Explanationes Fidei Aevi Carolini

The texts edited in this volume belong to a far larger corpus of works used to explain the creedal faith in Carolingian collection volumes compiled for the instruction of the clergy. In a companion volume to this one, A Catalogue of Works Pertaining to the Explanation of the Creed in Carolingian Manuscripts (IPM, 63) over two hundred such texts, edited and unedited, have been identified, of which the texts edited here for the first time, with one exception, will make more of the corpus accessible. The texts are a product of the Carolingian Reform, an intense effort to raise the level of education of diocesan priests so that they could be knowledgeable instructors of the people. Their composers are anonymous, but they took time and trouble over these texts, not only in selecting, but also in reworking and rewording their sources for a particular audience or recipient. An analytical index briefly describes the nature and contents of each text and a detailed index of sources allows one to see how the composers used their sources.