Using Foreign Languages in the Middle Ages
Using Foreign Languages in the Middle Ages
Using Foreign Languages in the Middle Ages
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21H.411<br />
12/9/04<br />
<strong>Us<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>Foreign</strong> <strong>Languages</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong><br />
Introduction<br />
Over <strong>the</strong> past few decades, historians have signf<strong>in</strong>cantly broadened <strong>the</strong>ir outlook on <strong>the</strong> past.<br />
The growth of social, cultural, and economic history brought categories such as class, gender,<br />
race, culture, and quantitative analyses <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong>stream of historical work. Optimists<br />
credit new approaches with historians’ richer understand<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong> past, pessimists blame<br />
<strong>the</strong>m for <strong>the</strong> fragmentation of <strong>the</strong> historical profession, but none would deny that <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
<strong>the</strong> driv<strong>in</strong>g force beh<strong>in</strong>d much recent productive historical work, not least because <strong>the</strong>y spur<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>corporation of approaches from o<strong>the</strong>r social sciences.<br />
In this ve<strong>in</strong>, some social historians have begun to <strong>in</strong>vestigate <strong>the</strong> “social history of lan<br />
guage.” 1 As language is studied from many viewpo<strong>in</strong>ts, <strong>the</strong> perspectives of l<strong>in</strong>guists, literary<br />
scholars, ethnographers, and so on are relevant to its role <strong>in</strong> history. This holds especially<br />
true for <strong>the</strong> <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong>. Few medieval historians have focused exclusively on language,<br />
perhaps <strong>in</strong> part because of <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>tense <strong>in</strong>terest of philologers and literary scholars <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
1Most prom<strong>in</strong>ently Peter Burke. i.e. Peter Burke, Roy Porter, eds. The Social History of Language<br />
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.<br />
1
period. This essay is a sketch of <strong>the</strong> place of foreign languages <strong>in</strong> medieval societies of West<br />
ern Europe, from late Antiquity to around 1300. Because Lat<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> medieval societies was<br />
ubiquitous and has been (justifiably) wellstudied, discussion of it is <strong>in</strong>tentionally limited<br />
here to its social uses. In contrast to a picture of static Lat<strong>in</strong>vernacular diglossia, languages<br />
and <strong>the</strong>ir social mean<strong>in</strong>gs changed drastically dur<strong>in</strong>g this period. <strong>Languages</strong> were learned<br />
and used for practical purposes or as tools of social power, and almost never for scholarly<br />
purposes or <strong>in</strong>tellectual enrichment, as <strong>the</strong>y would be from <strong>the</strong> Renaissance on.<br />
Mutual Understand<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Conquests, colonization, and settlements took place frequently dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong> – how<br />
did groups of people speak<strong>in</strong>g different languages communicate with each o<strong>the</strong>r? In a given<br />
situation, four options are possible. If <strong>the</strong> groups had relatively little contact, <strong>in</strong>terpreters<br />
could have been used. The languages spoken by both groups could have been sufficiently<br />
mutually <strong>in</strong>telligible. Or both languages could have been used <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> society shared by <strong>the</strong><br />
groups. Sociol<strong>in</strong>guists have found that all societies have strict codes for which language (or<br />
form of a language) can be used <strong>in</strong> a given situation. A society where two languages are used<br />
<strong>in</strong> different situations and tend to re<strong>in</strong>force a power dynamic is called diglossic. Without <strong>the</strong><br />
power dynamic, <strong>the</strong> society is called bil<strong>in</strong>gual. Exclud<strong>in</strong>g Lat<strong>in</strong>/vernacular diglossia, several<br />
examples show that multil<strong>in</strong>gual societies before 1300 were more bil<strong>in</strong>gual than diglossic.<br />
Vik<strong>in</strong>g Age England (c. 7901066) was home to two peoples speak<strong>in</strong>g two languages,<br />
2
2 Old English and Old Norse. Historians have long debated <strong>the</strong> extent to which English<br />
and Norse speakers <strong>in</strong>teracted, but careful studies of <strong>the</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic situation are relatively<br />
recent. Mat<strong>the</strong>w Townend analyzed onomastic (name) evidence, contemporary AngloSaxon<br />
sources, and Norse sagas (which took place dur<strong>in</strong>g this period, but were not written down<br />
until <strong>the</strong> 14th century) for <strong>in</strong>formation on NorseEnglish relations. He argues for “a situation<br />
3<br />
of adequate mutual <strong>in</strong>telligibility between speakers of Norse and English <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vik<strong>in</strong>g Age”<br />
– <strong>the</strong> phonological systems of <strong>the</strong> two languages were similar enough that speakers of one<br />
language could learn to understand words spoken <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r. In this view, supported<br />
4 by archaeological evidence, Vik<strong>in</strong>g Age England was a divided society. Bil<strong>in</strong>gualism was<br />
societal, but not <strong>in</strong>dividual – <strong>the</strong> two groups rema<strong>in</strong>ed largely separate and spoke different<br />
languages, although each language had uses common to both races. Old Norse was <strong>the</strong> court<br />
and adm<strong>in</strong>istrative language of Scand<strong>in</strong>avian rulers of England, such as Canute (10161035).<br />
