''Cosmographia'' ("

Cosmography The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...

"), also known as ''De mundi universitate'' ("On the totality of the world"), is a

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 ...

philosophical allegory, dealing with the

creation of the universe The chronology of the universe describes the history and future of the universe according to Big Bang cosmology. Research published in 2015 estimates the earliest stages of the universe's existence as taking place 13.8 billion years ago, with ...

, by the twelfth-century author

Bernardus Silvestris Bernardus Silvestris, also known as Bernard Silvestris and Bernard Silvester, was a medieval Platonist philosopher and poet of the 12th century. Biography Little is known about Bernardus's life. In the nineteenth century, it was assumed that Bern ...

. In form, it is a ''

prosimetrum A ''prosimetrum'' (plural ''prosimetra'') is a poetic composition which exploits a combination of prose (''prosa'') and verse (''metrum'');Braund, Susanna. Prosimetrum. In Cancil, Hubert, and Helmuth Schneider, eds. ''Brill's New Pauly''. Brill On ...

'', in which passages of prose alternate with verse passages in various classical meters. The philosophical basis of the work is the

Platonism Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at ...

of contemporary philosophers associated with the

cathedral school of Chartres During the High Middle Ages, the Chartres Cathedral established the cathedral School of Chartres, an important center of French scholarship located in Chartres. It developed and reached its apex during the transitional period of the 11th and 12t ...

—one of whom,

Thierry of Chartres Thierry of Chartres (''Theodoricus Chartrensis'') or Theodoric the Breton (''Theodericus Brito'') (died before 1155, probably 1150) was a twelfth-century philosopher working at Chartres and Paris, France. The cathedral school at Chartres promot ...

, is the dedicatee of the work. According to a marginal note in one early manuscript, the ''Cosmographia'' was recited before

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III ( la, Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He w ...

when he was traveling in France (1147–48).

Synopsis

The work is divided into two parts: "Megacosmus", which describes the ordering of the physical universe, and "Microcosmus", which describes the creation of man.

Megacosmus

1 (verse): Natura (

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

) complains to her mother Noys (

Divine Providence In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is God's intervention in the Universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which ...

; Greek ) that

Hyle In philosophy, hyle (; from grc, ὕλη) refers to matter or stuff. It can also be the material cause underlying a change in Aristotelian philosophy. The Greeks originally had no word for matter in general, as opposed to raw material suitab ...

(Primordial Matter; Greek ), although held in check by Silva (the Latin equivalent of ''hyle''), is chaotic and unformed and asks that Noys impose order and form on the confused matter.
2 (prose): Noys reveals her status as the daughter of God and asserts that the time is right for Natura's plea to be granted. She then separates out the

four elements Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simil ...

of fire, earth, water, and air from primordial matter. Seeing that the results are good, she begets the World Soul, or Endelechia, as a bride for Mundus (World). Their marriage is the source of life in the universe.
3 (verse): This long poem in

elegiac couplet The elegiac couplet is a poetic form used by Greek lyric poets for a variety of themes usually of smaller scale than the epic. Roman poets, particularly Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid, adopted the same form in Latin many years later. ...

s presents the results of the ordering of the universe.

Ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again b ...

, the stars and sky, the earth, and the sea have become distinguished, and the nine orders of angels attend on the God who exists outside the universe. There follows a catalogue of the stars and constellations, along with the

planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

and their natures. Then the earth and its creatures are described, with catalogues of mountains, beasts, rivers, plants (which are treated in particular detail), fish, and birds.
4 (prose): The relationships between the powers operating in the universe are analyzed. All things under the heavens form part of a cosmic cycle, controlled by Natura, which will never cease, since its maker and cause are eternal. Hyle is the basis, whom the rational plan of God and Noys has ordered in an everlasting system, although subject to time: "For as Noys is forever pregnant of the divine will, she in turn informs Endelechia with the images she conceives of the eternal patterns, Endelechia impresses them upon Nature, and Nature imparts to Imarmene estiny; Greek what the well-being of the universe demands."

