Institutiones divinarum et saecularium litterarum
Institutiones divinarum et saecularum litterarum ( Introduction to the spiritual and secular sciences ) is a Latin script by Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator . He is mostly called Cassiodorus or Cassiodorus for short. He had pursued the plan to found a Christian university on the model of the school of Nisibis , which the times prevented. Following on from this, between 552 and 562 AD he wrote a work in two books for the instruction of the local monks in the Vivarium monastery, which he founded . With the Institutiones Cassiodorus also wants to impart spiritual and worldly knowledge to the simple and uneducated brothers ( fratres simplices et impoliti , books I, XXI). Book I mainly revolves around the Bible and its interpretation by the Church Fathers , but also contains a short medical chapter ( De monachis curam infirmorum habentibus ). Book II offers a rich excerpt from the traditional knowledge of antiquity, regarding linguistics, parts of philosophy and natural sciences. The sources range from Aristotle to Cicero to his contemporary Boethius , but only insofar as they were created in Latin or a translation from Greek was available.
The two areas of theology and the humanities and natural sciences are, however, combined to form a unit. On the one hand, it is undisputed for Cassiodorus that the knowledge of antiqui comes from the Bible (Book I, XXI, 2):
mundanarum peritia litterarum, quae praeter additamenta quorundam doctorum ab Scripturis divinis cognoscitur esse progressa
secular sciences ... which, apart from additions on the part of some scholars who are known to have emerged from the Holy Scriptures.
On the other hand, despite the appreciation of Holy Scripture, the secular sciences should not be despised (Book II, Conclusion, 3).
Book I.
Structure and content
Book I is divided - numerus aetati Dominicae accommodus = adapted to the age of the Lord (Book II, Praefatio, 1) - in 33 chapters. Most of them study the Bible, both Bible exegesis and copying the texts. Another focus is monastery life in the vivarium. The last chapter contains a prayer.
Book I: Bible and Bible Exegesis
The Bible is available to Cassiodorus in the Latin translation of St. Jerome , to whom he pays profuse praise (books I, XXI). It divides the text into 9 codices and treats each in a chapter. He hardly deals with the content of the text, but recommends the reader a list of writings that are largely available in the monastery library. The most frequently mentioned authors are Augustine , Ambrosius and Hieronymus. In the following chapters he adds further excellent Bible exegeses (books I, XVI), historians from the corresponding period such as Flavius Josephus (books I, XVII), geographers such as Claudius Ptolemy (books I, XXV), whom he greatly appreciated Dionysius Exiguus (Book I, XXIII) and more.
Book I: Copywriting
The copying and maintenance of the texts seems to have had a similar meaning to their studies and is valued by Cassiodorus more than the physical work. Every word that is copied in the service of the Lord inflicts a wound on Satan (Book I, XXX, 1).
However, he also makes demands on this work. The scribes should read the old orthographs to avoid mistakes (Book I, XXX, 2). But you should also respect the idiomata Scripturae divinae (Book I, XV, 2), so do not try to "improve" strange expressions with common ones . But all the necessary improvements should be written splendidly.
He also promotes the translation from Greek into Latin and mentions three men, apparently not monks, but friends, presbyters, learned men, who make such translations for him (including books I, VI, 6).
Book I: Monastery and Monastery Rule
In book I, XXVIIII, Cassiodorus creates a beautiful picture of the Vivarium monastery , nestled near the sea between mills, fish ponds and gardens. He recommends the specialist writers Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella , Gargilius Martialis and Palladius Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus to the monks who are busy with gardening . He says that he made copies available in particular of the works of the latter two (Book I, XXVIII, 6). For the convenience of the monks there is a sundial , a water clock and mechanical oil lamps (Book I, XXX, 4 and 5).
As a monastery rule he recommends a work by Johannes Cassianus (Book I, XXVIIII, 2), but wants it to be adapted because of the different living conditions. He orders the monks and the two abbots who lead them to support those in need and to instruct the peasants who belong to the monastery and not to burden them with additional taxes (Book I, XXXII, 1 and 2).
Book II
In Book II Cassiodorus deals with the secular sciences. He divides them into the 7 chapters of grammar, rhetoric, logic or dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. He does not give the reason for this division in his Proömium. It may be influenced by Marcus Terentius Varro , who lists these sciences with two additional ones in his disciplinae . Martianus Capella , mentioned by Cassiodorus, also deals with these 7 sciences (Book II, III, 20). He also discusses the question of whether one should speak of disciplinae = sciences or artes = arts (including books II, II, 17). The 7 chapters have very different weights. The dialectic is by far the most extensive. Geometry and astronomy are just brief sketches.
