The article appeals to the study of the anonymous moralised medieval encyclopaedia “De proprietatibus rerum”. The text is known from the following manuscripts: Merton MS.68 (mid-15th); Lincoln MS. 40 (late 14th); Bodleian MS. 571 (mid-15th). The two more copies of the text exist: Modena, Bibl. Estense ?. O. 5, 2; Vatican Library, Ottob. Lat. 626. The encyclopaedia contains 223 chapters with descriptions of objects of nature. The 214 out of all chapters are provided with a moralised commentary. The aim of the article is to propose a preliminary classification of these moralisations and characterise specifics of their format and content. The moralisations are divided according to the type of allegory within: integumental and tropological . Allegory topics are also distinguished and described. The following seven groups of integumental allegories are highlighted: Divine; Virtues; Mental and practical aspects of religiosity; Piety bearers; Diabolical, sins and indecencies; Other. The tropological allegories are studied according to the group of people whose behaviour moralisations are directed at. The article concludes that the encyclopaedist paid close attention to various groups of people, sinners and virtuosos. He intended for people to be taught on the examples of nature that he interpreted.
|
