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Article

Published

Volume 9 Issue 9 (73)

The article is consecrated to the analysis of the geographical tables of the treatise “Chronicon” by Hugh of Saint-Victor (1096/97—1141), Paris master of the first half of the XIIth century. The study is based on the Paris. BnF. Ms. lat. 15009. The analyzed section of the treatise consists of five lists — regions of three parts of the world (Asia, Africa and Europe), mountains, rivers, islands and cities, presented in the form of tables. Despite the fact that geography rarely attracted the attention of medieval exegetes, Hugh of Saint-Victor found it necessary to include a section on geography in “Chronicon” which was in fact a kind of a handbook on the historical interpretation of the Scriptures. This interest in geography — quite unusual for a medieval exegete —– can be explained by the peculiarity of Hugh’s concept of history. From the point of view of the Victorin, the study of the Bible start with mastering its historical interpretation, and therefore the future theologian has to be aware of the main historical events. According to Hugh, for a brief description of an event it is enough to indicate the name, date and place, that is. As a result, “Chronicon”’s geographical lists consist of the toponyms, The analysis shows that although Hugh uses such classic medieval sources of geographic data as “Etymologiae” by Isidore of Seville, and «Historiae Adversus Paganos» by Paulus Orosius, the structure of the “Chronicon”’s lists does not correspond to the models proposed in these texts. Moreover, not all the toponyms used in the “Chronicon” go back to these works of Isidore and Orosius or to the Scriptures as Hugh uses a large number of the contemporary toponyms. According to the proposed hypothesis, the organization according to the T-O map can explain the structure “Chronicon”’ list of regions. The list’s structure itself as far as some textual indications and the examples of using of this type of map in other works by Victorin says in favor of this version. To explain the use of contemporary toponyms, the article refers to an atypically broad understanding of biblical history characteristic for Hugh of Saint-Victor.

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31.10.2018

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