Bards from AngloSaxon and Old Norse poetic traditions competed at court, and had some<br />
familiarity with each o<strong>the</strong>r’s repertoire. All writ<strong>in</strong>g had to be done <strong>in</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> or AngloSaxon,<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ce Old Norse was not yet written. When Old Norse disappeared from England <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 11th<br />
century, it left beh<strong>in</strong>d a wealth of place names, but little o<strong>the</strong>r residue on English, a typical<br />
5<br />
pattern <strong>in</strong> societies with little contact between conquer<strong>in</strong>g and conquered peoples.<br />
At least one author has argued for mutual <strong>in</strong>telligibility among most Germanic languages<br />
2Nei<strong>the</strong>r language was completely standardized at this po<strong>in</strong>t, but <strong>the</strong> different English dialects were much<br />
more similar to each o<strong>the</strong>r than to Scand<strong>in</strong>avian ones, and vice versa. The same holds true for most pairs<br />
of languages <strong>in</strong> this essay.<br />
3Townend (2002), p. 182.<br />
4Bibere (2001) also supports this view.<br />
5Townend (2002), Chs. 1, 6.<br />
3
6 <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Early <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong>. In support of this view, E<strong>in</strong>hard writes <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 9th century that<br />
“all <strong>the</strong> rough and uncivilized peoples <strong>in</strong>habit<strong>in</strong>g Germany between <strong>the</strong> Rh<strong>in</strong>e and Vistula<br />
rivers, <strong>the</strong> ocean and <strong>the</strong> Danube... almost all speak a similar language.” Some exceptions<br />
must be made – he also writes that when a group of Frisians asked Charlemagne to send <strong>the</strong>m<br />
an emissary to expla<strong>in</strong> Christian doctr<strong>in</strong>e, Charlemagne sent a Frisian, imply<strong>in</strong>g that a Frank<br />
7 would not have been understood. Similarly, Richard Wright has argued for panRomance<br />
comprehension across <strong>the</strong> former Roman world well <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> 10th century, po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g out that<br />
8<br />
”<strong>the</strong>re is never a sign of a need, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> early <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong>, for <strong>in</strong>traromance <strong>in</strong>terpreters.”<br />
Although such proofs rest uncomfortably on reason<strong>in</strong>g from negative evidence, largescale<br />
mutual comprehension would have facilitated <strong>the</strong> shift<strong>in</strong>g political alliances characteristic of<br />
different tribes <strong>in</strong> late antiquity and <strong>the</strong> early <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong> – to fight toge<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>y had to<br />
understand each o<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
Even so, mutual <strong>in</strong>telligibility was never possible between speakers of Romance and Ger<br />
manic languages, as <strong>in</strong> Merov<strong>in</strong>gian and Carol<strong>in</strong>gian Gaul, bil<strong>in</strong>gual societies where Frankish<br />
and GalloRoman were spoken. As <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> preconquest England case, <strong>the</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic burden<br />
was on <strong>the</strong> dom<strong>in</strong>ant class. The Frankish nobility and court spoke Frankish, but only made<br />
up %1015 of <strong>the</strong> population and were at least functionally bil<strong>in</strong>gual. GalloRoman was, up<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Carol<strong>in</strong>gian reforms, largely spoken Lat<strong>in</strong>, so Lat<strong>in</strong> literacy, surpris<strong>in</strong>gly common <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Frankish upper classes, probably facilitated bil<strong>in</strong>gualism. Speak<strong>in</strong>g Frankish did serve<br />
6 Moulton (1988).<br />
7 E<strong>in</strong>hard, pp. 2425.<br />
8 “Early Medieval PanRomance Comprehension”, <strong>in</strong> Wright (2002). p. 181.<br />
4
9 to re<strong>in</strong>force <strong>the</strong> nobility’s privileges. A GalloRoman would have to learn Frankish for a<br />
political or adm<strong>in</strong>istrative position, but most seemed not to care. Pierre Flobert’s claim that<br />
GalloRoman speakers “were aware of <strong>the</strong>ir position of strength [as Lat<strong>in</strong> speakers] and made<br />
absolutely no attempt to learn Frankish” is unsubstantiated, but perhaps true. Gregory of<br />
Tours, a GalloRoman who delights <strong>in</strong> record<strong>in</strong>g any conflict <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g Franks, mentions no<br />
10 l<strong>in</strong>guistic ones <strong>in</strong> his History of <strong>the</strong> Franks. He does spr<strong>in</strong>kle Frankish terms through his<br />
narrative, but <strong>the</strong>y cannot have been <strong>in</strong> widespread use – like Old Norse, Frankish left beh<strong>in</strong>d<br />
few loanwords when it disappeared, only place names.<br />
Postconquest England is <strong>the</strong> most wellknown medieval bil<strong>in</strong>gual society. AngloNorman<br />
(<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>sular dialect of French)/English bil<strong>in</strong>gualism helped def<strong>in</strong>e life <strong>in</strong> England <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong><br />
seventeenth century. At first, AngloNorman was <strong>the</strong> language of <strong>the</strong> rul<strong>in</strong>g Norman nobility,<br />
serv<strong>in</strong>g both to dist<strong>in</strong>guish <strong>the</strong>m from <strong>the</strong> English and restrict access to certa<strong>in</strong> professions,<br />
like Frankish <strong>in</strong> Gaul. Most Englishspeakers never knew French, but quickly realized its<br />
