De temporibus

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De temporibus is a text on various aspects of time that Beda Venerabilis wrote in Latin in 703 . The work is divided into three areas: “Some definitions relating to time”, “Reflections on Easter , and a“ World Chronicle ”. The main source is the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville , which the author never mentions. However, his explanations are specific by the time of Easter, a lot more than that. 725 he elaborated the themes further in his De temporum ratione .

Some definitions regarding time

Chapter 1 to 9 defines the Venerable Bede time units and time concepts, such as day, night, month names among the Romans, lunar year , solar year , etc. It is mainly used book V of Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville and goes down to the definitions of Marcus Terentius Varro back . But the works of Pliny the Elder are also available to him, for example, with regard to the length of days and nights in the course of the year, he literally takes over:

… Solstiti diebus… subiecta terrae continuos dies have senis mensibus noctesque e diverso ad brumam remoto
... at the turn of summer ... the parts of the earth below have day for 6 months and night as long as the sun has moved away by the turn of winter

Considerations for the date of Easter

From chapter 10 he explains some terms of the calendar calculation , whereby the determination of the Easter date is the focus.

The Bissextus ( leap day , which was realized in the calendar reform of Gaius Iulius Caesar by going through the VI (Latin: sextus ) calendar of March twice (Latin: bis ) every 4 years) is described in detail and vividly as a compensation for the slowness the sun.

De Circulo Decemnouenali , the 19 years of the lunar circle . This is a lunisolar calendar that combines the different lengths of the lunar and solar years so that the seasons and phases of the moon stay in harmony. The Athenian Meton divided this in 433 BC A cycle of 19 years in 12 years to 12 months and 7 years to 13 months. Beda Venerabilis recalls the First Council of Nicaea , which used this cycle to determine the Easter date, and explains the years of different lengths.

De Saltu Lunae , the moon jump. In Meton's lunar circle, time is divided into 19 lunar years of 354 days and 7 hidden leap months of 30 or 29 days, which are called moon jumps. Beda Venerabilis vividly describes how, due to the slowness of the moon, its rise alternates between the middle of the day and the middle of the night. However, following the expediency of arithmetic rather than nature, one must assume whole days and years of the same length. The result is the last, 19th year of the cycle to be 383 days. So in the last year 383 - 365 = 18 leap days are inserted and this is called saltus lunae . These explanations deviate considerably from Meton's definition, even if the basic intention with both is the synchronization of the lunar and solar years.

In Chapter XIIII he takes over, partly literally, from Dionysius Exiguus his calculations for the 8 statements that must be made on each Easter date from his Argumenta Paschalia . The simplest is to calculate the leap year:

Si uis nosse bissextilem annum, partire annus Domini per 4
If you want to know the leap year, divide the year of the Lord by 4

In the case of far more difficult calculations, such as the epacts or the lunar cycle, he also deviates from Dionysius Exiguus. However, his considerations are not always understandable. The calculation of his current year 703 comes from this chapter.

World chronicle

With his world chronicle, beginning with Adam and ending with the currently ruling emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire , Beda Venerabilis closely follows Book V of the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville in terms of structure and choice of words . It is a very brief representation of world history, structured by the lifetimes and reigns of persons in the Bible , great kings of the Persian Empire , Roman Caesars and Eastern Roman rulers. Events that affect the Christian Church, such as the birth of Christ, councils , and the emergence of heresies are included. Beda Venerabilis also stands in the tradition of numerous ancient chronicles, such as that of Eusebius of Caesarea, without even remotely reaching their abundance of material.
In contrast to Isidore of Seville, he does not follow the Septuagint for the times , but the tradition of Eusebius of Caesarea and thus exposes himself to the charge of heresy. Otherwise it does not necessarily follow its main source either. The ancient poetess Sappho and also some Roman military successes are not worth mentioning for him. On the other hand, he cites more religious events, such as the conversion of the Saxons in Brittania to the Christian faith or the beginning of the first Easter cycle of Dionysus Exiguus at the time of Justinian.

Continuation of action and tradition

The work was overshadowed by the later extensive elaboration De temporum ratione and did not have its extraordinary effect and dissemination. After all, around 60 manuscripts have survived. Printed versions were published by Sachardus, Noviomagus, Hervagius in Basel and Giles in London. In 1850 Jacques Paul Migne included the work in his Patrologia Latina .
Theodor Mommsen edited the chronicle part of De temporibus as Chronica minora together with the chronicle part of De temporum ratione as Chronica maiora ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Berlin, 1898). Ch. W. Jones adopted the Chronica minora in his edition of De temporibus .

Text output

  • Ch. W. Jones: Bedae Venerabilis Opera , Turnholt Brepols 1975

literature

  • Franz Brunhölzl : History of Latin Literature in the Middle Ages , Munich 1975
  • RW Burgess and Michael Kulikowski: Mosaics of time , The Latin Chronicle Traditions from the First Century BC to the Sixth Century AD, Turnhout 2013
  • Alden A. Mosshammer: The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era , Oxford 2008
  • Heinz Zemanek : Calendar and Chronology , Munich-Vienna 1990

Single receipts

  1. ^ Franz Brunhölzl: History of Latin Literature in the Middle Ages , p. 211
  2. Pliny the Elder: Naturalis historia , Book II, 186
  3. Heinz Zemanek: Calendar and Chronology , p. 28
  4. Heinz Zemanek: Calendar and Chronology , p. 42f
  5. Heinz Zemanek: Calendar and Chronology , pp. 44–47
  6. ^ Alden A. Mosshammer: The Easter Computus and the Origins of Christian Era , pp. 85-87
  7. RW Burgess: Mosaics of time , pp. 204f
  8. Frant Brunhölzl: History of Latin Literature in the Middle Ages , p. 211f
  9. Ch. W. Jones: Bedae Venerabilis Opera , Pars VI, pp. 580f