In this classic volume, first published in 1951, the two parallel literatures of the Middle Ages, the Latin and the vernacular, may be studied side by side. The first part of this book is given to a critical survey of medieval Latin and the various branches of Romance Lyric, down to the year AD 1300. The second contains a collection of representative Lyrics, presented in chronological order irrespective of language and each introduced by a short commentary. The series shows the whole history of Medieval Lyric in brief; it runs from Fortunatus and the great hymn writers, through the Provencals such as Bertran de Born and Arnaut Daniel and through the French, Castilian, Galician (and Portuguese) lyricists, to end with the Italian masters Cavalcanti and Dante.