The writings of classical and late Antique authors such as Cicero (d. 44 BC), Ovid (d. c. 18) and Prudentius (d. after 405) continued to be read during the early Middle Ages. Their works were central to the school curriculum, particularly for the study of Latin, and medieval authors often drew on and quoted from them in their own writings.
Produced in France during the first quarter of the 11th century, this book is a collection of material about the poet Virgil (d. 19 BC). It contains all three of his major works – Eclogues, Georgics and the epic Aeneid – as well as extracts from several commentaries on his poems by other classical authors and a Life of the Roman author that describes him as dissertissimi omnium poetarum (the most skilful of all poets). The manuscript opens with a large decorated initial ‘P’, inhabited with birds and beasts and a small portrait of a scribe writing at a desk.
This manuscript was digitised with the support of The Polonsky Foundation.
Cillian O’Hogan offers an introduction to the range of classical works that shaped medieval thought on literature and scientific learning.
Why was Latin so important in the Middle Ages? Cillian O’Hogan examines the development of medieval Latin and how it survived the collapse of the Roman Empire.
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