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Titivillus
Titivillus was a demon said to work on behalf of Belphegor, Lucifer or Satan to introduce errors into the work of scribes. The first reference to Titivillus by name occurred in , c. 1285, by Johannes Galensis (John of Wales). Attribution has also been given to Caesarius of Heisterbach. Titivillus has also been described as collecting idle chat that occurs during church service, and mispronounced, mumbled or skipped words of the service, to take to Hell to be counted against the offenders. He has been called the "patron demon of scribes", as Titivillus provides an easy excuse for the errors that are bound to creep into manuscripts as they are copied. Marc Drogin noted in his instructional manual, ''Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique'' (1980), that "for the past half-century every edition of ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' has listed an incorrect page reference for, of all things, a footnote on the earliest mention of Titivillus." Titivillus gained a broader role ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Printer's Devil
A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Ambrose Bierce, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain served as printer's devils in their youth. Origins The term "printer's devil" been ascribed to the apprentices' hands and skin getting stained black with ink when removing sheets of paper from the tympan. In 1683, English printer Joseph Moxon wrote that "devil" was a humorous term for boys who were covered in ink: "whence the Workmen do Jocosely call them Devils; and sometimes Spirits, and sometimes Flies." Once cast metal type was used, worn, or broken, it was thrown into a "hellbox", after which it was the printer's devil's job to either put it back in the job case, or take it to the furnace to be melted down and recast. Many explanations have been given for the religious or supernatural connotations of the term. From the Middle Ages onward, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mankind (play)
''Mankind'' is an English medieval morality play, written . The play is a moral allegory about Mankind, a representative of the human race, and follows his fall into sin and his repentance. Its author is unknown; the manuscript is signed by a monk named Hyngham, believed to have transcribed the play. ''Mankind'' is unique among moralities for its surprising juxtaposition of serious theological matters and colloquial (sometimes obscene) dialogue. Along with the morality plays ''Wisdom'' and ''The Castle of Perseverance'', ''Mankind'' belongs to the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. as a part of the Macro Manuscript (so named after 18th century owner Cox Macro). Date and provenance In his critical edition of the play published by the Early English Text Society in 1969, Eccles argues for a date between 1465 and 1470. Wickham, in his Dent edition of 1976, agrees, finally settling on 1470. Similarly, Lester, in his New Mermaids edition of 1981, offers betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uli Der Fehlerteufel
Uli der Fehlerteufel (English: "Uli the mistake devil") is a fictional character used in schoolbook exercises. The name in abbreviated form is "Uli", full name "Ulimantulus Irrichmich". The last name is pronounced, "Irr ich mich", which means something like, "Am I wrong?" (However, "Uli" is a common German name, short for Ulrich). Uli was a rotund little red devil with blue-black hair depicted in German primary school books in the 1970s and the 1980s. Exercises were based on him, where for example Uli had removed the capital letters or punctuation marks from a text and it was up to the student to replace them. Uli was created by Ilse Herrndobler who developed the character during her work as a teacher in the 1960s. Subsequently about 40 primary school books were published. Due to the enormous success of the "Uli" school books, the children's book author Ellis Kaut (who created the very popular children's book character "Pumuckl") was asked to write stories based on "Uli" which w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Ayrton
Michael Ayrton (20 February 1921 – 16 November 1975)T. G. Rosenthal, "Ayrton , Michael (1921–1975)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008accessed 24 Jan 2015/ref> was a British artist and writer, renowned as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and designer, and also as a critic, broadcaster and novelist. His varied output of sculptures, illustrations, poems and stories reveals an obsession with flight, myths, mirrors and mazes. He was also a stage and costume designer, working with John Minton on the 1942 John Gielgud production of Macbeth at the age of nineteen, and a book designer and illustrator for Wyndham Lewis's '' The Human Age'' trilogy. An exhibition, 'Word and Image' (National Book League 1971), explored Lewis's and Ayrton's literary and artistic connections. He also collaborated with Constant Lambert and William Golding. Life and career Ayrton was born Michael Ayrton Gould, son of the writer Gerald Gould an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caesarius Of Heisterbach
Caesarius of Heisterbach (ca. 1180 – ca. 1240), sometimes erroneously called, in English, Caesar of Heisterbach, was the prior of a Cistercian monastery, Heisterbach Abbey, which was located in the Siebengebirge, near the small town of Oberdollendorf, Germany. Caesarius of Heisterbach is remembered for a paradoxical maxim concerning the rise and decline of monasteries according to which discipline causes prosperity in a monastery, and prosperity undermines discipline. He also gave the name of Titivillus as the demon who caused typographical errors in the work of scribes. He is further known as having attributed to Arnaud Amalric, a leader in the Albigensian Crusade, a famous declaration. Upon being asked how to distinguish Cathars from Catholics at the besieged town of Béziers, Arnaud supposedly replied "Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius", which translates as: "Slay them all, God will recognize his own." This statement is often cited as "Kill them all and let God ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Towneley Cycle
The Wakefield or Towneley Mystery Plays are a series of thirty-two mystery plays based on the Bible most likely performed around the Feast of Corpus Christi probably in the town of Wakefield, England during the Late Middle Ages until 1576. It is one of only four surviving English mystery play cycles. Some scholars argue that the Wakefield cycle is not a cycle at all, but a mid-sixteenth-century compilation, formed by a scribe bringing together three separate groups of plays. The unique manuscript, now housed at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, originated in the mid-fifteenth century. The Towneley family who lent their name to the manuscript, sold it at an auction in 1814, but it was probably part of their library at a much earlier date. Although almost the entire manuscript is in a fifteenth-century hand, the cycle was performed as early as the fourteenth century in an earlier form. The Wakefield Cycle is most renowned for the inclusion of ''The Second Shepherds' P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeons And Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro) since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game ''Chainmail'' serving as the initial rule system. ''D&D'' publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, and also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre. ''D&D'' departs from traditional wargaming by allowing each player to create their own character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master (DM) serves as the game's referee and storyteller, while maintaining the setting in which the ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devil (Dungeons & Dragons)
A devil (also known as a baatezu) is a fictional character in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game, a powerful group of monsters used as a high-level challenge for players of the game. Devils are Lawful Evil in alignment and originate from the Nine Hells of Baator. True to their Lawful Evil alignment, devils are locked in a strict and brutal hierarchy (changing form as they work their way up the ladder of power). At the top of the hierarchy are the supreme Archdevils, or ''Lords of the Nine'', who are the rulers of the different regions of Baator. Devils often see the various worlds in the D&D metacosmos as tools to use for their own ends, including prosecuting the Blood War, a millennia-long war between the devils and their arch-enemies, demons. Publication history Devils first appeared in the original first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ''Monster Manual''. Many of the early devils were inspired directly by real-world religion and mythology, with Mephistoph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medieval Wall Painting, St Michael And St Mary, Melbourne, Derbyshire
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralized authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—most recently part of the Eastern Roman ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
