EXTINCTION OF LEARNING 



The decadence of morals had followed the neglect 

 of study. Idleness had served to nourish vice. The 

 people that had once distinguished themselves in the 

 world had slowly degenerated, so that they seemed to 

 have lost the instincts of morality. In Italy, as well 

 as in Spain and Great Britain, a little more learning 

 was preserved than in France. There were a few 

 schools in which the masters read the classics. Char- 

 lemagne had, visited these, and he determined upon 

 the restoration of the schools throughout his realm.* 

 In 788 he wrote to the bishops and abbes a circular 

 letter stating : " We consider it useful that in the 

 monasteries and dioceses committed by the favor of 

 Christ to our administration there should be added 

 the study of letters, to the scrupulous observance of 

 the regular life and the practice of the holy religion ; 

 for, if it pleases God that we should live rightly, we 

 must not neglect to please Him also by speaking 

 rightly." Thus began the first efforts towards the 

 revival of learning in Europe. 



Sismondi,t describing the mode of life of the Ital- 

 ian "Seigneur" in the 9th and 10th centuries, states 

 that they lived shut up and apart in their castles, 

 surrounded by their peasantry only. They felt no 



* In 800 he was proclaimed emperor by the people and magnates 

 of Rome, thus re-establishing the empires of the West, consisting of 

 the whole of Germany, France and Italy. 



f Sismondi : Republique Italiens. T. I, p. 33. 



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