Questions regarding the Latin of the Medieval period, approximately 500–1400
6
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1answer
91 views
Latin Bibles (other than Vulgata) available as text?
Is it possible to find the text online of any of the Bibles/NT's in the list below? I fetched the "text only" option of Beza's NT from archive.org, but the amount of typos is considerable :(
Theodore ...
6
votes
1answer
38 views
How might I write a latin phrase for swapping bodies?
Putting together a small literary piece where an item is inscribed with a Latin phrase that hints that it can be used to swap bodies (or minds, depending, I suppose, on your perspective) with another ...
6
votes
4answers
153 views
What's the translation of this Medieval document?
This is a page taken from a medieval breviary from 13th century Italy
Found this document at The Antiquarium in Houston. Would like to know what it is describing. Translations as well as paraphrases ...
2
votes
0answers
28 views
meaning of “status” and “condiciones”
I'm reading Olaus Magnus's 1550 Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, earumque diversis statibus, condicionibus, moribus, ritibus, superstitionibus, disciplinis, exercitiis, regimine, victu, bellis, ...
8
votes
2answers
433 views
Medieval irregularities in the conjugation of salveo?
In the medieval hymn, Dies Irae, there is a stanza:
Rex tremendæ majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis.
Which I guess is intended to be understood as:
King of ...
7
votes
3answers
86 views
Few are saved, many are damned
In Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror; in chapter 2, in her description of the Medieval church, she uses the phrase 'Salvandorum paucitas, damnandorum multitudo' to describe the general opinion of the ...
7
votes
1answer
49 views
References of medieval ornithology terms
I was browsing through the Czech-Latin dictionary Glossarius by Magister Bohemarius Bartholomaeus de Solencia dictus Claretus, which also lists an impressive collection of zoology terms, and I found ...
11
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3answers
1k views
Deciphering Latin text in an illuminated musical manuscript
I'm trying to decipher this text, or find at least part of a sentence so I can find the complete text online. I believe it's Latin, but stand to be corrected. The primary reason is I wanted to see if ...
4
votes
1answer
64 views
Meaning and etymology of 'vinnola' or 'vinola' or 'vinnus' (music term)?
I stumbled onto the word 'vinola' or 'vinnola' and the allegedly related 'vinnus' in treatises on medieval chant. I don't see these words in Wiktionary or any online dictionaries. Does anybody know ...
6
votes
0answers
52 views
Where is the database of “Corpus Latinorum Et Mediaevalium Naturae Scriptorum”, promised 10 years ago
Has anybody found the actual database of "Corpus Latinorum Et Mediaevalium Naturae Scriptorum" instead of just project notes? The descriptions look incredibly promising:
CLEMENS, acronym for Corpus ...
2
votes
2answers
116 views
Origin and explanation of memoriae
For an assignment, I have been translating several Latin inscription (on tombstones) from 400–600 AD and one phrase that occurs quite often is memoriae (sometimes with an adjective such as ...
3
votes
1answer
39 views
Does this adverb phrase apply to one or both verbs separated by 'vel'?
The quote below is from the Instituta Patrum de modo psallendi, an anonymous Carolingian or High Medieval (I myself would date it 800s or 900s) document on singing psalms in Gregorian chant. Source ...
2
votes
1answer
44 views
How can you translate the expression “Kindled embers” to preserve the meaning of smoldering chunks of coal or wood?
I'm in need of translating this expression to Latin for a project of mine. I really tried figuring this out using Google but I came to a short end. Could anyone help me?
5
votes
1answer
121 views
How can the use of “-aeus” as an adjective suffix in “Herculaeus” be explained?
Apparently, the English word "Herculean" has an old spelling variant "Herculæan". This seems to correspond to a Latin variant of the adjective "herculeus/Hercŭlĕus" spelled "Herculæus" (example: "...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
Motto of Sir Francis Drake
The motto of Sir Francis Drake is:
Sic parvis magna
It is usually translated as "Greatness from small beginnings", but what is the literal translation? Would be be something like "Thus from ...
4
votes
1answer
91 views
16th stanza of Dies irae
The 16th stanza of Dies irae reads:
Confutatis maledictis,
Flammis acribus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis.
Why are the first two lines in 2nd person plural, while the last one is 2nd ...
4
votes
0answers
43 views
Philosophically sound English translation of Duns Scotus's “sed forma non cognoscitur nisi ex operationibus”?
In Libri 1, Quaestio XX, sec. 26, of Duns Scotus's In Octo Libros Physicorum Aristotelis, Duns Scotus gives expression to a common tenet of a doctrine of the Forms when he writes
[S]ed forma non ...
