Latin Manuscripts of Logic, 1080–1200 or: The Turmoil Below the Surface

15 July 2025

Photo: Carolina Lehan/HEPMASITE

The HEPMASITE project would like to invite you to a lecture on Tuesday, 15 July 2025, at 16:15. Caterina Tarlazzi (University of Venice) will talk about “Latin Manuscripts of Logic, 1080–1200 or: The Turmoil Below the Surface.”

Abstract
This lecture (based on the teamwork carried out in the ERC-STG project "PolyphonicPhilosophy") focuses on the manuscripts of Latin logical commentaries ranging from ca. 1080 to 1200. This period of "joyful scholasticism" (F Rexroth) is—arguably—a very special one for studying philosophy clone "by hand" in the Latin World. Approximately 40 manuscripts (now scattered in libraries all around Europe) remain today to witness the logical commentaries. These manuscripts date roughly from the same period as the texts they transmit, allowing us to jump directly, so to speak, into the context in which these texts originated, especially the vibrant town schools of Northern France. Plain and simple in appearance, these are booklets with a tiny script and little-to-no decoration. But, below the surface, they hide a real "turmoil," which can be seen once manuscripts and texts are compared with each other, revealing complex interconnections and a variety of different voices. The lecture will first showcase such turmoil, before considering a case in which "below the surface" has to be taken quite literally.

Further information
Further organisational information and the registration form can be found on the webpage of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC): link webpage CSMC