Medieval Tips for Modern Letter Writing

Medieval letters offer useful reminders about purpose, audience, and tone. Their social rules belong to another period, yet the underlying discipline still helps modern writers make a request, share news, or maintain a relationship with greater care.

• Why it matters: A letter works better when its reader can quickly understand the relationship and purpose.
• How it works: Ars dictaminis uses five parts: salutation, goodwill, narration, petition, and conclusion.
• Zoom in: Historical manuscripts preserve examples that can inspire close reading rather than imitation.
• Reality check: Modern correspondence should adapt the lesson to current norms, access needs, and privacy.

If you need to craft a particularly effective email, say to get your girlfriend to forgive your latest mistake, the best person to help you isn’t Dr. Phil; instead, it’s a medieval monk. Medieval monks devised a superior form of letter writing called ars dictaminis that can help everyone from content writers to boyfriends in the doghouse to craft effective, polite letters or emails for a variety of modern purposes.

Unless you have access to Bill and Ted’s time-traveling phone booth, you cannot go back to medieval times and beseech a monk for aid, which is probably for the best since they wrote mainly in Latin (and, no, driving to the closest Medieval Times location is probably not going to do you any good, either). There is still hope. The monk’s texts still exist and their techniques are easy to learn. Simply follow their basic structure of salutation, capturing of goodwill, narration, petition and conclusion to compose your very own medieval-style letter in the modern tongue.

Don’t believe that any ancient writing style applies in today’s world of email, texting and status updates? Think again. Ars dictaminis is a method applicable to any subject matter, from business letters to letters of a more personal nature, letters that perhaps you would not wish to share with a monk anyway. Ars dictaminis even has its own Facebook page.

The method of prose composition relies on following the same structure to achieve success. The beginning of an ars dictaminis letter is the salutation, or greeting. Starting a letter with “Dear” or “To whomever it may concern” are examples of modern salutations. You will likely be more comfortable with one of these phrases over medieval salutations, such as “Worshipful master, I greet you well.”

It’s kind of wild, actually, how this formula sneaks up on you once you start spotting it everywhere. Take any customer service complaint you’ve fired off, or that slightly panicky email to your professor—you almost always start with a formal wave, dye it with a sprinkle of “hey, love your class” or “I’ve always enjoyed your company,” and only then do you slide into the actual ask. Most of us, whether we realize it or not, have absorbed the basic beats of medieval letter-writing just through modern etiquette or watching people navigate an awkward group chat.

My favorite thing is how the power dynamic shifts depending on how well you nail that goodwill section. Nobody likes feeling manipulated, but sometimes the right compliment or a sincere “thanks for putting up with me” genuinely opens doors. It’s not about groveling—well, unless you really need that parking ticket forgiven—but about reminding the other side that you’re a real human, not just another anonymous name in their inbox. Funny how a monk’s advice from centuries ago still shapes the way we try and win each other over, even in 2025 when half our conversations happen with typos and emoji.

Capturing of goodwill is the next step and it is of critical importance. People are less likely to care about the favor you are going to ask of them if you fail to get on their good side first. This is where you compliment the letter’s recipient, perhaps remind him of similar favors he has done in the past and express gratitude and/or try to elicit sympathy for your current situation.

The capturing of goodwill may tie in to the narration portion of the letter. This is where you tell your story or explain the circumstances that set up your petition. The petition is where you ask for help. Perhaps you wish to obtain a job interview or want to set up a meeting to pitch a presentation. For the purpose of seeking a job interview, the narration covers your qualifications and objective. Your petition may be to ask for the interview or the person’s consideration in hiring you.

Finish your letter with a conclusion, such as “I look forward to hearing from you” and perhaps “Sincerely” or the increasingly popular “Best regards.” The conclusion may also express a wish or hope for the recipient. You could say that you hope she gets better if the recipient has been ill or just express a general wish for their health and happiness.

Through using this tried-and-true method, you create organized, well-written letters or emails that make you appear intelligent and deserving of aid.