Chapter 30

FOOTNOTES[1]Cf.S. Reinach,Orpheus, p. 36.[2]Neoplatonism, the last phase in the decline of ancient philosophy, profoundly influenced the Christian philosophy of patristic and medieval times, for which it prepared the way. The “first principle” of this philosophy was “the supra-rational, that which lies beyond reason and beyond reality.” It was from this source that Christian mysticism and contempt for empirical knowledge were largely drawn. It has been said that Catholic Christianity “conquered Neoplatonism after it had assimilated nearly everything that it possessed.” Its influence was far greater in the eastern than in the western empire. See Harnack,History of Dogma, vol. i, App. 3, for a brief account of Neoplatonism. See alsoEncycl. Brit., 11th edition, Art. “Neoplatonism.”[3]Nihil enim Isidorus intentatum reliquit: facultates omnes attigit, scientias humanas divinasque pertractavit, scriptores veteres profanos et sacros evolvit, atque in suum usum descripsit; nec contentus etymologico suo opere scientiarum encyclopaediam comprehendere, multa singillatim in sacrarum litterarum interpretatione disseruit, multa in omni alio theologiae genere, multa in philosophicis atque astronomicis argumentis, multa in re litteraria, chronologica et historica. Arevalo,Prolegomena in Editionem S. Isidori Hispalensis, cap. 1, 3.[4]Arevalo in hisProlegomena, cap. 33, collects passages containing “laudes Isidori” from medieval writers, including Fredegarius, Alcuin, William of Malmesbury, Vincent of Beauvais, and others. Isidore is cited by Petrarch in a way which shows that he was much read in his time. Petrarch is giving authorities for his theory of poetry, and after mentioning Varro and Suetonius, he says: “Then I can add a third name, which will probably be better known to you, Isidore.”Cf.Robinson and Rolfe,Petrarch, p. 263.[5]Ac portenti quidem simile est, quot mihi antiquissimi Isidori Codices in Urbis (Rome) bibliothecis sed maxime in Vaticana occurrerint. Arevalo,Prolegomena, cap. 1, 7. Manuscripts of Isidore’s works are numerous also in Spain and France.[6]The editions of Isidore’s complete works are as follows: (1) that of de la Bigne published at Paris in 1580; (2) that of Grial, Madrid, 1599; (3) that of du Breul, Paris, 1601; that of Arevalus, Rome, 1796. Arevalus, in theProlegomenato his edition, enumerates ten editions of theEtymologiesbetween 1477 and 1577. Others of Isidore’s works appeared also in frequent separate editions.[7]See Cañal,San Isidoro, ch. 7.[8]Martin A. S. Hume,The Spanish People, p. 45.[9]See Teuffel and Schwabe,History of Roman Literature, vol. ii, sec. 495, 1, andPoetae Latini Minores, 5, 357.[10]See Einhard,Vita Caroli MagniinMonumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores(Pertz ed.), vol. ii, p. 456.[11]Another factor in the history of Spain at this time that may have had a slight influence on the culture of the country was the reoccupation of the southeastern part of the country by the Eastern Empire, which lasted from Justinian’s time down to 628. The region so held included even Seville for some years.[12]For the history of Spain under the Visigoths, see Lavisse et Rambaud,Histoire Générale, vol. i, chap. 3 (by M. A. Berthelot), and Altamira,Historia de España, vol. i, c. 1.[13]In theActa Sanctorum, Aprilis 1(April 4) is the life of Isidore supposed to have been written by Lucas Tudensis (13th century). Arevalo also gives a life by Rodericus Cerratensis (also 13th century). These ‘lives’ are full of fables and cannot be trusted as sole authorities for any detail of Isidore’s career.[14]Severianus, Leander, Fulgentius, Florentina.[15]Gregory’sMoraliais dedicated to Leander.[16]Sancti Leandri Hispalensis Episcopi Regula sive de institutione virginum et contemptu mundi, in Migne,Patr. Lat., vol. 72, col. 866–898.[17]IsidoriDe Viris Illustribus Liber, cap. 41.[18]In one of Isidore’s letters, addressed to Duke Claudius (Claudio duci), he says: “Memento communis nostri doctoris Leandri.” This seems to point to formal instruction given by Leander, and possibly to the existence of a school at Seville. Migne,P. L.83, col. 905.[19]Isidore, in his life of Leander (De Viris Illustribus, cap. 41), says: “(Leander) fluorit sub Reccaredo (d. 601) ... cujus etiam tempore vitae terminum clausit.” Ildephonsus, in his life of Isidore (d. 636), says of him, “Annis fere quadraginta tenens pontificatus honorem” (Migne,P. L.82, col. 68). Gregory the Great has a letter to Leander and one to Reccared belonging to the year 598–599 (Migne,P. L.77, col. 1050–1056).[20]Gams,Kirchengeschichte von Spanienii, 2, pp. 89, 101.[21]Contemporary sources for Isidore’s life are: the passage in theregulaof his brother Leander (Migne,P. L.72, col. 892); the correspondence of Isidore (Migne,P. L., 83, col. 893); Braulio’sIntroductionto Isidore’s works (Migne,P. L.82, col. 65); the life of Isidore given by Ildephonsus, bishop of Toledo (d. 667) in his continuation of Isidore’sDe Viris Illustribus; and the letter of the clerk Redemptus, describing Isidore’s death (Migne,P. L.82, col. 68).[22]Sancti Braulionis, Caesaraugust. episcopiPraenotatio librorum Isidori, Migne,P. L.82, col. 65.[23]The reference in this passage is undoubtedly to the difference between the colloquial Latin and that of the scholar. The same consideration may perhaps explain the decidedly peculiar comment of Ildephonsus on Isidore as a public speaker: “Nam tantae jucunditatis affluentem copiam in eloquendo promeruit, ut ubertas admiranda dicendi ex eo in stuporem verteret audientes, ex quo audita bis, qui audisset non nisi repetita saepius commendaret.” Migne,P. L.82, col. 68.[24]This passage is found in Cicero,Academica Posteriora1, 3, and is addressed to Varro.[25]Braulio’s list mentions aLiber de Haeresibuswhich does not appear in Arevalo’s edition, and fails to mention theLiber de Ordine Creaturarumand theEpistolae, which are included. Ildephonsus’s list is still less complete, leaving out theProœmia,Allegoriae,Numeri,Officia,Regula,De Ordine Creaturarum,Chronicon,De Viris Illustribus, and theEpistolae.[26]Quadam propria origine.[27]Cato did not himself write on synonyms. But Isidore probably got this idea from the fact that synonyms were excerpted from his writings by later grammarians. See Teuffel,History of Roman Literature, 121, 6.[28]Migne,P. L.83, col. 9.[29]There is a critical edition ofDe Natura Rerumby G. Becker, Berlin, 1857.[30]Isidore describes this ruler in hisHistory of the Gothsasscientia literarum magna ex parte imbutus. See Migne,P. L.83, col. 1073.[31]“The higher meaning.” CompareDe Natura Rerum, chapter 26, 4: “Per hunc Arcturum, id est, Septentrionem, Ecclesiam septenaria virtute fulgentem intelligimus.”[32]Seep. 64.[33]Seep. 24.[34]Seep. 126.[35]“La Suma Teológica del Siglo VII.” Menéndez y Pelayo,Estudios de Crítica Literaria, vol. 1, p. 149.[36]If Isidore had been as thorough-going as Gregory in depreciating the secular he certainly would not have written theEtymologies. His strongest anti-secular spirit is shown in the chapter (13)de libris gentiliumof theSententiaewhere, following Gregory, he denounces “all secular learning.” It is pretty plain, however, that he is here following his model rather than working out his own position, and in the last section of the chapter he modifies what he has said by admitting that grammar may “avail for life if only it is applied to better uses.”