The ''Abstrusa Glossary'' is a glossary of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

from the 7th or 8th century AD.. Typical of such glossaries, it is named after its first lemma, '' abstrusa''.. The ''Abstrusa'' was probably compiled in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

, possibly in

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

, since the compiler provides

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...

'' uerna'' as a vernacular translation of Latin ''

alnus Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

''. It is alphabetized to the third letter (i.e., ABC stage), indicating an organized, stable composition.. The ''Abstrusa'' can be found in five manuscripts and one fragment. In the oldest of these (

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

lat. 3321), probably copied in

central Italy Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central I ...

in the 8th century, it is accompanied by the '' Abolita Glossary''. The same two glossaries are found together in a 10th-century manuscript from

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...

(Cass. 439), which originated in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Although they appear together, the two glossaries are distinct, making use of different sources and containing different definitions. The ''Abstrusa'' is transmitted separately in two manuscripts in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris lat. 7691 and lat. 2341). Both are written in

Caroline minuscule Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one r ...

. Paris lat. 7691 was copied at Reims in the 9th century. A further copy is found in Vatican lat. 6018. There is a 9th-century fragment (

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

A 92, fr. iii) in Visigothic minuscule, probably from Aquitaine. Finally, the '' Second Amplonian Glossary'' contains entries clearly borrowed from the ''Abstrusa'', but from a manuscript with variants not found in surviving copies. The main sources of ''Abstrusa'' are marginal ''

scholia Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of t ...

'' (explanations of the difficult words) found in copies of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

and the works of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

. Some of the glosses can be traced to the Virgilian commentaries of

Aelius Donatus Aelius Donatus (; fl. mid-fourth century AD) was a Roman grammarian and teacher of rhetoric. Works He was the author of a number of professional works, of which several are extant: *Ars maior – A commentary on Latin grammar. * Ars minor � ...

(and to a lesser extent

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

) and the ''

Appendix Vergiliana The ''Appendix Vergiliana'' is a collection of poems traditionally ascribed as being the juvenilia (work written as a juvenile) of Virgil.Régine ChambertVergil's Epicureanism in his early poems in "Vergil, Philodemus, and the Augustans" 2003: "V ...

'', but not to the commentaries of

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world *Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus (h ...

(in contrast to the ''Abolita''). The ''Abstrusa'' seems to have been used by the author of the ''

Proverbia Grecorum The ''Proverbia Grecorum'' (sometimes ''Parabolae Gregorum'', both meaning "proverbs of the Greeks") is an anonymous Latin collection of proverbs compiled in the seventh or eighth century AD in the British Isles, probably in Ireland. Despite the n ...

'', probably writing in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the 7th or 8th century.. It was a major source for the 9th-century ''

Liber glossarum The ''Liber glossarum'' (also called the ''Glossarium Ansileubi'') is an enormous compendium of knowledge used for later compilations during the Middle Ages, and a general reference work used by contemporary scholars. It is the first Latin encyclo ...

''. The original version of the ''Abstrusa'' may have been longer than any surviving copy, since its glosses in the ''Liber'' are often longer, suggesting that in its independent transmission it was frequently shortened..

Editions

References

{{reflist Glossaries Early medieval Latin literature