Medieval Latin

by Karl Pomeroy Harrington

This is a reprint of the original edition from 1925. A classic that has stood the test of time, this book is designed to introduce the reader to Medieval Latin, for more than a thousand years the universal language of church, state, school, and society. From the overwhelming mass of material that has lain hidden in musty tomes and quaint manuscripts the editor has selected examples in the various fields of medieval literature, except the didactic and homiletic works of the church fathers. This gives a conspectus of the whole subject by typical samples from different periods. The selections represent history, anecdote, argument, the epistle, the drama, the essay, the dialogue, the novel, and epic, lyric, pastoral, didactic, and satiric verse. Teachers or students wishing to specialize in any of these forms will find the selections topically outlined at the end of the Table of Contents. For the student of history, comparative literature, or civilization in general, these pages have a profound significance. To the student of the Latin language and literature, they show that Latin from Ennius to Erasmus, during a period of nearly a millennium and three quarters, is more homogeneous than is English from Chaucer to Tennyson, a matter of only five hundred years. The student of the Romance and other modern languages can here see important processes actually going on in the development of these languages. The selections are useful for schools, for colleges, or for the general reader, and have been chosen with a view to intrinsic interest.

Genres: Language, Medieval

736 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1925

Reviews

[Adriano Bulla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a quick word; this is a good collection of Medieval Latin texts, Gregory of Torus, Paulus Disconus, Liutprand etc are are in here, and it reaches forth into the Seventeenth Century.

For the Latinist with an interest in the Middle Ages, those who know of Venerable Bede but do not wish to read the whole of the Ecclesiastical History, but still wish to have some excerpts to dip their toes in, this is a good text.

It does reflect how Latin remained the lingua franca of Europe for more than a thousand year after the alleged end (I do not agree with the date at all, Theodoric was a great Augustus, he actually 'revitalised the empire') of the Roman Empire, and it captures how it was the medium for the flow of culture across boundaries which created the European and then Western identity.

[Colin]

Short on instruction but long on great examples of medieval lit. in Latin.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fun stuff in here..... Gotta know your Latin.