12/30/2015

Discovering 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.

In time, some commoners continued to use the Latin language while others moved towards using elements of the Greek and Roman language. While this is the case, it is the Latin texts which have become most well known over the years. While a number of these texts survived the time, others were destroyed over the years.

When it comes to the Celts, the most common text of the Middle Ages surrounds King Arthur and the court. There are two other texts which were often attributed great value in the era. These are Mabinogion and Marie de France. While these and many other texts remain anonymous, classical writers were known for embellishing stories. Yet, these writers were often thought to have penned these and other great tales.

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 two notable Jewish authors working during the Middle Ages, these were Maimonides, born in Spain and Rashi, born in France. Each was quite well known for a number of different writings related to a variety of religious texts. Although, it was not long after that secular books like that of Beowolf and others began to show up at the marketplace and at different libraries in Europe, and eventually, the world.




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