Medieval Latin was the form of
Literary Latin used in
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned as the main medium of scholarly exchange, as the
liturgical language
A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives.
Concept
A sacr ...
of the
Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
, and as the working language of science, literature, law, and administration.
Medieval Latin represented a continuation of
Classical Latin
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later period ...
and
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
, with enhancements for new concepts as well as for the increasing integration of Christianity. Despite some meaningful differences from Classical Latin, Medieval writers did not regard it as a fundamentally different language. There is no real consensus on the exact boundary where
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
ends and Medieval Latin begins. Some scholarly surveys begin with the rise of early
Ecclesiastical Latin
Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late Antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration down to the present day, especially in the Ca ...
in the middle of the 4th century, others around 500, and still others with the replacement of written Late Latin by written
Romance language
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...
s starting around the year 900.
The terms ''Medieval Latin'' and ''Ecclesiastical Latin'' are sometimes used synonymously, though some scholars draw distinctions. ''Ecclesiastical Latin'' refers specifically to the form that has been used by the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
(even before the Middle Ages in the Antiquity), whereas ''Medieval Latin'' refers to all of the (written) forms of Latin used in the Middle Ages.
The
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
spoken in the Middle Ages were often referred to as ''Latin'', since the Romance languages were all descended from
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...
itself. Medieval Latin would be replaced by educated humanist
Renaissance Latin which then developed into
New Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
.
Influences
Christian Latin
Medieval Latin had an enlarged vocabulary, which freely borrowed from other sources. It was heavily influenced by the language of the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
, which contained many peculiarities alien to Classical Latin that resulted from a more or less direct translation from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
; the peculiarities mirrored the original not only in its vocabulary but also in its grammar and syntax.
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
provided much of the technical vocabulary of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. The various
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
spoken by the Germanic tribes, who invaded southern Europe, were also major sources of new words. Germanic leaders became the rulers of parts of the Roman Empire that they conquered, and words from their languages were freely imported into the vocabulary of law. Other more ordinary words were replaced by coinages from
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...
or Germanic sources because the classical words had fallen into disuse.
![MilanBTCod470BookOfHours2FoliosAnnuncShepherdsDecortatedInit2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/MilanBTCod470BookOfHours2FoliosAnnuncShepherdsDecortatedInit2.jpg)
Latin was also spread to areas such as
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, where
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
were not spoken, and which had never known
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
rule. Works written in those lands where Latin was a learned language, having no relation to the local vernacular, also influenced the vocabulary and syntax of medieval Latin.
Since subjects like science and philosophy, including
Rhetoric and
Ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
, were communicated in Latin, the Latin vocabulary that developed for them became the source of a great many technical words in modern languages. English words like ''abstract'', ''subject'', ''communicate'', ''matter'', ''probable'' and their
cognates
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical eff ...
in other European languages generally have the meanings given to them in medieval Latin, often terms for abstract concepts not available in English.
Vulgar Latin
The influence of
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...
was also apparent in the
syntax of some medieval Latin writers, although Classical Latin continued to be held in high esteem and studied as models for literary compositions. The high point of the development of medieval Latin as a literary language came with the
Carolingian renaissance, a rebirth of learning kindled under the patronage of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
, king of the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
.
Alcuin
Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...
was Charlemagne's Latin secretary and an important writer in his own right; his influence led to a rebirth of Latin literature and learning after the depressed period following the final disintegration of the authority of the Western Roman Empire.
Although it was simultaneously developing into the Romance languages, Latin itself remained very conservative, as it was no longer a native language and there were many ancient and medieval grammar books to give one standard form. On the other hand, strictly speaking there was no single form of "medieval Latin". Every Latin author in the medieval period spoke Latin as a second language, with varying degrees of fluency and syntax. Grammar and vocabulary, however, were often influenced by an author's native language. This was especially true beginning around the 12th century, after which the language became increasingly adulterated: late medieval Latin documents written by French speakers tend to show similarities to medieval French grammar and vocabulary; those written by Germans tend to show similarities to German, etc. For instance, rather than following the classical Latin practice of generally placing the verb at the end, medieval writers would often follow the conventions of their own native language instead. Whereas Latin had no definite or indefinite articles, medieval writers sometimes used forms of ''unus'' as an indefinite article, and forms of ''ille'' (reflecting usage in the Romance languages) as a definite article or even ''quidam'' (meaning "a certain one/thing" in Classical Latin) as something like an article. Unlike classical Latin, where ''esse'' ("to be") was the only auxiliary verb, medieval Latin writers might use ''habere'' ("to have") as an auxiliary, similar to constructions in Germanic and Romance languages. The
accusative and infinitive In grammar, accusative and infinitive is the name for a syntactic construction of Latin and Greek, also found in various forms in other languages such as English and Spanish. In this construction, the subject of a subordinate clause is put in the ...
construction in classical Latin was often replaced by a subordinate clause introduced by ''quod'' or ''quia''. This is almost identical, for example, to the use of ''que'' in similar constructions in French.
