Abstract

“Domino regi piissimo, gratia Dei celsissimo, Carlo vere carissimo, regno Christi rectissimo, ultimus namque Cathuulfus, tamen vester servulus, intimo corde puro in spiritu salutem sancto.” In a flurry of flattery, humility, and sycophantic superlatives the Insular scholar and Carolingian courtier known to us as Cathwulf commenced his famous letter to Charlemagne. Composed almost certainly early in the year 775, Cathwulf's letter to the youthful Frankish king is a unique work. His name is associated with no other text, and indeed the letter to Charlemagne exists in only a single manuscript, an indicator perhaps of restricted contemporary circulation