The
Modistae (
Latin for "
Modists"), also known as the
speculative grammarians, were the members of a school of
grammarian philosophy known as
Modism, active in northern
France,
Germany,
England, and
Denmark in the 13th and 14th centuries. Their influence was felt much less in the southern part of Europe, where the somewhat opposing tradition of the so-called "pedagogical grammar" never lost its preponderance.