Learning Hebrew in Medieval England: Christian Scholars and the Longleat House Grammar

For inquisitive Christian minds in the Middle Ages, there were many reasons to learn Hebrew. The rediscovery of classical sources and Aristotelian philosophy and the engagement with Graeco-Arabic sciences that marked the renaissance of the twelfth century also brought about an acute awareness of the need for a philological understanding of the Hebrew language. In England in particular, various factors combined to encourage and facilitate the study of Hebrew texts, not only among well-known writers but also among English scholars whose names have not been preserved. They nevertheless produced bilingual Hebrew-Latin manuscripts in collaboration with Jewish scribes, along with manuals, textbooks, and reference aids to facilitate access to the sources. This volume presents an edition and analysis of one such learning tool: a thirteenth-century grammar written in Hebrew, Latin, and Anglo-Norman French (the vernacular language of the Jews of England) in a complex combination of Hebrew and Latin alphabets.

Abbreviations
Tables
Preface

Facsimile of the Longleat House Grammar

Introduction

Chapter 1
The Manuscript: Its Structure, Texts and Scribes
The Codicological, Textual and Palaeographical Units of LH MS 21
The Codicological and Textual Composition of the Longleat House Grammar
The Scribes of LH MS 21
Palaeographical Remarks
Page and Text Layout

Chapter 2
The Longleat House Grammar and Hebrew Scholarship at Ramsey Abbey
The Longleat House Grammar Among the Bilingual Hebrew-Latin Manuscripts
The Longleat House Grammar and Ramsey Abbey

Chapter 3
The Longleat House Grammar and Different Linguistic Approaches to Hebrew in Medieval England
Through the Latin Lens
Christian Hebrew Grammar and Jewish Linguistic Traditions

Chapter 4
The Edition of the Longleat House Grammar
Grammar Textual Unit 1: The Hebrew Grammar in Latin Characters
Grammar Textual Unit 2: The Essay on Hebrew Vowels and Accents
Grammar Textual Unit 3: The Hebrew Grammar in Hebrew Characters
Grammar Textual Unit 4: The Hebrew Verb Paradigms in Latin Characters

Chapter 5
Contents and Sources of the Longleat House Grammar
Grammar Textual Unit 1: The Hebrew Grammar in Latin Characters
Grammar Textual Unit 2: The Essay on Hebrew Vowels and Accents
Grammar Textual Unit 3: The Hebrew Grammar in Hebrew Characters
Grammar Textual Unit 4: The Hebrew Verb Paradigms in Latin Characters

Conclusions

Bibliography
Index of Quotations
Index of Manuscripts
General Index