Etymologiae
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Encyclopaedia | |
Publication date | c. 625 |
---|---|
Pages | 20 books |
Original text | Etymologiae at Latin Wikisource |
Etymologiae (
Etymologiae covers an encyclopedic range of topics.
Etymologiae was a widely used textbook throughout the
While less well known in modern times, modern scholars recognize the work's importance in preserving both classical texts, as well as insight into the medieval mindset.
Background
Isidore of Seville was born around 560 in
Isidore helped to unify the kingdom through Christianity and education, eradicating the
Isidore was widely read, mainly in Latin with a little Greek and Hebrew. He was familiar with the works of both the church fathers and pagan writers such as Martial, Cicero and Pliny the Elder, this last the author of the major encyclopaedia then in existence, the Natural History. The classical encyclopedists had already introduced alphabetic ordering of topics, and a literary rather than observational approach to knowledge: Isidore followed those traditions.[1] Isidore became well known in his lifetime as a scholar. He started to put together the Etymologiae, a collection of his knowledge, in about 600, and continued to write until around 625.[2][3]
Overview
The Etymologiae presents an abbreviated form of much of that part of the learning of antiquity that Christians thought worth preserving. Etymologies, often very far-fetched, form the subject of just one of the encyclopedia's twenty books (Book X), but perceived linguistic similarities permeate the work. An idea of the quality of Isidore's etymological knowledge is given by Peter Jones: "Now we know most of his derivations are total nonsense (eg, he derives baculus, 'walking-stick', from
The work covers many of the subjects of ancient learning, from theology to the construction and provenance of furniture, and provides a rich source of classical lore and learning for medieval writers. Isidore quotes from around 475 works from over 200 authors in his works, including those outside the Etymologiae.[5] Bishop Braulio, to whom Isidore dedicated it and sent it for correction, divided it into its twenty books.[6]
An analysis of Book XII by Jacques André identifies 58 quotations from named authors and 293 borrowed but uncited usages: 79 from Solinus; 61 from
In Book II, dealing with dialectic and rhetoric, Isidore is heavily indebted to translations from the Greek by
Isidore's Latin, replete with nonstandard Vulgar Latin, stands at the cusp of Latin and the local Romance language emerging in Hispania.[a] According to the prefatory letters, the work was composed at the urging of Braulio, to whom Isidore sent the unedited manuscript at the end of his life, which seems to have begun circulating before Braulio was able to revise and issue it with a dedication to the late Visigothic king Sisebut.[2]
Contents
The Etymologies organizes knowledge, mainly drawn from the classics, into twenty books:
Book | Topics | Principal sources |
---|---|---|
(Whole work) | (Etymological encyclopedia) | the Prata of Suetonius, now lost[8] |
Book I: de grammatica | Trivium : grammar |
Institutes of Cassiodorus[11] |
Book II: de rhetorica et dialectica | Trivium: rhetoric and dialectic | Cassiodorus[11] |
Book III: de quatuor disciplinis mathematicis | Quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy | Boethius on mathematics; Cassiodorus[11] |
Book IV: de medicina | medicine | Caelius Aurelianus, Soranus of Ephesus, Pliny[11] |
Book V: de legibus et temporibus | law and chronology | Institutes of Gaius, Breviary of Alaric[11]
|
Book VI: de libris et officiis ecclesiasticis | Ecclesiastical books and offices | Augustine, |
Book VII: de deo, angelis, sanctis et fidelium ordinibus | God, angels and saints hierarchies of heaven and earth | Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Lactantius, Tertullian[11] |
Book VIII: de ecclesia et sectis diversis | The church, Jews, and heretical sibyls |
Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Lactantius, Tertullian (Christian); |
Book IX: de linguis, gentibus, regnis, militia, civibus, affinitatibus | Languages, peoples, kingdoms, armies, cities and titles | Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Servius, Pliny, Solinus (who borrowed from Pliny)[11] |
Book X: de vocabulis | Etymologies | Servius; the Church Fathers.[11]
|
Book XI: de homine et portentis | Mankind, portents , and transformations |
Books XI – XX all include material from Pliny's Natural History, Servius, Solinus |
Book XII: de animalibus | Beasts and birds | Pliny, Servius, Solinus, |
Book XIII: de mundo et partibus | The physical world, atoms, elements , natural phenomena |
as Book XI[11] |
Book XIV: de terra et partibus | Geography: Earth, Asia, Europe, Libya, islands, promontories, mountains, caves | as Book XI; Histories Against the Pagans of Paulus Orosius[11]
|
