Delving into the tension between Latin as a shared language and the expressive capabilities of the vernacular, this course will trace the development of the transnational and polyglot culture that emerged in Europe during the medieval period and largely dissolved in the aftermath of the reformation. Exploring issues of language and identity, we will ask what advantages are afforded and problems faced by communities that have recourse to more than one language.

We will begin the course by reading selections of two influential texts from late antiquity: Augustine's Confessions, and Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy. In the next section of the course we will read a wide assortment of medieval texts: first, selections from Petrarch (especially "The Ascent of Mount Ventoux";) second, examples of macaronic texts that playfully combined languages (notably, selections from The Carmina Burana;) and finally, texts that were deliberately composed in the vernacular (Dante's Vita Nuova and Chaucer's "Miller's Tale.") In the final weeks of the course we will explore works from the early modern period: Erasmus' In Praise of Folly, the macaronic play-cycle The Christmas Prince, and Descartes' Meditations on a First Philosophy.