Medieval literature has been extremely influential to the literature the world has today. For those who do not know, literature of this kind came from the continent of Europe and developed sometime in the middle ages which was one thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire. A medieval author was extremely respected during that age as writers were often seen as very intellectual individuals who possessed much knowledge.

Starting off would be the theological works as these types of literature were the most popular during that era. Since the church was one of the highest entities, it was natural that they had huge influence over literary works. It was because of this that a lot of writers chose to write about religious and philosophical themes.

Now just to give a background, some of the notable authors of this genre would be Pete Abelard and the very famous Saint Thomas Aquinas. In particular, Saint Thomas Aquinas was one of the most well known theological authors of that time since he was a very wise and knowledgeable man who was well versed in the scriptures. He was also known to be a very good writer as well which is why his books are still being used today and also followed by many religious orders.

Now aside from the theological works, there would be the secular books from secular authors. A lot of authors of this particular genre would revolve around some fictional material as well as historical material. Two very famous secular authors that existed during that time were of course John Mallory and John Mandeville.

Other than that, there are also many poets that lived during the medieval time period. One extremely influential poet during the late middle ages would be none other than Geoffrey Chaucer and was one of the most important writers before Shakespeare lived. Some of his works would include the Roman de la rose, and the allegorical Book of the Duchess.

Although it was rare for females to be authors, there were a few who were mentioned. Most women during that time concentrated on theological works since that was the most popular kind. There were also a few that excelled in other genres as well.

Now one of the most famous of all female authors was Julian of Norwich. Julian of Norwich was actually a psychic who had visions of certain places, people, and events that would become the inspiration of her books. She was probably the most famous author in all of England because she was the first woman in England that had a book published.

So for those who are interested in medieval literature, take a look at some of these bits of information. It is good to know about the classics of that era because many modern day books were actually inspired by those old classics. Those old classics are timeless and can be seen even in modern works.