Book XV: de aedificiis et agris | Public buildings, public works, roads | Columella, Servius[11] |
Book XVI: de lapidibus et metallis | Metals and stones | Pliny, Servius, Solinus[11] |
Book XVII: de rebus rusticis | Agriculture | Cato via Columella, Pliny, Servius, Solinus, Rutilius Palladius, Varro[11] |
Book XVIII: de bello et ludis | Terms of war, games, jurisprudence | Servius; Tertullian on circus games[11] |
Book XIX: de navibus, aedificiis et vestibus | Ships, houses, and clothes | Servius; also Jerome, Festus, Pliny, Marcus Cetius Faventinus, Palladius, Nonus Marcellus[11] |
Book XX: de penu et instrumentis domesticis et rusticis | Food, tools, and furnishings | as Book XIX[11] |
In Book I, Isidore begins with a lengthy section on grammar, the first of three subjects in the mediaeval
Book II completes the medieval Trivium with coverage of rhetoric and dialectic. Isidore describes what rhetoric is, kinds of argument, maxims, elocution, ways of speaking, and figures of speech. On dialectic, he discusses philosophy, syllogisms, and definitions. He equates the Greek term syllogism with the Latin term argumentation (argumentatio), which he derives from the Latin for "clear mind" (arguta mens).[14]
Book III covers the medieval
Book IV covers medicine, including the four humours, diseases, remedies and medical instruments. He derives the word medicine from the Latin for "moderation" (modus), and "sciatica" (sciasis) from the affected part of the body, the hip (Greek ἰσχία ischia).[19]
Book V covers law and chronology. Isidore distinguishes natural, civil, international, military and public law among others. He discusses the purpose of law, legal cases, witnesses, offences and penalties. On chronology, Isidore covers periods of time such as days, weeks, and months, solstices and equinoxes, seasons, special years such as Olympiads and Jubilees, generations and ages.[20]
In Book VI, Isidore describes ecclesiastical books and offices starting with the Old and New Testaments, the authors and names of the holy books, libraries and translators, authors, writing materials including tablets, papyrus and parchment, books, scribes, and Christian festivals.[21]
Book VII describes the basic scheme concerning God, angels, and saints: in other words, the hierarchies of heaven and earth from patriarchs, prophets and apostles down the scale through people named in the gospels to martyrs, clergymen, monks and ordinary Christians.[22]
Book VIII covers religion in the shape of the Christian church, the Jews and heretical sects, pagan philosophers including poets,
Book IX covers languages, peoples, kingdoms, cities and titles.[24]
Book X is a word-list of nouns and adjectives, together with supposed etymologies for them. For example, the letter 'D' begins with the word for master (Dominus), as he is the head of a household (Domus); the adjective docile (docilis) is derived by Isidore from the verb for "to teach" (docere), because docile people are able to learn; and the word for abominable (Nefarius) is explained as being not worth the grain called spelt (far).[25]
Book XI covers human beings,
Book XII covers
Book XIII describes the
Book XIV covers
Book XV covers cities and buildings including public buildings, houses, storehouses and workshops, parts of buildings, tents, fields and roads.[39]
Book XVI covers metals and rocks, starting with dust and earth, and moving on to gemstones of different colours, glass and mines. Metals include gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and electrum. Weights and measures end the book. Games with boards and dice are described.[40]
Book XVII describes agriculture, including grains, legumes, vines, trees, aromatic herbs and vegetables.[41]
Book XVIII covers the terms of war, games, and jurisprudence. Isidore describes standards, trumpets, weapons including swords, spears, arrows, slings, battering rams, and armour including shields, breastplates and helmets. Athletic games include running and jumping, throwing and wrestling. Circus games are described, with chariot racing, horse racing and vaulting. In the theatre, comedy, tragedy, mime and dance are covered. In the amphitheatre, Isidore covers those who fight with nets, nooses and other weapons.[42]
Book XIX covers ships including boats, sails, ropes and nets; forges and tools; building, including walls, decorations, ceilings, mosaics, statues, and building tools; and clothes, including types of dress, cloaks, bedding, tools, rings, belts and shoes. The word "net" (rete), is derived from retaining (retinere) fish, or perhaps, writes Isidore, from the ropes (restis) they are attached to.[43]
Book XX completes Isidore's encyclopaedia, describing food and drink and vessels for these, storage and cooking vessels; furnishings including beds and chairs; vehicles, farm and garden tools and equipment for horses.[44]
Reception
Middle Ages
