The Teaching of Latin as a Second Language in the 12th Century

One of the most obvious, yet little studied, facts about Europe of the High Middle ages is that Latin was in all times and all places a foreign language. It had to be learned as an overlay on some other native language like Old French, Irish, or Middle High German. How was this second language acquired? A survey of textbooks and teaching methods indicates that by the 12th-century European schoolmasters had evolved an effective, commonly-used mode of instruction utilizing the best elements of ancient, patristic, insular, and Carolingian programs. At the heart of the system was a sequence of Christian (or Christianized) progymnasmata. Both dialectic and rhetoric were elementary subjects along with grammar until the burgeoning university structure preempted dialectic and displaced rhetoric to leave grammar the basic subject for elementary education. In 12th-century schools pupils started with sounds, not rules, with writing and speaking skills taught together. This carefully devised educational plan contributed a good deal to the quality of Latin literature of the period.