Title Details

Alcuin and Einhard relate how an elderly deacon from Pisa named Peter crossed the Alps and taught Latin grammar to Charlemagne for some years during the period 774-790. Peter had previously resided in Pavia. He was associated with some of the most prominent men in Charlemagne’s service, since he exchanged poems with Angilbert of St Riquier and Paul the Deacon. Several grammatical works which have been attributed to Peter during the past century are published here for the first time. In the Quaestiunculae in Priscianum, grammatical doctrine from Priscian’s Ars was recast in the form of quaestiones and responsiones. The Ars Petri, Peter’s commentary on Donatus, was dedicated to Charlemagne and has survived in three manuscripts. Various texts in the Codex Diezianus, which has been linked with Peter of Pisa, are also presented here. These texts allow us to study grammatical teaching as it developed in elite circles during Charlemagne’s reign.