During the medieval times explain the importance of Latin and Greek to trade and diplomacy.?

Question

What does this mean? Can you please explain? Thanks in advance! =]

Answer 1

I'm sorry to say most of the answers above betray a distinctly western bias. Whether the authors realize it or not, they have taken on one of the attitudes of the medieval Roman Catholic Church!

After the old Roman Empire split in 476 the capital of the western Empire remained in Rome, while the capital of eastern Empire, henceforth known as "Byzantium" moved to the city of Byzantium, aka Constantinople, aka Mikelgaard (to the Norse), modernly know as Istanbul. This was in Greek-speaking territory and hence Greek, not Latin, became the "lingua franca" ("free" or "common" tongue), the language of trade and diplomacy in the Eastern Empire. Whatever else you spoke in the lands controlled and/or influenced by Byzantium (pretty much all of eastern Europe), you also spoke and wrote Greek. This is why Russian and the Slavic languages (with the exception of Czech and Polish) are written in Cyrillic script, not the Roman alphabet.

However, everyone is right about *western* Europe - there Latin was the lingua franca. A literate person in the west was only considered fully literate if they could read, write and speak Latin as well as thier local language. Legal documents, trade arrangements, and diplomatic missions were all conduced in Latin.

Likewise, Latin became the "official" language of the western (Roman Catholic - headed by the Pope) church, and Greek continued as the liturgical language of the eastern (Orthodox - headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople) church.

Answer 2

Latin was the common language in the middle ages, spoken, written, and read by educated people, mainly clergy. Actually, there was not much trade in the middle ages, until people began to hold fairs about 1000. Rulers had educated people, taught Latin in church schools, who could read and write for them. The few merchants probably could not even speak Latin

Greek was unimportant, because knowledge of Greek in Western Europe was largely nonexistent after the disintegration of the Roman administration about 450. The only Greek speakers were those of the Byzantine Empire, capital Constantinople. Only in 1100 did Europeans start contact with Byzantines again, in the form of the knights of the First Crusade, which passed through Constantinople on the way to the holy land.

The funny thing is that when Europeans got interested in reading ancient Greeks, Aristotle and Plato, they did not go to Greece but to Spain. The Arabs conquered the Middle East in the 600's, translated Aristotle and Plato into Arabic, and invaded Spain in 711. So Europeans went to Spain beginning about 1050, learned Arabic, and translated from Arabic into Latin LOL.

So by the time Latin became established as an international language, and educated people started to read in the Greek languages, the middle ages were pretty much over, and it was the Renaissance.

Answer 3

Latin was the language of educated people. Greek had fallen into disuse except in Greece. The reintroduction of Greek was one of the points of the Renaissance.

Latin was the Lingua Franca of the day.

As for trade, it was certainly there and that trade gave rise to the Renaissance and to Capitalism. Arabic traders traded with coastal cities in Italy and, I guess, other ports in the Mediterranean. It was the Arabic sea traders who brought what we call the Arabic numbering system into the West. Roman numberals have nothing for ZERO and thus double entry bookkeeping, figuring profits and losses, could be done after the introduction of Arabic numerals. Actually, however, the numbers were not Arabic in origin, they were Indian - the Arabs had been trading with India for eons.

More than likely the trading language had nothing to do with Latin or Greek, but of a manufactured language that was called either Ladino or Latino which incorporated the common languages of all of the Mediterranean coast.

For further material look at the information on the trade explosion of Venice and other European ports.

Banking started in Italy and words like Check come from the Arabic word which anglicized would be cheques.

Further developments in Capitalism came about when Martin Luther changed the meaning of the German word Beruft which equated originally to a religious calling to be a priest, brother, nun or whatever. Luther changed it to mean that you could be called to be a carpenter, plumber, harness maker or whatever. Usury laws were dropped in Protestant countries, and Italy as well, and thus profits could be made, money lent for interest, etc.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

They were the languages of commerce, and were first replaced by French and then English.French is still considered to be the language of diplomacy.

Latin remained the language of the Roman Catholic church, not just for the Mass but for communication until Pope John XXXIII around 1960.

Answer 6

Common language only way for people from everywhere to speak exactly to each other.