The political turmoil of the times did not prevent the flourishing of a regional spiritual and intellectual culture in the Meuse-Rhine region, predominantly referred to as ‘Maaslands’. Architecture, sculpture, brass founding, as well as trade in precious metal work thrived during this cultural era, which lasted until the middle of the 13th century. The art of illumination, which decorated Limburg’s own rich literature, flourished as well.

Because of its monasteries, the Meuse-Rhine region was already famous in the Carolingian era, in particular in the 9th century, for the preparation of documents in the local vernacular. Although no texts have survived from this period, it is very likely that literature was written in the local language in use at that time. The region was a unique cultural hotspot within Europe, independent of any other cultural centres. Most other regions, such as Holland or Prussia, did not even exist as cultural centres within Europe at the time.

In contrast to most of its linguistic relatives, and similar to Old Dutch (Old Low West Franconian), Old Limburgish (Old Low East Franconian) is characterised by an almost complete lack of connected texts. Only the Wachtendonck Codex provides a larger continuous text. In this context, English is the only language possessing earlier textual fragments than Limburgish. German, Dutch and other European languages followed much later.

The Wachtendonck Codex of around 900 CE is the oldest known Limburgish text; it probably originates from the Munsterbilzen Convent in West Limburg, which was an important abbey for Beguine nobles in the 10th century. The format of the Limburgish text is supertitles. The original Latin text consisted of the Carolingian psalms of the Irishman Alcuin, which were edited at the palace school of Charlemagne in Aachen, around 790 CE, for educational purposes during the Carolingian Renaissance. In the Codex, the psalms were supertitled with a literal Limburgish translation of the words. Through these glosses or notes, Old Limburgish became an auxiliary language that was used to facilitate the teaching of Latin. Since these literal translations kept the Latin word order, no conclusions can be drawn in relation to the sentence structure of this early form of Limburgish.

The first actual sentence in Limburgish also comes from a document emanating from the Munsterbilzen Convent. At the end of a list with nearly thirty names of Beguines who resided at the nunnery, the following can be read in Limburgish and Latin:

References
Helten, van, W. L., Die altostniederfränkische Psalmenfragmente, die Lipsius’schen Glossen und die altsüdmittelfränkischen Psalmenfragmente, Groningen, 1902.
Janssens, J. D., In de Schaduw van de Keizer; Hendrik van Veldeke en zijn tijd (1130–1230), Walburg Pers Zutphen, 2007.
Kyes, R. L., Dictionary of the Old Low and Central Franconian Psalms and Glosses, Niemeyer Tübingen, 1983.
Robinson, O. W., Old English and its closest relatives; A survey of the earliest Germanic languages, Stanford University Press, 1992.
Tervooren, Helmut, Van der Masen tot op den Rijn; ein Handbuch zur Geschichte der mittelalterlichen volkssprachlichen Literatur im Raum von Rhein und Maas, Historisches Verein für Geldern und Umgegend (105), 2005.
Vries, de, J. W., Willemyns, R., Bruger, P., Het verhaal van een taal; negen eeuwen Nederlands, Prometheus Amsterdam, 1993.
Willemyns, R., Het verhaal van het Vlaams; De geschiedenis van het Nederlands in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden, Standaard Uitgeverij Antwerpen, 2003.

http://www.ned.univie.ac.at/publicaties/taalgeschiedenis/en/anltexte.htm (28-5-2008).