THE 8 MOST FREQUENT THEMES OF MEDIEVAL LITERATURE - HISTORY - 2024

Some of the most common themes of medieval literature are love, knightly adventures, conquests, or religion. Medieval literature is developed in the Middle Ages, which is considered a transitional stage that precedes the Modern Age, located between the ancient Greco-Roman period and the Renaissance.

Many historians record this period as a featureless period of its own, showing a regression from the ancient age in art and culture. However, medieval literature is rich in capturing the religious thought and feeling so deeply rooted at that time.

Medieval writings not only speak of religious themes, but also are given the task of recreating in their words mythical creatures, knights in armor, palaces in exotic places and countless Dantean adventures, which make these books an important part of the time and form a jewel of universal literature.

Topics of medieval literature

Charlemagne and the Pope

Religion

This is the most recurrent theme in medieval literature, since it is responsible for dictating all the norms of behavior, morals and good customs of society.

Theology, the lives of the saints and the interpretations of the sacred scriptures are other common themes.

Philosophical themes protected by religious guidelines are also exposed and works with forbidden themes such as magic, alchemy and astrology appear in parallel.

Love and war

The lyrical genre in the form of prose and poetry do honor to love and the feats of great wars.

These writings were spread orally, by minstrels and singers.

Travel and adventure

Medieval literature has a didactic function and appropriates the story and the fable to transmit the adventures and journeys of heroic characters of that time.

Initially, Latin is used as a language and then it expands, using the languages ​​of each of the places where the stories are popularized.

Spirituality

Many works at this time make reference to spirituality, the search for God and the way to find him through contemplation, prayer, anonymity and the cloister.

At this time many monasteries arose, where they lived in total isolation from society.

Manners and norms of behavior

In the Middle Ages manners were assigned a privileged place in social gatherings.

There were great celebrations in the castles, including banquets that flattered noble and educated knights. Therefore, it was necessary to implement minimum rules of behavior and conduct when eating, dancing, dressing and speaking.

Biography and autobiography

The biographical and autobiographical writings of that time recreated the life, feats, loves, heartbreaks, suffering and human confrontations of the most illustrious characters of the time: kings, monarchs, warriors and religious.

Works of medieval literature were written, transcribed, and preserved in monasteries. It was initially written on goat or ram skins and with ink made from water, charcoal and rubber.

The writers are little recognized, due to the anonymity or the lack of publication of their works.

References

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