Rhetorical Theory and the Rise and Decline of Dictamen in the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
John O. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Rhetorical Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Classical Rhetoric ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
Privileged Position ◽  
Training Institutions ◽  
The Middle Ages ◽  
Legal Training

This paper examines the links between Classical (Ciceronian) rhetorical theory and the teaching of medieval Latin prose composition and epistolography between the eleventh century and the renaissance, mainly in Italy. Classical rhetorical theory was not replaced by dictamen, nor was it the “research dimension” of everyday dictaminal activity. Rather Classical rhetorical theory, prose composition and epistolography responded to distinct market niches which appeared from time to time in different places as a consequence of social and political changes. Boncompagno's apparent setting aside of Ciceronian rhetorical theory in favour of stricter notarial and dictaminal procedures was in turn superseded by his successors who chose to enrich their notarial theory with studies of classical rhetoric. Classical rhetorical theory proved influential on dictaminal theory and practice. Dictamen was not ousted by classical rhetoric. It only really declined when growing lay literacy and the use of the vernacular combined with the autonomous professionalism of the legal training institutions to erode the privileged position occupied in medieval times by the dictatores.

Hippocrates Latinus: Repertorium of Hippocratic Writings in the Latin Middle Ages (VI)

Traditio ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 347-372
Author(s):  
Pearl Kibre
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Professional Conduct ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
Direct Knowledge ◽  
Latin West ◽  
Medical Theory ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
The Middle Ages

The Repertorium of Hippocratic Latin texts in the Middle Ages, begun in Traditio 31 (1975) 99–126 and continued in the issues following, here resumes with a number of tracts clearly labelled as by Hippocrates in medieval Latin manuscripts. In general, these texts contain traditional or characteristic features of Hippocratic medical theory and practice, particularly the emphasis upon the relation of climate and seasons to health, upon the four humors and the importance of maintaining a harmonious relation between food and exercise. They also, especially in the Oath (Iusiurandum) and the Law (Lex), reveal the importance placed on ethics and the moral and correct professional conduct of the physician. The fact that most of these treatises were available in the Latin West before the close of the fourteenth century should serve to modify traditional views regarding the lack of direct knowledge of Hippocrates before the so-called Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Stages in Diplomatic Production

2020 ◽  
pp. 610-618
Author(s):  
Olivier Guyotjeannin
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Middle Ages

This chapter examines administrative documents of the Middle Ages and the major scholarly studies of them. It surveys the number of preserved documents and the problems surrounding the lack of documents in different periods and places. The author discusses the role and influence of the Church in the increased production and preservation of documents beginning in the eleventh century, leading to an enormous increase in the production of documents during the last three centuries of the Middle Ages.

The Meaning of ‘carruca’ in the ‘Leges Barbarorum’

Traditio ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 297-300
Author(s):  
Theodore John Rivers
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
The Middle Ages

The term carruca (or carruga), like many other terms in medieval Latin, acquired a new and different meaning in the Middle Ages in place of its original classical meaning. There is no confusion over the meaning of carruca in Roman historical and literary sources: it clearly means a four-wheeled wagon or carriage. However, its original meaning was modified during the medieval period so that by the early ninth century carruca denoted a wheeled plow. Although the medieval plow is often called a carruca (whereas the Roman plow is called an aratrum), one should not infer that all references to carruca in medieval sources signify a plow, particularly if these sources are datable to that transitional period during which the classical meaning of the word was beginning to be transformed into its medieval one. Characteristic of the sources which fall within this period are the Germanic tribal laws (leges barbarorum), and of these, three individual laws in particular are of interest: the Pactus legis Salicae 38.1, Lex Ribuaria 47.2, and Lex Alamannorum 93.2.

scholarly journals Las técnicas constructivas en las murallas medievales de Almería

X ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Gurriarán Daza
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Rammed Earth ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Typical Scheme ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Middle Ages

Building techniques in the medieval walls of AlmeríaAlmería was one of the most important cities in al-Andalus, a circumstance that was possible thanks to the strength of its port. Its foundation as an urban entity during the Caliphate of Córdoba originated a typical scheme of an Islamic city organized by a medina and a citadel, both walled. Subsequent city’s growths, due to the creation of two large suburbs commencing in the eleventh century, also received defensive works, creating a system of fortifications that was destined to defend the place during the rest of the Middle Ages. In this work we will analyse the construction techniques used in these military works, which cover a wide period from the beginning of the tenth century until the end of the fifteenth century. Although ashlar stone was used in the Caliphate fortification, in most of these constructions bricklayer techniques were used, more modest but very useful. In this way, the masonry and rammed earth technique were predominant, giving rise to innumerable constructive phases that in recent times are being studied with archaeological methodology, thus to know better their evolution and main characteristics. 

Muslim Roma in the Balkans

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Crowe
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Middle Ages

The Roma entered the Balkans from India during the Middle Ages. They reached Persia sometime in the ninth century and by the eleventh century had moved into the Byzantine Empire. According to the eleventh-century Georgian Life of Saint George the Athonite, the Emperor Constantine Monomachus asked the Adsincani to get rid of wild animals preying on the animals in his royal hunting preserve. Adsincani is the Georgian form of the Greek word Atsínganoi or Atzínganoi, from which the non-English terms for Roma (cigán, cigány, tsiganes, zigeuner) are derived. Adsincani means “ner-do-well fortune tellers” or “ventriloquists and wizards who are inspired satanically and pretend to predict the unknown.” “Gypsy” comes from “Egyptian,” a term often used by early modern chroniclers in the Balkans to refer to the Roma. Because of the stereotypes and prejudice that surround the word “Gypsy,” the Roma prefer a name of their own choosing from their language, Romani. Today, it is preferable to refer to the Gypsies as Rom or “Roma,” a Romani word meaning “man” or “husband.” Byzantine references to “Egyptians” crop up during this period as Byzantine political and territorial fortunes gave way to the region's new power, the Ottomans. There were areas with large Roma populations in Cyprus and Greece which local rulers dubbed “Little Egypt” in the late fourteenth century.

Parable, Allegory and Romance in the Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat

Traditio ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 359-366
Author(s):  
W.F. Bolton
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
English Renaissance ◽  
Ancient India ◽  
Wide Readership ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation ◽  
The Middle Ages

The medieval versions in Greek and Latin of the legend of Barlaam and Josaphat made generally available to Christian writers a considerable amount of Eastern story material. The legend itself enjoyed wide readership in these and vernacular languages, and individual episodes provided the basis for further expansion. The viability of the legend in this regard owes much to the ten moral tales, or apologues, which appear during the course of the main story. These little fables proved attractive to writers for centuries, throughout and even after the Middle Ages, and they have long engaged the efforts of scholars to trace their route from ancient India to the English Renaissance stage. The apologues merit attention, however, in the form in which they were used in the eleventh century, for their application in the hagiographical context provides an interesting example of post-Scriptural parables and the allegorical interpretation of what might be termed ‘romance’ materials. This paper seeks to examine the attitudes toward parable, allegory and romance implicit in the ten apologues of the Vita.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document