shments. Charles was unwearying in his efforts to improve the
education of clergy and laity, and in 789 ordered that schools should be
established in every diocese. The atmosphere of these schools was
strictly ecclesiastical and the questions discussed by the scholars were
often puerile, but the greatness of the educational work of Charles will
not be doubted when one considers the rude condition of Frankish society
half a century before. The main work of the Carolingian renaissance was
to restore Latin to its position as a literary language, and to
reintroduce a correct system of spelling and an improved handwriting.
The manuscripts of the time are accurate and artistic, copies of
valuable books were made and by careful collation the texts were
purified.

Charles was not a great warrior. His victories were won rather by the
power of organization, which he possessed in a marked degree, and he was
eager to seize ideas and prompt in their execution. He erected a stone
bridge with wooden piers across the Rhine at Mainz, and began a canal
between the Altmuhl and the Rednitz to connect the Rhine and the Danube,
but this work was not finished. He built palaces at Aix (his favourite
residence), Nijmwegen and Ingelheim, and erected the church of St Mary
at Aix, modelled on that of St Vitalis at Ravenna and adorned with
columns and mosaics brought from the same city. He loved the simple
dress and manners of the Franks, and on two occasions only did he assume
the more stately attire of a Roman noble. The administrative system of
Charles in church and state was largely personal, and he brought to the
work an untiring industry, and a marvellous grasp of detail. He
admonished the pope, appointed the bishops, watched over the morals and
work of the clergy, and took an active part in the deliberations of
church synods; he founded bishoprics and monasteries, was lavish in his
gifts to ecclesiastical foundations, and chose bishops and abbots for
administrative work. As the real founder of the ecclesiastical state, he
must be held mainly responsible for the evils which resulted from the
policy of the church in exalting the ecclesiastical over the secular
authority.

In secular affairs Charles abolished the office of duke, placed counts
over districts smaller than the former duchies, and supervised their
government by means of _missi dominici_, officials responsible to
himself alone. Marches were formed on all the borders of the empire,