Latin Sources Research Articles

Scandinavian Saints in Middle Low German Disguise: Transregional Perspectives on a Late Medieval Printed Hagiographic Collection ‘Der Heiligen Leben’

ABSTRACT In 1492, a Lübeckian printer Stephan Arndes released an updated edition of a popular late medieval hagiographic collection Der Heiligen Leben in Middle Low German. From a few dozens of newly added legends, nine of them are about saints who were venerated only in Northern Germany and Scandinavia – or both. By adding these ‘Northern’ hagiographies, Arndes attempted to domesticate an otherwise rather universal collection – and not only among a Northern German but also a Scandinavian audience. By analysing these hagiographies, their possible Latin sources, and how Stephan Arndes got hold of these texts, the article shows that the edition in question is a testimony to transregional hagiographic knowledge transfer between Northern Germany and Scandinavia. Such an exchange was realized through specific editorial decisions, printing networks, and business connections, enabled by the wide usage of Middle Low German in the Nordic countries not only among foreign merchants but also locals, especially in legal and religious milieux. This case study of Stephan Arndes’ hagiographic print reveals that late medieval transregional devotional networks were bi-directional, unlike what is suggested by the centre-periphery paradigm, often applied when discussing medieval German influences on Scandinavian religious culture and institutions.

Were the tables of Ibn Isḥāq al-Tūnisī known in Paris c.1300?

Two Latin sources from the years around 1300 (John of Sicily’s commentary on the canons to the Toledan tables and a parchment slip documenting the astronomical activities and observations of Alard of Diest) contain brief references suggesting that Parisian scholars of this period had access to a set of astronomical tables for Tunis known as tabulae Benesac. According to the argument developed in this article, the tables in question probably corresponded to a Maghribī zīj originally created by Ibn Isḥāq al-Tūnisī in c.1222. The article goes on to discuss the possible channels of transmission that could have brought these tables to Paris as well as the potential implications of this finding for the history of Latin astronomy in the late 13th and early 14th century. Attention is also drawn to the presence of eclipse-related material from the Muqtabas zīj by Ibn al-Kammād in a Northern French manuscript of the second half of the 13th century, which was independently translated from the Arabic and accordingly does not derive from the well-known translation by John of Dumpno (Palermo, 1260).

Hans Sauer and Alessia Bauer (eds.). 2023. To Instruct and To Entertain – Medieval Didactic Dialogues: The Old English Prose Solomon and Saturn, the Middle English Master of Oxford’s Catechism and their Reconstructed Latin Source; the Old English Adrian and Ritheus, and the Old Icelandic Dialogue between a Pupil and his Master. Middle English Texts 67. Heidelberg: Winter Universitätverlag, lv

Hans Sauer and Alessia Bauer (eds.). 2023. <i>To Instruct and To Entertain – Medieval Didactic Dialogues: The Old English Prose</i> Solomon and Saturn<i>, the Middle English</i> Master of Oxford’s Catechism <i>and their Reconstructed Latin Source; the Old English</i> Adrian and Ritheus<i>, and the Old Icelandic</i> Dialogue between a Pupil and his Master. Middle English Texts 67. Heidelberg: Winter Universitätverlag, lv

New Non-legal Sources of Thet Autentica Riocht and Other Old Frisian Law Texts

Abstract This article identifies new Latin sources and new Latin and vernacular analogues for noteworthy non-legal passages in late Old Frisian law texts. Several items in Thet Autentica Riocht from Codex Unia and the related “Autentica-Sammlung” preserved in Codex Aysma are shown to descend from Insular catechetical triads (including a triad popularized by Alcuin) that were also adapted by the authors of Old English and Old Norse homilies. Other passages in the Autentica collections can be traced to the works of Gregory and Isidore (likely via a florilegium like the Liber scintillarum), to popular twelfth- and thirteenth-century theological texts like the Stella clericorum and Peter Cantor’s Verbum adbreviatum, and to the Disticha Catonis. Meanwhile, a late, variant conclusion to The Seventeen Statutes is shown to utilize an inexpressibility motif derived from the apocryphal Visio Sancti Pauli that is deployed in similar ways in Old English and Old Norse texts. The identification of these sources and analogues has significant implications for the textual criticism of the Old Frisian works and can also help improve our understanding of their relationship to other medieval European vernacular religious traditions.

