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date: 15 September 2019

Abstract and Keywords

This article examines the cultural elites in medieval literature in England. There are two broad categories of cultural elites during this period. The most obvious cultural elite could be described rather broadly as clerical and this group is comprised of persons given professionally to some form of religious life. A second site of elite literacy might be described as magnatial culture, which encompasses the broad and variegated group that governed medieval England. It also describes the private book collectors and medieval book users.

Keywords: cultural elites, medieval literature, England, clerical elite, magnatial culture, book collectors, book users

Ralph Hanna

Ralph Hanna is Professor of Palaeography and Tutorial Fellow at Keble College, University of Oxford.

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