be the language of the lawyers, because they were educated in the universities and studied the Roman and canon law, which were in Latin.

Scholars despised the vernaculars. Most of the scholars despised the vernaculars and believed that Latin would continue to be the universal language that it was then. Thus Petrarch (1304-1374), the great leader of the Italian Renaissance, was ashamed in his maturer years of the love sonnets which he had written in the Tuscan tongue when he was a young man. On the other hand, he expected that he would win fame among posterity by his Latin works; yet the latter are forgotten except by antiquarians, while his Italian sonnets are still sung by thousands of people. Erasmus (1467-1536), the leader of the German Renaissance, was at home in all countries because of his command of Latin, and deplored the tendency to emphasize the study of vernaculars. Sir Thomas More's "Utopia," considered one of the first and greatest of English prose classics, was published in Latin in 1516 and not translated into English until 1551. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) had his scientific works translated into Latin in order that they might not perish; for, he said, "These modern languages will at one time or another play the bank-route [bankrupt] with books, and since I have lost much time with this age, I would be glad if God would give me leave to recover it with posterity." Speaking of the translation of the "Advancement of Learning" into Latin, he said, "It is a book that will live, and be a citizen of the world, as English books are not." Roger Ascham (1515-1568) was the Latin secretary of Queen Elizabeth. Even as late as 1687 Newton's great scientific work, the "Principia," was published in Latin. These examples indicate the large part played by Latin in scientific and learned literature. The following quotation, while it probably exaggerates the matter, expresses the same general fact concerning the importance of Latin as a practical instrument of communication in the Middle Ages.

The diplomatist, the lawyer, the civil servant, the physician, the naturalist, the philosopher, wrote, read, and, to a large extent, spoke and perhaps thought in Latin. Nor was Latin only the language of the higher professions. A merchant, or the bailiff of a manor, wanted it for his accounts, every town clerk or guild clerk wanted it for his minute book. Columbus had to study in Latin for his voyages; the general had to study tactics in it. The architect, the musician, every one who was neither a mere soldier nor a mere handicraftsman wanted, not a smattering of grammar, but a living acquaintance with the tongue, as a spoken as well as a written language. (9: 105.)

The prominence of Anglo-Latin literature in the period preceding Chaucer is further suggested by Schofield in these words:

No truly significant work of theology, philosophy, history, law or literary criticism or natural science was first composed in either vulgar tongue [French or English]. While the name of no great English poet from the medieval period before Chaucer can be mentioned, the number of Anglo-Latin writers whose names are still worthily conspicuous is so large as to give reason for national pride. (5: 28.)

French used in England after the Conquest (1066). — It will not be necessary to consider the use of French in England at as great length as we have discussed the use of Latin. A short quotation from Schofield will suffice to present some of the salient facts. The French language was spoken by many in England before the arrival of William the Conqueror, but after the Conquest (1066) it became

definitely established in England as the ordinary speech of nearly every one in authority who was naturally disposed to promote or produce literary works. . . . For over two hundred years after the Conquest no king of England spoke English as his mother tongue; for Henry IV (1399– 1413) was perhaps the earliest to use it with native ease. One of the first acts of the Conqueror was to have the laws of his predecessors translated into French, in order to make them intelligible to those whose provisions they were to govern. And French remained the language of the courts up to 1362, when Edward III finally acquiesced in the popular demand, and ordained that English might be used on occasion. In 1363, for the first time, the Chancellor opened Parliament with a speech in English. In 1386 English appeared in petitions, but not before 1450

were they regularly presented in that tongue. Lawsuits were not con ducted in English before the time of Henry III. The laws themselves were formulated in French or in Latin to the end of the fifteenth century. Cromwell did away with French in the courts, but it was restored by Charles; and only since the eighteenth century has the use of English been obligatory. (5: 111. Cf. 14, article entitled the Black Death.)

Thus we see that the two foreign languages, Latin and French, were dominant in the literature and intercourse of the higher classes in England down to the end of the Middle Ages.

Oral transmission of tales and sermons in the vernacular.

