The Excerptiuncula: A Short Introduction to Boethius’s De arithmetica from the Early Middle Ages

Abstract

The article deals with the early medieval reception of Boethius’s De arithmetica by offering a critical edition of one hitherto unpublished text, i.e. the Excerptiuncula, which represents a short Carolingian introduction to Boethius’s mathematical work and is written by an anonymous master, presumably at the end of the tenth century. The edited text is nothing more than a summary of the first book of the De arithmetica and is intended for a rudimentary teaching level. Elementary as this text is, the Excerptiuncula is revealing of the intellectual milieu of the Carolingian and Ottonian schools in Europe, demonstarting circulation on both sides of the Alps. More specifically, the summary contributes to clarify how arithmetic was taught in Tegernsee and Montecassino. In the eleventh century, the Excerptiuncula was used by two renown Carolingian scholars, i.e. Froumund of Tegernsee and Lawrence of Amalfi. Together with Montecassino, Archivio dell’Abbazia, MS 189, which preserves Boethius’s De arithmetica, the Excerptiuncula is at present the only known witness of the interest in Boethian number theory at Montecassino during the Desiderian age.