Master of the school of York, then called to Charlemagne's court, he organized the schools of the empire, had the liturgical books copied and corrected, and ended his life as abbot of Saint-Martin at Tours. He left hundreds of letters, poems, beginners' handbooks, and one complaint that keeps returning: the noise of the court, and the books he lacked.
In their own words
O my cell, dwelling sweet and beloved, for ever and ever, O my cell, farewell.
Poem 23, O my cell, translated from the Latin by the Manna team
Behold, the church of Saint Cuthbert is spattered with the blood of the priests of God, stripped of all its ornaments.
Letter to King Æthelred of Northumbria, 793, translated from the Latin by the Manna team