.

NATURAL SCIENCEAND THE LIBERALARTS IN ABBO

OF FLEURY'SCOMMENTARY ON THE CALCULUS
OF VICTORIUS OF AQUITAINE

by G. R. Evans and A. M. Peden

At the end of his Quaestionesgrammaticales, Abbo of Fleury quotes Virgil's observation: .'Constat nimirum quia 'numero deus impare gaudet'" (Ecl. 8.75). He says
little about the implications of this, and excuseshimself from doing so by explaining
that he has adequately covered the matter in a little book on number, measure, and
weight which he wrote about the Calculus of Victorius of Aquitaine} Only the prologue of this treatise2and some shott extracts on practical calculation3 and on fractions
and weights4 are in print. But the work is of considerable general interest, beyond
what it tells us of the remarkable range of Abbo's learning; it demonstrates the
degree of competence at which it was possible, before the end of the tenth century,
to apply the technical methods and terms of one of the liberal arts to another, and in
particular, it shows what could be achieved by a dialectical approach to arithmetic.

I. THE COMMENTARY AND ITS SOURCES

The chronology of Abbo's works is by no meansclear. His Commentary on the

Calculusmust have beenwritten beforehis work on grammar,sincethe latter refers
to the Commentary. Cousin dates the Commentary on the Calculus,with the

@ 1985by The Regentsof the University of California 0083-5897/85/010109+ 19Si.oo

'Abbo of Fleury, Quaesttones
grammaticales48; ed. A. Guerreau-Jalabert
(Leiden 1982)271-273.
2Ibid. 50 (ed. 275). For Victorius's preface,seeAppendix below.
IN. Bubnov,ed., Gerberti Opera mathematica(Berlin 1899) 199-203,299.
4W. Christ, "Uber dasArgumentum calculandidesVictoriusund dessenCommentar," Sitzungsberichte der bayenschenAkademie der Wissenschaften,
phil.-hist. KI. (Munich 1863)100-152.A. vande
Vyver, "Les oeuvresineditesd' Abbon de Fleury," Relluebenedictine47 (1935) 139-140givesnoticesof
manuscriptsand printed texts. The extant manuscriptsare asfollows: Berlin, DeutscheStaatsbibl.Phil!.
1833(Roseno. 138),from which folio referencesherearetaken and henceforwardreferredto asF; Vatican
Library Reg. Lat. 1281; Bamberg,StaatlicheBibl. H.J. IV, 24; Cusa,Hospitalbibl. 206; Karlsruhe,Landesbibl. K., 504; Brussels,Bibl. royale10078-95; Vienna, Nationalbibl. 2269. An edition of the whole
text is now being preparedby A. M. Peden.

110

G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

treatiseson the syllogism,to before A.D. 985, when Abbo wasstill at Fleury, and
before he went to England at the age of about forty-five.s
Van de Vyver sawa shift in Abbo's attentions from the scientific studies of the
quadrivium to the grammarand logic of the trivium, when Abbo was in his early
forties (in the mid-980s),6although Abbo certainlygave instruction on astronomy
and computusto the monks of Ramsey,to whom he wassent asteacherin 986-988,
and he wrote letters on the Dionysiancyclein 1000and 1004.7The Commentaryon
the Calculuswould form a convenientbridge betweenthe two spheresof his interests,for his inquiry is by no meanslimited to strictly arithmeticalproblems.
Although Victorius's prefaceto the Calculusis very brief, Abbo's Commentary
upon it is discursiveand wide-ranging,including citations from classicalliterature.
He goesbeyondthe simple explanationof wordsand phrasescharacteristicof many
glossesand commentarieson the textbooksof the arts before the eleventhcentury,
developinghis points at somelength. In this, he wastrue to his own view of the
commentator, whose role he discusseswhen he explains Victorius's use of the
verb commentor in the phrase "tale argumentum antiqui comment;sunt." Abbo
equatescomment; sunt with" invented" (jinxerunt), and explains that commentators elucidatetruths which are "wrapped up in obscureideas" (uen/atemaliquo
modo obscunssententits;nuolutam)by inventing' 'fictions" which arelikenessesof
the truth, and thesearecalled "commentaries."sThesefeaturesmakethe Commentary a much richersourceof information on the rangeand depth of Abbo's learning
than his works on the syllogism,9for example,which are distinguished chiefly by
their economicaltechnicaltreatment, and whosewell-defined structureowesmuch
to the availability of Boethius's monographson the categoricaland hypothetical
syllogismsasmodels.Arithmetic, however,wasa little-known subjectin Abbo's day,
and he realized the need' 'to build a bridge of introduction to arithmetic in the
form of an exposition" (sub expositionistenore ad arithmeticam introduction;s
pontem construo),io
Accordingly,beforehe beganhis detailed discussionof the actualtext of the Calculus,Abbo discussedin a complete tractatusthe question of "number, measure,
and weight" to which he refers in his Quaestiones
grammaticales.
The sourceswhich Abbo used for his expositionof the Calculuscorrespondto the
three principal spheresof his investigation: arithmetic, dialectic, and cosmology.
'P. Cousin,Abbon de Fleury-sur-Loire(Paris 1953)215.
6Vande Vyver 164.
7Ibid. 149-150, 154-155,164; Cousin 65-73; 84-89.
of, fol. 14ra-b.On William of Conches'sdistinction betweencommentum,which expoundsonly the
generalmeaning (sententia)of a book, and glasa,which dealswith the detailed analysisof the text, see
Glosaesuper Platonem 10, ed. E. )eauneau (1965) 67; )eauneau, "Gloses sur Macrobe: Note sur les
manuscrits,"Archivesd'histoire doctn.naleet litteraire du moyenage 7 (1960)26-27; idem, "Deuxredactionsdes glosesde Guillaume de Conchessur Priscien,"Recherches
de theologieancienneet medlcvale27

(1960)223-224.
9Ed. A. van de Vyver, Abbonis FlorillCensis
Opera inedita 1 (Bruges1966).
'oF. fol. 7va.

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

111

Fleury was an important center for texts relating to natural science,lland Abbo's
early astronomicaland computisticaloutput showsthat he had benefited from the
sourcesknown there. Macrobius'scommentaryon Cicero's Somnium Scipioniswas
to be found at Fleury from the ninth century,and wasused by Abbo in his Computus,I2and later in the Commentaryon the Caicu1US.13
Calcidius'sCommentaryon
the Ttmaeuswasalsousedby Abbo in his Commentary}4There are fewersurviving
manuscriptsof Calcidius'sCommentaryfrom the ninth and tenth centuries than of
Macrobius's,but four out of five of thesewere written in northern Franceand so
could have beenavailableto Abbo}' For all its excursionsinto philosophyand dialectic, Abbo's Commentarywascloselylinked with the scientificsphereof his work,
and the Commentarycirculated with his computisticalworks and texts of other
authors on astronomyand music}6 In East Berlin, Deutsche StaatsbibliothekMS
Phill. 1833(Roseno. 138),a manuscriptprobablyput togetherunder the supervision
of Abbo himself, the Computusand Commentaryarefound togetherwith diagrams
and excerptsfrom Macrobius'sCommentary.For basicarithmetic, Abbo usedstandard texts: Boethius, De anthmetica; Martianus Capella,De nuptits Phtlologiaeet
Mercuni' book 7; and Isidore of Seville,Etymologiae;and he alsoquoted two verses
from pseudo-priscian,Carmendepond ere et mensura.Whether or not Abbo, like
his contemporaryGerbert, knew the more advancedtreatisesof Boethiuson Aristotle,I7he makesthe fullest use of Boethius'sCommentarieson the Categonaeand De
interpretatione,of Cicero'sTopicaand De dillisione,and of MariusVictorinus'sDe
definitione.

