Martianus Capella

The cosmographic model of Martianus Capella after a medieval drawing. Florence manuscript, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana , San Marco 190, fol. 102r (11th century)

Martianus Min (n) e (i) us Felix Capella (mostly Martianus Capella for short ) was a Roman writer and poet from Carthage . He lived in the 5th and perhaps even in the early 6th century and wrote a Latin encyclopaedic work that was to serve as a textbook for the Seven Liberal Arts . The communication of the knowledge is loosened up by an allegorical framework and lyrical parts. The influence of this script on Western education in the Middle Ages was very great.

Life

About the life of Martianus, who called himself Felix or Felix Capella, there is very little information, some of which is dubious, which is obtained from autobiographical references in his work. There is no chronological information, and very different opinions have been expressed about his life dates in research; the assumptions fluctuated between the late 3rd and early 6th centuries, today the 5th or early 6th century is usually assumed.

Martianus was probably born in Carthage. In any case, he grew up there; apparently he spent most of his life in Carthage. A stay in Rome is suspected, but this is very uncertain. The hypotheses about his occupation and his social background are also speculative. It has been assumed that he came from a rural background and was self-taught . According to another opinion, more frequently represented in research, he belonged to the upper class. From an unclear formulation it was concluded that he was proconsul in Africa. It is often assumed that he was a lawyer; A job as a rhetoric or grammar teacher is also an option. Apparently he had some knowledge of Greek.

It is also unclear whether Martianus was a Christian. It is noticeable that his work does not contain any allusions to Christianity. This silence and some other evidence, including his description of abandoned oracle sites of the god Apollo , indicate that he was a follower of the old pagan religion and culture, the main contents of which he wanted to summarize in his work. Research has even suggested a veiled anti-Christian thrust. It is possible that Martianus was superficially Christianized.

plant

The only known work of Martianus traditionally bears the title De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii ("The marriage of philology with Mercury "), which does not come from the author. He wrote it at an advanced age, when he was retired, and dedicated it to his son. The possible period of origin extends from 410 to the first quarter of the 6th century. Based on some evidence, it is believed that it was written in Rome.

It is an encyclopedia, apparently designed as a textbook, in nine books in the form of a Menippe satire . Verses in 15 different meter measures are interspersed in the prose. The canon of the Seven Liberal Arts is shown .

Page of a manuscript by De nuptiis , 10th century, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Lat. 7900 A

The system of Martianus Capella according to Valentin Naibod: Primae de coelo et terra institutiones , Venice 1573, fol. 41 recto

Musica, the personification of music, as illumination in a manuscript by De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii : Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana , Lat. XIV, 35 (colloc. 4054), fol. 149v (period 1485/1490)

Satura, the personification of satire, told the author about the content of the work. The framework plot is mythical-allegorical. An allegorical scene serves as an introduction. A search for a bride and the subsequent “ holy wedding ” are described. The bride and groom are the messenger of the gods Mercury, the god of eloquence, and a mortal virgin, philology. At that time, philology was understood to mean all learning, not linguistic and literary studies in particular, as it is today. The first two books are about preparations. Mercury was unsuccessful in looking for a bride and, on the advice of Virtus (virtue), turned to the god Apollo , who recommended the "extremely learned" Philologia to him. After Jupiter, the father of gods, and his wife Juno have agreed to the wedding plan, a meeting of the gods is called, which also agrees and decides to accept the mortal bride among the immortals. Philologia is decorated for the wedding and receives the potion of immortality. Mercury's wedding gifts to his future wife are seven virgin servants who personify the Seven Liberal Arts. They appear one after the other, each with a detailed description of clothing and demeanor, and each summarizes its science in one of the remaining books (3–9). Book 3 deals with grammar, book 4 the dialectic, book 5 the rhetoric, Book 6 the geometry, book 7 the arithmetic, book 8 the astronomy and book 9 the harmony (music). Thus, books 3–5 first represent the trivium , then books 6–9 the quadrivium . Architecture and medicine are excluded from the canon of subjects because they relate to the earthly and transient and therefore do not fit into the heavenly world of gods. Finally the harmony leads the bride and groom into the bedchamber.

In the third book, which deals with grammar, letters, syllables, parts of speech, declension, conjugation, anomaly (words that do not follow the linguistic rules) and successful and incorrect use of language are dealt with one after the other. Phonology and form theory are presented, but not syntax . The fourth book deals with dialectics (logic, “science of good disputation”), first with regard to individual words, then with regard to the components and types of sentences; then truthful statements and finally the syllogisms are considered. In the fifth book, the topic of which is rhetoric, the individual tasks of the speaker are first discussed in detail, namely "finding material" ( inventio , with the doctrine of legal questions and the evidence), structuring the material, presentation, memorization and presentation, and then relative briefly discussed the parts of the speech. The subject of the sixth book is actually geometry, but by far the largest part is about geography. The two areas of knowledge appear to be closely intertwined. The length of Geometria's speech arouses the anger of the gods. The seventh book is about arithmetic; the numbers are first considered from a qualitative point of view (number symbolism), then in detail from a quantitative point of view (actual arithmetic).

