Timeline

In keeping with the theme of Technology in the Middle Ages, Michael Crichton takes care to highlight the rich diversity of languages in the 14th century. The medieval world was much more interconnected than is popularly believed, for knights and others traveled widely and used a variety of languages and dialects to communicate. These multiple languages are first noted when it is revealed that Marek can speak “Middle English, Old French, Occitan, and Latin” (72), rather than just reading them. Occitan, also known as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in southern France and parts of Spain. The forms of French and English spoken in the Middle Ages are not mutually intelligible with those spoken in the modern day. In order to assist the graduate students in navigating this plethora of languages, they are equipped with simultaneous translation devices.

The challenges of navigating these multiple languages is first noted when the research team’s graphologist, Elsie Kastner, struggles to decipher a manuscript “written in a combination of Latin and Occitan” (79). Later, while traveling through 1357, Chris, who does not speak Middle English or Occitan, resorts to using Latin to communicate. However, Sir Daniel mocks him for his overly formal, antiquated Latin by remarking that “he speaks like Cicero” (227), a Roman philosopher from the first century BC. This is because Medieval Latin is distinct from the form of Latin used in ancient times. Even some native medieval people have difficulty with the multitude of languages; for example, Marek notes that Sir Guy speaks Occitan badly. The motif of medieval languages highlights the complexity and diversity of the medieval world and illustrates the difficulty that modern scholars, such as the graduate students, have in understanding the surviving documents from these times.