10.11.15

The Four Types Of Works A Medieval Author Would Write

By Mattie Knight


Medieval literature has been very popular even up until today as many old works have been rewritten and also used in schools as classics. Of course when one would say medieval literature, he would refer to the classic works that would come from the middle ages of Europe. Now if one were a medieval author at that time, there would be four types of genres that one would usually be working on.

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 just to give a background, some of the notable authors of this genre would be Pete Abelard and the very famous Saint Thomas Aquinas. In particular, Saint Thomas Aquinas was one of the most well known theological authors of that time since he was a very wise and knowledgeable man who was well versed in the scriptures. He was also known to be a very good writer as well which is why his books are still being used today and also followed by many religious orders.

Of course it was not only the theological works that were popular but also the secular ones as well. Sir John Mandeville was an example of an author who wrote in the secular genre with his book the Travels of Sir John Mandeville. The themes of most of these works focused on fiction and some focused on history too.

Now many people during that time also enjoyed reading allegories that were written by the brilliant poets who lived during the era. Now one would probably know about the very famous William Shakespeare but there was someone who was also as important and as skilled as Shakespeare during that time who went by the name of Geoffrey Chaucer. This man was known to be one of the most influential poets of that time with works like Book of the Duchess.

Although it was rare for females to be authors, there were a few who were mentioned. Most women during that time concentrated on theological works since that was the most popular kind. There were also a few that excelled in other genres as well.

Now one of the most famous of all female authors was Julian of Norwich. Julian of Norwich was actually a psychic who had visions of certain places, people, and events that would become the inspiration of her books. She was probably the most famous author in all of England because she was the first woman in England that had a book published.

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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