







































Volume 03 Issue 01-2023 9 

                 

 
 

   
  
 

American Journal Of Philological Sciences   
(ISSN – 2771-2273) 
VOLUME 03 ISSUE 01  Pages: 09-12 

SJIF IMPACT FACTOR  (2022: 5. 445)  
OCLC – 1121105677  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Publisher: Oscar Publishing Services 

Servi 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT 

Translation schools took place an important role in the development of translation theory and interpretation in the 

Medieval ages. Particularly, Europe was the first to open translation schools in the Medieval ages. Therefore, the 

article presents the investigation of the translation schools in the Middle ages in Europe. 

 

KEYWORDS 

Translation, history, schools, middle ages, Europe, word-for-word translation. 

INTRODUCTION

In the Middle Ages, mainly church literature was 

translated. The key to understanding medieval 

translation theory lies in relation to the word. The 

veneration of the text of Holy Scripture was based on 

the veneration of the Word, which connected man 

with God. 

  Research Article 

 

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF TRANSLATION SCHOOLS IN EUROPE IN 

MEDIEVAL AGES 
 

Submission Date: January 06, 2023, Accepted Date:  January 11, 2023,  

Published Date: January 16, 2023  

Crossref doi: https://doi.org/10.37547/ajps/Volume03Issue01-03 

 

 

Bekbosinova Dilfuza 
A Master Student Of Linguistics (English Language) Of Ksu, Scientific Advisor, Phd Of Ksu, Uzbekistan 

 

Kurbanbaev Dj. 
A Master Student Of Linguistics (English Language) Of Ksu, Scientific Advisor, Phd Of Ksu, Uzbekistan 

  

 

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Copyright: Original 

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may be used under the 

terms of the creative 

commons attributes 

4.0 licence. 

 

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Volume 03 Issue 01-2023 10 

                 

 
 

   
  
 

American Journal Of Philological Sciences   
(ISSN – 2771-2273) 
VOLUME 03 ISSUE 01  Pages: 09-12 

SJIF IMPACT FACTOR  (2022: 5. 445)  
OCLC – 1121105677  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Publisher: Oscar Publishing Services 

Servi 

With the emergence of nations and national languages, 

translations of the Bible and religious literature were 

carried out into all European languages. One of the 

earliest monuments, the Gothic Bible, was created by 

the monk Wulfil by word-for-word translation from 

Greek using transcription and tracing of words missing 

in the Gothic language.[4.8]. 

The practice of word-for-word translation led to direct 

borrowing of Latin and Greek grammatical structures, 

which were then often assimilated by the receiving 

language. 

When translating the Bible, the principle of cultural 

adaptation was occasionally used, when the source 

text was processed poetically (a poetic transcription of 

the Bible into Old Saxon). Simultaneously with the 

adaptation, the principle of "logical alignment" of the 

original text was applied to facilitate perception. 

Speaking about the specifics of the translation of the 

Middle Ages, we primarily mean written translation. 

The functional scope of interpretation remained 

limited. 

In the Middle Ages, monasteries and royal courts 

became the centers of translation in Europe. Ireland in 

the 4th century St. Patrick founds a monastery where 

scriptoria were located, engaged in copying and 

translating manuscripts into Latin. At the court of 

Charles the Bald in the IV century. lives Irish monk Scott 

Erigena, who, in particular, translates the writings of 

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite from Greek into 

Latin. Theological, historical and philosophical writings 

are translated into Old English by members of a circle 

organized by King Alfred the Great in the ninth 

century.[3]. 

In 1130, a school of translators from Arabic was 

founded in Toledo (Spain). It was the only known 

school with official status. The translations were 

heavily influenced by the Arabic language. Thanks to 

the work of Toledo translators, the achievements of 

Arabic science and culture became available to 

Europeans: works on mathematics, astronomy, 

physics, alchemy, and medicine. They also introduced 

into the culture of Europe the works of famous Greeks: 

Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, Galen, Hippocrates. 

The prominent American historian of the Middle Ages 

C. Haskins (1870-1937) wrote: "The most important 

channel through which new knowledge reached 

Western Europe was the Iberian Peninsula" [5, 284]. 

Among the centers of translation from Arabic - and it is 

in this language that many ancient Greek works have 

survived - one can mention many Spanish and French 

cities: Barcelona, Tarragona, Segovia, Toulouse, 

Montpellier, Marseille. However, although some of 

these centers predate Toledo, the number of 

translations and their importance left the Toledo 

School out of reach. 

