Term applied to those writings of the Christian era which are composed in Latin, are peculiar to the Church in the West, and whose contents are Christian, as opposed to pagan, in spirit. This literature falls into two periods.
(1) From the 1st-5th century, when it appears intensely practical in nature, oratorical and moral in tone, and consists mainly of apologies, chronicles, translations, and catalogues of cemeteries, bishops, and martyrs. Writers of this period are:
(2) From the 6th-17th century, when the literature manifests itself in drama and poetry. The drama, an outgrowth of Church liturgy, included such writers as
Among the poets of this period may be mentioned:
The writers of the neo-Latin epic included:
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