''A''rs dictaminis (or ''ars dictandi'') refers to the art of letter-writing. The art of letter-writing often intersects with the art of
rhetoric.
History of Letter-Writing
Greco-Roman Theory
Early examples of letter-writing theory can be found in
C. Julius Victor's ''Ars rhetorica'' and
Cassiodorus Senator's ''Variae epistolae.''
Other examples can be found in the Pseudo-Demetrius' ''Typoi epistolikoi,'' Pseudo-Libanius' ''Epistolimaioi kharacteres,''
Demetrius
Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter".
Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi ...
' ''Peri hermeneias,''
Philostratus of Lemnos
Philostratus of Lemnos ( grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ὁ Λήμνιος; c. 190 – c. 230 AD), also known as Philostratus the Elder to distinguish him from Philostratus the Younger who was also from Lemnos, was a Greek sophist of the Roman ...
' treatise, and
Gregory of Nazianus' ''Epistle 51.''
Latin Middle Ages
During the Latin medieval period, the standing assumption was that these writings would be composed in
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 ...
, and according to well worked-out models. This made the arts of composition a subfield of
rhetoric.
Medieval letter writing developed for ecclesiastical, government, and business purposes.
Important figures in the early development of Latin letter writing and document composition include
Alberic of Monte Cassino (''Dictaminum radii, Breviarium''), his critic
Adalbert of Samaria
Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names inclu ...
(''Praecepta dictaminum'', c. 1120), Hugh of Bologna (''Rationes dictandi prosaice,'' c.1120), Anonymous' ''Aurea gemma'' (c.1119), Anonymous' ''Rationes dictandi'' (1135), Anonymous' ''Precepta prosaici dictaminis secundum Tullium'' (c. 1140), Bernard of Romagna's ''Introductiones prosaici dictaminis'' (1145), Anonymous' ''Ad plenam scientiam dictaminum'' (c.1140)'','' and Baldwin's ''Liber de dictaminibus'' (c.1150).
Lawrence of Aquilegia
Lawrence of Aquilegia (Lorenzo di Aquileia) was a thirteenth-century Italian Canon (priest), canon and teacher. He is best known for his treatises on the ars dictaminis—the medieval art of letter writing. Lawrence’s major works found inspirati ...
(''Practica sive usus dictaminis'', c.1300) is a much later example of the genre.
Letter conventions include some form of address (e.g., “Worshipful master”); salutation (“I greet you well”); notification (“May it please you to know”); exposition (“the wool was shipped”); disposition (“and I want my money”); and valediction (“May God keep you well, at least until my bill is paid”). Clerks and scribes wrote the letters based on those rules.
Early Modern Europe
Renaissance letter writing, inspired by the rediscovery of Cicero's letters, broaden the scope of letter writing instruction.
See also
*
Formulary (model documents)
Formularies (singular formulary; Latin ''littera(e) formularis, -ares'') are medieval collections of models for the execution of documents (acta), public or private; a space being left for the insertion of names, dates, and circumstances peculiar t ...
*
Chancery
*
Letter (message)
*
Victorian Letter Writing Guides As the use of letters increased in popularity, guides began to emerge on how to correctly write and form a letter and as to what was proper, and what was not. Many of these Victorian conventions are a way of understanding tensions in nineteenth-cen ...
*
De Conscribendis Epistolis
''On the Writing of Letters'' () was a popular Early Modern guide to the Ars dictaminis, art of letter writing by Spanish Renaissance humanism, humanist Juan Luis Vives. First published in 1534 in conjunction with Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus' treat ...
*
Ars Grammatica
An ''ars grammatica'' ( en, italic=yes, art of grammar) is a generic or proper title for surveys of Latin grammar. The first ''ars grammatica'' seems to have been composed by Remmius Palaemon (first century CE), but is now lost. The most famous '' ...
*
Homiletics
In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...
(Ars Praedicandi)
References
Further reading
*Martin Camargo: ''Ars dictaminis, Ars dictandi''. Turnhout: Brepols, 1991 (Typologie des sources du Moyen Âge occidental 60).
*Martin Camargo: "Ars dictandi, dictaminis." In: ''Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik'' I, Tübingen 1992, Sp. 1040-1046.
*Janet Luehring and Richard Utz: "Letter Writing in the Late Middle Ages. An Introductory Bibliography of Critical Studies." In: Carol Poster and Richard Utz, eds., ''The Late Medieval Epistle''. Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP, 1996. pp. 191–221.
*Florian Hartman, Benoît Grèvin: "Ars dictaminis : Handbuch der mittelalterlichen Briefstillehre". Hiersemann, 2019, Sp. 720.
External links
* {{in lang, de}
Timeline of the ''ars dictandi''Makdisi - Scholasticism and Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West - page 7 Rhetoric
Middle Ages