The Greek Element in the Renaissance of the Twelfth Century

Author(s): Charles H. Haskins

Source: The American Historical Review, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Jul., 1920), pp. 603-615
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association
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VolumeXXV] July, 1920 [NumberI

3mrganiit0taT reiw
THE GREEK ELEMENT IN THE RENAISSANCE OF THE
TWELFTH CENTURY

THE renaissanceof the twelfthcenturyconsistedin part of a

revivalof the Latin classics and the Roman law, whencethe
movementhas sometimesbeen called a "Roman renaissance", in
part of a rapid wideningof the fieldof knowledgeby the introduc-
tionof the scienceand philosophyof theancientGreeksintowestern
Europe. This Greeklearningcame in large measurethroughArabic
intermediaries, withsome additionsin the process,so thatthe influ-
ence of the Saracen scholars of Spain and the East is well under-
stood. It is not always sufficiently realized that there was also a
notableamountof directcontactwith Greek sources,both in Italy
and in the East, and that translationsmade directlyfrom Greek
originalswere an important,as well as a more directand faithful,
vehicle for the transmissionof ancientlearning. Less considerable
in the aggregatethan what came throughthe Arabs, the Greek ele-
iient was neverthelesssignificantfor the later Middle Ages, while
it is furtherinteresting as a directantecedentof the Greek revival
of the Quattrocento. No general studyhas yet been made of this
movement,but detailed investigationhas advanced sufficiently to
permitof a brief survey of the present state of our knowledge.
The most importantmeeting-point of Greek and Latin culture
in the twelfthcentury was the Norman kingdomof southernItaly
and Sicily.' Long a part of the ByzantineEmpire,this regionstill
retainedGreek traditionsand a numerousGreek-speakingpopula-
tion,and it had not lost contactwiththe East. In the eleventhcen-
1 See, in general, Haskins and Lockwood, " The Sicilian Translators-of the
TwelfthCenturyand the First Latin Version of Ptolemy'sAlmagest", in Harvard
Studies in Classical Philology,XXI. 75-IO2 (i910) ; Haskins, " FurtherNotes on
Sicilian Translations of the Twelfth Century", ibid., XXIII. I55-i66 (I9I2);

and the literaturethere cited.

AM. HIST. REV., VOL. XXV.-40. ( 603)

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604 C. H. Haskins

turythe merchantsof Amalfimaintainedan active commercewith

Constantinopleand Syria; Byzantine craftsmen wrought great
bronzedoors forthe churchesand palaces of the south;2 and travel-
ling monksbroughtback fragmentsof Greek legend and theology
to be turned into Latin.3 Libraries of Greek origin, chieflyof
Biblical and theologicalwritings,were gathered into the Basilian
monasteries,4and more comprehensivecollectionswere formedat
the Norman capital. Only in the Norman kingdomdid Greek,
Latin, and Arabic civilizationlive side by side in peace and tolera-
tion. These threelanguages were in currentuse in the royal char-
ters and registers,as well as in many-tonguedPalermo, so that
knowledgeof morethanone of themwas a necessityforthe officials
of the royalcourt,to whichmen of distinctionfromeveryland were
welcomed. The productionof translationswas inevitablein such a
cosmopolitanatmosphere,and it was directlyencouraged by the
Sicilian kings, from Roger to FrederickII. and Manfred, as part
of theireffortsto fosterlearning. While Roger commandeda his-
toryof the fivepatriarchatesfroma Greekmonk,Neilos Doxopatres,
and a comprehensive Arabic treatiseon geographyfromthe Saracen
Edrisi, translationappears to have been more actively furthered
duringthe brief reignof his successor. Under William I. a Latin
renderingof Gregory Nazianzen was undertakenby the king's
orders, and a version of Diogenes Laertius was requestedby his
chief ministerMaio. Indeed the two principal translatorswere
members of the royal administration,Henricus Aristippus and
Eugene the Emir,bothof whomhave lefteulogiesof the kingwhich
celebrate his philosophic mind and wide-rangingtastes and the
attractiots of his courtfor scholars.5
Archdeaconof Catania in ii56, when he workedat his Plato in
the armybefore Benevento,Aristippuswas the principalofficerof
the Sicilian curia from Ii6o to ii62, when his dismissalwas soon
2 A. Schaube, Handelsgeschichte der Romanischen VYlker (Munich, I906),

pp. 34-37; F. Novati, Le Originli,in the co-operativeStoria Letteraria d'Italia,

p. 3I2 ff.

The principal examples are Nemesius, De Natura Ho iinis, translated by

3

Alfano, bishop of Salerno, and a collection of miracles put into Latin by the
monk John of Amalfi. On Alfano, see particularlyC. Baeumker, in Wochen-
schrift fuir Klassische Philologie, vol. XIII., coil. I095-1102 (i896); and G.
Falco, in Archivio della Societa Romana di Storia Patria, XXXV. 439-48I (I912).

On John,M. Huber, JohannesMonachus, Liber de Miraculis (Heidelberg, 1913).

