Tentative Grades

Here are the tentative grades for the two parts of the final exam and then for the year. Once again, because of university privacy regulations, the student numbers have been reduced to their final four digits and then sorted in ascending order. That means that if your number were 1234567 it would be given here as 4567.

                Unseen Trans.       Final Exam     Final Grade

4061                   D                   A-                 C+
5150 B-                  B+                 A-
5846 A                   A                  A
6269 A                   A+                 A+
6272 A                   A+                 A+
6360 C                   C                   C
6739 B-                  C                   B-
7298 B+                 A+                 A
7969 D                   D+                 C+
8453 C                   C                   C+
8645 B                   C                   C+
9149 A-                  A-                 A-

Final Grades

I will not be able to post the tentative final grades until Saturday. They are tentative because they will take several days to work their way through the system and become official.

If, after the grades are posted, you wish to see your exam, send me an e-pistle and we can make an appointment.

Nunc dimittis

I wish everyone a sound sleep (very very important for processing information--brain specialists advise putting sleep above cramming) and a fresh morning.

I regret the need to have final exams, believe me. As an undergraduate I suffered from monstrous exam anxiety, and, after waking up on the morning of an exam one of the first things I would do was go into the bathroom and throw up. I wish there were another way to assess each student's individual ability at the end of the year, without any opportunity for collaboration or using resources. Virtually every language studied at university expects students to learn some grammar and vocabulary by heart, and the final exam is intended to test that knowledge. I believe it's an unpleasant necessity.

So I will see you tomorrow. I won't wish anyone good luck, since I think you make you own luck. But I will hope that everyone finds calmness and clarity of mind tomorrow morning.

Office hours

My office hours for next week will be Wed., Thurs., Fri. (April 9 - 11), 8:30-10:30.

You may, of course, always send questions to be by e-mail.

Oh yes....

Don't forget to look at my extra notes while reviewing for the exam. They were intended to help you understand the texts and they deal with most of the more difficult bits. So even if you did not use them to help you prepare for class (which seemed to be the case with most students today), they can still be of use.

Final Exam Information

The exam is scheduled for Apr. 14, 9:00 a.m. (3 hours), KIN 205. But check the official schedule closer to the date in case there is any change to the room. Of course those of you who need special accommodation will have received from the Exam's Office specific information about the duration of the exam and the room.

It will cover everything we have read since the last exam, with the exception of the "Epitaph of Agapius". That means:

R.M.L. 9.1: Charlemagne’s Capitulare episcoporum.
9:3 Paul the Deacon
11.1: William of Poitiers
11.3: The book of Winchester
13.1: Baudri of Bourgueil

M.M. 148-150: Robert the Monk

R.M.L. 17.3: Peter Abelard
17.4: Heloise

R.M.L. 15.1: Carmina Cantabrigensia
M.M. 136-7 Cambridge Songs
M.M. 224 ff.: Carmina Burana [I - IV]

As I have said before, don't try to second-guess me. If it is on the list above, it could appear on the exam.

The format will be the same as the previous exams: Latin 327 students will have three passages to translate, plus questions to answer, and Latin 411 students will have on extra passage. As before, I want you to know the authors, titles, and rough dates of all that we have read: once again, you will have to use your intelligence to deal with apparent anomalous information (i.e., if the work doesn't have an author, you can't know it; if a work is dated to a wide possible period, then that's all you can give, etc.). The other questions will be like those on the previous three exams.

In addition, there will be one passage for unseen translation. I expect you to know all vocabulary on the list I gave you at the start of the year [the first link in the first blog entry takes you to an electronic version; here is the link again ]. Words that have occurred several times in what we have covered in class will generally not be glossed, unless they are very strange. Some other words whose definitions you can be expected to deduce from their roots, Latin cognates, English derivatives, etc. will also not be glossed, nor will typical medieval orthographical divergences from classical Latin.