In spite of the fact that English was not the language of cultivated people, there had developed by the time of Chaucer (1340-1400) a considerable body of vernacular literature. Part of this was intended for ordinary enjoyment, and consisted largely of romances which related the deeds of Charlemagne and King Arthur. English traditions and Alexandrian and other Greek stories were also included. There were also chronicles such as Layamon's "Brut" (c. 1327); satirical political poems, such as one " On the Evil Times of Edward II"; and songs and lyrics. There were numerous religious works, Bible paraphrases, homilies, legends and lives of saints, collections of sermons, visions, books of edification, proverbs, dialogues, songs, and lyrics. Most of the religious treatises were evidently prepared for the use of parish priests and other relatively uneducated clergy. These inferior clergy were little disturbed by changes in government, and Schofield concludes that

to the common folk religious instruction was given uninterruptedly in the vernacular a fortunate circumstance, for thus the English speech was kept alive amongst them in something like literary form. The clergy had inherited sermons from the Anglo-Saxon collections, and these they modernized and used regularly on the occasions for which they were intended, adding naturally to the store when need came. These sermons were practical and straightforward, suited to everyday needs. They contained many illustrations calculated no doubt to stir the drowsy to interest. (5: 379.)

were as

For the celebrations of saints' days legends took the place of sermons, and for this purpose extensive books of saints' lives were written to be used by the rank and file of the clergy. Many of these legends or religious romances popular as the tales of King Arthur and Charlemagne. English books had to win a place in an occupied field. The general condition of English literature in its relation to Latin and French in the period from the Conquest (1066) to Chaucer is thus expressed by Mr. Pollard.

Books written in English had to fight their way into a field already occupied, and it is clear that until the fourteenth century they failed to obtain any real popularity among well-to-do people. Of Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae” there are thirty-five manuscripts in the British Museum alone, and nearly a third of these date from the twelfth century. Of English works on the other hand, written before 1360, perhaps the majority survive only in a single copy, which in no single case bears any traces of the fine writing found in the manuscripts for wealthy book buyers. At a later date there is no lack of manuscripts of Langland, the Wycliffite Bible, and Chaucer, some of them most beautifully written and decorated. The inference is obvious that in the earlier period English books appealed to a very small and by no means wealthy class of readers, and the development of our literature was retarded for lack of encouragement; while of the books written, some at least, which we would gladly have inherited, perished utterly, partly, no doubt, because so few copies were made in the first instance. (5: 451.)

Oral vernacular literature did not develop vernacular schools. - Since this was the condition of vernacular literature, it is evident that there existed little demand for elementary education to prepare for vernacular reading. There was no social interest or stimulus corresponding to any phase of the vernacular literature strong enough to build up a large demand for elementary schools. The religious books were primarily for the assistance of the priests in their oral instruction of the people. Moreover, the romances were composed primarily to be sung or told rather than read. The wandering medieval minstrel with his songs and stories served many of the purposes of the modern novel, magazine, and newspaper.

Commercial demands developed vernacular schools. The factors in the medieval social situation which actually led to the establishment of the first important elementary schools were the practical industrial or commercial needs, to meet which, training in reading and writing the vernacular, and in the elements of arithmetic, was necessary. The development of such needs paralleled the development of commerce and manufacturing and the growth of cities during the period from 1200 to 1500. Doubtless there was a small amount of vernacular education provided in the Latin schools and by some parish priests before the growth of these cities, but this amount was so small as to be insignificant when compared .with the later developments in response to commercial needs. Prosperous middle class developed between 1200 and 1500. During the early Middle Ages the people of northern Europe were divided into three classes, (1) the nobles, (2) the clergy (including learned and professional persons), and (3) the common people. By the end of the Middle Ages, however, an important change had taken place, which is implied in the statement of a writer in 1453, who said the English population at that time consisted of churchmen, nobles, and craftsmen, as well as common people. This indicates the change that had taken place, namely, the development of a fourth group, a prosperous industrial and commercial middle class known as craftsmen. This new population and city life developed together. Before the twelfth century England was almost entirely an agricultural nation, with many small villages and a few large ones, which were either centers of local trade or small seaports.

Self-governing cities developed (1100-1400); English wool trade. During the next three hundred years (1100-1400) scores of self-governing municipalities grew up. Among these cities were trading ports such as Lynn, Sandwich, Southampton, and Bristol; centers of inland traffic like Nottingham, Leicester, and Reading; manufacturing towns like Norwich,