4 F. Lo Parco, " Scolario-Saba ", in Atti della R. Accademia di Archeologia di

Napoli, n. s., vol. I., pt. II., pp. 207-286 (I9I0), with Heiberg'scriticismin
ByzantinischeZeitschrift,XXII. I6o-I62.
5 Hermes, 1. 388; ByzantinischeZeitschrift,XI. 451.

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 Greekin the TwelfthCentury 605

followedby his death. Besides the versionsof GregoryNazianzen

and Diogenes, which,if completed,have not reachedus, Aristippus
was the firsttranslatorof the Meno and Phaedo of Plato and of the
fourthbook of Aristotle'sMeteorology,6and his Latin rendering
remained in currentuse during the Middle Ages and the early
Renaissance. An observer of natural phenomena on his own
account,he was also instrumental in bringingmanuscriptsto Sicily
fromthe libraryof the EmperorManuel at Constantinople. One of
these possesses special importance,a beautifulcodex of Ptolemy's
AImagest,fromwhichthe firstLatin versionwas made by a visiting
scholarabout i i 6o. The translatortellsus thathe was muchaided
by Eugene the Emir," a man mostlearnedin Greekand Arabic and
not ignorantof Latin", who likewise translatedPtolemy's Optics
from the Arabic. The scientificand mathematicalbent of the
Sicilian school is seen in stillotherworkswhichwere probablyfirst
turnedinto Latin here: the Data, Optica, and Catoptricaof Euclid,
theDe Motu of Proclus,and thePneunmatica of Hero of Alexandria.
A poet of some importancein his native Greek,Eugene is likewise
associated withthe transmissionto the West of two curiousbits of
Oriental literature,the prophecyof the ErythraeanSibyl and the
Sanskritfable of Kalila and Dimna. If it be added that the new
versionsof Aristotle'sLogic were in circulationat the courtof Wil-
liam I., and thatan importantgroup of New Testamentmanuscripts
can be tracedto the scribesof King Roger's court,we get some fur-
ther measure of the intellectualinterestsof twelfth-century Sicily,
whilethemedicalschool of Salernomustnotbe forgotten as a centre
of attractionand diffusionfor scientific knowledge.
Italy had no other royal court to serve as a centreof the new
learning,and no other region where East and West met in such
constantand fruitfulintercourse. In otherparts of the peninsula
we mustlook less for residentGreeks than for Latins who learned
their Greek at Constantinople,as travellersor as membersof the
not inconsiderableLatin colonymade up chieflyfromthegreatcom-
mercialrepublicsof Venice and Pisa.7
Among the various theologicaldisputationsheld at Constanti-
6 See now F. H. Fobes, " Mediaeval Versions of Aristotle'sMeteorology", in
Classical Philology,X. 297-3I4 (19I); and his edition of the Greek text (Cam-
bridge, I9I9). Cf. also C. Marchesi, "Di Alcuni VolgarizzamentiToscani ", in
Studi Ronzanzi, V. 123-I57 (1907). For the Phaedo the conjectures of F. Lo
Parco, Petrarca e Barlaam (Reggio, I905), should be mentioned.
7 See, in general, G. Gradenigo, Lettera intorno agli Italiani che seppero di

Greco (Venice, 743). J. E. Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship (second

ed.), I. 557 ff.,touches the mattervery briefly.

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6o6 C. H. Haskins

nople in the course of the twelfthcentury,Anselmof Havelberg has

leftus an account of one beforeJohnComnenosin 1136, at which

therewere presentnot a few Latins, among them three wise men

skilledin thetwo languagesand mostlearnedin letters,namelyJames
a Venetian,Burgundioa Pisan, and the third,most famousamong
Greeksand Latins above all othersfor his knowledgeof both litera-
tures,Moses by name,an Italian fromthe city of Bergamo,and he
forboth sides.8
was chosenby all to be a faithfulinterpreter
Each of these Italian scholars is known to us fromother sources,
and theystand out as the principaltranslatorsof the age, beyond
the limitsof the Sicilian kingdom.
Under the year I128 we read in the chronicleof Robert of
Torigni,abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel, and well informedrespecting
"
literarymattersin Italy, that James, a clerk of Venice, translated
fromGreekinto Latin certainbooks of Aristotleand commentedon
them,namelythe Topics, the Prior and PosteriorAnalytics,and the
Elenchi, although there was an older version of these books".9
Long the subject of doubt and discussion,this passage has recently
been confirmedfroman independentsource,10so that Jamescan be
singledout as the firstscholar of the twelfthcenturywho brought
the New Logic of Aristotleafreshto the attentionof Latin Europe.
What part his versionhad in the Aristotelianrevival,and what its
fate was as compared with the traditionalrenderingof Boethius,
are questions which for our presentpurpose it is unnecessaryto
examine.
Moses of Bergamo evidentlyfound his eastern connectionsby
way of Venice." He is the authorof an importantmetricaldescrip-
tion of Bergamo,and keptup relationswithhis nativecitythrough
lettersto his brotherand throughbenefactionsto various churches,
s L. d'Achery,Spicilegiumii(Paris, 1723), I. 172; cf. Driiseke, in Zeitschrift
fiir Kirchengeschichte,
XXI. I60-I85 (I900).
9 Robert of Torigni, Chronique, ed. Delisle (Socikt6 de 1'Histoire de Nor-
mandie), I. 177; Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores) VI. 489.
10The preface to another version of the twelfthcenturywhich I discovered
in the cathedrallibraryof Toledo in II3 and publishedin an article on " Mediae-
val Versions of the Posterior Analytics", in Harvard Studies in Classical Phi-
lology,XXV. 93 ff. (1049, where the problemof the diffusionof the New Logic
is also discussed. For recent discussion of this problem, see Hofmeister,in
Nenes Archiv, XL. 454-456; Baeumker, in Philosophisches Jahrbuch,XXVIII.
320-326; Geyer, ibid., XXX. 25-43. Geyer believes James of Venice to be the
author of the version which became current.
11See Haskins, " Moses of Bergamo", in BylzantinischeZeitschrift,XXIIt.
133-142 (19I4).