The prepared part of the exam will be worth approximately 70%, and the sight 30%.

I have not decided on my office hours for the exam period: I will post those by the weekend. Of course you are, as always, welcome to send me questions by e-mail, and I will (within reason) answer as many as you need to ask.

Two very short poems from the Carmina Burana

Here are two of my favourites, perfect in their simplicity.

Stetit puella

Stetit puella    rufa tunica;
si quis eam tetigit    tunica crepuit.
Eia!

Stetit puella,    tamquam rosula;
facie splenduit,    os eius floruit.
Eia!

A girl stood in a red dress;
if anyone touched her, the tunic rustled.
Ahhh!

A girl stood, like a rose;
Her face shone, her mouth bloomed.
Ahhh!


Dulcissime

Dulcissime,
totam tibi subdo me!

Oh my sweetest,
I give myself completely to you.

In taberna

NOTE: We did not cover this in class, and so it will not appear on the exam.

Here is some help (much needed--sorry about that) for In taberna quando sumus.

VII. In taberna quando sumus

2. humus: G. is almost certainly wrong here--humus means “earth” and by an easy metonymy, the grave.
sit: why?
4. cui: dative after insudamus: “sweat over.”
5. agatur: why subj.?
6. picerna: I would not put the semi-colon in, since Quid agatur in taberna is almost certainly the subject of quaeratur. That is, the word order in English would go roughly as follows: Est opus ut quaeratur hoc: quid agatur in taberna. 
7. Hoc est opus ut: opus est = “it is necessary.” Hoc can be seen either as nom. with est opus or with quaeratur.
Quaeratur: I would put a period after this.
8. loquar: why subj.?
12. ex his: ludus (which sort of has a plural aspect--gaming)
16. pro Baccho: the bets are drinks.
mittunt sortem: “they cast their lot,” perhaps. It surely refers to throwing dice.
17. Primo ... libertini: “At first, as free men (i.e., men freed from care), because of the price of the wine (ex hac: hac refers to nummata), they drink to the price of the wine.” Here pro is our “to” (drink to [“for, on behalf of”]). In the context nummata might best be translated as “cheap price.”
19. semel: “once again,” i.e., the second time. This is also possibly “plus one more,” that is, they drink twice, or have two drinks, for the captivi. The numbers here could be either “a fourth time, a fifth time...” or “four times, five times....” The former seems more reasonable, and the latter is more outrageous.
captivis: probably prisoners of war.
23. sororibus vanis: given the context, this is probably something the drinkers are happy for, so if the nuns are “worthless” as G. says, it must be that they are worthless as nuns. I would say “naughty nuns.”
24. pro militibus silvanis: for unemployed knights.
25. perversis: probably a play on conversi. The monks have not converted, but been perverted (turned aside from their proper path). Perhaps “straying,” or “errant”.
49. Parum ...: "Six hundred coins last too little when everyone drinks immoderately without limit...”

Carmina Burana

Here are the extra notes for the first four excerpts from the Carmina Burana in Medieval Mosaic. On Wednesday, we will do only I - IV, and VI and VII. We will not do V.

I will post notes on VI and VII later in the day.

Extra extra notes for Heloise ii

I have slightly expanded my notes on the second section of Heloise, to try to help things go more smoothly in class. Here they are....

1. Nichil: ML
te pure: take with concupiscens
tua: there is no noun this could modify, therefore it is a substantive.
2. federa: ML
expectavi: effectively ends one clause, leaving non denique meas voluptates aut voluntates ... adimplere studui.
3. nosti: cf. i.1
4: sanctius ac validius: "too ...."
dulcius: trans. as regular comparative
extitit: <exsto
4. amice: ML (amica has a very specific connotation--Cassell's, s.v. amicus -a -um)
5. vocabulum: "name"
ut: in that
6: consequor: Cassell's, s.v., 2.
7. excellentie: ML spelling; not best trans. as "excellence" here--see your dictionaries.
Quod: rel. pron. referring to the previous idea; trans. "this." For its case, note that the verb is oblitus ... fuisti.
8. ea: + epistola
ad amicum: with ea ... epistola, since quam supra memini is a relative clause
epistola .... directa: directa modifies epistola, so pro consolatione must be part of this phrase.
9. quibus: rel. pron. introduces rel. clause that ends with next finite verb; this leaves ubi et rationes nonnullas .... exponere non es dedignatus....