[37]It is not of great length—three hundred and twenty-eight quarto pages in the reprint of Arevalo’s edition in Migne,Patrologiae Latinae, with about one-fifth of each page occupied by footnotes.[38]Seep. 46.[39]Seep. 165.[40]Seep. 175.[41]The circumstances under which theEtymologieswas written are referred to in Braulio’sIntroductionand in the life of Isidore by Ildephonsus (both in Migne,P. L.82, col. 65–68); in the correspondence between Braulio and Isidore (Migne,P. L.83, col. 910–914); and in the preface of theEtymologies.[42]The oft-repeated expression,Latinis, Graecis et Hebraicis litteris instructus, found in theVita Sancti Isidori, deserves no attention. There is no historical basis for the assertion that Isidore knew Greek or Hebrew. In view of the time, it would be more reasonable to demand proof that he did know them rather than that he did not. As to his knowledge of Greek, see Dressel,De Isidori Originum FontibusinRivista di Filologia, vol. iii (1874–75), p. 216. The legend of Isidore’s wide linguistic learning persists, however, even in the 11th edition of theEncyclopedia Britannica. See Art. “Encyclopedia.”[43]Cf.Etym., 2, 2, 1; 2, 25, 1 and 9; 3, 2. See pp.111,120,125.[44]The point has been made that Isidore shows his ignorance of the Greek language by the mistakes he made in the use of Greek words in his derivations. A few examples selected almost at random may be useful in this connection, although it must be remembered that the possibility of corruption in the text is always great.(a) 3, 22, 6. “Chordas autem dictas a corde.” (b) 3, 22, 8. “Lyra dicta ἀπὸ τὸ λυρεῖν a varietate vocum.” (c) 12, 1, 35. “Camur enim Graecum verbum curvum significat.”Why Isidore in (a) does not give the natural derivation from χορδή is not clear unless his knowledge of Greek was very slight. λυρεῖν, in (b), is a form that is not found in Greek. In (c)camuris not a Greek word written in Roman letters, as Isidore apparently thought. See Harper’sLatin Dictionary. Compare also the form in which Aristotle’s περὶ ἑρμηνείας is cited:de perihermeniis,praefatio perihermeniarum,in libro perihermeniarum(2, 27). Isidore’s Greek has given his editors much trouble. See Migne,Patr. Lat.81, 328, for comment upon it by Vulcanius, who edited theEtymologiesin 1577.[45]Seep. 83.[46]For a brief account of Oriental influences in Roman religion, see Dill,Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire(London, 1898), ch. 4.[47]Younger Pliny,Epistles, 3, 5.[48]An outline of the contents of leading encyclopædic works, so far as known, is here given for purposes of comparison with the contents of theEtymologies.Marcus Terentius Varro, 116–28 B.C.Antiquitatum Rerum Humanarum et Divinarum Libri XLI.Rerum Humanarum Libri XXV.Bk. 1.Introduction.2–7.de hominibus.8–13.de locis (8, Rome; 11, Italy; 12, remaining Europe; 13, Asia and Africa).14–19.de temporibus (14, introduction; 15, de saeculis; 16, de lustris; 17, de annis; 18, de mensibus; 19, de diebus).20–25.de rebus.Rerum Divinarum Libri XVI.Bk. 26.Introduction.27–29.de hominibus.30–32.de locis.33–35.de temporibus.36–38.de rebus.38–41.de diis.This encyclopedia stands for the interests of the scholarly antiquarian rather than for those of the man interested in natural science. The work itself is lost, but the nature of its contents is fairly well known, thanks to St. Augustine. For further information regarding Varro’s encyclopedic works, see Boissier,Étude sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. Varron, Paris, 1861; andGeschichte der Römischen Literatur, Martin Schanz, München, 1909, Erster Teil, Zweite Hälfte, 187, 188.Verrius Flaccus (flourished under Augustus).De Verborum Significatu.The work itself has been lost, as also the greater part of the abbreviation of it to twenty books made by Pompeius Festus before 200 A.D. Festus’s abridgement was further abridged by Paulus Diaconus in Charlemagne’s time. It is regarded as certain that material in Isidore’sEtymologiescame directly or indirectly from theDe Verborum Significatu. Nettleship,Lectures and Essays, Oxford, 1885.Pliny the Elder (23–79 A.D.).Naturalis Historiae Libri XXXVII.Bk. 1.Contents and lists of sources.2.Description of the universe.3–6.Geography.7.Man.8.Animals.9.Fishes.10.Birds.11.Insects.12–27.Trees, shrubs, plants, including medicinal botany.27–32.Medicinal zoölogy.32–37.Metals, colors, stones, and gems, especially from the artist’s point of view.Dressel,De Isidori Originum Fontibus, pp. 243–247, inRivista di filologia, 1874–75, gives an incomplete list of Isidore’s borrowings from Pliny. He points out Isidore’s carelessness in borrowing in one case where he shows that what Pliny tells us of theechineis, Isidore hastily assigns to themullus.Cf.Isidore 12, 6, 25, with Pliny, 32; 8, 9, 70, 138–39.Suetonius Tranquillus (last of first century and first half of second).Prata.This work is lost. It was an encyclopedia in at least ten books, of which the titles of some books and fragments have been recovered, a large portion of them from theEtymologiesandDe Natura Rerum. Among the subjects wereleges,mores,tempora,mundus,animantium naturae. Isidore quotes Suetonius twice. See A. Reifferscheid,C. Suetoni Tranquilli Reliquiae, Leipzig, 1860, pp. 155et seq., and Schanz,Geschichte der Römischen Literatur, Dritter Teil, pp. 47–66.Nonius Marcellus (early fourth century).Compendiosa Doctrina ad Filium.Bks. 1–12.Grammatical in character, including one book, (5)De Differentia Similium Significationum.13.de genere navigiorum.14.de genere vestimentorum.15.de genere vasorum vel poculorum.16.de genere calciamentorum.17.de coloribus vestimentorum.18.de genere ciborum vel potorum.19.de genere armorum.20.de propinquitatum vocabulis.This work is, in part, in dictionary form (Bks. 1–6). There is much resemblance between passages in Nonius Marcellus and in theEtymologies, which Nettleship believes to be due to the use of a common source. Nettleship, “Nonius Marcellus,” inLectures and Essays. Lindsay,Nonius Marcellus, Oxford, 1901.[49]Disciplinarum Libri IX.Bk. 1. Grammar. Bk. 2. Dialectic. Bk. 3. Rhetoric. Bk. 4. Geometry. Bk. 5. Arithmetic. Bk. 6. Astrology. Bk. 7. Music. Bk. 8. Medicine. Bk. 9. Architecture. (Conjectural list of disciplines given by Ritschl,Opusc.3, p. 312.)[50]Martianus Capella,De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii.[51]Seep. 91.[52]E.g.Suetonius,Prata.[53]See pp.106,114.