In every age from the late 8th century onwards, there were learned writers (especially within the Church) who were familiar enough with classical
syntax to be aware that these forms and usages were "wrong" and resisted their use. Thus the Latin of a theologian like St
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
or of an erudite clerical historian such as
William of Tyre
William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...
tends to avoid most of the characteristics described above, showing its period in vocabulary and spelling alone; the features listed are much more prominent in the language of lawyers (e.g. the 11th-century English
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
), physicians, technical writers and secular chroniclers. However the use of ''quod'' to introduce subordinate clauses was especially pervasive and is found at all levels.
Changes in vocabulary, syntax, and grammar
Medieval Latin had ceased to be a living language and was instead a scholarly language of the minority of educated men (and a tiny number of women) in medieval Europe, used in official documents more than for everyday communication. This resulted in two major features of Medieval Latin compared with Classical Latin, though when it is compared to the other vernacular languages, Medieval Latin developed very few changes.
There are many prose constructions written by authors of this period that can be considered "showing off" a knowledge of Classical or Old Latin by the use of rare or archaic forms and sequences. Though they had not existed together historically, it is common that an author would use grammatical ideas of the two periods Republican and archaic, placing them equally in the same sentence. Also, many undistinguished scholars had limited education in "proper" Latin, or had been influenced in their writings by Vulgar Latin.
*Word order usually tended towards that of the vernacular language of the author, not the artificial and polished word order of Classical Latin. Conversely, an erudite scholar might attempt to "show off" by intentionally constructing a very complicated sentence. Because Latin is an inflected language, it is technically possible to place related words at opposite ends of a paragraph-long sentence, and owing to the complexity of doing so, it was seen by some as a sign of great skill.
*Typically, prepositions are used much more frequently (as in modern Romance languages) for greater clarity, instead of using the ablative case alone. Furthermore, in Classical Latin the subject of a verb was often left implied, unless it was being stressed: ''videt'' = "he sees". For clarity, Medieval Latin more frequently includes an explicit subject: ''is videt'' = "he sees" without necessarily stressing the subject.
*Various changes occurred in vocabulary, and certain words were mixed into different declensions or conjugations. Many new compound verbs were formed. Some words retained their original structure but drastically changed in meaning: ''animositas'' specifically means "wrath" in Medieval Latin while in Classical Latin, it generally referred to "high spirits, excited spirits" of any kind.
*Owing to heavy use of biblical terms, there was a large influx of new words borrowed from Greek and Hebrew and even some grammatical influences. That obviously largely occurred among priests and scholars, not the laity. In general, it is difficult to express abstract concepts in Latin, as many scholars admitted. For example, Plato's abstract concept of "the Truth" had to be expressed in Latin as "what is always true". Medieval scholars and theologians, translating both the Bible and Greek philosophers into Latin out of the Koine and Classical Greek, cobbled together many new abstract concept words in Latin.
Syntax
*Indirect discourse, which in Classical Latin was achieved by using a subject accusative and infinitive, was now often simply replaced by new conjunctions serving the function of English "that" such as ''quod'', ''quia'', or ''quoniam''. There was a high level of overlap between the old and new constructions, even within the same author's work, and it was often a matter of preference. A particularly famous and often cited example is from the
Venerable Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
, using both constructions within the same sentence: "''Dico me scire et quod sum ignobilis''" = "I say that I know
ccusative and infinitiveand that I am unknown
ew construction. The resulting subordinate clause often used the subjunctive mood instead of the indicative. This new syntax for indirect discourse is among the most prominent features of Medieval Latin, the largest syntactical change. However, such use of ''quod'' or ''quia'' also occurred in
the Latin of the late Roman Empire, e.g. the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
's
Matthew 2:22: "''Audiens autem quod Archelaus regnaret in Judaea pro Herode...''" = "But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judaea in Herod's place..."
*Several substitutions were often used instead of subjunctive clause constructions. They did not break the rules of Classical Latin but were an alternative way to express the same meaning, avoiding the use of a subjunctive clause.
**The present participle was frequently used adverbially in place of ''qui'' or ''cum'' clauses, such as clauses of time, cause, concession, and purpose. That was loosely similar to the use of the present participle in an ablative absolute phrase, but the participle did not need to be in the ablative case.
**''Habeo'' (I have
o and "Debeo" (I must) would be used to express obligation more often than the gerundive.