4
votes
1answer
91 views
Reading a snippet of 15th century handwriting in Latin
The Lilly library has a Gutenberg bible on display and the page that it is open to varies. This week the page had a marginal comment in it, which is unusual for this particular copy, and I was hoping ...
8
votes
1answer
136 views
What does 'ANGLORUM REGIS QUI COR LEONIS DICTUS' mean?
In the cathedral of Rouen I visited the grave of Richard I the Lionheart. It has an inscription:
ANGLORVM REGIS QVI COR LEONIS DICTVS
So what is the best translation?
King of England, who ruled ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
“Et in terra pax hominibus bona voluntas” [sic!]
I have a German Christmas song of the 16th century, which is bilingual, German–Latin. The lyrics go as follows (I translated the German parts into English):
O how beautiful the group of ...
5
votes
1answer
87 views
Was “dominus” or similar used with a title?
If a person is addressed formally with a title, it seems to vary from language to language (and to some extent within a single language) whether a word like "Mr" or "Herr" (German) is used.
In Finnish ...
6
votes
1answer
71 views
Contradictory interpretations of a charter by King Robert the Bruce circa 1314 in medieval Latin
The Charter can be found in Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum Vol 1, Appendix i, #71. It reads:
"Carta Malcolmi Comitis de Levenax. Robertus etc. Cum concessimus Malcolmo comiti de Levenax ...
6
votes
2answers
106 views
Books of reading medieval Latin manuscripts
I would like to learn how to read medieval Latin manuscripts, but they often use abbreviations/shorthand. What are some books that would help me read these manuscripts?
5
votes
1answer
68 views
Who asked whom about the cape of parchment? And who answered?
I quote this cautionary tale about the dangers of studying Scholastic logic in full because it's just too good not to, but my question is only about the part in bold face:
Parisius accidit, quod ...
7
votes
1answer
252 views
Did Boethius write in Classical, Late, or Medieval Latin?
Did Boethius write in Classical, Late, or Medieval Latin? His style does not appear medieval in the Peter of Spain sense of Medieval Latin; however, it does not appear to be classical in the ...
7
votes
1answer
464 views
Hominem super hominem
I'm really struggling with a passage in a 12th century manuscript extolling the virtues of studying astrology that I'm working on for my thesis. The sentence is:
De huius utilitate autem superfluum ...
4
votes
2answers
263 views
Does Ordericus/i end with a “us” or “i”?
Why do some Latin names end with both an "us" and an "i"?
For example,
Ordericus Vitalis, or Orderici Vitalis,
Ekkehardus Uraguensis, or Ekkehardi
Compare this edition in Latin v. this edition in ...
9
votes
2answers
536 views
What does this manuscript say?
On the Medieval Latin Wikipedia page, this image is present under Influences: Christian Latin. I can make out some of the words, but I'm not particularly good with interpreting scribes' handwriting. I ...
7
votes
2answers
122 views
Is filius necessarily a biological descendant?
I saw a Latin inscription in a church in Rome years ago, and there was an interesting feature.
It mentioned a pope and his filius.
We were a couple of Latinists and we agreed that so it said, but we ...
7
votes
3answers
486 views
“Nil virtus generosa timet”
The phrase "NIL VIRTUS GENEROSA TIMET", sometimes also found as "Nihil virtus generosa timet", was, supposedly, the divise or motto of Bertrand du Guesclin, French knight during the Hundred Years' War....
5
votes
1answer
63 views
Does “a priori” have an implied substantive?
Is a priori short for a longer phrase of the form a priori _____? If so, what is the elided substantive?
Background, or, How I Got Confused
I'm pretty sure that a fortiori is short for a fortiori ...
8
votes
2answers
646 views
Is pronouncing 'th' as 's' in 'Boethius' typical in any common Latin pronunciation scheme?
I'm listening to lectures by theologian Douglas Kelly (Medieval Theology, lectures 7 and 8), in which he repeatedly pronounces the name Boethius as:
boh-EE-see-us (how it sounds to me)
/boʊˈiːsiəs/ (...
13
votes
5answers
3k views
What is a Latin version of Inshallah?
Anyone who served in the military in Iraq (and probably anyone who has done business in the Gulf) in the last 15 years is familiar with the term 'Inshallah.' I suppose it means 'God willing,' as in, "...
