Fons memorabilium universi - folio 1r - Balliol College MS 238A

''Fons memorabilium universi'' ("Source of notable information about the universe") is an early

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

, written in Latin by the Italian humanist Domenico Bandini of Arezzo (also given as Domenico di Bandino or Dominicus Bandinus, c. 1335 – 1418). Planned to inform and edify educated men who lack other books, the work covered God and the natural world, as was common for encyclopedias of the time, but also added a voluminous last part dealing with man and historical figures, philosophy and history, theology, ethics, heretics and women. Bandini, a teacher of grammar and rhetoric who lived in Florence, Bologna, Città di Castello and

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, worked on the encyclopedia from before 1374 until his death in 1418. In Florence he was influenced by Coluccio Salutati, causing him to emphasize topics related to the classical antiquity in his work. Bandini's son Laurentius completed and published the work after Bandini's death and added an introductory apology, defending the work against criticism of style. At least 26 manuscripts survive, including one at Balliol College, of which digital photographs are available online, and two at the Vatican Library. Many of these contain only parts of the work. They all date from before 1460. The whole work consists of between two and five volumes, depending on writing style and size. The work was not very influential and was already almost forgotten in the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...

. It was never printed, unlike the very successful

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 ( MCCI) through December 31, 1300 ( MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Eu ...

encyclopedia ''

De proprietatibus rerum Bartholomaeus Anglicus (before 1203–1272), also known as Bartholomew the Englishman and Berthelet, was an early 13th-century Scholastic of Paris, a member of the Franciscan order. He was the author of the compendium ''De proprietatibus rerum' ...

'' by Bartholomeus Anglicus, from which Bandini had borrowed heavily. He also frequently cited the earlier works of Marcus Terentius Varro, Pliny the Elder, Gaius Julius Solinus,

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

and

Hrabanus 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 ...

. The end of book 8 "on the planets" contains an unrelated interpolation praising two lawyers from Bologna. The paragraph has been interpreted as an advertisement inserted by the lawyers, either by having paid the scribes or by having worked as scribes themselves.

Organization

The work is organized in 5 parts (to reflect the five wounds of Christ), with each part divided into several books containing numerous cross references. Each of the 34 books covers one circle of topics. Some of these books consist of several introductory and systematical chapters, followed by an alphabetically ordered list of articles. This organization had been developed in the 13th century by Vincent of Beauvais in his ''Speculum naturale'' and had also been used by

Bartholomaus Anglicus Bartholomaeus Anglicus (before 1203–1272), also known as Bartholomew the Englishman and Berthelet, was an early 13th-century Scholastic of Paris, a member of the Franciscan order. He was the author of the compendium ''De proprietatibus rerum' ...

in his ''De proprietatibus rerum'' and by Thomas of Cantimpré in his ''Liber de natura rerum''. The titles of the books are: * Part I **1. De deo **2. De angelis **3. De anima **4. De inferno * Part II **5. De mundo **6. De celo et signis celestibus **7. De stellis fixis **8. De planetis **9. De tempore * Part III **10. De elementis in generali **11. De elemento ignis **12. De elemento aeris **13. De impressionibus aeris **14. De ornatu aeris (de avibus) **15. De aquis salsis **16. De aquis dulcibus **17. De piscibus * Part IV **18. De provinciis **19. De insulis **20. De civitatibus **21. De aedificiis **22. De populis **23. De montibus **24. De arboribus **25. De herbis **26. De quadrupedibus **27. De reptilibus, serpentibus et vermibus **28. De lapidibus et gemmis **29. De metallis * Part V **30. De viris claris **31. De sectis philosophorum **32. De virtutibus theologicis et moralibus **33. De sectis haereticorum **34. De mulieribus claris

References

External links

Digital images of Oxford Balliol College MS 238A-E, 5 volume 15th century manuscript copy of ''Fons memorabilium uniuersi''
at Balliol College. The first book of Part V is missing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fons Memorabilium Universi Latin encyclopedias Italian encyclopedias Medieval European encyclopedias 15th-century Latin books