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Medieval Latin refers to the Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church. It is therefore largely synonymous with Church Latin. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...
The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...
The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...
Ecclesiastical Latin, sometimes called Church Latin, is the Latin language as used in documents of the Roman Catholic Church. ...
 Page with medieval Latin text from the Carmina Cantabrigiensia (Cambridge University Library, Gg. 5. 35), 11. cent. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (625x932, 177 KB) Carmina Cantabrigiensia Manuscript C, folio 436v, 11th century (Cambridge University Library, Gg. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (625x932, 177 KB) Carmina Cantabrigiensia Manuscript C, folio 436v, 11th century (Cambridge University Library, Gg. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x791, 128 KB)Two page from a Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x791, 128 KB)Two page from a Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. ...
In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated. ...
These two pages from a Book of Hours in the Biblioteca Trivulziana contain a miniature of the Annunciation to the Shepherds and a decorated initial. ...
Vocabulary, syntax, and grammar
Vocabulary Medieval Latin was characterised by an enlarged vocabulary, which freely borrowed from other sources. Prominent among those sources were Greek, from which much of the technical vocabulary of Christianity came. The various Germanic languages spoken by the Germanic tribes who invaded western Europe were also major sources of new words. Germanic leaders became the rulers of western Europe, and as such words from their languages were freely imported into the vocabulary of law. Other more ordinary words were replaced by coinages from Vulgar Latin or Germanic sources because the classical words had fallen into disuse. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. ...
The Germanic languages form one of the branches of the Indo-European (IE) language family. ...
Vulgar Latin, as in this political engraving at Pompeii, was the language of the ordinary people of the Roman Empire, distinct from the Classical Latin of literature. ...
Latin was also spread to areas such as Ireland and Germany, where Romance languages were not spoken and which had never known Roman rule. Works written in these lands where Latin was a learned language with no relation to the local vernacular also influenced medieval Latin's vocabulary and syntax. Romance languages in the World Blue-French; Green-Spanish; Orange-Portuguese; Yellow-Italian; Red-Romanian The Romance languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, comprise all languages that descended from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. ...
For other senses of this name, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...
Since abstract subjects like science and philosophy were communicated in Latin, the Latin vocabulary developed for them is the source of a great many technical words in modern languages. English words like "abstract", "subject", "communicate", "matter", "probable" and their cognates in other European languages generally have the meanings given to them in medieval Latin. Cognates are words that have a common origin. ...
Influence of Vulgar Latin The influence of Vulgar Latin 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 development of medieval Latin as a literary language came with the Carolingian renaissance, a rebirth of learning kindled under the patronage of Charlemagne, king of the Franks. Alcuin 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 Roman authority in Western Europe. Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning co- or together) and τάξις (táxis, meaning sequence, order, arrangement), can in linguistics be described as the study of the rules, or patterned relations that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. ...
Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ...
Charlemagne (742 or 747 – 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ...
For other uses, see Franks (disambiguation). ...
Rabanus Maurus (left), supported by Alcuin (middle), presents his work to Otgar of Mainz Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus or Ealhwine (c. ...
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, to varying degrees of fluency, and syntax, grammar, and vocabulary 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) or even "quidam" (meaning "a certain one/thing" in Classical Latin) as something like a definite article. Unlike in classical Latin, where esse ("to be") was used as the only auxiliary verb, Medieval Latin writers might use habere ("to have"), as Germanic and Romance languages do. The accusative infinitive construction in classical Latin was sometimes ignored, in favour of introducing a subordinate clause with the word "quod" (or occasionally "quia"). This is almost identical, for example, to the use of "que" in similar constructions in French.
Changes in orthography The most striking differences between classical and medieval Latin are found in orthography. Some of the most frequently-occurring differences are: - the diphthong ae might be collapsed and written as simply e; for example, puellae might be written puelle.
- 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 the h came to be pronounced as k, which is its pronunciation even today in Ecclesiastical Latin (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.
