The Uses of Literacy in Early Mediaeval Europe [Paperback]

This book investigates the importance of literacy in early medieval Europe in a number of different societies between c. 400 and c. 1000.Literacy's importance in early medieval Europe is examined in the context of the significance, implications and consequences for Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, Visigothic and Umayyad Spain, Papal Rome, and Byzantium, between c. 400 and c. 1000.Literacy's importance in early medieval Europe is examined in the context of the significance, implications and consequences for Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, Visigothic and Umayyad Spain, Papal Rome, and Byzantium, between c. 400 and c. 1000.The book investigates the ways in which literacy was important in early medieval Europe, and examines the context of literacy, its uses, levels, and distribution, in a number of different early medieval societies, including Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, Visigothic and Umayyad Spain, Papal Rome, and Byzantium, between c. 400 and c. 1000. The contributors set out to provide the factual basis for assessments of the significance of literacy in the early medieval world and analyze the significance of literacy, its implications, and its consequences for the various societies. In all cases, the studies represent new research and provide fascinating insights into the attitudes of early medieval societies toward the written word.List of illustrations; Contributors; Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction Rosamond McKitterick; 1. Literacy in Ireland: the evidence of the Patrick dossier in the Book of Armagh Jane Stevenson; 2. Anglo-Saxon lay society and the written word Susan Kelly; 3. Administration, law and culture in Merovingian Gaul Ian Wood; 4. Literacy and the papal government in late antiquity and the early middle ages Thomas F. X. Noble; 5. Literacy and the laity in early mediaeval Spain Roger Collins; 6. Aspects of mediaeval Jewish literacy Stefan C. Reif; 7. Writing in early mediaeval Byzantium Margaret Mullet; 8. Literacy displayed: the use of inscriptionslã$