[54]Dressel,De Isidori Originum Fontibus, inRivista di filologia, 1874–75, discusses Isidore’s method of using his sources, and gives a list of writers and works to which he traces passages in Isidore, giving usually a list of the latter. The writers include Sallust, Justinus, Hegesippus, Orosius, Pliny, Solinus, the abridger of Vitruvius, Lucretius, Hyginus, Cassiodorus, Servius, the scholia on Lucan.Nettleship,Lectures and Essays, Oxford, 1885, devotes attention chiefly to the encyclopedic tradition, treating of Verrius Flaccus, theGlossesof Placidus, theNoctes Atticaeof Gellius, Nonius Marcellus, and Servius. He treats of Isidore only by the way, and lays stress on his debt to Suetonius,Prata, and Verrius Flaccus,De Verborum Significatu. See pp. 330–336, and for opinion of Latin encyclopedic tradition, pp. 283–285.Reifferscheid,Suetoni Reliquiae, recovers several passages of Suetonius from Isidore.C. Schmidt,Quaestiones de musicis scriptoribus Romanis imprimis de Cassiodoro et Isidoro, traces Isidore’sDe Musicato an unknown Christian writer.G. Becker, editor ofDe Natura Rerum, Berlin, 1857, discusses the sources of that work especially, tracing it to Suetonius, Solinus, and Hyginus on the one hand, and Ambrose, Clement, Augustine, on the other.H. Hertzberg,Die Chroniken des Isidors, Forsch. zur deutschen Geschichte, 15, 280et seq., discusses the sources of Isidore’sChronica, which he traces to Jerome’s translation of Eusebius with later continuations. The same writer also treats of the sources ofThe History of the Goths(Gött. 1874).H. Usener,Anecdoton Holderi(Bonn, 1877), p. 65, asserts that Isidore did not use Cassiodorus’ encyclopedia of the liberal arts.M. Conrat,Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des Römischen Rechts im früheren Mittelalter(Leipzig, 1891) treats of the sources of Isidore’sLeges, pp. 151et seq.; as also Voigt,Jus Naturale, 1, 576et seq., and Dirksen,Hinterlassene Schriften, 1, 185et seq.Arno Schenk,De Isidori Hispalensis de natura rerum libelli fontibus, Jena, 1909, finds that Isidore wrote theDe Natura Rerumand theEtymologiaefrom his collection of excerpts which is drawn from Ambrose, Clement, Augustine, Jerome, the scholiast on Germanicus, Hyginus, Servius, the scholia on Lucan, Solinus, Suetonius, and a number of the Roman poets. This dissertation is largely meant to show that Reifferscheid in his work,Suetoni Reliquiae, had gone too far in attributing passages found in Isidore to Suetonius.M. Klussman,Excerpta Tertullianea in Isidori Hispalensis Etymologiis, Hamburg, 1892, gives a list of nearly seventy passages borrowed by Isidore from Tertullian, at the same time pointing out that credit for the passages is nowhere assigned to the latter.[55]For example, Isidore evidently had a theory as to the origin and value of language, but he does not state it anywhere, although innumerable times he approaches the subject in an oblique sort of way. Seep. 99. Again, he never tells us whether he believed the earth to be flat or spherical; he uses at one time language that belongs to the spherical earth, and at another, language that can have sense only if he believed the earth to be flat. Here we have not only no definite statement of the conception—although it must have existed in his mind, considering the frequency of his writings on the physical universe—but we have in addition the puzzle of deciding which set of expressions used in this connection was meaningless to him. See pp.50–54andAppendix.[56]For Isidore’s physical universe in general, seeEtym.3, 24–71; 13, 4–6;De Natura Rerum, 9–27. See pp.142–154,234,243.[57]Isidore seems to have kept an open mind on the question of the number of the spheres. He says:de numero eorum[coelorum]nihil sibi praesumat humana temeritas.D. N. R., 13, 1.[58]See 2, 24, 2 (p. 116).[59]3, 44; 13, 6. Seep. 146.[60]SeeAppendix I.[61]De Quinque Circulis.“In definitione autem mundi circulos aiunt philosophi quinque, quos Graeci παραλλήλους—id est, zonas—vocant, in quibus dividitur orbis terrae.... Sed fingamus eas in modum dextrae nostrae, ut pollex sit circulus ἀρτικός, frigore inhabitabilis; secundus circulus θερινὸς, temperatus habitabilis; medius circulus ἰσημερινὸς, torridus inhabitabilis; quartus circulus χειμερινὸς, temperatus habitabilis; quintus circulus ἀνταρτικὸς, frigidus inhabitabilis. Horum primus septentrionalis est, secundas solstitialis, tertius aequinoctialis, quartus hiemalis, quintus australis....“Quorum circulorum divisiones talis distinguit figura (Fig. I).3. “Sed ideo aequinoctialis circulus inhabitabilis est, quia sol per medium coelum currens nimium his locis facit fervorem, ita ut nec fruges ibi nascantur propter exustam terram, nec homines propter nimium ardorem habitare permittantur. At contraseptentrionalis et australis circuli sibi conjunctiidcirco non habitantur, quia a cursu solis longe positi sunt, nimioque caeli rigore ventorumque gelidis flatibus contabescunt.4. “Solstitialis vero circulus, quiin Oriente inter septentrionalem et aestivumest collocatus, vel iste quiin Occidente inter aestivum et australemest positus, ideo temperati sunt eo quod ex uno circulo rigorem, ex altero calorem habeant. De quibus Virgilius:“Has inter mediamque duae mortalibus aegrisMunere concessae divum.“Sed qui proximi sunt aestivo circulo, ipsi sunt Aethiopes nimio calore perusti.”De Natura Rerum, ch. x.[62]The two passages in which Isidore states the theory of the zones correctly are from Hyginus,Poeticon Astronomicon(Mythographi Latini, ed. Muncker, Amsterdam, 1691).Cf.p. 146.[63]For a similar confusion ofsphaeraandcirculusseeAppendix I.[64]That this was Isidore’s conception of the land surface is evident from many passages (e.g., seep. 244) and is made certain from his map (p. 5). This map is found in an old edition of theEtymologies(Libri Etymologiarum ... et de Summo Bono Libri III, Venetiis, 1483) in the library of Union Theological Seminary.[65]Cf. Psalms, 104, 2.[66]De Ordine Creaturarum Liber, 4, 1–2.[67]3, 71, 3.[68]De Natura Rerum, ch. 10.[69]For a clear account of the theory of the four elements in medieval thought seeLes Quatre Elements, J. Leminne inMémoires couronées par l’Académie Royale de Belgique, v. 65, Bruxelles, 1903.[70]Etym., 13, 3.Cf. D. N. R., 11.[71]The theory of atoms is also stated by Isidore. Seep. 235. It is not used, however, and is not fully stated. The part played in the theory by atoms of different sizes is not mentioned, and although “the void” is mentioned, its importance is not brought out.[72]See Art. “Chemistry,”Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition.[73]Etym., 13, 5, 1.[74]Diff., 1, 82.[75]De Ordine Creat. Liber, 4, 5–6.Cf. D. N. R., 11. The problem of “the waters above the firmament,” which occupied the minds of the church fathers so much, and which is at variance with the cosmological side of the theory of the four elements, Isidore seems inclined to settle by regarding it as a miracle.Cf. D. N. R., 14.[76]In theDe Natura Rerumand theDe Ordine Creaturarum, as well as in Books XIII-XIV of theEtymologies, Isidore follows the order of the four elements in describing the universe. His fidelity to this order, as well as the variations of emphasis and of minor treatment which he introduced into it, are of interest. These may be exhibited in parallel form as follows:EtymologiesBooks xiii and xivDe NaturaRerumDe OrdineCreaturarumxiii, chaps. 4–6chaps. 9–274–6Fire(theheavens)AstronomyAstronomy, fullerAstronomy, briefer, with an account of the angels, the inhabitants of the element of firexiii, 7–1228–397–8AirThe atmosphere and meteorological phenomenaThe same, fullerThe same, briefer, with an account of demons, the inhabitants of the airxiii, 12–2240–449WaterA description of water with a geography of the water surface of the earthThe same in very much abbreviated formThe same, briefer, without the geographyxiv, 1–945–4810–15EarthA description of the dry land with a geography of the land surface of the earthThe same in very much abbreviated formThe same, briefer than inDe Natura Rerum, with an account of men as the inhabitants of this element, their nature and future lifeThis table indicates the great stress Isidore laid upon the cosmological side of the theory of the four elements, as well as his tendency to use his large general ideas in relating the individual branches of knowledge. Here astronomy, meteorology, and geography are thus grouped together, and angelology is put into relation with astronomy and demonology with meteorology.[77]Etym., 13, 3, 3, and 8, 11, 17.[78]Diff., 2, 17, 48.[79]Diff., 2, 17, 67.