II.

CONTEMPLATION AND THE UBERAL ARTS

Van de Vyver,who did so much to put Abbo and his world on the medieval map,
onceattempted to plot the stagesof the scientific developmentof the Middle Ages.
He sawthe first stage,up to the end of the Carolingianperiod, asone in which the
study of the Bible predominatedoverscience;the second,the tenth-centuryworld of
Abbo and Gerbert, where sciencewas taught alongsideother arts suchasgrammar
"Van de Vyver (n. 4 above) 145-146, 148-149. For a collection of excerptsfrom Pliny and other
sourcesknown at Fleury, seeV. H. King, ..An Investigationof SomeAstronomicalExcerptsfrom Pliny's
Natural History Found in Manuscriptsof the Earlier Middle Ages," B.Litt. thesis(Oxfqrd Univ. 1969)
127-128.
lIB. C. Barker-Benfield,"The Manuscriptsof Macrobius'Commentaryon the Somnium Sclpionis,"
D.Phil. thesis(Oxford Univ. 1975) 1.87, 112; A. M. White. .'GlossesComposedbeforethe Twelfth Century in Manuscriptsof Macrobius'Commentaryon the Somnium Scipionis,"D.Phil. thesis(Oxford Univ.
1981)1.7-9,60-62,105,121,141,167.
uSeebelow after n. 28, and at nn. 47 and 56.
14See
below at n. 27.
I5Calcidius, Commentanusin Timaeum,ed.]. H. Waszink(London 1962)cx, cxvi, cxx, cxxvi-cxxvii.
'6Van de Vyver(n. 4 above)139-140.
17Ibid. 130-131.

112

G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

and rhetoric, but not really in conjunction with them; the eleventh century as a
period in which newly-discovered
logic and scienceweremadeto work together;and
the twelfth century asthe time when pure sciencewasemancipatedas an independent study}8We are now better placed to discernin the late Carolingianworld of
Eriugenaand Remigius of Auxerre signs of an increasingfamiliarity with dialectic,
and an awareness
of its potential applicationto the other arts and to exegesis.
There
also seemsto have beena changein the late ninth century in the study of the sciences.Whereasthe study of arithmetic and natural sciencein the eighth and early
ninth centurieswaslargelydirected either to instruction in practicalelementarycalculation and computus19or to the significanceof numbersand cosmologyarising
from the study of Scripture,20Eriugena and Remigius approachedthe subject in
a more technicalway. Remigius'scommentson book 7 (De arithmetica)of Martianus Capella's De nupttis Phtlologiaeet Mercuni showthat he had absorbedsomeof
Boethius'sDe arithmetica,and he wasable occasionally
to usedialecticalconceptsin
his observationsabout the nature of number.21But he wasalso heir to the tradition
of number-symbolismin cosmology,which simply catalogedthe powersand manifestationsof numbers.z2
Abbo takesup thesetwo threads,the one conservative,the
other more progressive,and addsto them the fruit of his study of naturalscience.He
still seeshis work within a broad Christianframework,but the scientific contenthas
becomemore important in its own right, not leastbecauseof the possibility of treating it systematically.
The "conservative" approachrequired that the ultimate spiritual aim be kept in
view,the intellect being allowedfree play for the ascentwhich Abbo proposes,from
the visible through the invisible, to the unchangingTrinity. Here Abbo is working
within an establishedtradition, in which speculativetheologyis man's love of God
searchingfor the image of the Trinity in creation, and, most immediately, in man
himself.z3
'sA. van de Vyver, "L'evolution scientifique du haut Moyen Age," Archeion 19 (1937) 19-20.
19Asdemanded by Charlemagnein A.D. 789-MGH Cap. 1 (1835)65-and supplied by, e.g., psAlcuin, Propositionesad acuendosjuvenes (PL 101.1145-1160);RhabanusMaurus, De computo (PL
107.669-728),following the tsadition of Bede,De temporum ratione(ed. C. W. Jones,CCSL123B[1977]
241-460).
2E.g., RhabanusMaurus,De universo 9-11, 18(PL 111.257-330;479-495); cf. M. Rissel,"Rezeption antiker und patristischerWissenschaftbei HrabanusMaurus," LateinischeSPrachefInd Literatur des
Miltelalters 7 (Bern 1976)41-48, 276-277.
21Remigiusof Auxerre, Commentan'usin Martz'anumCapellam,cd. C. Lutz, 2 (1965). e.g., 367.6
(ed. 181.4-16),367.9 (ed. 181.34-182.2).
22E.g.,on the significanceof the numberseven:Remigius285.14(ed. 120.12-122.1).This approach
continued to be fruitful; see,e.g., Otloh of St. Emmeran,Dialogus de tribus quaestionibus34-42 (PL
146.103-119);cf. G. R. Evans,"Otloh of St. Emmeranand the SevenLiberal Arts," Recherches
de theologie ancienneet medievale44 (1977)29-54.
23See,for example,Augustine, De libero arbitno 2.3.7; Confess/ones
13.11.12; De Trinitate, esp.
bk. 108.11, 10.13, 11.17; De civilate Dei 11.27-28.

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

Abbo

adopts this framework.

weight,"

the three-fold

113

Since he sees his subject as "number,

establishes from the start the significance

nature

of his discussions as an inquiry

of God, and His various manifestations

nature.

Abbo

wisdom,

in the three-fold

asserts that the ascent to the Trinity

into the

aspects of man and

is achieved through

the love of

which is the love of God; the love of wisdom is in some way imitated

three-fold

power of the soul, which gives the powers of growth,

and of growth,
(plants,

measure, and

means by which God has ordered creation (Sap. 11.21), he

sense, and reason, respectively,

by the

of growth and sense,

to the three orders of living

beings

animals, and man).24 Abbo does not attempt to establish an exact correspon-

dence between the three powers and the grades of perception

gory in the intellectual
by his knowledge
Abbo

also quoted

Mamertus

ascent. He is simply exploring

of the Augustinian
directly

required

by each cate-

similar triads suggested t~ him

and secular traditions.

(though

without

acknowledgment)

from Claudianus

(d. ca. 474), whose De statu antmae was designed to defend Augustine's

teaching

on the soul's incorporeality.

