(Latin for 'Etymologies'), also known as the ('Origins'), usually abbreviated Orig., is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by the influential Christian bishop Isidore of Seville () towards the end of his life. Isidore was encouraged to write the book by his friend Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa. summarized and organized a wealth of knowledge from hundreds of classical sources; three of its books are derived largely from Pliny the Elder's Natural History. Isidore acknowledges Pliny, but not his other principal sources, namely Cassiodorus, Servius, and Gaius Julius Solinus.
covers an encyclopedic range of topics. Etymology, the origins of words, is prominent, but the work also covers, among other things, grammar, rhetoric, mathematics, geometry, music, astronomy, medicine, law, the church and heretical sects, pagan philosophers, languages, cities, humans, animals, the physical world, geography, public buildings, roads, metals, rocks, agriculture, war, ships, clothes, food, and tools.
was a widely used textbook throughout the Middle Ages. It was so popular that it was read in place of many of the original classics that it summarized; as a result, some of these ceased to be copied and were lost. It was cited by Dante Alighieri (who placed Isidore in his ), quoted by Geoffrey Chaucer, and mentioned by the poets Boccaccio, Petrarch, and John Gower. Among the thousand-odd surviving manuscript copies is the 13th-century ; the earliest surviving manuscript preserves a fragment of book XI from the 7th century. was printed in at least ten editions between 1472 and 1530, after which its importance faded during the Renaissance. The first scholarly edition was printed in Madrid in 1599; the first modern critical edition was edited by Wallace Lindsay in 1911.
While less well known in modern times, modern scholars recognize the work's importance in preserving both classical texts, as well as insight into the medieval mindset.
Background
Isidore of Seville was born around 560 in Cartagena,Throop, Priscilla. Isidore of Seville's Etymologies: Complete English Translation. Vermont: MedievalMS, 2005, p. xi. and became bishop of Seville. He was widely read, mainly in Latin with a little Greek and Hebrew. He was familiar with the works of both the church fathers and pagan writers such as Martial, Cicero and Pliny the Elder, this last the author of the major encyclopaedia then in existence, the Natural History. The classical encyclopedists had already introduced alphabetic ordering of topics, and a literary rather than observational approach to knowledge: Isidore followed those traditions. Isidore became well known in his lifetime as a scholar. He started to put together the , a collection of his knowledge, in about 600, and continued to write until around 625.
Overview
The presents an abbreviated form of much of that part of the learning of antiquity that Christians thought worth preserving. Etymologies, often very far-fetched, form the subject of just one of the encyclopedia's twenty books (Book X), but perceived linguistic similarities permeate the work. An idea of the quality of Isidore's etymological knowledge is given by Peter Jones: "Now we know most of his derivations are total nonsense (eg, he derives , 'walking-stick', from Bacchus, god of drink, because you need one to walk straight after sinking a few)".
The work covers many of the subjects of ancient learning, from theology to the construction and provenance of furniture, and provides a rich source of classical lore and learning for medieval writers. Isidore quotes from around 475 works from over 200 authors in his works, including those outside the . Bishop Braulio, to whom Isidore dedicated it and sent it for correction, divided it into its twenty books.
An analysis of Book XII by Jacques André identifies 58 quotations from named authors and 293 borrowed but uncited usages: 79 from Solinus; 61 from Servius; 45 from Pliny the Elder. Isidore takes care to name classical and Christian scholars whose material he uses: in descending order of frequency, Aristotle (15 references), Jerome (10 times), Cato (9 times), Plato (8 times), Pliny, Donatus, Eusebius, Augustine, Suetonius, and Josephus. He mentions as prolific authors the pagan Varro and the Christians Origen and Augustine. But his translator Stephen Barney notes as remarkable that he never actually names the compilers of the encyclopedias that he used "at second or third hand", Aulus Gellius, Nonius Marcellus, Lactantius, Macrobius, and Martianus Capella. Barney further notes as "most striking" that Isidore never mentions three out of his four principal sources (the one he does name being Pliny): Cassiodorus, Servius and Solinus. Conversely, he names Pythagoras eight times, even though Pythagoras wrote no books. The are thus "complacently derivative".
In Book II, dealing with dialectic and rhetoric, Isidore is heavily indebted to translations from the Greek by Boethius; in Book III he is similarly in debt to Cassiodorus, who provided the gist of Isidore's treatment of arithmetic. Caelius Aurelianus contributes generously to the part of Book IV dealing with medicine. Isidore's view of Roman law in Book V is viewed through the lens of the Visigothic compendiary called the Breviary of Alaric, which was based on the Code of Theodosius, which Isidore never saw. Through Isidore's condensed paraphrase a third-hand memory of Roman law passed to the Early Middle Ages. Lactantius is the author most extensively quoted in Book XI, concerning man. Books XII, XIII and XIV are largely based on the Natural History and Solinus, whereas the lost Prata of Suetonius, which can be partly pieced together from what is quoted in the , seems to have inspired the general plan of the work, as well as many of its details.
