Thanks for the reasoned response, but I think it is a common misconception.
The Latin used at Mass was well understood by a huge number of people. The Homily or Sermon was in the local language in the Middle Ages.
As people became more literate, and books started being distributed, everyday people began discussing thing like interpretations, and theology, and realized that the Bishop may not have all the answers, rather he might be a hereditary flunky who makes bold proclamations without theological backing.
It is the very access to Latin (or Hebrew and Greek) that gave the everyday person the backing data to question the powers that be, not so much the haphazard translation of the theological texts into the vernacular.
Thomas Aquinas had some well thought out theological and practical teachings (he wrote extensively on weights and measures, for example). When Joe (or Giuseppe) Peasant read through Aquinas, he probably had some second thoughts on what the Duke or Lord had to say about things.
They still taught in Latin at the Archdiocese of Chicago Seminary (Mundelein) until the 50's or 60's.
Thanks for the reasoned response, but I think it is a common misconception.
The Latin used at Mass was well understood by a huge number of people. The Homily or Sermon was in the local language in the Middle Ages.
As people became more literate, and books started being distributed, everyday people began discussing thing like interpretations, and theology, and realized that the Bishop may not have all the answers, rather he might be a hereditary flunky who makes bold proclamations without theological backing.
It is the very access to Latin (or Hebrew and Greek) that gave the everyday person the backing data to question the powers that be, not so much the haphazard translation of the theological texts into the vernacular.
Thomas Aquinas had some well thought out theological and practical teachings (he wrote extensively on weights and measures, for example). When Joe (or Giuseppe) Peasant read through Aquinas, he probably had some second thoughts on what the Duke or Lord had to say about things.
They still taught in Latin at the Archdiocese of Chicago Seminary (Mundelein) until the 50's or 60's.