From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
- See medieval vernacular literature, bestiary, speculum literature, manuscript culture, Medieval and Renaissance bestsellers
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (encompassing the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of the Florentine Renaissance in the late 15th century). The literature of this time was composed of religious writings as well as secular works. Just as in modern literature, it is a complex and rich field of study, from the utterly sacred to the exuberantly profane, touching all points in-between. Because of the wide range of time and place it is difficult to speak in general terms without oversimplification, and thus the literature is best characterized by its place of origin and/or language, as well as its genre.
A notable amount of medieval literature is anonymous. This is not only due to the lack of documents from a period, but also due to an interpretation of the author's role that differs considerably from the romantic interpretation of the term in use today. Medieval authors were often overawed by the classical writers and the Church Fathers and tended to re-tell and embellish stories they had heard or read rather than invent new stories. And even when they did, they often claimed to be handing down something from an auctor instead. From this point of view, the names of the individual authors seemed much less important, and therefore many important works were never attributed to any specific person.
In the Early Middle Ages, examples of satire were the songs by goliards or vagants now best known as an anthology called Carmina Burana and made famous as texts of a composition by the 20th century composer Carl Orff. Satirical poetry is believed to have been popular, although little has survived. With the advent of the High Middle Ages and the birth of modern vernacular literature in the 12th century, it began to be used again, most notably by Chaucer. The disrespectful manner was considered "Unchristian" and ignored but for the moral satire, which mocked misbehaviour in Christian terms. Examples are Livre des Manières (~1170), and in some of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The epos was mocked, and even the feudal society, but there was hardly a general interest in the genre.
During Renaissance lived the two major satirists of the Medieval Europe, Giovanni Boccaccio and François Rabelais. Other examples, part of the Renaissance reawakening of Roman literary traditions, were the satires Till Eulenspiegel and Reynard the Fox were published, and also in Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff (1494), Erasmus' Moriae Encomium (1509) and Thomas More's Utopia (1516).
Chivalric romance: In the later medieval and early Renaissance period, there was an important European trend towards fantastic fiction. Works such as Le Morte d'Arthur (1485) and Amadis of Gaul (eC14) spawned a large number of imitators. By 1600, the poor quality of many of the romances had led to them being seen as harmful distractions. Don Quixote is the story of an elderly man driven insane by reading too many romances of chivalry.
While it is true that women in the medieval period were never accorded full equality with men (although some sects, such as the Cathars, afforded women greater status and rights), some women were able to use their skill with the written word to gain renown. Religious writing was the easiest avenue—women who would later be canonized as saints frequently published their reflections, revelations, and prayers. Much of what is known about women in the Middle Ages is known from the works of nuns such as Clare of Assisi, Bridget of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena.
Frequently, however, the religious perspectives of women were held to be unorthodox by those in power, and the mystical visions of such authors as Julian of Norwich and Hildegard of Bingen provide insight into a part of the medieval experience less comfortable for the institutions that ruled Europe at the time. Women wrote influential texts in the secular realm as well—reflections on courtly love and society by Marie de France and Christine de Pizan continue to be studied for their glimpses of medieval society.
The fantastique was virtually defined in the Middle Ages. This was a time when the supernatural was perceived as something to be avoided, but not unbelievable. The old Celtic, Frankish and Germanic myths were translated from religion (implying belief and worship) into popular folklore (implying belief but not worship). At first, the Catholic Church allowed the telling of the stories as stories. As time went by, the people's practice of worship came to be more closely associated with Christian tradition and less with pagan tradition. In many cases, one prominent example being the Arthurian Romances, this practice is reflected in the telling of the stories, which were also purposefully altered to incorporate Christian tradition as time went by.
The root of modern thought about and artistic depiction of many things which are today often termed 'supernatural' (such as angels, demons, fairies, witches, et cetera) has its beginnings in the period often called the Middle Ages. Concepts and characters such as Melusine, Harlequin, Oberon, Morgan Le Fay, et cetera, were first given their definitive shapes at this time.
Significant contributions of the times include:
- The Chansons de geste [Songs of Deed] such as La Chanson de Roland [The Song Of Roland] (c. 1100), Le Roman de Tristan et Iseult [The Novel Of Tristan & Ysolde] (c. 1170), Lancelot, ou Le Chevalier à la Charette [Lancelot, or The Knight With A Cart] (c. 1177) and Perceval, ou le Conte du Graal [Perceval, or The Tale Of The Grail] (c. 1182), both by Chrétien de Troyes.
- Between 1215 and 1235, Robert de Boron, a successor of Chrétien de Troyes, published Histoire du Saint-Graal [The Story Of The Holy Grail], Histoire de Merlin [The Story Of Merlin], Le Livre de Lancelot du Lac [The Book Of Lancelot Of The Lake], La Quête du Saint-Graal [The Quest For The Holy Grail] and La Mort du Roi Arthu [The Death Of King Arthur]. These books formed the basis for all subsequent Arthurian legends, and established the now well known origins of the Holy Grail as the vessel in which Joseph of Arimathea collected the blood of Jesus Christ.
- The Fabliaux, satirical fables which relied on the tradition established by Aesop of using anthropomorphic animals such as Le Roman de Renart, generally attributed to poet Pierre de Saint-Cloud (c. 1175). (By the 14th century, Le Roman de Renart included over 30 books.)