***Given that obligation inherently carries a sense of futurity ("Carthage must be destroyed" at some point in the future), this parallels the Romance languages' use of "habeo" as the basis of their
future tenses (abandoning the Latin forms of the future tense). While in Latin "amare habeo" is the indirect discourse "I have to love", in the French equivalent, "aimerai" (habeo > ayyo > ai, aimer+ai), it has become the future tense, "I shall love", losing the sense of obligation. In Medieval Latin, however, it was only indirect discourse and not used as simply a future tense.
**Instead of a clause introduced by ''ut'' or ''ne'', an infinitive was often used with a verb of hoping, fearing, promising, etc.
*Conversely, some authors might haphazardly switch between the subjunctive and indicative forms of verbs, with no intended difference in meaning.
*The usage of ''sum'' changed significantly: it was frequently omitted or implied. Further, many medieval authors did not feel that it made sense for the perfect passive construction "''laudatus sum''" to use the present tense of ''esse'' in a past tense construction so they began using ''fui'', the past perfect of ''sum'', interchangeably with ''sum''.
*Chaos in the usage of demonstrative pronouns. ''Hic'', ''ille'', ''iste'', and even the intensive ''ipse'' are often used virtually interchangeably. As in the Romance languages, ''hic'' and ''ille'' were also frequently used simply to express the definite article "the", which Classical Latin did not possess. ''Unus'' was also used for the indefinite article "a, an".
*Use of reflexives became much looser. A reflexive pronoun in a subordinate clause might refer to the subject of the main clause. The reflexive possessive ''suus'' might be used in place of a possessive genitive such as ''eius''.
*Comparison of adjectives changed somewhat. The comparative form was sometimes used with positive or superlative meaning. Also, the adverb "magis" was often used with a positive adjective to indicate a comparative meaning, and ''multum'' and ''nimis'' could be used with a positive form of adjective to give a superlative meaning.
*Classical Latin used the ablative absolute, but as stated above, in Medieval Latin examples of nominative absolute or accusative absolute may be found. This was a point of difference between the ecclesiastical Latin of the clergy and the "Vulgar Latin" of the laity, which existed alongside it. The educated clergy mostly knew that traditional Latin did not use the nominative or accusative case in such constructions, but only the ablative case. These constructions are observed in the medieval era, but they are changes that developed among the uneducated commoners.
*Classical Latin does not distinguish progressive action in the present tense, thus ''laudo'' can mean either "I praise" or "I am praising". In imitation of Greek, Medieval Latin could use a present participle with ''sum'' to form a
periphrastic
In linguistics, periphrasis () is the use of one or more function words to express meaning that otherwise may be expressed by attaching an affix or clitic to a word. The resulting phrase includes two or more collocated words instead of one in ...
tense equivalent to the English progressive. This "Greek Periphrastic Tense" formation could also be done in the past and future tenses: ''laudans sum'' ("I am praising"), ''laudans eram'' ("I was praising"), ''laudans ero'' ("I shall be praising").
*Classical Latin verbs had at most two voices, active and passive, but Greek (the original language of the New Testament) had an additional "middle voice" (or reflexive voice). One use was to express when the subject is acting upon itself: "Achilles put the armor onto himself" or "Jesus clothed himself in the robe" would use the middle voice. Because Latin had no middle voice, Medieval Latin expresses such sentences by putting the verb in the passive voice form, but the conceptual meaning is active (similar to Latin deponent verbs). For example, the Medieval Latin translation of Genesis states literally, "the Spirit of God was moved over the waters" ("spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas", Genesis 1:2), but it is just expressing a Greek middle-voice verb: "God moved ''
imself' over the waters".
*Overlapping with orthography differences (see below), certain diphthongs were sometimes shortened: "oe" to "e", and "ae" to "e". Thus, "oecumenicus" becomes the more familiar "ecumenicus" (more familiar in this later form because religious terms such as "ecumenical" were more common in medieval Latin). The "oe" diphthong is not particularly frequent in Latin, but the shift from "ae" to "e" affects many common words, such as "caelum" (heaven) being shortened to "celum"; even "puellae" (girls) was shortened to "puelle".
*Often, a town would lose its name to that of the tribe which was either accusative or ablative plural; two forms that were then used for all cases, or in other words, considered "indeclinable".
Orthography
![Prüfeninger Weiheinschrift](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Pr%C3%BCfeninger_Weiheinschrift._Pic_01.jpg)
Many striking differences between classical and medieval Latin are found in
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...
. Perhaps the most striking difference is that medieval manuscripts used a wide range of abbreviations by means of superscripts, special characters etc.: for instance the letters "n" and "s" were often omitted and replaced by a diacritical mark above the preceding or following letter. Apart from this, some of the most frequently occurring differences are as follows. Clearly many of these would have been influenced by the spelling, and indeed pronunciation,
of the vernacular language, and thus varied between different European countries.
