The Codex epistolaris
Carolinus preserves ninety-nine letters, dated between 739 and 791 and sent by the popes to the Frankish
king Charlemagne and his predecessors. The compilation was commissioned by
Charlemagne in 791, but the sole surviving medieval manuscript of the letters
was made at Cologne in the later ninth century and is now in Vienna
(OEsterreichische Nationalbibliothek Cod. 449). The headings or lemmata provided for each letter by the
Frankish compilers in 791 and faithfully preserved in the codex, add a
distinctive Frankish commentary on events in Rome and Italy in the second half
of the eighth century. This book not only provides the first full English
translation of the letters and lemmata
in the Codex epistolaris Carolinus
but also re-creates the original Carolingian order of presentation of the
letters according to the manuscript. A substantial introduction discusses the
historical significance of the collection, the compilation and contexts of the
Vienna manuscript, especially the significance of the lemmata, the peculiarities of the Latin of the papal letters and
the biblical citations, and the historical context of the letters themselves.
The lemmata and letter translations
are augmented with introductions to each letter and a comprehensive historical
commentary and glossary.