In this work, Abbo found

nature

of number,

measure, and weight,

found

in corporeal things and in the soul. This enabled

threads of his introduction

a discussion of the

and of the way in which they were to be

to show how number,

him to draw together the

measure, and weight,

as applied to

bodies, are related to the universal presence of the Trinity,

from the Creator (the

Trinity

inte//t'gibt'liter),

itself), to the soul (the image of the Trinity

body (the "vestige"

of the Trinity,

in its powers of memory,

constitution
Abbo

according
Platonism.

dimension.
Abbo

deliberation,

to number,

drew not only on patristic

late antique

formed uistbiliter).

measure, and weight.25

thought,

share a conception

of his detailed

exposition

into a discussion of unity and multitude,

unity

from which

Abbo

the notion

the multitude
Calcidius's

unity,

(representing

of unity, and in discussing unity,

works, but also on cosmological ones.

preface, Abbo

launches

so as to set it in the context of the divine

simplicity

of unity represents for

of the substance of simple absolute being.26 The differentiation

which proceeds from one suggests, further,

Commentary

the Platonic

of

theory of

natures on separate things. Abbo quotes a section of

on the generation

of the World

Soul, which proceeds from

the source of numbers.27 He then introduces

the World

of

of science had a metaphysical

of Victorius's

all things derive. The absolute

forms which impose individual

divine

but also on the secular representatives

knowledge

felt free to draw not only on theological

At the beginning

to the

The soul is both one and three,

and will; the body is also one and three, in its

In both traditions,

The two traditions

formed

Soul's composition

from unity,

the "lambda"

figure

three odd and three even

UF,fol. 8rb; cf. Macrobius,Commentariiin Somnium Scipionis1.14.10-13,ed.). Willis (Leipzig1970)

57.7-25. This triad is not found in Augustine.
2'F, fol. 9ra-b. quoting ClaudianusMamertus. De statu animae 2.6 (CSEL11 [1885J119.5-25).
26Cf.Boethius. De hebdomadibus2-8; ed. E. Rapisarda(Catania 1960)23-31.
27F.fol. 9rb-va, quoting Calcidius 39 (n. 15 above)ed. 88.12-89.2.

114

G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

numbers,which form arithmetical,geometrical,and musicalrelationships).28

He ends
by referring the readerto Calcidiusand Macrobiusfor further information. By drawing on thesesourcesof Platonism,Abbo haswoveninto his inquiry a philosophical
tradition which assumesthat the universehas an intelligible and rational structure,
an essentiallynumericalorderlinesswhich links cosmologycloselywith arithmetic.
The similarity of the Christianand Platonicviewpointsallowed Abbo to preservea
certain freedom of speculation,within traditional limits.
Abbo approacheshis taskon the assumptionthat thereis nothing in secularauthors
which may not be useful, no branchof secularlearning which ought to be avoided
by Christianscholars.He saysat the beginning that the value of studying number,
measure,and weight lies in what is to be learnedfrom it about the Creator.It is, in
other words, material for contemplation.This viewshapeshis approachto mathematics, although he is in a position to make use of more advancedmathematical
techniquesand concepts.In a similarway, Abbo usestraditional imageryand principles about Sapientiaasa meansto approachlogic (sheresidesin a housesupported
by the sevencolumnsof the liberal arts, hewnto adornthe temple of Solomon;wisdom is the contemplationof the divine, the perfectknowledgeof what is unchanging and the complete understandingof truth; it inspiresvirtue and re-createsthe
soul in the image of the Creator).29But the contemplativespirit of this introduction,
permeatedby the sapientialbooks of the Old Testamentand patristic theology,is
enrichedby Abbo's knowledgeof logic's method. He arguesthat logic supportsthe
work of wisdom,and that rational argumentationdrawson philosophyfor its subject
matter.30He mentions natural science(physics)asone part of philosophy,linking it
to his proposedsubject(number, measure,and weight) which is to be investigated
through the four disciplinesof the quadrivium.3!
On this basis,the methods proper to each art are brought together in Abbo's
approachto arithmetic: he is able to usethe tools of dialecticto provide him with a
systemof argumentation,and to take some of his topics from natural science.
But Abbo is well awareof the need to distinguishcarefullybetweenthe different
disciplinesin orderto proceedsystematicallyin his investigations.In a passage
where
2F,fol. 9va; cf. Calcidius32(cd. 82); Macrobius1.6.46(n. 24 abovc)26.22-28. To roc thrcc typcsof
rclationship,Abbo addsastronomy,which is not in Calcidius,and lookslikc a spcciousaddition to makc
up roc fourth disciplinc of roc quadrivium.
29F,fol. 7vb; cf. Cassiodorus,
InshtuUones2,praef 2, cd. R. A. B. Mynors(Oxford 1963)89; Alcuin,
De grllmmllut"1I(PL 101.853); in gcncral, M.-Th. d' Alvcmy, "La Sagcssc
ct scsscpt fillcs," in Meillnges
Felix Grllt 1 (Paris 1946)245-246,254-257.
3OF,
fol. 8rb. Hc dcfincs logic in Ciccro's tcrms (Topit"1I2.6);cf. Bocthius. In top. Cit". (PL 64.10441047).For Abbo, if not for Ciccro, thc divisionsof this dillgens rllUo disserendi(thc invcntion of topics
and thc judgmcnt of proofs) wcrc primarily tools of logic. On the dialcctical approachto tcxtbooksof
rhctoric, sccM. Dickcy, "Somc Commentarieson the De inllenuone and Ad Herennium of thc Elevcnth
and Early Twclfth Ccnrurics," Medielllllllnd Renllissant"e
Studies6 (1968) 1-41.
31F,fol. 8va. For roc usc of natUralscicnccasa sourccof topicsfor dialcctic, cf. Ps.-Augustine,Det"em
CIItegorille87-88, (cd. L. Minio-Palucllo, Amtoteles Iliunus 1.1.-5 [1961] 152.14-30),whcrc a discussion
of thc antipodcs is uscd to illustratc t"ontranetateslot"um.

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

115

he discusses
the functioning of memory,he explainsthat, if we possess
an equalmastery of all the fields of knowledge(omniapanter comprehendimusquarum scientia
adepti sumus),we areable to call to mind whicheverbody of knowledgeis neededin
a givensituation. Each,he says,"comes fully and completelyto mind wheneverthe
occasiondemands" (utraqueper seplena et integraratiocinanti occumt quotienscumqueoccasioinrepit).32The applicationof this principle is seenclearlyin Abbo's
handling of the commontechnicalterms of the disciplineswhich he brings to bear
on eachother. Notae, or punctuation marks, are, he says,sIgna vocum; together
with lettersthey' 'speak" to the literate man, and theymay thus be classifiedamong
the "signs for words." But the notaor sIgnumis alsocalledthe "point" (punctum).
So asto avoid confusion,we must bearin mind that the' 'point" is the beginning or
end of the line in geometry.33
When he explainsthe meaning of anthmetica disciplina in Victorius's preface,he warnshis readersthat they must be on their guard
againstmistaking one senseof the term for another. He also notes that thosewho
look carefullywill seethat the term "arithmetic" is equivocal(nomen aequivocum),
and that it is necessary
to throw somelight on it so that the word will not be ambiguous (ne fieret dictio ambigua). This ambiguity, Abbo points out, is called amphibolia by the grammarians.34
For, both the art of arithmetic and the artis mulier-the
personified Arithmetica-may be called "arithmetic." It is for this reasonthat the
word disctplinais added here,to make it plain that it is the art of arithmetic which is
intended.3~Likewise,Abbo's frequent use of technicalterms and distinctionsshows
that he wishesto employ the languageof the arts to the full (into the few lines on
an'thmeticadisciplinaAbbo introducesthe terms genus,supponere,species,nomen,
aequivocum, dictio, ambtgua,grammaticus,amphibolia, denominatio),but he insuresthat they are used with meticulouscorrectness,
carefullypointing out anydifferencesof usagewhere the terms are proper to more than one discipline.

