[eastsider]

When Charlemagne was crowned in 800 A.D., the acculturation of his kingdom was effected by importing all things Roman, including Gregorian chant, from which all western music developed (even Rock and Roll : ) I'm not certain whether he adopted Latin as the universal language, but I suspect he did. (I value your input on this one, Goetz.)

[RobbyS]

Alcuin, Charlemagne's "cultural minister," did in fact accomplish this. I remember the story about his "Boss" struggling to learn to read Latin. But the cultural prestige of Rome had earlier held sway over the Germans, and the Arian occupiers of Italy referred to Catholics as "Romans." I think that the Byzantines also called themselves "Roman" even after they stopped speaking Latin.

[malakhi]

When Charlemagne was crowned in 800 A.D., the acculturation of his kingdom was effected by importing all things Roman, including Gregorian chant, from which all western music developed (even Rock and Roll : ) I'm not certain whether he adopted Latin as the universal language, but I suspect he did. (I value your input on this one, Goetz.)

That would make sense, considering that the Franks were a Germanic tribe, and ended up speaking a Latin derivative. But of course, they would not have needed to import the Latin from Rome, since Gaul had been a Roman province for hundreds of years, and Latin would have been the "lingua franca" even after the collapse of Rome. So the Franks picked it up from the natives.

[Goetz_von_Berlichingen]

"[T]he acculturation of his kingdom was effected by importing all things Roman."

That is my understanding as well. Unfortunately, scholarship being what it was, a true revival of Roman culture was impossible. Basically, the impression I get is that it was just Franks playing "dress up." Please bear in mind, however, that I am far from being an authority on the period.