and a broader consideration of this topic.
35. A good review of the role of memorization in medieval pedagogy, which
clearly sets forth the changing balance in late medieval university education
from recitation and purely oral forms to reliance on books made available to
students through the cheaper and faster copying methods of the university
stationers’ pecia system, is Riche´, ‘‘Le roˆle de la me´moire dans l’enseignement
400
Notes to pp. 112–116
me´die´val’’; he also notes the paradox that written arts of memory proliferate in
step with the greater availability of books. On the role of recitation in early
medieval Latin pedagogy, including evidence that passages from the ancient
poets were sometimes chanted, see Ziolkowski, Nota bene.
36. Leclercq, Love of Learning, 90; see also 18–22, and cf. Riche
´, Education and
Culture, 120–121.
37. ‘‘Omnis qui nomen vult monachi vindicare, litteras ei ignorare non liceat;
quin etiam psalmos totos memoriter teneat’’; Rule of Ferreolus, ix (PL 66,
963D); cited by Riche
´, Education and Culture, 115.
38. Riche
´, Education and Culture, 464; on the length of time needed to memorize,
see note 117 on that page.
39. Courcelle, Les Confessions, Part I I , chapters 1–3. On Gregory’s indebtedness to
Augustine, see esp. 225–231.
40. Riche
´, Education and Culture, 461–464.
41. ‘‘Hoc ideo constituimus ut frequentius aliqua meditentur et memoria teneant
scribturas, Fratres, ut quando in quovis loco codix deest textum lectionis vel
pagine si opus fuerit memoria recitetur’’: La Règle du Maˆıtre, cap. 49, ed.
Vanderhoven and Masai, 241.
42. The kinds of memory-work associated with the seven different branches of the
traditional liberal arts are discussed in Carruthers and Ziolkowski, eds., The
Medieval Craft of Memory, 1–23.
43. Smalley, English Friars, 154.
44. Charland, Artes praedicandi, 335–6; ‘‘Verba enim de facili memoria excidunt,
et ex levi actione sic turbatur dicentis memoria quod verba prius concepta non
occurrunt. Immo, saepe cadens syllaba, cadit a toto. Tunc praedicator con-
funditur, quia se verbis plus quam sententiae alligavit.’’ The brief quotations
from Thomas of Waleys in my next few sentences are all from 336.
45. Charland, Artes praedicandi, 336; ‘‘Et si qua sunt verba in auctoritatibus illis
quae sunt merito singulariter ponderanda, illa singulariter conetur memoriter
retinere et dicere, de aliis minus curans. Et pro certo hoc habeat quod [multae]
sunt auctoritates sanctorum quas propter sui prolixitatem vel obscuritatem
melius est et utilius solum sententialiter dicere quam verbaliter recitare. Et
dato quod verbaliter recitentur, ubi sunt auctoritates obscurae omnino, earum
sententia est sub verbis claris aliis exponenda, ne, dum ab auditoribus non
intelliguntur, careant omni fructu.’’
46. Etym., I , xx.
47. Silverstein, ‘‘Adelard, Aristotle, and the De natura deorum’’; quotations are
from 82 and 84. Silverstein sets the two passages up in parallel columns, but
they are too long to reproduce here, and I refer the reader to them for a
textbook example of memoria sententialiter.
48. I use the name given to this treatise by Patrice Sicard in his edition for the
Corpus christianorum (CCCM 176). In the PL, this work was called De arca
Noe morali. Sicard has also accepted the view that the work which the PL
edition called De arca Noe mystice is a summary picture of the major themes in
De archa Noe (I agree with this view: see below, Chapter 7, and The Craft of
Notes to pp. 116–118
401
Thought, 243–250), and has renamed that work Libellus de formatione arche
(also CCCM 176). Both these names have substantial support in the
manuscripts. A discussion of the text with a complete English translation by
J. Weiss is in Carruthers and Ziolkowski, eds., The Medieval Craft of Memory,
41–70.
49. ‘‘But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For
I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’’ Cited at
De archa Noe, III, iv (CCCM 176; 61. 66–68).
50. ‘‘Rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth; and my delights were with the
sons of men.’’ Cited at De archa Noe, III, vii (CCCM 176, 64. 28–30).