Extra notes for end of Abelard, and Heloise

Here are some extra notes for Abelard v and Heloise i and ii.

Fourth Assignment

These are the main points I will reconsider if anyone wishes to hand back in the fourth assignment.

line 1: a: this use is buried deeply in your Cassell's, and even then is still not clearly spelled out. It is common in Latin (cf. line 14: a fronte) but I should not have deducted a full mark for getting it wrong.
5: prope mutuum: as the key says, "nearly equal advance", but I believe I marked wrong some instances where people essentially got this.
6: lateri: as the key says, "to the flank," but here again I think I marked some wrong that were right.
12: interiaciencium: should be interiacencium (as in the third line from the end); I think some tried to translate it as if it were from interiacio, and I should have taken the typographical error into account.
18: altitudinem longitudinis hominis: I should have included a note on this in the assignment and accepted more attempts to deal with this awkward phrase than I did.

Final adjustment to list of readings

It tears a piece out of my heart to have to say this, but we will omit Hildegard of Bingen (and St. Francis), and after Heloise go straight to the Carmina Cantibrigensia in R.M.L. So our final readings will be:

RML 15.1: Carmina Cantibrigensia
MM 136-7: Cambridge Songs
RML 20.2: Carmina Burana
MM 224 ff.: Carmina Burana
[Possibly Walter of Chatillon]

Extra notes for Abelard, sections iii and iv

iii.
2. itaque: put it at the start of the sentence when you translate [it is often second]
discipline: learning, instruction
vaccabamus: ML spelling = CL vaco; L&S s.v., II.A.2. "Vacare alicui rei, to be free to attend, apply, or devote one's self to something; to have leisure or time for a thing (cf. studeo):"
3. studium: subject (Abelard seems very fond of postponing the subject until late in the clause (which he does in the next one)
4. ingerebant: needs a plural subject, third person, so it must be what?
6. quo: Cassell's, s.v., (adv.) "transf." b.
8. denique: Cassell's, s.v. 2.b.
9. cupidis: don't confuse this with cupidinis. It is a form of cupidus.

iv.
2. secretis ... vigiliis ... celebratis: by all means trans. as S. suggests, but note that this is a straightforward ablative absolute, and since the participle is perfect, its action must precede that of the main verb (hence S.'s "after").
9. anathematizare et jurare: sc. the proper form of coepi (coepit) from the previous clause.
10. afficiebat: Cassell's, s.v. 2.

Assignment 4

It has come to my attention that there were four or five spots in the assignment where I regularly marked something acceptable as wrong--I think I was relying too much on my memory (increasingly faulty, alas) of what the text actually said. There was also one typo that I did not notice and which I realize now some people tried to translate: no deduction should have been made in that case, either.

So I will ask everyone to hand in their assignments again to me on Monday, and I will re-examine these spots and, where necessary, adjust the final grades.

I will try to post in the next few days an explanation of these points so you can decide if you want to hand your assignment back in, but I recommend that everyone do so.

Mea maxima culpa!

Extra notes for Abelard, RML 17.3.ii

Remember that tomorrow we will start the excerpts from Abelard's Story of my misfortunes.

