Customer Reviews

Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide

5 star:		(4)
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I received my copy just a few days ago, and I feel confident in allocating five stars simply from my impressions so far. Don't be put off by "Bibliographical Guide" in the title: while it meets that description admirably, it really does serve as a comprehensive survey and introduction to the field. The general linguistic material is most enlightening, and judiciously put together. The very many concise treatments of particular genres and literatures are invaluable. Overall, this appears to be the most useful adjunct to any study of Medieval Latin through the available primers (Harrington, Sidwell, and the rest). It takes things further in just the right ways, I find.

I read this book when I was on holiday and couldn't put it down. The scope of the book is huge taking you not only through medieval language use and literature but also deep into medieval life. Copious examples of medieval letters and writings bring the "dark ages" back to life in a vivid and fascinating way. The book is ideal for anyone who is interested in Medieval Latin or society and everyday life back then.
If you want to read firsthand medieval Latin texts I recommend Liber Kalilae et Dimnae: & Liber Septem Sapientium (Latin Edition), De Expugnatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum (Latin Edition), Gesta Romanorum (Latin Edition) and Historia Regni Henrici Septimi Regis Angliae (Latin Edition).

Useful information of sources and published materials on Medieval Latin. It's the best study guide of that subject, I've used.

Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide [Paperback] F. A. Mantello (Editor), A. G. Rigg (Editor). This is a massive wonderful rich book carefully composed by well-known international Latinists. It did not contain texts of mediaeval Latin though . It just fully describes the many areas and interesting research available for mediaevalist willing to study the many faces of the Latin language after the year 200 of our Christian Era. As Latin texts can now be easily obtained in internet, the lack of samples of mediaeval Latin does not reduce the extreme importance of this book for latin studies in general. The bibliographies are extensive thoughful and very surprising. We can well regret that the articles could not be longer for the lack of space and multitude of topics.