*Following the Carolingian reforms of the 9th century,
Carolingian minuscule
Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one reg ...
was widely adopted, leading to a clear differentiation between capital and lowercase letters.
*A partial or full differentiation between ''v'' and ''u'', and between ''j'' and ''i''.
*The diphthong ''ae'' is usually collapsed and simply written as ''e'' (or ''
e caudata'', ''ę''); for example, ''puellae'' might be written ''puelle'' (or ''puellę''). The same happens with the diphthong ''oe'', for example in ''pena'', ''Edipus'', from ''poena'', ''Oedipus''. This feature is already found on coin inscriptions of the 4th century (e.g. ' for ''reipublicae''). Conversely, an original ''e'' in Classical Latin was often represented by ''ae'' or ''oe'' (e.g. ''aecclesia'' and ''coena''), also reflected in English spellings such as ''foetus''.
*Because of a severe decline in the knowledge of Greek, in loanwords and foreign names from or transmitted through Greek, ''y'' and ''i'' might be used more or less interchangeably: ''Ysidorus'', ''Egiptus'', from ''Isidorus'', ''Aegyptus''. This is also found in pure Latin words: ''ocius'' ("more swiftly") appears as ' and ''silva'' as ''sylva'', this last being a form which survived into the 18th century and so became embedded in modern
botanical Latin (also cf. ''Pennsylvania'').
*''h'' might be lost, so that ''habere'' becomes ''abere'', or ''mihi'' becomes ''mi'' (the latter also occurred in Classical Latin); or ''mihi'' may be written ''michi'', indicating that the ''h'' had come to be pronounced as or perhaps . This pronunciation is not found in Classical Latin.
*The loss of ''h'' in pronunciation also led to the addition of ''h'' in writing where it did not previously belong, especially in the vicinity of ''r'', such as ''chorona'' for ''corona'', a tendency also sometimes seen in Classical Latin.
*''-ti-'' before a vowel is often written as ''-ci-''
si so that ''divitiae'' becomes ' (or '), ''tertius'' becomes ', ''vitium'' '.
*The combination ''mn'' might have another plosive inserted, so that ''alumnus'' becomes ', ''somnus'' '.
*Single consonants were often doubled, or vice versa, so that ''tranquillitas'' becomes ' and ''Africa'' becomes ''Affrica''.
*Syncopation became more frequent: ''vi'', especially in verbs in the perfect tense, might be lost, so that ''novisse'' becomes ''nosse'' (this occurred in Classical Latin as well but was much more frequent in medieval Latin).
These orthographical differences were often due to changes in pronunciation or, as in the previous example, morphology, which authors reflected in their writing. By the 16th century,
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
complained that speakers from different countries were unable to understand each other's form of Latin.
[See Desiderius Erasmus, ''De recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronunciatione dialogus'', Basel (Frobenius), 1528.]
The gradual changes in Latin did not escape the notice of contemporaries.
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...
, writing in the 14th century, complained about this linguistic "decline", which helped fuel his general dissatisfaction with his own era.
Medieval Latin literature
The corpus of medieval Latin literature encompasses a wide range of texts, including such diverse works as
sermons
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. E ...
,
hymns
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
,
hagiographical
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies mig ...
texts,
travel literature
The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern pe ...
,
histories,
epics
The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large sci ...
, and
lyric poetry
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
.
The first half of the 5th century saw the literary activities of the great Christian authors
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
(c. 347–420) and
Augustine of Hippo (354–430), whose texts had an enormous influence on theological thought of the Middle Ages, and of the latter's disciple
Prosper of Aquitaine
Prosper of Aquitaine ( la, Prosper Aquitanus; – AD), a Christian writer and disciple of Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.
Life
Prosper was a native of Aquitaine, and may have been educated at ...
(c. 390–455). Of the later 5th century and early 6th century,
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...
(c. 430 – after 489) and
Ennodius (474–521), both from Gaul, are well known for their poems, as is
Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530–600). This was also a period of transmission: the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
patrician
Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...
(c. 480–524) translated part of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
's
logical
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
corpus, thus preserving it for the
Latin West, and wrote the influential literary and philosophical treatise ''
De consolatione Philosophiae
''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' ('' la, De consolatione philosophiae'')'','' often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation,'' is a philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius. Written in 523 while he ...
'';
Cassiodorus
Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' ...
(c. 485–585) founded an important library at the monastery of Vivarium near
Squillace
Squillace ( grc, Σκυλλήτιον ''Skylletion''; grc-x-medieval, Σκυλάκιον ''Skylakion'') is an ancient town and ''comune'', in the Province of Catanzaro, part of Calabria, southern Italy, facing the Gulf of Squillace.
Squillace ...
where many texts from Antiquity were to be preserved.
Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) collected all scientific knowledge still available in his time into what might be called the first
encyclopedia, the ''
Etymologiae
''Etymologiae'' (Latin for "The Etymologies"), also known as the ''Origines'' ("Origins") and usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) towards the end of his life. Isidore was ...
''.
Gregory of Tours (c. 538–594) wrote a lengthy history of the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
kings. Gregory came from a Gallo-Roman aristocratic family, and his Latin, which shows many aberrations from the classical forms, testifies to the declining significance of classical education in Gaul. At the same time, good knowledge of Latin and even of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
was being preserved in
monastic
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
culture in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and was brought to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and the European mainland by
missionaries in the course of the 6th and 7th centuries, such as
Columbanus (543–615), who founded the monastery of
Bobbio
Bobbio ( Bobbiese: ; lij, Bêubbi; la, Bobium) is a small town and commune in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza. There is also an abbey and a di ...
in Northern Italy. Ireland was also the birthplace of a strange poetic style known as
Hisperic Latin. Other important Insular authors include the historian
Gildas
Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recount ...
(c. 500–570) and the poet
Aldhelm (c. 640–709).
Benedict Biscop
Benedict Biscop (pronounced "bishop"; – 690), also known as Biscop Baducing, was an Anglo-Saxon abbot and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory (where he also founded the famous library) and was considered a saint after his death.
Lif ...
(c. 628–690) founded the monastery of
Wearmouth-Jarrow and furnished it with books which he had taken home from a journey to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and which were later used by
Bede (c. 672–735) to write his ''
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict b ...
''.
Many medieval Latin works have been published in the series
Patrologia Latina,
Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
The ''Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum'' (CSEL) is an academic series that publishes critical editions of Latin works by late-antique Christian authors.
Description
The CSEL publishes Latin writings of Christian authors from the tim ...
and
Corpus Christianorum The Corpus Christianorum (CC) is a major publishing undertaking of the Belgian publisher Brepols Publishers devoted to patristic and medieval Latin texts.
The principal series are the ''Series Graeca'' (CCSG), ''Series Latina'' (CCSL), and the '' ...
.
Medieval Latin and everyday life
Medieval Latin was separated from
Classical Latin
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later period ...
around 800 and at this time was no longer considered part of the everyday language. The speaking of Latin became a practice used mostly by the educated high class population. Even then it was not frequently used in casual conversation. An example of these men includes the churchmen who could read Latin, but could not effectively speak it. Latin's use in universities was structured in lectures and debates, however, it was highly recommended that students use it in conversation. This practice was kept up only due to rules.
One of Latin's purposes, writing, was still in practice; the main uses being charters for property transactions and to keep track of the pleadings given in court. Even then, those of the church still used Latin more than the rest of the population. At this time, Latin served little purpose to the regular population but was still used regularly in ecclesiastical culture.
Important Medieval Latin authors
6th–8th centuries
*
Boëthius (c. 480 – 525)
*
Cassiodorus
Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' ...
(c. 485 – c. 585)
*
Gildas
Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recount ...
(d. c. 570)
*
Flavius Cresconius Corippus Flavius Cresconius Corippus was a late Berber-Roman epic poet of the 6th century, who flourished under East Roman Emperors Justinian I and Justin II. His major works are the epic poem ''Iohannis'' and the panegyric ''In laudem Iustini minoris''. C ...
(d. c. 570)
*
Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530 – c. 600)
*
Gregory of Tours (c. 538–594)
*
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregor ...
(c. 540 – 604)
*
Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636)
*
Bede (c. 672–735)
*
St. Boniface (c. 672 - 754)
*
Chrodegang of Metz
Chrodegang ( la, Chrodogangus; german: Chrodegang, Hruotgang;Spellings of his name in (Latin) primary sources are extremely varied: Chrodegangus, Grodegandus, Grodegangus, Grodogangus, Chrodogandus, Krodegandus, Chrodegrangus, Chrotgangus, Ruotga ...
(d. 766)
*
Paul the Deacon (720s - c.799)
*
Beatus of Liébana
Saint Beatus of Liébana ( es, Beato; 730 – c. 800) was a monk, theologian, and geographer from the former Duchy of Cantabria and Kingdom of Asturias, in modern Cantabria, northern Spain, who worked and lived in the Picos de Europa mountains ...
(c. 730 - 800)
*
Peter of Pisa (d. 799)
*
Paulinus of Aquileia (730s - 802)
*
Alcuin
Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...
(c. 735–804)
9th century
*
Einhard (775-840)
*
Rabanus Maurus (780-856)
*
Paschasius Radbertus
Paschasius Radbertus (785–865) was a Carolingian theologian and the abbot of Corbie, a monastery in Picardy founded in 657 or 660 by the queen regent Bathilde with a founding community of monks from Luxeuil Abbey. His most well-known and influ ...
