The Classicization of the Latin Curriculum and “The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century”: A Quantitative Study of the Codicological Evidence

This article examines the use of pagan classics in education in the central Middle Ages, analyzing the numbers and sizes of their surviving manuscripts as its primary evidence. It sets out to establish that their entry into school use over ca. 800-ca. 1200 was not simply about adding them to the curriculum but that the classics gradually replaced the early Christian poets which had dominated the study of Latin in the pre-Carolingian period. Secondly, it demonstrates that this classicization of the Latin curriculum was accompanied by a significant change in the format of manuscripts containing school texts. Over the period examined, their average size fell by ca. 40% percent, a development which indicates their increasing accessibility in the classrooms. The article concludes that while the term “renaissance of the twelfth century”is a problematic cultural summation, its use seems justified in describing the changes that took place in Latin education over the central middle ages, culminating in the twelfth century.