Microcosmus

1 (prose): Noys displays the created universe to Natura and points out its various features.
2 (verse): With the work of Noys, Silva has recovered her true beauty. Noys (still speaking to Natura) declares herself proud of the harmony she has brought to the universe.
3 (prose): Noys says that for the completion of the cosmic design, the creation of man is needed. For this it is necessary that Natura seek out

Urania Urania ( ; grc, , Ouranía; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy, and in later times, of Christian poetry. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, h ...

(the celestial principle) and

Physis Fusis, Phusis or Physis (; grc, φύσις ) is a Greek philosophical, theological, and scientific term, usually translated into English—according to its Latin translation "natura"—as "nature". The term originated in ancient Greek philosophy ...

(the material principle). Natura sets forth and searches through various regions of the heavens. When she reaches the outermost limit of the heavens, she encounters the

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...

whose responsibility it is to delineate the celestial

forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...

on the individual objects of the universe. He greets Natura and points out Urania, whose brightness dazzles Natura.
4 (verse): Urania agrees to descend to Earth and collaborate in the creation of man. She will take with her the human soul, guiding it through all the heavens so that it may become acquainted with the laws of fate and learn the rules that govern its behavior.
5 (prose): To gain the sanction of the divine powers, Natura and Urania travel outside the cosmos, to the sanctuary of the supreme divinity, Tugaton (the

Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, p ...

; Greek ), whose favor they pray for. They then descend, one by one, through the planetary

spheres The Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellite (SPHERES) are a series of miniaturized satellites developed by MIT's Space Systems Laboratory for NASA and US Military, to be used as a low-risk, extensible test bed for th ...

.
6 (verse): Having reached the lower boundary of the sphere of the Moon, where the

quintessence Quintessence, or fifth essence, may refer to: Cosmology * Aether (classical element), in medieval cosmology and science, the fifth element that fills the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere * Quintessence (physics), a hypothetical form of da ...

meets the terrestrial elements, Natura pauses to look about her.
7 (prose): Natura and Urania see thousands of spirits. Urania tells Natura that, in addition to the angels who dwell beyond the created universe and in the heavenly spheres, there are spirits below the Moon—some good, some evil.
8 (verse): Urania bids Natura to review the totality of the universe and note the principles of divine concord that it manifests.
9 (prose): Natura and Urania descend to Earth and reach a secluded ''

locus amoenus ''Locus amoenus'' (Latin for "pleasant place") is a literary topos involving an idealized place of safety or comfort. A ''locus amoenus'' is usually a beautiful, shady lawn or open woodland, or a group of idyllic islands, sometimes with conno ...

'' (called Gramision or Granusion—the readings of the manuscripts are disputed). There they meet Physis, accompanied by her daughters Theorica (Contemplative Knowledge) and Practica (Active Knowledge), who is rapt in contemplation of created life in all its aspects. Suddenly, Noys appears.
10 (verse): Noys explains that Natura, Urania, and Physis can collaborate to complete the creation by fashioning a creature who participates in both the divine and earthly realms.
11 (prose): Noys assigns Urania, Physis, and Natura specific tasks in the creation of man, providing a model for each. Urania, using the Mirror of Providence, is to provide him with a soul derived from Endelechia; Physis, using the Book of Memory, is to provide him with a body; and Natura, using the Table of Destiny, is to unite the soul and the body.
12 (verse): Natura summons her two companions to begin the work. Physis, however, is somewhat angry, since she sees that matter is ill-suited for the fashioning of a being that requires intellect. Urania assists her by eliminating the evil taint from Silva and containing the matter within definite limits.
13 (prose): Physis—making use of the imperfect aspects of Silva that had (somewhat uncertainly) submitted to the will of God and had been left over from the rest of creation—fashions a body. The

four humors Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s ...

are described, along with the tripartite division of the body into the head (seat of the brain and the sensory organs), the breast (seat of the heart) and the loins (seat of the liver).
14 (verse): The powers of the senses and the brain, heart, and liver are detailed. The organs of generation will prevent human life from wholly passing away and the universe from returning to chaos.

Platonic background

The ultimate source for much of Bernardus' allegory is the account of creation in

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...