(790-865)
*
Rudolf of Fulda
Rudolf of Fulda (died March 8, 862) was a Benedictine monk during the Carolingian period in the 9th century. Rudolf was active at Fulda Abbey in the present-day German state of Hesse. He was one of the most distinguished scholars of his time. Man ...
(d. 865)
*
Dhuoda
Dhuoda (''fl.'' AD 824–844) was a Frankish writer, as well as Duchess consort of Septimania and Countess consort of Barcelona. She was the author of the ''Liber Manualis'', a handbook written for her son.Cherewatuk, Karen. "''Speculum Matris'': ...
*
Lupus of Ferrieres (805-862)
*
Andreas Agnellus (Agnellus of Ravenna) (c. 805-846?)
*
Hincmar
Hincmar (; ; la, Hincmarus; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia.
Biography Ea ...
(806-882)
*
Walafrid Strabo
Walafrid, alternatively spelt Walahfrid, nicknamed Strabo (or Strabus, i.e. " squint-eyed") (c. 80818 August 849), was an Alemannic Benedictine monk and theological writer who lived on Reichenau Island in southern Germany.
Life
Walafrid Strabo ...
(808-849)
*
Florus of Lyon Florus of Lyon ( la, Florus Lugdunensis), a deacon in Lyon, was an ecclesiastical writer in the first half of the ninth century. A theologian, canonist, liturgist, and poet, he ran the scriptorium at Lyons. He was considered one of the foremost auth ...
(d. 860?)
*
Gottschalk (theologian)
Gottschalk (Latin: Godescalc, Gotteschalchus) of Orbais (c. 808 – 30 October 868 AD) was a Saxon theologian, monk and poet. Gottschalk was an early advocate for the doctrine of two-fold predestination, an issue that ripped through both Italy an ...
(808-867)
*
Sedulius Scottus
Sedulius Scotus or Scottus ( fl. 840–860) was an Irish teacher, Latin grammarian, and scriptural commentator who lived in the 9th century. During the reign of the Emperor Lothair (840–855), he was one of a colony of Irish teachers at Liège. ...
(fl. 840–860)
*
Anastasius Bibliothecarius
Anastasius Bibliothecarius or Anastasius the Librarian (c. 810 – c. 878) was ''bibliothecarius'' (literally "librarian") and chief archivist of the Church of Rome and also briefly a claimant to the papacy.
Early life
He was a nephew of Bis ...
(810-878)
*
Johannes Scotus Eriugena (815-877)
*
Asser
Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his ...
(d. 909)
*
Notker Balbulus
Notker the Stammerer ( – 6 April 912), Notker Balbulus, or simply Notker, was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall active as a poet, scholar and (probably) composer. Described as "a significant figure in the Western Church", Notker m ...
(840-912)
10th century
*
Ratherius
Ratherius (887–890 AD – 974 AD) or Rathier or Rather of Verona was a teacher, writer, and bishop. His difficult personality and political activities led to his becoming an exile and a wanderer.
Early life and career
He was born sometime betw ...
(890–974)
*
Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (935-973)
*
Thietmar of Merseburg
Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two ...
(975–1018)
11th century
*
Marianus Scotus
Marianus Scotus (1028–1082 or 1083) was an Irish monk and chronicler. He authored the ''Chronica Clara'', a history of the world.
Name
Marianus Scotus is Latin for " Marian the Scot", although that term at the time was still inclusive of ...
(1028–1082)
*
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...
(fl. 1060–1080)
*
Anselm of Canterbury (1033/4-1109)
*
Marbodius of Rennes
Marbodus, Marbod or Marbode of Rennes ( 1035 – 11 September 1123) was archdeacon and schoolmaster at Angers, France, then Bishop of Rennes in Brittany. He was a respected poet, hagiographer, and hymnologist.
Biography
Marbod was born near Anger ...
(c. 1035–1123)
12th century
*
Pierre Abélard
Peter Abelard (; french: link=no, Pierre Abélard; la, Petrus Abaelardus or ''Abailardus''; 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, poet, composer and musician. This source has a detailed de ...
(1079–1142)
*
Suger of St Denis (c. 1081–1151)
*
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...
(c. 1100 – c. 1155)
*
Ailred of Rievaulx
Aelred of Rievaulx ( la, Aelredus Riaevallensis); also Ailred, Ælred, and Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English Cistercian monk, abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death, and known as a writer. He is regarded by Anglicans ...
(1110–1167)
*
Otto of Freising
Otto of Freising ( la, Otto Frisingensis; c. 1114 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carries valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was Otto I ...
