 The period in the history of Latin Europe after that of the “Fathers of the Church” has traditionally been called the “dark age”, because very few writings were produced then. It was followed by what has sometimes been called “The Carolingian Renaissance”, associated with the court of Charlemagne, toward the end of the eighth century. The political writers of the ninth century—e.g., Hincmar of Rheims (c. 805/6–81), Rabanus Maurus (780–856), Jonas of Orléans (c. 780–842/3)—are not household names, yet they gave expression to ideas that were important throughout the rest of the middle ages, in particular ideas about the role of a king and the difference between king and  tyrant.[18] 