13th-century painters - Bird Book of Hugo Fouilloy - WGA15857

Hugh of Fouilloy (born between 1096 and 1111 in Fouilloy (near

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

); died c. 1172, Saint-Laurent-au-Bois) was a French cleric,

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of St.-Nicholas-de-Regny (1132) and St.-Laurent-au-Bois (1152). He is notable for writing ''De claustro animae'' (''The Cloister of the Soul'') and ''De medicina animae'' (''The Medicine of the Soul''), allegorical texts on monastic spirituality. His ''De avibus'', a moral treatise on

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

was incorporated into many versions of the popular

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

bestiary A bestiary () 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 and illustration of each beas ...

''De Avibus''

''De avibus'' contains around sixty chapters in two sections. The first part is mainly scriptural exegesis, drawn from the Bible and 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 Alexa ...

''. The dove is the subject of the first eleven chapters, the winds and the hawk the following eleven chapters, the turtledove and sparrow and their nesting habits the next fifteen. The second part consists of twenty-three chapters, each of which describe a different bird. The author draws upon the ''

Etymologiae (Latin for 'Etymologies'), also known as the ('Origins'), usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by the influential Christian bishop Isidore of Seville () towards the end of his life. Isidore was encouraged t ...

'' of

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...

which assembled extracts of many books from classical antiquity that would have otherwise been lost, '' De natura rerum'' by

Rabanus 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 ...

, Gregory's ''

Moralia in Job ''Moralia in Job'' ("Morals in Job"), also called ''Moralia, sive Expositio in Job'' ("Morals, or Narration about Job") or ''Magna Moralia'' ("Great Morals"), is a commentary on the ''Book of Job'' by Gregory the Great, written between 578 and 59 ...

'', and

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

's ''

Hexaemeron The term Hexaemeron (Greek: Ἡ Ἑξαήμερος Δημιουργία ''Hē Hexaēmeros Dēmiourgia''), literally "six days," is used in one of two senses. In one sense, it refers to the Genesis creation narrative spanning Genesis 1:1–2:3: ...

''. The text is known by several alternative names such as the ''Aviarium'' (The Aviary), ''De columba deargentata'' (The Silvered Dove), and ''De tribus columbis'' (The three Doves). Another title, ''Libellus quidam ad Rainerum conversum cognomine Corder Benignum'' (The little Book for Rainier the Lay-Brother Called the Kindhearted), reveals to whom the book was dedicated. Hugh's prologue says that ''De Avibus'' was intended as "a teaching text for the lay brothers". It was probably written between 1132 and 1152 while Hugh was prior of St.-Nicholas-de-Regny. According to Badke's ''Medieval Bestiary'', "at least 125 manuscript copies of the ''De avibus'' still exist, though some include only part of the text. Most are illustrated, and copies of it are known from all across Europe. For the most part the text appears in manuscripts along with other theological works, often with some of Hugh's other books".

References

External links

* * David Badke.
Hugh of Fouilloy
at "The Medieval Bestiary."

{{Authority control 12th-century French writers French male writers 12th-century writers in Latin People from Somme (department) Priors 1172 deaths French Christian monks Year of birth uncertain