(735-804)
Theologian and general writer, was b. and ed. at York. He wrote in prose and verse, his subjects embracing educational, theological, and historical matters. Returning from Rome, to which he had been sent to procure the pallium for a friend, he met Charlemagne at Parma, and made upon him so favourable an impression that he was asked to enter his service as preceptor in the sciences to himself and his family. His numerous treatises, which include metrical annals, hagiographical and philosophical works, are not distinguished by originality or profundity, but he is the best representative of the culture and mental activity of his age, upon which, as the minister of education of the great emperor, he had a widely-spread influence.