The Instruments Which Are the Proper Delights of the Quadrivium: Rhythmomachy and Chess in the Teaching of Arithmetic in Twelfth-Century England

Abstract

The Instruments Which Are the Proper Delights of the Quadrivium: Rhythmomachy and Chess in the Teaching of Arithmetic in Twelfth-Century England. Cambridge, Trinity College MS R 15.16 provides an insight into the study of arithmetic as a liberal art, in the West Midlands of England in the late twelfth century. It shows how the number game rhythmomachy was used to make the study pleasurable, just as chess lightened the learning of geometry. It witnesses a lively interest in defining the scope of arithmetic, in the light of new texts translated from Arabic. In an appendix to the article, the author edits and translates the manuscript's rhythmomachy text, which includes several references to chess.