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 Greek in the TwvelfthCentury 607

buthismessengers passthrough Venice,andhe livesin theVenetian

quarterat Constantinople.Here he is foundin theemperor's serv-
ice in II30, whenhe has lostby firea preciouscollection of Greek
manuscripts, broughttogether by longeffort at the priceof three
poundsof gold. He tellsus thathe learnedGreekforthespecial
purposeof turningintoLatin worksnot previously knownin the
West,buttheonlyspecimen which has been identifiedis a transla-
tionof an uninteresting theologicalcompilation.He has also left
grammatical opuscula,includinga commentary on theGreekwords
in St. Jerome'sprefaces,whichattesthis familiarity withthelan-
guage and withthe writings of the Greekgrammarians.Appar-
entlywhatwe haveleftare onlythefragmentary remains of a many-
sided activity,as grammarian, translator, poet, and collectorof
manuscripts, whichjustifiesus in considering hima prototype of
themenwho" settledhoti'sbusiness " in thefifteenth century.
Burgundiothe Pisan is betterknown,by reasonof his public
careeras wellas ofhisindefatigable zeal as a translator.12 Appear-
ing firstat the debateof II36, he is found in legal documents at
Pisa fromII47 to ii8o, firstas an advocateand lateras a judge;
he is senton diplomaticmissions to Ragusain ii16 and to Constan-
tinoplein I I72,13 and was presentat the Lateran Council of II79;
and he died at a ripe old age in II93. The sonorousinscriptionon
his tombis stillpreserved,celebratingthis doctordoctorum,gemmat
magistrorurn, eminentalike in law, in medicine,and in Greek and
Latin letters; and this reputationis confirmedby the surviving
manuscriptsof his work.14 Translationwas evidentlynot the prin-
cipal occupationof this distinguishedcareer,indeed Burgundiotells
us thatone of his versionsrequiredthe spare timeof two years,but
his long life made possible a very considerable literaryoutput.
Theologyheld the firstplace: Johnof Damascus,De OrthodoxaFide
(II48-II5o), which had been "preached for four centuriesas the
12 See particularlyG. M. Mazzuchelli, Gli Scrittori d'Italia (Brescia, 1753),

vol. II., pt. III., pp. 1768-I770; [Fabroni], Mernorie Istoriche di piz' Uomini
IllustriPisani (Pisa, I790), I. 7I-I04; Savigny,Geschichte
des RomischenRechts
im Mittelalter(1850), IV. 394-410; F. Buonamici," BurgundioPisano", in
Annali delle Universita Toscane, vol. XXVIII. (I908); P. H. Dausend, "Zur
UebersetzungsweiseBurgundios von Pisa ", in Wiener Studien, XXXV. 353-369
(19I3).
13 Besides the documents cited by Savigny, see G. Muller, Documnentisulle
Relazioni delle Cittd Toscane coil' Oriente (Florence, I879), pp. I8, 4I6 if.
14 Cf. his survey of previous translations,ancient and medieval, from the

Greek, infra, note 56.

