Ebook: The Bishops, Kings, and Saints of York

Alcuin of York (c. 735 – 19 May 804) was an English scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria.

A century has passed since the last published edition of Alcuin’s poem on York, and it marks no dramatic textual improvement over the 'editio princeps' of 1691. The poem on York is one of our chief literary sources for eighth-century Northumbrian history and for Alcuin’s biography; it occupies a significant place in the development of Anglo-Latin and Carolingian literature; its interest as a witness to early medieval scholarship is recognized, but there exists no sustained attempt at interpretation of any one of these aspects of Alcuin’s work. The Latinity of the author often regarded as the principal agent of Charlemagne’s linguistic reforms has never been studied, nor has his cultural background, as reflected in this text, been systematically examined in its Insular and Carolingian contexts. There would thus seem to be room for a fresh appraisal of Alcuin’s work, but sympathetic revaluation is unlikely to lead to artificial enthusiasm. Anglo-Latin and Carolingian poetry contain few masterpieces, and Alcuin’s poem on York is not among their number.