As Latin took hold throughout Christendom, becoming the dominant and in some cases the only written language, the “&” spread along with it. When Latin eventually receded (thanks in part to Dante with his vernacular poetry, Gutenberg with his vernacular printing, and Martin Luther with his vernacular preaching), its script was left behind, complete with the “&”—a kind of philological fossil, still written as the Roman scribes had done but pronounced in whatever way the locals said “and.”
