Literature: Latin Writings

views updated

Literature: Latin Writings

Role of Latin in Medieval Culture. With the end of the Roman Empire in the West during the fifth century, Christian scholars trained in Latin culture remained the primary source of literate civil servants for new European lords. The Church and its scholars perpetuated the Greco-Roman culture they found so invaluable and the primary language of the western Roman Empire: Latin. To be learned in the Middle Ages was to know Latin, and intellectuals used it for writing, reading, and speaking. Although Latin altered over the centuries and new vocabulary was added to meet the new needs of the medieval population, reform movements repeatedly worked to maintain an international standard, and evidence suggests that they were largely successful. Moreover, because of the great improvements in education in the twelfth century, literacy, especially in Latin, improved as well. Important later medieval authors, particularly Dante, challenged the primacy of Latin by writing in their own, vernacular languages, and in his work on the nature and primacy of the vernacular, Dante overturned medieval Scholastics’ concept of Latin as a “universal language.” Yet, even after Dante and other authors challenged the supremacy of Latin, it continued to be the primary language of administrators and the community well beyond the Middle Ages.

Early Models. Classical and early medieval authors greatly influenced their successors. Copying other authors’ style, grammar, vocabulary, and even entire sentences was not considered wrong in the Middle Ages. In fact, it was a sign of an individual’s learning and skill to have enormous Latin references at hand and to organize them so effectively that they could fit current needs and debates. Classical writings by Cicero, the Stoics, and the Neoplatonists affected the treatment and presentation of Latin Christian philosophy and rhetoric. Medieval authors also refashioned ancient classics such as the Aeneid, Iliad, and Odyssey to illustrate Christian and contemporary themes. Virgil, the author of the Aeneid, became a key classical figure because of the power of his epic and because his pastoral poetry was seen as foreshadowing the coming of Christ. Writings by early Christian scholars such as Augustine, Jerome, and Isidore of Seville guided later medieval scholars on theology, composition, and argumentative style. Among these late classical works, the Consolation of Philosophy (524) by the philosopher Boethius played a foundational role in Latin and vernacular medieval literature down to Dante and Chaucer in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Its theme that Nature—which presides over growth, procreation, and preservation of life—is a creative principle directly guided by the mind of God motivated medieval scholars and authors to study nature for its divine aspects and to express their discoveries in many literary forms. In later centuries scholars from Ireland and Britain also played important roles by bringing many “lost” classical works back to the European continent and by promoting their interpretive and literary methods.

Scriptures and Commentaries. The primary subjects for study at medieval schools were the Christian scriptures. What constituted “scriptural” texts was still being debated, and in the early Middle Ages some works were considered scriptural that no longer have that status. These texts and other authoritative early Christian works inspired the bulk of Latin writing of the Middle Ages. By the ninth century these works had been translated into Latin, and Jerome’s fourth-century Vulgate Bible was the primary scriptural text. Medieval scholars devoted their efforts to “commenting” on these scriptures. In fact, the study of commentaries was increasingly the focus of medieval education, especially at the universities. By the twelfth and thirteenth centuries some commentaries had become quite elaborate. A manuscript page often included a small excerpt of scripture surrounded by several layers of theological comments about them, and then comments on the comments. Another form of commentary included a small scriptural quote and a list of all authoritative statements about that passage that had been made since it was written. The commentary tradition was also enshrined in teaching. Students gathered around a teacher who recited a short piece of some set text and then presented all the authoritative commentaries on that text, which the students discussed. A session ended with the teacher explaining the original text himself, after which he moved to the next set passage. Of the hundreds of commentaries produced during the Middle Ages, probably the Sentences (circa 1150) by the Italian Peter Lombard had the broadest influence in medieval universities.

