The ''Apocalypse of Golias'' ( la, Apocalypsis Goliae) is a satirical Latin poem of the 12th century, probably written in England or France. Like the Biblical Book of Apocalypse, the poem is addressed to the "Seven Churches", but manuscripts differ as to whether they are the "Seven Churches in England" or "Seven Churches in

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It later ...

". The ''Apocalypse of Golias'' has been ascribed by different scholars to

Alan of Lille Alain de Lille (Alan of Lille) (Latin: ''Alanus ab Insulis''; 11281202/03) was a French theologian and poet. He was born in Lille, some time before 1128. His exact date of death remains unclear as well, with most research pointing toward it bei ...

Walter of Châtillon Walter of Châtillon ( Latinized as Gualterus de Castellione) was a 12th-century French writer and theologian who wrote in the Latin language. He studied under Stephen of Beauvais and at the University of Paris. It was probably during his studen ...

Hugh Primas Hugh Primas of Orléans was a Latin lyric poet of the 12th century, a scholar from Orléans who was jokingly called ''Primas'', "the Primate", by his friends at the University of Paris. He was probably born in the 1090s and may have died about 1160. ...

and

Walter Map Walter Map ( la, Gualterius Mappus; 1130 – 1210) was a medieval writer. He wrote '' De nugis curialium'', which takes the form of a series of anecdotes of people and places, offering insights on the history of his time. Map was a court ...

, but the evidence is against these attributions. The poem is one of a group of about the same date, all connected with the fictional "Bishop Golias", but these poems are not all by the same author. The poet narrates a vision, a summer dream, in which

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samos, Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionians, Ionian Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher and the eponymou ...

offers to act as his guide, and gives him a quick view of the scholars and writers of the classical world from

Priscian Priscianus Caesariensis (), commonly known as Priscian ( or ), was a Latin grammarian and the author of the ''Institutes of Grammar'', which was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages. It also provided the raw materia ...

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...

. An angel then appears to introduce the main theme, a fierce criticism of pope, bishops, priests, archdeacons and deacons, who are successively likened to different animals. Monks are the worst of all, and their greed, gluttony and lust are described in colourful detail.

Bibliography

* *{{cite book, author=K. Strecker , title=Die Apocalypse des Golias , location=Rome, Leipzig , year=1928

External links

Latin text
from the Bibliotheca Augustana
Latin text
with commentary by Thomas Wright (Google Books)
Manuscripts of the ''Apocalypse''
in a 13th-century manuscript from the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

12th-century Latin books 12th-century poems Cultural depictions of Pythagoras Dreams in fiction Satirical books Works by Walter Map Works of uncertain authorship