Skip to main content

IMC 2013: Sessions

Session 124: Late Antique and Early Medieval Latin Literature: Polemics, Possession, and Pleasure

Monday 1 July 2013, 11.15-12.45

Moderator/Chair:René Hernández Vera, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
Paper 124-aJerome, Ambrose, and the Centonizing of Scripture
(Language: English)
David Ungvary, Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Ecclesiastical History, Language and Literature - Latin
Paper 124-bEl placer de la lectura: Terencio en la Alta Edad Media
(Language: Español)
Enara San Juan Manso, Departamento Estudios Clásicos, Universidad del País Vasco, Vitori / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV / EHU)
Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Learning (The Classical Inheritance)
Paper 124-cThe Possessed in Paulinus of Périgueux
(Language: English)
Maurus Bryan Mount, Institut für Klassische Philologie, Mittel- und Neulatein, Universität Wien
Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Latin
Abstract

Paper -a:
Several theories have been proposed to explain the tension between Jerome and Ambrose, detectable mostly through the former's thinly veiled attacks on the Milanese bishop. Few have approached the problem from a literary or exegetical angle, however, choosing instead to posit personal differences behind the dispute. Through the lens of Jerome's Epistle 53 to Paulinus, a source often overlooked in the debate, this paper refocuses discussion on Jerome's distaste for Ambrose's exegesis and aesthetic. It concludes that Jerome scorned the bishop as a 'centonizer' of scripture, analyzing several of Ambrose's works to suggest what that charge might have entailed.

Paper -b:
The High Middle Ages valued Terence more highly than many other classical authors. His commedies delighted either individual readers or teachers from this period. The former contributed to the transmission of the Terentian text, the latter were responsible for its diffusion throughout many continental monastic schools; but all show that reading Latin was a source of pleasure for medieval scholars.

Paper -c:
The 6th Book of the Vita Sancti Martini of Paulinus of Périgueux contains an account of an exorcism at the shrine of St Martin in Tours. This paper will examine the language used in its depiction of possession, and within its Late Antique context.