This work answers the question, how the Anglo-Saxons taught and learned Latin.
The topic of how the Anglo-Saxons taught and learned Latin plays an important role in Anglo-Saxon history and was, and still is, investigated by quite a few historians and historical linguistics such as Patrizia Lendinara, Olga Timofeeva and Andy Orchard.
However, the knowledge about the Anglo-Saxons’ teaching and learning methods regarding Latin is not only of relevance from a historical perspective but also in the fields of contemporary theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics and education studies. That is because the understanding of how the Anglo-Saxons learned and taught Latin allows us to draw parallels between the language that we call ‘English’ today and its connection to Latin, as well as shedding light on power relationships between languages constructed by society and the development of foreign language learning in educational settings.
In order to answer the given question, an awareness of the historical background, in particular, of how and when both the Latin language and the Anglo-Saxon tribes arrived in Britain, is vital.
How did the Anglo-Saxons teach and learn Latin?
The topic of how the Anglo-Saxons taught and learnt Latin plays an important role in AngloSaxon history and was, and still is, investigated by quite a few historians and historical linguistics such as Patrizia Lendinara, Olga Timofeeva and Andy Orchard. However, the knowledge about the Anglo-Saxons’ teaching and learning methods regarding Latin is not only of relevance from a historical perspective but also in the fields of contemporary theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics and education studies. That is because the understanding of how the Anglo-Saxons learnt and taught Latin allows us to draw parallels between the language that we call ‘English’ today and its connection to Latin as well as shedding light on power relationships between languages constructed by society and the development of foreign language learning in educational settings. In order to answer the given question, an awareness of the historical background, in particular, of how and when both the Latin language and the Anglo-Saxon tribes arrived in Britain, is vital.
The Latin language was introduced in Britain with the Romans’ conquest in 43 AD under Emperor Claudius (Price, 1984). Roman Britain covered almost all of England, Wales and, for a short time span, the South of Scotland. During the centuries of Roman rule, Brittonic, a Celtic language which was the indigenous language of Britain that time, remained in use alongside Latin. However, in the early Middle Ages, distinctive regional forms such as Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Cumbric and Pictish developed from the Brittonic language (Smith, 2005). As Latin was “[...] the language of law, government, business and cultured life [...]” (Frere, 1978), it can be assumed that it was known by the highly educated Roman Britain population, while Brittonic was rather used in the “[...] intimate family circle and [in the] intercourse with the lower orders” (Frere, 1978). The use of Latin as a ‘high language’ and Brittonic as a Tow language’ shows both that there was a situation of ‘diglossia’ and that Latin had a widespread use as a primarily written language. Due to insufficient evidence, however, “[...] the extent to which Latin was spoken, [...], [is] far from clear” (Price, 1984) and therefore, remains a highly debated matter. In terms of religion, the Britains were generally polytheistic with Christianity existing alongside, nevertheless, it is unclear when exactly Christianity was introduced in Roman Britain. As by 401 AD, part of the Roman British army was send to fight against the Goths invading Italy, it resulted in Roman Britain no longer being able to defend itself against expanding Germanic tribes. Therefore, by the year 410 AD, “Rome no longer exercised any control in Britain” (Price, 1984). Nevertheless, Latin may have continued in use the years of Post-Roman Britain but slowly may have declined (Price, 1984).
From 450 AD on, groups of Germanic tribes, namely the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons, coming from the areas we now call Denmark, North Friesland and Schleswig-Holstein, invaded what is now known as England. These tribes, did not know the Latin language neither were they Christians. They spoke different Germanic dialects, collectively known as Old English and their polytheistic beliefs and religious practices arc known as ’Anglo-Saxon paganism’. Christians in Anglo-Saxon England used the Latin term ‘pagan’ to describe non-Christians. The process of changing the language and culture from Romano-British to Germanic, also known as the ‘AngloSaxon settlement of Britain’, occurred from the mid-fifth century to the early seventh century. From the beginning of the ‘Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain’ until the early 10th century, there were seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, also known as the Heptarchy, with each of the kingdoms having been ruled by another king. Nevertheless, the Heptarchy cannot be seen as seven stable kingdoms. In fact, the number of kingdoms fluctuated constantly as the kings fought for supremacy. It was during the time in which the Heptarchy existed, the time of the early Middle Ages “[...] that Latin first emerged as an international mandarin language throughout most of
[...]
- Citar trabajo
- Marie-Louise Meiser (Autor), 2018, How did the Anglo-Saxons teach and learn Latin?, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1187661
-
¡Carge sus propios textos! Gane dinero y un iPhone X. -
¡Carge sus propios textos! Gane dinero y un iPhone X. -
¡Carge sus propios textos! Gane dinero y un iPhone X. -
¡Carge sus propios textos! Gane dinero y un iPhone X. -
¡Carge sus propios textos! Gane dinero y un iPhone X.