medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Tittivillus lives on as a web comicstrip (http://www.tittivillus.com/)
"because some of us have to live with our own personal demons." It's
only so-so and not medieval. Minus a "t" he has a life as the business
name of a copy editor named Timothy DeVinney, who wrote a little paper,
with footnotes, on the demon at
http://www.titivillus-editorial.com/tes-whois.htm
More in the realm of fun webstuff--I am not responsible!--is this
writeup about Tittivillus from the Bikwil blog ("for quiet
enthusiasts"). Cheers, Al Magary
---
Blog item by Fizzgig at
http://www.bikwil.com/Vintage26/Tittivillus.html#Article
I’ve just had another history lesson — this time in Medieval monastic
history.
It would seem that in the monasteries and nunneries the monks and nuns,
being human, sometimes found it hard going saying their offices.
It’s not difficult to see why.
With up to seven offices a day, the night one being required at 2 am,
sleepiness and carelessness could easily take over. The result was a
tendency to gabble the plainsong or mumble the reading. In this the
monks were worse than the nuns.
In desperation, the Church ended up defining a special little demon
named Tittivillus, whose sole mission was to go round collecting in a
“poke” (a sack) every such dropped or slurred syllable. When Judgment
Day came around, his evidence would be tendered to help weigh the
individual destiny of those in holy orders.
But his duties didn’t stop there. According to social historian Eileen
Power, in her 1924 Medieval People,
. . . when he was not engaged in picking up those unconsidered trifles
which the monks let fall from their psalms, Tittivillus used to fill up
odd corners of his sack with idle talk of people who gossiped in church;
and he also sat up aloft and collected all the high notes of vain
tenors, who sang to their own glory, instead of to the glory of God, and
pitched the chants three notes higher than the cracked voices of their
elders could rise.
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|