Dicuil

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Dicuil

Dicuil was an Irish monk and geographer, born in the second half of the 8th century; date of death unknown. He may be the same person as Hibernicus exul
Hibernicus exul

Hibernicus exul is the name given to an anonymous Irish people poet of the Carolingian Renaissance who lived and wrote in Francia. The poet has been variously identified with both Dungal and Dicuil....
.

Of his life nothing is known except that he belonged probably to one of the numerous Irish monasteries of the Frankish Kingdom, became acquainted, by personal observation, with the islands near England

England

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, and wrote between 814 and 816 an astronomical, and in 825 a geographical work.

The astronomical work is a sort of computus in four books, in prose and verse, preserved only in a manuscript which formerly belonged to the monastery of Saint-Amand

Saint-Amand

The 7th-century Saint Amand has given his name to numerous places named Saint-Amand, Places in Belgium*Saint-Amand, Belgium, a village in the commune of Fleurus, Hainaut...
, and is now at Valenciennes

Valenciennes

Valenciennes is a Communes of France in the Nord Departments of France in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded....
.

More famous is the "De mensura Orbis terrae", a summary of geography, giving concise information about various lands.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Dicuil'

Start a new discussion about 'Dicuil'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

England

Scotland

Saint-Amand

Valenciennes

Theodosius II

Flavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was an Eastern Roman Empire , mostly known for the law code bearing his name, the Codex Theodosianus, and the Walls of Constantinople#The Theodosian Walls of Constantinople built during his reign....
(435), a manuscript copy of which had found its way to the Carlovingian court. Godescalc had already made use of this copy (781-783) in the composition of his celebrated "Evangelistarium". Dicuil draws also upon Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
, Solinus

Gaius Julius Solinus

Gaius Julius Solinus, Latin grammarian and compiler, probably flourished around the middle of the fourth century, though historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the third century....
, Orosius

Orosius

Paulus Orosius was a Christianity historian, theology and disciple of Augustine of Hippo who came from Gallaecia , probably from the capital city Bracara Augusta....
, Isidore of Seville

Isidore of Seville

Saint Isidore of Seville was Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and has the reputation of being one of the greatest scholars of the early Middle Ages....
, and other authors, and adds the results of his own investigations.

In the nine sections he treats in turn of Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, and Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
, the area of the earth's surface, the five great rivers, certain islands, the length and breadth of the Tyrrhenian Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.It is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, and Calabria , and Sicily ....
, and the six (highest) mountains.

Although mainly a compilation, this work is not without value. Dicuil is our only source for detailed information of the surveys carried out under Theodosius II; his quotations, generally exact, are of service for the textual criticism of the authors mentioned; of great interest, too, are the few reports which he got from the travellers of his time; as, for instance, from the monk Fidelis

Fidelis

Fidelis can be:* "Fidelis" is a Latin term meaning "faithful".* It is the name of several historical monks, and some saints, including Fidelis of Sigmaringen and Fidelis of Como....
who (762?) journeyed along the canal then still existing, between the Nile

Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
and the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
; and from clerics who had visited the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately half way between Scotland and Iceland....
and lived in Iceland

Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
for six months.

Editions

The manuscript was known to Welser

Welser

Welser is the surname of an important Germany banking and merchant family, originally from Augsburg. Along with the Fugger family, the Welser family controlled various sectors of the European economy, and accumulated enormous wealth through trade and the German colonization of the Americas....
, Isaac Vossius

Isaac Vossius

Isaak Vossius, sometimes anglicised Isaac Voss was a Dutch scholar and manuscript collector....
, Salmasius

Claudius Salmasius

Claudius Salmasius is the Latin name of Claude Saumaise , a France classical scholar....
, Hardouin

Hardouin

Hardouin may refer to:* Hardouin de Graetz, or Ortwin , German scholar and theologian* Hardouin Mansart, or Jules Hardouin Mansart , French architect...
, and Schopflin; it first appeared in print under the title: "Dicuili Liber de mensura orbis terrae ex duobus codd. mss. bibliothecae imperialis nunc primum in lucem editus a Car. Athan. Walckenaer" (Paris, 1807).

Gustav Parthey (Berlin, 1870)
J. J. Tierney, Diculi: Liber de Mensura Orbis Terrae, (Dublin 1967).