's ''

Timaeus Timaeus (or Timaios) is a Greek name. It may refer to: * ''Timaeus'' (dialogue), a Socratic dialogue by Plato *Timaeus of Locri, 5th-century BC Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Plato's dialogue *Timaeus (historian) (c. 345 BC-c. 250 BC), Greek ...

'', as transmitted in the incomplete Latin translation, with lengthy commentary, by

Calcidius Calcidius (or Chalcidius) was a 4th-century philosopher (and possibly a Christian) who translated the first part (to 53c) of Plato's ''Timaeus'' from Greek into Latin around the year 321 and provided with it an extensive commentary. This was li ...

. This was the only work of Plato's that was widely known in western Europe during the Middle Ages, and it was central to the renewed interest in natural science among the philosophers associated with the school of Chartres:

Chartres … would long remain the fertile soil in which this conception
microcosm Microcosm or macrocosm, also spelled mikrokosmos or makrokosmos, may refer to: Philosophy * Microcosm–macrocosm analogy, the view according to which there is a structural similarity between the human being and the cosmos Music * Macrocosm (a ...
] would grow, and this the more as the ''Timaeus'', itself constructed upon the parallelism between microcosm and macrocosm, became a central preoccupation of teaching at Chartres. This was the first age, the golden age, of Platonism as such in the West, an age which found in the ''Timaeus'' an entire physics, an anthropology, a metaphysics, and even a lofty spiritual teaching.

From the ''Timaeus'' Bernardus and the Chartrian thinkers, such as

and

William of Conches William of Conches (c. 1090/1091 – c. 1155/1170s) was a French scholastic philosopher who sought to expand the bounds of Christian humanism by studying secular works of the classics and fostering empirical science. He was a prominent member ...

, adopted three fundamental assumptions: "that the visible universe is a unified whole, a 'cosmos'; that it is the copy of an ideal exemplar; and that its creation was the expression of the goodness of its creator".Winthrop Wetherbee, ''Platonism and Poetry in the Twelfth Century: The Literary Influence of the School of Chartres'' (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1972), p. 30. Thierry had written a ''Tractatus de sex dierum operibus'', in which he had essayed to elucidate the biblical account of creation ''iuxta physicas rationes tantum'' ("purely in terms of physical causes"); and this perhaps accounts for Bernardus' dedication of the ''Cosmographia'' to Thierry. Along with the ''Timaeus'' and Calcidius' commentary, Bernardus' work also draws on Platonic themes diffused throughout a variety of works of

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...

, such as

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern- ...

' philosophical treatises,

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

' commentary on

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

's ''

Dream of Scipio A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

'', the

Hermetic Hermetic or related forms may refer to: * of or related to the ancient Greek Olympian god Hermes * of or related to Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary Hellenistic figure based on the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth ** , the ancient and m ...

''Asclepius'', the ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' of

Martianus Capella Martianus Minneus Felix Capella (fl. c. 410–420) was a jurist, polymath and Latin prose writer of late antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education. He was a nati ...

, and

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, '' magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the t ...

' ''

Consolation of Philosophy ''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' ('' la, De consolatione philosophiae'')'','' often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation,'' is a philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius. Written in 523 while he ...

''. In addition to their Platonic elements, the latter two works would have provided models of the ''prosimetrum'' form; and Macrobius' commentary had authorized the use of allegorical (''fabulosa'') methods in philosophers' treatment of certain subjects, since ''sciunt inimicam esse naturae apertam nudamque expositionem sui'' ("they realize that a frank, open exposition of herself is distasteful to Nature").

Reception

That the ''Cosmographia'' survives, in whole or in part, in about fifty manuscripts indicates that it enjoyed a good deal of popularity in the Middle Ages. Scholars have traced its influence on "a wide variety of medieval and renaissance authors, including

Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...

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 wor ...

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic cardinal, philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first German proponents of Ren ...

, and

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was some ...

