Overview

No legacy from antiquity to the Latin Middle Ages was more pervasive, or more enduring, than that of grammar and rhetoric. Cicero's son would have felt at home in a Tudor schoolroom, and the classical curriculum is readily recognizable in that of the Tudor schoolroom. And yet, grammatical and rhetorical theory and practice did change during those 1500 years, in ways that continue to demand, and richly reward, investigation. The twelve essays in this book contribute to the rapidly growing body of knowledge about the teaching and uses of grammar and rhetoric in the Latin West from late antiquity to the dawn of a new era in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Since grammar and rhetoric dominated (indeed, almost monopolized) schooling from Cicero's Rome until the twelfth-century revival of Roman law and the rise of universities, clearly a collection of essay examining aspects of these two subjects will, by definition, enrich the larger history of education as well. This transitional period of profound cultural change throughout the former Roman Empire-including the spread of Christianity, the decline of public schools, and the influx of non-Latin-speaking peoples-rewards a diachronic focus on delimited, sharply focused topics. Each author considers such questions as: How did medieval teachers and writers interpret or ""repurpose"" grammatical and rhetorical texts they inherited from antiquity? What innovations, what new attitudes, did they bring to the task of teaching these two foundational subjects? The book should appeal to students and teachers of classics and late antiquity, rhetoric, the history of education, monasticism, and medieval studies in general.

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9780826457080

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<p>. ..consisting of collected essays on the traditions of grammar and rhetoric in the Latin Middle Ages, will be important resources and reference works for many years to come.... offer a feast of learning and insights into medieval grammar and rhetoric, and indeed the Medieval Latin tradition itself... made up of studies that are valuable additions to an extremely wide range of Medieval Latin subjects, and also include essays that will be highly useful for scholars primarily interested in medieval vernacular literatures. The editors... and the authors of the essays contained in these volumes deserve the highest commendation. - Terence O. Tunberg, The Journal of Medieval Latin, Vol. 15 2005

This is the book that I will be recommending to friends who want to know what's happening in the world of grammar and rhetoric studies. -The Medieval Review, March 2004 review by Carin Ruff . ..consisting of collected essays on the traditions of grammar and rhetoric in the Latin Middle Ages, will be important resources and reference works for many years to come.... offer a feast of learning and insights into medieval grammar and rhetoric, and indeed the Medieval Latin tradition itself... made up of studies that are valuable additions to an extremely wide range of Medieval Latin subjects, and also include essays that will be highly useful for scholars primarily interested in medieval vernacular literatures. The editors... and the authors of the essays contained in these volumes deserve the highest commendation. - Terence O. Tunberg, The Journal of Medieval Latin, Vol. 15 2005

Author Information

Carol Dana Lanham, an independent scholar and Research Associate of the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

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