Philip de Thaun was the first Anglo-Norman poet. He is the first known poet to write in the
Anglo-Norman French
Anglo-Norman, also known as Anglo-Norman French ( nrf, Anglo-Normaund) ( French: ), was a dialect of Old Norman French that was used in England and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland during the Anglo-Norman period.
When ...
vernacular language, rather than
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 ...
.
[ Two poems by him are signed with his name, making his authorship of both clear. A further poem is probably written by him as it bears many writing similarities to his other two poems.
Philip's earliest work is a work on the ]calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...
, which is called variously ''Comput'', ''Cumpoz'', ''Compuz'', or ''Computus''. Drawing on earlier works, he set forth ways to calculate dates, information on etymologies of the days of the week, and zodiacal
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...
lore. His second work – called variously ''Bestiaire'', ''Bestiary'', or ''Li Bestiaire'' – is a bestiary
A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history a ...
, a translation of an earlier Latin work on animals – both actual and legendary. His last known poem is ''Le Livre de Sibile'', a translation of an earlier Latin poem on prophecies of a sibyl
The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece.
The sibyls prophesied at holy sites.
A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditi ...
.
Life
Philip was probably a member of the noble family that held Than or Thaon
Thaon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France.
Population
See also
*Commu ...
in Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, near Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,[Humphrey de Thaon
Humphrey is both a masculine given name and a surname. An earlier form, not attested since Medieval times, was Hunfrid.
Notable people with the name include:
People with the given name Medieval period
:''Ordered chronologically''
*Hunfrid of P ...]
.[ Humphrey was a chaplain to ]Eudo Dapifer
Eudo Dapifer (sometimes Eudo fitzHerbertBarlow ''William Rufus'' p. 474 and Eudo de Rie); (died 1120), was a Norman aristocrat who served as a steward (server, Latin 'dapifer') under William the Conqueror, William II Rufus, and Henry I.
Life
Eud ...
, who was an official for Prince Henry, later King Henry I of England
Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...
.[ Paul Meyer disagrees with attributing noble birth to Philip, arguing instead that he was from an unknown background.][Beer "Thaun, Philip de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']
Writings
Three works by Philip survive. Two are signed with his name and are thus securely in his authorship. These works are those on the calendar and the bestiary.[Pickens "Literary Activity" ''Romance Notes'' p. 208] A third work, although not signed with Philip's name,[ is probably by him.][
]
''Comput''
The first of Philip's works is the ''Comput'',[ ''Cumpoz'', ''Compuz'',][ or ''Computus''.][ According to Ian Short, who edited the modern edition of it, it was written in 1113;][ other scholars date it to between 1113 and 1119.][ The ''Comput'' contains the first surviving example of scientific,][ or technical French.][O'Donnell "Gloss to Philippe de Thaon’s ''Comput''" ''French of Medieval England'' pp. 13–34] It is the first work on calendars to appear in French.[Wogan-Browne, et al. ''Vernacular Literary Theory'' p. 363] Philippe's intent in creating the ''Comput'' was to improve the pastoral care provided by secular clergy
In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...
, and he seems to have followed the example of earlier Old English computi in doing so.[O'Donnell "Gloss to Philippe de Thaon’s ''Comput''" ''French of Medieval England'' pp. 27–29]
The ''Comput'' deals with the calendar,[ and is written in hexasyllabic couplets, using as its sources ]Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
, Chilperic of St Gall, 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 '' ...
, and Garlandus Compotista, as well as an obscure clerk of Henry I's named Thurkil.[O'Donnell "Gloss to Philippe de Thaon’s ''Comput''" ''French of Medieval England'' p. 27][ According to the scholar Geoff Rector, it is "not so much an aid to computistical calculations as a grammarian's poetic compilation of biblical and classical knowledge".][ Rector further states that it contains "etymologies of the days of the week" and explanations of the various zodiac signs.][ It was dedicated to Philip's uncle, Humphrey.][ Rector suggests that the dedication was intended to help the author be noticed by King Henry, as Humphrey's master Eudo was close to the king.][
Six manuscripts survive of the work survive from the 12th century – three in 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 ...
, one at Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, one at Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...
, and one in 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 ...