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6o8 C. H. Haskins

theologicalcode of the Greek church';15 the Homiliesof John

Chrysostomon Matthew(jj5 )16 and John(jI73)17 and perhapson
Genesis (incompletein II79) ;18 St. Basil on Isaiah (before II54) ;19
Nemesius,De Natura Honminis, dedicatedto FrederickBarbarossa
on his Italian expeditionof II55 ;20 perhapsothers.21 Two of these
versionswere dedicatedto Pope Eugene III., who secureda manu-
scriptof Chrysostomfromthe patriarchof Antiochand persuaded
Burgundioto undertakethe task of turningit intoLatin.22 His re-
sults were used by the great theologiansof the Western Church,
such as Peter Lombard and Thomas Aquinas ;23 indeed he "made
accessibleto the West workswhichexercisedgreat influenceon the
scholastics,the exegetes,the mystics,and the oratorsof the Middle
Ages ".24 In medicine,Burgundio'sname is attachedto the Latin
versions of ten works of Galen :25 De Sectis Mcdicorud,26 De
15 J. Ghellinck," Les Oeuvres de Jean de Damas en Occident au XIIe Siecle ">
in Revue des Questions Historiques, LXXXVIII. 149-I60, reprintedin his Le
MouvenientThe'ologiquedu XIIe Siecle (Paris, I9I4), pp. 245-275, where further
studies of Burgundio are promised. Cf. M. Grabmann,Geschichte der Scholas-
tischenMethode, II. 93; P. Duhem, Le Systeme die Monde, III. 37.
16 Preface in Martene and Durand, Veterum Scriptor rn Amplissima Col-
lectio (Paris, I724), I. 817. On the date, cf. Dausend, in Wiener Studien, XXXV.
357.
17 Preface, incomplete,Martene and Durand, p. 828; see note 56, below.
18 Robert of Torigni, ed. Delisle, II.I09. Cf. C. Baur, S. Jean Chrysostome,
p. 62.
19 Savigny, IV. 40I; infra, note 56, where a version of the Psalter is also
mentioned.
20 Preface in Martene and Durand, I. 827; text, ed. C. Burkhard,Vienna
programmes, I89I-I902.

Commentaryof St. Paul, inferredfromthe sepulchralinscription;Athana-

21

sius, De Fide, conjecturedby Bandini, Catalogus, IV. 455; St. Basil on Genesis
(ibid., IV. 437; Codices UrbinatesLatini, I. 78); Chrysostomon Acts, R. Sabba-
dini, Le Scoperte dei Codici: Nuove Ricerche (Florence, T914), p. 264.
22 Martene and Durand, I. 8I7.
23 Ghellinck,Ilc. cit.; G. Mercati, Note di LetteraturaBiblica (Rome, i9oi).

pp. I41-144.
24 Mercati, p. 142. His Chrysostomis cited as late as Poggio; Sitzungsbe-
richte of the Vienna Academy,LXI. 409.
25 The elaborate catalogue of Greek MSS. and translations of Galen pub-
lished by H. Diels, "Die Handschriftender AntikenAertzte", in Abhandlungen
of the Berlin Academy (I905), pt. I., pp. 58-I5o, does not ordinarilyindicate
the authorshipof the Latin versions, which in many cases still remains to be
investigated. Evidently some of Burgundio's work was revised in the fourteenth
centuryby Nicholas of Reggio and Peter of Abano. For Nicholas see F. Lo
Parco, "NiccolI da Reggio ", in Atti della R. Accademia di Archeologia di Na-
poli, n. s., vol. II., pt. II., pp. 241-3I7. There may be some confusion with a
Johannes de Burgundia, to whom is ascribed a treatise De Morbo Epidemie in
Trinity College, Cambridge,MS. II02, f. 53, MS. 1144, f. II0 v.; and in Caius
College, MS. 336, f. 144 V.

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 Greekin the TwelfthCentury 609

Temperamentis,27 De VirtutibusNaturalibus.,28De SanitateTuenda,29

De DifferentiisFebriun, De Locis Affectis,30 De Corpendiositate
PulsuuM,32 De Crisibus,33
Pulsus,31 De Differentiis and Therapeutica
(Methodi Medendi) ;34 while his translationof the Aphorismsof
Hippocratesis cited in the thirteenthcenturyas preferableto that
fromthe Arabic.35 In a quite different field,he turnedinto Latin
a treatiseon the cultureof the vine,3 doubtless for the practical
benefitof his native Tuscany, just as a Strassburgscholar of the
sixteenthcenturysought to help the vineyards of the Rhine by
translatingextractsfromthe same Geoponica.37 As a lawyer,too,
he had opportunity to apply his knowledgeof Greek to translating
the Greek quotationsin the Digest.38for whichhe appears to have
used thetextof the famousPisan manuscript. He is freelycredited
26 " Translatio greca est Burgundionis". Bibliotheque Nationale, MS. Lat.

6865, f. 8i; Diels, p. 6o.

27 ccExplicit liber Galieni de complexionibustranslatus a Burgundione cive

Pisano secundum novam translationem". Vatican, MS. Barberini Lat. I79, f.

14 V.; MS. unknown
to Diels, p. 64.
28 Prag, Public Library,MS. I404; not in Diels, p. 66.
29 Diels, p. 75; Lo Parco, " Niccolo da Reggio ", p. 282 ff.
30" Explicit liber Galieni de interioribussecundumnovam translationemBur-
gundii". Vatican, MS. Barb. Lat. I79, f. 36 v.; MS. not in Diels, p. 85.
31 "Finis libri qui est de compendiopulsus a Burgundioneiudice cive Pisano

