Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographic Guide ed. by F.A.C. Mantello and A.G. Rigg (review)

HUMANITIES 175 F.A.C. Mantello and A.G. Rigg, editors. Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographic Guide Catholic University of America Press. xiv, 774. us $39.95 paper Martin McGuire's original Introduction to Medieval Latin Studies (1964) and its revision by Hennigild Dressler (1977) have guided generations of students and scholars through the bewilderingly rich terrain of medieval Latin and its literatur~s. Helpful as they were, the successor volume brought to press by Frank Mantello and George Rigg - a pillar of Latinity at Toronto's Centre for MedievalStudies - marks a quantum leap in scope, content, and outlook. With some eighty contributions by leading specialists, the new Medieval Latin surveys our linguistic and terminological understanding of things from architecture to zoology, and points out fresh opportunities for research. Ifsome stones are turned more ably than others, virtually none on Latin's long march from ca AD 200 to ca AD 1500 is left untouched. This handbook unlocks the rich peculiarities and relevance of medieval Europe's common language, and makes for Wlexpectedly compelling reading. Following useful preliminary rosters of basic tools and references, the editors arrange the essays, eachwithits own appendedbibliography, under two broad categories: language and literature. Language is first considered in terms of basic innovations vis-a.-vis classical standards. The opening chapters by George Rigg on its appearance, fonn, and structure define medieval Latin as the continuation, under Christian and other influences, of the learned and taught Latin of the classical period. Medieval Latin departs from the habits of Cicero (d 43 Be), but elaborates conventions known from the Latin Vulgate-Bible (ca AD 400) and classic Christian authors such as Augustine (d AD 430). The object here is to chart, with examples and analysis, the extension and adaptation of the literate tongue learned at school, not the development of Romance vernaculars from rustic Latin speech. The practitioners of this Latin-as-a-second-Ianguage deployed it with remarkable suppleness and ingenuity. The Mjddle Ages came to know many sorts of Latin. Topical essays present the internal impulses and outside forces that shaped these distinctive latinities, be they poetry, or prose, or some idiomatic subtype. Vocabulary and modes of expression varied from pursuit to pursuit, from art to warfare. Fleshing out the meanings and lessons of jargon makes excellent reading. Richard Sharpe's essays on the Latin of charters and everyday life are fine cultural exposes and show the rewards to be had from scouring archives and printed sources with an eye to words. Starting from vocabulary, Brigitte BedosRezak likewise mounts a masterly account ofmedieval secular adrn.inistration in its wondrous variety. Though sparse in comparison, the Latin of 176 LETTERS IN CANADA 1996 medieval textiles allows John Munro to conjure up a world of trading and technological advance. All ofthis, and much else, is fresh and inviting, and where we seek more, the guidance is superb. The treatment of literature and its gerues starts with the volume's longest essay. Jan Ziolkowski offers an eloquent conspectus of the limits and possibilities of moving 'Towards a History of Medieval Latin Literature .' He threads deftly between the Scylla of towering challenges (linguistic, editorial, and interpretive) and the Charybdis of pat solutions. We see the looming coast, the forest, the trees, and even a few Englishlanguage beasts made to show their medieval spots: for instance, our word 'glamour,' a Scottish derivative of the mystique-laden grammar (grammatica ) of medieval schoolmen; or 'modern,' a term coined at the dawn of the Middle Ages and eventuallyused to distinguish the medieval 'today' (modo hodiernus) from classicalantiquity. Judicious examples indicate the riclmess, rewards, and importance to us of the medieval Latin legacy. The ar~ay of methods suggestedby the sources, their authors, and their audiences charts a course for navigating uneven textual editions and often contradictory, though well-informed, scholarly opinion. 'What [is] described [or rather, prescribed] is a philologically grounded eclecticism,' the hallmark of medieval studies at their best. Ziolkowski's essay is a fine and thought-provoking start to the genrebased survey of literature. The editors have gone beyond the usual categories to include 'new' literary types, such as pastoral handbooks, and even an entire section on translations into...