Political and Cultural Implications
The increasing linguistic preference for the vernacular had political and cultural implications. By the last third of the fourteenth century, French had gradually replaced Latin as the language used for many types of administrative records and documents. During the reign of Charles V, members of the chancellery prepared drafts for the king's approval written in cursive script.[24] Charles V wrote and signed letters in French and annotated and corrected documents in the vernacular.[25] This increased use of French in royal administration gave the language greater prestige and helped to break down the traditional distinction between literate Latin-reading clerics and laymen, who were considered illiterate because they had at most limited knowledge of Latin. This statement does not imply that knights, lawyers, and social groups involved in public administration knew no Latin at all. Recent studies indicate that groups used Latin for business or professional purposes
and for religious observance.[26] The existing evidence indicates, however, that the Latin proficiency of Charles V, his court, and high officers was insufficient to understand classical or medieval authors whose works interested them.[27] Indeed, in their justifications of producing vernacular versions of antique texts, the translators' complaints about the difficulties of classical Latin style, syntax, and terminology go beyond topoi of their inadequacy.[28]
The increased use of the vernacular in public life also shows a nationalistic aspect.[29] Pride in the beauty of the French language is a theme of Oresme's prologues in translations commissioned by Charles V.[30] The first phase of the Hundred Years' War undoubtedly heightened consciousness of the French language as a distinctive national characteristic. Many prologues written by Charles V's translators refer to current political issues, especially to the natural superiority of the French nation to their English enemies.[31] A related motif in Oresme's prologues is his compliment to the lay audiences he addresses. He identifies them in two ways. First, he names the officers of government, including the king and princes. His second category is a vague, broader grouping of Frenchmen of high intellect.[32] Oresme's positive attitude toward the French language also appears in the prologue of his translation of the Politics when he observes: "As Cicero puts it in his Academica , authoritative works on weighty matters are delightful and most agreeable to people when written in the language of their country."[33]
Oresme's claim of the broad appeal of French translations to a lay public receives confirmation in Monfrin's study of the numbers of manuscripts of vernacular translations and their owners from the thirteenth century to early printed editions of these texts.[34] While some of these readers came from royal and aristocratic circles, also represented are lawyers and other professionals, government officials, members of the Parlement of Paris and the haute bourgeoisie who had personal libraries.[35] Finally, as Charles V's program indicates, French translations also had a political function.