Benedicte! (Welcome)
O you intrepid reader, who would assay the monastery and penetrate the very secrets of the library, nay, the inmost core of Truth itself … what, too much? Uh, okay. I shall calm my rhetorical tongue and write sensible, workmanlike prose hereforth.
Over the next weeks we’ll be reading Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose together. It’s a big book with profound themes and unexpected secrets, so there’ll be no shortage of stuff to talk about. With only one English translation of the novel, which was published only some 35 years ago, we don’t have to cope with differing translations, as we did with previous Book Club reads. But because it’s relatively recent, there are no public domain editions out there, as there were with other previous Book Club reads. Angmar has been busy unearthing ways to connect readers to copies of the book, and recommends Worldcat as a resource, if you haven’t gotten your copy yet. There’s still time.
Also differing from previous Book Club reads, we have the advantage of contemporary media, in the sense that in his lifetime Eco answered a great many readers’ questions about The Name of the Rose, although he maintained a coy silence about the important things — the things that he wanted readers to figure out for themselves. Where possible, I’ll supply what I can, although Eco was a prolific writer and his publications are scattered from here to Ultima Thule and back and my Italian is weak.
Still, we are not without road maps: scholars have been at work on The Name of the Rose; entire university courses have been based on it; collections of critical essays are in print. We Shall Have Resources. Not to mention a handy little key, literally — The Key to “The Name of the Rose” — from which I’ll be drawing liberally and at need. I will also provide a hand list of the important characters and historic references (to papal bulls and whatnot) in each chapter and translations of the foreign language passages, mostly Latin. For the record, because my ego requires it, I’m going to try to do the translations. There are some that are too obscure for my rusty medieval languages, so I’ll note the ones that are not mine. Single words and common and oft-repeated phrases, for the most part, I’ll translate once. If you don’t remember or can’t pick up the meaning from context, Google Translate is your friend.
Last week I posted a general introduction to background concepts that are important for enjoying The Name of the Rose. If you haven’t read it yet, you might want to look it over.
The Schedule
The Name of the Rose takes place over seven days, and the sections are roughly the same length (around 75 pages). We can do this one of two ways, either covering one day per week, which will give us seven weeks to discuss the text, and then one final week for wrap-up, or double up after chapter 1 and get it done in a month. Let me know which you prefer. Machts nichts to me.
Getting Started: You Should Know
the debate between Aristotle and Aquinas (which I covered some in last week’s introduction). The links will provide essential background, although they’re necessarily cursory (hey, five-volume doorstops have been written as “introductions” to Aristotle and Aquinas both, and explications of those introductions would fill entire libraries). It’s enough to know that in 1327, the year of The Name of the Rose, the Church was hip-deep in heresy and controversy. Aristotelian modes of logic and rhetorical inquiry (exemplified by William of Baskerville) were under siege by Thomism (exemplified by Abo and Bernard of Gui, among others).
For the rest, I’m not sure what you need, so please let me know and I’ll do what I can to supply it.
This week, let’s read the introduction and the events of the first day. It’s Sunday, the first day of Advent. Jesus is coming—look busy.
The first day is deliberately tough. Eco is teaching us what we’ll need in order to read the rest of the novel; he also gives us an overview of the main themes and the crisis points. On a re-read, it’s amazing how packed with hints and information the first day is. In his Postscript, Eco writes:
After reading the manuscript, my friends and editors suggested I abbreviate the first hundred pages, which they found very difficult and demanding. Without thinking twice, I refused, because, as I insisted, if somebody wanted to enter the abbey and live there for seven days, he had to accept the abbey’s own pace. If he could not, he would never manage to read the whole book. Therefore those first hundred pages are like a penance or an initiation, and if someone does not like them, so much the worse for him. He can stay at the foot of the hill. (p. 40)
With Adso and William, we enter the abbey, and first impressions are necessarily important, especially since first impressions are not always accurate.
Eco has described the first 100 pages of the novel as a “penitential obstacle”; in terms of Dante, if you endure the purgatory of the first day (if you get all the way up Mount Purgatorio), you’ll enter Paradise. Well, not really. But you will be ready for the rest of the book. He’s training you as a reader. (Postscript, p. 48) So: corragio! It’ll be worth it.
See you next week. Below the jump are references to assist in your reading. In comments, it would be helpful to me to know whether this is a first read for you, or a reread. If the majority are first-timers, we’ll all have to be wary of spoilers.
Don’t be intimidated—this is awesome stuff.