Here are the extra notes for the second passage.

line 2. qua: relative clause of purpose
domestica ... conversatione: what case?
4. intervenientibus: as go-betweens, etc.
5. procurationis: perhaps something like "goal," "result", "achievement."
7. familie: ML; remember that this rarely means "family" in our sense of the word.
praepediret: subjunctive because of causal clause starting with quod;
9. studiosus: not "studious." Look again at the definitions for studeo.
11. totus: best trans. here as an adv.
11-12. inhiaret ... crederet:  parse; why are they what mood they are?
12. percepturam: sc. esse (infin. after crederet)
13. accessit: Cassell's s.v. "Transf." 5; for the case of votis meis, note that this is ad + cedo.
14. consulit: a bit sarcastic in tone: Cassell's, s.v., 1 ... "esp. w. dat."
15. vaccaret: impersonal passive
docende: ML spelling
16. sentirem ... constringerem: parts of what construction? Parse.
18, quam: adv., not rel. pronoun; take with ut
21. ut: introducing what type of clause?
quam: rel. pronoun
22. eum: Heloise's uncle
24. neptis: a textbook obj. genitive
continentie mee: ML spellings

Extra notes for Abelard RML 17.3.i

Line 3. qua: quā (adv.)
4. que: ML spelling
habundantiam: see O.3
5. bonum: I would translate "gift".
7. circunspectis: ML spelling; Cassell's, s.v. 1, "Transf."
que: ML
8. id: obj. of posse.
10. preminebam: < CL praeemineo.
ut: I would put a comma after this.
quamcunque: ML spelling; forms a phrase with feminarum; obj. of dignarer (look carefully in your Cassell's for what type of construction goes with this). Note that this is a type of relative pronoun.... 
amore: I would put a comma after this.
12. eam: Heloise (easily to be understood, since puellam is the last sing. fem. noun)
nos: for its case, look to presentare.
13. liceret: Cassell's "the action permitted is expressed by a n. pronoun or by an infin. or clause, acting as subject of the verb...."
14. interesse: Cassell's, s.v. 2.

Treaty of Arbroath (for 410 students)

I have already had two questions about the extra material, so I'm posting them, and my answers, here for the other students.

1. line 33: suis ... liberandis: in my note, I say probably suis probably = ipsis. It could be suis and refer to Robert, who is the subject of this clause. We have here a simple case of 1 + 1 = 2, that is, it could be viewed as "pro populo suo et hereditate sua ....," but the two together form a plural, hence liberandis.

2. Line 49: geritis < gero. For vices, see my note.

Arbroath Abbey, Angus.

An original version of the treaty, with the signatories' seals.

Fourth Assignment

I forgot to put the grade spread on the key to the assignment, so here it is:

A/A+, A, A-, A-, B+, B-, B-, C+, C+, C+, C, C-

About half of the class went down a letter grade from their average on the previous assignments, and about half remained the same. The passage was a bit more difficult than the previous ones, but I know of no language course where the material does not become more challenging as the course progresses.

I will hand out a key as I return the exams--I have only marked in the assignments where there were mistakes--you will have to consult the key to see what the mistake is. And if something is not clear, please see me (or e-mail me).

Notes for rest of Robert the Monk

Here are the extra notes for the remainder of Robert the Monk.

29: carus: adj., and it could modify only one word in this clause
36: circumdata: modifies terra (l. 35). Note that if you separate the relative clause (quam inhabitatis), you are left with a phrase that starts with quoniam terra in line 35 and ends with circumdata and a comma. Since circumdata is a form of adjective, it comfortably brackets the whole phrase that starts with its noun terra.
37: copia: for its case, compare clausura, iugis, and numerositate. It is possible that it is the subject of exuberat, but that seems odd and pleonastic.
38: exupero: Cassell's doesn't have this under exu-, but compare what it says about exul and apply that here.
alimenta: Cassell's, s.v. 1.
38: sola: "alone"; put after alimenta in your trans.
48: I would say "span of life" or just "life" for conversatione.
49: understand a quotation mark after insignavit.
49: plurima: I would put a comma after this.
50: qui aderant: relative clause, separating omnium and affectus, which should, therefore, be taken together.
59: congressio: any meeting of people, so here something like "contest"; the genitive is of quality: "an attack comprising a warlike onslaught."

