A little-known monument of medieval encyclopedism Anonymous moralised encyclopedia «De proprietatibus rerum»

Authors

  • Stepan S. Grozov National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2022-49-2-339-350

Keywords:

medieval encyclopedias, moralizations, preachers, encyclopedism

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of a previously unstudied and unpublished source – the anonymous moralised encyclopedia «De proprietatibus rerum», belonging to the large corpus of unexplored medieval literature. The structure and content of the text, the structure of chapters, a set of sources are investigated. The encyclopedia is an important monument of medieval encyclopedism. It consists of 221 (225) chapters arranged in alphabetical order, and presents a wide range of natural information and their moral interpretations (moralizations). Based on the analysis of the manuscripts, the author assumes that there are several versions of the text of the encyclopedia. The text is also interesting with mentions of a wide range of categories of the medieval population. The encyclopedist has a very negative attitude towards the secular authorities and the rich, but is benevolent towards the clergy and the poor. It is also suggested that the text could have been created after 1331, and its readers could have been preachers.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Stepan S. Grozov, National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod

Master of History, Research Assistant in Research Laboratory of Social Anthropology of National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

ORCID: 0000-0001-7072-1856

References

Карнеев А.Д. 1890. Материалы и заметки по литературной истории Физиолога. Санкт-Петербург, 463.

Abramov D. 2003. ‘Liber de naturis rerum’ von Pseudo-John Folsham – eine moralisierende lateinische Enzyklopädie aus dem 13. Jahrhundert. PhD diss. Universität Hamburg, 479.

André J. (ed.) 1986. Etymologies, livre XII: Des animaux (Auteurs Latins du Moyen Age). Paris, 311.

Barney S.A., Hall M. 2006. (transl.) The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Cambridge, 475.

Clark W.B. 2006. A medieval book of beasts: the second-family bestiary: commentary, art, text and translation. Woodbridge, 280.

D’Avray D.L. 1980. Portable Vademecum books containing Franciscan and Dominican texts. In: Manuscripts at Oxford: an exhibition in memory of Richard William Hunt (1908–1979) ... on themes selected and described by some of his friends. Oxford: 61–64.

Frank G. 1925. English manuscripts in the Vatican library. Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. Vol., 40: 98–102.

Hunt R.W. (ed.) 1922. A summary catalogue of Western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford which have not hitherto been catalogued in the quarto series with references to the Oriental and other manuscripts. Vol. II. Part I: Collections received before 1660 and miscellaneous MSS. acquired during the first half of the 17th century. Oxford, 970.

James M.R. 1931. The bestiary. History: The Quarterly Journal of the Historical Association, 61: 1–11.

Jolliffe A.W. (ed). 1967. Albertus Magnus. The book of minerals. Oxford, 309.

Käppeli Th.O.P. (ed.). 1975. Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum Medii Aevi. Vol. II. Roma, 530.

König J., Woolf G. (ed). 2013. Encyclopaedism from Antiquity to the Renaissance. Cambridge, 601.

Krey P.D.W., Smith L. (ed.). 2000. Nicholas of Lyra. The Senses of Scripture. Leiden, Brill, 344.

McCulloch F. 1960. Mediaeval Latin and French Bestiaries. Chapel Hill, 214.

Meier C. 1997. Organisation of Knowledge and Encyclopedic Ordo: Function and Purposes of a Universal Literary Genre. In: Pre-Modern Encyclopaedic Texts. Proceedings of the Second Comers Congress. Leiden – New York – Köln: 103–126.

Meyer H. 1990. Zum Verhältnis von Enzyklopädik und Allegorese im Mittelalter. Frühmittelalterliche Studien, 24: 290–313.

Niermeyer J.F. 1976. Mediae Latinitatis lexicon minus: lexique latin médiéval-français/anglais. Leiden, 1138.

Sharpe R. 1997. A Handlist of the Latin Writers of Great Britain and Ireland Before 1540. In: Publications of the Journal of Medieval Latin. Vol. 1. Turnhout, 912.

Thomas de Cantiprato. 1973. Liber de natura rerum: editio princeps secundum codices manuscriptos. Berlin; New York, de Gruyter, 431.

Thomson R.M. 2009. A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Merton College. Oxford, 330.

Thomson R.M. 1989. Catalogue of the manuscripts of Lincoln Cathedral Chapter Library. Lincoln, 380.


Abstract views: 121

Share

Published

2022-07-07

How to Cite

Grozov, S. S. (2022). A little-known monument of medieval encyclopedism Anonymous moralised encyclopedia «De proprietatibus rerum». Via in Tempore. History and Political Science, 49(2), 339-350. https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2022-49-2-339-350

Issue

Section

Topical issues of world history