The Hours
The monastic day is marked by a rhythm of prayer and work. Our unnamed abbey is located high in the mountains of Northern Italy, and the hours and relative times are adjusted for the season. Remember, although rudimentary timepieces existed in the early fourteenth century, nothing like a clock was yet in use, and certainly not in so conservative a place as a Benedictine monastery.
The Hours refer to the services of prayer:
- Matins: a.k.a. Vigilae (holding vigil) 2:30 — 3:00 a.m.
- Lauds: 5:00 — 6:00 a.m.
- Prime: 7:30 a.m. (around daybreak)
- Terce: 9:00 a.m.
- Sext: noon
- Nones: 2:00 — 3:00 p.m.
- Vespers: 4:30 p.m. (around sunset)
- Compline: 6:00 p.m.
The monks go to bed around 7:00 p.m. This is drawn from Eco’s own introduction to The Name of the Rose, which people tend to skip over, but it’s useful to keep handy for reference about what is happening and when.
Historic Figures
An overview of important figures referenced in the text, generally in order of appearance. I will omit the obviously famous, and the figures that Adso explains adequately. By the way, Adso is with William because his father wants him kept out of trouble and out of the way of the fighting, and also (unstated) so that Adso doesn’t become a hostage. Adso’s father is nobleman fighting for the emperor; therefore, our naive and earnest narrator would be a valuable tool in the hands of his father’s enemies.
For the children of nobility, career options were limited. Daughters were either married off to cement political alliances or allowed to go into convent. Sons, well, sons were subject to primogeniture, the legal practice of keeping an estate intact and unsubdivided. The eldest son inherited the father’s land and social standing. The second son usually went into the military. This had the practical effect of keeping a spare son on hand and trained to take Dad’s place if something happened to the eldest. Usually third, fourth, fifth sons went into the Church, either to be monks or ordained as priests and given benefices, bishoprics, etc. You can see why this arrangement would lead to corruption, as the wealthy and powerful placed their spare kids in influential positions in the Church hierarchy; however, Adso as a young Dominican cuts against that tradition.
Now, on to the people:
- Pope John XXII: Pope in Avignon who was opposed to Franciscan teachings of the poverty of Christ. Head cheerleader for Team Aquinas.
- Michael of Cesena: Franciscan theologian who eased tensions between the Spirituals and the rest of the Franciscans. At first he worked with John XXII, but by 1327 John had turned against him and he had to run.
- Ubertino of Casale: One of the Spiritual Franciscans who refused to be reconciled to the general Order and fled before he could be burned. He’s taken refuge in the monastery. In Paradiso Canto 12, Bonaventura tells Dante: “I accept in truth that those who search page after page of our book, might still find one page, reading: I am as I was, but it will not be one of Ubertino da Casale’s or Matteo d’Acquasparta’s, from whom men come to our discipline, by relaxing it, or making it more severe.” Dante accuses Ubertino of being too strict.
- Pierre Olieu: Franciscan who insisted that strict poverty was a central aspect of the Order, a feature, if you will, where many Franciscans considered it a bug.
- Clare of Montefalco: A Franciscan abess known for her extreme asceticism.
- Fra Dolcino: Not telling. You’ll learn about him as Adso learns about him, and it’s better that way.
In case you couldn’t tell, the meeting that William has been summoned to attend will be a big clash between Franciscans and their enemies in the employ of Pope John XXII, the pope whose excesses came to characterize the Avignon period of the Papacy.
Translations
Introduction
- Abbé Vallet, Le Manuscrit de Dom Adson de Melk, traduit en français d’après l’édition Dom J. Mabillon (Aux Presses de l’Abbaye de la Source, Paris, 1842): The Abbot Vallet, The Manuscript of Dom Adso of Melk, translated into French according to the edition of Dom J. Mabillon (The Abbey’s Presses at the Source, Paris, 1842) [Dom is a Benedictine title, after the Latin Dominus (lord)]
- Vetera analecta, sive collectionveterum etc: Publishing info. Let me know if you really want this and I’ll translate it.
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Montalant, ad Ripam P.P. Augustinianorum (prope Pontem S. Michaelis): Montalant, by the Bank at the Augustinian priory, near the Bridge of St. Michael
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En me retraçant ces details, j’en suis à demander s’ils sont reels, or bien si je les ai rêvés: In recounting these details, I have to ask myself if they’re real or if I dreamed them.
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Liber aggregationis seu liber secretorum Alberti Magni, Londinium, juxta pontem qui vulgariter dicitur Flete bigge, MCCCCLXXXV: The Book of Collected Thoughts or the Book of the Secrets of Albert the Great, London, beside the bridge that’s commonly called the Fleet Bridge, 1485.
