ANGLO-SAXON SECULAR LEARNING AND THE VERNACULAR: AN OVERVIEW.
For some Anglo-Saxonists, Old English literature is one of the finest achievements of the pre-conquest period. For others, particularly some Anglo-Latinists, it is evidence of a deplorable ignorance of Latin, which isolated England from the West European intellectual mainstream and the cultural heri...
| Publicado en: | Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Älteren Germanistik Vol. 69; pp. 1 - 44 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Brill Academic Publishers
2012
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=86876223&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 86876223 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01657305 B0HL jtl: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Älteren Germanistik issn: 01657305 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2012 vid: 69 pid: 639 pub: Brill Academic Publishers artinfo: ui: 86876223 10.1163/9789401208192_002 ppf: 1 ppct: 43 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 634KB tig: atl: ANGLO-SAXON SECULAR LEARNING AND THE VERNACULAR: AN OVERVIEW. aug: au: Hollis, Stephanie su: Anglo-Saxon civilization Native language Secularism Old English literature Hohler, Christopher Medieval medicine Benedictine movement (Anglican Communion) Latin manuscripts sug: subj: Anglo-Saxon civilization Native language Secularism Old English literature Hohler, Christopher Medieval medicine Benedictine movement (Anglican Communion) Latin manuscripts ab: For some Anglo-Saxonists, Old English literature is one of the finest achievements of the pre-conquest period. For others, particularly some Anglo-Latinists, it is evidence of a deplorable ignorance of Latin, which isolated England from the West European intellectual mainstream and the cultural heritage of the ancient world until the Normans arrived. In this overview, I am therefore surveying the use of the vernacular for ‘scientific’ or ‘secular’ subjects (primarily computus and medicine) within the context of Latin literacy and learning, in the hope of modifying the view that use of the vernacular and ignorance of Latin inevitably went hand in hand. Although the attention given here to the Age of Bede may seem disproportionate, my intention is to emphasize that this was indeed a time of Latin literacy and scientific advance, for despite Christopher Hohler’s claim that if Augustine of Canterbury was ‘under any illusions about the Englishman’s natural aptitude for foreign languages’, he must ‘soon have lost them’, Anglo-Saxons were not racially destined to monolingualism (although as insular speakers of a Germanic language they were at a disadvantage in learning Latin). At the same time, however, I want to suggest that the lack of evidence of vernacular prose and a vernacular teaching tradition in the Age of Bede might be an artefact of the low survival of manuscripts from that period. In considering the origins of vernacular medical literature (which appear to have predated the decline of Latin learning in the ninth century), I argue that practical usefulness to specialist physicians rather than ignorance of Latin was the motivating force. In examining the two vernacular computus texts of the Benedictine Reform period (Ælfric’s De temporibus anni and Byrhtferth’s Enchiridion), I am particularly concerned to argue that these works are in the vernacular because they were intended for the edification of parish priests, and that they tell us nothing about the Latin literacy and learning of their authors or the general standard of Latin literacy and learning in Anglo-Saxon monasteries. I also suggest alternative ways of identifying the milieu of Benedictine Reform manuscripts that have been regarded as evidence of a low level of Latin literacy even among monks at reformed monasteries. Finally, I survey the unexpected persistence and vitality of the vernacular medical tradition, particularly arguing against the claim that it was only with the introduction of Latin manuscripts by Normans in the eleventh century that English medicine rejoined the European mainstream. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Älteren Germanistik is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Älteren Germanistik holder: Brill Academic Publishers dt: @attributes: year: 2012 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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