Perceptions of Latin, and its socially strategic uses, within rural communities in late medieval England

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My research will explore the potential breadth of perceptions and experiences of Latin within peasant communities in late medieval England. I propose to consider Latin not as an 'other', belonging elsewhere socially and culturally, but as a vernacular, embedded within these communities. By discerning how the peasantry perceived Latin, we will better understand Latin's role in rural social relations, looking not only at interactions with Latinate authorities but, more significantly, how the peasantry made strategic use of the language themselves.Literary scholars have recognised that a language does not have the same associations in every context, enriching the analysis of what different languages could mean in medieval England's "complexly multilingual literary culture" (Wogan-Browne, 2013). However, little attention has been paid to the potential breadth of meanings which Latin had for the peasantry. Instead, Latin is envisioned as being defined by linguistic and social restriction, signifying or enacting exclusion (Evans et al, 1999; Justice, 1994). The peasantry's attitudes towards Latin are understood only in relation to the language's true 'owners' - the higher status, the governing, the ecclesiastical, the literary - and analysis of their strategic use of Latin coalesces around two poles of emulation and rejection. These accounts are reductive.Latin was multifaceted, used and encountered in a variety of registers and contexts (mono- and multilingual), from the religious, medicinal and literary, to accounting, record and law. Drawing on literary studies' analyses of the flexibilities of language, I will examine attitudes towards a multiplicity of Latin vernaculars, the relationships between them, and their interactions with any characterisation of an overarching category of Latin. I will consider how Latin was drawn, or pushed, into peasant communities across social or cultural boundaries, created or used within them, and re-transmitted, and how these processes influenced how Latin was related to and regarded. I will investigate attitudes to Latin amongst peasant communities which are broader and more complex than characterising it essentially as "exclusionary" (Justice, 1994).I will take an all-encompassing approach to the peasantry's encounters with Latin, dividing sources into chapters based around their functions. Function surely played a key role in creating distinct & characterful vernaculars, connecting them to particular social groups, modes of creation & communication, audiences, & aims. I will also analyse how these factors, together with gender & illiteracy, created significant nuances & varied perspectives within these broad functional categories. Focusing upon function will support my investigation of Latin's strategic uses as it emphasises that language choice (intentional or instinctive) had purpose.Proposed chapters are: 'Latin for accounting and record', using administrative documents, court records, & a peasant's commonplace book (Louis, 1980); 'Latin for pleasure', studying literature and performance; & 'Latin for worship and magic', analysing prayer, Church Latin, sermons, pastoralia, & charms. I will follow these with chapters based explicitly around Latin's socially strategic functions. Possible themes are 'Latin for publication' & 'Latin for subversion'. These chapters will develop our understanding of Latin's role in social relationships, not only demonstrating how the peasantry (or groups within it) perceived Latin, but how they expected different audiences to react to their use of it.This research will provide valuable insights into how the peasantry perceived Latin & made strategic use of it in social relationships with people both within & outside their communities. It could contribute to studies of late medieval heresies & the impending Reformation, Latin & translation being key elements of these movements, & to studies of vernacular political culture more broadly.