In contrast to Book I, he also communicates the traditional knowledge in terms of content. References to existing codes in the library are rarely made.
Book II: Grammar
In this brief chapter, Cassiodorus refers to the two books Ars minor and Ars maior by Aelius Donatus , which are in the monastery library. He quotes some of them verbatim, from the definition of the letter to the definition of the figure of speech.
Book II: Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the teaching of the secular sciences, the ability to speak well in questions of citizenship . Cassiodorus quotes Marcus Fabius Quintilianus , Atilius Fortunationus (a rhetorician of the 4th century AD?) And some of the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero . The subject area is subdivided and discussed in several ways, according to the requirements of the speaker (finding material, arrangement of material, stylization, memorization, presentation) (Book II, II, 2), according to the practical situation (including accusation, justification, petition for clemency) (Book II, II, 5), after the parts of the speech (introduction, presentation, structure, justification, refutation and conclusion) (Book II, II, 9) and others.
In section 16 Cassiodorus goes back to the situation of the monks: Holy Scriptures are also learned by heart; he learns the art of lecturing by reading the Holy Scriptures aloud; singing the Psalms will help him speak.
Book II: Dialectics
This chapter forms the focus of Book II in purely quantitative terms, since it makes up about 1/3. Cassiodorus gives dialectics or the art of disputation the greatest heuristic value; for him it is "speculative philosophy". The main sources he mentions are Marius Victorinus , the works of Aristotle , also through the mediation of Boethius and the writings of Cicero, especially Topica .
Following some general definitions of philosophy, Cassiodorus cites excerpts from the Categories and Peri Hermeneias of Aristotle. In addition, he finds numerous explanations of syllogisms in other ancient and late ancient writers .
In Sections 14 and 15, the author goes into the definitions, which is the linguistically concise formulation of a state of affairs . It is based on Cicero (mainly Topica ) and Marius Victorinus' De definitionibus , in which there are again 59 Cicero quotations (mainly Topica ). He adopts the 15 types of definition with the Greek name and z. T. the explanatory examples from usiodes, id est substantialis (essential) to etiologiam. Latini rei rationalem (causation).
These definitions are also relevant to Cassiodorus for his work with biblical texts. In his work Expositio psalmorum he also classifies the psalm texts according to their use of these definitions. For " Lutherbibel , Psalm 49, 13 ... of it like the cattle " he states that this is a definition of the 10th kind, that is by means of an example.
Book II: Arithmetic
Cassiodorus embeds arithmetic, i.e. the subject-specific definitions, in 2 speculative complexes of arithmology. At the beginning of the chapter he brings Pythagoras into harmony with a prophetic word. At the end of section 7, he praises the number as a helpful regulatory power that God has donated to man. As the first Christian author, he then developed a mysticism of the numbers 1 to 7, which are based on the Bible, such as 1 = Dominus unus (the one God), 5 = the 5 books of Moses etc.
In sections 3 to 6 Cassiodorus unfolds the Greek arithmetic. He largely follows, as he himself states, the work of Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius ( De institutione arithmetica ), which he knows as a translation of Nicomachus of Gerasa . Definitions relating to natural numbers , such as par / impar ( even / odd number ), perfectus ( perfect number ), primus / simplex ( prime number ), superpartitionalis (considerations on the rational number ) etc. are presented in a factual and concise manner. However, Boethius is much more detailed in Book I to Book II, 3. The following geometrical discussions (section 6) are rendered very imprecisely by Cassiodorus. It corresponds to the superficialis numerus , which is defined by length and width, i.e. the area , the plana superficies in Boethius (Book II, 4). Its detailed description of the polygonal numbers, however, wither to a few drawings. From the detailed discussion of the solidus numerus ( body ) only the names of the pyramid and cube remain .
Book II: Music
In this chapter too, Cassiodorus frames the subject-specific content with general explanations that mix Christian / Biblical ideas and events with ancient, mainly Pythagorean.
He mentions the writing De musica of Augustine, but gives the musicologist Gaudentius ( Harmonica introductio ) and the De die natali of Censorinus as the source for the specialist content . His explanations are limited to the listing of some instruments, the 15 keys and the intervals ( octave , diapente etc.) that he could have taken over from Censorinus.
