Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Exploring The First Medieval Author And Writings

By Rebecca Clark


Understanding writings from the Middle Ages is not always easy though usually enjoyable. One reason being, that the Catholic church controlled most of western and central Europe at the time. As the Catholic church provided most of the education at the time, each medieval author would generally transcribe writings in Latin, except for the few whom held an existing knowledge of the English language.

Some commoners continued to use Latin for quite some time, especially in hymns and poems. Later, there was a conversion in which some elements of the Celtic and Roman languages were penned or combined with Latin. Though, it is the Latin writings which seem to have become the most well known text in history.

When one thinks of Celts associated with the Middle Ages, King Arthur usually comes to mind. For, it is King Arthur and the Round Table that made the period as memorable and remarkable as it has been since the beginning. It is works like the Marie de France and Maginogion which also survived that many in the Catholic faith continue to cherish unlike the pagans who tend to pay homage to King Arthur and the court.

Even when writers would submit original story lines, themes would often be attributed as having been quoted by an actor or actors. After which, the name of the authors took on less importance with many stories never attributed to a specific person. In time, authors became more respected, noted and honored for future works.

As one might expect, stories of this era were dominated by theology and religion. The Bible, found in most homes was the premier book of the ages. Whereas, a number of different books on philosophy and theology could be found in libraries. As Catholics remained the intellectual center, there were a number of religious texts, philosophies and theories published at the time.

While a great deal of work was based in philosophy and theology, there were also sacred texts written with a purpose. For example, multiple treaties were written which attempted to reconcile pagan authors and the church. While successful at first, many pagans decided to reject the treaties and return to Greek and Roman writings rather than align with the church.

One of the most read text of the Middle Ages is that of The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine. A book which has been reported to be read more than the Bible at the time. As the Bible was often read on a daily basis, saying the book was read more than the Bible may or may not be accurate, saying that the Bible was read more often than the book, could very well be fact.

There were also a number of Jewish medieval writers. Two of which were Maimonides and Rashi. Maimonides was born in Spain and Rashi, in France. Each were considered outstanding authors of the period. After which, secular writings such as the well known Beowolf and other stories began to hit local libraries and the marketplace.




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