function: “from soon after <strong>the</strong> conquest <strong>the</strong>re are <strong>in</strong>dications that monol<strong>in</strong>gual speakers<br />
11 perceive <strong>the</strong>ir ignorance of French to be a factor <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir subord<strong>in</strong>ation.” Yet Anglo<br />
Norman relatively quickly became like Lat<strong>in</strong>, a language which anyone had to learn for<br />
certa<strong>in</strong> societal advances, but no one spoke natively. W. Rothwell has shown that <strong>the</strong><br />
numerous idiosyncrasies of thirteenthcentury English guides for learn<strong>in</strong>g AngloNorman<br />
are best understo od as <strong>in</strong>tended for adult learners with some nonnative AngloNorman<br />
experience. Authors’ expectations quickly decreased to <strong>the</strong> po<strong>in</strong>t of assum<strong>in</strong>g no Anglo<br />
9 Banniard (1995).<br />
10 Flobert (2002), p. 427.<br />
11 Crane (1997), p. 104.<br />
5
Norman knowledge. 12 This <strong>in</strong>terpretation fits with R.A. Lodge’s claim that native Anglo<br />
Norman speakers were gone by <strong>the</strong> early twelfth century. Reflect<strong>in</strong>g this change, a 1258<br />
proclamation by Henry III (r. 12161272) was <strong>the</strong> first postconquest official statement <strong>in</strong><br />
English (along with French and Lat<strong>in</strong>), and after his reign AngloNorman ceased to be used<br />
13<br />
at all <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> royal household.<br />
The social value of French only <strong>in</strong>creased as it became harder to learn. Women read and<br />
patronized AngloNorman literature to a much greater extent that with<strong>in</strong> France, seiz<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> middle ground between English, spoken by all, and Lat<strong>in</strong>, which women were thought<br />
unable to learn. In literature, law, courts, and government, French became firmly established<br />
only after 1200, when it became <strong>in</strong>variably a cultural achievement ra<strong>the</strong>r than a mo<strong>the</strong>r<br />
tongue. 14 The wellknown medieval proverb, “Jack would be a gentleman if he could speak<br />
French” must postdate this shift, as <strong>the</strong> word “gentleman” is not attested until <strong>the</strong> late<br />
13th century. 15 Most notably, <strong>the</strong> huge <strong>in</strong>flux of French loanwords <strong>in</strong>to English only began<br />
16<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> early 13th century, reach<strong>in</strong>g its peak around 1350.<br />
French <strong>in</strong> England thus illustrates an <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g generalization about multil<strong>in</strong>gual me<br />
dieval societies up to 1300 – bil<strong>in</strong>gual situations of two liv<strong>in</strong>g languages never <strong>in</strong>volve sig<br />
nificant power dynamics, of <strong>the</strong> sort seen <strong>in</strong> almost any multil<strong>in</strong>gual state today. A few<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r examples follow <strong>the</strong> same pattern. Arabic/IberoRomance bil<strong>in</strong>gualism <strong>in</strong> Spa<strong>in</strong> did<br />
12Rothwell (1968).<br />
13Lodge (1991), pp. 7980.<br />
14Crane (1997), pp. 105106.<br />
15Proverb from front page, Calvet (2002). Etymology from Oxford English Dictionary,<br />
.<br />
16Graph quoted <strong>in</strong> Calvet (2002), p. 136<br />
6
not significantly enforce social hierarchies or <strong>in</strong>flame conflicts, <strong>the</strong> Arabicspeak<strong>in</strong>g, Chris<br />
17 tian Mozarabs <strong>in</strong> fact flourished. L<strong>in</strong>guistic issues seem<strong>in</strong>gly never contributed to tensions<br />
with Jews and Greeks liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Western Europe – if anyth<strong>in</strong>g, knowledge of Greek and He<br />
18 brew provided a rare common <strong>in</strong>terest with medieval scholars. Even <strong>in</strong> crusader states <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> multil<strong>in</strong>gual Holy Land, language is rarely mentioned <strong>in</strong> a secular context. One scholar<br />
argues that crusader states built ethnic identities around orig<strong>in</strong> myths based on common de<br />
19 scent, heroic conquest, and shared values – but not language. These examples are unusual<br />
because language is today usually a fundamental part of group identity, imply<strong>in</strong>g power<br />
dynamics. Perhaps it makes sense that <strong>in</strong> a more religious world, most of <strong>the</strong>se dynamics<br />
would take place through <strong>the</strong> church.<br />
Language as Power<br />
The Lat<strong>in</strong> language was <strong>the</strong> most powerful cultural symbol <strong>in</strong> Western Europe perhaps until<br />
20 <strong>the</strong> 19th century. In <strong>the</strong> period under consideration, Lat<strong>in</strong> played a variety of roles. Most<br />
<strong>in</strong>ternational secular written communication and all clerical communication was <strong>in</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong>.<br />
Throughout <strong>the</strong> <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong>, Lat<strong>in</strong> was an effective spoken l<strong>in</strong>gua franca for clergy and<br />
educated laymen. Regional pronunciation differences and modern vocabulary deficits only<br />
became endemic <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 15th century, if not later. Most of all, <strong>the</strong> history of Lat<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> this<br />
period shows how it became <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly a tool of power for church and secular elites over<br />
17 “Sociol<strong>in</strong>guistics <strong>in</strong> Spa<strong>in</strong> (8th11th centuries)”, <strong>in</strong> Wright (1994), 155164.<br />
18Some examples given <strong>in</strong> Bischoff (1961).<br />
19Murray (1995).<br />
20Information on Lat<strong>in</strong> from 1500 on from Françoise Waquet, Lat<strong>in</strong>, or <strong>the</strong> Empire of a Sign .<br />