FOOTNOTES

[1]Cf.S. Reinach,Orpheus, p. 36.

[2]Neoplatonism, the last phase in the decline of ancient philosophy, profoundly influenced the Christian philosophy of patristic and medieval times, for which it prepared the way. The “first principle” of this philosophy was “the supra-rational, that which lies beyond reason and beyond reality.” It was from this source that Christian mysticism and contempt for empirical knowledge were largely drawn. It has been said that Catholic Christianity “conquered Neoplatonism after it had assimilated nearly everything that it possessed.” Its influence was far greater in the eastern than in the western empire. See Harnack,History of Dogma, vol. i, App. 3, for a brief account of Neoplatonism. See alsoEncycl. Brit., 11th edition, Art. “Neoplatonism.”

[3]Nihil enim Isidorus intentatum reliquit: facultates omnes attigit, scientias humanas divinasque pertractavit, scriptores veteres profanos et sacros evolvit, atque in suum usum descripsit; nec contentus etymologico suo opere scientiarum encyclopaediam comprehendere, multa singillatim in sacrarum litterarum interpretatione disseruit, multa in omni alio theologiae genere, multa in philosophicis atque astronomicis argumentis, multa in re litteraria, chronologica et historica. Arevalo,Prolegomena in Editionem S. Isidori Hispalensis, cap. 1, 3.

[4]Arevalo in hisProlegomena, cap. 33, collects passages containing “laudes Isidori” from medieval writers, including Fredegarius, Alcuin, William of Malmesbury, Vincent of Beauvais, and others. Isidore is cited by Petrarch in a way which shows that he was much read in his time. Petrarch is giving authorities for his theory of poetry, and after mentioning Varro and Suetonius, he says: “Then I can add a third name, which will probably be better known to you, Isidore.”Cf.Robinson and Rolfe,Petrarch, p. 263.

[5]Ac portenti quidem simile est, quot mihi antiquissimi Isidori Codices in Urbis (Rome) bibliothecis sed maxime in Vaticana occurrerint. Arevalo,Prolegomena, cap. 1, 7. Manuscripts of Isidore’s works are numerous also in Spain and France.

[6]The editions of Isidore’s complete works are as follows: (1) that of de la Bigne published at Paris in 1580; (2) that of Grial, Madrid, 1599; (3) that of du Breul, Paris, 1601; that of Arevalus, Rome, 1796. Arevalus, in theProlegomenato his edition, enumerates ten editions of theEtymologiesbetween 1477 and 1577. Others of Isidore’s works appeared also in frequent separate editions.

[7]See Cañal,San Isidoro, ch. 7.

[8]Martin A. S. Hume,The Spanish People, p. 45.

[9]See Teuffel and Schwabe,History of Roman Literature, vol. ii, sec. 495, 1, andPoetae Latini Minores, 5, 357.

[10]See Einhard,Vita Caroli MagniinMonumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores(Pertz ed.), vol. ii, p. 456.

[11]Another factor in the history of Spain at this time that may have had a slight influence on the culture of the country was the reoccupation of the southeastern part of the country by the Eastern Empire, which lasted from Justinian’s time down to 628. The region so held included even Seville for some years.

[12]For the history of Spain under the Visigoths, see Lavisse et Rambaud,Histoire Générale, vol. i, chap. 3 (by M. A. Berthelot), and Altamira,Historia de España, vol. i, c. 1.

[13]In theActa Sanctorum, Aprilis 1(April 4) is the life of Isidore supposed to have been written by Lucas Tudensis (13th century). Arevalo also gives a life by Rodericus Cerratensis (also 13th century). These ‘lives’ are full of fables and cannot be trusted as sole authorities for any detail of Isidore’s career.

[14]Severianus, Leander, Fulgentius, Florentina.

[15]Gregory’sMoraliais dedicated to Leander.

[16]Sancti Leandri Hispalensis Episcopi Regula sive de institutione virginum et contemptu mundi, in Migne,Patr. Lat., vol. 72, col. 866–898.

