Encyclopedia
There were several encyclopedias in circulation in the middle ages, including some from classical Greece and Rome. Medieval encyclopedias were not like modern ones; much of their content came from earlier writers, with little skepticism or attempts at fact checking. The animal sections generally have short accounts of the "known" characteristics of a large number of animals, some real and some mythical. The chapters are usually ordered by the type of animal: beasts (mostly mammals), bird, serpents and reptiles, fish, and worms (mostly insects). Some encyclopedias arrange the chapters in each section in roughly alphabetic order by the animal's Latin name. Many encyclopedia manuscripts are illustrated, often with hundreds of small images, which do not necessarily depict the animals accurately.
Encyclopedias differ from medieval bestiaries in several ways:
- They usually do not have the moralizations and allegories found in bestiaries (though some do)
- They include many topics, such as astronomy, astrology, botany, geography, history, philosophy, zoology
- They were usually written by a single person, often identified in the text as the author
| Author | Date | Title of Text | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albertus Magnus | 1200-1280 | De animalibus | While primarily based on the De animalibus by Aristotle, Albert added commentary and details, plus a section on individual animals. Albert encouraged direct observation of nature over merely accepting the ideas of earlier authors. |
| Arnoldus Saxo | 13th century | De floribus rerum naturalium | This encyclopedia is much shorter than the other thirteenth century encyclopedias, but covers astronomy, botany, geography, geology and zoology. Arnoldus took much from the De animalibus and other works by Aristotle. |
| Bartholomeus Anglicus | 1203-1272 | De proprietatibus rerum | Bartholomaeus covered all the sciences as known at that time, including theology, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, chronology, zoology, botany, geography, and mineralogy. The work was to serve as instruction for his fellow Franciscans, who were expected to be educated but did not have the time or means to study each discipline individually. |
| Cecco d’Ascoli | 1257-1327 | Acerba | A compendium for the contemporary natural science of the time, including the order and influences of the heavens, the characteristics and properties of animals and precious stones, and the causes of phenomena such as meteors and earthquakes. |
| Gossuin de Metz | 13th century | L'Image du Monde | The Image du Monde (Image of the World or Mirror of the World) is an encyclopedia on multiple topics, including theology, philosophy, history, astronomy, astrology, physics, geography and zoology. |
| Isidore of Seville | 560-636 | Etymologies | Isidore attempted to set down the basics of all that was known on a vast range of topics, including grammar, rhetoric and logic; arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy; law, military science and theology; cosmology; and agriculture, mineralogy, physiology and zoology, among others. Isidore was not critical: he accepted most of what he read without question. His main goal throughout the Etymologies is not only to record facts, but to assign meaning, usually, as the title suggests, through etymology. |
| Lambert of Saint-Omer | 1061-1150 | Liber floridus | The Liber floridus ("book of flowers"), an encyclopedia of Biblical, chronological, astronomical, geographical, theological, philosophical and natural history subjects. Lambert saw the compilation as a bouquet of flowers plucked from the heavenly meadow "that the faithful bees may fly together to them and drink from them the sweetness of the heavenly potion." |
| Brunetto Latini | 1220-1294 | Tesoretto / Li Livres dou Tresor | The "books of treasure", called in Italian the Tesoretto, is a compendium from earlier sources of what was known to scholars of thirteenth century Europe. |
| Jacob van Maerlant | 1235-1291 | Der Naturen Bloeme | The "flower" of nature or the book of nature is a natural history encyclopedia. It is a modified translation into Middle Dutch of a large version of the Liber de Natura Rerum by Thomas de Cantimpré |
| Konrad von Megenberg | 1157-1217 | Das Buch der Natur | The book of nature is a natural history encyclopedia. It is a survey of all that was known of natural history in his time and provides information about human nature, planets and elements, fauna, flora, mineralogy, but also about miracle fountains and people. It was the first natural history in the German language. |
| Alexander Neckam | 1309-1374 | De naturis rerum | On the nature of things is a moralized encyclopedia, providing information about astronomy, elements, plants, animals, and mineralogy. Most chapters have a moralized or allegorical interpretation.. |
| Rabanus Maurus | 780-856 | De rerum naturis | The work is an encyclopedia in 22 books, covering a large range of subjects. Hrabanus' stated intent was to compile an encyclopedic handbook for preachers. He drew on earlier sources for his information, particularly the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville, but the organization of the material was his own invention. |
| Thomas de Cantimpré | 1201-1272 CE | Liber de natura rerum | In this enormous encyclopedia, Thomas compiled the natural history knowledge of his time, including what would now be called anthropology, zoology, botany, mineralogy, astronomy, astrology, and meteorology. His intent was to create a text that would serve as an introduction to "natural sciences" for the use of preachers and other ecclesiastics. |
| Vincent of Beauvais | 1184/94-1264 | Speculum maius | The "great mirror" was intended as a compendium of all the knowledge available. Vincent himself stated that he chose "Speculum" for its name because his work contains "whatever is worthy of contemplation (speculatio), that is, admiration or imitation". |
