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 exulHibernicus exul is the name given to an anonymous Irish 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
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, 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-AmandThe 7th-century Saint Amand has given his name to numerous places named Saint-Amand, The 7th-century Saint Amand has given his name to numerous places named Saint-Amand, The 7th-century Saint Amand has given his name to numerous places named Saint-Amand, (as well as variations Saint-Amans and...
, and is now at
ValenciennesValenciennes is a commune in the Nord department 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. This work was based upon a "Mensuratio orbis" prepared by order of
Theodosius IIFlavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was a Eastern Roman Emperor . He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code as well for the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
(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 ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an author, naturalist, and natural philosopher as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
,
SolinusGaius 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....
,
OrosiusPaulus Orosius was a Christian historian, theologian and disciple of Augustine of Hippo from Gallaecia. He is best known for his Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII , which he wrote in response to the belief that the decline of the Roman Empire was the result of its adoption of...
,
Isidore of SevilleSaint Isidore of Seville was Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
, and other authors, and adds the results of his own investigations.
In the nine sections he treats in turn of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, 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 River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
,
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, and
EthiopiaEthiopia , 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. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
, the area of the earth's surface, the five great rivers, certain islands, the length and breadth of the
Tyrrhenian SeaThe 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 .The maximum depth of the sea is ....
, 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
FidelisFidelis can be:* "Fidelis" is a Latin term meaning "faithful".* It is the name of several historical monks, and some saints, including Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen and Saint Fidelis of Como.* A Catholic-based political advocacy organization....
who (762?) journeyed along the canal then still existing, between the
NileThe Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world....
and the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez,...
; and from clerics who had visited the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
and lived in
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
for six months.
Editions
The manuscript was known to
WelserWelser is the surname of an important German 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 VossiusIsaak Vossius, sometimes anglicised Isaac Voss was a Dutch scholar and manuscript collector.-Life:...
,
SalmasiusClaudius Salmasius is the Latin name of Claude Saumaise , a French classical scholar.-Life:He was born at Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy. His father, a counsellor of the parlement of Dijon, sent him, at the age of sixteen, to Paris, where he became intimate with Isaac Casaubon...
,
HardouinHardouin may refer to:* Hardouin de Graetz, or Ortwin , German scholar and theologian* Hardouin Mansart, or Jules Hardouin Mansart , French architect* Jean Hardouin , French classical scholar...
, 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).