7
those who orig<strong>in</strong>ally spoke it.<br />
Lat<strong>in</strong> orig<strong>in</strong>ally became <strong>the</strong> language of Roman Christianity to make Christian teach<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
more accessible to <strong>the</strong> masses. In <strong>the</strong> 5th century, St. Jerome translated <strong>the</strong> Bible from<br />
Greek <strong>in</strong>to socalled Late Lat<strong>in</strong>, <strong>the</strong> language of <strong>the</strong> Roman plebs. All Christians <strong>the</strong>refore<br />
<strong>the</strong>oretically had direct access to <strong>the</strong> Bible, even if <strong>in</strong> practice teach<strong>in</strong>gs usually came through<br />
21 a Priest speak<strong>in</strong>g Late Lat<strong>in</strong>. Gradually, however, <strong>the</strong> gap between Romance dialects and<br />
Late Lat<strong>in</strong> widened. St. Jerome’s translation and <strong>the</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> language itself came to be<br />
seen as sacred, and symbolic of <strong>the</strong> church’s authority. In an 865 exchange of letters, Pope<br />
Nicholas defended Lat<strong>in</strong> aga<strong>in</strong>st <strong>in</strong>sults from Constant<strong>in</strong>ople, and demanded that it be seen<br />
22<br />
as a sacred language, like Greek and Hebrew, but this was an extreme view for <strong>the</strong> time.<br />
In communication to <strong>the</strong> 9thcentury mission to <strong>the</strong> Slavs, Pope John VIII wrote that ”<strong>the</strong>re<br />
is noth<strong>in</strong>g contrary to <strong>the</strong> faith or to sound doctr<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> s<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g mass <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> said Slavonic<br />
language,” 23 contribut<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> creation of Cyrillic script and mass <strong>in</strong> Slavic languages.<br />
Rome panicked, and tried <strong>in</strong> va<strong>in</strong> for decades <strong>the</strong>reafter to ensure that only Lat<strong>in</strong> be used<br />
24<br />
<strong>in</strong> Slavic services.<br />
Over time, knowledge of Lat<strong>in</strong> came to symbolize <strong>the</strong> mediat<strong>in</strong>g function of priests and<br />
dist<strong>in</strong>guish <strong>the</strong>m from o<strong>the</strong>r members of society. The fact that most parishioners (and some<br />
priests) could not understand <strong>the</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> mass became acceptable because priests were meant<br />
25 to <strong>in</strong>terpret <strong>the</strong> Word. The beautiful pictures seen <strong>in</strong> illum<strong>in</strong>ated manuscripts and sta<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
21 Banniard (1999), pp. 229230.<br />
22 Richter (1976), p. 49.<br />
23 Richter (1975), p. 77.<br />
24 Richter (1976), p. 53.<br />
25 Banniard (1995).<br />
8
glass w<strong>in</strong>dows were offered as <strong>the</strong> equivalent for illiterati. <strong>the</strong> 26 By <strong>the</strong> 12th century, Lat<strong>in</strong><br />
was seen <strong>in</strong> church doctr<strong>in</strong>e as <strong>the</strong> language of <strong>the</strong> Word of God, expressed through his<br />
servants. 27 Though <strong>the</strong>re is no evidence that this process was planned, clerical control of <strong>the</strong><br />
div<strong>in</strong>e language and, by extension, most knowledge, became a selfpropagat<strong>in</strong>g process.<br />
Romance speakers eventually might have stopped understand<strong>in</strong>g Mass at some po<strong>in</strong>t as<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir languages drifted fur<strong>the</strong>r from Church Lat<strong>in</strong>, but were cut off earlier. Into <strong>the</strong> 9th<br />
century, adaption to local pronunciation could have made <strong>the</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> Mass understandable to<br />
Romancespeak<strong>in</strong>g parishioners, with <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g local divergences from any norm. Inadver<br />
tently or not, <strong>the</strong> Carol<strong>in</strong>gian pronunciation reforms put a stop to this process throughout<br />
Europe by requir<strong>in</strong>g that Lat<strong>in</strong> be read accord<strong>in</strong>g to a standardized, fixed pronunciation of<br />
28 every letter, far from any contemporary dialect. This reform sealed <strong>the</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ction between<br />
popular and clerical language among Romancespeakers. Canon 17 of <strong>the</strong> Council of Tours<br />
famously established that preach<strong>in</strong>g texts were no longer to be said <strong>in</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong>, but “rusticam<br />
Romanam l<strong>in</strong>guam Theodiscam aut, quo facilius cuncti poss<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong>tellegere quae dicuntur,”<br />
29 i.e. <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> local Germanic or Romance language. Significantly, priests would preach <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> local vernacular, while Mass and <strong>the</strong> Bible rema<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong>, ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> clerical<br />
monopoly on <strong>in</strong>formation.<br />
Lat<strong>in</strong> was a tool of both secular and church power simply because it had to be acquired to<br />
be used. Learn<strong>in</strong>g to read or write Lat<strong>in</strong> took years, at best a difficult process and at worst<br />
26 Bäuml (1997), p. 132.<br />
27 Law (2003), p. 204.<br />
28 Banniard (1999).<br />
29 Banniard (1999), p. 236.<br />
9
end<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> failure. Pedagogic techniques and an understand<strong>in</strong>g of grammar took centuries to<br />
30 develop for a difficult language under any circumstances. Contrasted with work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> land<br />
and fight<strong>in</strong>g, it is perhaps not surpris<strong>in</strong>g that “literacy was generally despised by <strong>the</strong> laity<br />
