Reims, B ibliothèque C arnegie, 806: a little‐known manuscript of B enedict of A niane's C oncordia regularum

B enedict of A niane is usually portrayed as the major instigator of a series of monastic reforms undertaken by L ouis the P ious in the early years of his reign, which attempted to impose the Rule of B enedict of N ursia as the sole monastic standard across Francia. Based on information provided by A rdo, B enedict of A niane's biographer, the C oncordia regularum has been seen as B enedict's main instrument in his attempt to convince or compel others to accept the Rule as a superior norm. The C oncordia itself is a sort of commentary on the Rule , where almost the whole of St B enedict's Rule is explained by texts drawn from other monastic rules. However, a number of fragments from a copy of the C oncordia , apparently written a decade or more before the accession of L ouis, contests A rdo's chronology, and challenges our traditional understanding of both B enedict of A niane's role in monastic reform and of the Aachen reform councils. An edition of these fragments is included in an Appendix.