Latin, or, The empire of a sign : from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries

A highly original and accessible history of Latin between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries that explores how Latin came to dominate the civic and sacred worlds of Europe and, arguably, the entire western world. For almost three centuries, Latin dominated the civic and sacred worlds of Europe and, arguably, the entire western world. From the moment in the sixteenth century when it was adopted by the Humanists as the official language for schools and by the Catholic Church as the common liturgical language, it was the way in which millions of children were taught, people prayed to God, and scholars were educated.Francoise Waquet's history of Latin between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries is a highly original and accessible exploration of the institutional contexts in which the language was adopted. It goes on to consider what this conferring of power and influence on Latin meant in practice. Among the questions Waquet investigates are: What privileges were, and are still, accorded to those who claim to have studied Latin? Can Latin as a subject for study be anything more than purely linguistic or does it reveal a far more complex heritage? Has Latin's deeply embedded cultural legacy already given way to a nostalgic exoticism?Latin: A Symbol's Empire is a valuable work of reference, but also an important piece of cultural history: the story of a language that became a symbol with its own, highly significant empire. Latin or the empire of a sign Front matter Contents Introduction Part I “The European Sign” 1 “Latin Country”: School 2 The “Latin Stronghold”: the Church 3 Latin Scholarship 4 A Familiar World Part II Standards and Ability Introduction 5 Written Latin 6 Oral Latin Part III What Latin Meant Introduction 7 Making the Man 8 “Class” 9 The Power to Say and to Conceal 10 Yearning for the Universal Conclusion Select Bibliography Notes Index A history of Latin between the 16th and 20th centuries, exploring the institutional contexts in which the language was adopted and transmitted, as well as the privilege it came to confer on those that studied it. This is a work of reference, but it is also a cultural history.