British translation in the Middle Ages

Though the British Island had faced several invasions, but the cultural and linguistic identity of the Island was seriously challenged in just two of such invasions in history. First during the Vikings invasion which lasted from eight to tenth centuries and second during 300 years after the Norman conquest.

Throughout its history and during the several invasions, translators and professional translations played a key role in saving the linguistic and cultural identity of the British Island.

The Middle Ages in the island of Great Britain extends from 410 to 1485 AD. During the Old English period which lasted from 600 to 1066 AD, some notable translations were undertaken by Alfred the Great. Alfred the Great was the King of Wessex from 871 to 899 and successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking conquests. Realizing the decline in the intellectual life in England, he commissioned many translation works. He wanted few “books of wisdom” which he deemed “most necessary for all men to know” to be translated in the English language through an ambitious court centered program. He also encouraged education and primary education in English language.

Though Alfred had commissioned many books for translation such as the lost Handboc or Encheiridion, he himself along with the aid of his court scholars translated at least four works himself: Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, St. Augustine’s Soliloquies, and the first fifty psalms of the Psalter. In his preface to the translation of Gregory’s Pastoral Care he mentioned that “learning had declined so thoroughly in England that there were very few men on this side of the Humber who could understand their divine services in English, or even translate a single letter from Latin into English: and I suppose that there were not many beyond the Humber either”. He distributed his translations of Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care to his bishops so that they might better train and supervise priests, and used those same bishops as royal officials and judges.

Other monarchs of the time who undertook notable translation projects were Alfonso X in Spain, Charles V in France and Ælfric, the English Abbot of Eynsham. Alfonso X was the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death. He is especially credited for the formation of the Escuela de Traductores de Toledo also called as the Toledo School of Translators which consisted of Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars. Through there translation services several important books were translated from Arabic and Hebrew into Latin and Castillian. Technical translation of astronomy and astrology were two of the main fields that were translated by these scholars. As a result of these translations, Castillian language was promoted which later established the foundations of the Spanish language.

After the Norman conquests, two main languages that were spoken by ordinary people of the country were Anglo Norman and English. Translators who translated for the elite, translated in Anglo Norman language instead of the English language. The elite who were mainly associated with the courts and monastic centers considered Anglo Norman to be a prestigious language than English. Extensively used in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Anglo Norman had continued to be used in courts in the fifteenth century as well. The late fourteenth century marked the onset of professional translation services. Translators evolved and moved away from literal translation towards better forms of professional translation which had the end reader at its center. 

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