Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Blog 4/5 "Parchment and Paper: Manuscript Culture 1100-1500"

Summary

1)    Based largely on the realization that ideas could be expressed just as effectively and the quality of the work, books began to transition from Latin to the vernacular language of a region. Though, according to Dante, if vernacular literature were to equal Latin then it must be illuminated, and, for legal purposes, it must be consistent enough in spelling and syntax.

2)    Books were not the sole property of monks or friars anymore People were literate enough to write their own personal books in which they could jot down their daily experiences as well their emotions, not just religious matters. Even women could make, write, and publish books (with the right backing of course like Christine de Pisan), but mostly they assisted their husbands.

3)    Primers were once quite popular for teaching children, or anyone, to read. They began by teaching the alphabet, then moved on to more religious texts, on the assumption that that being would be a person of faith. Boys could attend grammar school to better their reading and writing, while girls were restricted to learning what they could at home from their primers. This meant omen could learn to read, but not necessarily to write.

Comment

I did appreciate the subheadings is this chapter, it made the read easier to digest, but I do believe the subheading “Learning to Read” needed to be more towards the beginning. The logical order, whether wealthy or not, is: learn to read, learn to write, then question and expand upon a topic, idea, or theory. Clanchy’s format should have reflected that.


Question


If even the Virgin Mary was depicted learning to read and then later teaching Jesus to read, considering religion was such a prominent presence, why were women not a higher priority to educate than they were?

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