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IMC 2004: Sessions

Session 605: Foundations of Irish Culture, II: The Computus as a Cultural Artifact

Tuesday 13 July 2004, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:Foundations of Irish Culture Project, National University of Ireland, Galway
Organiser:Eric Graff, Centre for the Study of Human Settlement & Historical Change, National University of Ireland, Galway
Moderator/Chair:Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Department of History, National University of Ireland, Galway
Paper 605-aLost Computistical Writings of Bishop Victor of Capua
(Language: English)
Masako Ohashi, Nanzan University, Nagoya
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Historiography - Medieval, Liturgy, Religious Life
Paper 605-bTechnical Problems in the Munich Computus
(Language: English)
Immo Warntjes, Centre for the Study of Human Settlement & Historical Change, National University of Ireland, Galway
Index terms: Education, Learning (The Classical Inheritance), Science, Technology
Paper 605-cRe-editing a Paschal 'Forgery' of Pseudo-Morinus
(Language: English)
Eric Graff, Centre for the Study of Human Settlement & Historical Change, National University of Ireland, Galway
Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Liturgy, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Science
Abstract

This session investigates computistical texts as witnesses to cultural conflict. The computus sought to provide a regular and dependable calendar for astronomical and ecclesiastical use. Competing systems of computation formed the basis of argument for the great Easter controversy of 664, but such arguments rarely were conducted on mathematical grounds alone. The Munich Computus, the 'Old' Roman reckoning, and the Disputatio Morini all relate to Easter tables that were supressed in the 'clash of cultures' before Carolingian times. Thus the three subjects of our session demonstrate the multivalence of computus texts, which often carry cultural as well as calendrical importance.