de greco in latinum translati". Bibliotheque Nationale, MS. Lat. I5460, f. iii

v.; MS. not in Diels, p. 86. For the De DifferentiisFebrium the Latin MSS. are
cited by Diels, p. 8o.
32 Diels, p. 87.
33 Munich, Cod. Lat. 35; Diels, p. go.
34" Expletus est liber tarapeutice cum additionibusmagistri Petri de Ebano
que deficiuntex translatione Burgundionis civis Pisani ". Vatican, MS. Barb.
Lat. I78, f. 44 v.; not in Diels, p. 92. Cf. G. Valentinelli, Bibliotheca Manu-
scripta ad S. Marci Venetiarum,V. 79, and MS. Madrid 1978 (L. 6o), f. 45 v.
35 Puccinotti,Storia della Medicina (Leghorn, i850), vol. II., pt. II., p. 290;
Neuburger,Geschichteder Medizin (Stuttgart,I906), vol. II., pt. I., p. 375. As
cited by Diels, pp. I4-I6, the Latin MSS. do not mentionBurgundio.
36 Edited by Buonamici, in Annali delle UnitversitaToscane, vol. XXVIII.
(igo8). Incomplete MS. also in the Ambrosian,MS. C. I0, sup., f. iI8 v.; also
formerlyat Erfurt (W. Schum, BeschreibendesVerzeichnissder Amplonianischen
Handschriften-Sammlung, p. 802) and at Peterhouse, Cambridge (James, Cata-
logue, p. i i).
37 Serapeum, XVII. 287 ff.
38 Savigny, IV. 403-410; Mommsen,Digesta, editio maior (i876), I. 35*; H.
Fitting, " Bernardus Cremonensis und die Lateinische Uebersetzung des Grie-
chischenin den Digesten'>, in BerlinSitzungsberichte(I894), II. 813-820; N.
Tamassia, " Per la Storia dell' Autentico'", in Atti del R. Istituto Veneto, LVI.
607-6I0 (I898). I agreewithSavignythatthereis no evidencethatBurgundio
translatedthe Novels, and that the referenceto themin the preface to his trans-
lation of Chrysostom'sSt. John (see below, note 56) shows that Burgundio ac-
cepted the extant version as a literal translationmade at Justinian'sorder.

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61o C. H. Haskins

with the Latin version by the glossatorsof the thirteenth century,

and, as in the case of his theologicaland medical translations,the
results of his work passed into the general traditionof the later
MfiddleAges.
LeEs noteworthythan Burgundio,two other membersof the
Pisan colony should also be mentioned,Hugo Eterianus and his
brotherLeo, generallyknownas Leo Tuscus. Hugo, thoughmaster
of bothtongues,was not so mucha translatoras an active advocate
of Latin doctrinein controversywith Greek theologians,a polemic
careerwhichwas crownedwitha cardinal'shat by Lucius III. Leo,
an interpreterin the emperor'shousehold,translatedthe mass of
St. Chrysostomand a dream-book(Oneirocriticon)of Ahmed ben
Sirin. Anotherdream-book,compiledby one Pascal the Roman at
Constantinoplein II65, offersfurtherillustrationof the interestin
signs and wonderswhichprevailedat Manuel's court.39
North of the Alps thereis littleto record in the way of trans-
lation,althoughit is probablethat certainof the anonymoustrans-
latorswhoworkedin Italycame fromotherlands. In II67 a certain
William the Physician,originallyfrom Gap in Provence, brought
back Greek manuscriptsfrom Constantinopleto the monasteryof
Saint-Denis at Paris,40where he later became abbot (II72-II86).
Sent out originallybyAbbotOdo, he was evidentlyspeciallycharged
with securing the works attributedto Dionysius the Areopagite,
who was confused with the patron saint of the -monastery and of
France, and a volume of these which he broughtback is still pre-
served among the Greek codices of the BibliothequeNationale.41
He also broughtwithhimand translatedthetextof theVita Secundi,
a philosophicaltext of the second century,42 and summaries(Jzypo-
theses) of the Pauline epistles,whilestillothermanuscriptsmayhave
been includedin the opes atticas et orientalesmentionedby one of
his fellow-monks. This monk,also named William and sometimes
confusedwith the physician,translatedthe eulooy of Dionysiusby
Michael Syncellus,but the writingswhichoccupythe remainderof
the Dionysian volume-De Caelesti Hierarchia, De Ecclesiastica
39 See my note on "Leo Tuscus ", in English Historical Review, XXXIII.
492-496 (I9I8).
40 The material relating to William the Physician is convenientlygiven by
Delisle, in Journal des Savants, I900, pp. 725-739.
MS. Gr. 933.
41
Delisle, in Journal des Savants, p. 728. The version is critically edited,
42
and its use by French writerstraced,by A. Hilka in 88. Jahresberichtder Schlesi-
schen Geselischaftflir VaterltindischeCultutr(Breslau, i9io), IV. Abt., c. I. See
furtherF. Pfister,in Wochenschrift fiir Klassische Philologie, I9II, coll. 539-548.

