Project volume published: The Languages of Early Medieval Charters: Latin, Germanic Vernaculars, and the Written Word

We are delighted to announce the publication of a volume of studies which has just appeared with Brill: The Languages of Early Medieval Charters: Latin, Germanic Vernaculars, and the Written Word. Featuring 14 chapters from 15 contributors, this book represents the first major study of the interplay between Latin and Germanic vernaculars in early medieval records. These studies are the fruits of conference panels held at the Leeds International Medieval Congress and the Kalamazoo International Congress on Medieval Studies, and a cycle of lectures held in Vitoria-Gasteiz at the University of the Basque Country. The book brings together exciting new research from a wide range of scholars, from early career researchers to established leading experts, working on such topics as literacy, historical linguistics, multilingualism, communication, administrative practices, legal cultures and more. Almost five years in the making, this volume represents the primary outcome of our project and we are thrilled that it is now available to readers.

 

Much like our overall project, The Languages of Early Medieval Charters volume seeks to foreground the question of language choice in the documentary practices of early medieval western Europe. Specifically, it examines the interaction between Latin and Germanic vernaculars in the Anglo-Saxon and eastern Frankish worlds and in neighbouring areas. Unlike in Romance-speaking regions, there was a far greater gap between the written word and spoken language in these Germanic-speaking societies, where Latin had to be learned as a second language. This bilingualism has largely been taken for granted, while charters have been neglected in studies of early medieval vernaculars. In fact, multilingual and vernacular documents from Anglo-Saxon England and Carolingian Francia enable us to pose questions about literacy, identity, the relationship between written and oral communication, language choice and code-switching that are not so easily asked of Romance-speaking regions of Europe.

 

This book thus brings together pioneering studies in the hitherto overlooked role of language in the production and use of early medieval records. Chapters examine various different dimensions to this expansive theme. For example, Annina Seiler analyses the orthography of both Anglo-Saxon and Alemannic charters; Bernhard Zeller examines the formulation and language of St Gall charters; Stefan Esders considers vernacular registers from tenth-century Saxony; Charles Insley interrogates the linguistic complexities of Cornish charters; Marco Stoffella traces the appearance of Lombardic in charters from northern Italy; and Rory Naismith brings charters and coinage into dialogue for understanding literacy ‘in action’ in Anglo-Saxon England.

 

Chapters are further underpinned by an important comparative dimension. As Francesca Tinti makes clear in the volume introduction, Anglo-Saxon and Frankish documentary cultures offer a particularly attractive case for comparison on account of the regions’ shared Germanic linguistic heritage and the maintenance of numerous cross-channel links throughout the early Middle Ages. However, these studies show that the written vernacular was invoked in different ways in these lands. In Anglo-Saxon England, Old English played an important role in administrative practice and literary culture from an early date. By contrast, Old High German and Old Saxon, though increasingly attested as ‘literary’ languages in this period, were used sparingly in administrative contexts on the Continent. These divergent linguistic situations have been noted but seldom explored in their own right. Our book moves these issues to centre stage and, in doing so, provides fresh interpretations of well-known sources as well as compelling evaluations of more obscure texts, in order to cast important new light on the relationship between the written and the spoken word in early medieval Europe.

 

The methodological approaches showcased within these chapters demonstrate not only the fundamental importance of charters and related evidence, but also the rich value of comparative approaches to historical enquiry. As such, it is hoped that this volume will become a valuable point of reference for both specialist researchers and students engaged with questions of medieval literacy, multilingualism, communication, and the uses of the written word. These are topics which, over the past thirty years, have been subjected to intense scrutiny and fascination, fundamental as they are to our approaches to the primary sources on which our understanding of past societies is built. The chapters within this volume, furthermore, make important contributions to related social, cultural and political issues such as identity, performance and technology, which are also subjects of vibrant scholarly debate. We are pleased to have found the book a natural home in Brill’s Series on the Early Middle Ages, which has a distinguished history of publishing interdisciplinary works with particular strengths in communication, diplomatics and identity. We would like to thank the editors at Brill for their support, as well as all of our contributors for making this such an exciting, dynamic volume.

 

Finally, we are pleased to say that the book is currently available for purchase with a 25% discount, available until 31 December 2021. Place orders at brill.com quoting discount code 72100.

 

List of Chapters in The Languages of Early Medieval Charters: Latin, Germanic Vernaculars, and the Written Word, ed. Robert Gallagher, Edward Roberts, and Francesca Tinti (Brill: Leiden, 2021):

 

1. Latin and Germanic Vernaculars in Early Medieval Documentary Cultures: Towards a Multidisciplinary Comparative Approach

Francesca Tinti

 

2. Charters, Languages, and Communication: Recent Work on Early Medieval Literacy

Rosamond McKitterick

 

3. The Multilingualism of the Early Middle Ages: Evidence from Peripheral Regions of the Regnum orientalium Francorum

Wolfgang Haubrichs

 

4. Germanic Names, Vernacular Sounds, and Latin Spellings in Early Anglo-Saxon and Alemannic Charters

Annina Seiler

 

5. Language, Formulae, and Carolingian Reforms: The Case of the Alemannic Charters from St Gall

Bernhard Zeller

 

6. Signalling Language Choice in Anglo-Saxon and Frankish Charters, c.700-c.900

Edward Roberts and Francesca Tinti

 

7. The Endorsement Practices of Early Medieval England

Robert Gallagher and Kate Wiles

 

8. Traces of Bilingualism in Early Medieval Northern Italy: The Evidence from Eighth- and Ninth-Century Private Charters

Marco Stoffella

 

9. Languages of Boundaries and Boundaries of Language in Cornish Charters

Charles Insley

 

10. Vernacular Writing in Early Medieval Manorial Administration: Two Tenth-Century Registers from Werden and Essen

Stefan Esders

 

11. Royal Authority, Regional Integrity: The Function and Use of Anglo-Saxon Writ Formulae

Albert Fenton

 

12. From Memorandum to Written Record: Function and Formality in Old English Non-Literary Texts

Kathryn A. Lowe

 

13. Writing, Communication, and Currency: Dialogues between Coinage and Charters in Anglo-Saxon England

Rory Naismith

 

14. Epilogue

Janet L. Nelson