The purpose of this paper is to offer some reflections on the complexity of meanings given to the dog by Cassinese authors through the comparison with the abbey’s library heritage and the social background of the monks. In the first part, I provide a general framework on the presence of dog in the early medieval encyclopedias and on the dissemination of these texts in the Cassinese context starting from the 9th century. In the second part, I discuss the references to the dog in the most important texts written in Monte Cassino between the second half of the 9th century and the last decades of the 11th century, to show the derivation of some episodes from the exegetical works of Raban Maur. Finally, I propose a focus on the cultural formation of Cassinese authors and on the role of the dog in the practices of aristocratic élites.
Nel contributo sono presentate alcune riflessioni sulla figura del cane nelle fonti cassinesi altomedievali. La sezione introduttiva offre un quadro d’insieme delle «conoscenze enciclopediche» relative all’animale nei primi secoli del medioevo, a cui seguono alcune considerazioni sulla diffusione dei testi enciclopedici in ambiente cassinese a partire dal IX secolo. La seconda parte del contributo si concentra, poi, sui riferimenti al cane presenti nei testi cassinesi, per mostrare la derivazione di alcuni episodi dai lavori esegetici di Rabano Mauro. Nelle battute conclusive, si propone un focus sulla formazione culturale degli autori cassinesi e sul ruolo del cane nelle pratiche delle élites.
Il cane nell'altomedioevo. Voci da Montecassino (secc. IX-XI)
Tagliente A
2022
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to offer some reflections on the complexity of meanings given to the dog by Cassinese authors through the comparison with the abbey’s library heritage and the social background of the monks. In the first part, I provide a general framework on the presence of dog in the early medieval encyclopedias and on the dissemination of these texts in the Cassinese context starting from the 9th century. In the second part, I discuss the references to the dog in the most important texts written in Monte Cassino between the second half of the 9th century and the last decades of the 11th century, to show the derivation of some episodes from the exegetical works of Raban Maur. Finally, I propose a focus on the cultural formation of Cassinese authors and on the role of the dog in the practices of aristocratic élites.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.