Major changes to list of readings for the rest of the term

Since we do not have time to cover most of the authors, I have ranked the remaining authors according to my priorities and interests, and also with an eye to giving you a good variety of genres and subjects. And I want to make sure we get through the various poems in the last section, so we will now read, in order:

MM 148-50: Robert the Monk
RML 17.3: Peter Abelard
         17.4: Heloise
         17.5(a): Hildegard of Bingen
MM 166-168: Hildegard of Bingen
         199-201: St. Francis of Assisi
RML 15.1: Carmina Cantibrigensia
MM 136-7: Cambridge Songs
RML 20.2: Carmina Burana
MM 224 ff.: Carmina Burana
        177-179: The Archpoet
        186-188: Walter of Chatillon

If we have class time left after this, we will backtrack to something like William Fitzstephen (RML) or Geoffrey of Monmouth (MM).

Extra notes for the start of Robert the Monk in Medieval Mosaic

Here are a few extra notes on the first thirty-four lines of the excerpt from Robert the Monk in Medeival Mosaic.

1. gens: vocative

sicuti: I would translate "as it were"

4. noster: again, the often misnamed "royal we", more correctly called a "poetic plural" in a CL context 

5: volumus: at the end of its clause

5. quae: interrog. adj. (as is quae in l. 6)

6. vestra: Robert knows that CL only rarely uses the gen. pl. of vos (vestrum vestri), hence the shift from the adj. to the gen. pl. of cunctorum

11. spiritus: nom.; 

eius: the generatio; 

cum Deo: odd, but understandable--one can phrase in English "did not keep faith with God"

16. quibus: depends on incumbit

19. virtus: not virtue!; governed by "humiliandi verticem capilli"; I don't think humiliandi is a gerundive, but takes verticem as object (look it up for its very particular sense here), which is then modified by the gen. capilli [hairy crown of the head]; vobis is governed by resistentium, and resistentium is a substantive, possessing verticem

20. moveant ... incitent: need a plural subject, which happens to be the first possible nom. pl. noun

moveant: verb comes first in its clause, so where is the subject most likely to be? 

23. eis: probably the pagani, but possibly regna

fines: note that qui (23) is nom. (as we can tell from dilataverunt), so what case must this be?

Baudri of Bourgueil, conc.

Here are a few more notes on the rest of the excerpt from Baudri of Bourgueil.

16. exteris nationibus: for the case, look up oppono in your dictionary
Jebusaeos: see S. on Jacobitae in line 18
21.mori in via: that is, dying before one sets out can be considered as dying en route if one truly intended to make the journey. Committing to the crusade counts as participation.
24. caritas: I would trans. as "an act of grace"
26. quia: "that"
28. remeabitis: cf. meo meare (the English "meander" does not come from this, but from the name of the Maiandros River).
33. esto: S. should have said "future imperative" (see A&G 170)
quin: A&G 558

I'll mention yet again that after this we will go straight to Robert the Monk's version of the Council of Clermont in Medieval Mosaic pp. 148-50.




An illustration of Pope Urban II preaching the First Crusade, from a book dating from 1490



Statue of Urban II at Clermont.

Addenda and corrigenda to fourth assignment

I've had a few questions about the assignment and I should share the answers with everyone.

1. I'm serious about acuties in line 4: look at A&G 241, where you will find words such as pauperies (from pauper and segnities (from segnis). So what will acuties be? Learning to deduce words from their constituent parts and cognates is an important skill in learning any language (add a particularly pompous tone when you read that).

2. arestarunt in line 5 should have a note saying that it is also spelled arrestarunt, which of course comes from a verb arresto, and you should deduce its meaning from that.

3. saggite consumpte in line 11 doesn't have a note: it's another common ML spelling variation (which you have often seen).

