Fons memorabilium universi - folio 1r - Balliol College MS 238A

''Fons memorabilium universi'' ("Source of notable information about the universe") is an early encyclopedia, written 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 ...

by the Italian

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

Domenico Bandini of Arezzo (also given as Domenico di Bandino or Dominicus Bandinus, c. 1335 – 1418). Planned to inform and edify educated men who lack other books, the work covered God and the natural world, as was common for encyclopedias of the time, but also added a voluminous last part dealing with man and historical figures, philosophy and history, theology, ethics, heretics and women. Bandini, a teacher of grammar and rhetoric who lived in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

and Arezzo, worked on the encyclopedia from before 1374 until his death in 1418. In Florence he was influenced by

Coluccio Salutati Coluccio Salutati (16 February 1331 – 4 May 1406) was an Italian humanist and notary, and one of the most important political and cultural leaders of Renaissance Florence; as chancellor of the Republic and its most prominent voice, he was effec ...

, causing him to emphasize topics related to the

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

in his work. Bandini's son Laurentius completed and published the work after Bandini's death and added an introductory apology, defending the work against criticism of style. At least 26 manuscripts survive, including one at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, of which digital photographs are available online, and two at the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

. Many of these contain only parts of the work. They all date from before 1460. The whole work consists of between two and five volumes, depending on writing style and size. The work was not very influential and was already almost forgotten in the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. ...

. It was never printed, unlike the very successful 13th century encyclopedia '' De proprietatibus rerum'' by

Bartholomeus Anglicus Bartholomaeus Anglicus (before 1203–1272), also known as Bartholomew the Englishman and Berthelet, was an early 13th-century Scholastic of Paris, a member of the Franciscan order. He was the author of the compendium ''De proprietatibus rerum' ...

, from which Bandini had borrowed heavily. He also frequently cited the earlier works of

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

Gaius Julius Solinus Gaius Julius Solinus was a Latin grammarian, geographer, and compiler who probably flourished in the early 3rd century AD. Historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the 3rd century. Solinus was the author of ''De mirabilibus mu ...

, Isidore of Seville and

Hrabanus Maurus Rabanus Maurus Magnentius ( 780 – 4 February 856), also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who became archbishop of Mainz in East Francia. He was the author of t ...

. The end of book 8 "on the planets" contains an unrelated interpolation praising two lawyers from

. The paragraph has been interpreted as an advertisement inserted by the lawyers, either by having paid the scribes or by having worked as scribes themselves.

Organization

The work is organized in 5 parts (to reflect the

five wounds of Christ In Catholic tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotions, ...

), with each part divided into several books containing numerous cross references. Each of the 34 books covers one circle of topics. Some of these books consist of several introductory and systematical chapters, followed by an alphabetically ordered list of articles. This organization had been developed in the 13th century by

Vincent of Beauvais Vincent of Beauvais ( la, Vincentius Bellovacensis or ''Vincentius Burgundus''; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his ''Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major work ...

in his ''Speculum naturale'' and had also been used by Bartholomaus Anglicus in his ''De proprietatibus rerum'' and by

Thomas of Cantimpré Thomas of Cantimpré (Latin: Thomas Cantimpratensis or Thomas Cantipratensis) (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, 1201 – Louvain, 15 May 1272) was a Flemish Catholic medieval writer, preacher, theologian and a friar belonging to the Dominican Order. He is bes ...

in his ''Liber de natura rerum''. The titles of the books are: * Part I **1. De deo **2. De angelis **3. De anima **4. De inferno * Part II **5. De mundo **6. De celo et signis celestibus **7. De stellis fixis **8. De planetis **9. De tempore * Part III **10. De elementis in generali **11. De elemento ignis **12. De elemento aeris **13. De impressionibus aeris **14. De ornatu aeris (de avibus) **15. De aquis salsis **16. De aquis dulcibus **17. De piscibus * Part IV **18. De provinciis **19. De insulis **20. De civitatibus **21. De aedificiis **22. De populis **23. De montibus **24. De arboribus **25. De herbis **26. De quadrupedibus **27. De reptilibus, serpentibus et vermibus **28. De lapidibus et gemmis **29. De metallis * Part V **30. De viris claris **31. De sectis philosophorum **32. De virtutibus theologicis et moralibus **33. De sectis haereticorum **34. De mulieribus claris

References

External links

Digital images of Oxford Balliol College MS 238A-E, 5 volume 15th century manuscript copy of ''Fons memorabilium uniuersi''
at

. The first book of Part V is missing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fons Memorabilium Universi Latin encyclopedias Italian encyclopedias Medieval European encyclopedias 15th-century Latin books