The ''ioca ''(or ''joca'')'' monachorum'', meaning "monks' pastimes" Walter Goffart, "The Supposedly 'Frankish' Table of Nations: An Edition and Study", ''Frühmittelalterliche Studien'' 17 (1983): 98–130, esp. at 128–130. or "monks' jokes",Charles D. Wright, "From Monks' Jokes to Sages' Wisdom: The ''Joca Monachorum'' Tradition and the Irish ''Immacallam in dá Thúarad''", in Mary Garrison, Arpad P. Orbán and Marco Mostert (eds.) ''Spoken and Written Language: Relations between Latin and the Vernacular Languages in the Earlier Middle Ages'' (Brepols, 2013), pp. 199–225. was a genre of short questions and answers for use by Christian monks. These were often on biblical subjects, but could also deal with literary, philosophical or historical matters. Although they could be straightforward, they were often riddles or jokes. They were probably used to stimulate thought and aid memory.George Ferzoco
"Joca (Ioca) monachorum"
in Robert E. Bjork (ed.), ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' (Oxford University Press, 2010). Retrieved 17 March 2020.Jacques Dubois, "Comment lest moines du moyen âge chantaient et goutâient les Sainte Écritures", in Pierre Riché and Guy Lobrichon (eds.), ''Le Moyen Âge et la Bible'' (Beauchesne, 1984), pp. 264–270. The genre originated in the Greek East but spread throughout Christendom. By the sixth century it had reached

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 ...

and the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. Examples are known 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 ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

and Castilian.Erik Wahlgren, "A Swedish-Latin Parallel to the ''Joca Monachorum''", ''Modern Philology'' 36 (1939): 239–245. It survived down to the end of the

Middle Ages 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 a ...

. It has modern a parallel in

trivia game Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value. It can be contrasted with general knowledge and common sense. Latin Etymology The ancient Romans used the word ''triviae'' to describe where one road split or forked ...

s. Charles Wright gives as a modern American example of the same sort of riddle "Who first played tennis in the Bible? Moses served in Pharaoh's court". A single ''iocus'' may appear in several manuscript collections. Although the answers were usually short, generally a single name, long answers were not unknown. The

Frankish Table of Nations The Frankish Table of Nations (german: fränkische Völkertafel) is a brief early medieval genealogical text in Latin giving the supposed relationship between thirteen nations descended from three brothers. The nations are the Ostrogoths, Visigot ...

, a brief genealogy of the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

, was the incorporated as the answer to a question in one collection of eight ''ioca''. The

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

was an especially favoured topic. Questions about who in the Bible was first to do something were popular. The questioner and responder may or may not be identified in the text. The lines are usually prefaced with ''dic mihi'' (tell me), ''dico tibi'' (I tell you), ''interrogatio'' (question) or ''responsio'' (answer) and only in later dialogues ''discipulus'' (student) and ''magister'' (teacher). In one group of ''ioca'', the names of the emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

and the philosopher Epictetus are used for the interlocutors.

Examples

*"Who died but was not born?

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

. Who was born but did not die? Elijah and Enoch". *"Who killed Holofernes, leader of the army of King Nebuchadnezzar? Judith". *"Who robbed his grandmother of her virginity?

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

the earth".

References

{{reflist Medieval literature Christian literary genres Christian monasticism