BOOK: Robert GALLAGHER, Edward ROBERTS and Francesca TINTI (Eds.), The Languages of Early Medieval Charters - Latin, Germanic Vernaculars, and the Written Word (Leiden-New York: Brill, 2020). ISBN 978-90-04-42811-9, 134.00 EUR.

 

(Source: Brill)

Brill is publishing a new book on the interplay between Latin and Germanic vernaculars in early medieval records.

ABOUT THE BOOK

This is the first major study of the interplay between Latin and Germanic vernaculars in early medieval records. Building on previous work on the uses of the written word in the early Middle Ages, which has dispelled the myth that this was an age of ‘orality’, the contributions in this volume bring to the fore the crucial question of language choice in the documentary cultures of early medieval societies. Specifically, they examine the interactions between Latin and Germanic vernaculars in the Anglo-Saxon and eastern Frankish worlds and in neighbouring areas. The chapters are underpinned by an important comparative dimension on account of the two regions’ shared linguistic heritage and numerous cross-Channel links. 

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Robert Gallagher is Lecturer in Early Medieval History at the University of Kent. His primary research focus is the politics and textual cultures of early medieval Britain, with special interests in documentary activity, multilingualism, Latin verse, and manuscript use. 

Edward Roberts is Lecturer in Early Medieval History at the University of Kent. He specializes in the history of Carolingian and Ottonian Europe, with particular interests in historical writing, legal culture, charters, bishops, and institutional change.

 
Francesca Tinti is Ikerbasque Research Professor at the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU. She has published widely on early medieval religious, social, and cultural history, with a special focus on Anglo-Saxon England, its documentary culture, and its relations with the European continent. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations

Notes on Contributors

 

1 Latin and Germanic Vernaculars in Early Medieval Documentary Cultures: Towards a Multidisciplinary Comparative Approach

  Francesca Tinti

 

2 Charters, Languages, and Communication: Recent Work on Early Medieval Literacy

  Rosamond McKitterick

 

3 The Multilingualism of the Early Middle Ages: Evidence from Peripheral Regions of the Regnum orientalium Francorum

  Wolfgang Haubrichs

 

4 Germanic Names, Vernacular Sounds, and Latin Spellings in Early Anglo-Saxon and Alemannic Charters

  Annina Seiler

 

5 Language, Formulae, and Carolingian Reforms: the Case of the Alemannic Charters from St Gall

  Bernhard Zeller

 

6 Signalling Language Choice in Anglo-Saxon and Frankish Charters, c.700–c.900

  Edward Roberts and Francesca Tinti

 

7 The Endorsement Practices of Early Medieval England

  Robert Gallagher and Kate Wiles

 

8 Traces of Bilingualism in Early Medieval Northern Italy: the Evidence from Eighth- and Ninth-Century Private Charters

  Marco Stoffella

 

9 Languages of Boundaries and Boundaries of Language in Cornish Charters

  Charles Insley

 

10 Vernacular Writing in Early Medieval Manorial Administration: Two Tenth-Century Documents from Werden and Essen

  Stefan Esders

 

11 Royal Authority, Regional Integrity: the Function and Use of Anglo-Saxon Writ Formulae

  Albert Fenton

 

12 From Memorandum to Written Record: Function and Formality in Old English Non-Literary Texts

  Kathryn A. Lowe

 

13 Writing, Communication, and Currency: Dialogues between Coinage and Charters in Anglo-Saxon England

  Rory Naismith

 

14 Epilogue

  Janet L. Nelson

 

Index

 

 

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