Baudri of Bourgueil

The first nine lines or so of Baudri are a bit difficult because of their highly rhetorical nature, but I don't think you need a lot of extra help so I'm posting just a few notes here. I will make a fuller version over the weekend.

1. dicimus: some would call this the "royal we", but the first person plural is regularly used throughout classical literature in place of the first-person singular. It is more accurately called a poetic plural. But the point is, Urban means "I" here.
I would repunctuate "Vos, accincti cingulo militiae, ...
2. dissecamini: Sidwell's translation is fine, but he makes the verb active...
3. ovile Redemptoris: that is, the members of the Church are his sheep, so where they live is, metaphorically, their sheepfold.
4. militia: its most basic sense
5. quam: not just a purpose clause, but a relative clause of purpose.
7. alieni juris: another's right.

Domesday concluded

I have added the notes for the rest of the Domesday Book to the previous handout: it is all here.

Change to schedule of readings: remember, after Baudi of Bourgueil's account of the Council of Clermont (R.M.L. 13.1) we will skip 13.3 (Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitarum) and go straight to Robert the Monk's version of the Council of Clermont (M.M. 148-50).

Notes for William of Poitiers and start of the Domesday Book

Here are the notes for the rest of William of Poitiers and the start of the Domesday Book. Please note that at 7:43 p.m. I replaced what was an earlier version of the notes on the Domesday Book with a corrected later version. If you printed the notes up, please throw away the earlier version and download this new one.

I also forgot to add this link to the wonderful Domesday Book site maintained by the National Archives of the U.K. This site is also pretty good.

Last day to drop

Today is the last day to drop winter and multi-term courses.

Extra notes for remainder of William of Poitiers (i)

Here are the notes for the rest of the first passage from William of Poitiers. I will post those for the second passage tomorrow.

line 40. circumspicite: the circum gives it the effect of "look about and see me"; Lewis and Short have II.2 "to descry, get sight of by looking around"; C.1 "to view something mentally, ... ponder upon."
41. quos: = ei, quos
43. nullus vestrum: vestrum is not the possessive adjective; see A&G 143 and 143.b.
46. circumvenientes: transitive; note that millia (sing. mille) is neuter, so can be accusative; insecuta is in turn transitive, and governs se.
47. ea: the millia.
48. exercitus: not nom.
48. passus: probably best translated as a phrase: "although ...".
49. id: points to the ne clause.
51. labi: the noun labor can, of course, not generate this form (its stem is labor-).
interempti: the verb that this comes from starts with inter, but not intere-.
52. per diversas partes: prepositional phrase; remove it and you are left with incisae fortissimorum militum ferro.

Remember: we will not read passage iv (pages 183-184).

Notes on the start of William of Poitiers, R.M.L. 11.1.i

Here are some extra notes on the first 36 lines of the first passage from William of Poitiers. I will post notes on the rest on Thursday.

This is a truly wonderful site about the Bayeux Tapestry, which you can see all of, scene by scene: http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/ .

William on his horse (the dark one in the centre). Note the running descriptions in Latin.

Extra notes for Paul the Deacon, part 2

Here are the extra notes for the second part of Paul the Deacon's Historia Langobardorum in R.M.L.

Reading week office hours; reading list clarification

I hope everyone is having a productive (or relaxing) reading week. I said I would be in for a few hours one morning, just in case anyone is around, but I'm thinking that probably isn't necessary. So instead, if you are in town and want to see me, send me an e-mail and we can arrange a time on Friday. I'll have my usual office hour on Monday.

I will post tomorrow the extra notes for the rest of Paul the Deacon.

And to clarify something: we will not read the little poem by Paul on p. 142 of R.M.L. I can also say that we will not read passage iv of William of Poitiers.

Key for the third assignment

Ecce!

