astronomy, rhetoric, and dialectic. The king himself studied poetry,
astronomy, arithmetic, the writings of the Fathers, and theology proper.
It was under the influence of Alcuin that Charlemagne issued in 787 the
capitulary that has been called "the first general charter of education
for the Middle Ages." It reproves the abbots for their illiteracy, and
exhorts them to the study of letters; and although its effect was less
than its purpose, it served, with subsequent decrees of the king, to
stimulate learning and literature throughout all Germany.

Alcuin's system included, besides the palace school, and the monastic
and cathedral schools, which in some instances gave both elementary and
superior instruction, all the parish or village elementary schools,
whose head was the parish priest.

In 790, seeing his plans well established, Alcuin returned to York
bearing letters of reconciliation to Offa, King of Mercia, between whom
and Charlemagne dissension had arisen. Having accomplished his errand,
he went back to the German court in 792. Here his first act was to take
a vigorous part in the furious controversy respecting the doctrine of
Adoptionism. Alcuin not only wrote against the heresy, but brought about
its condemnation by the Council of Frankfort, in 794.

Two years later, at his own request, he was made Abbot of the
Benedictine monastery of St. Martin, at Tours. Not contented with
reforming the lax monastic life, he resolved to make Tours a seat of
learning. Under his management, it presently became the most renowned
school in the kingdom. Especially in the copying of manuscripts did the
brethren excel. Alcuin kept up a vast correspondence with Britain as
well as with different parts of the Frankish kingdom; and of the two
hundred and thirty letters preserved, the greater part belonged to this
time. In 799, at Aachen, he held a public disputation on Adoptionism
with Felix, Bishop of Urgel, who was wholly vanquished. When the king,
in 800, was preparing for that visit to the Papal court which was to end
with his coronation as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he invited
Alcuin to accompany him. But the old man, wearied with many burdens,
could not make the journey. By the beginning of 804 he had become much
enfeebled. It was his desire, often expressed, to die on the day of
Pentecost. His wish was fulfilled, for he died at dawn on the 19th of
May. He was buried in the Cloister Church of St. Martin, near the
monas