medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
To add to the discussion of the arrangement of letters in medieval letter
collections, I have been studying 12th century letter collections for some
time and the 3 principles I have come across have been:
a) by recipient. I imagine this would rise out of the studying of the ars
dictandi, where a lot of emphasis is laid on the status of the recipient. I
seem to remember once seeing a MS of an ars dictandi followed by a
collection of model letters arranged according to this principle (can't
remember any details though). Once the prinicple had become common its
influence could easily transfer to other types of collection
Would be ideal if letters were intended as models for other writers, also if
you were collecting somebody else's letters and/or letters from different
sources as you wouldn't have to keep track of chronology or think about
literary effect. I think the letters of William of Aebelholt are arranged in
this way.
b) in chronological order. Popular with 19th century editors, less so with
medieval scribes. Would be most likely to happen if letters were immediately
copied into registrum by author or his scribe. The letters of Nicholas of
Clairvaux are arranged according to this principle, though he did publish
them himself.
c) thematic order. The letters of Peter of Blois and Arnulf of Lisieux are
arranged so that letters contrast with one another. E.g. in Peter a letter
trying to protect a young girl from being forced into a convent is followed
by a letter praising the same girl for wanting to take the vow! In Arnulf a
letter describing a virtuous young man is followed by a letter describing
his opposite. This, as far as I know, only happens when authors arrange
their own letters.
Hope this is helpful,
Lena Wahlgren- Smith
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