De natura rerum

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De natura rerum is a work that Isidore of Seville wrote at the beginning of the 7th century on natural and social topics and dedicated to the Visigoth king Sisebut . As he explains in his dedication, he wants to bring together the writings of the veteres vires, i.e. the ancient philosophers and naturalists, with those of the vires catholicos, i.e. the church fathers .

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Isidore of Seville shows in detail where he gets his information from. Sometimes only general information such as antiqui, philosophi, apostoli is given . Usually the source is named. The quoted authors lived from the beginning of the 6th century BC. BC ( Thales von Milet ) to the 5th century AD ( Hieronymus ) in the whole area of ​​the Mediterranean Sea.

The Greek authors were apparently only available to Isidore of Seville in their implementation through Latin texts. He only quotes Thales from Miletus, Plato and Aratos from Soloi , and even these with little contribution.

The focus is on the one hand on Latin authors ( Marcus Terentius Varro , Lucretius , Hyginus Mythographus ) and on the other hand on the church fathers ( Augustine , Clement of Rome ). Among them, Ambrose of Milan , whose Hexaemeron is partially exzipiert literally, the greatest weight. In addition, there are quotes from the Latin poets Virgil , Marcus Annaeus Lucanus and others and numerous biblical quotations , less for information, but because of the linguistic decoration .

However, there are also many texts that are not associated with names, so that further literature used must be expected. The not mentioned Naturales quaestiones of Seneca the Younger show numerous parallels in the overall structure and in the individual themes. Isidore probably only got to know the older Latin poets through excerpts and compendia. There are numerous overlaps with his own, better-known work, Etymologiae .

Source:

Basic attitude and tendencies

“… Quosdam gentiles uel ecclesiasticos uires nouimus”

"... what we know of pagan and ecclesiastical scholars"

it says in the dedication. The author tries to present the intellectual currents of his time on an equal footing. Opposing opinions are often uncommented and unevaluated in the same chapter. In Chapter XXXVIIII De Pestilentia, for example, the opinion of the Church Fathers “it is the sin of men who is to blame” contrasts with the more objective, ancient representation: “seeds carrying plague are carried through the air by the wind”. Isidore of Seville has a harmonizing effect through the selection of the quoted texts. In Chapter XLII, Why the sea has bitter water, he quotes the Church Father Ambrose: "the ancients attributed this to evaporation by the sun". Ambrosius introduces his chapter with a long scolding by the philosophi and does not bring the text as a scientific explanation, but as an example of the otherwise wrong way of thinking of the philosophi. Isidore of Seville ignores this. On the other hand, he also repeatedly sprinkles praise for God, the Church, the believers, the righteous.

content

construction

The book is divided into 48 chapters, which can be merged into 3 subject areas:

  • Times and festivals
  • Earth and heavenly bodies
  • Meteorologica

Times and festivals

Chapters I to VIII deal with the definition of time intervals such as day, night, month. Those concerning the Latin language are often taken from De lingua latina by Marco Terentius Varro. However, different cultures are dealt with (Chapter IV, 6):

"Menses autem omnis apud Latinos ex kalendis sumunt principium, apud Hebraeos autem ex lunae nascentis recursu."

"The beginning of the month is with the Latins with the calendars , with the Hebrews with the new light of the moon."

The author lists names of days of the week, months and festivals. The Olympius agon of the Greeks stands next to the Lustrum of the Romans and the annus iubilaeus (= " jubilee year ") of the Jews (Chapter VI).

Chapter VIII From Solstice and Equinox leads to the next topic. The winter solstice is on the VIII kal. Ianuarias , that is, December 24th.

Earth and heavenly bodies

In the chapters VIIII to XXVII mainly from the exameron of the church father Ambrosius is quoted, whereby this in turn also the philosophi, i. H. the writings of antiquity, cited. The course of the planets, the size of the sun and moon, whether the moon has its own light and similar topics are discussed. On the one hand, the Genesis of the Bible is understood literally (Chapter XIIII of the waters that are above the heavens, 1st Book of Moses , 1, 6 and 7). On the other hand, Isidore of Seville also introduces the ancient doctrine of the four elements (Chapter XI of Parts of the World ).