III. THE INTERACTION OF THE ARTS

The new rigor of Abbo's approachwasdue not only to the stimulation provided by
new texts, although this wasto be an important factor in the increasein speculative
writing about science.(The more advancedlogical treatises,and the works on the
abacusand on geometrywhich Gerbert discovered,beganto circulate only in the

32F,fol. 19rb; cf. Augustine, Coni 10.11-12.

33F,fol. 15va.b;cf. Calcidius 32 (n. 15 above)ed. 82.1-5, quoted by Abbo, F, fol. 9va.
34Cf.eg., Charisius,Institutiones grammaticae4 (ed. H. Keil, Grammatici latini 1 [Leipzig 1857]
271.26-32); DonatUs,Ars grammalt'ca3.3 (Keil4 [1864]395.20-26).The term is not, apparently,usedin
Priscian,Inst. Gramm.
35F,fols. 10vb-llra; cf. Boethius,In Categ.AIist. 1 (Pi 64.168)on appellaltoaequivoca:musicais the
sameword as that usedfor a musicalwoman, (mulier) musica.Abbo givesIsidore's derivation of disciplina and mathematica(Etymologiae 10.66, 3.1).

116

G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

very late tenth and early eleventh century.)36 It was also a case of looking at old texts
in a new way; the sources of arithmetic and natural science on which Abbo drew
were known to the late Carolingian scholars, but the confidence, freshness, and
flexibility with which he used them made them of much wider value in the study of
the artes in general. Of course, this brought its own problems, for the interaction of
the arts became increasingly controversial as the practice of them became more
sophisticated. But the burning issue of the day became the extent to which dialectic
could legitimately be applied to grammar and theology. Abbo attempted comparisons of method and subject matter in his own field similar to those which Gilbert of
Poitiers would make, albeit with more sophistication, in the first half of the twelfth
century.37
These comparisons make use of most branches of secular studies. The trivium
makes its appearance at the beginning of the Commentary in the formal introduction (accessus)which Abbo provides after his opening words about the circumstances
and intention of his own work.38Abbo's senseof scholarly propriety has been strongly
developed by his studies, and it offends him a little that Victorius breaks the usual
rules of rhetoric by not giving a formal opening (the Calculus begins abruptly with
a statement about the nature of unity).39 Rhetorical correctnesswould dictate certain
procedures to be followed in the exordium of a piece of writing, and an author ought
to be careful to capture the goodwill, attention, and receptiveness of his readers and
listeners.4o(Later in the Commentary Abbo, using traditional criteria, analyzes how
Victorius does in fact seekto win his readers' attention, even if he does not do so in a
formal proemium.)41 Then he notes Victorius's intentt"o, or purpose, which he relates to the terms of his Tractatus: It is to ensure correct calculation when dealing
with matters of number in the quadrivium, the arles quae numerorum ratione constant, or with any question of measure or weight. The utilitas of the Calculus, even
for the novice, is therefore evident, since it elucidates the fundamental nature of
things: for Omnia creata stint in numero mensura et pondere.42 Abbo is concerned
~6See
A. van de Vyver, "Les erapesdu developpementphilosophique du haut Moyen Age," Revue
beige dephtlologie et d'histoire 8.2 (1929)425-452; C. Thulin, "Zur Uberlieferungsgeschichte
des Corpus Agrimensorum," GoteborgsKungl. Vetenskaps-Och
Vitterhets.,Handl. 14 (1911)3-68; M. Folkerts,
ed., "Boethius" GeometrieII (Wiesbaden1970)69-81,95-104; Gerbert, Ep. 8, ed. F. Weigle, MGH
Briefe tier deutschenKaiserzeit2 (1966) 30-31.
~7TheCommentarieson Boethiusby Gilbert ofPoi hers,ed. N. Haring (Toronto 1966),e.g. 189-190.
~.On accessus,
seeBoethius,De differentiis topicis(PL 64.1207); Conradof Hirschau,Dialogus super
auctores19,ed. R. B. C. Huygens(Leiden 1970)78; E. Quain, "The MedievalAccessusadauctores,"Traditio 3 (1945) 215-264; R. W. Hunt, "Introductions to the 'Artes' in the Twelfth Century," in Studia
medievaliain honoremR.J. Martin (Bruges 1949)85-112.
~9F,fol. 7va.
4F,fol. 7va-b; cf. Cicero, De tnventione 1.14.19-15.20.
41F,fol. 14ra; derived from Cicero, exceptfor Victotius's captaho benevolentiaethrough humility:
"he attributed the systemof calculationto the ancientsand not to himself" (cf. Cicero, De inventione

1.16.22).
41F.fol. 7vb.

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

117

to locateVictorius's Calculus(and thereby,his own work) in the structureof academic

study; the rhetorical tradition has helped him to do so.
Grammaris not mentioned formally in the preface,and it makesits appearance
chiefly where it touches on dialectic. For example,Abbo explains that the words
unus and unitas are like magnusand magnitudo, in that one is derived from the
other; the technicalterm he usesto describetheir relation is denominatur.(Denominatilla were to becomean especiallycontentiousissuein the courseof the eleventh
century preciselybecausethey raisedproblems on the borderline betweengrammar
and dialectic.)43Abbo emphasizesthe technicalterm here becauseit is the proper
one, and one of his major concernswasto give rigor to his subjectand instruction to
his readerby the use of correctterminology.
Already in Abbo' s day medievalscholarshad realizedthe potential of dialecticas
an intellectual tool. Here wasto lie the growing point of the work of severalgenerations to come. It is not surprisingto find someof Abbo's most technicallyadvanced
observationsabout arithmetic being drawn from dialectic. But the combination of
gifts which Abbo and his contemporaryGerbert of Aurillac possessed
wasrare. Few
scholarswereable to work with equal facility in dialecticand arithmetic. Evena century later, Abelard saysthat he heard lecturesin which arithmeticalprinciples were
comparedwith the teaching of dialectic about the categoryof quantity, but claims
that he himself has no arithmetical ability and little knowledgeof the subject.44
But Abbo wasable to explorethe possibilitiesof comparisonand interactionbetween
arithmetic and dialectic in a knowledgeableway. Thesepossibilities fall most convenientlyinto threegroups: commonground of sharedconcepts,commonground of
technicalvocabulary,and commonground of method.

IV. SHARED CONCEPTS

In Abbo's Commentary,it wasprincipally the conceptof .'composition" in arithmetic which stimulated Abbo to draw on his knowledgeof other disciplines,in this
casecosmology,for parallels. Abbo writes that things can be composite either by
nature or by will. Those which are composite by nature. and which increasein
a properlyregulatedway(si augmentumsui legitimaprogressionecapiant),are "dissolved" in exactlythe sameway asthey werecomposed.The samewill be found to
be true of compositesby will, if they are made systematically.45

43F,fol. 9va. On denominatives,seeD. P. Henry, TheLogic oiSI. Anselm(Oxford 1967)31-116; on

grammarand dialecticin general,seeR. W. Hunt; "Studies on Priscianin the Eleventhand Twelfth Centuries," Mediaeva/and Renaissance
Sludies1 (1941-1943)194-231.
"Peter Abelard, Dialectica,ed. L. M. de Rijk (Assen1956)59.1-13. On the study of Boethius'sDe
arilhmehca in the Middle Ages,seeA. M. White, "Boethius in the MediaevalQuadrivium," in Boelhius:
His Life, Writings and Influence, ed. M. T. Gibson (Oxford 1981)162-205.
4sF,fol. lIra-va.

