De verschriftelijking van middeleeuws Friesland - voorbeeld van een algemeen Europees patroon?

Abstract

The publication in 2004 of Hir is eskriven by Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. marks an
important moment in the study of written culture in the Frisian lands in the
Middle Ages. This article is an attempt to compare Frisian developments with
developments in communication elsewhere in Europe during the ‘long
thirteenth century’. It is suggested that Frisia fits the general European
pattern, albeit with some striking differences. Whereas in the surrounding
areas princes and towns seem to have been the main instigators of the
acceleration of written culture, in the absence of either a strong central
government or a developed urban culture, in Frisia the monasteries seem to
have been far more important. It is as yet too soon to speculate on the reasons
why written culture developed in Frisia when it in fact did.