In the eighth book, Astronomia sets out its teaching; Topics are the celestial sphere with the ten celestial circles, the fixed stars and the planets (which include the sun and moon). Martianus is of the opinion that the planets Mercury and Venus do not orbit the earth but the sun; thus he represents a change compared to the purely geocentric worldview prevailing at that time. In the last book, Harmonia appears and talks about her science, music theory; actually she is only responsible for the harmonics, but she also deals with the rhythm. The harmony in music is associated with the harmony of the universe ( harmony of spheres ) in the sense of the Pythagorean tradition . The topics include the effects of music on the soul and body of people and their use in the art of healing.

The canon of the Seven Liberal Arts was not, as was previously assumed in research, widespread in education since the epoch of Hellenism or at least since Varro . Rather, it is a concept that first emerged in Neo-Platonism , which is not attested to before Augustine and Martianus Capella. The original objective was not school (obtaining general education), but philosophical (enabling the rational soul to return to its divine home, the intelligible realm). The work of Martianus can only be understood against the background of his Neoplatonic world of thought.

reception

The work of Martianus has enjoyed extraordinary popularity for centuries. At least 241 manuscripts are known. The extent of its distribution and use for teaching purposes in late antiquity is unclear; in the Middle Ages it becomes a mainstay of education. It was cited for the first time in the 6th century by the mythographer Fulgentius , who was the first to quote the title that is still used today. The Gallo-Roman Christian historian Gregory of Tours calls the author “our Martian”. The oldest surviving manuscripts date from the 2nd half of the 9th century; after the middle of the 9th century, medieval commentary also begins. The work is now used as a school book. Prominent Carolingian commentators on Martianus are Johannes Scottus Eriugena and Remigius von Auxerre . Notker der Deutsche translates the first two books into Old High German. In the 12th century, the group of scholars known as the “ School of Chartres ” studied Martianus. Numerous pictorial representations of the Seven Liberal Arts in the Middle Ages are based on his descriptions. From the High Middle Ages, interest waned. Copernicus praises Martianus for his advocacy of a heliocentric element within the geocentric worldview that prevailed in antiquity.

The first Martianus edition, obtained from Franciscus Vitalis Bodianus, appeared in Vicenza in 1499 ; Six further editions followed by the end of the 16th century, including one in 1599 by Hugo Grotius .

In modern times, Martianus is often criticized for his sometimes dark style and for excessive verbosity.

The Capella moon crater is named after him.

Editions and translations

• Martianus Capella: Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure . Les Belles Lettres, Paris (critical edition, Latin text with French translation and commentary; published so far :)
  • Vol. 1: Livre I , ed. Jean-Frédéric Chevalier, 2014, ISBN 978-2-251-01467-8
  • Vol. 4: Livre IV: La dialectique , ed. Michel Ferré, 2007, ISBN 978-2-251-01448-7
  • Vol. 6: Livre VI: La géometrie , ed. Barbara Ferré, 2007, ISBN 978-2-251-01449-4
  • Vol. 7: Livre VII: L'arithmétique , ed. Jean-Yves Guillaumin, 2003, ISBN 2-251-01433-0
  • Vol. 9: Livre IX: L'harmonie , ed. Jean-Baptiste Guillaumin, 2011, ISBN 978-2-251-01461-6
• James Willis (Ed.): Martianus Capella . Teubner, Leipzig 1983 (critical edition; the Teubner edition by Adolf Dick is obsolete)
• Hans Günter Zekl (translator): Martianus Capella: The marriage of Philologia with Mercury. De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-8260-3043-7

Medieval and early modern translations and commentaries

• Cora E. Lutz (Ed.): Dunchad: Glossae in Martianum . Lancaster Press, Lancaster 1944
• Cora E. Lutz (Ed.): Remigii Autissiodorensis commentum in Martianum Capellam. 2 volumes. Brill, Leiden 1962–1965 (critical edition)
• Cora E. Lutz (Ed.): Iohannis Scotti annotationes in Marcianum . Mediaeval Academy of America, Cambridge (Mass.) 1939 ( digitized )
• Haijo Jan Westra u. a. (Ed.): The Berlin commentary on Martianus Capella's De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii . 2 volumes, Brill, Leiden 1994–1998
• Haijo Jan Westra (Ed.): The Commentary on Martianus Capella's De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii attributed to Bernardus Silvestris . Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto 1986, ISBN 0-88844-080-4
• Gabriella Moretti (Ed.): I primi volgarizzamenti italiani delle Nozze di Mercurio e Filologia . Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento 1995, ISBN 88-86135-43-2
• Ilaria Ramelli (eds.): Scoto Eriugena, Remigio di Auxerre, Bernardo Silvestre e Anonimi: Tutti i commenti a Marziano Capella . Bompiani, Milano 2006, ISBN 88-452-5739-8 (Latin texts without critical apparatus and Italian translations)