Isidore was widely influential throughout the Middle Ages, feeding directly into word lists and encyclopaedias by Papias, Huguccio, Bartholomaeus Anglicus and Vincent of Beauvais, as well as being used everywhere in the form of small snippets.[45] His influence also pertained to early medieval riddle collections such as the Bern Riddles or the Aenigmata of Aldhelm. He was cited by Dante Alighieri, quoted by Geoffrey Chaucer, and his name was mentioned by the poets Boccaccio, Petrarch and John Gower among others. Dante went so far as to place Isidore in Paradise in the final part of his Divine Comedy, Paradiso (10.130–131).[45]
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Etymologiae was the textbook most in use, regarded so highly as a repository of classical learning that, in a great measure, it superseded the use of the individual works of the classics themselves, full texts of which were no longer copied and thus were lost. It was one of the most popular compendia in medieval libraries.[46]
Modern
"An editor's enthusiasm is soon chilled by the discovery that Isidore's book is really a mosaic of pieces borrowed from previous writers, sacred and profane, often their 'ipsa verba' without alteration,"
In the view of John T. Hamilton, writing in The Classical Tradition in 2010, "Our knowledge of ancient and early medieval thought owes an enormous amount to this encyclopedia, a reflective catalogue of received wisdom, which the authors of the only complete translation into English introduce as "arguably the most influential book, after the Bible, in the learned world of the Latin West for nearly a thousand years"[49] These days, of course, Isidore and his Etymologies are anything but household names... but the Vatican has named Isidore the patron saint of the Internet, which is likely to make his work slightly better known.[50]
Ralph Hexter, also writing in The Classical Tradition, comments on "Isidore's largest and massively influential work... on which he was still at work at the time of his death... his own architecture for the whole is relatively clear (if somewhat arbitrary)... At the deepest level Isidore's encyclopedia is rooted in the dream that language can capture the universe and that if we but parse it correctly, it can lead us to the proper understanding of God's creation. His word derivations are not based on principles of historical linguistics but follow their own logic... Isidore is the master of bricolage... His reductions and compilations did indeed transmit ancient learning, but Isidore, who often relied on scholia and earlier compilations, is often simplistic scientifically and philosophically, especially compared to .. figures such as Ambrose and Augustine."[45]
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Peter Jones compares Etymologiae to the Internet:
One might have thought that Isidore, Bishop of Seville, AD 600-636, had already suffered enough by having Oxford's computerised 'student administration project', planned since 2002, named after him. But five years ago Pope John Paul II compounded his misfortune by proposing (evidently) to nominate [Isidore] as the patron saint of the internet.
It was, indeed, a tempting choice. Isidore's Etymologies, published in 20 books after his death, was an encyclopedia of all human knowledge, glossed with his own derivations of the technical terms relevant to the topic in hand. Derivations apart, it was lifted from sources almost entirely at second or third hand ..., none of it checked, and much of it unconditional eyewash – the internet, in other words, to a T.
By the same token, Isidore's work was phenomenally influential throughout the West for 1,000 years, 'a basic book' of the Middle Ages, as one scholar put it, second only to the Bible. Written in simple Latin, it was all a man needed in order to have access to everything he wanted to know about the world but never dared to ask, from the 28 types of common noun to the names of women's outer garments. Today, one internet connection serves precisely the same purpose.[4]
Manuscripts and printed editions
Almost 1000 manuscript copies of Etymologiae have survived. The earliest is held at the Abbey library of Saint Gall in Switzerland,[46] a 9th-century copy of Books XI to XX forming part of the Codex Sangallensis.[51] The 13th-century Codex Gigas held in the National Library of Sweden, the largest extant medieval manuscript, contains a copy of the Etymologiae.[52]
In 1472 at
Notes
- ^ Examined in detail by Johann Sofer,[9] extensively criticised by Walter Porzig.[10]
- ^ The accounts of logic in Book II and of arithmetic in Book III are transferred almost word for word from Cassiodorus, Isidore's editor, W. M. Lindsay observed.[15]
- ^ Garwood notes, "St Augustine's stance on the shape of the earth [spherical] was supported, albeit vaguely, by the most popular encyclopedist of the era, St Isidore of Seville".[34]
References
- ^ Brehaut & 2003 [1912], p. 22.
- ^ a b Barney et al. 2006, pp. 4–10.
