Talk:Medieval Latin

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I noticed in the timeline at the bottom of the entry, the notation BC is used. Shouldn't this be updated to BCE? Does anyone else have feelings about this?

We tend to use BC on Wikipedia. You could change it, but the general opinion is, why bother? (You can check the talk page of the Common Era article if you really want to get involved in the debate...) Adam Bishop 00:42, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)


It seems to me that in discussing Medieval Latin, it's quite appropriate to use Anno domini rather than CE, and it follows from that that BC would be used rather than BCE. -- Nunh-huh 00:44, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Vulgate

Shouldn't the Vulgate be put in Late Latin, as per the timeline at the bottom? Rigadoun 22:34, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

I removed it. Rigadoun 15:26, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Well, it was not written in the middle ages, but it had a great effect on Medieval Latin, sort of like the effect of the King James Version on modern English. Adam Bishop 15:32, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changes to the meanings of words

Shouldn't there be some discussion of how the meaning of some Classical Latin words changes in medieval Latin? For example, "miles", originally just meaning "soldier", took on the meaning "knight" in the Middle Ages. I'm not really well-read enough at the moment to add something on that, but I guess it would be helpful if someone could. --Helmold 13:16, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Debate between English and Greek language

I AM looking for information about the debate over the universal language.I was told that Greek language has lost over Englisg language by one vote during the 1800 and something related to George Washington..Can anyone tell me where can I find this in writing.(mickey)209.247.5.219 03:56, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ML=Ecclesastical Latin?

The first paragraph reads:
"Medieval Latin refers to the Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church. It is therefore largely synonymous with Ecclesiastical Latin."

I am unhappy with the last sentence. The Medieval Latin corpus has lots of sources that couldn't be defined as "Ecclesiastical Latin", for instance epic, itineraries, historiography, artes-literature, scientific texts...
Went ahead and changed it. Iblardi 00:00, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

"Medieval Latin shares many similarities, but is not entirely synonymous, with Ecclesiastical Latin."
This is besides the point. Medieval Latin is the Latin that was spoken and/or written in the Middle Ages, whereas ecclesiastical Latin is a form of Latin used in a certain context. It isn't "not entirely synonymous", it's not synonymous with it at all. This is mixing up two entirely different categories. There is no single, homogeneous form of medieval Latin: it extends over a period of a thousand years and there are many differences based on period, region, or cultural background of the author. It would probably be impossible to draw up a comprehensive grammar of medieval Latin, much more than for ecclesiastical Latin.
Compare for instance the Waltharius. This is an example of Medieval Latin literature, yet it is very unlike ecclesiastical Latin. It is a bit like saying that classical Latin has similarities to the language of Cicero. This is wrongly put: Cicero's language is an expression of classical Latin, as is for instance Vergil's Aeneid. Iblardi 08:29, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah...I'm not sure how to express what I mean. I guess I was thinking that a lot of medieval Latin was written by churchmen. Adam Bishop 13:52, 6 March 2007 (UTC)