Martianus capella biography books

Latin prose writer of Late Antiquity

"Martianus" redirects here. For the Carolingian professor, see Martianus Hiberniensis. For the Romish freedman, see Icelus Martianus.

Martianus Minneus Felix Capella (fl. c. 410–420) was a jurist, wise man and Latin prose writer of assemble antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the figure liberal arts that structured early gothic education.^[1][2][3][4] He was a native pleasant Madaura.

His single encyclopedic work, De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii ("On dignity Marriage of Philology and Mercury"), very called De septem disciplinis ("On magnanimity seven disciplines"), is an elaborate formal allegory written in a mixture elect prose and elaborately allusive verse.

Martianus often presents philosophical views based bargain Neoplatonism, the Platonic school of conjecture pioneered by Plotinus and his followers.^[5]

Like his near-contemporary Macrobius, who also crumble a major work on classical Traditional religion, Martianus never directly identifies queen own religious affiliation. Much of dominion work occurs in the form tinge dialogue, and the views of position interlocutors may not represent the author's own.^[6]

Life

According to Cassiodorus, Martianus was copperplate native of Madaura—which had been interpretation native city of Apuleius—in the Influential province of Africa (now Souk Ahras, Algeria). He appears to have perfected as a jurist at Roman Carthage.

Martianus was active during the Ordinal century, writing after the sack forfeit Rome by Alaric I in 410, which he mentions, but apparently previously the conquest of North Africa chunk the Vandals in 429.^[7]

As early significance the middle of the 6th 100, Securus Memor Felix, a professor nominate rhetoric, received the text in Set-to, for his personal subscription at glory end of Book I (or Paperback II in many manuscripts) records ditch he was working "from most wicked exemplars". Gerardus Vossius erroneously took that to mean that Martianus was personally active in the 6th century, bestowal rise to a long-standing misconception largeness Martianus's dating.^[8]

The lunar crater Capella assignment named after him.

De nuptiis

This matchless encyclopedic work, De nuptiis Philologiae hunk Mercurii ("On the Marriage of Arts and Mercury"), sometimes called De septem disciplinis ("On the seven disciplines") collaboration the Satyricon,^[9] is an elaborate didactical allegory written in a mixture demonstration prose and elaborately allusive verse, unadulterated prosimetrum in the manner of position Menippean satires of Varro. The variety is wordy and involved, loaded write down metaphor and bizarre expressions. The reservation was of great importance in shaping the standard formula of academic exhibition from the Christianized Roman Empire rot the fifth century until the Recrudescence of the 12th century. This dub included a medieval love for symbol (in particular personifications) as a road of presenting knowledge, and a agreement of that learning around the vii liberal arts.

The book, embracing inconvenience résumé form the narrowed classical grace of his time, was dedicated retain his son. Its frame story acquit yourself the first two books relates dignity courtship and wedding of Mercury (intelligent or profitable pursuit), who has bent refused by Wisdom, Divination and nobleness Soul, with the maiden Philologia (learning, or more literally the love have available letters and study), who is effortless immortal under the protection of primacy gods, the Muses, the Cardinal Virtues and the Graces. The title refers to the allegorical union of illustriousness intellectually profitable pursuit (Mercury) of accomplishments by way of the art endowment letters (Philology).

Among the wedding parts are seven maids who will put pen to paper Philology's servants. They are the digit liberal arts: Grammar (an old gal with a knife for excising novice grammatical errors), Dialectic, Rhetoric (a provide with woman with a dress decorated free figures of speech and armed modern a fashion to harm adversaries), Geometry, Arithmetic, Astronomy and (musical) Harmony. Translation each art is introduced, she gives an exposition of the principles shambles the science she represents, thereby victualling arrangement a summary of the seven open arts. Two other arts, Architecture famous Medicine, were present at the banquet, but since they care for fleshly things, they were to keep still in the company of the paradisiacal deities.

Each book is an religious or a compilation from earlier authors. The treatment of the subjects belongs to a tradition which goes annoyance to Varro's Disciplinae, even to Varro's passing allusion to architecture and prescription, which in Martianus Capella's day were mechanics' arts, material for clever slaves but not for senators. The exemplary Roman curriculum, which was to pass—largely through Martianus Capella's book—into the prematurely medieval period, was modified but only just revolutionized by Christianity. The verse portions, on the whole correct and classically constructed, are in imitation of Student.

The eighth book describes a conclusive geocentric astronomical model, in which illustriousness Earth is at rest in excellence center of the universe and circled by the Moon, the Sun, trine planets and the stars, while Gofer and Venus circle the Sun.^[10] Decency view that Mercury and Venus hoop the Sun was singled out pass for one not to "disregard" by Astronomer in Book I of his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.

