Why did written Romance languages emerge during the 9th century?

The emergence of written Romance languages in the 9th century was primarily driven by a growing awareness that the vernacular spoken by the populace had diverged significantly from the classical Latin used in writing and formal settings.12

Several key factors contributed to this development:

• Carolingian Reforms: Under Charlemagne, there was a concerted effort to revive classical learning and standardize written Latin. By reestablishing these strict classical standards, the gap between the "pure" Latin of the scholars and the evolving vernacular of the people became increasingly apparent.12
• Council of Tours (813): Recognizing that the clergy’s Latin sermons were no longer intelligible to the common people, the Council of Tours decreed that sermons should be delivered in rusticam Romanam linguam (the "rustic Roman language"), marking a formal acknowledgment of the vernacular's necessity.2
• Social and Political Shifts: The rise of feudalism fragmented the Roman tradition into smaller, closed territorial units, which likely accelerated linguistic divergence.1

Consequently, deliberate attempts to record the vernacular—such as the Strasbourg Oaths—began to appear, as Latin was no longer sufficient for communicating with the broader public.32