as an unmanly skill.” 31 Despite <strong>the</strong> proverb that “rex illiteratus est quasi as<strong>in</strong>us coronatus,”<br />
32 many k<strong>in</strong>gs and nobles were partially or wholly illiterate. In short, few forces operated to<br />
promote literacy, let alone mass literacy. Most medieval knowledge thus <strong>in</strong> practice rema<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
<strong>the</strong> preserve of those whose job it was to be literate. For o<strong>the</strong>rs, Lat<strong>in</strong>’s power was more<br />
symbolic.<br />
The mystical power of Lat<strong>in</strong>, <strong>the</strong> written word, and literacy were central to church power.<br />
Lat<strong>in</strong> was <strong>the</strong> most important foreign language of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong> not because it was<br />
universal, but because it and <strong>the</strong> books written <strong>in</strong> it commanded tremendous symbolic<br />
power. For centuries, most Europeans heard knowledge from one book, once per week, <strong>in</strong><br />
a language <strong>the</strong>y did not understand. Prayers <strong>in</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> marked all major life events. It<br />
is <strong>in</strong>evitable that Lat<strong>in</strong> and <strong>the</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> Bible became important cultural symbols, adapt<strong>in</strong>g<br />
to new cultural conditions. As a dist<strong>in</strong>ct urban lifestyle developed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 11th and 12th<br />
centuries, Lat<strong>in</strong> came to be associated with urbanitas, security, and civility, as opposed to<br />
rusticitas, recall<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> l<strong>in</strong>gua rustica vernaculars. 33 Lat<strong>in</strong> and literacy also played a crucial<br />
role <strong>in</strong> missionary attempts of late antiquity. Some peoples, like <strong>the</strong> Eastern Franks, had<br />
no written tradition before Christianity, enabl<strong>in</strong>g missionaries to almost mold future literate<br />
30On <strong>the</strong> pa<strong>in</strong> of learn<strong>in</strong>g Lat<strong>in</strong>, see Law (2003) Lat<strong>in</strong>, and or <strong>the</strong> Empire of a Sign .<br />
31Richter (1975), p. 74.<br />
32Ibid., p. 73.<br />
33 “UrbanitasRusticitas : L<strong>in</strong>guistic Aspects of a Medieval Dichotomy.” In Richter (1995), 5460.<br />
10
consciousness. As one scholar notes, “<strong>in</strong> this context Christianity and writ<strong>in</strong>g must be<br />
thought of toge<strong>the</strong>r.” 34 Books could be powerful symbols for preliterate pagans. In a letter<br />
of 735, Boniface asks that an abbess “copy out for me <strong>in</strong> letters of gold <strong>the</strong> epistles of my<br />
lord, St. Peter, that a reverence and love of <strong>the</strong> Holy Scriptures may be impressed on <strong>the</strong><br />
m<strong>in</strong>ds of <strong>the</strong> hea<strong>the</strong>ns to whom I preach,” imply<strong>in</strong>g that an impressive book is as important<br />
35<br />
as his actual message to conversion.<br />
Language and Identity<br />
In <strong>the</strong> examples seen so far, language was used more as a tool of power than a means of self<br />
def<strong>in</strong>ition. To <strong>the</strong> extent that ethnic or national identities were def<strong>in</strong>ed, language did not play<br />
an important role. But <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 12th and 13th centuries, language and group identity became<br />
slowly more <strong>in</strong>tertw<strong>in</strong>ed, <strong>in</strong> several contexts. This l<strong>in</strong>k was always made with reference to<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r languages, show<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> chang<strong>in</strong>g ways <strong>the</strong>y were thought about and used.<br />
Scholars agree that England’s Norman conquerors “generally became English while con<br />
t<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g to speak French,” though estimates on when <strong>the</strong>y thought of <strong>the</strong>mselves as English<br />
range across <strong>the</strong> twelfth century, mak<strong>in</strong>g it hard to consider a l<strong>in</strong>k between <strong>the</strong>ir l<strong>in</strong>guistic<br />
and cultural identifications. But it is clear that by <strong>the</strong> 14th century, <strong>the</strong> notion of a unified<br />
English people had become associated with <strong>the</strong> English language. <strong>Middle</strong> English had vo<br />
cal proponents for its use as a literary language by 1300, while <strong>the</strong> new Lancaster dynasty<br />
sought symbols of Englishness to legitimate its dubious claim to <strong>the</strong> throne. Englishness and<br />
34 Bäuml (1997), p. 124.<br />
35 Boniface, Letter 21.<br />
11
<strong>the</strong> English language were opposed to <strong>the</strong>ir French equivalents, an opposition streng<strong>the</strong>ned<br />
36<br />
dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Hundred Years War.<br />
Relative to Romance languages, English may have been easy to redef<strong>in</strong>e for purposes of<br />
national identity. Richard Wright argues that a “metal<strong>in</strong>guistic divergence” creat<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>guis<br />
37 tic selfconsciousness took place <strong>in</strong> two steps on <strong>the</strong> Iberian pen<strong>in</strong>sula. In <strong>the</strong> first half of<br />
<strong>the</strong> 13th century, advocates of written use of Romance languages <strong>in</strong> Iberian k<strong>in</strong>gdoms battled<br />
those who wanted to cont<strong>in</strong>ue us<strong>in</strong>g Lat<strong>in</strong>. Over <strong>the</strong> second half, <strong>the</strong> Romance languages<br />
won out, but also got caught up with nascent senses of national identities. Though long<br />
different, <strong>the</strong> Romance dialects of different k<strong>in</strong>gdoms had never been emphasized as dist<strong>in</strong>ct<br />
