"This book examines some of the literature which animated the Romanesque period in Central Europe from 900 to 1300 ... Some of the Latin literature, along with the moralizing admonitions, were intended for religious edification of an educated audience, warning of the risks to salvation lurking in secular works. Largely outside of the ecclesiastical context, the role of women as practitioners and theorists within the religious cult and as poetic subjects of the secular love service received greater emphasis. While the literary genres served as didatic instruments, this literature also recorded the erosion of cultural supports, the changes and ultimate societal collapse during the Romanesque period."--P. [4] of cover.