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 Greekin the TwelfthCentury 6i I
Hierarchia,De Divinis Noiinibus, De Mystica Theolo'gia,and ten
epistles-were renderedinto Latin by John Sarrazln.43 This John
had himselfvisitedthe Greek East, wherehe had soughtin vain the
SYmbolica Theologia of Dionysius, as we learn from one of his
prefaces.44 In spite of the crudenessof his translations,his learn-
ing was valued by Johnof Salisbury,who turnsto him on a point
of Greek which Latin masterscannot explain, and who even ex-
presses a desireto sit at Sarrazin's feet.5
The dependenceof the leading classicistof the age upon a man
like Sarrazin shows the general ignoranceof Greek. "The most
learned man of his time", Johnof Salisburymade no less than ten
journeys to Italy, in the course of whichhe visited Beneventoand
made the acquaintance of the Sicilian chancellor; he knew Bur-
gundio,whomhe cites on a pointin the historyof philosophy;46 he
studiedwitha Greekinterpreter of Santa Severina,to whomhe may
have owed his early familiaritywith the New Logic; yet his cul-
ture remained essentiallyLatin.47 "He never quotes from any
Greek author unless that author exists in a Latin translation."48
Greek could be learned onlyin southernItaly or the East, and few
there were who learned it, as one can see from the sorry list of
Greek referenceswhich have been culled fromthe whole seventy
volumes of the Latin Patrologia for the twelfthcentury.49 The
Hellenism of the Middle Ages was a Hellenism of translations
-and so, in large measure, was the Hellenism of the Italian
Renaissance.50
Finally there remain to be mentionedthe anonymoustransla-
43 Delisle, p. 726 ff.; Histoire Litteraire de la France, XIV. 191-193. MSS.
of these translations,with the prefaces, are common,e.g., Bibliotheque de l'Ar-
senal, MS. 529; Chartres,MS. I3I; Vatican, MS. Vat. Lat. I75; Madrid, Biblio.
teca Nacional, MS. 523 (A. 9o); Munich, MSS. 380, 435.
44 Delisle, p. 727.
45 Epistolae, no. I6*; cf. also nos. 347, 149, 223, 229, 230.
46 Metalogicus, bk. IV., c. 7.
47 Schaarschmidt,Johannes Saresberiensis (Leipzig, I862); Poole, in Dic-
tionaryof National Biography; C. C. I. Webb, Ioannis SaresberiensisPolicraticss,
vol. I., introd.
48 Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship (second ed.), I. 540.
49 How sorrythis list is, the Abbe A. Tougard does not seem to realize when
he has drawn it up. L'Hellenisme dans les Ecrivains du Moyen Age (Paris, i886),
ch. V. On the reserve necessary in using such citations, cf. Traube, 0 Roma
Nobilis (Munich, i89I), p. 65. On Greek in the twelfthcentury,see Sandys, pp.
555558. Miss Loomis, Medieval Iellenisn (Columbia thesis, I906), adds noth-
ing on this period.
50 Loomis, "The Greek Renaissance in Italy "', in American Historical Re-
view, XIII. 246-258 (1908),

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612 C. H. Haskins

tions, made for the most part doubtless in Italy. Where we are
fortunateenough to have the prefaces,these works can be dated
approximatelyand some facts can be determinedwith respectto
theirauthors,as in thecase of the firstLatinversionof theAlImagest,
made in Sicily about i I6o, and a version of Aristotle'sPosterior
A ialytics(II28-II59) preservedin a manuscriptof the cathedral
of Toledo.51 In the majorityof cases no such evidence has been
handed down,and we have no guide beyondthe dates of codices and
the citationsof texts in a form directlyderived fromthe Greek.
Until investigation has proceededconsiderablyfurtherthan at pres-
ent,the work of the twelfthcenturyin manyinstancescannotclearly
be separatedfromthat of the earlierMiddle Ages on the one hand,
and on the otherfromthat of the translatorsof the thirteenth and
fourteenth centurieswho followin unbrokensuccession. Often we
knowonlythata particularworkhad beentranslatedfromthe Greek
before the time of the humanists. The most importantbody of
materialwith which the twelfthcenturymay have occupied itself
anonymouslyis the writingsof Aristotle.52 The Physics, Meta-
physics,and brieferworkson naturalhistoryreach westernEurope
about I200; thePolitics,Ethics,Rhetoric,and Econotics onlyin the
course of the next two generations. In nearlyeveryinstancetrans-
lations are found both from the Greek and fromthe Arabic, and
nearlyall are undated. At presentabout all thatcan be said is that
by the turn of the centurytraces are found of versions fromthe
Greekin thecase of thePhysics,De Caelo, De Anima,and theParva
Naturalia.53 The Metaphysicsseems to have come fromConstan-
afterI204.54
tinopleshortly
On the personal side these Hellenists of the twelfthcentury
have leftlittleof themselves. Jamesof Venice is onlya name; the
translatorof the Almagestis not even that. Moses of Bergamo we
know slightlythroughthe accidentwhich has preservedone of his
letters;otherssurvivealmostwhollythroughtheirprefaces. Char-
acteristictraitsor incidentsare few-Moses lamentingthe loss of
51 Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, XXI. 99; XXV. 98.
52 The fundamentalwork of A. Jourdain,Recherches Critiques sur 1' Age et

I' Origine des TraductionsLatines d'Aristote (Paris, i843), has now been supple-
mented by M. Grabmann," Forschungen iiber die Lateinischen Aristotelesiuber-
setzungen des XIII. Jahrhunderts ", in Beitrige zur Geschichte der Philosophie
des Mittelalters,vol. XVII. (Miinster, i9i6). For a summaryof the problem,
see Mandonnet,Siger de Brabant (Louvain, I9II), pp. 9-I5.
53 Harvard Studies, XXV. 87-89; Baeumker, in Munich Sitzungsberichte

(19I3), no. 9, pp. 33 ff. For the Meteorology,see above, note 6.

