Multilingualism in the middle ages and early modern age : communication and miscommunication in the premodern world Languages belong to the fundamentals of human existence and many more times than we might assume people actually speak two or more languages. Studying bi and multilingualism in the Middle Ages and beyond sheds important light on basic sociolinguistic structures determining everyday life and culture in the premodern world. The question of linguistic competence addresses inter cultural intra social and also inter gender issues.