(c. 1114–1158)
*
Archpoet
The Archpoet ( 1130 – c. 1165), or (in Latin and German), Jeep 2001: 21. is the name given to an anonymous 12th-century author of ten medieval Latin poems, the most famous being his "Confession" found in the manuscript (under CB 191). Along ...
(c. 1130 - c. 1165)
*
William of Tyre
William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...
(c. 1130–1185)
*
Peter of Blois
Peter of Blois ( la, Petrus Blesensis; French: ''Pierre de Blois''; ) was a French cleric, theologian, poet and diplomat. He is particularly noted for his corpus of Latin letters.
Early life and education
Peter of Blois was born about 1130. Ear ...
(c. 1135 – c. 1203)
*
Walter of Châtillon
Walter of Châtillon (Latinisation of names, Latinized as Gualterus de Castellione) was a 12th-century France, French writer and theology, theologian who wrote in the Latin, Latin language. He studied under Stephen of Beauvais and at the University ...
(fl. c. 1200)
*
Adam of St. Victor Adam of Saint Victor (; died 1146) was a prolific poet and composer of Latin hymns and sequences. He has been called "...the most illustrious exponent of the revival of liturgical poetry which the twelfth century affords."
Life
Adam of Saint Victor ...
13th century
*
Giraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...
(c. 1146 – c. 1223)
*
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...
(c. 1150 – c. 1220)
*
Anonymous ( late 12th century – early 13th century)
*
Thomas of Celano
Thomas of Celano ( it, Tommaso da Celano, italic=no; c. 1185 – c. 1265) was an Italian friar of the Franciscans (Order of Friars Minor) as well as a poet and the author of three hagiographies about Francis of Assisi.
Life
Thomas was born some ...
(c. 1200 – c. 1265)
*
Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...
(c. 1200–1280)
*
Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294)
*
St Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
(c. 1225–1274)
*
Ramon Llull (1232–1315)
*
Siger of Brabant
Siger of Brabant (''Sigerus'', ''Sighier'', ''Sigieri'' or ''Sygerius de Brabantia''; c. 1240 – before 10 November 1284) was a 13th-century philosopher from the southern Low Countries who was an important proponent of Averroism.
Life ...
(c. 1240–1280s)
*
Duns Scotus
John Duns Scotus ( – 8 November 1308), commonly called Duns Scotus ( ; ; "Duns the Scot"), was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher, and theologian. He is one of the four most important ...
(c. 1266–1308)
14th century
*
Ranulf Higdon (c. 1280 – c. 1363)
*
William of Ockham
William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vil ...
(c. 1288 – c. 1347)
*
Jean Buridan
Jean Buridan (; Latin: ''Johannes Buridanus''; – ) was an influential 14th-century French philosopher.
Buridan was a teacher in the faculty of arts at the University of Paris for his entire career who focused in particular on logic and the wor ...
(1300 – 1358)
*
Henry Suso
Henry Suso, OP (also called Amandus, a name adopted in his writings, and Heinrich Seuse or Heinrich von Berg in German; 21 March 1295 – 25 January 1366) was a German Dominican friar and the most popular vernacular writer of the fourteenth cen ...
(c. 1295 – 1366)
*
John Gower
John Gower (; c. 1330 – October 1408) was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and the Pearl Poet, and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered primarily for three major works, the '' Mirour de l'Omme'', '' Vo ...
(c. 1330 – 1408)
Literary movements
*
Goliard
The goliards were a group of generally young clergy in Europe who wrote satirical Latin poetry in the 12th and 13th centuries of the Middle Ages. They were chiefly clerics who served at or had studied at the universities of France, Germany, ...
s
*
Hiberno-Latin
*
Medieval Roman law
*
Medieval Latin comedy Elegiac comedy was a genre of medieval Latin literature—or drama—which survives as a collection of about twenty texts written in the 12th and 13th centuries in the liberal arts schools of west central France (roughly the Loire Valley). Though c ...
*
Riddle poems
Works
*''
Carmina Burana
''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...
'' (11th - 12th century)
*''
Pange Lingua
''Pange lingua'' may refer to either of two Mediaeval Latin hymns of the Roman Catholic Church: one by St. Thomas Aquinas and one by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609), which extols the triumph of the Cross. He wrote it for a procession that brought a ...
'' (ca.1250)
*''
Summa Theologiae'' (ca.1270)
*''
Etymologiae
''Etymologiae'' (Latin for "The Etymologies"), also known as the ''Origines'' ("Origins") and usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) towards the end of his life. Isidore was ...
'' (ca.600)
*''
Dies Irae'' (ca.1260)
*''
Decretum Gratiani
The ''Decretum Gratiani'', also known as the ''Concordia discordantium canonum'' or ''Concordantia discordantium canonum'' or simply as the ''Decretum'', is a collection of canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook b ...
