Philippe de Thaon

Philippe de Thaon (or Thaun ) was a French clergyman and poet of the early 12th century . He lived in Normandy during the reign of Henry I. Philippe wrote the first poems in the Anglo-Norman language.

Life

Around 1119 he wrote the Livre des Creatures or Comput (edited by Eduard Mall , 1873), a didactic poem about the heavenly bodies and the calculation of the calendar . His Lapidaire (edited by Paul Meyer , 1909) is a book about precious stones.

Best known is Philippe's Bestiaire ( Bestiarium , edited by Emanuel Walberg , 1900), which was created around 1121 and dedicated to Adeliza von Louvain , Henry I's second wife . In it, Philippe translates from older Latin literature, including the Bible , the Physiologus and the works of Isidore of Seville . Philippe dedicated a prose version of the Libre de Sibile (edited by Hugh Shields, 1979) to the daughter of Henry I, Matilda .

literature

• Alexander H. Krappe: The Historical Background of Philippe de Thaun's Bestiaire . In: Modern Language Notes , Vol. 59 (1944), No. 5 (May), pp. 325-327, ISSN  0149-6611 .

Web links

• Article on Philippe de Thaon and his bestiary