. The prologue of the work states that there were tables to help calculate dates that went with the work, but they do not survive in any of the extant manuscripts.[O'Donnell "Gloss to Philippe de Thaon’s ''Comput''" ''French of Medieval England'' pp. 13–14]
Bestiary
Philip's second work is the ''Bestiaire'',[ ''Bestiary,][Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 497] or ''Li Bestiaire'',[ dedicated to Queen ]Adeliza of Louvain
Adeliza of Louvain, sometimes known in England as Adelicia of Louvain, also called Adela and Aleidis; (c. 1103 – March/April 1151) was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135, as the second wife of King Henry I. She was the daughter of Godfrey I, ...
, second wife of Henry I of England.[ It was a ]bestiary
A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history a ...
,[ a medieval literary genre describing and depicting the natural world, with details of legendary animals indiscriminately mixed with more reliable information.][Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' pp. 39–40] Philip's ''Bestiaire'' was written between 1121 and 1139[ in French.][Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 45] Philip may have written the ''Bestiarire'' partly because of the interest of Adeliza's husband, in wildlife as well as hunting.[Krappe "Historical Background" ''Modern Language Notes'' pp. 326–327] There are some indications that after 1154 Philip changed the dedication of this work to Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
, the new wife and queen of the Henry's grandson King Henry II of England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...
, who had just ascended the throne of England.[O'Donnell "Gloss to Philippe de Thaon’s ''Comput''" ''French of Medieval England'' p. 32]
The ''Bestiarie'' is a translation of the ''Physiologus
The ''Physiologus'' () is a didactic Christian text written or compiled in Greek by an unknown author, in Alexandria; its composition has been traditionally dated to the 2nd century AD by readers who saw parallels with writings of Clement of Alex ...
''.[ The ''Physiologus'', in the words of Meradith McMunn, provided "information about real and imaginary animals".][McMunn "Bestiary Influences" ''Beasts and Birds'' p. 134] Philip's work is a poem mostly in rhyming hexasyllabic couplet
A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...
s, with the final three hundred or so lines in octosyllabic The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in trochees in languages with a stress accent. Its first occurrence is in a 10th-century Old French saint's legend, the '' Vie de ...
verse. It is divided into a prologue, the main body of the work, and an epilogue. The main body consists of thirty-eight chapters, of which thirty-five are on animals and the other three are on precious stones
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...
. Although the translation is not regarded as a great literary work, it is the earliest surviving translation of the ''Physiologus'' into French and is a critical reference for Anglo-Norman French.[ The ''Bestiaire'' is one of two works from medieval England that relates the story that a crocodile cries when it eats a human. This story is the basis for the phrase "crocodile tears".][Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 675] Philip's work is also one of only two by French writers to give a physical description of the legendary creature the phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
.[Mermier "Phoenix" ''Beasts and Birds'' p. 76] Philip also ascribed to the lion the ability to draw a circle in the ground with its tail. This circle would keep any prey from leaving the lion's circle.[McMunn "Bestiary Influences" ''Beasts and Birds'' p. 135]
The ''Bestiarie'' has three manuscripts still surviving.[
]
Other works
Philip's last surviving work is ''Le Livre de Sibile''.[ This work is a translation into French of a Latin poem, the '' Prophecy of the Tibertine Sibyl''. Philip dedicated his translation to ]Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse
* Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...
, the daughter of King Henry I.[Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 656] It is also in hexasyllabic verse and also includes some information from a work by Adso of Montier-en-Der
Adso of Montier-en-Der ( la, Adso Dervensis) (910/920 – 992) was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Montier-en-Der in France, and died on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Biographical information on Adso comes mainly from one single source and has c ...
entitled ''Libellus de Antichristo''. The only extant manuscript of ''Le Livre'' does not have any indication that the work was by Philip, however.[ The main support for its attribution to Philip is the similarity of style between it and the two known works by Philip.][Pickens "Literary Activity" ''Romance Notes'' p. 209]
Three other works have occasionally been attributed to Philip but are not considered to be definitely written by him. These are the ''Debat de l'ame et du corps'' and two lapidaries
Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A la ...
– one alphabetical and one apocalyptic.[ The ''Debat'', or in English ''Debate between Body and Soul'', is a short poem again in hexasyllabic couplets, and takes the form of a debate between the two things mentioned in its title.][Rector "''En Sa Chambre''" ''Medium Aevum'' p. 105]
Notes
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{{Authority control
12th-century English writers
12th-century French writers
12th-century English poets
12th-century French poets
12th-century translators