medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: "Gyorgy Gereby" <[log in to unmask]>
> It occurred to me that what if it is Abaleard's joke? This wisdom about
> the empty purse sounds so weird. A wonderful truism, after all. And he
> had really good humour, I recon.
> Why not check in the Carmina burana and other goliard poetry first ...
Nice thinking.
It may well be a joke but I think there are contemporary resonances which I
am missing. The whole of the "Carmen ad Astralabium" is weird. It is a
jumble of exhotations, sayings, comments most of which are only a few lines
long and which are strung together without any obvious thread. Some
logician!! Some look like digs at Bernard of Clairvaux & the Cistercians
(surprise, surprise!); other comments seem to be related to the troubled
dynastic and political situation in Brittany. I have come to the
conclusion - contrary to what some people have said - that P A wrote it
while he was at St Gildas de Rhuys in Brittany which is the period when
Astralabe was (almost certainly) a pupil at the Cathedral School at Nantes.
A correspondent - not on this List - to whom I sent a copy of the English
translation (which was made for me privately) said it was like reading a
modern Existentialist novel !!
>
> Sorry for the frivolous idea, but I enjoyed imaging Abaelard making it
> up.
> George
I think you may be right but
>>>> Robert Kraft <[log in to unmask]
>
> Sounds like perhaps the Solomon who was believed to be master of "magic">
> and related matters (see the "Testament of Solomon" traditions, among
> others).
I think Robert is right too. This may well come from the Jewish-Christian
Folkloric tradition (which I think Rudyard Kipling taps into in the "Just So
Stories") but I don't know where to start looking.
Thanks everyone.
Brenda.
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