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G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

The first category,that of the natural composites,suggeststo him an illustration taken from natural science;this demonstratesthe mathematicalprinciple that
a systematicorder governsboth the compositionand the dissolution of composites.
He citesthe' 'natural philosophers" (phisiologi) on the progressof human life; they
divided it into periods of sevenyears("hebdomads"), ascendingto a peak during
the first five hebdomadsto the age of thirty-five, then declining, in proportion, during the secondfive hebdomadsto the age of seventy.The sameorderly processis
seen,he argues,in the seven-dayphasesof the lunar cycle, from crescent,to full
moon, to crescentagain.46Abbo may be borrowing from Macrobiushere, for he
would find there a detailed treatment of the variouswaysin which the number seven
governsnatUral phenomena.47
Abbo, like Macrobius,looks to the natural world for
a further dimension to add to his initially mathematicalinvestigation.Like Macrobius too, he goes on to remark on the special qualities of seven, the "virgin
number," which alone of the numbersone through ten is not a product or a factor of
other numbers through ten.48In a somewhatawkwardand obscureway,Abbo ties
this numerologydown to a preciseChristiansymbolism.The virginity of the number
sevenrevealsit to be "simple wisdom," and links it thereby to the soul, the seat
of wisdom. This virgin number is "diffused" through the number ten (seper denan'um diffundit) when the soul, awaiting liberation from the body, observesthe ten
commandments.49
Abbo continues this contemplativeconsiderationof his topic in his discussionof
perfect and imperfect numbers. This providesone of the few instancesof his use of
a theological subject merely for illustrative purposes,rather than aspart of an analogical argument. Such a use was already explicitly present in Abbo's sources:he
simply developsBoethius's characterization,in the De arithmetica, of "more-thanperfect" and "less-than-perfect" numbers (that is, numbers greateror smallerthan
the sum of their factors)asthe excessand defect of a quality (which is a vice),contrasting them with perfectnumbers(which are asrare asvirtuous men).'oThis discussion is not strictly appropriate to Abbo's immediate topic. The relation of a
number's factorsto the number itself is certainlyone aspectof its compositeness,
but
the' 'deficiency" and "excess" of imperfectnumbersdo not reallycorrespondto the
growth and decline in the natural cycleswhich Abbo discusses.Abbo has simply
included a parallelprovided by his sourceso asto enrichhis treatmentof the subject.
He justifies his discussionof natural compositesby declaring that compositesmade

%F,fol. 11rb.
47Cf.Macrobius 1.6.67-74 (n. 24 above)cd. 31.6-32.18; 1.6.54-56, cd. 28.11-26.
48Cf.ibid. 1.6.11, cd. 20.15-22.
49F,fol. 11rb.
'oF,fol. 11rb-11va; Boethius, De Imthmelica1.19-20, cd. G. Friedlein (Leipzig 1867)39.18-41.25;
cf. Augustine, De cilloDei 11.30. For the moralization of the concept,cf. MartianusCapella,De nuPltts
7.736 (ed. A. Dick [Leipzig 1925]383.17-19); Remigius 383.17(n. 21 above)ed. 205.13-29. Perfect
numbers are equal to the sum of their factors.

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

119

"by will" aresimilar to thosein nature,sincethey belongto the art of mathematics,

and' 'all art imitates nature.'"I
Abbo's treatment of "the division of what is incorporeal" is another point at
which the natural world supplied him with illustrations to support his comments.
He explains at some length the nature of sense-perception
asopposedto the soul's
perceptionof' 'intelligible objects" (citing asexamplesabstractionssuchasthe circlesdividing the sky-the zodiac,ecliptic, parallels,and colures-which areinvisible
but canbe perceivedby the mind).'2This distinction betweenthe perceptionof corporealand intelligible objectswascrucialto one of the fundamentalpropositionsof
Abbo's exposition: that number, measure,and weight are measurements
of bodies
and not bodiesin themselves.'3
But Abbo wasmore concernedwith the nature of the
objects of perception than the mechanismby which they are perceived.He quotes
ClaudianusMamertus:what is incorporeal,the soulperceivesthrough its ownpowers
(per Ie), becauseit, too, is incorporeal;what is corporeal,the soulperceivesthrough
the body.'4But Abbo wants to show that incorporealthings can be not only perceived but also divided, eventhough they cannotsenseor be sensed.First, he uses
dialectic to distinguish exactly what is to be divided: are "day" and "hour" substancesor accidents?Using the method of formal definition, Abbo showsthat they
are not bodiesbut typesof quantity which may be predicatedof a subject." To demonstratethat temporal quantity (time) canbe divided systematically,eventhough it
is incorporeal,Abbo takesan examplefrom natural science.He uses,with acknowledgment, Macrobius'sdescriptionof the Egyptians' division of the skyinto twelve
signscorrespondingto the signs of the zodiac,using the clepsydra(water-clock).'6
This is particularly apt for the discussionof abstractdivision, since Macrobius
regardshis accountas an answerto the question: "Who has everfound or made
twelve divisions of the sky, since they are in no way apparentto the eye?"'1 But
Abbo adaptsMacrobiusto his own purposes.Macrobiuswasmostconcernedto show
how the skywasdivided into twelve zodiacalsections,but Abbo wanted to demonstrate the division of time into hours (two for eachzodiacalsign),and to showhow
the amount of time called "day" variedaccordingto the time of the year.The measurementof the amount of water flowing through the clepsydraduring daylight at

"F. fol. 11va-b: "Dico autem 'secundumplacitum' essequae voluntate fiunt uel facta sunt, [fol.
11vb]quaeet ipsanon multam a natura discrepantsi rationabiliter acteconstant,quoniam omnis arsimi.
tatur naturam, profectaex passionibusanimae,quaecredimusnaturalesesse."Cf. Boethius,In Top.Cic.
(PL 64.1048) and In AnsI. Perihermenias1.1-2 (ed. Meiser(1877), 36.22-51.19);J. Engels,"Origine,
senset survie du terme boeciensecundumplacitum,' , Vivarium 1 (1963)87-114.
'2F,fol. 14rb-vb; cf. ClaudianusMamerrus1.17(n. 25 above)ed. 62.19-64.11. On the invisibility of
thesecircles,seeMacrobius1.15.2(n. 24 above)ed. 61.12-13; 1.15.9, ed. 62.6-9.
"F. fol. 8vb; taken from ClaudianusMamerrus2.4, cd. 111.19-113.1
'4F. fols. 8vb-9ra; cf. ClaudianusMamertus2.4, ed. 113.11-114.4.
"F, fol. 13va.
'6F,fol. 13vb; cf. Macrobius1.21.9-21 (n. 24 above)ed. 86.24-88.28.
"Ibid. 1.21.8, ed. 86.19-21.

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G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

different times would revealevenfractionalchangesin the relative length of day and

night. So Abbo has shown that day, a quantity of time itself (though variable by
nature), canbe measuredby hours; hours too, likewisea quantity of time, are divisionswhich canbe perceivedthrough their sensiblemanifestationsin corporealsubjects, while remaining incorporeal-and-intelligiblethemselves.Abbo moves with
easefrom example,to principle, to application,using eachto shedlight on the next,
so that the range of his inquiry may not merelyenrichthe knowledgeof the reader,
but alsoenable him to seethe rational and harmoniousstructure of the universeat
its different levels.Moreover,Abbo's use of natural sciencehasenabledhim to illuminate the nature of conceptualthinking, aswell asto demonstratethe operationof
intelligible principles in the sensibleworld.

