Book contents
- Frontmatter
- 1 From Vindolanda to Domesday: the book in Britain from the Romans to the Normans
- PART I THE MAKING OF BOOKS
- PART II THE CIRCULATION OF BOOKS
- PART III TYPES OF BOOKS AND THEIR USES
- PART IV COLLECTIONS OF BOOKS
- 27 Patrick, apostle of the Irish
- 28 The library of Iona at the time of Adomnán
- 29 Literacy in Anglo-Saxon England
- 30 Aldhelm’s library
- 31 The library of the Venerable Bede
- 32 The library of Alcuin’s York
- 33 The library of Cynewulf
- 34 King Alfred and his circle
- 35 Ælfric’s library
- 36 The library of Byrhtferth
- 37 The library of Wulfstan of York
- 38 Rhygyfarch ap Sulien and Ieuan ap Sulien
- PART V CODA
- Bibliography
- Concordance of named manuscripts
- Index of manuscripts
- General Index
- Plate 4.1: The Lindisfarne Gospels"
- Plate 5.1: The Lichfield/St Chad Gospels"
29 - Literacy in Anglo-Saxon England
from PART IV - COLLECTIONS OF BOOKS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- 1 From Vindolanda to Domesday: the book in Britain from the Romans to the Normans
- PART I THE MAKING OF BOOKS
- PART II THE CIRCULATION OF BOOKS
- PART III TYPES OF BOOKS AND THEIR USES
- PART IV COLLECTIONS OF BOOKS
- 27 Patrick, apostle of the Irish
- 28 The library of Iona at the time of Adomnán
- 29 Literacy in Anglo-Saxon England
- 30 Aldhelm’s library
- 31 The library of the Venerable Bede
- 32 The library of Alcuin’s York
- 33 The library of Cynewulf
- 34 King Alfred and his circle
- 35 Ælfric’s library
- 36 The library of Byrhtferth
- 37 The library of Wulfstan of York
- 38 Rhygyfarch ap Sulien and Ieuan ap Sulien
- PART V CODA
- Bibliography
- Concordance of named manuscripts
- Index of manuscripts
- General Index
- Plate 4.1: The Lindisfarne Gospels"
- Plate 5.1: The Lichfield/St Chad Gospels"
Summary
In trying to define the extent of literacy in Anglo-Saxon England, we have to face the fact that there is virtually no explicit evidence on the subject from the period; comments on the subject are extremely rare, and the few we have are more rhetorical than informative. We have to try to assess the situation from the evidence of the forms of written text that were produced, who they appear to have been produced for, and how representative various literate or illiterate individuals or groups may have been.
Literacy in Latin
There were two languages in extensive use for writing and reading in England – Latin and English – and it is convenient to distinguish at the outset between literacy in Latin and literacy in English. At the time of the conversion, Latin was an entirely foreign language to the English, who had had relatively little contact with the Roman Empire or with Latin-speaking Britons. The language had to be learned at school, and however much pupils were taught to converse in Latin, especially in monastic schools, it was always primarily a written language in England. Those who could speak Latin or comprehend it when spoken or read aloud could almost certainly read it in a book, and many were no doubt more comfortable with written Latin than the spoken or recited form.
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- The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain , pp. 580 - 590Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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