The medieval genre of speculum literature, popular from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries, was inspired by the urge to encompass

encyclopedic An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...

knowledge within a single work. However, some of these works have a restricted scope and function as instructional manuals. In this sense, the encyclopedia and the speculum are similar but they are not the same genre.

''Specula'' as a genre

''Specula'' often offered mirrors of history, doctrine, or morals.

Vincent of Beauvais Vincent of Beauvais ( or ; ; 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 work of compilation that was widely read in the Middl ...

Speculum Maius The or (Latin: "The Greater Mirror") was a major encyclopedia of the Middle Ages written by Vincent of Beauvais in the 13th century. It was a great compendium of all knowledge of the time. The work seems to have consisted of three parts: the (" ...

which included the ''Mirror of Nature'', ''Mirror of History'', and ''Mirror of Doctrine'' is not often described as a core representative of the genre. One historian has surmised that this is because Vincent's work was intended to be an objective work which is at odds with ''speculum'' literature, since it "is a subjective genre". More usual members are found in this list: *

Honorius Augustodunensis Honorius Augustodunensis (c. 1080 – c. 1140), commonly known as Honorius of Autun, was a 12th-century Christian theologian. Life Augustodunensis said that he is ''Honorius Augustodunensis ecclesiae presbyter et scholasticus''. "Augustodunensis" ...

' ''Imago mundi'' (cited by

as ''Speculum mundi'') and ''Speculum Ecclesiae'' (different than the ''Speculum Ecclesiae'' by

Edmund Rich Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an Catholic Church in England and Wales, English Catholic prelate who served as List of archbishops of Canterbury, Ar ...

) * An anonymous '' Speculum virginum'' * William of Saint-Thierry's ''Speculum fidei'' *

Nigel de Longchamps Nigel de Longchamps, also known as ''Nigel Wireker'', (fl. c. 1190, died c. 1200), ''Neel de Longchamps'', or ''Nigel of Canterbury'', was an Anglo-Norman satirist and poet of the late twelfth century, writing in Latin. He is known to have been a ...

's ''Speculum stultorum'' * ''Speculum virginum''

Specific works whose titles include the word ''speculum''

* '' Speculum Alchimiae'', the "Mirror of

Alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

", written by

Roger Bacon Roger Bacon (; or ', also '' Rogerus''; ), also known by the Scholastic accolades, scholastic accolade ''Doctor Mirabilis'', was a medieval English polymath, philosopher, scientist, theologian and Franciscans, Franciscan friar who placed co ...

. * ''

Speculum astronomiae Albertus Magnus produced the ''Speculum Astronomiae'' (The Mirror of Astronomy) (, incipit {{lang, la, Occasione quorundam librorum apud quos non est radix sciencie) sometime after 1260 to defend astrology as a Christian form of knowledge (Zambel ...

'', written by

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...

. * '' Speculum ecclesiae'', the "Mirror of the Church", written by

. *'' Speculum Humanae Salvationis'', the "Mirror of human salvation", written c. 1309–24, perhaps by

Ludolph of Saxony Ludolph of Saxony (c. 1295 – 1378), also known as Ludolphus de Saxonia and Ludolph the Carthusian, was a German Roman Catholic theologian of the fourteenth century. His principal work, first printed in the 1470s, was the '' Vita Christi'' ...

. * '' Speculum judiciale'', or '' Speculum iuris'', the "Mirror for Judges", written by

Guillaume Durand Guillaume Durand, or William Durand (c. 1230 – 1 November 1296), also known as Durandus, Duranti or Durantis, from the Italian form of Durandi filius, as he sometimes signed himself, was a French canonist and liturgical writer, and Bishop o ...

. * '' Speculum meditantis'', the "Mirror of Meditations" (usually known by its French title ''Mirour de l'Omme''), written by

John Gower John Gower (; c. 1330 – October 1408) was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and the Pearl Poet, and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered primarily for three major works—the ''Mirour de l'Omme'', ''Vox ...

. * '' Speculum perfectionis'', written by

Brother Leo Brother Leo (died 15 November 1271) was the favorite disciple, secretary and confessor of Francis of Assisi. The dates of his birth and of his becoming a Franciscan are not known; a native of Assisi, he was one of the small group of most trusted ...

. * '' Speculum stultorum'', the "Mirror of Fools" written by

* Speculum Vitae Humanae, written by Rodericus Zamorensis ( Rodrigo Sanchez de Arevalo) * Speculum Regale, King's mirror, '' Konungs_skuggsjá'', written in the mid 13th century in Norway ''

Ormulum The ''Ormulum'' or ''Orrmulum'' is a twelfth-century work of biblical exegesis, written by an Augustinian canon named Orrm (or Orrmin) and consisting of just under 19,000 lines of early Middle English verse. Because of the unique phonemic o ...

'', written by a certain Orm in Central England, bears an indirect reference to ''speculum'' and may be translated as "Orm's Mirror". It is universal in contents in that it contains the appropriate

homiletic In religious studies, homiletics ( ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or studies homiletics may be c ...

materials throughout the Church calendar. The English word ''mirror'' appears in

William Caxton William Caxton () was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into Kingdom of England, England in 1476, and as a Printer (publishing), printer to be the first English retailer ...

's ''Myrrour of the Worlde'' (1490), one of the first illustrated books printed in English (a translation of '' L'image du Monde'', an overview of the sciences); in the oft-republished '' A Mirror for Magistrates'' (1559); and in '' The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul'', a manuscript translation from the French by the young Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. The fourteenth-century mystic

Marguerite Porete Marguerite Porete (; 13th century1 June 1310) was a Beguine, a French-speaking mystic and the author of '' The Mirror of Simple Souls'', a work of Christian mysticism dealing with the workings of agape (divine love). She was burnt at the stake f ...

's ''Mirouer des simples âmes'', '' The Mirror of Simple Souls'' is a devotional work that explores the seven stages of the soul's mystical "annihilation" through meditation and prayer. The ''Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae'' ("Mirror of the Magnificence of Rome") was a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and which can serve to inspire conversation o ...

" of prints of the sights of Rome, especially the antiquities, produced by the French print seller and publisher Antonio Lafreri (1512–1577). He had been publishing and distributing such prints, and selling them at his shop in Rome, since the 1540s. In the 1570s he hit on the idea of producing a title page for the albums of prints he also sold. Each copy of the ''Speculum'' may have had different contents, as the customer in Rome could make his own selection in the shop and have them bound up.''Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae''
''University of Chicago Library'' In modern times, the journal '' Speculum'', published by the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until ) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the q ...

, covers every aspect of the medieval world.

References

External links

The Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae at the University of Chicago Library
* Lafreri’s Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae

{{Authority control Intellectual history Medieval literature Medieval European encyclopedias

''Specula'' as a genre

Specific works whose titles include the word ''speculum''

See also

References

External links