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Les Admirables etc.: again, publishing info. Let me know if you want this.
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In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro: I have searched for respite in all things, and found it nowhere but in a corner with a book.
Prologue
- Caput Mundi: Head of the World (the Capital) – a very popular medieval catchphrase, usually refers to Rome.
- Usus facti: “use in fact,”or “for his own use.” “Note: In his Bull of 1279 (Exiit qui seminat [he who sows] Nicholas III makes a distinction between usus facti, the use in fact of necessary things, and usus iuris, the right of use or possession. This is crucial to the question of Franciscan poverty” (from the Key, p.99)
- Cum inter nonullos: “When among several” “Note: Titles of papal bulls are simply the first two or three words of the text. This bull begins Cum inter nonnullos scholasticos viros… (since among several learned men…”) The main thrust of this bull is a declaration that those who uphold the poverty of Christ (specifically the Franciscans of the Perugia chapter) are heretics. (from the Key, p. 99)
- Unico homine regente with only one man as king, or one single leader
- Ad modum avis volantis in the style of a bird in flight
Day One (Sunday, the First Day of Advent)
Prime
- Aedificium: Edifice, a big building
- Brunullus: Browny
- Omnis mundi creatura / quasi liber et picture /nobis est in speculum: All creatures of the world / as if a book and a picture / are to us as a mirror. [“Note: Alanus writes in the next stanza: ‘The rose depicts our station, a fitting explanation of our lot, a reading of our life, which while it blooms in early morning, ‘flowers out’.’ (the flower deflowered: defloratus flos effloret). (from the Key, p. 101)
- Siccum prope pelle ossibus adhaerente: firm, with the skin adhering to the bones
- Auctoritates: authorities
- Balneary: bathhouse
- Verbum mentis: the word of the mind, a universal idea (term used by Aquinas for “the conceptual sign formed by the mind itself,the concept abstracted by the mind from the individual object of perception, a mental sign”) (from the Key, pp.101-102). In part, the entire novel is a debate between Aquinas, represented by the Abbot and some of his monks, and Roger Bacon and William of Occam, represented by William of Baskerville.
- Niger: black
- Scriptorium: writing room
- Eris sacerdos in aeternum: You will be a priest for all time.
- Coram monachis: in front of the monks
- Monasterium sin libris est sicut civitas sine opibus, castrum sine numeris, coquina sine suppellectili, mensa sine cibis, hortus sine herbis, partum sine floribus, arbor sine foliis: A monastery without books is like a city without resources, a fortress without defenders, a kitchen without equipment, a table without food, a garden without plants, a meadow without flowers, a tree without leaves. By Jakob Louber, a Carthusian monk of Basel
- Mundus senescit: The world has grown old. This one too you’ll know by heart soon.
Sext
- Penitenziagite! Watch out for the draco…: Repent quickly! Watch out for the dragon who cometh soon to gnaw your soul! Death is above us! Pray the Holy Father come to liberate us from evil and all our sin! H ha, you like this sorcery of Our Lord Jesus Christ! Joy is like pain to me, and pleasure is painful to me….Beware the devil! Always lying in wait for me in some corner to snap at my heels. But Salvatore is not stupid! [This is] a good monastery and dining room here and pray to our lord. And the rest is not worth shit. Amen. No? (Salvatore speaks a combination of Vulgate Latin, Provençal, Italian, and Catalan. He’s a lot of fun to translate.)
- Ad placitum: by agreement
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Disiecta membra: the scattered remnants
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Si licet magnis componere parva… : if it is permissible to compare the little…[with the great] – quotation from Virgil’s Georgics
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Domine frate magnificentissimo…Jesus venturus est and les hommes must do penitenzia: Most magnificent lord brother, Jesus is coming and men must do penance
Non comprends: I don’t understand
Vade retro: Get thee behind me [Satan], from Mark 8:33
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Arbor vitae crucifixae: The Tree of the Crucified Life More about Ubertino.
- Fratres et pauperes heremitae domini Celestini: Brothers and poor hermits of Father Celestine
- Firma cautela: with strong caution
- Exivi de paradiso: I left paradise. “Note: This bull, one of the fruits of the Counceil of Vienne (in session from October 1311 to May 1312), was issued by Pope Clement V on May 6, 1312. It began by affirming the three vows of the Franciscan rule—chastity, poverty, and obedience. It discussed the handling of such matters as clothing, shoes, preaching, fasting, etc. It enjoined the Franciscans not to accept in alms more than they needed and listed abuses against the spirit of poverty, i.e. large holdings in buildings, rich furnishings, etc. It ended, however, with the demand that the warring parties within the Franciscan order live in peace together and that neither party—the Spirituals who upheld the strictest interpretation of poverty or the Conventuals who embraced a more relaxed position—call the other heretics.” (From the Key, p. 107.)
