Martianus Capella

Martianus min ( n ) e (i ) us Felix Capella ( usually short: Martianus Capella ) was a Roman encyclopedist of the 5th or early 6th century. His influence on the Western education in the Middle Ages was very large.

Life

About the life of Martianus, who called himself Felix or Felix Capella, are very few, partly dubious information to the verifier are obtained from autobiographic allusions in his work. Historical information is missing, and in the research are very different opinions have been expressed about his life data; the guesses ranged from the late 3rd and the early 6th century, today the 5th or early 6th century is widely believed.

Martianus is probably born in Carthage; where he grew up and he apparently spent most of his life. A stay in Rome is suspected, but this is very uncertain. Speculative are the hypotheses about his profession and his social origins; it has been suggested that it came from a peasant milieu and was self-taught, but he another in which research frequently expressed view is that belonged to the upper class. From an unclear formulation has concluded that he was proconsul in Africa. It is often assumed that he was a lawyer; also work as a rhetoric or grammar teacher comes into consideration. Apparently he had knowledge of Greek.

It is also unclear whether Martianus was a Christian. It is striking that his work does not contain any references to Christianity. This silence and some further evidence, including his portrayal of abandoned oracles of Apollo, indicate that he was a follower of the old pagan religion and culture, whose main ideas he wanted to summarize in his work. In research, even a veiled anti-Christian thrust was suspected. Maybe Martianus was Christianized superficial.

Work

The only known work of Martianus traditionally bears the title De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii ( "The Marriage of Philology with Mercury " ), which does not, however, comes from the author. He wrote it at an advanced age, when he lived in retirement, and dedicated it to his son. The possible formation period ranges from 410 up to the first quarter of the 6th century. Due to some evidence drafting in Rome is suspected.

There is a clearly designed as a textbook encyclopedia in nine books in the form of a Menippeischen satire. In the prose verses in 15 different poetic meters are interspersed. Shown is the canon of the Seven Liberal Arts.

Satura, the personification of satire, told the author of the content of the work. The frame story is mythical and allegorical. As an introduction, is an allegorical scene. The novel describes a bride search and the subsequent " sacred marriage ". The bride and groom are the gods Mercury, the god of eloquence, and a mortal virgin, philology. Under philology was understood at that time the entire scholarship, not as now, especially language and literature. The first two books are about the preparations. Mercury has remained unsuccessful in courting and turns on the advice of Virtus (virtue ) to the god Apollo, the " very learned " Philologia recommends him. After the father of the gods Jupiter and his wife Juno have agreed to the wedding plan, a divine assembly is convened, which also agrees and decides to take the mortal bride among the immortals. Philologia is decorated for the wedding and gets the potion of immortality. Mercury's wedding gift to his future wife, seven virgin handmaidens, which personify the Seven Liberal Arts. They occur in sequence, whereby each dress and demeanor are described in detail, and each placed in one of the remaining books ( 3-9) summarize their science incl.i 3 deals with grammar, Book 4 dialectics, Book 5, the rhetoric Book 6 of the geometry, Book 7 arithmetic, astronomy and Book 8 Book 9 the harmony ( music). Thus, initially in the books 3-5 the Trivium, then presented the quadrivium in the books 6-9. The architecture and medicine are excluded from the canon of subjects as they relate to earthly and transitory and therefore do not fit into the heavenly world of the gods. Finally passed the harmony the bride and groom into the bedchamber.

In the third book, which is about the grammar, one after the other letters, syllables, parts of speech, declension, conjugation, anomaly are treated ( words that do not follow the rules of language ) as well as successful and erroneous use of language. Shown are phonology and morphology, but not the syntax. The fourth book is about the dialectic ( logic, "the science of good disputation " ), first with respect to individual words, then in terms of the components and types of sentences; then truly capable statements and finally, the syllogisms are considered. In the fifth book, whose theme is the rhetoric, the individual tasks of the orator only be discussed in detail, namely " material discovery " ( inventio, with the doctrine of the legal issues and the evidence ), fabric structure, presentation, memorization and lecture and then relatively just discussed, the parts of speech. The theme of the sixth book is actually the geometry, but is by far the largest part of the geography. The two areas of knowledge appear to be closely intertwined. The verbosity of speech Geometrias causes the displeasure of the gods. In the seventh book is about the arithmetic; the numbers are considered only slightly below a qualitative point of view ( numerology ), then detail a quantitative ( real arithmetic).