51. Miller, ‘‘Information and Memory,’’ 46.
52. In Latin the word commonly means ‘‘a fallacy.’’ But it does not mean that
here; for instance, Richard de Bury in Philobiblon contrasts the permanence of
sacred law to ‘‘yesterday’s sophismata written in quaterni’’ (unbound pam-
phlets or memo-books). De Bury means that such things are without lasting
value, rather than false in our sense. Once again, we have encountered a case
where ‘‘false’ means something more like ‘‘impermanent’’ or ‘‘incomplete’’
than completely ‘‘wrong.’’ The use which Hugh of St. Victor makes of the
word in the passage quoted links sophismata with the modern meaning of its
derivative, sophomoric, meaning ‘‘the sort of wisdom possessed by students
with lots more to learn.’’
53. Didascalicon, V I , 3: ‘‘Quoties sophismatum meorum, quae gratia brevitatis una
vel duabus in pagina dictionibus signaveram, a memetipso cotidianum exegi
debitum, ut etiam sententiarum, quaestionum et oppositionum omnium fere
quas didiceram et solutiones memoriter tenerem et numerum’’; ed. Buttimer,
114, lines 18–22. My translation differs significantly from Taylor’s here, for
I understand this passage in the context of Hugh’s Chronicle Preface.
54. On ancient writing tablets, see Roberts and Skeat, The Birth of the Codex,
11–14.
55. Lewis and Short, s.v. pagina.
56. The entries in the TLL make this dual meaning clear; see s.v. pagina.
57. Ambrose to bishop Chromatius, written around 389, Epist., V I . 28. 149–151
(Maurist number 50): ‘‘Hoc munusculum sanctae menti tuae transmisi; quia
vis me aliquid de veterum Scriptorum interpretationibus paginare.’’ Cf. TLL
s.v. paginare.
58. Paulinus of Nola, Carmen, vi. 214–215 (CSEL 30): ‘‘uel quas ipse Deus leges
interprete Moyse / condiderat, sacri quas seruat pagina saxi.’’
59. Du Cange, s.v. paginator and rubrica, rubricare.
60. Hugh of St. Victor, De tribus maximis circumstantiis: ‘‘Ego puto ad memo-
riam excitandam etiam illus non nichil prodesse;’’ ed. Green, 490, line 25.
This point is discussed in much more detail in Chapter 7.
61. A thorough study of the Canon Tables is Nordenfalk, Die Spa
¨tantiken
Kanontafeln, and see also Weitzmann, Illustrations in Roll and Codex. Hugh
took much material for his own Chronicle from Eusebius’s chronicle, also laid
out in tabular form.
402
Notes to pp. 118–123
62. On the Eusebian and other early divisional schemes, see Robinson, The Bible
in its Ancient and English Versions, 23, and also the DTC, s.v. Hugues de Saint
Cher.
63. Blum, Spa
>
¨tantiken Mnemotechnik, 8: ‘‘Doch darf man sagen, dass der gro¨sste
Teil der ro¨mischen Malerei sich zur Einrichtung mnemonischer Stellen
eignet’’; see also Saenger, ‘‘Silent Reading,’’ 375.
64. Hugh of St. Victor, De tribus maximis circumstantiis: ‘‘Nunc ergo satage ut ea
quae subter describentur ita memoriae tuae imprimas, secundum modum et
formam discendi superius tibi demonstratem’’; ed. Green, 491, lines 29–31.
65. Leaving university life for Rome upon the election of his friend, Pope
Innocent III, Langton was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury in 1207
against the wishes of the English king, John. After a period of exile at the
abbey of Pontigny in France, Langton worked with William Marshal to
produce Magna Carta (1215), which guaranteed liberties for the church as
well as the barons. Langton fell out with Innocent III after the Fourth Lateran
Council in 1215, supporting the young king, Henry III, against the papal
legate, who was banished from England. Langton died in July 1228.
