Summae dictaminis als Zerrspiegel einer Schreibkunst?

Auswahlprozesse und die süditalienische Ars dictaminis des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts

Abstract

The summae dictaminis or collections of dictamina that were created in the milieu ofthe Sicilian and papal chanceries during the 13th century have an ambiguous positionin Medieval Latin scholarship. Although recent research has contributed newinsights, the summae continue to occupy a liminal position between the study of thehistory of Latin rhetoric and the research of more institutional and political phenomena.The selection process at the origin of these medieval textual ‹databases› hastended to obscure the original rhetorical culture of the milieu that conceived them.It is true that the summae dictaminis linked with the names of Pietro della Vigna,Thomas of Capua, and Richard of Pofi among others were partly created to facilitatethe work of future notaries, by providing them with rhetorical, political, and administrativemodels. However, a careful study of some of their prototypes and alternativeforms suggests that the original balance between literary and political interests typicalof this culture was partly lost during their long selection process. In particular, thelinks between ars poetriae and ars dictaminis can be reconsidered in the light of thisinterpretation, as well as, more generally, the usefulness of maintaining a sharp distinctionbetween the terms ‹literary› and ‹non-literary› for this type of medieval texts.