In the eighth book Astronomia sets forth their doctrine; Themes are the celestial sphere with the sky ten circles, the fixed stars and the planets (to which the sun and moon are counted ). Martianus is of the view that the planets Mercury and Venus orbit not the earth but the sun; so that it represents a change from the prevailing purely geocentric worldview. In the last book Harmonia occurs and talks about their science, the theory of music; actually it is only responsible for the harmony, but they also treated the rhythm. The harmony in music is brought within the meaning of the Pythagorean tradition with the harmony of the universe ( harmony of the spheres ) in conjunction. Topics include the effects of music on the soul and body of man and their use in medicine.

The canon of the Seven Liberal Arts was not, as was previously assumed in the research, published since the epoch of Hellenism, or at least since Varro in education. Rather, it is a concept arisen only in Neo-Platonism, which is not attested before Augustine and Martianus Capella. The original objective was not school ( obtaining general education ), but philosophically ( facilitating the return of the rational soul in its divine home, the intelligible region ). The work of Martianus can only be understood against the background of its Neo-Platonic thought.

Reception

The work of Martianus enjoys centuries an extraordinary popularity. At least 241 manuscripts are known. The extent of the dissemination and use for educational purposes in late antiquity is unclear; In the Middle Ages, it is a major pillar of education. For the first time it is cited in the 6th century by the mythographers Fulgentius, who leads the first to today's popular titles. The Gallo-Roman Christian historian Gregory of Tours calls the author "our Martianus ". The oldest surviving manuscripts date from the second half of the 9th century; after the middle of the 9th century begins the medieval commentary. The work is now being used as a textbook. Prominent Carolingian time Martianus commentators are John Scotus Eriugena and Remigius of Auxerre. Notker the German translated the first two books into Old High German. In the 12th century, as " School of Chartres " well-known scholarly group concerned with Martianus. Numerous pictorial representations of the Seven Liberal Arts in the Middle Ages based on his descriptions. From the High Middle Ages diminishing interests. Copernicus praises Martianus because of its commitment to a heliocentric element within the prevailing in ancient geocentric worldview.

The first edition of Martianus, worried by Franciscus Vitalis Bodianus, appeared in 1499 in Vicenza; until the end of the 16th century was followed by six further editions, including an anxious in 1599 by Hugo Grotius.

In the modern Martianus is often blamed for its part, dark style, and because of excessive verbosity.

Editions and translations

• Martianus Capella: Les noces de Philology et de Mercure. Les Belles Lettres, Paris ( critical edition, Latin text with French translation and commentary, have been published :) 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

Medieval and early modern translations and commentaries

• Dunchad: Glossae in Martianum, ed. Cora E. Lutz, Lancaster Press, Lancaster 1944
• The Berlin commentary on Martianus Capella 's De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, ed. Haijo Jan Westra and others, 2 vols, Brill, Leiden 1994-1998
• The Commentary on Martianus Capella 's De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii attributed to Bernardus Silvestris, ed. Haijo January Westra, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, 1986, ISBN 0-88844-080-4
• I primi volgarizzamenti italiani delle Nozze di Mercurio e Filologia, ed. Gabriella Moretti, Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento 1995, ISBN 88-86135-43-2
• Scotus Eriugena, Remigio di Auxerre, Bernardo Silvestre e Anonimi: tutti i commenti a Marziano Capella, ed. Ilaria Ramelli, Bompiani, Milano 2006, ISBN 88-452-5739-8 ( Latin texts without critical apparatus and Italian translations)