[17]IsidoriDe Viris Illustribus Liber, cap. 41.

[18]In one of Isidore’s letters, addressed to Duke Claudius (Claudio duci), he says: “Memento communis nostri doctoris Leandri.” This seems to point to formal instruction given by Leander, and possibly to the existence of a school at Seville. Migne,P. L.83, col. 905.

[19]Isidore, in his life of Leander (De Viris Illustribus, cap. 41), says: “(Leander) fluorit sub Reccaredo (d. 601) ... cujus etiam tempore vitae terminum clausit.” Ildephonsus, in his life of Isidore (d. 636), says of him, “Annis fere quadraginta tenens pontificatus honorem” (Migne,P. L.82, col. 68). Gregory the Great has a letter to Leander and one to Reccared belonging to the year 598–599 (Migne,P. L.77, col. 1050–1056).

[20]Gams,Kirchengeschichte von Spanienii, 2, pp. 89, 101.

[21]Contemporary sources for Isidore’s life are: the passage in theregulaof his brother Leander (Migne,P. L.72, col. 892); the correspondence of Isidore (Migne,P. L., 83, col. 893); Braulio’sIntroductionto Isidore’s works (Migne,P. L.82, col. 65); the life of Isidore given by Ildephonsus, bishop of Toledo (d. 667) in his continuation of Isidore’sDe Viris Illustribus; and the letter of the clerk Redemptus, describing Isidore’s death (Migne,P. L.82, col. 68).

[22]Sancti Braulionis, Caesaraugust. episcopiPraenotatio librorum Isidori, Migne,P. L.82, col. 65.

[23]The reference in this passage is undoubtedly to the difference between the colloquial Latin and that of the scholar. The same consideration may perhaps explain the decidedly peculiar comment of Ildephonsus on Isidore as a public speaker: “Nam tantae jucunditatis affluentem copiam in eloquendo promeruit, ut ubertas admiranda dicendi ex eo in stuporem verteret audientes, ex quo audita bis, qui audisset non nisi repetita saepius commendaret.” Migne,P. L.82, col. 68.

[24]This passage is found in Cicero,Academica Posteriora1, 3, and is addressed to Varro.

[25]Braulio’s list mentions aLiber de Haeresibuswhich does not appear in Arevalo’s edition, and fails to mention theLiber de Ordine Creaturarumand theEpistolae, which are included. Ildephonsus’s list is still less complete, leaving out theProœmia,Allegoriae,Numeri,Officia,Regula,De Ordine Creaturarum,Chronicon,De Viris Illustribus, and theEpistolae.

[26]Quadam propria origine.

[27]Cato did not himself write on synonyms. But Isidore probably got this idea from the fact that synonyms were excerpted from his writings by later grammarians. See Teuffel,History of Roman Literature, 121, 6.

[28]Migne,P. L.83, col. 9.

[29]There is a critical edition ofDe Natura Rerumby G. Becker, Berlin, 1857.

[30]Isidore describes this ruler in hisHistory of the Gothsasscientia literarum magna ex parte imbutus. See Migne,P. L.83, col. 1073.

[31]“The higher meaning.” CompareDe Natura Rerum, chapter 26, 4: “Per hunc Arcturum, id est, Septentrionem, Ecclesiam septenaria virtute fulgentem intelligimus.”

[32]Seep. 64.

[33]Seep. 24.

[34]Seep. 126.

[35]“La Suma Teológica del Siglo VII.” Menéndez y Pelayo,Estudios de Crítica Literaria, vol. 1, p. 149.

[36]If Isidore had been as thorough-going as Gregory in depreciating the secular he certainly would not have written theEtymologies. His strongest anti-secular spirit is shown in the chapter (13)de libris gentiliumof theSententiaewhere, following Gregory, he denounces “all secular learning.” It is pretty plain, however, that he is here following his model rather than working out his own position, and in the last section of the chapter he modifies what he has said by admitting that grammar may “avail for life if only it is applied to better uses.”

[37]It is not of great length—three hundred and twenty-eight quarto pages in the reprint of Arevalo’s edition in Migne,Patrologiae Latinae, with about one-fifth of each page occupied by footnotes.

[38]Seep. 46.

[39]Seep. 165.

[40]Seep. 175.

[41]The circumstances under which theEtymologieswas written are referred to in Braulio’sIntroductionand in the life of Isidore by Ildephonsus (both in Migne,P. L.82, col. 65–68); in the correspondence between Braulio and Isidore (Migne,P. L.83, col. 910–914); and in the preface of theEtymologies.

[42]The oft-repeated expression,Latinis, Graecis et Hebraicis litteris instructus, found in theVita Sancti Isidori, deserves no attention. There is no historical basis for the assertion that Isidore knew Greek or Hebrew. In view of the time, it would be more reasonable to demand proof that he did know them rather than that he did not. As to his knowledge of Greek, see Dressel,De Isidori Originum FontibusinRivista di Filologia, vol. iii (1874–75), p. 216. The legend of Isidore’s wide linguistic learning persists, however, even in the 11th edition of theEncyclopedia Britannica. See Art. “Encyclopedia.”

[43]Cf.Etym., 2, 2, 1; 2, 25, 1 and 9; 3, 2. See pp.111,120,125.

[44]The point has been made that Isidore shows his ignorance of the Greek language by the mistakes he made in the use of Greek words in his derivations. A few examples selected almost at random may be useful in this connection, although it must be remembered that the possibility of corruption in the text is always great.(a) 3, 22, 6. “Chordas autem dictas a corde.” (b) 3, 22, 8. “Lyra dicta ἀπὸ τὸ λυρεῖν a varietate vocum.” (c) 12, 1, 35. “Camur enim Graecum verbum curvum significat.”Why Isidore in (a) does not give the natural derivation from χορδή is not clear unless his knowledge of Greek was very slight. λυρεῖν, in (b), is a form that is not found in Greek. In (c)camuris not a Greek word written in Roman letters, as Isidore apparently thought. See Harper’sLatin Dictionary. Compare also the form in which Aristotle’s περὶ ἑρμηνείας is cited:de perihermeniis,praefatio perihermeniarum,in libro perihermeniarum(2, 27). Isidore’s Greek has given his editors much trouble. See Migne,Patr. Lat.81, 328, for comment upon it by Vulcanius, who edited theEtymologiesin 1577.

(a) 3, 22, 6. “Chordas autem dictas a corde.” (b) 3, 22, 8. “Lyra dicta ἀπὸ τὸ λυρεῖν a varietate vocum.” (c) 12, 1, 35. “Camur enim Graecum verbum curvum significat.”

