The Fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of its successor kingdoms led to a fundamental transformation of education and scholarship. Greek lost its currency as the scholarly language in what was to become a Latin West; Greek authors were only known by name, their fundamental texts - Euclid's Elements for mathematics, Ptolemy's Almagest for astronomy, or Aristotle's writings for philosophy - remained inaccessible until the so-called Renaissance of the 12th century. Secular educational institutions were replaced by the rapidly emerging monasteries, which monopolised access to and the production of knowledge until the rise of universities. Learning became decidedly Christian in character, focusing on God’s word (the Bible) and his creation (the cosmos). The core disciplines of an emerging Christian curriculum were Latin in order to be able to read the Bible; exegesis, for interpreting this foundational text; and computus, for understanding the intricacies of the liturgical calendar in particular, and the workings of the cosmos in general. This calendrical science is ideal for tracing the spread of ideas in early medieval Europe, because computistical texts and manuscripts are often precisely datable and locatable. Also, regional characteristics of this discipline can be identified, which can then be tracked in space and time. This paper will introduce the methodology underlying this research, and will highlight some case studies.
Immo Warntjes is Associate Professor in Early Medieval History and Associate Dean of Research at Trinity College Dublin. His principal research interests are early medieval science and pre-Viking Ireland, but also the use of languages and burial practices.