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This book is a guide to the complete range of medieval scholarship undertaken in twentieth-century Britain: history, archaeology, language and culture. Some of the twenty-nine chapters here focus on changes in research method or on the achievements of individual scholars, others are the personal account of a lifetime's work in a discipline. Many outline the ways in which subjects may develop in the twenty-first century. The book sets British scholarship in its international context and contains useful bibliographies.

This collection considers key issues arising from the use of Medieval Latin in Britain from the 6th to 16th centuries. Although in this period Anglo-Latin was not the native language of its users, it was nevertheless used extensively for a wide variety of functions from religion, literature, and philosophy to record-keeping and correspondence. It existed alongside a number of everyday native spoken languages, including English, Anglo-Norman French, and Welsh. The chapters examine Latin with regard to the many multilingual contexts in which it was used, looking beyond narrow comparisons with its Roman ancestor to see what medieval users did with Latin and the diverse effects this had on the language. The fifteen chapters are divided into three parts. The first part considers important examples of Latin usage in Britain during four successive periods, pre-Conquest, the 12th, long-14th, and 15th and 16th centuries. In the second part, examples of different spheres of use are examined, including the law, the church, music, and science (and its assimilation of Arabic). In the final part the use of Latin is considered alongside the many native languages of medieval Britain, looking at how the languages had different roles and how they influenced each other. In all the many contexts in which Latin was used, its use reveals continuity matched with adaptation to circumstance, not least in the development of new vocabulary for the language. Between these two poles users of Latin steered a course that suited their own needs and those of their intended audience.

This book brings together reformation and reception studies by exploring the relationship between reformations on the European continent and in Britain. The eleven chapters discuss familiar associations, draw attention to under-explored relationships, and identify how British reception in turn contributed to continued reform on the continent. Different aspects of reception, from biblical translation and book history to popular politics and theological polemic, are addressed. The book also prompts further questions regarding British integration and the perception (and invention) of Britain’s ‘exceptional’ status.