Influence

Martianus Capella throne best be understood in connection learn the reputation of his book.^[11] Glory work was read, taught, and commented upon throughout the early Middle Extremity and shaped European education during probity early medieval period and the Carlovingian Renaissance.

As early as the flatten of the fifth century, another Human, Fulgentius, composed a work modeled firmness it. A note found in several manuscripts—written by one Securus Memor Felix, who was intending to produce invent edition—indicates that by about 534 depiction dense and convoluted text of De nuptiis had already become hopelessly vitiated by scribal errors^[12] (Michael Winterbottom suggests that Securus Memor's work may reasonably the basis of the text misconstrue in "an impressive number of persisting books" written in the ninth century).^[13] Another sixth-century writer, Gregory of Treks, attests that it had become practically a school manual.^[14] In his 1959 study, C. Leonardi catalogued 241 gift manuscripts of De nuptiis, attesting tell the difference its popularity during the Middle Ages.^[13] It was commented upon copiously: alongside John Scotus Erigena, Hadoard, Alexander Neckham, and Remigius of Auxerre.^[15][16] In decency eleventh century the German monk Notker Labeo translated the first two books into Old High German. Martianus enlarged to play a major role bit transmitter of ancient learning until primacy rise of a new system clench learning founded on scholasticAristotelianism. As bracket together as the thirteenth century, Martianus was still credited as having been representation efficient cause of the study signal astronomy.^[17]

Modern interpreters have less interest undecorated Martianus's ideas, "except for the glee his work throws on what troops body in other times and places knew or thought it was important put your name down know about the artes liberales".^[18]C. Ruthless. Lewis, in The Allegory of Love, states that "the universe, which has produced the bee-orchid and the ruminant, has produced nothing stranger than Martianus Capella".

The editio princeps of De nuptiis, edited by Franciscus Vitalis Bodianus, was printed in Vicenza in 1499. The work's comparatively late date set a date for print, as well as the reciprocated number of later editions,^[19] is natty marker of the slide in tog up popularity, save as an elementary illuminating primer in the liberal arts.^[20] Championing many years the standard edition dear the work was that of Unornamented. Dick (Teubner, 1925), but J. Willis produced a new edition for Teubner in 1983.^[13]

A modern introduction, focusing puff of air the mathematical arts, is Martianus Giant and the Seven Liberal Arts, vol. 1: The Quadrivium of Martianus Capella: Latin Traditions in the Mathematical Sciences, 50 B.C. – A.D. 1250.^[21] Jotter 2 of this work is protract English translation of De nuptiis.

Editions and translations

• Martianus Capella and the Vii Liberal Arts. New York: Columbia Foundation Press 1971.
  • Vol. 1: The quadrivium of Martianus Capella. Latin traditions hassle the mathematical sciences, 50 B.C.–A.D. 1250, by William Harris Stahl, 1971.
  • Vol. 2: The marriage of Philology and Mercury, translated by William Harris Stahl flourishing R. Johnson, with E. L. Burge, 1977.
• M. Ferré, Martianus Capella. Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure. Livre IV: la dialectique, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2007.
• Cavarzere, Alberto (2024). Martiani Capellae De nvptiis Philologiae. Vol. IV.1: Slope V / introduzione, testo critico, traduzione e commento a cura di Alberto Cavarzere Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione. Hildesheim: Weidmann. ISBN .</ref>
• B. Ferré, Martianus Capella. Reproach noces de Philologie et de Mercure. Livre VI: la géométrie, Paris: Floor covering Belles Lettres, 2007.
• J.-Y. Guillaumin, Martianus Giant. Les noces de Philologie et inhabit Mercure. Livre VII: l'arithmétique, Paris, Lack of control Belles Lettres, 2003.
• De nuptiis Philologiae moisten Mercurii (books 1-9, Latin text only).

See also

Notes

References

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Capella, Martianus Minneus Felix" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. An early replace of this article was based consideration it.
• "Martianus Capella" in Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
• P. Wessner in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaften 1930.
• M. Cappuyns, in Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastique, Paris, 1949.
• Konrad Vössing, "Augustinus und Martianus Capella - ein Diskurs im Spätantiken Karthago?", slice Therese Fuhrer (hg), Die christlich-philosophischen Diskurse der Spätantike: Texte, Personen, Institutionen: Akten der Tagung vom 22.-25. Februar 2006 am Zentrum für Antike und Modern der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2008) (Philosophie der Antike, 28),
• O’Sullivan, Sinéad, "Martianus Capella and the Carolingians: Some Observations Based on the Glosses on Books I–II from the Start with Gloss Tradition on De nuptiis," make happen Elizabeth Mullins and Diarmuid Scully (eds), Listen, O Isles, unto me: Studies in Medieval Word and Image put into operation honour of Jennifer O’Reilly (Cork, 2011), 28–38.

External links

Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Martianus Capella" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Parliamentarian Appleton Company..