entities. Start<strong>in</strong>g after 1200, Castillians began to talk of “nuestro romance castellano,” and<br />
similarly for Catalonia and Portugal. Given <strong>the</strong> fractious relations between <strong>the</strong>se states<br />
over <strong>the</strong> 13th and 14th centuries, <strong>the</strong> differences between <strong>the</strong>ir languages were emphasized.<br />
PortugueseCastillian acrimony <strong>in</strong> particular cultimated <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota.<br />
Wright emphasizes that Iberian “[l<strong>in</strong>guistic] fragmentation was a cont<strong>in</strong>gential cultural polit<br />
38 ical <strong>in</strong>vention ra<strong>the</strong>r than an <strong>in</strong>evitable l<strong>in</strong>guistic development.” Although Wright may be<br />
too optimistic <strong>in</strong> mourn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> lost possibility of a panIberian Romance literary language<br />
on <strong>the</strong> model of Lat<strong>in</strong> America, <strong>the</strong> more general po<strong>in</strong>t is valid. By l<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g language to<br />
national identity, states lost <strong>the</strong> benefits of easy <strong>in</strong>ternational communication.<br />
In France, <strong>the</strong> language of Paris was <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly contrasted with regional languages<br />
with<strong>in</strong> French territory from <strong>the</strong> 13th century on, probably due to <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g power of<br />
36Crane (1997), quote from p. 113.<br />
37 “The Assertion of IberoRomance,” <strong>in</strong> Wright (2002), pp. 262281.<br />
38Ibid., p. 273.<br />
12
its k<strong>in</strong>gs and prestige of its university. Regional features which had been popular <strong>in</strong> 12th<br />
39 century literature fell out of fashion. The rich tradition of composition <strong>in</strong> Occitan, <strong>the</strong><br />
language of sou<strong>the</strong>rn France, quickly decl<strong>in</strong>ed after <strong>the</strong> area came under <strong>in</strong>creased French<br />
control follow<strong>in</strong>g a Crusade through <strong>the</strong> region. As <strong>the</strong> prestige of <strong>the</strong> Paris dialect rose,<br />
40<br />
this author’s 1325 apologetic became typical:<br />
Si m’escuse de mon langage<br />
rude, malostru et sauvage<br />
car nes ne sui pas de Paris<br />
ne si co<strong>in</strong>tes com fut Paris;<br />
mais me raporte et me compere<br />
au parler que m’aprist ma mere<br />
a Meun quant je l’alaitoie<br />
dont mes parlers ne s’en devoye<br />
ne n’ay nul parler plus habile<br />
que celui qui keurt a no vile<br />
Two centuries after <strong>the</strong> heyday of regional literatures, this anonymous author is ashamed to<br />
be from Meung, 90 miles from Paris. The rise of Parisian French was l<strong>in</strong>ked to campaigns<br />
to extend <strong>the</strong> k<strong>in</strong>g’s <strong>in</strong>fluence over speakers of regional dialects, Occitan, and even English<br />
(dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Hundred Years War). But <strong>the</strong> decision to l<strong>in</strong>k battles between peoples to battles<br />
39 Lodge (1991), p. 77.<br />
40 Quoted <strong>in</strong> Lodge (1991), pp. 7778.<br />
13
etween languages was new. One can only speculate on why language was l<strong>in</strong>ked to group<br />
identity <strong>in</strong> several contexts dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> twelfth century. It is tempt<strong>in</strong>g to generalize R.A.<br />
Lodge’s emphasis <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> French case on <strong>the</strong> rise of centers of power outside <strong>the</strong> church which<br />
needed cultural selfdef<strong>in</strong>ition, especially given <strong>the</strong> obvious l<strong>in</strong>k between Dante’s late 13th<br />
century defense of Tuscan as a literary language and <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g power of Italian city<br />
states. 41<br />
Practical Usage<br />
When not used <strong>in</strong> bil<strong>in</strong>gual communities or <strong>in</strong> a clerical or scholarly position, foreign lan<br />
guages were learned for practical usage only. European merchants, especially Italians, who<br />
traveled east to trade communicated <strong>in</strong> pidg<strong>in</strong>s sufficient to conduct bus<strong>in</strong>ess, such as <strong>the</strong><br />
Italianderived late medieval l<strong>in</strong>gua franca. Although some may have grown up <strong>in</strong> Greek,<br />
Arabic, or Hebrewspeak<strong>in</strong>g bil<strong>in</strong>gual communities, <strong>the</strong>re is little evidence that European<br />
merchants learned foreign languages <strong>in</strong> this period, or needed to. Before <strong>the</strong> establish<br />
ment of crusader states, where European languages would have sufficed, Italian merchants<br />
were required to do bus<strong>in</strong>ess at po<strong>in</strong>ts of exchange external to Muslim cities <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Levant,<br />
42 elim<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> need to communicate with nonmerchants. In England, professionspecific<br />
“Macaronic” comb<strong>in</strong>ations of English and French emerged out of <strong>the</strong> dialect cont<strong>in</strong>uum be<br />
tween <strong>the</strong>m. All <strong>the</strong>se methods of communication were basically local and functional –<br />
members of a profession used a method of communication which cont<strong>in</strong>ually evolved for<br />
41 Lodge (1993), p. 108.<br />
42 Metcalf (1996), p. 224.<br />
14
immediate needs, not at all like <strong>the</strong> later use of standardized vernaculars for <strong>in</strong>ternational<br />
communication. Exclud<strong>in</strong>g a few multil<strong>in</strong>gual areas such as Sicily and <strong>the</strong> Levant, when total<br />
competence <strong>in</strong> a foreign language was needed for a job, few people qualified. Liudprand of<br />
Cremona, a Bishop sent by Otto <strong>the</strong> Great to Constant<strong>in</strong>ople <strong>in</strong> 968, says that he was sent<br />
