Books were extremely rare during the Middle Ages. The few that existed were generally hand copies that monks or other writers made with much difficulty. Reading was truly reserved for the nobility as books were so limited.



The most common language for medieval works was Latin because the church was virtually the only educational institution. There were a few copies of works in Old English, German, and more but these languages were not consistent as writers wrote what they heard rather than follow grammatical rules.
During the Middle Ages, language was changed and improved. Capital letters were first employed and much of the grammatical syntax in use today first appeared.





In 1440, almost at the end of the Medieval Ages, the German Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press in Europe. Within a few decades, books and papers that had previously taken months or years to write by hand were copied within hours. This is one of the reasons why during the Renaissance there was more literature compared to the Middle Ages.



We have our own little Library in the heart of Duhallow, where one can find books about the History of the Realm of Fayandria. Do pay a visit to the library for it is a quiet and peaceful place where you can unwind and perhaps deepen your knowledge about the Realm of Fayandria social structure, or about the McDunnough Clan or even about Embersray.
May I also suggest a visit to the World Digital Library. It took four years to build and it is recently available to everyone in the World, since April 21st - the World Digital Library will make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural materials. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research.
Happy readings, my friends…