Letter collections in the Latin West
Letter collections in the Latin West
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries are generally recognized as the Golden Age of epistolography in the Latin West. During this period, the art of composing elegant letters was highly prized and could serve as the foundation for a successful career in the church. After a brief summary of the development of letter-writing from Antiquity to the twelfth century, this chapter introduces a range of different epistolographers from the Golden Age and describes their collections, placing each in the context of the writer’s career and circumstances. Stress is laid on the great diversity of the genre, both in terms of subject matter and of stylistic ambition. A brief outline is also given of developments to the genre during the Later Middle Ages. In conclusion a number of future tasks are identified, especially the need for modern editions and for comparative studies between collections taking into account the circumstances of their composition.
92-122
Wahlgren-Smith, Lena
fb73438f-1e7c-420b-8b80-8c3d080fc16f
2020
Wahlgren-Smith, Lena
fb73438f-1e7c-420b-8b80-8c3d080fc16f
Wahlgren-Smith, Lena
(2020)
Letter collections in the Latin West.
In,
Riehle, Alexander
(ed.)
A Companion to Byzantine Epistolography.
Leiden/Boston.
Brill, .
(doi:10.1163/9789004424616_005).
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Abstract
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries are generally recognized as the Golden Age of epistolography in the Latin West. During this period, the art of composing elegant letters was highly prized and could serve as the foundation for a successful career in the church. After a brief summary of the development of letter-writing from Antiquity to the twelfth century, this chapter introduces a range of different epistolographers from the Golden Age and describes their collections, placing each in the context of the writer’s career and circumstances. Stress is laid on the great diversity of the genre, both in terms of subject matter and of stylistic ambition. A brief outline is also given of developments to the genre during the Later Middle Ages. In conclusion a number of future tasks are identified, especially the need for modern editions and for comparative studies between collections taking into account the circumstances of their composition.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 25 June 2020
Published date: 2020
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Local EPrints ID: 442072
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/442072
PURE UUID: 1fba8517-6f1b-407b-a333-e16a6854bef4
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Date deposited: 06 Jul 2020 16:37
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 08:24
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Editor:
Alexander Riehle
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