54 Grabmann," Forschungen", pp. 124-I37.

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 Greekin the TwelfthCentury 6I3

his Greek library,and the threepounds of gold it had cost him; the
Pisan secretaryof Manuel Comnenostrailingafterthe emperoron
the tortuousmarchesof his Turkishcampaigns; Burgundioredeem-
ing his son's soul frompurgatoryby translatingChrysostomin the
leisure momentsof his diplomaticjourneys; a Salerno studentof
medicinebravingthe terrorsof Scylla and Charybdisin order to
see an astronomicalmanuscriptjust arrived from Constantinople,
and remainingin Sicilyuntilhe had masteredits contentsand made
themavailable to the Latin world; Aristippusworkingover Plato in
camp and investigatingthe phenomenaof Etna's eruptionsin the
spiritof the elder Pliny; Eugene the Emir, in prison at the close
of his public career, writingGreek verse in praise of solitude and
books. Little enoughall this,but sufficient to show the kinshipof
these men with "the ancientand universalcompanyof scholars".
In all its translationsthe twelfthcenturywas closely, even
painfullyliteral,in a way that is apt to suggestthe stumblingand
conscientiousschool-boy. Every Greekword had to be represented
by a Latin equivalent,even to 1%Ev and 8E. Sarrazin lamentsthathe
cannot renderphrases introducedby the article,and even attempts
to imitate Greek compounds by runningLatin words together.55
The versions were so slavish that they are useful for establishing
the Greek text,particularlywhere they representa traditionolder
than the extant manuscripts. This method,de verbo ad verbum,
was, however,followednot fromignorancebut of set purpose,as
Burgundio,for example, is at pains to explain in one of his pref-
aces.56 The textswhichthese scholarsrenderedwere authoritiesin
55 John of Salisbury,Epistolae, nos. I49, 230; cf. William the Physician, in
Journaldes Savants, I900, p. 738.
56 " Verens igitur ego Burgundio ne, si sentenciamhuius sancti patris com-
mentacionis assumens meo eam more dictarem, in aliquo alterutrorumhorum
duorum sapientissimorumvirorum sentenciis profundammentem mutaremet in
tamnmagna re, cum sint verba fidei,periculumlapsus alicuius alteritatisincurre-
rem, difficiliusiter arripiens, et verba et significationemeandeemet stilum et
ordinem eundem qui apud Grecos est in hac nmeatranslatione servare disposui.
Sed et veteres tam Grecorumquam et Latinoruminterpreteshec eadem continue
egisse perhibentur", the Septuagint being an example. "Sanctus vero Basilius
predictumYsaiam prophetamexponens lxx duoruminterpretumeditione mirabili-
ter ad litteram commentatur,eiusque commentacionemego Burgundio iudex
domino tercio Eugenio beate memoriepape de verbo verbum transferensex pre-
dicta lxx duorum interpretumeditione facta antiquam nostram translationemin
omnibus fere sum prosequtus. Cum Sancti Ieronimi novam suam editionem
nullatenusibi expositam inveniremnec eam sequi ullo modo mea commentacione
possem,psalteriumquoque de verbo ad verbumde greco in latinumtranslatumest
sermonem". He then passes in review the various literal translationspreviously
made fromthe Greek-the Twelve Tables, the Corpus Juris Civilis, the Dialogues

