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Do not fill this in! ===Renaissance and Neo-Latin=== {{Main|Renaissance Latin|Neo-Latin}} [[File:Incunabula distribution by language.png|thumb|Most 15th-century printed books ([[incunabula]]) were in Latin, with the [[vernacular language]]s playing only a secondary role.<ref name="ISTC">{{cite web |url=https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/index.html |title=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |publisher=[[British Library]] |access-date=2 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312185857/https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/index.html |archive-date=12 March 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>]] Renaissance Latin, 1300 to 1500, and the classicised Latin that followed through to the present are often grouped together as ''Neo-Latin'', or New Latin, which have in recent decades become a focus of [[Neo-Latin studies|renewed study]], given their importance for the development of European culture, religion and science.<ref>"When we talk about "Neo-Latin", we refer to the Latin … from the time of the early Italian humanist Petrarch (1304–1374) up to the present day" {{harvnb|Knight|Tilg|2015|p=1}}</ref><ref>"Neo-Latin is the term used for the Latin which developed in Renaissance Italy … Its origins are normally associated with Petrarch" {{Cite web |url=http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/neo-latin |title=What is Neo-Latin? |access-date=2016-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009191707/http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/neo-latin |archive-date=2016-10-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The vast majority of written Latin belongs to this period, but its full extent is unknown.<ref>{{harvnb|Demo|2022|p=3}}</ref> The [[Renaissance]] reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken and written language by the scholarship by the [[Renaissance Humanism|Renaissance humanists]]. [[Petrarch]] and others began to change their usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of author's works were published by [[Isaac Casaubon]], [[Joseph Scaliger]] and others.<ref>''Latin Studies'' in {{harvnb|Bergin|Law|Speake|2004|p=272}}</ref> Nevertheless, despite the careful work of Petrarch, [[Politian]] and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following.<ref>''Criticism, textual'' in {{harvnb|Bergin|Law|Speake|2004|p=272}}</ref> Neo-Latin literature was extensive and prolific, but less well known or understood today. Works covered poetry, prose stories and early novels, occasional pieces and collections of letters, to name a few. Famous and well regarded writers included Petrarch, Erasmus, [[Salutati]], [[Conrad Celtes|Celtis]], [[George Buchanan]] and [[Thomas More]].<ref>''Neo-Latin literature'' in {{harvnb|Bergin|Law|Speake|2004|pp=338–9}}</ref> Non fiction works were long produced in many subjects, including the sciences, law, philosophy, historiography and theology. Famous examples include [[Isaac Newton]]'s ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]''. Latin was also used as a convenient medium for translations of important works first written in a vernacular, such as those of [[Descartes]]. Latin education underwent a process of reform to classicise written and spoken Latin. Schooling remained largely Latin medium until approximately 1700. Until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Helander |first=Hans |date=2012-04-01 |title=The Roles of Latin in Early Modern Europe |url=https://journals.openedition.org/annuaire-cdf/1783 |journal=L'Annuaire du Collège de France. Cours et travaux |language=en |issue=111 |pages=885–887 |doi=10.4000/annuaire-cdf.1783 |s2cid=160298764 |issn=0069-5580}}</ref> Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a [[Romance language]]) and later native or other languages.<ref>Laureys, Marc, ''Political Action'' in {{harvnb|Knight|Tilg|2015|p=356}}</ref> Education methods gradually shifted towards written Latin, and eventually concentrating solely on reading skills. The decline of Latin education took several centuries and proceeded much more slowly than the decline in written Latin output. 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