Mammotrectus super Bibliam

Mammotrectus super Bibliam of Johannes Marchesinus, is a guide to understanding the text of the Bible, it is one of the most important Franciscan school texts of the later Middle Ages. It was written for use by clerics.

The Mammotrectus was written by Johannes Marchesinus, Franciscan, at Regio, near Modena at the end of the 13th century. It was the most important work of Marchesinus. Marchesinus based its work mainly on Expositiones vocabulorum biblie, of Franciscan William of Brito (written between 1250 and 1270).

The Mammotrectus is divided into three parts: 1) explanations for difficult biblical words or passages; 2) a series of digressions on orthography, the accents of Latin words, the seven feasts of the Old Testament Law, the clothing of priests, the principles of exegesis and translation, the names of God, the qualities and properties of Scripture, and a treatise on the four main ecumenical councils; 3) liturgical pieces and some related materials (the hymns, legends of saints, sermons and homilies).

It was edited in 1470, in Mainz, by Peter Schöffer. It was popular in the 15th century, but its popularity fall in the 16th century. Desiderius Erasmus had criticised those priests who still read the Mammotrectus. Protestants completely rejected this work.

Samuel Berger listed in 1879 15 manuscripts of the Mammotrectus, all in continental European libraries. Some other manuscripts were identified in the 20th century. Most of the early printed editions of the Mammotrectus are different from the earliest manuscripts. The new critical edition of the work should be prepared.

Further reading

• Samuel Berger, La Bible au XVIe siècle, Paris, 1879, pp. 15-28.

External links

• Textmanuscripts
• MARCHESINUS, Johannes (b. ca. 1300). Mammotrectus super Bibliam. [Strassburg: Printer of Henricus Ariminensis type 1 (Heinrich Eggestein?), ca. 1474.
• MARCHESINUS, Joannes. Mammotrectus super Bibliam. Venezia: Nicolaus Jenson, 1479.