Isidore's Latin, replete with nonstandard Vulgar Latin, stands at the cusp of Latin and the local Romance language emerging in Hispania. According to the prefatory letters, the work was composed at the urging of Braulio, to whom Isidore sent the unedited manuscript at the end of his life, which seems to have begun circulating before Braulio was able to revise and issue it with a dedication to the late Visigothic king Sisebut.
Contents
The Etymologies organizes knowledge, mainly drawn from the classics, into twenty books:
+ Structure of The Etymologies Book Topics Principal sources (Whole work) (Etymological encyclopedia) the Prata of Suetonius, now lost Book I: Trivium: grammar Institutes of Cassiodorus Book II: Trivium: rhetoric and dialectic Cassiodorus Book III: Quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy Boethius on mathematics; Cassiodorus Book IV: medicine Caelius Aurelianus, Soranus of Ephesus, Pliny Book V: law and chronology Institutes of Gaius, Breviary of Alaric Book VI: Ecclesiastical books and offices Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Divine Institutes of Lactantius, Tertullian Book VII: God, angels and saints hierarchies of heaven and earth Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Lactantius, Tertullian Book VIII: The church, Jews, and heretical sects; pagan philosophers, prophets and sibyls Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Lactantius, Tertullian (Christian); Varro, Cicero, Pliny the Elder (pagan) Book IX: Languages, peoples, kingdoms, armies, cities and titles Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Servius, Pliny, Solinus (who borrowed from Pliny) Book X: Etymologies Verrius Flaccus via Festus; Servius; the Church Fathers. Book XI: Mankind, portents, and transformations Books XI – XX all include material from Pliny's Natural History, Servius, Solinus Book XII: Beasts and birds Pliny, Servius, Solinus, Hexameron of Ambrose Book XIII: The physical world, atoms, elements, natural phenomena as Book XI Book XIV: Geography: Earth, Asia, Europe, Libya, islands, promontories, mountains, caves as Book XI; Histories Against the Pagans of Paulus Orosius Book XV: Public buildings, public works, roads Columella, Servius Book XVI: Metals and stones Pliny, Servius, Solinus Book XVII: Agriculture Cato via Columella, Pliny, Servius, Solinus, Rutilius Palladius, Varro Book XVIII: Terms of war, games, jurisprudence Servius; Tertullian on circus games Book XIX: Ships, houses, and clothes Servius; also Jerome, Festus, Pliny, Marcus Cetius Faventinus, Palladius, Nonus Marcellus Book XX: Food, tools, and furnishings as Book XIX
In Book I, Isidore begins with a lengthy section on grammar, the first of three subjects in the mediaeval Trivium considered at the time the core of essential knowledge. He covers the letters of the alphabet, parts of speech, accents, punctuation and other marks, shorthand and abbreviations, writing in cipher and sign language, types of mistake and histories. He derives the word for letters () from the Latin words for "to read" () and 'road' (), "as if the term were ", arguing that letters offer a road for people who read.
Book II completes the medieval Trivium with coverage of rhetoric and dialectic. Isidore describes what rhetoric is, kinds of argument, maxims, elocution, ways of speaking, and figures of speech. On dialectic, he discusses philosophy, syllogisms, and definitions. He equates the Greek term syllogism with the Latin term argumentation (), which he derives from the Latin for "clear mind" ().
Book III covers the medieval Quadrivium, the four subjects that supplemented the Trivium being arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. He argues that there are infinitely many numbers, as you can always add one (or any other number) to whatever number you think is the limit. He attributes geometry to Ancient Egypt, arguing that because the River Nile flooded and covered the land with mud, geometry was needed to mark out people's land "with lines and measures". Isidore distinguishes astronomy from astrology and covers the world, the sky and the celestial sphere, the zodiac, the Sun, Moon, stars, Milky Way, and planets, and the names of the stars. He derives the curved () vault of the heavens from the Latin word for "upside-down" (). He explains eclipses of the Sun as the Moon coming between the Earth and the Sun and eclipses of the Moon as happening when it runs into the shadow of the Earth. He condemns the Roman naming of the planets after their gods: Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Isidore of Seiville distinguished between a 'Superstitious' astrology () from a 'natural' astrology. The first deals with the horoscope and the attempt of foreseeing the future of one or more persons; the latter was a legitimate activity which had concerns with meteorological predictions, including iatromathematics and astrological medicine.
Book IV covers medicine, including the four humours, diseases, remedies and medical instruments. He derives the word medicine from the Latin for "moderation" (), and "sciatica" () from the affected part of the body, the hip (Greek ).
Book V covers law and chronology. Isidore distinguishes natural, civil, international, military and public law among others. He discusses the purpose of law, legal cases, witnesses, offences and penalties. On chronology, Isidore covers periods of time such as days, weeks, and months, solstices and equinoxes, seasons, special years such as Olympiads and Jubilees, generations and ages.
In Book VI, Isidore describes ecclesiastical books and offices starting with the Old and New Testaments, the authors and names of the holy books, libraries and translators, authors, writing materials including tablets, papyrus and parchment, books, scribes, and Christian festivals.
Book VII describes the basic scheme concerning God, angels, and saints: in other words, the hierarchies of heaven and earth from patriarchs, prophets and apostles down the scale through people named in the gospels to martyrs, clergymen, monks and ordinary Christians.