Sunday, November 8, 2015

All About The Medieval Author

By Mattie Knight


During the medieval times of Europe, many books about their era was written as writing was one of the most respected arts of that time. Of course when one would think of medieval literature, he would probably think about the literature that would stem from Europe during the medieval ages. During that time, there were four main genres that a medieval author would work on namely the theological works, the secular works, the allegories, and the works of women.

Of course the first one would be the philosophical or theological works since these types of works were the most popular types of works during that time. Now the church was the single most influential body that existed in the entire region. Now because of this, it was very common for famous authors to incorporate a lot of theological themes into their books.

Now if one would read some religious texts, then he would probably find the names of Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, or Anselm of Canterbury. Specifically Saint Thomas Aquinas was known to be the most noteworthy religious writers because not only was he a good writer but he also had a very good understanding of the Bible. He was an extremely intelligent and wise man that had a lot of knowledge when it came to the scriptures.

Of course it was not only the theological works that were popular but also the secular ones as well. Sir John Mandeville was an example of an author who wrote in the secular genre with his book the Travels of Sir John Mandeville. The themes of most of these works focused on fiction and some focused on history too.

Other than that, there are also many poets that lived during the medieval time period. One extremely influential poet during the late middle ages would be none other than Geoffrey Chaucer and was one of the most important writers before Shakespeare lived. Some of his works would include the Roman de la rose, and the allegorical Book of the Duchess.

Now the works of the women were actually put into a separate genre since women were not regarded as equal to men so it was rare to have a woman author during that time. Of course in order for their works to be recognized, they rode along with the most popular type of genre which was theological works. They used this medium so that they could spread their ideas.

Now if one would look at some of the most notable authors of that time, he would probably see Julian of Norwich at the top of the list. She was actually the very first woman to have published a book in the whole of England. What made her works pretty interesting was that they were based on visions she had when she was having a terminal illness.

So if one is interested in the literature of this time period, then here are some of the things that he may find interest in. Now the authors of those times were actually very influential to the authors of this modern time. In fact a lot of current works have been influenced by the works that were created during this very time period.




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