Dicuil

Dicuil
Dicuil
Irish monk and geographer, b. in the second half of the eighth century; date of death unknown

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Dicuil
    Dicuil
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Dicuil
    Irish monk and geographer, b. in the second half of the eighth century; date of death unknown. Of his life nothing is known except that he belonged probably to one of the numerous Irish monasteries of the Frankish Kingdom, became acquainted, by personal observation, with the islands near England and Scotland, and wrote between 814 and 816 an astronomical, and in 825 a geographical, work. The astronomical work is a sort of computus in four books, in prose and verse, preserved only in a manuscript which formerly belonged to the monastery of Saint-Amand, and is now at Valenciennes. More famous is the "De mensura Orbis terrae", a summary of geography, giving concise information about various lands. This work was based upon a "Mensuratio orbis" prepared by order of Theodosius II (435), a manuscript copy of which had found its way to the Carlovingian court. Godescale had already made use of this copy (781-83) in the composition of his celebrated "Evangelistarium". Dicuil draws also upon Pliny, Solinus, Orosius, Isidore of Seville, and other authors, and adds the results of his own investigations. In the nine sections he treats in turn of Europe, Asia, Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia, the area of the earth's surface, the five great rivers, certain islands, the length and breadth of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the six (highest) mountains. Although mainly a compilation, this work is not without value. Dicuil is our only source for detailed information of the surveys carried out under Theodosius II; his quotations, generally exact, are of service for the textual criticism of the authors mentioned; of great interest, too, are the few reports which he got from the travelers of his time; as, for instance, from the monk Fidelis who (762?) journeyed along the canal then still existing, between the Nile and the Red Sea; and from clerics who had lived in Iceland six months. The manuscript was known to Welser, Isaac Vossius, Salmasius, Hardouin, and Schopflin; it first appeared in print under the title: "Dicuili Liber de mensura orbis terrae ex duobus codd. mss. bibliothecae imperialis nunc primum in lucem editus a Car. Athan. Walckenaer" (Paris, 1807). The latest and best edition is that of G. Parthey (Berlin, 1870).
    An excellent commentary is that by LETRONNE in his Recherches geographiques et critiques sur le livre De mensura orbis terrae compose ... par Dicuil (Paris, l814).
    SCHWEDER, Beitrdge zur Kritik der Chorographie des Augustus (Kiel, 1876), I; DUMMLER, Die handschriftiche Ueberlieferung der lateinischen Dichtunges aus der Zeit der Karolinger in Neues Archiv fur altere deutsche Geschichtskunde (Hanover, 1897), IV, 256-258; ARCHER in Dict. Nat. Biog., TRAUBE, Zur Chorographie des Augustus in Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Classe der K. B. Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1891 (Munich, 1892), 406-409.
    OTTO HARTIG
    Transcribed by Joseph E. O'Connor

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


Catholic encyclopedia.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dicuil — war ein irischer Mönch und Geograph, geboren in der zweiten Hälfte des 8. Jahrhunderts. Wann er starb, ist unbekannt. Dicuils Buch De mensura Orbis terrae enthält den frühesten bekannten Bericht über die Besiedelung Islands, und den klarsten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dicuil — est un moine et géographe irlandais, né vers 755, décédé après 825. On suppose qu il appartenait à l un des monastères irlandais du royaume des Francs (Luxueil ?). Il a écrit en 814 un ouvrage d’astronomie, et en 825 un traité de géographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Dicuil — Dicuil, Irländer, Geograph; schr. 825 De mensura orbis terrae, wichtig für die mittlere Geographie, herausgegeben von Walckenaer, Par. 1807, von Letronne, ebd. 1814 …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Dicuil — For the saint of the same name, see Deicolus. Dicuil, Irish monk and geographer, born in the second half of the 8th century. Contents 1 Background 2 Astronomical computus 3 De mensura Orbis terrae …   Wikipedia

  • Dicuil — ▪ Irish monk, grammarian, and geographer flourished 825, Ireland       monk, grammarian, and geographer whose work is important to the history of science and is a testament to Irish learning in the 9th century.       Much of Dicuil s astronomical …   Universalium

  • Dicuil — Dịcuil,   irischer Gelehrter im Frankenreich, ✝ nach 825; verfasste Traktate zur Grammatik und Astronomie. Sein wichtigstes Werk ist die geographische Schrift »Liber de mensura orbis terrae«, eine Beschreibung der Erde, die er zwar weitgehend… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • History of the Faroe Islands — Contents 1 Pre Norse history 2 Pre 14th century 3 Foreign commercial interest: 14th century to Second World War 4 World War II …   Wikipedia

  • Färöische Geschichte — Die Geschichte der Färöer ist ein Teil der Geschichte Skandinaviens. Häufig weist sie Parallelen zur Geschichte Islands auf, ist wie diese oft zunächst von Ereignissen in der Geschichte Norwegens und später in der Geschichte Dänemarks bestimmt …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Færeyinga Saga — The Færeyinga Saga, the Norse saga of Faroemen, is the story of how the Faroes were converted to Christianity and became a part of the Kingdom of Norway.It was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The author is unknown and the original… …   Wikipedia

  • Papar — The Papar (from Irish pap , father or pope ) were, according to early Icelandic historical sources, a group of Irish monks that inhabited Iceland at the time of the arrival of the Norsemen. However, no archeological proof of their existence has… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”