Significato e posizione del laico nell’alto Medioevo
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13130/2035-7362/474Abstract
La storia del termine laicus, nel corso del Medioevo, mostra un'interessante evoluzione. Inizialmente laico ha un valore positivo e si riferisce semplicemente al popolo di Dio; si passa successivamente a una valutazione chiaramente negativa dall'XI al XIII secolo. In questo periodo si definisce il laico secondo una doppia negazione: come il non chierico e il non monaco, e come idiota e illitteratus, cioè il cristiano privo di istruzione. Si torna a importanti posizioni di apprezzamento positivo nel XIV-XV secolo, anche in connessione con l'espandersi dell'uso del volgare, in cui laico e illetterato non coincidono più e si afferma una figura nuova di cristiano autentico: il laico che vive nel mondo in modo utile a sé e agli altri, dedito all'esercizio delle virtù e alla frequentazione della cultura.
The history of the term laicus, in the course of the Middle Ages, shows an interesting development. Initially laicus has a positive value and refers simply to the people of God; later a clear negative meaning becomes prevalent: from the 11th to the 13rd century. In this period laicus is defined according to a double negative sense: as the non-clerical and the not-monk, and as idiota et illitteratus, i.e. the Christian without learning. A new important positive meaning appears during 14th and 15th century, also connected with the diffusion of vernacular languages, in which laicus and illitteratus don't overlap and the term means a new figure of authentic Christian: the layman who lives in the world in a useful way to himself and others, devoting himself to the exercise of virtue and to study of learning.
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