43<br />
<strong>in</strong> no small part because he was one of <strong>the</strong> few who spoke fluent Greek.<br />
Liudprand learned Greek dur<strong>in</strong>g an earlier voyage to Constant<strong>in</strong>ople. This voyage was<br />
exceptional – longdistance travel was rare <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Ages</strong>, and travelers often describe<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir encounters with o<strong>the</strong>r languages and peoples <strong>in</strong> unfavorable terms, certa<strong>in</strong>ly not study<br />
<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>m. Most medieval travellers were more goaloriented than a tourist today would be<br />
and less <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> local flavor. A twelfthcentury pilgrimage guide to to Santiago de<br />
Compostela describes peoples one would encounter en route: In <strong>the</strong> Bordelais “le v<strong>in</strong> est<br />
excellent, le poisson abondant, mais le langage rude”, while Basques are notable for “la<br />
férocité de leurs visages et samblablement, celle de leur parler barbare.” The author gives<br />
a BasqueLat<strong>in</strong> glossary not to help <strong>the</strong> traveler, but to prove that “en les écoutant par<br />
ler, on croit entendre des chiens aboyer,” paradoxically provid<strong>in</strong>g our earliest knowledge of<br />
Basque. 44 Readers of this guide, very popular <strong>in</strong> its day, do not seem to require knowledge<br />
of foreign languages.<br />
Of <strong>the</strong> great medieval travelers, nei<strong>the</strong>r Ibn Battuta or Marco Polo show much <strong>in</strong>terest<br />
<strong>in</strong> foreign languages. A frustrated 13thcentury Byzant<strong>in</strong>e traveler, forced to stop on Cyprus<br />
on his way home, accosts a Cypriot peasant: “Man, please, go just a little fur<strong>the</strong>r, don’t<br />
43Liudprand of Cremona.<br />
44Le Guide du eler<strong>in</strong> P´ de Sa<strong>in</strong>tJacques de Compostelle. pp. 19, 33.<br />
15
approach. You smell of garlic, and <strong>the</strong>refore move far away.” The Cypriot fails to comply,<br />
45 likely because he does not understand <strong>the</strong> ref<strong>in</strong>ed language of Constant<strong>in</strong>ople. Even <strong>the</strong><br />
zeal of <strong>the</strong> fifteenthcentury Cologne nobleman Arnold von Harff, who records phrases of<br />
many different languages <strong>in</strong> his pilgrimage narrative, has pragmatic aims, ask<strong>in</strong>g, “Good<br />
46 morn<strong>in</strong>g,” “How much does this cost?”, and “Lady, may I sleep with you?” German<br />
language guides of <strong>the</strong> 9th and 11th centuries, as well as 14th century Flemish/French and<br />
Russian guides, are similarly structured around pragmatic dialogues for trade, travel, or<br />
command<strong>in</strong>g servants. 47 <strong>Languages</strong> were only learned out of necessity – at <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r end<br />
of <strong>the</strong> social hierarchy, immigrants to foreign lands needed to learn <strong>the</strong> local language to<br />
48<br />
survive, as <strong>in</strong> one 13th century German epic:<br />
Wie der Beheim rede, Walch und Unger,<br />
Daz muoz lernen manic man<br />
Dem biutel, hant, und mage ist wan<br />
(How <strong>the</strong> Bohemians, Italians and Hungarians speak,<br />
many a man must learn,<br />
whose purse, hand, and stomach are empty.)<br />
Lat<strong>in</strong> Christian missionaries learned and used foreign languages to convert pagans, though<br />
often reluctantly. The idea of a unified Lat<strong>in</strong>speak<strong>in</strong>g Christendom drove efforts to evan<br />
gelize <strong>in</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> from early Christianity until <strong>the</strong> seventeenth century. Such efforts almost<br />
45Aerts (2003), pp. 169, 215. The translation sounds awkward due to meter restrictions.<br />
46Quoted <strong>in</strong> Bischoff (1961), pp. 219220.<br />
47i.e. “Gimer m<strong>in</strong> ros!” (give me my horse! ). Penzl (1984), pp. 394395.<br />
48Quoted <strong>in</strong> Penzl (1984), p 396.<br />
16
always failed, lead<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> use of vernacular languages. When possible, missionaries whose<br />
49 native languages were close enough to <strong>the</strong> target population were used. O<strong>the</strong>rwise, mis<br />
50 sionaries had to learn pagan languages onsite. Those who did often adopted sophisticated<br />
methods to successfully convert pagans. Missionaries adopted <strong>the</strong> rich oral traditions of<br />
pagan Germanic peoples to Christian stories and wrote <strong>the</strong>m down, both meet<strong>in</strong>g poten<br />
tial converts halfway and establish<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> vernacular literary traditions that were crucial to<br />
evangelization. They <strong>the</strong>n used <strong>the</strong> new vernacular texts to preach tailormade sermons to<br />
51 pagans <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir own languages. Such efforts by missionaries, however, were still probably<br />
simply pragmatic measures taken to break down pagan cultural resistance – <strong>the</strong>re is almost<br />
no evidence of fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> Germanic languages or cultures <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> frequent written<br />
52<br />
communication between missionaries and <strong>the</strong>ir bases.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> conversion of cont<strong>in</strong>ental Europe, <strong>the</strong> most successful evangelism efforts were<br />
led by <strong>the</strong> Franciscan and Dom<strong>in</strong>ican orders <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> East, precisely because <strong>the</strong>y worked<br />
through foreign vernaculars and local knowledge. In <strong>the</strong> account of a 13thcentury Syraic<br />
chronicler, <strong>the</strong> “welltra<strong>in</strong>ed and multil<strong>in</strong>gual” Dom<strong>in</strong>icans offered to mediate heated local<br />
53 disputes, imply<strong>in</strong>g good knowledge of at least Arabic and Greek. Yet Lat<strong>in</strong> Christians were<br />