Why Isidore in (a) does not give the natural derivation from χορδή is not clear unless his knowledge of Greek was very slight. λυρεῖν, in (b), is a form that is not found in Greek. In (c)camuris not a Greek word written in Roman letters, as Isidore apparently thought. See Harper’sLatin Dictionary. Compare also the form in which Aristotle’s περὶ ἑρμηνείας is cited:de perihermeniis,praefatio perihermeniarum,in libro perihermeniarum(2, 27). Isidore’s Greek has given his editors much trouble. See Migne,Patr. Lat.81, 328, for comment upon it by Vulcanius, who edited theEtymologiesin 1577.

[45]Seep. 83.

[46]For a brief account of Oriental influences in Roman religion, see Dill,Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire(London, 1898), ch. 4.

[47]Younger Pliny,Epistles, 3, 5.

[48]An outline of the contents of leading encyclopædic works, so far as known, is here given for purposes of comparison with the contents of theEtymologies.Marcus Terentius Varro, 116–28 B.C.Antiquitatum Rerum Humanarum et Divinarum Libri XLI.Rerum Humanarum Libri XXV.Bk. 1.Introduction.2–7.de hominibus.8–13.de locis (8, Rome; 11, Italy; 12, remaining Europe; 13, Asia and Africa).14–19.de temporibus (14, introduction; 15, de saeculis; 16, de lustris; 17, de annis; 18, de mensibus; 19, de diebus).20–25.de rebus.Rerum Divinarum Libri XVI.Bk. 26.Introduction.27–29.de hominibus.30–32.de locis.33–35.de temporibus.36–38.de rebus.38–41.de diis.This encyclopedia stands for the interests of the scholarly antiquarian rather than for those of the man interested in natural science. The work itself is lost, but the nature of its contents is fairly well known, thanks to St. Augustine. For further information regarding Varro’s encyclopedic works, see Boissier,Étude sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. Varron, Paris, 1861; andGeschichte der Römischen Literatur, Martin Schanz, München, 1909, Erster Teil, Zweite Hälfte, 187, 188.Verrius Flaccus (flourished under Augustus).De Verborum Significatu.The work itself has been lost, as also the greater part of the abbreviation of it to twenty books made by Pompeius Festus before 200 A.D. Festus’s abridgement was further abridged by Paulus Diaconus in Charlemagne’s time. It is regarded as certain that material in Isidore’sEtymologiescame directly or indirectly from theDe Verborum Significatu. Nettleship,Lectures and Essays, Oxford, 1885.Pliny the Elder (23–79 A.D.).Naturalis Historiae Libri XXXVII.Bk. 1.Contents and lists of sources.2.Description of the universe.3–6.Geography.7.Man.8.Animals.9.Fishes.10.Birds.11.Insects.12–27.Trees, shrubs, plants, including medicinal botany.27–32.Medicinal zoölogy.32–37.Metals, colors, stones, and gems, especially from the artist’s point of view.Dressel,De Isidori Originum Fontibus, pp. 243–247, inRivista di filologia, 1874–75, gives an incomplete list of Isidore’s borrowings from Pliny. He points out Isidore’s carelessness in borrowing in one case where he shows that what Pliny tells us of theechineis, Isidore hastily assigns to themullus.Cf.Isidore 12, 6, 25, with Pliny, 32; 8, 9, 70, 138–39.Suetonius Tranquillus (last of first century and first half of second).Prata.This work is lost. It was an encyclopedia in at least ten books, of which the titles of some books and fragments have been recovered, a large portion of them from theEtymologiesandDe Natura Rerum. Among the subjects wereleges,mores,tempora,mundus,animantium naturae. Isidore quotes Suetonius twice. See A. Reifferscheid,C. Suetoni Tranquilli Reliquiae, Leipzig, 1860, pp. 155et seq., and Schanz,Geschichte der Römischen Literatur, Dritter Teil, pp. 47–66.Nonius Marcellus (early fourth century).Compendiosa Doctrina ad Filium.Bks. 1–12.Grammatical in character, including one book, (5)De Differentia Similium Significationum.13.de genere navigiorum.14.de genere vestimentorum.15.de genere vasorum vel poculorum.16.de genere calciamentorum.17.de coloribus vestimentorum.18.de genere ciborum vel potorum.19.de genere armorum.20.de propinquitatum vocabulis.This work is, in part, in dictionary form (Bks. 1–6). There is much resemblance between passages in Nonius Marcellus and in theEtymologies, which Nettleship believes to be due to the use of a common source. Nettleship, “Nonius Marcellus,” inLectures and Essays. Lindsay,Nonius Marcellus, Oxford, 1901.

[48]An outline of the contents of leading encyclopædic works, so far as known, is here given for purposes of comparison with the contents of theEtymologies.

This encyclopedia stands for the interests of the scholarly antiquarian rather than for those of the man interested in natural science. The work itself is lost, but the nature of its contents is fairly well known, thanks to St. Augustine. For further information regarding Varro’s encyclopedic works, see Boissier,Étude sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. Varron, Paris, 1861; andGeschichte der Römischen Literatur, Martin Schanz, München, 1909, Erster Teil, Zweite Hälfte, 187, 188.

The work itself has been lost, as also the greater part of the abbreviation of it to twenty books made by Pompeius Festus before 200 A.D. Festus’s abridgement was further abridged by Paulus Diaconus in Charlemagne’s time. It is regarded as certain that material in Isidore’sEtymologiescame directly or indirectly from theDe Verborum Significatu. Nettleship,Lectures and Essays, Oxford, 1885.

Dressel,De Isidori Originum Fontibus, pp. 243–247, inRivista di filologia, 1874–75, gives an incomplete list of Isidore’s borrowings from Pliny. He points out Isidore’s carelessness in borrowing in one case where he shows that what Pliny tells us of theechineis, Isidore hastily assigns to themullus.Cf.Isidore 12, 6, 25, with Pliny, 32; 8, 9, 70, 138–39.

This work is lost. It was an encyclopedia in at least ten books, of which the titles of some books and fragments have been recovered, a large portion of them from theEtymologiesandDe Natura Rerum. Among the subjects wereleges,mores,tempora,mundus,animantium naturae. Isidore quotes Suetonius twice. See A. Reifferscheid,C. Suetoni Tranquilli Reliquiae, Leipzig, 1860, pp. 155et seq., and Schanz,Geschichte der Römischen Literatur, Dritter Teil, pp. 47–66.

This work is, in part, in dictionary form (Bks. 1–6). There is much resemblance between passages in Nonius Marcellus and in theEtymologies, which Nettleship believes to be due to the use of a common source. Nettleship, “Nonius Marcellus,” inLectures and Essays. Lindsay,Nonius Marcellus, Oxford, 1901.

[49]Disciplinarum Libri IX.Bk. 1. Grammar. Bk. 2. Dialectic. Bk. 3. Rhetoric. Bk. 4. Geometry. Bk. 5. Arithmetic. Bk. 6. Astrology. Bk. 7. Music. Bk. 8. Medicine. Bk. 9. Architecture. (Conjectural list of disciplines given by Ritschl,Opusc.3, p. 312.)

