Talk:Johannes de Sacrobosco

This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.

University of Oxford Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject University of Oxford, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the University of Oxford on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.University of OxfordWikipedia:WikiProject University of OxfordTemplate:WikiProject University of OxfordUniversity of Oxford articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. Biography: Science and Academia This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles This article is supported by the science and academia work group. Mathematics Mid‑priority Astronomy Mid‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Astronomy, which collaborates on articles related to Astronomy on Wikipedia.AstronomyWikipedia:WikiProject AstronomyTemplate:WikiProject AstronomyAstronomy articles Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale. History of Science Mid‑importance This article is part of the History of Science WikiProject, an attempt to improve and organize the history of science content on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion. You can also help with the History of Science Collaboration of the Month.History of ScienceWikipedia:WikiProject History of ScienceTemplate:WikiProject History of Sciencehistory of science articles Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale. Astrology This article is within the scope of WikiProject Astrology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Astrology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AstrologyWikipedia:WikiProject AstrologyTemplate:WikiProject Astrologyastrology articles ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale. Middle Ages Low‑importance Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

halifax page says it means holy face or holy field , not holy hair. Aleichem 16:05, 9 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The article states, accurately enough, that the inscription marking his burial place in the monastery of Saint-Mathurin in Paris described him as a computist, one who was an expert on the calculation of Easter. Then follows the three lines:

M. Christi bis C. quarto deno quarter anno

De Sacro Bosco discrevit tempora ramus,

Gratia cui dederat nomen divina Johannes:

Problem is, those three lines are from an Epigraph in some manuscripts of De Sphaera, and not from the inscription on his monument. According to the cited source (Pedersen), his tombstone said,

De Sacrobosco qui computista Joannes

Tempora discrevit, iacet hic a tempore raptus.

Tempora qui sequeris, memor esto quod morieris.

Si miser es, plora: miserans pro me procor ora.

which I interpret to mean,

From Holybush, the computist John, who

determined the times, lies here taken by Time.

Thou who followest the times, be mindful that thou wilt die.

If thou art sad, weep: I pray thee, mercifully pray for me.

The epigraphs in his manuscripts vary quite a bit, but here is the example cited in the source:

O qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernat

Terrarum celique sator qui tempus ab evo

Ire iubes, stabilisque manens das cuncta moveri

Tu stabilire velis opus hoc per temporis evum.

.M. Christi bis .CC. quarto deno quater anno

De sager busco discrevit tempora ramus

Gratia cui nomen dederat divina iohannes

Annuat hoc nobis huius sic carpere fructum

Ecclesiae Christi quod nos hinc fructicemus.

which I interpret to mean

O He who governs the cosmos with continual reason

Sower of earth and sky, thou who of old

biddest time to go, who immovably givest all things to be moved

Thou wouldst make immobile this work throughout the era of time.

The one thousandth, twice two hundredth, fourth and four times tenth year of the Christ

From the holy bush (i.e. Sacroboscus) a branch determined the times

to which branch divine grace gave the name John

May it permit us so to pluck his fruit by this

which we may yield as fruit hence to the Church of Christ.

In the last two lines I assume that huius refers to John, and the hoc ... quod refers to "the work". It sounds like an afterword by the copyist, perhaps in the year 1444.

At any rate, I think the article should be clarified as to the source of the verses, as well as the text of the epitaph. Rwflammang (talk) 03:02, 5 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]