well as the moral and mystical. He identifies the Finger of God (Digitus Dei) with the Spirit of God
(cap. 2; comp. Luke 11:20 with Matt. 12:28), and explains the several meanings of Jerusalem
(ecclesia, vel anima, cap. 10), ark (caro Dominica, corda sanctorum Deo plena, ecclesia intra quam
salvanda clauduntur), Babylon (mundus, Roma, inimici), fures (haeretici et pseudoprophetae, gentes,
vitia), chirographum, pactum, praeputium, circumcisio, etc. In the last chapter he treats of the
symbolical significance of numbers, as 1=Divine Unity; 2=the two covenants, the two chief
commandments; 3=the trinity in heaven and on earth (he quotes the spurious passage 1 John 5:7);
4="the" four Gospels, the four rivers of Paradise; 5=the five books of Moses, five loaves, five
wounds of Christ (John 20:25); 6="the" days of creation, the ages of the world; 7=the day of rest,
of perfection; 8=the day of resurrection; 10=the Decalogue; 12=the Apostles, the universal multitude
of believers, etc.
The theory of the fourfold interpretation was more fully developed by Rabanus Maurus
(776–856), in his curious book, Allegoriae in Universam Sacram Scripturam (Opera, ed. Migne,
Tom. VI. col. 849–1088). He calls the four senses the four daughters of wisdom, by whom she
nourishes her children, giving to beginners drink in lacte historiae, to the believers food in pane
allegoriae, to those engaged in good works encouragement in refectione tropologiae, to those longing
for heavenly rest delight in vino anagogiae. He also gives the following definition at the beginning
of the treatise: "Historia ad aptam rerum gestarum narrationem pertinet, quae et in superficie litterae
continetur, et sic intelligitur sicut legitur. Allegoria vero aliquid in se plus continet, quod per hoc
quod locus [loquens] de rei veritate ad quiddam dat intelligendum de fidei puritate, et sanctae
Ecclesiae mysteria, sive praesentia, sive futura, aliud dicens, aliud significans, semper autem
figmentis et velatis ostendit. Tropologia quoque et ipsa, sicut allegoria, in figuratis, sive dictis, sive
factis, constat: sed in hoc ab allegoria distat quod Allegoria quidem fidem, Tropologia vero aedificat
moralitem. Anagogia autem, sive velatis, sive apertis dictis, de aeternis supernae patriae gaudiis
constat, et quae merces vel fidem rectam, vel vitam maneat sanctam, verbis vel opertis, vel apertis
demonstrat. Historia namque perfectorum exempla quo narrat, legentem ad imitationem sanctitatis
excitat; Allegoria in fidei revelatione ad cognitionem veritatis; Tropologia in instructione morum
ad amorem virtutis; Anagogia in manifestatione sempiternorum gaudiorum ad desiderium aeternae
felicitatis. In nostrae ergo animae domo Historia fundamentum ponit; Allegoria parietes erigit;
Anagogia tectum supponit; Tropologia vero tam interius per affectum quam exterius per effectum
boni operis, variis ornatibus depingit."
§ 140. Patronage of Letters by Charles the Great, and Charles the Bald.
Comp. §§ 56, 90, 134 (pp. 236, 390, 584).
Charlemagne stands out like a far-shining beacon-light in the darkness of his age. He is the
founder of a new era of learning, as well as of a new empire. He is the pioneer of French and German
civilization. Great in war, he was greater still as a legislator and promoter of the arts of peace. He
clearly saw that religion and education are the only solid and permanent basis of a state. In this
respect he rose far above Alexander the Great and Caesar, and is unsurpassed by Christian rulers.