[50]Martianus Capella,De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii.

[51]Seep. 91.

[52]E.g.Suetonius,Prata.

[53]See pp.106,114.

[54]Dressel,De Isidori Originum Fontibus, inRivista di filologia, 1874–75, discusses Isidore’s method of using his sources, and gives a list of writers and works to which he traces passages in Isidore, giving usually a list of the latter. The writers include Sallust, Justinus, Hegesippus, Orosius, Pliny, Solinus, the abridger of Vitruvius, Lucretius, Hyginus, Cassiodorus, Servius, the scholia on Lucan.Nettleship,Lectures and Essays, Oxford, 1885, devotes attention chiefly to the encyclopedic tradition, treating of Verrius Flaccus, theGlossesof Placidus, theNoctes Atticaeof Gellius, Nonius Marcellus, and Servius. He treats of Isidore only by the way, and lays stress on his debt to Suetonius,Prata, and Verrius Flaccus,De Verborum Significatu. See pp. 330–336, and for opinion of Latin encyclopedic tradition, pp. 283–285.Reifferscheid,Suetoni Reliquiae, recovers several passages of Suetonius from Isidore.C. Schmidt,Quaestiones de musicis scriptoribus Romanis imprimis de Cassiodoro et Isidoro, traces Isidore’sDe Musicato an unknown Christian writer.G. Becker, editor ofDe Natura Rerum, Berlin, 1857, discusses the sources of that work especially, tracing it to Suetonius, Solinus, and Hyginus on the one hand, and Ambrose, Clement, Augustine, on the other.H. Hertzberg,Die Chroniken des Isidors, Forsch. zur deutschen Geschichte, 15, 280et seq., discusses the sources of Isidore’sChronica, which he traces to Jerome’s translation of Eusebius with later continuations. The same writer also treats of the sources ofThe History of the Goths(Gött. 1874).H. Usener,Anecdoton Holderi(Bonn, 1877), p. 65, asserts that Isidore did not use Cassiodorus’ encyclopedia of the liberal arts.M. Conrat,Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des Römischen Rechts im früheren Mittelalter(Leipzig, 1891) treats of the sources of Isidore’sLeges, pp. 151et seq.; as also Voigt,Jus Naturale, 1, 576et seq., and Dirksen,Hinterlassene Schriften, 1, 185et seq.Arno Schenk,De Isidori Hispalensis de natura rerum libelli fontibus, Jena, 1909, finds that Isidore wrote theDe Natura Rerumand theEtymologiaefrom his collection of excerpts which is drawn from Ambrose, Clement, Augustine, Jerome, the scholiast on Germanicus, Hyginus, Servius, the scholia on Lucan, Solinus, Suetonius, and a number of the Roman poets. This dissertation is largely meant to show that Reifferscheid in his work,Suetoni Reliquiae, had gone too far in attributing passages found in Isidore to Suetonius.M. Klussman,Excerpta Tertullianea in Isidori Hispalensis Etymologiis, Hamburg, 1892, gives a list of nearly seventy passages borrowed by Isidore from Tertullian, at the same time pointing out that credit for the passages is nowhere assigned to the latter.

Nettleship,Lectures and Essays, Oxford, 1885, devotes attention chiefly to the encyclopedic tradition, treating of Verrius Flaccus, theGlossesof Placidus, theNoctes Atticaeof Gellius, Nonius Marcellus, and Servius. He treats of Isidore only by the way, and lays stress on his debt to Suetonius,Prata, and Verrius Flaccus,De Verborum Significatu. See pp. 330–336, and for opinion of Latin encyclopedic tradition, pp. 283–285.

Reifferscheid,Suetoni Reliquiae, recovers several passages of Suetonius from Isidore.

C. Schmidt,Quaestiones de musicis scriptoribus Romanis imprimis de Cassiodoro et Isidoro, traces Isidore’sDe Musicato an unknown Christian writer.

G. Becker, editor ofDe Natura Rerum, Berlin, 1857, discusses the sources of that work especially, tracing it to Suetonius, Solinus, and Hyginus on the one hand, and Ambrose, Clement, Augustine, on the other.

H. Hertzberg,Die Chroniken des Isidors, Forsch. zur deutschen Geschichte, 15, 280et seq., discusses the sources of Isidore’sChronica, which he traces to Jerome’s translation of Eusebius with later continuations. The same writer also treats of the sources ofThe History of the Goths(Gött. 1874).

H. Usener,Anecdoton Holderi(Bonn, 1877), p. 65, asserts that Isidore did not use Cassiodorus’ encyclopedia of the liberal arts.

M. Conrat,Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des Römischen Rechts im früheren Mittelalter(Leipzig, 1891) treats of the sources of Isidore’sLeges, pp. 151et seq.; as also Voigt,Jus Naturale, 1, 576et seq., and Dirksen,Hinterlassene Schriften, 1, 185et seq.

Arno Schenk,De Isidori Hispalensis de natura rerum libelli fontibus, Jena, 1909, finds that Isidore wrote theDe Natura Rerumand theEtymologiaefrom his collection of excerpts which is drawn from Ambrose, Clement, Augustine, Jerome, the scholiast on Germanicus, Hyginus, Servius, the scholia on Lucan, Solinus, Suetonius, and a number of the Roman poets. This dissertation is largely meant to show that Reifferscheid in his work,Suetoni Reliquiae, had gone too far in attributing passages found in Isidore to Suetonius.

M. Klussman,Excerpta Tertullianea in Isidori Hispalensis Etymologiis, Hamburg, 1892, gives a list of nearly seventy passages borrowed by Isidore from Tertullian, at the same time pointing out that credit for the passages is nowhere assigned to the latter.

[55]For example, Isidore evidently had a theory as to the origin and value of language, but he does not state it anywhere, although innumerable times he approaches the subject in an oblique sort of way. Seep. 99. Again, he never tells us whether he believed the earth to be flat or spherical; he uses at one time language that belongs to the spherical earth, and at another, language that can have sense only if he believed the earth to be flat. Here we have not only no definite statement of the conception—although it must have existed in his mind, considering the frequency of his writings on the physical universe—but we have in addition the puzzle of deciding which set of expressions used in this connection was meaningless to him. See pp.50–54andAppendix.

[56]For Isidore’s physical universe in general, seeEtym.3, 24–71; 13, 4–6;De Natura Rerum, 9–27. See pp.142–154,234,243.

[57]Isidore seems to have kept an open mind on the question of the number of the spheres. He says:de numero eorum[coelorum]nihil sibi praesumat humana temeritas.D. N. R., 13, 1.

[58]See 2, 24, 2 (p. 116).

[59]3, 44; 13, 6. Seep. 146.

[60]SeeAppendix I.

