Literacy, reading, and writing in the medieval West
Charles F. Briggs
Over the last quarter century, a plethora of studies on literacy, reading, and writing in medieval Europe have contributed significantly to our understanding society culture. Nevertheless sheer number these their authorship by scholars several different disciplines obscured relationships between studies, common themes differences. This essay seeks survey this literature its background, explicate contributions field history, suggest avenues for future study. It also reveals how approaches developed outside were borrowed adapted medievalists, study Middle Ages has, turn, influenced work ancient modern historians.
Journal of Medieval History