I should add that, in order to be certain I could return the assignments today (meaning before reading week), when marking them I only noted where there were mistakes. You will have to consult the key for suggested translations. I also could leave most of my comments to the assignment's notes. Of course, if you want to go over anything, let me know.

I will be in one morning over reading week and will post that when I know.

Extra notes for Paul the Deacon, i

Here are the extra notes on the first passage of Paul the Deacon (R.M.L. 9.3.i).

Oh yes: they are, as is every handout, and even every entry in this blog, copyrighted.

Key to, and grades for, the second midterm

Please find the key to the second midterm here, which also has a list of the grades. I will return the exams at the end of class today.


Things could be worse ....

Tentative reading list for the rest of the term

Here is the tentative reading list for the rest of the term. I have tried to put together some representative readings on a few particular themes (the Norman conquest, the crusades, some British historians [including the murder of Beckett, an anecdote about Alfred the Great, a story about King Arthur], Abelard and Heloise, Hildegard of Bingen, and secular songs).

Of course, this is subject to revision as we go along, so make sure you come to class or check this blog to know what might be omitted and so that you won't prepare something you do not need to.

I will return the midterms on Feb. 10.

Third Assignment

Here is the third assignment, which is due at the end of class on Monday, Feb. 10.

Notes for St. Cuthbert's letter to Cuthwin on the death of Bede

Here are the extra notes for Medieval Mosaic pp. 99 - 101.

Material covered by the second midterm (Feb. 3)

I have omitted Boethius, which leaves a rather modest amount of Latin.

M.M. pages 60–62: Boethius [oops; should, of course, not be there; emended Jan 29]
pages 71–75: Pope Gregory I (sections B, and C)
pages 77–80: Venantius Fortunatus
pages 81–85: Isidore of Seville (sections A, B, and D)
R.M.L. 6.3: St. Andomnan
M.M. pages 86–88: The voyage of St. Brendan
pages 89–90: Vita Sancti Ciarani de Saigir
R.M.L. 7.2: St. Bede
(a): Ecclesiastical History

[Fourth-year students: Einhard, Life of Charlemagne, excerpts]

Remember: anything from these passages, however difficult they are, might appear on the exam. I will again ask you to parse certain words, identify certain constructions, and explain certain medievalisms. I will ask you to identify, where possible, the author and the approximate date of the passage. In some case the date of the passage will have to be the rough dates of the author. In other cases the dates will be a rather wide range (e.g., The voyage of St. Brendan).

Extra notes for Bede's Ecclesiastical History, R.M.L. 7.2.a.iii

Here are the extra notes for the third passage from the Ecclesiastical History.

To clarify about the midterm, only the bits from Gregory the Great in M.M. that we went over in class (B and C; A appeared on the second assignment) will be eligible to appear.

(Note: the link was fixed at 9:20 p.m., Jan. 23. Sorry about that.)

Extra notes for Bede's Ecclesiastical History, R.M.L. 7.2.a.ii

Here are the extra notes for the second passage from Bede's Ecclesiastical History in R.M.L.

And since these entries are so short, a pretty picture: a page from an early manuscript of the Ecclesiastical History.

Extra notes for passage i from Bede's Ecclesiastical History

Ecce: Notes for Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Reading Medieval Latin 7.2.a.i.

Extra notes for the Life of Saint Ciaran of Saigir

The notes for the life of Saint Ciaran (Kieran) are longer than those I posted for Brendan, so I have put them in a handout rather than take up space here in the blog.

Please remember to consider writing the Classical Association of Canada Latin sight exam on the 24th.

Extra notes for The voyage of St. Brendan

line

2: subvenit: see your dictionary for a sense that fits and what case it also associated with it. I'll quote Cassell's: "to come up to aid, to succour, relieve. Absol.; Cic., Liv., etc. With dat.: circumvento filio subvenit, Caes.; patriae, Cic...." 

