11/11/2015

The Four Types Of Works A Medieval Author Would Write

By Mattie Knight


During the medieval times of Europe, many books about their era was written as writing was one of the most respected arts of that time. Of course when one would think of medieval literature, he would probably think about the literature that would stem from Europe during the medieval ages. During that time, there were four main genres that a medieval author would work on namely the theological works, the secular works, the allegories, and the works of women.

During that time, the most popular type of literature that the authors would often work on would be religious works. The reason for this is simply because the church was the biggest entity of influence that the land of Europe. Naturally majority of authors during that time incorporated a lot of religious themes and concepts into their works.

Now if one would read some religious texts, then he would probably find the names of Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, or Anselm of Canterbury. Specifically Saint Thomas Aquinas was known to be the most noteworthy religious writers because not only was he a good writer but he also had a very good understanding of the Bible. He was an extremely intelligent and wise man that had a lot of knowledge when it came to the scriptures.

Now aside from the theological works, there would be the secular books from secular authors. A lot of authors of this particular genre would revolve around some fictional material as well as historical material. Two very famous secular authors that existed during that time were of course John Mallory and John Mandeville.

Now another genre that was extremely popular among the people would be the allegories that were written by poets. If one knows about the famous William Shakespeare, then he should know about Geoffrey Chaucer as well as Chaucer was the predecessor of the very famous William Shakespeare. He was one of the most famous and influential poets of that time.

Now the works of the women were actually put into a separate genre since women were not regarded as equal to men so it was rare to have a woman author during that time. Of course in order for their works to be recognized, they rode along with the most popular type of genre which was theological works. They used this medium so that they could spread their ideas.

Now if one would look at some of the most notable authors of that time, he would probably see Julian of Norwich at the top of the list. She was actually the very first woman to have published a book in the whole of England. What made her works pretty interesting was that they were based on visions she had when she was having a terminal illness.

So basically, those are some of the things that one should know about the medieval literature and its authors. As one can see, works from this time period were very influential to the modern day literature. Many modern day works were actually influenced by works from this time period.




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