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IMC 2015: Sessions

Session 601: The Languages of Anglo-Saxon Diplomatics

Tuesday 7 July 2015, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:Francesca Tinti, Departamento de Historia Medieval, Moderna y de América, Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Vitoria-Gasteiz
Moderator/Chair:Charles Insley, John Rylands Research Institute, University of Manchester
Paper 601-aLatin, Old English, and Documentary Practice in the Age of Alfred the Great and Edward the Elder
(Language: English)
Robert Gallagher, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Latin, Language and Literature - Old English, Literacy and Orality
Paper 601-bThe Interplay between Latin and Old English in the Worcester Episcopal Leases
(Language: English)
Francesca Tinti, Departamento de Historia Medieval, Moderna y de América, Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Vitoria-Gasteiz
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Latin, Language and Literature - Old English, Literacy and Orality
Paper 601-cCare in the Community: Translation and Transmission of Charter Material from Bury St Edmunds
(Language: English)
Kathryn A. Lowe, School of Critical Studies (English Language), University of Glasgow
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Old English, Literacy and Orality
Abstract

Anglo-Saxon England represents a unique case within the territories of the former Western Roman Empire because nowhere else documentary culture relied so heavily on both the Latin language and the vernacular. This session aims to explore the profound implication of such linguistic practices. The first paper will examine late 9th and early 10th-century charters as evidence for literacy, regional practices, and the respective contemporary values of the two languages employed. The second paper will focus on the bilingual 10th-century Worcester episcopal leases to identify the social, cultural, and political reasons which may have brought the Worcester scribes to write portions of the texts in English while preferring to use Latin in other sections. The last paper will consider the interesting material which has been preserved through the archive of Bury St Edmunds to explore issues of transmission and translation.