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Volume 03 Issue 01-2023 11 

                 

 
 

   
  
 

American Journal Of Philological Sciences   
(ISSN – 2771-2273) 
VOLUME 03 ISSUE 01  Pages: 09-12 

SJIF IMPACT FACTOR  (2022: 5. 445)  
OCLC – 1121105677  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Publisher: Oscar Publishing Services 

Servi 

Despite the prevalence of the concept of the Toledo 

school, not all scientists agree with the term ‘school’ in 

relation to this association. Recently, especially 

categorical opinions have been expressed that this 

community of translators cannot be considered a 

school due to the fact that they worked in different 

parts of Europe [3; 7]. So, in the article of the 

researcher H.-S. Santoyo "Blank Spots in the History of 

Translation" [5], the existence of the Toledo school is 

categorically denied. He writes: “It is time to stop 

talking about the so-called “Toledo School of 

Translators”. There was never such a school in Toledo, 

not even in the 12th century. under Bishop Raymond, 

nor in the XIII century. under King Alphonse X the Wise. 

However, this “school” has proven to be one of the 

most enduring myths in the history of modern culture, 

presenting everything from the Encyclopedia 

Britannica to thousands of pages on the Internet. 

Amable Jourdain, in 1819, made the mistake of 

mentioning "college des traducteurs" in a Spanish city, 

when in fact the translators whom he ranked as the 

"School of Toledo" performed assignments in different 

parts of the country, places very far from Toledo - 

however, this error soon spread throughout Europe, 

and after Jourdain, many other scientists of the XIX 

century. referred to this “school”” [2, 31]. 

Starting from the XII-XIII centuries. among the 

monuments of translation, the share of secular texts is 

increasing. Across Europe, thanks to translations, the 

romance of chivalry is spreading. Popular among 

European translators is the Old French epic Song of 

Roland, which, starting from the 12th century, has been 

translated into various European languages. 

In the Arab world, the heyday of translation activity 

falls on the VIII-XIII centuries. directly related to the 

spread of Islam. A special place is occupied by India, 

which in terms of the volume and number of 

translations surpasses not only the entire medieval 

East, but also Europe. 

One of the most prominent translators of the second 

half of the 12th century was the Archbishop of Segovia 

Dominic Gundissalinus and Gerardus Cremonensis. 

They translated the main works of Aristotle and 

Avicenna and Arabic works on mathematics and 

medicine. D. Gundisalvi arrived in Toledo at the 

invitation of the archbishop and was the first director 

of the Toledo School.He actively participated in the 

translation of Avicenna's encyclopedia "The Book of 

Healing" and al-Khorezmi's work on mathematics "A 

Brief Book of Completion and Contradiction", from the 

name of which the term algebra originated, translated 

Avicenna's "Metaphysics", the works of one of the 

founders of Sufism al-Ghazali and the treatise of the 

outstanding Arab scientist, adherent of Aristotelianism 

al-Farabi "On the classification of sciences", in which 

the first complete classification of this kind was 

presented. He translated into Castilian with his own 

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Volume 03 Issue 01-2023 12 

                 

 
 

   
  
 

American Journal Of Philological Sciences   
(ISSN – 2771-2273) 
VOLUME 03 ISSUE 01  Pages: 09-12 

SJIF IMPACT FACTOR  (2022: 5. 445)  
OCLC – 1121105677  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Publisher: Oscar Publishing Services 

Servi 

comments and skipped, in his opinion, less important 

parts of the original.[1.1231-1238]. 

Strict word-for-word translation continued to be 

constantly em­ployed during the Middle Ages, and 

even much later in most Euro­pean countries to 

perform translation of scientific, philosophic and 

juridical matter. An illustrative example of this is found 

in Germany of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth 

centuries. Thus, the prominent translator and literary 

critic Nicolas von Wyle (1410-1478) openly and officially 

demanded that translators of Latin juridical documents 

alter the German target language syntactically and 

stylistically as much as possible to mirror some 

particular peculiarities of classical Latin source 

language, which enjoyed the position of a world 

language in those times. 

CONCLUSION 

Overall, translation schools were considered as the 

first beginners of the word-for-word translation in the 

Middle ages. As ban be seen from the above-

mentioned data, translators of the schools successfully 

translated a number of books from different 

languages. This led to the increase of the number of 

translation schools in Middle ages in Europe. Among a 

number of translation schools, Toledo translation 

school placed an important role in the development of 

the translation schools in Europe.  

REFERENCES 

1. Burnett  Ch.  Translation  from  Arabic  into  Latin  in  

the  Middle  Ages  //  Kittel,  H.,  House,  J., Schultze,  

B.  (Hrsg.)  Ein  internationales  Handbuch  zur  

Übersetzungforschung.  Berlin:  de  Gruyter,  2007. 

— S. 1231—1238.  

2. Glick  T.  F.  Islamic  and  Christian  Spain  in  the  early  

middle  ages.  Leiden:  Brill,  2005.  

3. Haskins  C.H.  The  Renaissance  of  the  Twelfth  

Century.  Cambridge:  Harvard  University  Press, 

1927.  

4. Munday, Jeremy. 2008. Introducing Translation 

Studies. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 8 

5. Robinson, Douglas, ed. (2002), Translation Theory 

From Herodotus to Nietzsche. Manchester: St. 

Jerome. 

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