66. See esp. Riche
´, Education and Culture, 460ff. As lay devotions became an
increasing concern in Europe after the thirteenth century, the Psalms were
among the texts translated into the vernaculars, evidence of their ethical
importance in meditational memoria. This period of vernacular translation
needs to be distinguished carefully from the much earlier period, which
produced translations of the Bible into Old English and other Germanic
vernaculars, primarily for the use of clergy and a small audience at court; see
Larès, ‘‘Les traductions bibliques: l’exemple de la Grande-Bretagne,’’ in Le
Moyen Aˆge et la Bible, 123–140.
67. On the character of the thirteenth-century pocket Bibles, developed as one of
the tools for scholars ‘‘faced with the task of composing sermons’’ (280), see
Light, ‘‘The New Thirteenth-Century Bible and the Challenge of Heresy.’’
On the development of the various versions of the Bible during the whole
Middle Ages, see Light, ‘‘Versions et re´visions du texte biblique,’’ in Le Moyen
Aˆge et la Bible, 55–93.
68. DTC, s.v. Hugues de Saint Cher. CHB, vol. 2, 102–154, contains a good brief
account of the development of chaptering in the medieval Bible; see also
Berger, Vulgate, 316–327, especially with regard to early punctuation and
stichometry of the texts. Jerome’s use of cola and commata was much studied
by medieval and Renaissance commentators; see especially Jerome’s remarks
in his preface to Joshua. On the ancient use of scripta continua much has been
written; a useful account is in Marrou, Education in Antiquity. On the earliest
medieval uses of word spacing see especially Saenger, Space Between Words,
and Parkes, Pause and Effect.
69. Smalley, Study of the Bible, 222–224; she transcribes (224) MS. Cambridge,
Peterhouse College 112, fo. 107, which I have translated here. Jerome’s text is:
‘‘Monemusque lectorem ut . . . distinctiones per membra divisas diligens
scriptor conservet’ (Jerome’s prefaces are printed in R. Weber’s text of the
Notes to pp. 123–125
403
Vulgate Bible). The Latin of Langton’s gloss is: ‘ Per membra id est per
capitula. . .que valde necessaria sunt ad inveniendum quod volueris et ad
tenendum memoriter.’’
70. Smalley, Study of the Bible, 224.
71. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmis on Ps. 118, preface: ‘‘partim sermocinando
in populis, partim dictando exposui, donante Domino, sicut potui; psalmum
vero centesimum octauum decimum, non tam propter eius notissimam
longitudinem, quam propter eius profunditatem paucis cognoscibilem differ-
ebam’ (CCSL 40, 1664. 3–7).
72. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmis on Ps. 125:1 (CCSL 40, 1844. 1–2): ‘‘Sicut
iam meministis, ex ordine nobis tractantibus iste psalmus est centesimus
uicesimus quintus, qui inter illos psalmos est, quorum est titulus, Canticum
graduum.’’
73. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmis, on Ps. 7:1 (CCSL 38, 35. 3–4).
74. Jerome, Commentariorum in Esaiam, V I I , lines 32–33, on Is. 23:15–18 (CCSL
73, 314). Jerome refers to Ps. 44 similarly in Bk. I I , lines 13–14, of this
commentary, on Is. 5:1 (CCSL 73, 63). In the same location he says that
‘ in sexagesimo septimo psalmo legimus’ and then quotes what is now Ps.
67:16–17.
75. Jerome, Commentariorum in Esaiam, V I , lines 12–13, on Is. 14:16–17 (CCSL 73,
243). Commenting in Book V I I I on Is. 26:10, he refers to Ps. 9 again as an
authority on the devil– ‘‘de quo in nono psalmo scribitur’’ – and quotes verses
6–7 (see lines 30–33); CCSL 73, 334.
76. Jerome, Epistula L I I I . 3. He refers to Ps. 72 by number in Epistula X X I I I . 1, to
Marcella, and obviously he expected her to know what he meant.
77. Jerome, Commentariorum in Esaiam, V I I I , preface lines 1–2 (CCSL 73, 315):
‘‘Sextus et septimus superiores libri allegoriam quinti voluminis continent,
quod olim historica explanatione dictaui.’’ He refers to the books of his
commentary, just completed.