—whose annotated copy of the work we possess". In particular, Bernardus' conceptions of Natura and Genius would be echoed and transformed in the works of

Alain de Lille Alain de Lille (Alan of Lille) (Latin: ''Alanus ab Insulis''; 11281202/03) was a French theologian and poet. He was born in Lille, some time before 1128. His exact date of death remains unclear as well, with most research pointing toward it bei ...

, in the ''

Roman de la Rose ''Le Roman de la Rose'' (''The Romance of the Rose'') is a medieval poem written in Old French and presented as an allegorical dream vision. As poetry, ''The Romance of the Rose'' is a notable instance of courtly literature, purporting to prov ...

'', in Chaucer's ''

Parlement of Foules The ''Parlement of Foules'' (modernized: ''Parliament of Fowls''), also called the ''Parlement of Briddes'' (''Parliament of Birds'') or the ''Assemble of Foules'' (''Assembly of Fowls''), is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343?–1400) made up ...

'', and in

Gower Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingd ...

's ''

Confessio Amantis ''Confessio Amantis'' ("The Lover's Confession") is a 33,000-line Middle English poem by John Gower, which uses the confession made by an ageing lover to the chaplain of Venus as a frame story for a collection of shorter narrative poems. Accordi ...

''. Although there is no evidence that medieval readers considered the ''Cosmographia'' incompatible with orthodox Christianity, some modern scholars, from the 18th century into the 20th century, have found it to be radically un-Christian, variously viewing the work as at bottom either

pantheistic Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which ha ...

or pagan. These views were challenged by

Étienne Gilson Étienne Henri Gilson (; 13 June 1884 – 19 September 1978) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. A scholar of medieval philosophy, he originally specialised in the thought of Descartes; he also philosophized in the tradition ...

in the 1920s, though he himself thought that the ''Cosmographia'' had dualistic features.Silverstein, pp. 92–93. The theological implications of the work continue to be a subject of debate.

Editions and translations

Editions

*''De mundi universitate libri duo sive megacosmus et microcosmus'', ed. C. S. Barach and J. Wrobel (Innsbruck, 1876). *''Cosmographia'', ed. André Vernet, in "Bernardus Silvestris: Recherches sur l'auteur et l'oeuvre, suivies d'une édition critique de la 'Cosmographia" (unpublished dissertation, École nationale des chartes, 1938). This is the only critical edition of the ''Cosmographia'' produced to date. *''Cosmographia'', ed.

Peter Dronke Ernst Peter Michael Dronke FBA (30 May 1934 – 19 April 2020) was a scholar specialising in Medieval Latin literature. He was one of the 20th century's leading scholars of medieval Latin lyric, and his book ''The Medieval Lyric'' (1968) is consid ...

(Leiden: Brill, 1978). *''Cosmographia'', in Bernardus Silvestris, ''Poetic Works'', ed. and trans. Winthrop Wetherbee, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 38 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 2015).

Translations

*German: ''Über die allumfassende Einheit der Welt: Makrokosmos und Mikrokosmos'', trans.

Wilhelm Rath Wilhelm Rath (14 May 1897, in Berlin – 13 January 1973, in Wolfsburg/Kärnten, Austria) was a German writer, translator, bio-dynamic farmer and anthroposophist. He is best known for his research and translations of certain medieval mystics, notabl ...

(Stuttgart: Mellinger,

953 Year 953 (Roman numerals, CMLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Marash (953), Battle of Marash: Emir Sayf al-Dawla mar ...

. *English: ''The'' Cosmographia ''of Bernardus Silvestris'', trans. Winthrop Wetherbee (New York: Columbia UP, 1973). . A revised version of this translation appears in Wetherbee's edition of Bernardus' ''Poetic Works'', cited above under "Editions". *French: ''Cosmographie'', trans. Michel Lemoine (Paris: Cerf, 1998).

Notes and references

External links

Latin text (Barach & Wrobel edition)
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

{{italic title 12th-century Latin books 1140s books Cosmogony Platonism Medieval philosophical literature

Synopsis

Megacosmus

Microcosmus

Platonic background

Reception

Editions and translations

Editions

Translations

See also

Notes and references

Further reading

External links