Cutting out the camel-like knees of St. James: the de viris illustribus tradition in the twelfth-century renaissance. Issue 264 (5th April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Byrne, Philippa
• Is Part Of: Historical research. Volume 94:Issue 264(2021)
• Page Start: 191
• Page End: 212
• Publication Date: 2021-04-05
• Subjects: History -- Periodicals; History -- Methodology -- Periodicals; 907.2
• DOI: 10.1093/hisres/htab001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-3471

Abstract

Abstract: This article examines the revival of the de viris illustribus genre in the twelfth century. These catalogues of the most important Christian authors were modelled on a template created in late antiquity by Jerome, but adopted new attitudes to what constitutes distinguished Christian literary activity. They regard the editing, collecting, and re-ordering of texts as equal to the composition of new works, and recognize legal codification as a noteworthy activity. As such, they represent the broadening out of a Latin Christian literary canon. These texts complicate our ideas about the relationship between 'authority' and 'amplification' in the twelfth-century renaissance.