'' (ca.1150)
*''
De Ortu Waluuanii Nepotis Arturi'' (ca.1180)
*''
Magna Carta'' (ca.1215)
References
Citations
Sources
* K.P. Harrington, J. Pucci, and A.G. Elliott, ''Medieval Latin'' (2nd ed.), (Univ. Chicago Press, 1997)
* F.A.C. Mantello and A.G. Rigg, eds., ''Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide'' (CUA Press, 1996)
; Dictionaries
*
Du Cange et al.
Glossarium ad scriptores mediæ et infimæ latinitatis Niort : L. Favre, 1883–1887,
Ecole des chartes.
* ''
Thesaurus Linguae Latinae
The ''Thesaurus Linguae Latinae'' (abbreviated as ''ThLL'' or ''TLL'') is a monumental dictionary of Latin founded on historical principles. It encompasses the Latin language from the time of its origin to the time of Isidore of Seville (died ...
''
Further reading
*Chavannes-Mazel, Claudine A., and Margaret M. Smith, eds. 1996. ''Medieval Manuscripts of the Latin Classics: Production and Use; Proceedings of the Seminar in the History of the Book to 1500, Leiden, 1993.'' Los Altos Hills, CA: Anderson-Lovelace.
*Lapidge, Michael. 1993. ''Anglo-Latin Literature 900–1066.'' London and Rio Grande, OH: Hambledon.
*--. 1996. ''Anglo-Latin Literature 600–899.'' London and Rio Grande, OH: Hambledon.
*Mann, Nicholas, and Birger Munk Olsen, eds. 1997. ''Medieval and Renaissance Scholarship: Proceedings of the Second European Science Foundation Workshop on the Classical Tradition in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, London: Warburg Institute, 27–28 November 1992.'' New York: Brill.
*Mantello, F. A. C., and George Rigg. 1996. ''Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide.'' Washington, DC: Catholic University of American Press.
*Pecere, Oronzo, and Michael D. Reeve. 1995. ''Formative Stages of Classical Traditions: Latin Texts from Antiquity to the Renaissance; Proceedings of a Conference Held at Erice, 16–22 October 1993, as the 6th Course of International School for the Study of Written Records.'' Spoleto, Italy: Centro Italiano di Studi sull’alto Medioevo.
*Raby, F. J. E. 1957. ''A History of Secular Latin Poetry in the Middle Ages.'' 2 vols. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon.
*Rigg, A. G. 1992. ''A History of Anglo-Latin Literature A.D. 1066–1422.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
*Walde, Christine, ed. 2012. ''Brill's New Pauly Supplement 5: The Reception of Classical Literature.'' Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill.
*Ziolkowski, Jan M., 1993. ''Talking Animals: Medieval Latin Beast Poetry, 750-1150.'' Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania Press.
*Raby, F.J.E., 1959. ''The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse.'' Amen House, London, Oxford University Press.
*Harrington, Karl Pomeroy, 1942. ''Mediaeval Latin.'' Norwood, MA, USA, Norwood Press.
*Dronke, Peter, vol. 1, 1965. ''Medieval Latin and the Rise of European Love-Lyric.'' Oxford, UK, Clarendon Press.
*Bacci, Antonii. ''Varia Latinitatis Scripta II, Inscriptiones Orationes Epistvlae.'' Rome, Italy, Societas Librania Stvdivm.
*Beeson, Charles H., 1925. ''A Primer of Medieval Latin: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry''. Chicago, United States, Scott, Foresman and Company.
*Curtius, Ernst Roberts, 1953. ''European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages.'' New York, New York, United States,
Bollingen Foundation Inc.
*Auerbach, Erich, 1965. ''Literary Language & Its Public: in Late Latin Antiquity and in the Middle Ages''. New York, NY, USA, Bollingen Foundation.
External links
In-depth Guides to Learning Latinat the UK National Archives.
The Journal of Medieval Latin*
Corpus Corporum
Corpus Córporum (Lat. "the collection of collections") or in full, ''Corpus Córporum: repositorium operum latinorum apud universitatem Turicensem'', is a digital Medieval Latin library developed by the University of Zurich, Institute for Greek a ...
(
ttp://mlat.uzh.ch/MLS/index.php?lang=0 mlat.uzh.ch
*
Corpus Thomisticum (
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20131011213125/http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/iopera.html corpusthomisticum.org
*
LacusCurtius
LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in July 2021 it had "3707 webpages, 765 photos, 772 drawings & engravings, 120 plans, 139 maps." T ...
penelope.uchicago.edu
{{Portal bar, Europe, Languages
Latin language
4 Medieval
Latin, Medieval
Languages attested from the 4th century
4th-century establishments
Languages extinct in the 15th century
15th-century disestablishments in Europe