Titivillus is a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

said to introduce errors into the work of

scribes A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and ...

. The first reference to Titivillus by name occurred in , , by Johannes Galensis (

John of Wales John of Wales (died c. 1285), also called John Waleys and Johannes Guallensis, was a Franciscan theologian who wrote several well-received Latin works, primarily preaching aids.Diem, 2009. Born between 1210 and 1230, almost certainly in Wales, J ...

). Attribution has also been given to

Caesarius of Heisterbach Caesarius of Heisterbach (c. 1180 – c. 1240), sometimes erroneously called, in English, Caesar of Heisterbach, was the prior of a Cistercian monastery, Heisterbach Abbey, which was located in the Siebengebirge, near the small town of Oberdollend ...

. Titivillus has also been described as collecting idle chat that occurs during

church service A church service (or a worship service) is a formalized period of Christian communal Christian worship, worship, often held in a Church (building), church building. Most Christian denominations hold church services on the Lord's Day (offering Su ...

, and mispronounced, mumbled or skipped words of the service, to take to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

to be counted against the offenders. He has been called the "patron demon of scribes", as Titivillus provides an easy excuse for the errors that are bound to creep into

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s as they are copied. Marc Drogin noted in his instructional manual, ''Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique'' (1980), that "for the past half-century every edition of ''

The Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editi ...

'' has listed an incorrect page reference for, of all things, a footnote on the earliest mention of Titivillus." Titivillus gained a broader role as a subversive figure of physical comedy, with satirical commentary on human vanities, in late medieval English pageants, such as the that finishes the Towneley Cycle. He plays an antagonistic role in the medieval English play ''

Mankind Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are great apes characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligenc ...

''. In an anonymous 15th-century English devotional treatise, , Titivillus introduced himself thus (I.xx.54): ""

Origin of the name

The function of collecting liturgical errors in a sack was first mentioned in by

Jacques de Vitry Jacques de Vitry (''Jacobus de Vitriaco'', 1160/70 – 1 May 1240) was a medieval France, French canon regular who was a noted theology, theologian and chronicler of his era. He was elected Latin Catholic Diocese of Acre, bishop of Acre in 1 ...

(died 1240) in (tenth sermon, on

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

18:5), which speaks of a demon that listens to the choir singing psalms and collects syncopated or omitted syllables in a sack.

I have heard that a certain holy man, while in the choir, saw a devil truly weighed down with a full sack. When, however, he commanded the demon to tell what he carried, the evil one said: "These are the syllables and syncopated words and verses of the psalms which these very clerics in their morning prayers stole from God; you can be sure I am keeping these diligently for their accusation."

This demon was later given the name "Titivillus" by Johannes Galensis . "Titivillus collects fragments of words and puts them in his bag thousand times every day." (''Fragmina verborum Titivillus colligit horum quibus die mille vicibus se sarcinat ille''). Regarding the demon's function, André Vernet points out that the Latin terms, particularly "collect" () and "fragments" () for the clery's omissions, derive from John 6:12, the

Feeding the multitude In Christianity, feeding the multitude comprises two separate miracles of Jesus, reported in the Gospels, in which Jesus used modest resources to feed thousands of followers who had gathered to see him heal the sick. The first miracle, the "Fe ...

narrative, in which the disciples are told to "Gather up the broken pieces ()." As to the demon's name, ''Titivillus'', Vernet points to ''

The City of God ''On the City of God Against the Pagans'' (), often called ''The City of God'', is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. Augustine wrote the book to refute allegations that Christian ...

'' (Book IV, Chapter 8), in a passage in which

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, while giving examples of the numerous Roman deities assigned to each step of the agricultural process, mentions a goddess Tutilina whose job is to watch over grain after it was collected and stored. However, we must imagine a series of copyists' errors (perhaps in the copy of ''City of God'' available to Johannes Galensis) to arrive at "Titivillus" and its many variants: Tutivillus, Tytivillum, Tintillus, Tantillus, Tintinillus, Titivitilarius, Titivilitarius.

In popular culture

Since 1977, one of the many devils populating the role-playing game ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' is named "Titivilus." He was the subject of the book ''Tittivulus or The Verbiage Collector'' by

Michael Ayrton Michael Ayrton (20 February 1921 – 16 November 1975)T. G. Rosenthal, "Ayrton , Michael (1921–1975)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008Retrieved 24 Jan 2015/ref> was a British pai ...

(

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

: London, 1953). In ''The Liar's Dictionary'' by Eley Williams, Titivillus is the name given to the cat of a fictional dictionary producing company which discovers it has an issue with fake words (

Windmill Books Robert Kraus (June 21, 1925 – August 7, 2001) was an American children's author illustrator, cartoonist and publisher. His successful career began early at the New Yorker Magazine, producing hundreds of cartoons and nearly two dozen covers ...

: London, 2020).

Origin of the name

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

Further reading