- t might be written as c, especially between vowels, so that divitiae becomes diviciae (or divicie)
- mn, mt, and other nasal+plosive combinations might have another plosive inserted between them, so that alumnus becomes alumpnus.
- single consonants were often doubled, or vice versa, so that tranquillitas becomes tranquilitas.
- 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 more frequent in Medieval Latin).
These orthographical differences were often due to changes in pronunciation, which authors reflected in their writing. By the 16th century, Erasmus complained that speakers from different countries were unable to understand each others' form of Latin. The term Ecclesiastical Latin (sometimes called Church Latin) refers to the Latin language as used in documents of the Roman Catholic Church and in its Latin liturgies. ...
Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ...
The gradual degradation of Latin did not escape the notice of contemporaries. Petrarch, writing in the 14th century, complained about this linguistic decline, which helped fuel his general dissatisfaction with his own era.
Important medieval Latin authors Abaelardus and Heloïse surprised by Master Fulbert, by Romanticist painter Jean Vignaud (1819) Pierre Abélard (in English, Peter Abelard) or Abailard (1079 – April 21, 1142) was a French scholastic philosopher. ...
Adam of Bremen (also: Adam Bremensis) was one of the most important German medieval chroniclers. ...
The name Aetheria may refer to— in Greek mythology, one of the Heliades, daughters of Helios, the sun god. ...
Albertus Magnus (fresco, 1352, Treviso, Italy) Albertus Magnus (1193? – November 15, 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, was a Dominican friar who became famous for his universal knowledge and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. ...
Saint Thomas Aquinas [Thomas of Aquin, or Aquino] (c. ...
The Archpoet, or Archipoeta, is a name given to the bibulous and boastful anonymous author of many of the poems contained in the Carmina Burana collection of mediæval Latin verse. ...
Bede depicted in an early medieval manuscript Depiction of Bede from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. ...
Blessed John Duns Scotus (c. ...
Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. ...
Giraldus Cambrensis (c. ...
Gildas (c. ...
Gregory of Tours (c. ...
It has been suggested that Isidro be merged into this article or section. ...
, by Albrecht Dürer Jerome (ca. ...
Marianus Scotus (1028-1082 or 1083), chronicler (who must be distinguished from his namesake Marianus Scotus, d. ...
Otto of Freising (c. ...
Peter of Blois (1135 (?) - 1203 (?)) was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. ...
From the c. ...
Saxo, etching by the Danish-Norwegian illustrator Louis Moe (1857 – 1945) Saxo Grammaticus (estimated. ...
Thietmar (Dietmar or Dithmar) of Merseburg (July 25, 975 - December 1, 1018), German chronicler, was a son of Siegfried, count of Walbeck, and was related to the family of the emperor Otto the Great. ...
Thomas of Celano, in Italian Tommaso da Celano from his hometown of Celano in the Abruzzo, (ca. ...
Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus (c. ...
Walter of Châtillon was a twelfth century French writer and theologian who wrote in the Latin language. ...
Medieval Latin literary movements The Goliards were a group of clergy who wrote bibulous, satirical Latin poetry in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. ...
Hiberno-Latin, also called Hisperic Latin, was a playful and learned sort of Latin literature created and spread by Irish monks during the period from the sixth century to the tenth century. ...
Important medieval Latin works From the 11th-13th Century Carmina Burana, a collection of love and vagabond songs. ...
The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century translation of the Bible into Latin made by St. ...
Pange Lingua is a hymn written by St. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
First printed edition of 1472 (by Guntherus Ziner, Augsburg), title page of chapter 14 (de terra et partibus), illustrated with a T and O map. ...
Dies Iræ (Day of Wrath) is a famous 13th-century Latin hymn written by Thomas of Celano. ...
Reference - K. P. Harrington, J. Pucci, and A. G. Elliott, Medieval Latin (2nd ed.), (Univ. Chicago Pres, 1997) ISBN 0-226-31712-9
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