A Proposal for the Identity of the Inner Asian City of Ornas (Hornach) Mentioned in Thirteenth-Century Latin Sources

Ornas (also Hornach) appears in the mentions of several Latin authors in the mid-thirteenth century as an important city deep in Asia that had been conquered by the Mongols. There have been several past suggestions by scholars for its identity; the scattered mentions of Ornas (Hornach) have been variously suggested to refer to Tana, Otrar, or Konye-Urgench. The present paper argues that these references, though confused on matters of geography since the Western European authors were writing about largely unknown regions that they did not personally visit, are typically references to the city of Konye-Urgench. The Latin authors’ descriptions of its fall to the Mongols unquestionably draw parallels with Middle Eastern, Rus’, Chinese, and Mongol accounts. This paper argues that the Latin references to Ornas’ proximity to a nearby sea are related to the Aral Sea which had southerly stretches very close to Konya-Urgench as is indicated, for instance from Russian survey maps of the nineteenth century. This identification allows us to place John of Plano Carpini’s description of the fall of Ornas within a larger, cohesive narrative which, though confused on points, offers insights on the fall of the Khwarazmian Empire in the early 1220s.

Narrativity and literariness in receptions of Josephus’s teknophagia story

Abstract In this article, I present an analysis of the narrative discourses and literary elements found in the teknophagia story that originates with Josephus’s Bellum Judaicum and trace the development of those motifs in subsequent Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions of the story. I first outline the reception history of Josephus within medieval Coptic and Ethiopic literary traditions, by way of the Hebrew Sefer Yosippon and one of its Latin sources, the De Excidio Hierosolymitano. I then illustrate how the literariness of the various authors who reworked the teknophagia story influences a reading of the narrative discourses of each text. In doing so, I emphasize the unique iteration of the account of the cannibalistic mother that appears in the Christian-Arabic and Ethiopic histories, showing how this version of the story develops out of not only earlier stylistic changes, but also from the literary elements introduced into the story by the redactor of the Arabic reworking of the Hebrew Yosippon.

Zu Otachar im Hildebrandslied

Abstract Apart from other details within the Hildebrandslied, writing a th occurs only once. This is the case with the name of Dietrich in miti theotrihhe (line 19). It remains the only th throughout the poem. In the Latin sources the name of Theoderich is regularly written as Theodericus or Theodoricus. This fact must have been known to the writer. For this reason, he wrote Th in order to continue with OHG -eotrihh- (line 19). Two times he wrote the name with OHG D (lines 23 and 26). The fight between Theoderich and Odoacar for the domination of Italy was a well-known fact and therefore also was known to the writer as is proved by his writing of Th. He felt he had to correct a mistake in the Hildebrandslied. This is why he removed Ermenrich and inserted the correct Otacher in his place. Driving Dietrich out of Italy into exile thus became the third infamous deed of Ermenrich, the second been the hanging of the pair of nephews, called the Harlunge, the first the killing of his only son Friderich. Also, the problem of the apparent -i-stems asckim, scurim, and sciltim is tackled.

English Translations of 15th and 16th-Century Latin Sources on Baltic Religion and Mythology

Pagans in the Early Modern Baltic. Sixteenth-Century Ethnographic Accounts of Baltic Paganism, edited and translated from Latin by Francis Young, Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2022, 192 p., ISBN 978-1-64189-437-1

Les ainsi nommées « reliques » lexicales d’origine latine des psautiers roumains du XVIe siècle

Abstract This paper discusses the hypothesis of a Latin source involvement in the process of translating and transmitting the sixteenth century Romanian Psalters. This hypothesis is based on a few words of Latin origin, called “lexical relics”, that might have been selected by etymological attraction under the influence of a Latin source. The methodological issues, arguments and examples referred to by the supporters of this theory are subjected to a critical analysis based on a textual comparison of the Romanian Psalters and their Slavonic and presumed Latin sources. The complete analysis of such lexemes shows that there are no arguments in favour of this view because: (1) among the “lexical relics” are included words inherited from Latin which do not etymologically overlap with their corresponding word in the Latin versions of the Psalter; (2) if there are etymological concordances between the Romanian and Latin versions, they are always doubled by semantic concordances with the Slavonic source(s), which points to the fact that the etymological concordances can be explained simply by choosing the Romanian semantic correspondent for the Slavonic word; (3) if there are minor semantic differences, they prove a semantic, even etymological, concordance with the Slavonic versions; (4) there is no case of semantic inconsistency between the Romanian lexemes and their corresponding words in the Slavonic sources which a Latin version of the Psalter might explain.

Eunapius of Sardis and a Latin Source

Eunapius of Sardis and a Latin Source

DEFENDING SULLA… TO CONDEMN THE CATILINARIANS ONCE AGAIN? SOME MORAL AND POLITICAL CONCEPTS FROM CICERO’S PRO SULLA

For Catiline and his fellow conspirators, the most important Latin sources are Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae and Cicero’s Catilinarians. Yet also other works deserve proper attention, in particular some of Cicero’s orations, especially the Pro Sulla (62 BC). This paper intends further to explore some values and exam ples relating to the ideological interpretation of the Pro Sulla and, consequently, to the environment in which Cicero and his political adversaries lived. More specifi cally, the focus will be on some antithetical pairs (namely, ‘madness-rationality’, along with ‘immorality-integrity’, ‘severity-mercy’ and ‘regnum-libertas’) that are not only relevant in rhetorical terms, but also reflect the political tensions and the different ideologies in Cicero’s days.