- Per mundum discurrit vagabundus: ran through the world as a vagabond
- Ad conditorem canonum: To the Founder of the Rules. “Note: This bull, issued by John XXII on December 8, 1322, was in direct opposition to the Franciscan chapter at Perugia. John rejects simple usus facti (use in fact) and gives to the Franciscans, against their will, possession of the things they used.” (From the Key, pp. 107-108
- Spiritus Libertatis: the spirit of freedom
- Homo nudus cum nuda iacebat…et non commiscebantur ad invicem: a nude man lay down with a nude woman and they did not mix with each other, or…um…do the horizontal mambo.
- Lignum vitae: the wood of life
- Quorum primus seraphico calculo purgatus et ardore calico inflammatus totum incendere videbatur. Secundus vero verbo predicationis fecundus super mundi tenebrass clarius radiavit: The first of whom, purified by angelic coal and inflamed with heavenly inspiration, seemed to set the whole world on fire. The second, filled with the true word of prophecy, shone clearly over the darkness of the world.
- Mors est quies viatoris—finis est omnis laboris: Death is the rest of the traveler, the end of all labor.
Toward Nones
- Theatrum Sanitatis: Theater of health
- De virtutibus herbarum: on the virtues of plants
- De vegetalibus: on vegetables
- De causis: on causes
- Lectio divina: sacred reading
After Nones
- “De pentagon Salomonis, Ars Loquendi...etc.” : “On the pentagon of Solomon.” “The Art of speaking and understanding the Hebrew Language,” “On the Properties of Metals” by Roger of Hereford, “Algebra” by Al-Kuwarizmi, translated into Latin by Robert the Englishman, “The Punic Wars of Silius Italicus,” “The Deeds of the Franks,” “On the Celebration of the Holy Cross” by Rabanus Maurus, and Flavius Claudius Giordanus’ “On the Age of the World and Man (arranged in books alphabetically from A to Z)” (from the Key, pp. 109-110) and meant to demonstrate the variety of the library’s holdings.
- iii, IV gradus, V in prima graecorum; ii V gradus, Vii in tertia angelorum: “third book, fourth shelf, fifth case in the first of the Greeks; second book, fifth shelf, seventh case in the third of the English” (from the Key, p. 110)
- in aenigmate: in darkness
- verba: words
- sanctus: Holy. From the Mass
- Aller wunder si geswigen/ das erde himel hât überstigen, / daz sult ir vür ein wunder wigen: [Middle High German] Be silent about all wonders;/ That earth has risen above heaven/This you should consider a wonder. (from the Key, p. 110)
- Erd ob un himel unter, / das sult ir hân besunder / vür aller wunder ein wunder: Earth above, heaven under/ This, above all, consider / To be wonder of wonders. (from the Key, p. 110)
- Verba vana aut risui apta non loqui: Don’t speak vain words or ones appropriate for laughter. “Note: From the Benedictine Rule, Chapter 4, ‘Quae sunt instrumenta bonorum,’ ‘These are the tools of good works.’ (from the Key, p. 111)
- Exempla: examples
- Per speculum et in aenigmate: by a mirror and darkly, quoting 1 Corinthians 13:12, “Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate,” (Vulgate) “We see now through a glass in a dark manner.” (Douay)
- Libellus de Antichristo: The Little Antichrist (a book)
Vespers
- Oculi de vitro cum capsula: eyes of glass in little boxes (frames)
- Tamquam ab iniustis possessoribus: as if from unjust possessors
Compline
- Benedicite…edent pauperes: Bless the Lord…the poor eat
- Manduca, iam coctum est: Eat, it’s already cooked
- Peristephanon: About Crowns
- Tu autem Domine miserere nobis: But you, Lord, have mercy on us
- Adiuorium nostrum in nomine Domini: Our help is in the name of the Lord
- Qui fecit coelum et terram: Who made heaven and earth
Notes
Eco, Umberto. Postscript to The Name of the Rose. NY: Harcourt Brace, 1984.
Haft, Adele J., and Jane G. White and Robert J. White. The Key to “The Name of the Rose.” Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999.