Archive for the 'What’s new' Category

Hildegard von Bingen

After a nice summer break, a new (small) update. Hildegard von Bingen, twelfth century German mystic, author, composer and healer, was a remarkable woman. Among her other books is one called Physica, which is an encyclopedic treatise on medicine. Hildegard’s medical recipes used not only the usual herbs, but also parts of fish, birds, animals […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

And other things…

There are two main parts to this update, plus the usual fixes and improvements. De bestiis et aliis rebus Or “On beasts and other things”, a catch-all title for a compilation text. The De bestiis is an odd work that consists of four books: the De avibus by Hugh of Fouilloy, a version of the […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Physiologus, etc.

The Physiologus was popular in the Middle Ages. Very popular. How popular? We can judge by the number of still existing manuscripts that include the text. This update includes a large addition to the Physiologus encyclopedia article. That includes a lot of added manuscripts. When I started I had less than 100; now there are […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Four Encyclopedias

This update is mostly about four encyclopedia articles, either newly added or substantially updated. Some of the manuscripts of these encyclopedias are illustrated, so there are a few hundred new images online. There are also around 100 new manuscripts, plus some new bibliography entries. And that’s all, folks!

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Clearing the Backlog

This update is all about clearing out the backlog of data I had waiting to be entered in my database. It was a long and tedious task, but my Zotero lists are now nearly empty, for the first time in years. Clearing the backlog added 112 manuscripts, 131 bibliography items and 520 images. In the […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Bartholomaeus Anglicus

A long delayed and – I’m sure – eagerly awaited update. This one is all about Bartholomaeus Anglicus and his encyclopedia, De proprietatibus rerum or “On the properties of things”. He wrote the work in Latin around 1260, and it was quickly copied and translated into several languages, including French, English, Dutch and Spanish. It […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Middle Dutch

This update is all about Jacob van Maerlant and his Middle Dutch encyclopedia of strange animals. I can’t read Middle Dutch – or modern Dutch – which made working with Jacob’s encyclopedia, Der Naturen Bloeme, something of a challenge. Fortunately Jacob used the Latin name for the animals, so I could at least figure out […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Encyclopedic Beasts

Well, that was a lot of work! With this update I have added all of the animal chapters (470+) from the Liber de natura rerum of Thomas of Cantimpré, a thirteenth century encyclopedia. That includes over 100 new and newly identified beasts, an English translation/paraphrase of the Latin text from each chapter (seen under the […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Psalters!

This update is mostly about manuscripts called Psalters (see below), with a bit about Gerald of Wales. Manuscripts A few more manuscripts have had their illustrations loaded and/or beast lists completed. Encyclopedia There is one updated and one new article.

Filed in What's new 4 Comments so far

Miscellany

This update has new and changed stuff in several areas. Manuscripts A few more manuscripts have had their illustrations loaded and/or beast lists completed. Encyclopedia There are some new or updated articles. Beasts While working on the texts by Engelbert of Admont and Isidore of Seville, I found and identified several new animals, and identified […]

Filed in What's new No Responses yet

Next Page »