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614 C. H. Haskins

a sense thatthe modernworld has lost,and theirwords were not to

be trifledwith. Who was Aristippusthathe shouldomitany of the
sacred words of Plato?57 Bettercarryover a word like didascalia
than run any chance of alteringthe meaningof Aristotle.58 Bur-
gundio mighteven be in danger of heresyif he put anythingof his
own instead of the very words of Chrysostom. It was natural in
the fifteenthcenturyto pour contempton such translating,even as
the humanistssatirizedthe Latin of the monks,but the men of the
Renaissancedid not scrupleto make freeuse of theseolderversions,
to an extent which we are just beginningto realize. Instead of
strikingout boldlyfor themselves,thetranslatorsof theQuattrocento
were apt to take an olderversionwheretheycould,touchingit up to
suit currenttaste. As examples may be cited the humanisticedi-
tions of Aristotle'sLogic, of Chrysostomand John of Damascus,
and even of Plato.59 It has always been easier to ridiculeDryasdust
than to dispensewithhim!
Apart fromsuchunacknowledgeduse duringtheRenaissance,the
translatorsof the twelfthcenturymade a solid contribution to the
cultureof the later Middle Ages. Where theycame into competi-
tion withtranslationsfromthe Arabic, it was soon recognizedthat
theywere more faithfuland trustworthy.At theirbest the Arabic
versionswere one removefurtherfromthe originaland had passed
throughthe refractingmediumof a whollydifferent kind of lan-
guage,60while at theirworsttheywere made in haste and withthe
of Gregorythe Great, Chalcidius's version of the Timaeus, Priscian, Boethius, the
Aphorisms of Hippocrates and the Tegni of Galen, John the Scot's version of
Dionysius the Areopagite,and the De Urinis of Theophilus-and concludes: " Si
enim alienam materiam tuam tuique iuris vis esse putari, non verbo v-erbuni, ut
ait Oratius, curabis reddere ut fidus interpres,ymo eius materiei sentenciam
sumens tui eam dictaminiscompagine explicabis, et ita non interpreseris sed ex
te tua propria composuisse videberis. Quod et Tullius et Terentius se fecisse
testantur. . . Cum igitur hec mea translatio scriptura sancta sit et in hoc
meo labore non gloriam sed peccatorummeorum et filii mei veniam Domini ex-
pectavi, meritohuic sancto patri nostro Iohanni Crisostomosui operis gloriam et
apud Latinos conservans, verbum ex verbo statui transferendum,deficienciam
quidem dictionum intervenientemduabus vel etiam tribus dictionibus adiectis
replens, idyoma vero quod barbarismo vel metaplasmo vel scemate yel tropo fit
recta et propria sermocinacioneretorquens". Preface to translationof Chrysos-
tom's St. John,Vatican, MS. Ottoboni Lat. 227, ff. lv-2. For specimens of Bur-
gundio's method,see Dausend, in Wiener Studien, XXXV. 353-369.
57 Even to the point of renderingre Kat by que et. Rassegna Bibliografica
della LetteraturaItaliana, XIII. I2.
58 Harvard Studies, XXV. 98.
59Ibid., XXI. 88, XXV. I05; WochenschriftfuirKlassische Philologie, i896,
col. 1097.
60 Eugene of Palermo remarkson the differenceof Arabic idiom. G. Govi,
I Ottica di Claudio Tolomneo(Turin,I885), p. 3.

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 Greekin the TwelfthCentury 615
aid of ignorantinterpretersworkingthroughthe Spanish vernac-
ular.61 It was moreor less a matterof accidentwhethertheversion
fromthe Greek or that fromthe Arabic should pass into general
circulation; thus the Sicilian translationof the Almagest,though
earlier,is known in but three copies, while that made in Spain is
foundeverywhere;but in the case of Aristotlethe two sets of ren-
deringsexistedside by side. The list of worksknownonlythrough
the Greekof thetwelfthcenturyis, however,considerable. It com-
prisestheMeno and Phaedo of Plato, the onlyotherdialogueknown
to the Middle Ages beingthe Tirnaeus,in an older version; the ad-
vanced works of Euclid; Proclus and Hero; numeroustreatisesof
Galen; Chrysostom,Basil, Nemesius, John of Damascus, and the
Pseudo-Dionysius;and a certainamountof scatteredmaterial,theo-
logical,legendary,and liturgical.62
The absence of the classical worksof literatureand historyis as
significantin this list as it is in the curriculumof the medievaluni-
versities. We are in the twelfthcentury,not the fifteenth, and the
interestin medicine,mathematics, philosophy,and theologyreflects
thepracticaland ecclesiasticalpreoccupationsof the age ratherthan
thewiderinterestsof thehumanists. It is well,however,to remem-
ber thatthesesame authorscontinueto be read in the Quattrocento,
in translationsnew or old; theyare merelycrowded into the back-
groundby the newerlearning. In this sense thereis continuity be-
tweenthetwo periods. There is also a certainamountof continuity
in the materialsof scholarship-individualmanuscripts of theearlier
period gatheredinto librariesat Venice or Paris, the libraryof the
Sicilian kingsprobablyformingthe nucleus of the Greek collections
of the Vatican.63 To what extenttherewas a continuousinfluence
of Hellenismis a moredifficult problem,in view of our fragmentary
knowledgeof conditionsof thesouth. The Siciliantranslatorsof the
twelfthcenturyare followeddirectlyby thoseat the courtsof Fred-
erick II. and Manfred, while in the fourteenthcenturywe have to
rememberthe sojourn of Petrarchat the courtof Robertof Naples,
and the Calabrian Greek who taughtBoccaccio. The gap is short,
but it cannotyet be bridged.
CHARLES H. HASKINS.
61 Cf. Rose, in Hermles,VIII. 335 ff.
62 Sabbadini, Le Scoperte dei Codici: Nuove Ricerche, pp. 262-265, gives a
list of medieval versions fromwhich Euclid, Hero, and the Geoponica are absent.
63 See the studies of Heiberg and Ehrle cited in Harvard Studies, XXV. 89,

note.

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