3: vires, not viros

7 – 8: faciamus opus divinum: perform the divine service

8: hîc

Pasche = Paschae [p. x, A1]

12: ultra: adv., word order is uidere terram ultra, that is, ultra oves, or even sub ovibus.

14: necessaria: neuter acc. pl. substantive, “things that are necessary,” i.e., “necessities,” “supplies.”

15: secundum: preposition

18: ligatura:  a typo--it should be ligaturam, as good editions have. [A previous version of this note was deleted Jan. 13].

21: Qui = illi, as often.

22: parassant: syncopated form (for which, see R.M.L. O.9 and A&G §181).

24: hec = haec

26: meriti: I suspect the perf. dep. part., nom. pl., probably sc. estis. The dative mihi would then be either one of the general category of datives with “special” verbs (often meaning things like favour, help, believe, persuade, envy, threaten, vel sim.): see A&G §367 ff. Or it could be the type of dative regularly seen with adjectives meaning fitness, use, service, and likeness: ``deserving from me.` Finally, it could simply be a dative of reference, more specifically the sub-category sometimes called a dative of disadvantage (there is a dative of advantage, too).

28: eleuato illo de terra et dato osculo: two ablative absolutes joined by et.

33: sue: = suae; sue resurrectionis modifies missas: missa sue resurrectionis.

34: hec = haec

42: que = quae

42-3: contra occidentalem plagam: i.e., contra plagam alterius insulae, and so the new island is itself "to the west." Note that there are two nouns spelled plaga: one with a long first a, meaning "blow" or "stroke," and one meaning "a flat surface."

45: magne = magnae

46: uise = uisae

Note: I will not point out only less familiar orthographic changes in future passages.

Some odd spellings in Adomnan, and a reminder

ii.
line 15: = ancillulam < ancella
[lines 17 - 18: quae ... sunt acta is one relative clause, closed by the verb, as usual]
31: = integram
33: = aegritudinem
34: = aegrotis

It has been a long time since November. What we went over in class will be fading more each day. Please try to make the time now to start looking over material from November, just to keep it fresher.

Fourth-year students and Einhard

I will announce it in class today, but unless anyone greatly objects, I will drop the last page of the Einhard from the extra material for fourth-year students. I think the six pages are enough.

Modifications to the course outline for the winter term, 2014 [revised Jan. 5]

[This is a revised version of the original posting of 4:22 p.m., Jan. 4. It replaces that previous posting, so please read it. The changes are also in red.]

Please note the following important additions:

The midterm will be on Feb. 3 and will be the same format as the previous one. In addition to what we read this month, it will include the readings from Medieval Mosaic pages 71–75 (Pope Gregory I [sections A, B, and C], 77–80 [Venantius Fortunatus], and 81–85 [Isidore of Seville].

The assignments will be due on Feb. 10 and Mar. 10, and handed out on the previous Wednesday.

(The final exam will still be in the formal exam period, and scheduled by the registrar’s office. I have virtually no say in when it will be.)

On Dec. 5 I posted a list a list of readings for the start of term. I will hand out a fuller one in about two weeks. Meanwhile, here they are again:

M.M. pages 84–85: Isidore's Chronicle
R.M.L. 6.3: St. Andomnan
M.M. pages 86–88: “The voyage of St. Brendan”
pages 89–90: Vita Sancti Ciarani de Saigir
R.M.L. 7.2: St. Bede
(a): Ecclesiastical History
M.M. pages 99–101: St. Cuthbert (“Letter on the death of Bede”)
R.M.L. 8.1: Epitaph of Agapius
[M.M. pages 107–109: Alcuin (I would like you to skim this on your own--it is a fairly easy read and will help you work a bit on deducing meaning from context)]
R.M.L. 8.3: St. Gregory of Tours
9.1: Charlamagne’s Capitulare episcoporum
9.3: Paul the Deacon

Key for practice sight translation

Here is the key for the practice sight translation I posted on Dec. 17.