per-latin-art - 7/17/94 "Things Your Persona Might Have Known I: Latin (impress your friends!)" by Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester. NOTE: See also the files: literacy-msg, Latin-msg, Latin-online-art, languages-msg, p-education-msg, per-literacy-art. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called StefanŐs Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author. While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file. Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: Stefan li Rous stefan@florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Things Your Persona Might Have Known I: Latin (impress your friends!) --Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester Latin was the learned language of the Middle Ages. A good priest should know his Latin, by the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215).; that this was included at all makes it clear that many priests, especially in outlying areas, did not understand the words of the Mass they sang each day. Latin was also the language of the schools, and since one usually entered minor orders (which did not involve celibacy) in the early years of the universities, by the 1300's the word "clerk" (clericus )had come to mean one who had attended university or was otherwise educated and thus knew Latin; hence, the later meaning of "clerk" as "secretary". As late as the 16th century one could claim benefit of clergy (and thus trial under ecclesiastical law, where penalties usually involved penance rather than execution or large fines) by reading a verse of Latin from the Bible, even if one was a great duke or a merchant. How about everyone else? There were certainly a few people besides monks, priests, and bishops who knew Latin: on the Continent, notaries (those who drew up documents such as charters) knew Latin, though they were laymen. Children educated in noble households might also learn some Latin. By 1500, the humanist movement had insured that Latin literacy was beginning to spread out of the ranks of churchmen and into the circles of gentle society. However, there were always a few things that everyone (at least in Christian Europe before the Reformation) knew in Latin. These were the Pater Noster ("Our Father") and the Ave Maria ("Hail Mary") That these were proscribed as penance for all levels of society is ample proof of this. Pater noster qui es in coelis Sanctificetur nomen tuum Adveniat regnum tuum Fiat voluntas tua et in terra sicut in coelo Panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie Et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et dimittemus debitoribus nostris Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen. (Note: This version does not include the last line currently included by Protestants into the Lord's Prayer, which goes "For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory Forever.") Ave Maria, gratia plena Dominus tecum Benidicta tu in mulieribus Et benedictus fructus ventris tui. (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord be with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed be the fruit of your womb). A note on pronunciation: There are no silent vowels in Latin. Most vowels are prononced similarly to those in English. "Coe" is pronouced as "Che". "Tio" is pronounced "tsio". Copyright 1994 by Susan Carroll-Clark, 53 Thorncliffe Park Dr. #611, Toronto, Ontario M4H 1L1 CANADA. Permission granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided author is credited and receives a copy. If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan. Edited by Mark S. Harris per-latin-art