9
votes
2answers
97 views
Quo viso, ignorantes quid esset, Deo se commitentes, inde ad oppidum
I am trying to translate from Bartolf of Nangis, Gesta Francorum expugnantium Iherusalem. This sentence is below:
Quo viso, ignorantes quid esset, Deo se commitentes, inde ad oppidum quod Marescum ...
7
votes
1answer
188 views
Modus Barbara, Modus Celarent, et Modus Darii: (Modi Barbara, Celarent, et Darii)?
Modus Barbara, Modus Celarent, and Modus Darii are names of valid syllogisms in the medieval taxonomy of valid syllogisms. I'm wondering how to say: "Moduses Barbara, Celarent, and Darii." As far as I'...
8
votes
2answers
542 views
Latin declension of a proper name, especially a city name
How can I figure out the Latin declension of a proper name, especially a city name?
For example, consider the city of Marash in Turkey.
It appears in various forms in medieval Latin sources: Marasim, ...
12
votes
2answers
155 views
Can there be double diminutives in Latin?
I've been reading some Latin of the 17th and 18th centuries and am wondering if it is possible for there to be "double diminutives." As I understand it, the word "cerebellum" (Oxford Latin = "brain") ...
7
votes
2answers
540 views
Proper parsing of “respondeo dicendum quod”
Anyone who has read the Scholastics, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, are familiar with the basic structure of an articulus: (Here's an example.)
Objections ("videtur quod...")
Quote from authority ("sed ...
8
votes
1answer
99 views
Deciphering Latin words from a very old book (printed in 1544)
I'm trying to decipher the text in a paragraph from an old Latin book (De facultatibus partium animalium, Basileae, 1544) and it's very difficult.
This is my result of the first line and I would like ...
5
votes
1answer
160 views
paucis exceptis qui in praesidio civitatis morabantur, caeteros pro libero detractantes arbitrio
This paragraph belongs to William of Tyre.William is an important historian about the Crusades. William's work translated to English magnificently. But I want to examine this sentence: paucis exceptis ...
10
votes
1answer
107 views
What does “Hæc igitur illico non ingratanter Christianis patuit” mean?
I came across this phrase in Historia Hierosolymitana by Baldricus Dolensis (c. 1050–1130): What does these two sentences mean? I would appreciate any help.
Hæc igitur illico non ingratanter ...
8
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2answers
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Latin words for “engineer”
While I was reading La révolution industrielle au Moyen Âge (The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages) by Jean Gimpel, I’ve read:
In the old texts, James of Saint George ...
5
votes
1answer
143 views
What does “omnibus dehiscens offendiculum” mean?
I came across this phrase in Historia Hierosolymitana by Baldricus Dolensis (c. 1050–1130): omnibus dehiscens offendiculum. What does this sentence mean? I would appreciate any help.
Here is ...
9
votes
1answer
271 views
Translation of a passage related to the crusades
I am a historian, and I came across a text from Bauldric of Dol, a medieval historian. This text is about the crusades. I have been unable to translate the following passage. Could someone here help ...
10
votes
1answer
514 views
Meaning of “Noe” in Medieval Latin carols
Many Medieval Latin hymns, such as "Noe, Noe, psallite" by Jean Mouton (1459-1522), use the word "Noe" in the context of Christmas.
My first thought was that it is related to "Noel," used in many ...
9
votes
1answer
196 views
A medieval scribal abbreviation missing from Unicode?
Placita de quo Warranto is the 1806 printed transcription of latin legal texts from around 1300 written on vellum. There are many abbreviations. The 1806 document in its preface gives an example ...
17
votes
1answer
191 views
Can “si etiam” have the same meaning as “etiam si”?
As is well known, "etiam si" is a Latin conjunction that means "even if." Are there any examples in Classical or Medieval Latin in which reversing the word order and saying "si etiam" preserves the ...
10
votes
1answer
109 views
The medieval abbreviation eccƚie
The abbreviation eccƚie is common in medieval latin texts, like this:
which is from page 78 of Placita de quo Warranto. It can also be seen in this text and this text. There is a horizontal bar ...
10
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1answer
422 views
Representing medieval latin abbreviation symbols in Unicode
I'm trying to understand a paragraph from the 1806 transcription of latin legal texts from 1331, while being proficient at neither law nor latin. An example:
which is from page 78 of Placita de quo ...
7
votes
2answers
158 views
Can you please translate these paragraphs (13th & 14th century)?
My dad found these two texts in a book whose title I don't know.
For a guess of the origin, see below.
13th century:
sed libera, mais delivre nous, sire, a malo, de tout mal et de cruel martire
...
