A Study On Alcuin’s Idea Of Exhortation To Monarch And Minister

Alcuin was an important advisor to the reign of Charlemagne,his two “Littera Exhortatoria”,De Rhetorica and De Virtutibus et Vitiis were written for Charlemagne,the monarch,and Count Wido,the minister.Although the two monographs have their own characteristics in terms of structure and style,they have commonalities in terms of writing style,cultural influence and audience groups.From the perspective of comparison between the appearance of monarch and minister in the historical reality and that of the ideal monarch and minister in Alcuin,this paper interprets the ideas of kingly way and minister’s way contained in De Rhetorica and De Virtutibus et Vitiis,and we can see that Alcuin tried to construct norms of rule for the monarch and minister of the Carolingian Dynasty.In De Rhetorica,Alcuin considers the position of the monarch and constructs a royal norm for Charlemagne on the themes of temperance,justice,and piety.In De Virtutibus et Vitiis,Alcuin considers the position of a minister and provides a minister’s norm for Count Wido on the themes of peace,justice,and piety.The content of these norms echoes and fits well with Alcuin’s idea of a Christian empire and forms an important part of his shaping of the empire.At the same time,these norms also profoundly reflect the order vision of Alcuin,which is the minister imitate the monarch,difference between high and low,and unified participation of monarch and minister.In conclusion,Alcuin’s concept of monarchical and subject exhortation as a view of rule proposed by the elite of the Carolingian dynasty provides us with an alternative perspective for studying early medieval history.