Liber Scintillarum
Encyclopedia
Liber Scintillarum is a late seventh or early eighth-century florilegium
of biblical and patristic sayings in Latin
. It was compiled by Defensor, a monk who in the preface identifies himself as a member of St Martin's Abbey
at Ligugé, near Poitiers, and who wrote the work at the behest of his teacher Ursinus
, the abbot of St Martin's. Virtually nothing is known of the monk beyond what the preface offers us. The compilation was written sometime between 636, when the important source Isidore of Seville
died, and about 750, when the earliest extant manuscript appears to have been produced.
The "sparks" (scintillae) of the title refer to sayings (such as maxims and proverbs) of the Lord and his saints, which have been excerpted from the Bible and the Church Fathers, and rearranged into as many as 81 chapters. The headings of these chapters refer mainly to vices (e.g. avarice, fornication), virtues (patience, wisdom), devotional practices (confession, prayer) and common themes of human life (marriage, feasting).
In the early part of the eleventh century, a copy of the Latin text was accompanied by an interlinear Old English gloss, for which a little space between the lines was available. It is found in BL
, Royal MS 7 C IV, together with De vitiis et peccatis, again with an interlinear Old English gloss. It belonged to Rochester Cathedral
Priory and probably joined the Old Royal Library as part of the spoils of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
, like the Rochester Bestiary.
Patristic anthology
A patristic anthology, commonly called a florilegium, is a systematic collections of excerpts from the works of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers of the early period, compiled with a view to serve dogmatic or ethical purposes...
of biblical and patristic sayings in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. It was compiled by Defensor, a monk who in the preface identifies himself as a member of St Martin's Abbey
Ligugé Abbey
Ligugé Abbey, also St. Martin's Abbey, Ligugé, is a Benedictine monastery in the present commune of Ligugé in the département of Vienne, and in the diocese of Poitiers, and one of the earliest monastic foundations in France.-First foundation:...
at Ligugé, near Poitiers, and who wrote the work at the behest of his teacher Ursinus
Ursinus the Abbot
Ursinus the Abbot was an abbot of Saint-Martin at Ligugé, and presumed biographer of Saint Leodegar. He began his career as a monk in the monastery of Saint-Maixent at Poitiers in Neustria....
, the abbot of St Martin's. Virtually nothing is known of the monk beyond what the preface offers us. The compilation was written sometime between 636, when the important source Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville
Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
died, and about 750, when the earliest extant manuscript appears to have been produced.
The "sparks" (scintillae) of the title refer to sayings (such as maxims and proverbs) of the Lord and his saints, which have been excerpted from the Bible and the Church Fathers, and rearranged into as many as 81 chapters. The headings of these chapters refer mainly to vices (e.g. avarice, fornication), virtues (patience, wisdom), devotional practices (confession, prayer) and common themes of human life (marriage, feasting).
In the early part of the eleventh century, a copy of the Latin text was accompanied by an interlinear Old English gloss, for which a little space between the lines was available. It is found in BL
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
, Royal MS 7 C IV, together with De vitiis et peccatis, again with an interlinear Old English gloss. It belonged to Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury...
Priory and probably joined the Old Royal Library as part of the spoils of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, like the Rochester Bestiary.
Editions
- J.P. Migne, Patrologia LatinaPatrologia LatinaThe Patrologia Latina is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1844 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865....
88. - Rochais, H.M. (ed.). Liber Scintillarum. Corpus Christianorum, series Latina 117. Turnholt, 1957.
- Rhodes, E.W. (ed.). Defensor's Liber Scintillarum with an interlinear Anglo-Saxon version made early in the eleventh century. EETSEarly English Text SocietyThe Early English Text Society is an organization to reprint early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes are in Middle English and Old English...
. London, 1889.
Studies
- Bremmer, Rolf H. Jr, 'The Reception of Defensor's Liber Scintillarum in Anglo-Saxon England', in ...un tuo serto di fiori in man recando. Scritti in onori di Maria Amalia D'Aronco, vol. 2, ed. Patrizia Lendinara. Udine: Forum, 2008, pp. 75–89.
External links
- Image from Royal MS 6 D V, f. 46v, British Library.
- Image from Royal MS 7 C IV, f. 1r, British Library.
- Image from Royal MS 7 C IV, f. 62v, British Library.