[61]De Quinque Circulis.“In definitione autem mundi circulos aiunt philosophi quinque, quos Graeci παραλλήλους—id est, zonas—vocant, in quibus dividitur orbis terrae.... Sed fingamus eas in modum dextrae nostrae, ut pollex sit circulus ἀρτικός, frigore inhabitabilis; secundus circulus θερινὸς, temperatus habitabilis; medius circulus ἰσημερινὸς, torridus inhabitabilis; quartus circulus χειμερινὸς, temperatus habitabilis; quintus circulus ἀνταρτικὸς, frigidus inhabitabilis. Horum primus septentrionalis est, secundas solstitialis, tertius aequinoctialis, quartus hiemalis, quintus australis....“Quorum circulorum divisiones talis distinguit figura (Fig. I).3. “Sed ideo aequinoctialis circulus inhabitabilis est, quia sol per medium coelum currens nimium his locis facit fervorem, ita ut nec fruges ibi nascantur propter exustam terram, nec homines propter nimium ardorem habitare permittantur. At contraseptentrionalis et australis circuli sibi conjunctiidcirco non habitantur, quia a cursu solis longe positi sunt, nimioque caeli rigore ventorumque gelidis flatibus contabescunt.4. “Solstitialis vero circulus, quiin Oriente inter septentrionalem et aestivumest collocatus, vel iste quiin Occidente inter aestivum et australemest positus, ideo temperati sunt eo quod ex uno circulo rigorem, ex altero calorem habeant. De quibus Virgilius:“Has inter mediamque duae mortalibus aegrisMunere concessae divum.“Sed qui proximi sunt aestivo circulo, ipsi sunt Aethiopes nimio calore perusti.”De Natura Rerum, ch. x.

[61]De Quinque Circulis.

“In definitione autem mundi circulos aiunt philosophi quinque, quos Graeci παραλλήλους—id est, zonas—vocant, in quibus dividitur orbis terrae.... Sed fingamus eas in modum dextrae nostrae, ut pollex sit circulus ἀρτικός, frigore inhabitabilis; secundus circulus θερινὸς, temperatus habitabilis; medius circulus ἰσημερινὸς, torridus inhabitabilis; quartus circulus χειμερινὸς, temperatus habitabilis; quintus circulus ἀνταρτικὸς, frigidus inhabitabilis. Horum primus septentrionalis est, secundas solstitialis, tertius aequinoctialis, quartus hiemalis, quintus australis....

“Quorum circulorum divisiones talis distinguit figura (Fig. I).

3. “Sed ideo aequinoctialis circulus inhabitabilis est, quia sol per medium coelum currens nimium his locis facit fervorem, ita ut nec fruges ibi nascantur propter exustam terram, nec homines propter nimium ardorem habitare permittantur. At contraseptentrionalis et australis circuli sibi conjunctiidcirco non habitantur, quia a cursu solis longe positi sunt, nimioque caeli rigore ventorumque gelidis flatibus contabescunt.

4. “Solstitialis vero circulus, quiin Oriente inter septentrionalem et aestivumest collocatus, vel iste quiin Occidente inter aestivum et australemest positus, ideo temperati sunt eo quod ex uno circulo rigorem, ex altero calorem habeant. De quibus Virgilius:

“Has inter mediamque duae mortalibus aegrisMunere concessae divum.

“Has inter mediamque duae mortalibus aegris

Munere concessae divum.

“Sed qui proximi sunt aestivo circulo, ipsi sunt Aethiopes nimio calore perusti.”De Natura Rerum, ch. x.

[62]The two passages in which Isidore states the theory of the zones correctly are from Hyginus,Poeticon Astronomicon(Mythographi Latini, ed. Muncker, Amsterdam, 1691).Cf.p. 146.

[63]For a similar confusion ofsphaeraandcirculusseeAppendix I.

[64]That this was Isidore’s conception of the land surface is evident from many passages (e.g., seep. 244) and is made certain from his map (p. 5). This map is found in an old edition of theEtymologies(Libri Etymologiarum ... et de Summo Bono Libri III, Venetiis, 1483) in the library of Union Theological Seminary.

[65]Cf. Psalms, 104, 2.

[66]De Ordine Creaturarum Liber, 4, 1–2.

[67]3, 71, 3.

[68]De Natura Rerum, ch. 10.

[69]For a clear account of the theory of the four elements in medieval thought seeLes Quatre Elements, J. Leminne inMémoires couronées par l’Académie Royale de Belgique, v. 65, Bruxelles, 1903.

[70]Etym., 13, 3.Cf. D. N. R., 11.

[71]The theory of atoms is also stated by Isidore. Seep. 235. It is not used, however, and is not fully stated. The part played in the theory by atoms of different sizes is not mentioned, and although “the void” is mentioned, its importance is not brought out.

[72]See Art. “Chemistry,”Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition.

[73]Etym., 13, 5, 1.

[74]Diff., 1, 82.

[75]De Ordine Creat. Liber, 4, 5–6.Cf. D. N. R., 11. The problem of “the waters above the firmament,” which occupied the minds of the church fathers so much, and which is at variance with the cosmological side of the theory of the four elements, Isidore seems inclined to settle by regarding it as a miracle.Cf. D. N. R., 14.

[76]In theDe Natura Rerumand theDe Ordine Creaturarum, as well as in Books XIII-XIV of theEtymologies, Isidore follows the order of the four elements in describing the universe. His fidelity to this order, as well as the variations of emphasis and of minor treatment which he introduced into it, are of interest. These may be exhibited in parallel form as follows:EtymologiesBooks xiii and xivDe NaturaRerumDe OrdineCreaturarumxiii, chaps. 4–6chaps. 9–274–6Fire(theheavens)AstronomyAstronomy, fullerAstronomy, briefer, with an account of the angels, the inhabitants of the element of firexiii, 7–1228–397–8AirThe atmosphere and meteorological phenomenaThe same, fullerThe same, briefer, with an account of demons, the inhabitants of the airxiii, 12–2240–449WaterA description of water with a geography of the water surface of the earthThe same in very much abbreviated formThe same, briefer, without the geographyxiv, 1–945–4810–15EarthA description of the dry land with a geography of the land surface of the earthThe same in very much abbreviated formThe same, briefer than inDe Natura Rerum, with an account of men as the inhabitants of this element, their nature and future lifeThis table indicates the great stress Isidore laid upon the cosmological side of the theory of the four elements, as well as his tendency to use his large general ideas in relating the individual branches of knowledge. Here astronomy, meteorology, and geography are thus grouped together, and angelology is put into relation with astronomy and demonology with meteorology.

This table indicates the great stress Isidore laid upon the cosmological side of the theory of the four elements, as well as his tendency to use his large general ideas in relating the individual branches of knowledge. Here astronomy, meteorology, and geography are thus grouped together, and angelology is put into relation with astronomy and demonology with meteorology.

[77]Etym., 13, 3, 3, and 8, 11, 17.

[78]Diff., 2, 17, 48.

[79]Diff., 2, 17, 67.

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