Animal Behaviour and Barbarian Customs: Points of Contact Between Ethnography and Ethology in Greek and Latin Sources

In the context of the ancient philosophical discussion of animal intelligence, authors tried to show the commonality of the human and the animal mind by collecting and presenting anecdotes in which animal behaviour appears anthropomorphized. Normally this anthropomorphization follows Greek and Roman standards, but in some cases animals appear behaving in ways reminiscent of “barbarian” customs, as transmitted by ancient historiographical sources. A selection of such cases is the subject of this article. The image of the behaviour of wild animals such as elephants or eagles, and domesticated animals, like dogs and hens, in the works of Pliny, Aelian, and Plutarch can sometimes reflect what recent studies have called “the barbarian repertoire”, whereby animals appear to be endowed with a sort of “alien wisdom”.

On Kings Who Drove Back the Sea: Shipping, Seafaring and Naval Campaigns in the Early Cēra Kingdom

This study aims to answer the question whether the ancient Cēra kings sailed the seas and, if so, whether their technology was suitable for crossing the Indian Ocean, while it tries to summarize what we know about shipbuilding in ancient Southwest India. On the following pages, an attempt is made to introduce the most important passages of the Old Tamil Caṅkam literary sources in order to analyse their data in the light of Greek and Latin sources, and of Indian and Mediterranean inscriptions. It can be concluded that although inscriptions of Tamil traders can be found from Egypt to Thailand, and the Cēra kings built a maritime fleet for probably the first time in the history of ancient South India in order to punish their enemy, the kaṭampu tribe by sailing on the seas, their nautical contribution to the long-distance trade of the Arabian Sea as well as their engagement in coastal shipping can be classified as moderate and incidental in the antiquity.

In Defence of Böðvarr bjarki

AbstractFor almost two centuries, Böðvarr bjarki has been a household name in Beowulf studies. The exploits of this monster-slaying champion of the Danish king match those of the epic hero at many points, and this has made Bjarki the subject of critical fascination. Many scholars have viewed the correspondences between Beowulf and Bjarki as evidence that certain aspects of Beowulf’s career may have been modelled on existing Scandinavian legend — a view with clear implications for our understanding of the originality of Beowulf. The value of the Bjarki story has also been challenged, largely on the basis that Scandinavian evidence is inconsistent in its presentation of this tradition. This article defends the usefulness of the Bjarki analogue by returning to the Scandinavian source material. It demonstrates that the various versions of the Bjarki story across Old Norse and Latin sources are structurally consistent and point to the existence of a coherent underlying tradition. This reopens the possibility that Beowulf and Bjarki may independently derive from the same legendary archetype.

The Jews’ Hat in Medieval Ashkenaz: Formal Attire for Everyday Men?

Abstract This article nuances the dominant historiographical narrative of the Jews’ hat as an allegedly pejorative iconographic marker of Jewish men in medieval Ashkenaz. Considering the perceptions and functions of the Jews’ hat, this article will offer new conclusions regarding if, when, and by whom it was worn. Drawing from a variety of sources in Hebrew, Latin, and vernacular languages, and on visual sources, the overall argument presented here is that the Jews’ hat was not everyday attire and that it was not likely owned by all Jewish men. Rather, featuring among the variety of hats Jewish men wore based on their socioeconomic or religious status in their communities from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, the Jews’ hat was a costume worn by those of more common status and on formal occasions when distinguishing oneself according to any urban group was required, such as during urban processions, oath-taking, public forms of punishment, or matters of civic administration.

The Smell of Mortal Man: When the Demonic Female Preys Upon the German Pietist

AbstractIn the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilioth, preyed upon mortal men who crossed their paths or who laid down to sleep in their territory. These lilioth could smell the scent of a man, whose body carried with it the additional value of sexual allure, and would hunt them down with their finely attuned olfactory sense. Another odor discussed in these texts, the smell of flying ointment, guaranteed invisibility and offered invulnerability to night-time travelers of both sexes which mirrors the phenomenon known in contemporary Latin sources under the term cursus. In these texts, Jewish mystics, before the dawn of the Kabbalah, rewrote the widely known folklore traditions and fairy tales common to both Jewish and Christian cultures in the Middle Ages. The study presented here is therefore aimed to provide insight into a previously underestimated chapter in Jewish esoteric and kabbalistic sensorium, namely, the olfactory experience.

