In Search of Medieval Ichthyological Categories: Fish Series in 13th-century Latin Alphabetical Lists

The most prolific sources about fishes in the Middle Ages are the alphabetical books devoted to aquatic animals by the Dominicans Thomas de Cantimpré, Vincent de Beauvais and Albert the Great in the mid-thirteenth century. The choice of alphabetical order by the three scholars to present their long lists of species may seem surprising, even disappointing, as it subjects the order of the presentation to a logic of names, apparently indifferent to the taxonomic models offered by the various authorities cited. I aim to demonstrate that it is possible to discern series of species through the order of the entries and the play of comparisons. Fragments of a rational order then emerge despite the alphabetical order (sometimes thanks to it). A careful observation of the art of compiling specific to each of the three authors allows us to access the snippets of a specifically medieval ichthyological knowledge. - [Abstract]

Language: French

2557-8839; DOI: 10.4000/rursuspicae.2413