IV. TECHNICAL VOCABULARY

Not only in dealing with concepts, but also in his use of technical terms, Abbo finds
it helpful to compare those used in more than one art. He does this most skilfully
where dialectic meets arithmetic. Number, he says,is a species of quantity, which is
counted among the accidents of a body's substance (que computata inter accidentia
sue substantie).58 There is no need to force a comparison here, since number was
discussedby Aristotle in the Categon"esin connection with the category of quantity.59
The discussion of unity, which occupies Abbo for some time, raises more profound
questions of common technical terminology. Victorius saysthat unity is simple, contains no parts, and cannot be divided. But other things, although they are called
"one" because they seemwhole and solid, are really composite, and so are unavoidably subject to division. Those other things have existence, and Abbo asserts that
"Everything which exists is one, and whatever is one, it is necessarythat it exists."
"To exist" and "to be one" are therefore interchangeable in predication (ad suam
inuicem predicanonem convertibzlis). Those things which are interchangeable in
predication are equal, and therefore, unum and est are equal, for what does not exist
cannot be called one, and what is one cannot be said not to exist.6OThere are
major philosophical problems here; Abbo felt it necessaryto touch on them in order
to explain Victorius's principle that although unity cannot be divided, yet, manifestly, one horse, one day, one hour, can be divided into parts. Abbo attempts to
resolve the paradox of the indivisible and divisible unity with the aid of a discussion
of the dialectical rules of predication. He cannot be said quite to have succeeded,
and indeed he does not pursue the investigation very far. What is important here is
his readiness to use straightforward technical procedures both upon issues of great
complexity, and also upon the simpler problems of elucidating arithmetical theory,

'SF, 01.9vb.
'9Aristotlc. Cl1legoriae 6.4b.
6OF.01.9va; cr. Bocthius, In Porphyrii Isl1gogen 1 (PL 64.83B).

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

121

suchasthe following: "one" may be said to have parts not in itself, but in relation
to somethingelse. In itself it is simple, but it may be multiple through an oppositio
re/ationis(one of the four kinds of oppositain the Categones).61
One' 'four" is twofold in relation to "eight," and one "eight" containstwo "fours.",Elsewherewe are
reminded that substances
haveno contraries.62
As far asAbbo is concerned,it seems,
Aristotle haslaid down lawsof thought which areappropriateto everykind of intellectual problem, and which governmathematicalaswell as logicalquestions.There
canbe no objectionto fitting the conceptsAristotle providesto the particular problemsraisedby mathematics.Equally it canonly be illuminating to makeuseof familiar technicalterms of dialectic in discussingthese principles, provided their exact
relevanceto the question in hand is made clear.

VI. SHAREDMETHODS

As to methods commonto more than one art: here, too, Abbo finds that dialectic
and arithmetic come together naturally at variouspoints. He analyzesVictorius's
opening statementthat unity is the indivisible sourceof all number, with the aid of
what he identifies asa disjunctive conditional syllogism(per disjunctionemhuiusmodi conditiona/emcolltgentessyllogismum).The syllogismis asfollows:
Everything which existsis either simple or composite
But unity is truly simple.
Therefore it is in no way composite.
From this it follows that it is indivisible, becauseit is composed of no parts. Boethius
notes in the De syllogismo hypothetico that" every conditional proposition is either
connexa or disiuncta,' '63 and Abbo is simply following here a procedure which
he describes in detail in his own work on hypothetical syllogisms.64It may be objected
that he has really said nothing further about Victorius's definition; he has done
no more than paraphrase it and cast it in the form of a syllogism. But this was just
the sort of clarificatory operation which Abbo considered it his task to perform
as commentator.
By far the most common methodological borrowing from dialectic in the commentary is Abbo's use of definition, This was a topic to which he had given comparatively
little space in his treatises on the syllogism. He merely notes there that" it remains
to deal with the kinds of definition and the topics of argument, which can be more
easily recalled to memory by counting them on the fingers,' '6' The list of kinds
of definition which follows is to be found in the monograph De definitione which
61F,fol. lIra; cf. Aristotle, Categ. 9.llb (17-19).
62F,fol. 13va;cf. Boethius, In Categ. Anst. I (PL 64.195-196).
6~PL64.837.
64F,fol. lIra; cf. PL 64.835; van de Vyver(n. 9 above)64-81.
6'Van de Vyver 50.20-32.

G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

122

Marius Victoriunus wrote to fill out Cicero's list in the Topica, and it is also in
Isidore.66
Abbo had, then, a sound graspof the technicalproceduresof definition. He was
not content merelyto usedefinitions to makeVictorius's termsclearto his readers,
but goesto the trouble of identifying the type of definition which is appropriatein
eachcase.When Victorius saysthat "unity is that from which the whole multitude
of numbers proceeds," and that it belongsto the discipline of arithmetic, Abbo
points out that "he first explainswhat unity is, by the secondmode of definition."
Abbo givesboth the Greek term for this mode (f:vvol1~attKiI)
and the Latin (notio),
just as Marius Victorinus does,and saysthat it explains the thing-which-is-to-bedefined, by what it "does."67What unity "does" is to give rise to all numbers,for
all numbersproceedfrom unity. The eighth mode of definition appearsa little later.
After Victorius has said that unity is simple, Abbo adds that it is made up of no
parts,''as if to usethe eighth form of definition. ..by denial of the contrary" (per
privationem contrani).68Victoriushas defined unity by saying both that it "is simple" and that it "is not the opposite of simple." The fifteenth form of definition
deals with the rei ratio, or the reasonfor the thing. Both Marius Victorinus and
Isidore give an examplewhich Abbo makesuse of directly: "Day is the sun above
the earth; night is the sun beneaththe earth," and again he identifies this as a
speciesdefinitionis.69

VII. UMITAnONS OF THE COMMENTARY

In his assumption that common laws of thought underlie all the artes, in his careful
clarification of technical terms in context, in his willingness to borrow the methods
of dialectic in particular, to help him in his analysis of arithmetical problems, Abbo
rarely probes far into the deep problems which caused masters such as Gilbert of Poitiers so much difficulty a hundred fifty years later!O His mind was amply furnished
with technical terms; he thoroughly understood the teaching of the textbooks of the
artes he knew; he was well able to expound those books for his pupils. He could go
further; he could adapt their teaching up to a point to make the terms and methods
and concepts of one art serviceable in another. But he did not possessthe capacity of
an Anselm of Bec for absorbing technical knowledge to the point at which it served
as an aid to original thought and not an end in itself. Abbo' s transference of methods and principles is usually sensible and to the point, but it is relatively mechanical.
When he considers the notion of "division," for example, he merely repeats what
66C.Cicero, ToPica 6.28; Marius Victorinus, De definitt.one(PL 64.901-902); Isidore o Seville,
Etymologiae2.29.1-16.
67F,01.10vb; Victorinus, PL 64.902.
68F,01.lIra; Victorinus, PL 64.904-905; Isidore,Etym. 2.29.9.
69F,01.13va; Victorinus, PL 64.907; Isidore,Etym. 2.29.16.
7'Haring (n. 37 above)189-190.