literature

Overview representations

• Marc-Aeilko Aris : Martianus Capella . In: Reallexikon für Antike und Christianentum , Vol. 24, Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-7772-1222-7 , Sp. 266-275
• Barbara Ferré, Michel Ferré: Martianus Capella . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Vol. 4, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-271-06386-8 , pp. 288-302
• Sabine Grebe: Martianus Min (n) e (i) us Felix Capella. In: Wolfram Ax (ed.): Latin teachers in Europe. Fifteen portraits from Varro to Erasmus of Rotterdam. Böhlau, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-412-14505-X , pp. 133-163

Investigations and Comments

• Sabine Grebe : Martianus Capella: 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'. Representation of the seven liberal arts and their relationships to one another . Teubner, Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, ISBN 3-519-07668-3 (habilitation thesis)
• Danuta Shanzer : A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii Book 1 . University of California Press, Berkeley 1986, ISBN 0-520-09716-5

reception

• Brigitte English: The Artes Liberales in the Early Middle Ages (5th – 9th centuries). The quadrivium and the computus as indicators of continuity and renewal of the exact sciences between antiquity and the Middle Ages . Steiner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-515-06431-1
• Sonja Glauch: The Martianus Capella adaptation Notkers des Deutschen . Volume 1: Investigations , Volume 2: Translation of Book I and Commentary . Niemeyer, Tübingen 2000, ISBN 3-484-89116-5
• Mariken Teeuwen: Harmony and the Music of the Spheres. The Ars Musica in Ninth-Century Commentaries on Martianus Capella . Brill, Leiden 2002, ISBN 90-04-12525-6
• Mariken Teeuwen, Sinéad O'Sullivan (Ed.): Carolingian Scholarship and Martianus Capella. Ninth-Century Commentary Traditions on De nuptiis in Context. Brepols, Turnhout 2011, ISBN 978-2-503-53178-6

See also

• History and development of the encyclopedia

Web links

Wikisource: Martianus Capella  - Sources and full texts

Commons : Martianus Capella  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Martianus Capella in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short biography and reviews of works by Martianus Capella at perlentaucher.de
• De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii Book 9 in the Bibliotheca Augustana

Remarks

1. ↑ On the dating problem, see Sabine Grebe: Martianus Capella: 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' , Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, pp. 16–21.
2. ^ Danuta Shanzer: A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii Book 1 , Berkeley 1986, p. 2; Sabine Grebe: Martianus Capella: 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' , Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, pp. 12–15; Jean-Yves Guillaumin (Ed.): Martianus Capella: Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure , Vol. 7, Paris 2003, pp. IX f.
3. ↑ Danuta Shanzer: A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii Book 1 , Berkeley 1986, p. 4; Sabine Grebe: Martianus Capella: 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' , Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, p. 33.
4. ^ Danuta Shanzer: A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii Book 1 , Berkeley 1986, pp. 21-28; Sabine Grebe: Martianus Capella: 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' , Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, p. 21 f .; Samuel IB Barnish: Martianus Capella and Rome in the Late Fifth Century . In: Hermes 114, 1986, pp. 98–111, here: 107 f.
5. ↑ Danuta Shanzer: A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii Book 1 , Berkeley 1986, pp. 5-17; Sabine Grebe: Martianus Capella: 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' , Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, pp. 19-21; Jean-Yves Guillaumin (Ed.): Martianus Capella: Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure , Vol. 7, Paris 2003, pp. X – XVI.
6. ↑ Samuel IB Barnish: Martianus Capella and Rome in the late Fifth Century . In: Hermes 114, 1986, pp. 98-111.
7. ^ Martianus Capella, De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii 891.
8. ↑ Ilsetraut Hadot: Martianus Capella, mediator between Greco-Roman antiquity and the Latin Middle Ages . In: Arbogast Schmitt , Gyburg Radke-Uhlmann (Hrsg.): Philosophy im Umbruch , Stuttgart 2009, pp. 15–33.
9. ^ Sabine Grebe: Martianus Capella: 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' , Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, p. 571.
10. ↑ Jean-Yves Guillaumin (Ed.): Martianus Capella: Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure , Vol. 7, Paris 2003, pp. LXXXIX f .; one of the editions (Basel 1532) is online .