Learning and Literacy in Medieval England and Abroad

240 Pages·2003·21.54 MB·English

by  Sarah Rees Jones

Learning and Literacy
in Medieval England and Abroad
edited by Sarah Rees Jones

Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy
One of the most important developments in European history
took place in communication. A transition is clearly visible
from illiterate societies to societies in which most members are
active users of the written word. This complex process, which
started in Antiquity, and is still not complete, gained
momentum during the Middle Ages. This series is intended to
provide a forum for publications on the history of non-verbal,
oral and written communication in the Middle Ages. Interest in the subject is now
widespread within the worldwide community of medieval studies; and ever more
scholars are becoming convinced of the potential of studying the tensions between
oral and literate modes of thought.
Learning and Literacy
in Medieval England and Abroad
How did people know what they knew, and learn what they learnt? As Derek
Pearsall’s introduction makes clear this is the primary focus of the collection of essays
published in celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the foundation of the Centre
for Medieval Studies at the University of York.
The learning materials included range from grammar books to mystery plays, and
from court records to monastic chronicles, as well as liturgical and devotional texts.
But the essays are not only concerned with texts alone, but with the broader and
often fluid social environments in which learning took place. Many of the papers
therefore question the validity of some distinctions habitually used in the discussion
of medieval culture, such as the opposition between orality and literacy, between
Latin and the vernacular or between secular and religious.
Cover image taken from the St Ann and the Virgin panel
from All Saints’ Church, North Street, York.
Photo Allan B. Barton
Pionierproject Verschriftelijking,
Universiteit Utrecht
lr %
ISBN 2-SD3-51D7L.-0
9782503510767
Onderzoekinstituut voor
Geschiedenis en Cultum

Learning and Literacy in Medieval England
and Abroad
UTRECHT STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LITERACY
3
UTRECHT STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LITERACY
General Editor
Marco Mostert (University of Utrecht)
Editorial Board
Gerd Althoff (Westfälische-Wilhelms-Universität Münster)
Michael Clanchy (University of London)
Peter Gumbert (University of Leiden)
Mayke de Jong (University of Utrecht)
Rosamond McKitterick (University of Cambridge)
Arpád Orbán (University of Utrecht)
Armando Pétrucci (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa)
Richard H. Rouse (UCLA)
LEARNING AND LITERACY
IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
AND ABROAD
Edited by
Sarah Rees Jones
BREPOLS
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Learning and literacy in Medieval England and abroad. - (Utrecht studies
in medieval literacy ; 3)
1.Literacy - England - History - To 1500 2.Leaming and scholarship -
England - History - Medieval, 500-1500 3.England - Social Ufe and
customes - 1066-1485
I.Rees Jones, Sarah n.Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht
302.2’244’0942’0902
ISBN 2503510760
© 2003 - Brepols Publishers n.v.
Turnhout, Belgium
Printed in the E.U. on acid-free paper
D/2003/0095/22
ISBN 2-503-51076-0
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