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

123

Boethiussaysin his commentaryon Porphyry:we call somethingindivIduum for various reasons,becauseit hasno parts,like unity, God, or the soul, or becauseit is too
hard to cut, like adamant,or because,if we cut it up, the parts cannotbe called by
the name of the whole}1 Abbo does not pauseto considerthe philosophicalimplicationsof what he hassaid about the relationsof parts and wholes.He goesstraight
on to distinguishmagnitudesand multitudes, desiring only to introduce the reader
to the nature of the problem in hand and to preparethe ground for his own remarks
on discreteand continuousquantity. His concernis simply to identify and label the
similarities betweenthe notions of "undivided" in dialectic and arithmetic.
Much the samemight be said of his treatmentof the idea of ' 'necessity."Victorius
saysthat although unity itself is indivisible, there is nothing in the natural world
which cannotin somesensebe divided, becauseeverythingbut unity itself is composite, and what is compositemust, necessarily,
be divisible. Abbo thinks it helpful to
askwhat Victorius meansby "necessary,"for somethingmay be said to be necessary
in three ways.The first and secondare contingent upon the circumstancesof the
moment (secundumcondt'tionemtemporiscontingenter): "It is necessary
for me to
write while I am writing. It is necessary
for me to eatwhile I live." The third is necessaryin itself (secundumsesimpliciter): "It is necessary
for me to be moral." The first
is necessary
as long as certainconditions obtain. The secondis necessary
becauseof
somethingelse(I must eat in orderto live). The third is necessary
by virtue of its very
existence(potentia actussimpliciter). Things in the natural world are necessarily
divisible only in a contingent way,Abbo explains,ascircumstances
demand}2Once
again,he entersupon a largeand problematicareaof discourse,showsthat he knows
the teachingof the authorities on the matter in hand, but fails to go further than the
immediate demandsof textual interpretation oblige him to do.
As to Abbo's use of natural science:his understandingof it wasthorough, but he
usesit chiefly for illustration. In consideringthe four elements(earth, water, air,
fire), Abbo first explains Victorius's opening words: "Unity, from which every
multitude of numbersproceeds,"by showing how numbersare perceivedin bodies
by sense,and yet they preservesomethingof their incorporealorigin, unity, in their
harmony.He statesthat eachsenseoperatesin conjunctionwith one of the elements;
since there are five senses,he adds aether as the fifth element!3 But Abbo only
noticescertainsimilar ideaswithout drawing out their full potential importancefor
his argument.
His treatment of harmony in the cosmosis also simply illustrative. Prompted by
Plato's descriptionof the harmoniouschainformed by the binding togetherof the
71F,fol. 10ra; cf. Boethius, In Par. Isagogen2, PL 64.97 (Boethiusgivesunitas and mensfor things
which have no parts); cf. also Abelard (n. 44 above)549.4-20.
nF, fol. 14ra. On the Aristotelian and Boethiandiscussionof necessityand on the work of the tWelfth
century, seeHenry (n. 43 above)172-180.
73F,fols. 9vb-10ra; probably using ClaudianusMarnertus1.6.7 (n. 25 above)ed. 42.7-44.7, 45.146.6; d. Augustine, De magistro12.39;L. Schrader,Sinneund Sinnesverknupfungen
(Heidelberg 1969),
esp. 181-184.

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G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

four elementsfrom which the universewasmade,74

Abbo takesup this motif ofharmony, at first literally. He arguesthat although sensesare not transferable(the eye
cannot hear, nor the ear see),yet they can assisteachother, for the eyemay perceive
numericalratios which produceaudible harmonies.Then he usesthe motif allegorically, when he comparesthis creation of harmony with the work of God, he who
bound togetherthe elements,who tempersthe strings of the organum of the heart
to preventthe dissonanceof the senses.75
Finally,Abbo appliesthe motif to the subject itself, number, measure,and weight, which must be equally balancedso asto
produce harmony in creation,the concordof plurality in unity.
Abbo has certainlyexploredthe variousparallelssuggestedto him by the idea of
harmony in diversity; but he has not worked through his opening remarks about
how number becomes"sensible," in terms of the elements,which are the basic
ingredientsof sensiblematter. It might havebeenmore relevanthereto showexactly
how matter is perceivedasquantified body, and at what stagethe presenceof the
elementsin sucha "body" make their measurementpossible.For the elementswere
thought to be not simply media of sense,asAbbo treats them here, but present
throughout the universeand in everybody, asits basicmaterial. Abbo's subsequent
investigationof the nature of compositesshowshe wasperfectly well awareof this
dimension.76How can' 'composite" propetly be predicatedof something which we
recognizeasone?He takes"earth" asan example.Earth is composedof more than
one thing, and yet it is one individual element(of the four) and thus apparently
simple. And we read Terra erat t'nvisibtliset t'ncomposita(Gen. 1.1 [LXX]). One of
the basicproblems here is evidently the different meaningsof the word terra. But
Abbo usesthe problem asa point of departurefor a discussionof the processof cor.
porealcomposition.He arguesthat the earth in primevalchaoswasinvisible and not
ordered (t'ncomposita)becauseit wasconfusedwith the other elementsin indistinct
matter; once made visible, it was composite, not becauseit was constructedout
of other elementsbut by the acquisition of its own individual qualities. Thus the
diverseparts of the earth (as a composite)are its underlying substanceand its particular form, which make it a compositecorporealbeing. Abbo hasmade an attempt
to explainthe processof compositionby a method which he defines asfigura aethiologica.77He doesnot explainthe actualprocessof creatingvisible body from invisible and unformed matter, nor doeshe clarify the relationshipbetweenthe element,
earth, and the visible "earth" discussedin Genesis(which could be considereda
74Plato,Timaeus,31b-32c; cf. Macrobius 1.6.24-33 (n. 24 above)ed. 22.21-24.18; Calcidius 22
(n. 15 above)ed. 72.21-73.4 and 317-318, ed. 313.5-31'4.13.
7'F,fol. 10ra; cf. a similar "moralization" by Calcidius267, ed. 272:21-273.4.
76F,fols. 12vb-13ra.
77F,fol. 13ra;cf. Isidore,Elym. 2.21.39; Eriugena,Periphyseon2.16-17, ed. I. P. Sheldon-Williams
(Dublin 1972)52-58.J. M. Parent,La doctrine de 111
crel1tiondl1nsI'ecole de Chl1rtres(Ottowa 1938);T.
Silverstein,"Elementl1tum: Its Appearanceamong the Twelfth Century Cosmonogists,"MediaevlZiStudies 16 (1954) 156-162; R. McKeon, "Medicine and Philosophyin the Eleventhand Twelfth Centuries:
The Problemof Elements," The Thomist 24 (1961)211-256.

