Medieval
Alcuin of York
c. 735 – 804 · England / France
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
Proverbs 4:7 (KJV)
In the Life of the Saints
Invited by Charlemagne to lead the Carolingian court school, Alcuin spent decades preserving and correcting biblical and classical texts, helping develop the Carolingian minuscule script that would become the ancestor of modern printed letters. Though he remained only a deacon throughout his life, declining further ordination, he personally tutored Charlemagne, his family, and a generation of European scholars, earning the description “the most learned man anywhere to be found.”
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Portrait: Unknown artist (Fulda manuscript, 9th century) · Public domain