78. Cf. Bede, De schematibus et tropis, 9. It is, of course, possible that these
numbers, especially since they are written in notation (which is easier to
insert) rather than as complete words (as Augustine’s are), were added in
copies made after Bede’s death: Richard and Mary Rouse discuss briefly the
citational style found in Carolingian manuscripts, which they describe as
less than systematic, especially compared to the elaborate indices and mar-
ginal cross-referencing one finds in later medieval manuscripts (Preachers,
Florilegia, and Sermons, 29).
79. CHB, vol. 2, 119, note 2.
80. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmis on Ps. 6:3 (CCSL 38, 29); he refers to versus
primus and versus secundus of this Psalm in discussing the merits of a possible
emendation (lines 12–13). The discussion of Psalm 11:1 is CCSL 38, 82. 1–2: ‘‘in
sexto psalmo dictum est’’ (‘‘it says in Psalm six’’).
81. Saenger, ‘‘Silent Reading,’’ esp. 376–377, and now also Space Between Words.
Some reservations about aspects of Saenger’s thesis are spelled out in my
review of it for Early Medieval Europe 10 (2001): 149–150.
404
Notes to pp. 126–128
82. Alcuin, Expositio in Psalmis poenitentiae (PL 100, 571C): ‘‘Sed primo omnium
numerorum eruendas rationes ratum putavi, id est, cur etiam psalmi poeni-
tentiae septenario numero consecrati essent? aut quare centesimus decimus
octavus viginti duabus periodis divideretur, quorum singuli octo haberent
versus? Aut quid rationis sit, quindecim esse psalmos, qui cantico graduum
titulo praesignarentur?’’
83. Huntington Library MS. HM 26052, an English manuscript of Augustine’s
Enarrationes in Psalmis, contains numbers in its margins which are apparently
the verse numbers of each Psalm in order as Augustine discusses them. This is
the only instance I have seen in which the verse numbers are written in. The
text dates from the late twelfth century, and is rubricated; the Biblical texts are
unde
rlined in red. Opposite each of these, in the margin, the verse number is
written, though this notation does not continue throughout the manuscript.
The red underlining and verse numbering were evidently written in quite a bit
later, probably in the fourteenth century. The verse divisions and numbers
used are very like those found in printed versions of the Vulgate. A few other
such instances undoubtedly also exist, but these rare exceptions do indeed
demonstrate the rule.
84. ‘‘Tunc enim quandoque signatur ipse psalmus, et dicitur: Psalmus xlus vel
xxxus, vel aliquo alio modo simili. Aliqui tunc omittunt signationem talem, et
solum dicunt: Istud habetur in Psalterio, et ratio est quia psalmi sunt commu-
niter satis noti’’; Charland, Artes praedicandi, 346–347. One should note that
the large, illuminated Psalters intended primarily for liturgical use usually
contained the Psalm numbers, though not the verse numbers; this is true of
such an early book as the Utrecht Psalter.
85. Examples of the form ending in ‘‘&c.’’ are frequent in the fourteenth-century
English poem Piers Plowman. Examples of the form giving only the first letters
of words can be found in several manuscripts of the monastic text De sex alis
cherubin et seraphin, e.g. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Auct. D. 1.2, made
c. 1200, probably at the convent of Llanthony, Gloucestershire. By no means
are these isolated examples.
86. The citational conventions are explained in Diez, Indices canonium, titulorum
et capitulorum corpus juris canonici, and the similar volume by the same
authors covering civil law, Indices . . . corpus juris civilis. I am grateful to
Professor James A. Brundage for teaching some rudiments of legal citation
to a Fellows’ seminar at the Newberry Library.
87. Charland, Artes praedicandi, 347. ‘‘Ex signatione capituli accidit saepe incon-
veniens, nam saepe accidit, quando multae allegantur auctoritates, quod
excidit a memoriis praedicatorum in quibus capitulis continentur auctori-
tates, et tunc allegant unum capitulum pro alio. Unde, ad vitandum istud
inconveniens, recordor quod illo tempore aliquo pauci praedicantes actu
signabant capitula; librum tamen signabant unde auctoritas fuit sumpta.
Tamen, quando scribebant sermones, bene consueverunt signare libros et
capitula. Credo quod modus iste fuit melior, quia tutior quam sit modus
The Book of Memory Page 69
