The
ars dictaminis was the medieval description of the art of prose composition, and more specifically of the writing of letters (
dictamen). It is closely linked to the
ars dictandi, covering the composition of documents other than letters. The standing assumption was that these writings would be composed in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
, and according to well worked-out models. This made the arts of composition a subfield of
rhetoricRhetoric is one of the arts of using language as a means to persuade. Along with grammar and logic or dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. From ancient Greece to the late 19th Century, it was a central part of Western education, filling the need to train public...
.
Certain aspects of
ars dictaminis may have its roots in the art of dictation applied by medieval
Islamic humanistsIslamic ethics , defined as "good character," historically took shape gradually from the 7th century and was finally established by the 11th century...
to
classical ArabicClassical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...
.
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The
ars dictaminis was the medieval description of the art of prose composition, and more specifically of the writing of letters (
dictamen). It is closely linked to the
ars dictandi, covering the composition of documents other than letters. The standing assumption was that these writings would be composed in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
, and according to well worked-out models. This made the arts of composition a subfield of
rhetoricRhetoric is one of the arts of using language as a means to persuade. Along with grammar and logic or dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. From ancient Greece to the late 19th Century, it was a central part of Western education, filling the need to train public...
.
Certain aspects of
ars dictaminis may have its roots in the art of dictation applied by medieval
Islamic humanistsIslamic ethics , defined as "good character," historically took shape gradually from the 7th century and was finally established by the 11th century...
to
classical ArabicClassical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...
. Important figures in the development of Latin letter writing and document composition include Albericus Cassinensis, his critic Adalbert of Samaria (
Praecepta Dictaminum, c. 1120), and
Lawrence of AquilegiaLawrence of Aquilegia was a thirteenth-century Italian canon and teacher. He is best known for his treatises on the ars dictaminis—the medieval art of letter writing...
.