Humanistyczne projekty średniowiecza i ich twórcy: Boecjusz, Kasjodor, Dionizy Exiguus
Humanist Projects of the Middle Ages and Their Authors: Boethius, Cassiodorus, Dionysius Exiguus

Author(s): Maria Chodyko
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Boethius; Cassiodorus; Dionysius Exiguus; Liberal arts; Medieval intellectual tradition
Summary/Abstract: The text aims to recall three outstanding figures from the transition between eras, who witnessed the end of ancient culture and were entrusted with passing on its vital contents to their medieval successors. Boethius, Cassiodorus, and Dionysius can be called the pedagogues of the barbarians, opening their access to learning, arts, legislation, and chronology that formed the emerging medieval civilization. Boethius's philosophical education allowed him to present a systematic model of reality, whose hierarchical nature can be seen in 'De Consolatione philosphiae', as well as to construct a precise methodology, typology, classification, and definitions of contemporary science. Boethius was a scientific theorist of the liberal arts, while Cassiodorus established the era of the liberal arts and the institutional framework for the intellectual communities of the Middle Ages by creating the Vivarium center and promoting pedagogical writings. Dionysius Exiguus, the creator of the collection of laws called 'Collectiones Dionysianae' and a calendar that became the basis for the Christian era, contributed to shaping the age of tempora christiana. He was also a model of the intellectual personality, fulfilling the Pythagorean ideal of shaping an elite through personal knowledge and effort, rather than through privileges acquired by birth. Their legacy was preserved by a fourth hero of the "Dark Ages”, Benedict of Nursia, who, despite facing failure in organizing his project during his lifetime, left behind a rule that his spiritual successors began to practice a century later.

• Details
• Contents