The last chapters are dedicated to the Hyginus Mythographus and the Scholien zu Germanicus . In Chapter XXVI of the names of the stars , astronomical information is combined with a church interpretation. For Orion (constellation) it is reported that its rise indicates the beginning of winter, but also that it means “ martyr ”.

The author also dares to answer the question asked by the Church Father Augustine … utrum caeli luminaria… habeant… spiritu suos (“whether the heavenly bodies are animated”) (Chapter XXVII). He does not look for the answer in antiquity, which Aristotle deals with in his work On Heaven , but in the Bible. In the book of Proverbs of King Solomon he sees a confirmation of the animated nature of the sun and asks himself what its fate will be at the resurrection (= " resurrection ").

Meteorologica

The third part is a Meteorologica in the sense of Aristotle , a representation of the events in the “space adjacent to the celestial sphere” and processes on earth such as winds, earthquakes, lightning strikes. Here, too, Isidore of Seville mixes information from various sources. In Chapter XXX Von den Litzen he discusses the fact why one sees rather than hears the lightning, quotes several Latin poets (Virgil, Lucan, Horace ), in order to then interpret the lightning as a sign of the saints in the church sense.

Chapter XLIII deals with the flood of the Nile . The author offers the water- retaining effect of the Etesia winds as an explanation . Seneca also considers this in his Naturales quaestiones (Book 4a, 22). But Isidore of Seville does not name its source.

Lore

Like the entire work of Isidore of Seville, De natura rerum was also distributed in numerous manuscripts through the Middle Ages. It was an essential source of ancient knowledge for some early medieval authors such as Beda Venerabilis , Alcuin, and Rhabanus Maurus . Beda Venerabilis created an encyclopedia with the title De natura rerum , which was based on the work of the same name by Isidore of Seville, which he also z. T. translated into Anglo-Saxon.

Hrabanus Maurus made extensive use of the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville in his book De Universo . Here, however, he did not find the connection between scientific information and biblical exegesis that characterize his work. He could have taken this from De natura rerum . The book IX, chapters XV and XVI De lucifero and De vespere is striking . In the Etymologiae there are only short sections (Book III, LXXI, 18 and 19), but in which it is indicated that it is the same celestial body ( Venus ). Isidore of Seville (Chapter XXVI, 10-12) and Hrabanus Maurus do not provide this information, but cite the same passage from the Bible ( Revelation of John 22, 16) and develop an equation between Vesper and Antichrist .

Text output

literature

  • Gustavus Becker: Isidori Hispalensis "De natura rerum". In: Prolegomena. Berlin 1857.
  • Brigitte English: De artes liberales in the early Middle Ages , Stuttgart 1994.
  • Elisabeth Heyse: Hrabanus Maurus' encyclopedia “De natura rerum”. In: Munich Contributions to Medieval Studies and Renaissance Research. Munich 1969.
  • Lenelotte Möller : The Encyclopedia of Isidore of Seville, Introduction, Wiesbaden 2008.
  • Bruno Reudenbach : A world view in a diagram - a diagram as a world view. The microcosm-macrocosm scheme of Isidore of Seville, in: C. Markschies u. a. (Ed.), Atlas of World Views. Berlin 2011. pp. 32–40.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Lenelotte Möller, Introduction, p. 15.
  2. Gustavus Becker: Isidori Hispalensis "De natura rerum", notes.
  3. Clem. Recogn. VIII 45.
  4. Lucretius: De rerum natura, VI, 1093 seq.
  5. ^ Ambrosius: Exameron, II, III, 14.
  6. Augustine: De Genes. Ad suffered. II 18.38.
  7. Aristotle: Meteorology. Across the world, A1, 338a 25 - 339 a5.
  8. Gustavus Becker: Isidori Hispalensis "De natura rerum", Prolegomena, pp. XXIIII – XXVI.
  9. August Schmekel : Isidorus. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume 5, Stuttgart 1893ff., Col. 2075.
  10. Brigitte English: The artes liberales in the early Middle Ages . 2.3.5 Beda Venerabilis, p. 75 u. 76
  11. Elisabeth Heyse: Hrabanus Maurus' Encyclopedia “de rerum naturalis”, p. 33.