Il lessico latino dei colori e la ‘cecità’ degli antichi verso il blu

This article deals with the issue of the ancient lexicon of colours, more specifically the Latin lexicon. The subject has been addressed in the past from wrong methodological perspectives and with the use of modern colour classification categories. So arose the false problem of ancient blue blindness. However, the analysis of some Latin sources shows that this colour was perceived both as a material colour for painting and as a descriptive element of (e.g.) the sea; but it was perceived as an unstable and changing colour.

The Most Significant Musical Source of the Premonstratensian Abbey in Jasov: An Adiastematic Fragment of an Unknown Breviary, Shelfmark KF of Inc 164

Slovak medieval musicology saw its remarkable revival at the beginning of the third millennium. It could draw on the fundamental research on medieval Latin sources carried out by the codicologist Július Sopko in the 1980s and on the specialized articles of the musicologists Konštantín Hudec, Richard Rybarič, Ľubomír Vajdička, and Zuzana Czagányová. Systematic in-depth research on medieval notated sources held by Slovak archives, museums, and libraries was started by the musicologist Eva Veselovská of the Institute of Musicology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava in collaboration with Rastislav Adamko and the author of this study, both lecturers at the Department of Music of the Faculty of Education of the Catholic University in Ružomberok. Thanks to the twenty-year-long research – tracking down, digitalizing, studying the sources, and making them accessible – a number of monographs, catalogues, scholarly studies, and specialized articles have been published on this topic. In this study, we will zoom in on a recently discovered fragment with staveless notation, deposited in the archive of the Premonstratensian Abbey in Jasov in eastern Slovakia. The original manuscript was used in a diocesan environment. The textual and neumatic analysis and comparison of the chants of the Jasov fragment and the comparative sources has revealed a high percentage of their reciprocal similarity and we may consequently presume that the original breviary from which the respective bifolio was removed originated in a South German region and was probably later imported to the territory of Slovakia.

Не пей с ним или с ней? К вопросу интерпретации Сир 9.9

In this paper, the author deals with the problem of Biblical literary criticism on the example of one of the problematic readings of Ben Sira (9:9). The majority of translations of Ben Sira are made either from the Greek sources or from Greek and Hebrew sources, achieving a certain textual compromise. The Greek text is usually corrected on the basis of the Hebrew text, however there are cases where the Hebrew text is corrected on the basis of the Greek one, and the emendations are introduced. Such an approach ignores the fact that Biblical books existed and were transmitted in various recensions, which were altered independently. Therefore, there reconstruction of the common archetype is hardly possible. The example of Ben Sira 9:9 contains a regulation for a young man to drink wine during a banquet, however, this regulation varies in different sources. There are not so many written evidences about banquets in Judea in the time prior to the events described in the Maccabean books, so the Ben Sira is one of the principal sources of information. The Greek text prohibits to drink wine and to talk to a married woman during a banquet, the restriction presupposes a married woman was admitted to such events and to be able to choose freely who to converse with. The Latin sources prohibit to recline with a married woman and to drink wine with her. The Hebrew text advises to avoid drinking wine with a husband and conversing with him. Most of the translations ignore the witness of the Hebrew text, a popular vocalized reconstruction of the original contains an emendation on the basis of the Greek text: the masculine pronoun is replaced with feminine one. The detailed analysis of the pericope Ben Sira 9:1–9 suggests the Hebrew text is apparently primary one, and the Latin and the Greek translations reflect social realties of Roman and Greek banquets respectfully.

Old English Transciption of the Latin Hagiography of Saint Aegidius: Language and Rhetoric

The article analyzes the methods of transcribing an anonymous Latin hagiography of St. Aegidius (British Library manuscript Tiberius Div, volume 2, 84v-87r, late eleventh century) by an anonymous author of an Old English hagiography of the same saint (mid-twelfth-century manuscript, Corpus Christi College Cambridge C 303). Errors in manuscript CCCS 303 show that the scribe copied an earlier Old English text of the eleventh century, not always understanding it well. But overall, the twelfth-century manuscript retains most of the features consistent with the norm of the eleventh-century Wessex dialect. The lexicon of the Old English text includes a number of Latin loanwords, as well as one word of Scandinavian origin. Some deviations from the written norm in phonetics and morphology show the influence of colloquial speech. The emphasis on the omnipotence of God and on the saint’s close personal contacts with God, not so noticeable in the Latin version, leads to an expansion of St. Aegidius’ epithets compared to the Latin source. The changes in the method of narration concern the rejection of ancient rhetorical techniques, primarily rhetorical questions; the replacement of historical details; and the expansion of Gospel allusions. At the same time, the Old English narrative is characterized by an increase in the emotional mood and dramatization of the story, including through the introduction of monologues and dialogues.