Latin Poetry. Particularly in the ninth and tenth centuries, scholars saw poetry as the completion and expression of philosophy, a natural and sometimes preferred way of expressing philosophical and theological truth. This attitude continued, albeit somewhat diminished, throughout much of the Middle Ages, and medieval scholars were also frequently poets. Medieval Latin poems came in many lengths, used many metrical and rhythmic schemes, and had many subjects. Particularly popular among the courts that sponsored poets were epics and histories, generally recounting the brave deeds of ancestors, the current ruler, or some mythical figure. German Emperor Otto I (the Great) (reigned 936–973) tried to make his court a European center for science, art, and literature. Among the poets that he sponsored was the nun Hroswitha of Gandersheim, who composed poems on mythical subjects and two long epic poems in praise of the imperial house. Monks also were enthusiastic poets. Abbot Odo of Cluny wrote poetry against pride and debauchery, which he regarded as the chief vices in world history. During the ninth century, Walafrid Strabo composed his De visionibus Wettini (On the Vision of the Wettini), which is often regarded as a precursor to Dante’s Divine Comedy. Walafrid also composed a detailed poem describing the monastery garden. Poets had many other occupations. For example, one of the best-known ninth-century poets, the Irishman Sedulius Scottus, was also a noteworthy Greek scholar, translator, commentator, grammarian, and philosopher. These patterns

THE EXILE OF EL CID

The Poem of El Cid expresses the values of medieval heroic literature, especially the importance of reputation, loyalty, and pride. In the following excerpt, through the treachery of his rivals, the Campeador brothers, El Cid has just incurred the displeasure of King Alfonso of Aragon and has been sent into exile.

When that his host was growing, heard the great Cid of Bivar,

Swift he rode forth to meet them, for his fame would spread afar.

When they were come before him, he smiled on them again.

And one and all drew near him and to kiss his hand were fain.

My lord the Cid spake gladly: “Now to our God on high I make my supplication that cre I come to die I may repay your service that house and land has cost, And return unto you double the possession that ye lost.” My lord the Cid was merry that so great his commons grew, And they that were come to him they all were merry too. Six days of grace are over, and there are left but three,

Three and no more. The Cid was warned upon his guard to be,

For the King said, if thereafter he should find him in the land,

Then neither gold nor silver should redeem him from his hand.

And now the day was over and night began to fall

His cavaliers unto him he summoned one and all:

“Hearken, my noble gentlemen. And grieve not in your care.

Few goods are mine, yet I desire that each should have his share

As good men ought, be prudent. When the cocks crow at day,

See that the steeds are saddled, nor tarry nor delay.”

Source: The Lay of the Cid, translated by R. Selden Rose and Leonard Baccon (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1919), p. 11.

continued into the literary revival that modern scholars have termed the Twelfth-Century Renaissance. At that time the poets Bernard Silvestris and Alan of Lille argued that poetry was the highest musical expression of wisdom. Although these claims for poetry were contested, Bernard’s De mundi universitate (On the Universe of the World) and two works by Alan of Lille, Deplanctu naturae (The Lamentation of Nature, 1160–1172) and Anticlaudianus (Against Claudius, 1181–1184) outlined an understanding of the medieval cosmos that thinkers such as Dante took up later.

Histories and Biographies. Historical writing had always been an important part of Latin literature, and medieval scholars perpetuated this tradition. Although factual accuracy varied widely, histories were recounted in many Latin literary forms: prose, poetry, musical lyrics, and drama. Poetry continued to be an important medium for historical and mythic writing. The monk Flodoard (circa 1150) composed a legendary account of ecclesiastical history during the first millennium, while other poets wrote about the life of St. Christopher, the Saxon War of Emperor Henry IV, and the Crusades. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, however, a series of scholars connected historical and autobiographical prose writing and produced books that were so popular that they were read to large audiences as public entertainment. Writers such as Alexander Nequam, Matthew of Paris, and Salimbene provided people with gossip about public matters, church happenings, and general intrigue. Peter Abelard prepared The History of My Calamities, a defensive and apologetic autobiography, while the monks Guibert of Nogent (1064–1125) and Othloh of St. Emmeran (1110–1170) wrote about their internal spiritual experiences. Travel writing also blended historical and autobiographical forms. Gerald of Wales’s twelfth century Topographia Hibernica (The Topography of Ireland) was a strange mixture of geography and observations of foreign practices among the Celtic Irish based on his own travel experiences and reports by others. At this time, also, the legends of King Arthur were set into an historical framework. Building on Celtic poetry, the scholar Geoffrey of Monmouth brought Arthur to a European audience in his History of the Kings of Britain and The Prophecy of Merlin. These works are both propaganda in service of Geoffrey’s ruler and propagandistic history in the service of a new governmental ideal: a united British Isles.

