Transforming the Medieval World: Uses of Pragmatic Literacy in the Middle Ages (Utrecht Studies In Medieval Literacy)

Marshall McLuhan described the so-called Gutenberg-Galaxy - a culture based on books, which in his opinion would come to an end due to the electronic media at the end of the 20th century - but it first emerged in Europe during the 12th to 15th centuries. Even before the invention of the printing press the written text became essential both for the intellectual development and the everyday activities of people. In various different fields and regions, the Sonderforschungsbereich 231 at Munster, has analysed these processes. The results of this work have gained an international reputation. SFB 231 'Pragmatic Literacy in the Middle Ages' completed its 13-year programme of research in December 1999. During this period 15 different workgroups (historians, theologians, philologists [Latin, German and English]) have analysed the changes taking place from a society based almost exclusively on oral communication to a culture which relies decisively on the written word. The European-wide phenomenon is examined mainly for Germany, Italy, the Low Countries, England and France. The written letter replaced the herald, and letters were not only exchanged between clerics and other 'literati', but also between merchants and their business partners and wives. What used to be an oral agreement between two men, witnessed by their relatives and friends, now became a notarial document. Property disputes were no longer decided by asking a council of elders but by consulting the newly established communal archives. The aim is to use the opportunities offered by this new medium to explain for each of the examples given, within seven or nine minutes, the complex findings of the SFB's research. An electronic medium is appropriate because it offers the possibility of combining pictures, graphs, charts, texts and verbal explanations. Sixteen different genres or milieux are demonstrated on this CD-ROM: (1) Bible Translation (2) Episcopal Chronicle.