responsible for redefining the objectives of higher education to include the extension as
well as the transmission of knowledge. Indeed, the 12th-century studium of Paris
originally grew up under the auspices and legal protection provided by the cathedral of
Paris.
In the 9th century, cathedral schools were generally less prominent in the movement
known as the “Carolingian renaissance” than their counterparts in the monasteries.
Toward the end of the century, however, the cathedral at Laon under the patronage of
Charles the Bald became a center for Irish scholars active in France; the schoolmaster
appears to have been a certain Martin Hiberniensis (819–875), and Johannes Scottus
Eriugena was also affiliated with the school. Much of the actual education provided,
however, must have been at a fairly elementary level; its character is suggested by the
contents of Laon manuscript 468. This manuscript, which is too large (12.4 inches by 8.4
inches) to be a student’s notebook and which was apparently corrected by Martin himself,
consists of a life of Virgil, some glosses on Virgil’s poetry, several pages of comments on
the Liberal Arts, and Alcuin’s Latin grammar. The material on the Liberal Arts,
especially, is rudimentary; the longest discussions address ethics and logic, with the
invention of ethics being attributed to Socrates and that of logic to Plato, with the author
noting the divisions of the different arts and the names of the principal textbooks. In
short, it is a compilation whose material is intended to be memorized as an end in itself
rather than to serve as an initiation into more advanced studies.
The eminence of the school of Laon did not survive into the 10th century. Indeed, the
only French cathedral school of note in this century was that of Reims, whose archdeacon
Gerranus’s reputation in logic drew both Abbo of Fleury and Gerbert of Aurillac. Gerbert
(later Pope Sylvester II) stayed on to become master at Reims from 972 to 982, returning
to his post in 983 after a brief failed abbacy at Bobbio; he remained master until 989.
Gerbert himself enjoyed a reputation for logic and astronomy, and we are fortunate in
having an account by his student Richer of the course of studies that he taught in logic.
According to Richer, Gerbert began with the Isagoge of Porphyry, which he taught with
Boethius’s commentary; he then taught Aristotle’s Categories and On Interpretation,
proceeding afterward to Aristotle’s Topics in Cicero’s translation, which he also taught
with Boethius’s commentary. This account of Gerbert’s curriculum has often been
regarded as showing a revival of logical studies before the year 1000, but there are
reasons for being more cautious. In the first place, Richer’s statement that Cicero’s
Topics was a translation of Aristotle is incorrect—a fact that is explicit in both the Topics
itself and in Boethius’s commentary; Richer’s acquaintance with those works must
therefore have been far less thorough than he wished to imply. Richer’s account also
bears a family resemblance to the synopsis of logic contained in Laon manuscript 468, a
coincidence suggesting that Richer may have been borrowing traditional definitions of
dialectic instead of describing his own experience. Finally, citations of Aristotle do not
become at all frequent in works of French scholars until after 1050; Gerbert’s own
learning in the subject, which is attested by his short treatise De rationali et ratione uti,
does not appear to have been systematically conveyed to any of his students.
No teacher of comparable importance took Gerbert’s place after his departure from
Reims. Basic instruction doubtless continued to be available, but it was now of only
regional significance. The same pattern was to be repeated at other schools throughout
the 11th and early 12th centuries, because a cathedral school rarely had two consecutive
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