Letter Writing. The writing of letters and certain legal documents, known in the Middle Ages as the ars dictaminis, was a valuable skill. Not only did it serve as a means of communication within the European intellectual community and the Christian Church, but the composition of beautiful, learned, and rhetorically adept letters was considered an art form. In order to instruct authors, a series of manuals and collections of exemplary letters were in circulation by the tenth century. These manuals described the five parts of the appropriate letter: the salutatio, exordium, narratio, petitio, and conclusio. Salutatio (the word from which salutation comes) was the sender’s introduction of him- or herself to the receiver. Here the sender acknowledged the rank of the receiver (with words such as Your Majesty or Your Eminence). The contents of the exordium (exhortation), narratio (narration), and petitio (petition) varied according to the sort of letter being written. The conclusio (conclusion) followed one of several classical poetic styles and reemphasized the receiver’s virtues and the sender’s petition. Alberic of Monte Cassino, Hugh of Bologna, and other Italian scholars during the eleventh century composed influential manuals that developed this organizational plan, and northern scholars followed their lead. By the twelfth century, examples of correct letters could be found in books called formularies, which were somewhat like modern guides for business correspondence and included letters that a less-skilled writer could copy for almost every possible occasion. The formularies of Peter of Blois, Ulrich of Bramberg, and Berard of Naples not only furnish illustrations of medieval literary style, but because they used examples of actual letters that have since been lost, they also are valuable historical sources.

Saints’ Lives and Legends. Medieval saints’ lives had a wide impact on medieval society. Saints were viewed as real, historical figures, and a retelling of their lives was a testimony to their holiness and God’s blessings, as well as a record of the events in a particular time and place. As with other medieval histories, however, the line between what modern readers would consider fact and fiction is not always clear. Saints were believed to levitate, endure devastating fasts, and cure the sick. In fact, in both the learned and popular literature of the Middle Ages, saints became Christian heroes, exhibiting extraordinary virtues and abilities and inspiring Christians to accomplish much more mundane pious duties. Probably the best-known medieval collection of saints’ lives is the Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend) by the Dominican Jacobus de Voraigne. Written in 1260, it drew on many other collections and was widely read and quoted in later medieval Europe. Although not regarded as one of the most accurate compilations of saints’ lives, it was translated at least once into most of the leading European languages and was recopied repeatedly in Latin. By the fifteenth century, however, the Dominicans had taken it off their list of approved works.

Producing Medieval Books. Medieval books were handmade, and a Bible could take two skilled monastic scribes two years to complete. Books were generally produced in cathedral or monastic scriptoria (writing offices), where scribes worked with other book-making specialists. These manuscripts (handwritten documents) were written on parchment. To make parchment, animal skin—preferably sheep or calf—was soaked in lye to remove hair and blemishes, scraped to make it smooth, and dried and stretched on a rack. Once it was dry the skin would be cut to the needed size, which could vary greatly. Some medieval manuscripts are as small as two by three inches, while others are approximately two by three feet. These manuscripts were sometimes quite large and costly to produce; it has been estimated that making some large Bibles required the hides of approximately five hundred sheep. Once a skin was cut to size, faint regular lines were drawn on the skins, and they were bound in booklets of sixteen pages. In the center of each page a scribe copied the basic text using a standard script such as the Carolingian miniscule. Certain words and pairings of letters were often abbreviated using a symbol or a line over another letter. There rarely was punctuation and often words ran into each other. For example, a medieval scribe might write the preceding sentence as “thrarêespunctuã & oftenwordsran into eachothê.” The assumption was that the reader would be familiar with the abbreviated word or symbol and could fill in the missing letters. After the text had been written on the parchment, the manuscript was given to an illuminator, who specialized

ized in painting the highly decorative letters that began many pages and the miniatures that surrounded the text itself. Once all of the booklets and illuminations were complete, the manuscript was bound with thick layers of more parchment compressed together and sewn onto the side of all of the booklets. The result might be a small manuscript for an individual or an elaborate prayer book fit for a king.