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