Nicholas Everett. The Alphabet of Galen: Pharmacy from Antiquity to the Middle Ages: A Critical Edition of the Latin Text with English Translation and Commentary. xviii + 445 pp., illus., bibl., index. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012. $39.95 (paper).

Isis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Scarborough
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
English Translation ◽  
Critical Edition ◽  
Latin Text ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The Middle Ages

The Venerable Bede on Prayer and Contemplation

Traditio ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 1-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott DeGregorio
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
English Translation ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Good Sense ◽  
Venerable Bede ◽  
The Middle Ages

As a monk at the famous Northumbrian monastery of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede (673–735) produced a body of exegetical work that enjoyed enormous popularity throughout the Middle Ages. Something of that spirit seems to have reawakened in recent years, as Bede's commentaries are increasingly being studied and made available to wider audiences in English translation. One distinctive feature of this development is a growing awareness that Bede's reputation as an exegete is more multifaceted than has been previously realized, that it goes beyond what Beryl Smalley called “his faithful presentation of the tradition in its many aspects. Whereas earlier interpreters were content to regard Bede as a mere compiler reputed for his good sense and able Latinity, scholars are now paying homage to him as a penetrating and perceptive biblical commentator who did more than reproduce the thought of the fathers who preceded him. As I intend to show in what follows, Bede's treatment of prayer and contemplation in his exegesis attests well to this quality of his thought. The topic to date has received only minimal commentary, mainly on what Bede actually taught about prayer. My approach will be different. I begin with a discussion not of Bede's exegetical method but of his occupations and aims as a spiritual writer. Neither Bede's spirituality nor his role as spiritual writer have received the attention they deserve, and it is hoped that the reflections offered here will help rekindle interest in these neglected subjects. I then consider four prayer-related themes in his exegesis that bring his aims as a spiritual writer into view. Patristic tradition had commented widely on prayer, and Bede, we will see, did not set out to summarize this tradition in its entirety but rather to highlight and distill certain themes within it, those that best suited the needs of his Anglo-Saxon audience.

The Traditional Background of Partonopeus de Blois

PMLA ◽  
1946 ◽  
Vol 61 (4-Part1) ◽  
pp. 916-946
Author(s):  
Helaine Newstead
Keyword(s):  
French Text ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Critical Edition ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Folk Tale ◽  
Specific Study ◽  
French Edition ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Cupid And Psyche ◽  
The Middle Ages

The romance of Partonopeus de Blois, though widely read and much admired in the Middle Ages, has not aroused a comparable interest among modern scholars. No edition of the French text has been published since 1834, and no exhaustive investigation of its literary sources has yet appeared. The story is usually explained as a medievalized version of the legend of Cupid and Psyche, with the roles of hero and heroine reversed under the influence of Breton lais of the fairy mistress type. Since critical discussions have tended to emphasize—perhaps overemphasize—the indebtedness of Partonopeus to the classical legend and its folk tale analogues, the connections with the Breton lais and the matière de Bretagne have been explored only in a general and rather tentative way. A more specific study of these connections based on the available French edition may help us to reach a clearer understanding of the materials which compose this charming romance, although a comprehensive analysis must await a critical edition of the text.

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