During the Medieval period, a taste for vernacular literature developed. Vernacular literature is literature written in the language spoken in the region were the work was produced, as opposed to literature written in Latin. Before vernacular literature developed, Latin was the dominant literary language. However, this new type of literature became popular mainly because of how accessible it was. Vernacular literature was also more suited to representing the subtle cultural differences of Europe. However, Latin continued to be the language of scholarly studies for several centuries.