Fugere artem memorativam? The Art of Memory in 15th c. Bohemia and Moravia (A Preliminary Survey)
Fugere artem memorativam? The Art of Memory in 15th c. Bohemia and Moravia (A Preliminary Survey)

Summary/Abstract: The study off ers a basic overview of the manuscripts of the ars memorativa treatises in late medieval Czech lands. On the basis of the surviving evidence it is possible to prove that during the 15th century this ancient art (however suspicious and cumbersome it may seem today) was known and practiced here. It coexisted with general (often primarily medical) set of advices on efficient studying some of which openly criticize the art of memory for being too impractical. Besides copies of Italian and West European art of memory models, there is a number of these treatises and shorter treatments of the art composed in the Czech lands. Each of them includes specifi c features and innovations not encountered elsewhere. The manuscript context of ars memorativa shows that it was not seen as a part of rhetoric theory intended for a restricted number of intellectuals but as a means of storing and recuperating important information actively used especially by students and preachers.

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