Encyclopedic works offer a rich textual corpus for the study of cultural relations between East and West. More particularly, the Liber de natura rerum of Thomas of Cantimpré gives an important place to the census and description of animal species. Therefore, its examination makes it possible to collect a series of objective data, quantitatively and qualitatively, on the circulation and integration of Arab elements within the knowledge widespread in the 13th century in the West. An initial survey of the Arabic sources used by the compiler makes it possible to account for a dynamic interaction between Eastern and Western knowledge. The East-West relationship can also be exercised in a more indirect way, as during the reception of Aristotle's De animalibus through the Arabic-Latin translation carried out by Michel Scot. However, by taking this intermediary into consideration, several zoonyms taken up by Thomas de Cantimpré whose sound was puzzling can be clarified and the organization of the census of animal species carried out by the compiler can be studied from a new angle. Finally, on the question of the identification of the Experimentator, cited by Thomas de Cantimpré, new elements of response are provided with regard to the language of composition, the dating and the editorial mode of this work. - [Abstract]

Language: French

DOI: 10.1075/rein.25.05cle