The Uses of Literacy in Early Mediaeval Europe

The book investigates the ways in which literacy was important in early medieval Europe, and examines the context of literacy, its uses, levels, and distribution, in a number of different early medieval societies, including Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, Visigothic and Umayyad Spain, Papal Rome, and Byzantium, between c. 400 and c. 1000. The contributors set out to provide the factual basis for assessments of the significance of literacy in the early medieval world and analyze the significance of literacy, its implications, and its consequences for the various societies. In all cases, the studies represent new research and provide fascinating insights into the attitudes of early medieval societies toward the written word. Frontmatter List of illustrations (page vii) Contributors (page ix) Preface (page xi) Abbreviations (page xii) Introduction (Rosamond McKitterick, page 1) 1 Literacy in Ireland: the evidence of the Patrick dossier in the Book of Armagh (Jane Stevenson, page 11) 2 Anglo-Saxon lay society and the written word (Susan Kelly, page 36) 3 Administration, law and culture in Merovingian Gaul (Ian Wood, page 63) 4 Literacy and the papal government in late antiquity and the early middle ages (Thomas F. X. Noble, page 82) 5 Literacy and the laity in early mediaeval Spain (Roger Collins, page 109) 6 Aspects of mediaeval Jewish literacy (Stefan C. Reif, page 134) 7 Writing in early mediaeval Byzantium (Margaret Mullett, page 156) 8 Literacy displayed: the use of inscriptions at the monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno in the early ninth century (John Mitchell, page 186) 9 Royal government and the written word in late Anglo-Saxon England (Simon Keynes, page 226) 10 Literacy in Carolingian government (Janet L. Nelson, page 258) 11 Text and image in the Carolingian world (Rosamond McKitterick, page 297) Conclusion (Rosamond McKitterick, page 319) Index (page 334) This book investigates the ways in which literacy was important in early mediaeval Europe, and examines the context of literacy, its uses, levels, and distribution, in a number of different early mediaeval societies between c. 400 and c. 1000. The studies, by leading scholars in the field, set out to provide the factual basis from which assessments of the significance of literacy in the early mediaeval world can be made, as well as analysing the significance of literacy, its implications, and its consequences for the societies in which we observe it. In all cases, the studies represent recent research and bring evidence such as the recent archaeological discoveries at San Vincenzo al Volturno to the subject. They provide fascinating insight into the attitudes of early mediaeval societies towards the written word and the degree to which these attitudes were formed. This period is shown as fundamental for the subsequent uses of literacy in mediaeval and modern Europe The book investigates the ways in which literacy was important in early medieval Europe, and examines the context of literacy, its uses, levels, and distribution, in a number of different early medieval societies, including Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, Visigothic and Umayyad Spain, Papal Rome, and Byzantium, between c. 400 and c. 1000. The contributors set out to provide the factual basis for assessments of the significance of literacy in the early medieval world and analyze the significance of literacy, its implications, and its consequences for the various societies. In all cases, the studies represent new research and provide fascinating insights into the attitudes of early medieval societies toward the written word. -- Amazon.com Edited By Rosamond Mckitterick. Includes Index.