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

125

composite becausecompounded of a mixture of elements).78

The problems and
refinements of later attempts to harmonize biblical accountswith Platonist cosmologywere not an issuefor Abbo. He simply appliesthe cosmologyof his sources
to the dialectical terms of substanceand accident, which he then applies to the
mathematicalconceptsof Victorius's preface.
In a third passage,we are taken into the realm of pure natural science.79
Abbo
seeksto explain the problem of relative weight by consideringthe four different
qualities which bind together the four elements:coldnessand heat, wetnessand
dryness.Cold makes things dense,and thus heavier-this, Abbo asserts,is one
reasonwhy the furthest planet, Saturn,is the slowestto completeits circuit (which
is, admittedly, the longest),for it is alsothe coldest,and thereforeheaviest,planet.
After consideringfurther aspectsof the" naturalpower" of certainsubstances,
Abbo
goeson to discussthe relationshipbetweenheatand cold, and wetnessand dryness,
and that of all four qualities to weight. Somethingdried by heat becomeslighter;
somethingmade wetter by cooling becomesheavier.So,a half-burned torch thrown
into water will surfaceburnt end first. Abbo then considersthe application of these
theoriesto human physiology,in the effectsof the preponderanceof humor in the
body, and finally considersthe relativewetnessand densityof wine, honey,and oil.
The point which Abbo wishesto make is relativelystraightforward,and he achieves
clarity and vividnessby his use of a wide range of evidence..He is not attempting to
extend the languageof dialectic or arithmetic in this case;but neitherhashe simply
followed the line of the standard Platonic cosmologicalsources,for he puts his
knowledgeto practical use within the limits of his inquiry.

VIII. CONCLUSIONS

Thesethree examplesshowthe options availableto Abbo: he could allow himself to

be led, almost at random, through the variousfacetsof the topic or problem under
consideration;he could, asin the secondcase,apply his knowledgeof cosmologyto
the dialectical terms in which he proposed to treat his subject; or he could use
natural scienceto elucidatethoseaspectsof his subjectwhich were strictly concerned
with natural phenomena.He does all three with confidenceand surenessof touch,
despite the fact that he is exploring severalways of approachinga subjectat once,
and does not limit himself to any single discipline.
Abbo movestantalizingly closeto severalareaswhichwereto stimulatespeculative
thought in the eleventhand twelfth centuries. But he also displaysan admirable

78Calcidius307(n. 15 above)ed. 307.20-308.2regardedvisible elementsascompositebecausethey

consistedof a mixture of all four elements,eachvisible elementtaking its namefrom the elementwhich
waspredominant in it. Cf. J. van Winden, Calcidiuson Matter: His Doctrine and Sources(Leiden 1959)

140-141.
79F,fol. 20rb-vb. This sectionwasedited by Christ (n. 4 above)147-152.

G. R. EVANS AND A. M. PEDEN

126

scholarlydiscipline by making everythinghe saysdirectly relevantto the interpretation of the text beforehim. He wantsto label and identify the technicalproblem in
hand, and to include asmuch learning aswill profit, but not confuse,his readers.
The commentary-formwas ideal for this purpose: it provided a ground-plan and
criterion of relevance,by keeping to the sequenceof the text, while allowing the
commentatorfreedomto introduce a body of knowledgewhich he wishedto transmit to his audience.The breadth and thoroughnessof Abbo's learning made him
better-equippedthan most of his contemporariesfor this type of work, and he was
able to give his Commentarya richnessand clarity which is rare in suchpieces.It has,
admittedly, little of the air of speculativecuriosity of twelfth-centurywork; Abbo
is concernedto display the detailed correspondencebetweenone discipline and
another,rather than to usehis competencein thesedisciplinesasan intellectual tool
for more advancedthinking. But he wasperforming an essentialpreliminary exercise; it was first necessaryto expand the areasin which the seculararts could be
employed,and to do it with an eye to soundness,accuracy,and commonsense.

APPENDIX

The following text of the prefaceto Victorius of Aquitaine's Calculusis taken from
EastBerlin, StaatsbibliothekMS Phill. 1833(Roseno. 138). fol. 5ra-b.
INCIPIT PRAEFATIO DE RATIONE CALCUli

Unitas ilIa, uncleomnis multitudo numerorumprocedit,quaeproprie ad arithmeticam disciplinam pertinet, quia uere simplex est et nulla partium congregatione
subsistit, nullam utique recipit sectionem.De ceterisuero rebus, licet aliquid tale
sit, ut propter integritatemac soliditatemSUamunitatis meruerit uocabulonuncupari, tameDquia compositumest, diuisioni necessario
subiacebit.Nihil enim in tota
rerum natura praeter memoratamnumerorum unitatem tam unum inueniri potest
quod non ulla omnino ualeat diuisione distribui. Quod ideo fit quia non simplicitate sedcompositionesubsistit.Dicitur enim unus homo,unus equus,unus dies,una
hora, unus nummus et alia huiusmodi innumerabilia, quae licet unitatis sint sortita
uocabulum,tameDpro causaeatque rationis necessitatediuiduntur. Ad huius diuisionis conpendiumtale calculandi argumentum antiqui commenti sunt, ut omnis
diuidendi integritas rationabili per illud possitpartitione secari,siue id corpussiue
resincorporeasit quod diuidendum proponitur. In hoc argumentounitas assisuocatur cuius partes iuxta proportionalitatemsuam proprius sunt insignitae uocabulis.
Notis etiam ad hoc excogitatisper quas eademuocabula exprimantur, ut per discretionemnominum et notasnominibus afflXasuniuscuiusqueparticulaenotio facilius aduertatur. Et assisquidem qui per "i" litteram, sicut in numeris unum scribi
solet, exprimitur, xii partes habet, quarum si unam detraxeris,reliquae undecim
partes "iabus" dicuntur. IlIa uero quam detraxisti,id est: duodecima,uncia uoca-

127

ABBO OF FLEURY'S COMMENTARY

tur. Si duas sustuleris,decemresiduaedextanset quod sustulisti,id est: duae,sextans appellatur. At si tres dempseris,nouem quae remansetuntdodrans, et tres
demptaequadransuocantur.Quod si quattuor tollere uelis, octo reliquas bissemet
quattuor trientem nominabis.Quinque uero sublatisseptemresiduasseptuncem,et
quinque.sublatasquin- [fol. 5rb] cuncemplacuit appellari. Cum uero per medium
fuerit facta diuisio, uttumque dimidium senispartibus constans,semissemuocitarunt, unciam autem et dimidiam sescunciam,
unciaequedimidium semunciam.lam
reliquae minuciae quarum congestionedimidium unciae conficitur, ut sunt sicilici,
sextulaeet cetera,melius ex ipsius calculi inspectionecognoscuntur.Incipit autem
idem calculusa mille et usquead quinquaginta progreditur, primo per duplicationem, deinde per triplicationem, turn per caeterasmultiplicationes incrementacapiens, tanta numerositateconcrescitut usque ad infinitum quantitatis eius summa
perueniat. Scribitur uero lineis a superioriparte in inferiorem descendentibus,
superius milium summas ex multiplicatione uenientes,inferius diuisionum minutias
continentibus(above:scilicet,lineis). A quibus ramenin legendoprincipium estfaciendum et sic sursumuersuseundemquousquead milium summam,quae ex ilIa
multiplicatione paulatim adcrescitlegendoueniatur,incipiendumquea dimidia sextula per duplicationemusquead n, inde iterum per triplicationema ~idia sextula
usquead ill, turn a dimidia sextulaper quadruplicationemusquead iiii et sicusque
ad finem.
EXPUCIT PRAEFATIO

Fitzwilliam College
Cambridge.England
Saint Hilda's College
Oxford OX4 IDY, England