De Vulgari Eloquentia: Medieval Latin Text, Translation, and Word List

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His 'La Comedia' (Comedy) or 'La Divina Comedia' (Divine Comedy) is considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. Along with Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Peterarch, they are often referred to as the fathers of Italian literature, or the fathers of the Italian language. They set the stage for the flourishing of vernacular Italian literature that followed.

At a time when most poetry was written in Latin, Dante's 'De Vulgari Eloquentia' (On the Eloquence of the Vernacular) discusses the relationship between Latin and the vernacular languages, searching for an 'illustrious' vernacular in the Italian region. The second book is an analysis of the structure of the canto or song, a literary genre developed in the Sicilian School of poetry. He presents an argument for giving vernacular language the same dignity and legitimacy as Latin. In his opinion language was not something static, but something that evolves and needs historical contextualisation. Though it was originally meant to consist of four books, it ends abruptly in the middle of the second book.

Dante's Medieval Latin frequently makes use of the first person plural 'we' instead of 'I', and frequently refers to people in the Italian peninsula as 'Latins' rather than Italians which was still commonplace at the time. This is further evidence that the 'Latin' identity remained due to the Holy Roman Empire and Roman Catholic Christianity.

The text is presented in the original Medieval Latin, with a literal word-for-word line-by-line translation, and a Modern English translation, all side-by-side. In this way, it is possible to see and feel how Medieval Latin works. Also included is a word list with 3693 Medieval Latin words translated in to English, and 3007 English words translated into Medieval Latin.

This book is designed to be of use and interest to anyone with a passion for the Latin language, medieval history, or languages and history in general.

Translated by Matthew Leigh Embleton

Matthew Leigh Embleton is a language and history enthusiast, musician, composer, and producer living in London.
www.matthewleighembleton.co.uk