Editing Charlemagne (section)

===Language and education===
[[File:Charlemagne c 800.jpg|thumb|alt=A simple sketch of a man pointing at himself|Sketch thought to be of Charlemagne,{{efn|Historian Johannes Fried writes that "Comparisons with other images allow us to interpret it as a sketch of an ancient emperor or king, or even of Charlemagne himself. However sketchy and unaccomplished the drawing is, its message and its moral could not be clearer: the ruler appears here as a powerful protector, guarding the Church with his weapons and—as the following text emphasises—restoring it according to the dictates of the faith and the Church Fathers in preparation for the impending end time."{{sfn|Fried|2016|pp=262–263}} }} {{Circa|800}}]]
 	
The {{lang|la|patrius sermo}} ("native tongue"){{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=68}} that Einhard refers to with regard to Charlemagne, was a Germanic language.{{sfn|Chambers|Wilkie|2014|p=33}}{{sfn|McKitterick|2008|p=318}} Due to the prevalence in Francia of "[[Vulgar Latin|rustic Roman]]", he was probably functionally bilingual in Germanic and Romance dialects at an early age.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=68}} Charlemagne also spoke Latin and, according to Einhard, could understand and (perhaps) speak some Greek.{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=24}} Some 19th century historians tried to use the [[Oaths of Strasbourg]] (842) to determine Charlemagne's native language. They assumed that the text's copyist, [[Nithard]], being a grandson of Charlemagne, would have spoken the same dialect as his grandfather, giving rise to the assumption that Charlemagne would have spoken language closely related to the one used in the oath, which is a form of [[Old High German]] ancestral to the modern [[Rhenish Franconian]] dialects.{{sfn|Chambers|Wilkie|2014|p=33}}{{sfn|McKitterick|2008|p=318}} Other authors have instead taken the place of Charlemagne's education and main residence (Aachen), to postulate that Charlemagne most likely spoke a form of [[Moselle Franconian|Moselle-]] or [[Ripuarian language|Ripuarian Franconian]]. In any case, all three dialects would have been closely related, mutually intelligible and, while classified as Old High German, none of the dialects involved can be considered typical of Old High German, showing [[Rhenish fan|varying degrees of participation]] in the [[High German consonant shift]] as well as certain similarities with [[Old Dutch]], the presumed language of the previous [[Merovingian dynasty]], mirroring the linguistic diversity still typical of the region today.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=68}} 

Charlemagne's father Pepin had been educated at the abbey of [[Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], although the extent of Charlemagne's formal education is unknown.{{sfn|Dutton|2016|pp=71–72}} He almost certainly was trained in military matters as a youth in Pepin's court,{{sfn|Dutton|2016|p=72}} which was [[Itinerant court|itinerant]].{{sfn|Fried|2016|pp=14–15}} Charlemagne also asserted his own education in the [[Liberal arts education#History|liberal arts]] in encouraging their study by his children and others, although it is unknown whether his study was as a child or at court during his later life.{{sfn|Dutton|2016|p=72}} The question of Charlemagne's literacy is debated, with little direct evidence from contemporary sources. He normally had texts read aloud to him and dictated responses and decrees, but this was not unusual even for a literate ruler at the time.{{sfn|Dutton|2016|pp=75–80}} Historian [[Johannes Fried]] considers it likely that Charlemagne would have been able to read,{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=271}} but the medievalist Paul Dutton writes that "the evidence for his ability to read is circumstantial and inferential at best"{{sfn|Dutton|2016|p=75}} and concludes that it is likely that he never properly mastered the skill.{{sfn|Dutton|2016|p=91}} Einhard makes no direct mention of Charlemagne reading, and recorded that he only attempted to learn to write later in life.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=120}}