In 1990 Davis Ganz published his book " Corbie in the Carolingian Renaissance.' In that very important work he claims that right from the beginning the abbey of Corbie was an establishment of a very special status. It was a royal... more
In 1990 Davis Ganz published his book " Corbie in the Carolingian Renaissance.' In that very important work he claims that right from the beginning the abbey of Corbie was an establishment of a very special status. It was a royal foundation, a new development in late Merovingian monasticism. Earlier foundations had enjoyed royal patronage and protection but had depended on the initiative of clerics or nobles. The development of royal foundations was the result of a new monastic policy, which determined the function of the abbey in the politics of 659-754. Corbie also became one of the most important centers of Carolingian Renaissance. Its library and scriptorium were of the richest in Western Europe and the Abbey was a home for a few notable scholars. During the abbacies of Charlemagne's cousins-Adalhard and Wala, the links with the court were most crucial, but Corbie remained somewhat independent of royal control. In fact, Abbots Adalhard and Wala established a tradition of opposition to royal policy of Charlemagne and Louis PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 11
