Religious Theological works were the dominant form of literature typically found in libraries during the Middle Ages.
Catholic clerics were the intellectual center of society in the Middle Ages, and it is their literature that was produced in the greatest quantity. Countless
hymns survive from this period (both
liturgical and paraliturgical). The liturgy itself was not in fixed form, and numerous competing missals set out the
mass in varying orders. Religious scholars such as
Anselm of Canterbury,
Thomas Aquinas, and
Pierre Abélard wrote lengthy
theological and
philosophical treatises, often attempting to reconcile the teachings of the Greek and Roman pagan authors with the doctrines of the Church.
Hagiographies, or "lives of the saints", were also frequently written, as an encouragement to the devout and a warning to the wayward. The
Golden Legend of
Jacobus de Voragine reached such popularity that, in its time, it was reportedly read more often than the
Bible.
Francis of Assisi was a prolific poet, and his
Franciscan followers frequently wrote poetry themselves as an expression of their piety.
Dies Irae and
Stabat Mater are two of the most powerful Latin poems on religious subjects.
Goliardic poetry (four-line stanzas of satiric verse) was an art form used by some clerics to express dissent. The only widespread religious writing that was not produced by clerics were the
mystery plays: growing out of simple
tableaux re-enactments of a single Biblical scene, each mystery play became its village's expression of the key events in the
Bible. The text of these plays was often controlled by local
guilds, and performances were held regularly on set feast-days, often lasting all day long and into the night. During the Middle Ages, the
Jewish population of Europe also produced a number of outstanding writers.
Maimonides (born in
Cordoba, Spain) and
Rashi (born in
Troyes,
France) are two of the best-known and most influential of these
Jewish authors.
Secular Secular literature in this period was produced in smaller volume than religious literature. The earliest tales originate from oral traditions: the British
Y Gododdin and
Preiddeu Annwfn, along with the Germanic
Beowulf and . They recount myths or events of the distant past (6th century), with the surviving manuscripts dating from centuries later—
Y Gododdin from the late 13th century,
Preiddu Annwfn from the early 14th century,
Beowulf from , and the from the 13th century. The makers and performers were
bards (British/Welsh) and
scops (Germanic), elite professionals attached to royal or noble courts to praise the heroes of legendary history. Prose tales first emerged in Britain: the intricate
Four Branches of the Mabinogi about princely families, notably anti-war in theme, and the romantic adventure
Culhwch and Olwen. (The
Mabinogi is not the same as the
Mabinogion, a collection of disconnected prose tales, which does, however, include both the
Mabinogi and
Culhwch and Olwen.) These works were compiled from earlier oral tradition . At about the same time a new poetry of "
courtly love" became fashionable in Europe. Traveling singers—
troubadours and
trouvères—made a living from their love songs in
French,
Spanish,
Galician-Portuguese,
Catalan,
Provençal, and
Greek. Germanic culture had its
Minnesänger tradition. The songs of courtly love often express unrequited longing for an ideal woman, but there are also
aubades (dawn farewells by lovers) and humorous ditties. Following the earliest epic poems, prose tales, and romances, more long poems were crafted—the
chansons de geste of the late 11th and early 12th centuries. These extolled conquests, as in
The Song of Roland (part of the
Matter of France) and
Digenis Acritas (one of the
Acritic songs). The rather different
chivalric romance tradition concerns adventures about marvels, love, and chivalry. They tell of the
Matter of Britain and the
Matter of Rome.
Political poetry threads throughout the period from the very early
Armes Prydein (10th-century Britain) to the
goliard rebels of 12th and 13th centuries, who were church trained clerics unable or unwilling to be employed in the church. Travel literature was widely read in the Middle Ages, as fantastic accounts of far-off lands (frequently embellished or entirely false) entertained a society that supported sea voyages and trading along coasts and rivers, as well as
pilgrimages (to
Jerusalem,
Canterbury,
Glastonbury,
St. David's, and
Santiago de Compostela).
Geoffrey Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales, a prime example of the genre, became popular at the end of the 14th century. The most prominent authors of
Jewish secular poetry in the Middle Ages were
Solomon ibn Gabirol and
Yehuda Halevi, both of whom were also renowned religious poets.
Women's literature While it is true that women in the medieval period were never accorded full equality with men, some women were able to use their skill with the written word to gain renown. Religious writing was the easiest avenue—women who would later be canonized as
saints frequently published their reflections, revelations, and prayers. Much of what is known about
women in the Middle Ages is known from the works of
nuns such as
Clare of Assisi,
Bridget of Sweden, and
Catherine of Siena. Frequently, however, the religious views of women were held to be unorthodox by those in power, who were less accepting of those features of medieval life which came to light through the mystical visions of
Julian of Norwich,
Mechthild of Magdeburg, and
Hildegard of Bingen, to name a few. Women wrote influential texts in the secular realm as well—reflections on courtly love and society by
Marie de France and
Christine de Pizan continue to be studied for their accounts of medieval society. Some women were patrons of books and owners of significant book collections. Female book collectors in the fifteenth century included
Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk;
Cecily Neville, Duchess of York; and
Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby. Lady Margaret Beaufort may also have completed translations as a testament to her piety, as Bishop Father John Fisher noted in a sermon dedicated to her after her death. For modern historical reflection, D.H. Green's
Women Readers of the Middle Ages (2007) examines the ways in which medieval women engaged with the literature of the time. The study has been reviewed as "a radical reassessment of women's contribution to medieval literary culture."
Allegory While medieval literature features many
literary devices,
allegory is so prominent in this period as to deserve special mention. Much of medieval literature employed allegory to impart moral lessons, and is thick with allegorical representations of abstract qualities, events, and institutions. Probably the earliest and most influential allegory is the
Psychomachia (
Battle of Souls) by
Aurelius Clemens Prudentius. Other important examples include the
Romance of the Rose,
Everyman,
Piers Plowman, the
Roman de Fauvel, and the
Divine Comedy. == Preservation ==