- Medieval poetry which often employed the supernatural as a mean of literary artifice, such as Le Roman de la Rose [The Romance Of The Rose] by Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1230), the ballads of Marie de France (c. 1170), Le Jeu de la Feuillée [The Game Of The Leaves] (c. 1275) by Adam de la Halle, and the anonymous Le Livre de la Fontaine Périlleuse [The Book Of The Perilous Fountain] (c. 1425).
- The religious dramas called Mysteries and Miracles which often took several days to perform, and included spectacular stage effects, such as Le Jeu d'Adam [Play Of Adam]; La Résurrection du Sauveur [Our Savior's Resurrection]; Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas [Play Of Saint Nicolas] by Jean Bodel d'Arras and the monumental Le Mystère de la Passion [Mystery Of The Passion, or Passion Play] by Arnoul Gréban, organist and choirmaster of Notre Dame de Paris.
Secular literature in this period was not produced in equal quantity as religious literature, but much has survived and we possess today a rich corpus. The subject of "courtly love" became important in the 11th century, especially in the Romance languages (in the French, Spanish, Provençal, Galician-Portuguese and Catalan languages, most notably) and Greek, where the traveling singers—troubadours—made a living from their songs. The writings of the troubadours are often associated with unrequited longing, but this is not entirely accurate (see aubade, for instance). In Germany, the Minnesänger continued the tradition of the troubadours.
In addition to epic poems in the Germanic tradition (e.g. Beowulf and Nibelungenlied), epic poems in the tradition of the chanson de geste (e.g. The Song of Roland & Digenis Acritas) which deal with the Matter of France and the Acritic songs respectively, courtly romances in the tradition of the roman courtois which deal with the Matter of Britain and the Matter of Rome achieved great and lasting popularity. The roman courtois is distinguished from the chanson de geste not only by its subject matter, but also by its emphasis on love and chivalry rather than acts of war.
Political poetry was written also, especially towards the end of this period, and the goliardic form saw use by secular writers as well as clerics. Travel literature was highly popular in the Middle Ages, as fantastic accounts of far-off lands (frequently embellished or entirely false) entertained a society that, in most cases, limited people to the area in which they were born. (But note the importance of pilgrimages, especially to Santiago de Compostela, in medieval times, also witnessed by the prominence of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.)
Notable literature of the period
- Alexiad, Anna Comnena
- Digenis Acritas, anonymous Greek author
- Beowulf, anonymous Anglo-Saxon author
- Cantigas de Santa Maria, Galician authors
- David of Sassoun by an anonymous Armenian author
- Cato (Distichs of Cato), Dionysius Cato
- The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pizan
- Book of the Civilized Man, Daniel of Beccles
- The Book of Good Love, Juan Ruiz
- The Book of Margery Kempe, Margery Kempe
- Brut, Layamon
- Brut, Wace
- Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius
- The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
- Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio
- The Dialogue, Catherine of Siena
- The Diseases of Women, Trotula of Salerno
- La divina commedia (The Divine Comedy), Dante Alighieri
- Dukus Horant, the first extended work in Yiddish.
- Elder Edda, various Icelandic authors
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, anonymous English author
- Heimskringla, Snorri Sturluson
- Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("The Ecclesiastical History of the English People"), the Venerable Bede
- Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Francesco Colonna?
- The Knight in the Panther Skin, Shota Rustaveli
- The Lais of Marie de France, Marie de France
- The Letters of Abelard and Heloise
- Das fließende Licht der Gottheit, Mechthild of Magdeburg
- Ludus de Antichristo, anonymous German author
- Mabinogion, various Welsh authors
- Metrical Dindshenchas, Irish onomastic poems
- Le Morte d'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
- Nibelungenlied, anonymous German author
- Njál's saga, anonymous Icelandic author
- Parzival, Wolfram von Eschenbach
- Piers Plowman, William Langland
- Poem of the Cid, anonymous Spanish author
- Proslogium, Anselm of Canterbury
- Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich
- Roman de la Rose, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun
- Scivias, Hildegard of Bingen
- Sic et Non, Abelard
- The Song of Roland, anonymous French author
- Spiritual Exercises, Gertrude the Great
- Summa Theologiae, Thomas Aquinas
- Táin Bó Cúailnge, anonymous Irish author
- The Tale of Igor's Campaign, anonymous Russian author
- Tirant lo Blanc, Joanot Martorell
- Il milione (The Travels of Marco Polo), Marco Polo
- Tristan, Thomas d'Angleterre
- Tristan, Béroul
- Triumphs, Petrarch
- Younger Edda, Snorri Sturluson
- Yvain: The Knight of the Lion, Chrétien de Troyes
- Gesta Danorum, Saxo Grammaticus
By region or language
- Anglo-Norman literature
- Byzantine literature
- Anglo-Saxon literature
- Early English Jewish literature
- Medieval French literature
- Medieval German literature
- Medieval Latin literature
- Old Norse literature
- Pahlavi literature
- Medieval Welsh literature
- Medieval poetry
- Medieval drama
- Medieval allegory
- Medieval travel literature
- Arthurian literature
- Alexander romances
- Chanson de geste
- Eddic poetry
- Skaldic poetry
- Alliterative verse
- Miracle plays
- Morality plays
- Mystery plays
- Passion plays
- Early Medieval literature (6th to 9th centuries)
- 10th century in literature
- 11th century in literature
- 12th century in literature
- 13th century in literature
- 14th century in literature
- Block books
- Antifeminist literature of the Middle Ages
- Farces, sotternies, fabliaux, kluchten, boerdes and contes en vers