- ^ O'Connor, John Bonaventure (1913). Wikisource. – via
- ^ a b Jones, Peter (27 August 2006). "Patron saint of the internet". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ Lapidge 2006, p. 22.
- ^ Rusche 2005, pp. 437–455.
- ^ a b c Barney et al. 2006, p. 14.
- ^ a b c Lindsay 1911b.
- ^ Sofer 1930.
- ^ Porzig 1937, pp. 129–170.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Barney et al. 2006, pp. 14–15.
- ^ a b Barney et al. 2006, pp. 39–68.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, p. 39.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 69–88.
- ^ Lindsay 1911a, p. 42.
- ^ a b Barney et al. 2006, pp. 89–108.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, p. 93.
- from the original on May 15, 2021.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 109–116.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 117–134.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 135–152.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 153–172.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 173–190.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 191–212.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 213–230.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 231–246.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 247–270.
- ^ a b Barney et al. 2006, pp. 271–284.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, p. 276.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 285–300.
- ^ a b Barney et al. 2006, p. 285.
- ^ Isidore, Saint, Bishop of Seville (2010) [11th century]. "Diagrammatic T-O map. The world portrayed as a circle divided by a 'T' shape into three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa". Royal 6 C. I, f.108v. British Library. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Brehaut & 2003 [1912], p. 174.
- ^ a b Garwood 2007, p. 25.
- ^ Russell 1991, pp. 86–87.
- ^ Stevens 1980, pp. 268–77.
- ^ Grant 1974, pp. 268–77.
- ^ Woodward, David. "Reality, Symbolism, Time, and Space in Medieval World Maps", Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1985, p. 517-519.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 301–316.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 317–336.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 337–358.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 359–372.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 373–394.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 395–408.
- ^ a b c Hexter 2010, pp. 489–490.
- ^ a b Barney et al. 2006, pp. 24–26.
- ^ Lindsay 1911a, pp. 42–53.
- ^ Lindsay 1911a, pp. 24–26.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, p. 3.
- ^ "The patron saint of the internet is Isidore of Seville, who tried to record everything ever known". 11 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ Isidore (800s). "Codex Sangallensis, books XI–XX". Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
- ^ Isidore. "Codex Gigas: Isidorus". National Library of Sweden. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ^ Barney et al. 2006, pp. 24–28.
- ^ a b c d e Barney et al. 2006, pp. 27–28.
Bibliography
- Barney, Stephen A.; Lewis, W. J.; Beach, J.A.; Berghof, O. (2006). The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-21969-6. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
- Brehaut, Ernest (2003) [1912]. An Encyclopedist of the Dark Ages: Isidore of Seville (PDF) (Digital ed.). Columbia University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
- Fear, A. T., and Jamie Wood, eds. Isidore of Seville and His Reception in the Early Middle Ages: Transmitting and Transforming Knowledge. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2016.
- Garwood, Christine (2007). Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4050-4702-9.
- Grant, Edward (1974). A Sourcebook in Medieval Science. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-82360-0.
- Hamilton, John T. (2010). "Pliny the Elder". In Grafton, Anthony; Most, Glenn W.; Settis, Salvatore (eds.). The Classical Tradition. Harvard University Press.
- Hexter, Ralph (2010). "Isidore of Seville". In Grafton, Anthony; Most, Glenn W.; Settis, Salvatore (eds.). The Classical Tradition. Harvard University Press.
- Lapidge, Michael (2006). The Anglo-Saxon Library. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-153301-3. Archivedfrom the original on 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
- S2CID 170517611.
- Lindsay, Wallace (1911b). Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Etymologiarum Sive Originum Libri XX. Clarendon Press.
- Porzig, Walter (1937). "Die Rezensionen der Etymologiae des Isidorus von Sevilla". Hermes. 72 (2): 129–170.
- Rusche, Philip G. (October 2005). "Isidore's "Etymologiae" and the Canterbury Aldhelm Scholia". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 104 (4): 437–455. JSTOR 27712536.
- Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1991). Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-95904-3.
- Sofer, Johann (1930). Lateinisches und Romanisches aus den Etymologiae des Isidorus von Sevilla. Göttingen.
- Stevens, Wesley M. (1980). "The Figure of the Earth in Isidore's "De natura rerum"". Isis. 71 (2): 268–77. S2CID 133430429.
External links
- Summary of contents in English (starts on page 57)
- Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis (Herzog August Bibliothek)
- Scholia in Isidori Etymologias Vallicelliana Archived 2005-10-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Latin texts