Laon Computistical Miscellany

Laon Computistical Miscellany

Isidore of Seville (560–636 AD), also Isidorus Hispalensis, not only held the office of the Bishop of Seville, but was one of the most prolific and widely received authors of the Middle Ages. In his numerous Latin works, he adapted a great variety of ancient and Christian writings and dealt with diverse topics.
This anthology from the Médiathèque Suzanne-Martinet provides a wonderfully illuminated insight into the mind of the influential polymath on the threshold from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Compiled by four scribes between the second quarter and the end of the 9th century, probably in Laon, this fascinating anthology begins with Isidore's De natura rerum, Eng. "On the Nature of Things", which is followed by several excerpts from his Sententiae and various liturgical texts.

The "Book of Wheels"

De natura rerum is one of Isidore of Seville's most important works on natural history and was written by the bishop in the early 7th century. In it he treats subjects such as chronology, the measurement of time and the computus, the earth and the celestial bodies, as well as weather phenomena. Due to the many circle diagrams illustrating this knowledge, the work became known as the "Book of Wheels" in the Middle Ages. As was common at the time, Isidore compiled his information from previously published writings, in this case mainly from Latin, but also Greek, authors and the Church Fathers. Thus combining ancient knowledge with Christian theology, he himself became an authority for later medieval authors.

The Sentences of the "Last Scholar of Antiquity".

The writings of the Church Fathers also served Isidore as a basis for his Sententiae; more precisely, he made use of the works of two of them: Gregory and Augustine. In this work, the scholar compiled several theological texts that together make up a kind of handbook for the clergy, dealing, among other things, with the creation, the judgment of God, the nature of the devil, but also the duties of the clergy and God-pleasing behavior.

The World in Colorful Diagrams

An integral part of the anthology are the 60+ diagrams and miniatures. These are amazingly colorful and, in the case of the computistical and astronomical diagrams, highly precisely illuminated. Here, the colors serve not only for aesthetics and legibility, but in some cases also clearly reflect the content of the diagram in question. Thus, the color selection is by no means random and was extremely well considered.
Most densely illuminated, with 41 miniatures on only nine pages, is the part of the manuscript on the constellations. Here almost every short explanation of a constellation is accompanied by a small illustration. In it, the individual stars that make up the constellations are indicated by orange dots.

A Mysterious History

The exact circumstances of the origin of the early medieval manuscript have not been handed down. Thus, Laon can also only be presumed as the place of origin. However, researchers are relatively unanimous that the manuscript was created in the north of what is now France. Little is also known about its medieval and early modern history. The codex did not appear in the library of Notre-Dame de Laon Cathedral until the mid-17th century. After the French Revolution, it went to the Bibliothèque communale of Laon, now known as the Médiathèque Suzanne-Martinet.