Here are some of the most prominent vernacular languages in medieval Europe:
Western Europe:
* Romance languages:
* Old French: The language of the French court, spoken by nobles and intellectuals. It evolved into modern French.
* Old Spanish: Spoken in the Iberian Peninsula, it developed into modern Spanish.
* Old Portuguese: Another Iberian Romance language, evolved into modern Portuguese.
* Old Catalan: Spoken in Catalonia (Spain) and parts of France, evolved into modern Catalan.
* Old Italian: A collection of regional dialects that eventually developed into modern Italian.
* Germanic languages:
* Old English: Spoken in England, eventually evolving into modern English after the Norman Conquest.
* Old High German: Spoken in parts of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It gave rise to modern German.
* Old Norse: Spoken by the Vikings, it was a major influence on Old English and the Scandinavian languages.
* Other:
* Occitan: A Romance language spoken in Southern France.
* Galician: A Romance language spoken in Galicia (Spain).
Eastern Europe:
* Slavic languages:
* Old Church Slavonic: A liturgical language used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, it influenced the development of other Slavic languages.
* Old Russian: The predecessor of modern Russian, it was spoken in the Eastern Slavic territories.
* Old Polish: The precursor to modern Polish, spoken in Poland.
* Other:
* Hungarian: A non-Indo-European language spoken in Hungary.
* Romanian: A Romance language spoken in Romania.
It's important to note:
* Latin: Despite the rise of vernacular languages, Latin remained the dominant language of scholarship, administration, and religion throughout most of the medieval period.
* Dialects: Vernacular languages were often divided into numerous dialects, making communication between regions challenging.
* Geographical variation: The specific languages spoken in a particular region could change drastically over time.
To truly understand the diversity of vernacular languages in medieval times, it's crucial to delve deeper into the specific time period and geographical location you are interested in.