always uncomfortable with native Christians <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Levant because of cultural differences.<br />
The Syrian Orthodox, for example, were of <strong>the</strong> same church as Lat<strong>in</strong> Christians but “were<br />
despised because <strong>the</strong>ir religious customs did not appear to derive from <strong>the</strong> same root as <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
49Many examples of this practice <strong>in</strong> Bed e.<br />
50Penzl (1984), p. 393.<br />
51Bäuml (1997).<br />
52Sullivan (1953). Sample communication with missionaries <strong>in</strong> Boniface.<br />
53Weltecke (2003), p. 68.<br />
17
ethnicity.” 54 They spoke Arabic natively and used Greek <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir liturgy, two ties to foes of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Roman church. In <strong>the</strong> 1220s, <strong>the</strong> French chronicler Jacques de Vitry describes Syrians<br />
as<br />
55<br />
...for <strong>the</strong> most part untrustworthy, duplicitous, and like <strong>the</strong> Greeks, as cunn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
as foxes... For trifl<strong>in</strong>g sums of money <strong>the</strong>y betray <strong>the</strong> secrets of <strong>the</strong> Christians<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Muslims, among whom <strong>the</strong>y have been brought up, whose language <strong>the</strong>y<br />
speak, and whose perverse customs <strong>the</strong>y mostly imitate.<br />
Missionary efforts beyond Western Europe were always hampered by such discomfort with<br />
<strong>the</strong> idea of <strong>the</strong> religious use of languages o<strong>the</strong>r than Lat<strong>in</strong>. Roman clergy were uncomfortably<br />
aware of Greek, Armenian, and Coptic Christianity, all rival churches us<strong>in</strong>g nonLat<strong>in</strong> lan<br />
guages more or less spoken by parishioners. Lat<strong>in</strong> use was one of <strong>the</strong> most important def<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />
features of <strong>the</strong> Catholic church, but complicated efforts to learn and preach <strong>in</strong> vernaculars.<br />
Summ<strong>in</strong>g Up<br />
<strong>Foreign</strong> languages <strong>in</strong> Western Europe prior to 1300 were consistently used for pragmatism or<br />
power. Scholars and <strong>the</strong>ologians <strong>in</strong> this period worked under <strong>the</strong> sign of Lat<strong>in</strong> and <strong>the</strong> search<br />
for <strong>the</strong> div<strong>in</strong>e Word. It seems fair to say that <strong>the</strong> role of foreign languages <strong>in</strong> this period<br />
is best illustrated <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> lack of scholarly <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> Greek, Arabic, or even classical Lat<strong>in</strong><br />
scholarship. Learn<strong>in</strong>g Greek or Arabic would have been difficult, but almost no scholars<br />
54 Joyischky (2003), p. 10.<br />
55 Quoted <strong>in</strong> Jotischky (2003), p. 10.<br />
18
seriously tried, and <strong>the</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic resources available <strong>in</strong> thirteenthcentury Italy were around<br />
much earlier. Most sights were on Lat<strong>in</strong> grammar and <strong>the</strong>ology – <strong>the</strong> efforts spent on<br />
understand<strong>in</strong>g Priscian and Donatus could have started <strong>the</strong> Renaissance at any po<strong>in</strong>t if so<br />
directed.<br />
Ma<strong>in</strong>stream scholars simply did not care to look <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> directions that would eventually<br />
energize Europe’s rise to world dom<strong>in</strong>ance. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than begrudge medieval Europeans, <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
worldview can be taken as a normal rem<strong>in</strong>der of how much local culture matters to historical<br />
change. European scholars did not rediscover ancient knowledge on <strong>the</strong>ir doorstep for <strong>the</strong><br />
same reason <strong>the</strong>ir Ch<strong>in</strong>ese counterparts did not harness steam eng<strong>in</strong>es for power – <strong>the</strong>y had<br />
no reason to. The transmission of Arabic and Greek learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to Lat<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 13th and<br />
14th century was largely due to a small number of multil<strong>in</strong>gual people liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> cultural<br />
56 borderlands such as Spa<strong>in</strong> and Sicily. Had Europe been more geographically isolated,<br />
perhaps <strong>the</strong> Renaissance would have happened somewhere else.<br />
56 L<strong>in</strong>dberg (1978).<br />
19
2004<br />
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W.J. Aerts. “A Byzant<strong>in</strong>e Traveler to One of <strong>the</strong> Crusader States.” Ciggaar and Teule,<br />
165222.<br />
Bede. A History of <strong>the</strong> English Church and People. Tr. Leo SherleyPrice. Har<br />
mondsworth, <strong>Middle</strong>sex: Pengu<strong>in</strong> Books, 1983.<br />
St. Boniface. The Correspondence of St. Boniface. Tr. C.H. Talbot. The AngloSaxon<br />
Missionaires <strong>in</strong> Germany... Londong: Sheed and Ward, 1954. In Halsall,<br />
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E<strong>in</strong>hard. “The Life of Charlemagne.” Charlemagne’s Courtier: The Complete E<strong>in</strong>hard.<br />
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Le Guide du Péler<strong>in</strong> de Sa<strong>in</strong>tJacques de Compostel le. Tr. Jeanne Viellard. Paris:<br />
Librarie Philosophique J. Br<strong>in</strong>, 1984 [12th century, various manuscripts].<br />
Paul Halsall. Intenet Medieval Sourcebook. 9 Nov. 1999. Fordham University. 9 Dec.<br />
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Liudprand of Cremona. Report of his Mission to Constant<strong>in</strong>ople. Tr. Ernest Hender<br />
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