Book II: Geometry
In the 1st part, Cassiodorus briefly refers to land surveying. Apparently he does not have the extensive Latin literature of the Agrimensors .
In the second part only a few simple geometrical definitions are given. Although reference is made to Boethius' translation of Euclid into Latin, this chapter is of little substantial content; Cassiodorus, no proper transmission of the material is possible.
Book II: Astronomy
The author compiles passages in the Bible that deal with the sun and the stars (Book II, VII, 1), such as the star of the magicians, which leads to Bethlehem.
Only then does he turn to the sciences. As a source he names De forma Mundi by Lucius Annaeus Seneca , which is lost, and Claudius Ptolemy . However , his few explanations do not come close to his handbook of astronomy .
He also goes into the importance of astronomy for agriculture in order to determine the correct times of cultivation, as Pliny the Elder testified for Hesiod , but does not name a source. Added to this is the important task of determining the right time for the Christian Easter festival ( Easter date ) (Book II, VII, 3). Cassiodorus rejects
every way of exploring fate through the stars ( notitia fatorum ), also with reference to Augustine.
Survival and lore
Although Isidore of Seville does not name the author, it is likely that he knew this script and used it in his Etymologiae . Also Rabanus Maurus read and used book II of the Institutiones , but not Book I, the total had little effect on the theological study of the early Middle Ages.
The work has been handed down in numerous manuscripts, some of which contain both books and some only one. Roger AB Mynors created an annotated edition from these 1937. In the introduction, the known codes are listed taking into account their scope, their relationship to one another, etc.
While Book I was only slightly changed by copying, Book II is available in three very different versions. This suggests the possibility of a later revision by Cassiodor himself or another author. The title of Book II also varies. Jacques Paul Migne took it up as De artibus ac disciplinis liberalium litterarum in the Patrologia Latina .
Editions and translations
- Wolfgang Bürsgens: Cassiodor, Institutiones divinarum et saecularum litterarum , Freiburg 2003
- RAB Mynors: Cassiodori Senatoris Institutiones , Oxford 1937
- Andreas Pronay (translator): Cassiodorus Senator: Introduction to the spiritual and secular sciences (Institutiones divinarum et saecularium litterarum) (= Spudasmata , Volume 163). Olms, Hildesheim 2014, ISBN 978-3-487-15207-3 (translation and commentary)
literature
- Wolfgang Bürsgens: Cassiodor, Institutiones divinarum et saecularum litterarum , introduction, Freiburg 2003
- Brigitte English: The artes liberales in the early Middle Ages, Stuttgart 1994
- Paul Lehmann: Studies of Cassiodorus in Research into the Middle Ages , Stuttgart 1959, reprint from Leipzig 1941
- Andreas Pronay: Cassiodorus Senator, Introduction to the Sacred and Secular Sciences , Hildesheim 2014
Remarks
- ↑ Andreas Pronay: Cassiodorus Senator , Introduction, page 5
- ^ Paul Lehmann: Cassiodor Studies , pp. 47–51
- ↑ Andreas Pronay: Cassiodorus Senator , Introduction, p 12
- ↑ Wolfgang Bürsgens: Cassiodor, Institutiones divinarum et saecularum litterarum , introduction, p. 31f
- ↑ Wolfgang Bürsgens: Cassiodor, Institutiones divinarum et saecularum litterarum , introduction, p. 76
- ↑ Andreas Pronay: C. Marius Victorinus: Liber de definitionibus , p.15
- ^ C. Marius Victorinus: Liber de definitionibus , 16-28
- ↑ Wolfgang Bürsgens: Cassiodor, Institutiones divinarum et saecularum litterarum , p. 361 u. P. 374 notes
- ↑ Cassiodorus: Exposure palmorum , XLVIII, 13
- ↑ Brigitte English: The artes liberales in the early Middle Ages, 3.1.3. Arithmetic in Cassiodorus, p. 113
- ↑ Brigitte English: The artes liberales in the early Middle Ages, 3.1.3. Arithmetic in Cassiodorus, p. 115
- ↑ Censorinus: De die natali , 10, (5) - (7)
- ↑ Brigitte English: The artes liberales in the early Middle Ages, pp. 161–164
- ↑ Bible: Mt 2, 1-12
- ↑ Pliny the Elder: Historia naturalis , Book XVIII, 201
- ^ Paul Lehmann: Cassiodor studies , pp. 58 - 59
- ^ Paul Lehmann: Cassiodor Studies , p. 66