Hermeneutics in medieval thought

Perhaps no other era has been as ‘hermeneutic’ as the Middle Ages – although this has not been widely acknowledged. The thought of the period was full of exegeses and commentaries, appearing in a wide variety of forms, and the Holy Scriptures were a focus for constant interpretation and re-interpretation. There is thus much that the era can teach us about hermeneutic practice. I shall consider the Middle Ages as divided into the High Middle Ages, theMature Middle Ages, and the Late Middle Ages. The High Middle Ages will be seen as preparatory to Scholasticism – the core of medieval thinking – the Mature Middle Ages as corresponding to its maturity, and the Late Middle Ages to its decadence. Yet although the scholastics dominate the thought of the Mature and Late Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages are ruled by the monastic, and this makes, as we shall see, for a profound difference.