Augustine says, is a matter of will, notnecessity. A man can be attracted into faith, not forced. . . . If the light and

easy load of Christ were preached to the hard Saxon race as keenly as tithe

were levied and the penalty of the law imposed for the smallest faults,

perhaps they would not react against the rite of baptism. . . . The teachers of

the faith should be schooled in the examples of the apostles. They should be

preachers, not predators."


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To Charlemagne Alcuin wrote: "Therefore you should consider whether it is

right to impose the yoke of tithes upon a simple people who are beginners in

the faith. . . It is better to lose the tithe than destroy the faith. . . . When

their faith is strengthened and they are established in the Christian life, theymay, as adults, be given harder teaching, which minds soundly based in

Christianity will not reject. . . . Careful thought must be given to the right

method of preaching and baptizing, that the washing of the body in baptism

be not made useless by lack in the soul of an understanding of the faith. . . .

A man must first be taught about the immortality of the soul and the future

life and rewards for good and evil and both kinds of eternity, later the

particular sins for which he must suffer eternal punishment."

Alcuin knew that the key to winning the wars against the Saxons was having

a strategy for securing the peace. He recognized that a durable peace could

be secured only under circumstances where the conquered population was

being uplifted morally and intellectually. Alcuin prevailed over Charle-

magne to the effect of getting the King to recognize that the policy of city-

buildingof realized economic progresswas the indispensable means of

mediation through which the moral and intellectual development of the

general population could be effected. Alcuin understood, as the great Pope

Paul VI did, that development is the name for peace.

While the organizing initiatives undertaken by Alcuin and Charlemagne didnot remain state policy for long after the death of Charlemagne in 814, a

civilizing flame had been lit which proved to be inextinguishable in the

succeeding centuries. Mediated through Augustinian networks in the

Church and their allies among the Saxon and Salian kings in the secular

realm, and culminating in the reign of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, the

work of Alcuin and Charlemagne was the omnipresent point of reference for

the subsequent city-building Holy Roman Emperors.

To be continued

st. augustine: african founder of western civilization 1

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