A History of Magic and Experimental Science, Volume 1 (of 2) by Lynn Thorndike
1860. Greek text in PG, vol. XVI, part 3; English translation in AN,
1617 words | Chapter 88
vol. V.
[2030] R. Ganschinietz, _Hippolytos’ Capitel gegen die Magier_, 1913,
in TU, 39, 2, is a commentary on the text.
[2031] _Refutation of All Heresies_, IV, 28.
[2032] Since writing this sentence I have found an article by Diels
on the discovery of alcohol in _Societas Regia Scientiarum, Abhandl.
Philos.-Hist. Classe_, Berlin, 1913, in which he argues from this
passage in Hippolytus that the discovery was made in the Alexandrian
period and that it reached western Europe again only through the Arabs
about the twelfth century, since alcohol is not mentioned in the older
Schlettstadt version of the _Mappae clavicula_. If this be so, Adelard
of Bath was perhaps the first to introduce it from the Arabs or the
orient, although Diels does not say so.
[2033] _Refutation of All Heresies_, IV, 29-41.
[2034] In some places the text is illegible.
[2035] Cap. 105.
[2036] Leo Allatius “in syntagmate” _De engastrimytho_, cap. 7;
Sulpicius Severus, _Historia sacra_, liber I; Anastasius Antiochenus,
Ὁδηγός, quaest., 112; “et eorum quos laudat Bellarminus liber IV _de
Christo_, cap. 11.”
[2037] Περὶ τῆς ἐγγαστριμύθου, PG, XLV, 107-14.
[2038] Migne, PG, XVIII, 613-74.
[2039] The King James version, First Samuel, XXVIII, 19, reads, “and
to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me,” instead of “thou and
Jonathan.”
[2040] Migne, PG, XII, 143-74.
[2041] Migne, PG, LVI, 61, _et seq._
[2042] Migne, PG, LVI, 637, _et seq._ _Homily_ II, “Opus imperfectum
in Matthaeum quod Chrysostomi nomine circumfertur.” _Ibid._, 602, _et
seq._, for opinions of various past writers as to its authenticity.
[2043] Migne, PG, LX, 274-5, in the 38th homily on the Book of Acts.
[2044] On the other hand, D. Friedrich Münter, _Der Stern der Weisen:
Untersuchungen über das Geburtsjahr Christi_, Kopenhagen, 1827, adopted
the astrological theory that the star of Bethlehem was really a major
conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces, which Jewish tradition,
too, seems to have regarded as the sign of the Messiah, and that
therefore Jesus was born in 6 B. C. This view had already been advanced
by Kepler, but recent writers seem to prefer a conjunction in Aries:
see H. G. Voigt, _Die Geschichte Jesu und die Astrologie_, Leipzig,
1911; Kritzinger, _Der Stern der Weisen_, Gütersloh, 1911; von Oefele,
_Die Angaben der Berliner Planetentafel P8279 verglichen mit der
Geburtsgeschichte Christi im Berichte des Matthäus_, Berlin, 1903, in
_Mitteil. d. Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft_.
[2045] Mâle, _Religious Art in France_, 1913, p. 208, was not able to
trace the legend that the star of the Magi appeared with the face of
a child beyond _The Golden Legend_ compiled by James of Voragine in
the thirteenth century. We shall, however, find it mentioned in the
twelfth century by Abelard, who derived it from this spurious homily of
Chrysostom.
[2046] They are twice so represented on the elaborately carved
Christian sarcophagus in the museum at Syracuse, Sicily, where also the
manger, ox, and ass are shown (compare note 4 below).
[2047] Hugo Kehrer, _Die Heiligen drei Könige in Litteratur und Kunst_,
Leipzig, 1908, 2 vols. An earlier work on the three Magi is Inchofer,
_Tres Magi Evangelici_, Rome, 1639.
[2048] J. C. Thilo, _Eusebii Alexandrini oratio_ Περὶ ἀστρονόμων
(_praemissa de magis et stella quaestione_) _e Cod. Reg. Par. primum
edita_, Progr. Halae, 1834.
[2049] A. Bouché-Leclercq, _L’Astrologie grecque_, 1899, p. 611, “La
royauté des Mages fut inventée (vers le VIe siècle), comme la crèche
(_sic!_ see Luke, II, 12 and 16), le bœuf et l’âne pour montrer
l’accomplissement des prophéties.”
[2050] _Religious Art in France_, 1913, p. 214 note, following, I
presume, Kehrer’s work, as he does on p. 213.
[2051] For detailed references see Münter, _Der Stern der Weisen_,
1827, p. 15; and Bouché-Leclercq, 1899, p. 611, where they are stated
somewhat differently.
[2052] _Comm. in Platonis Timaeum_, II, vi, 125; quoted by Münter
(1827), pp. 27-8.
[2053] BN 16819, fol. 49r. Corpus Christi 134, early 12th century, fol.
1 v., has a brief “Magorum trium qui Domino Infanti aurum obtulere
nomina et descriptio.”
[2054] Cotton Galba E, VIII, 15th century, fols. 3-28, Fabulosa
narratio de tribus magis qui Christum adorarunt sive de tribus regibus
Coloniensibus.
[2055] Cap. 12 in the 1478 edition.
[2056] _Ibid._, cap. 34.
[2057] At Munich all the following MSS are 15th century: CLM 18621,
fol. 135, _Liber trium regum_, fol. 215, _Legenda trium regum excerpta
ex praecedenti_; 19544, fols. 314-49, and 26688, fols. 157-92,
_Laudes et gesta trium regum_, etc.; 21627, fols. 212-31, _Historia
de tribus regibus_; 23839, fols. 112-37, and 24571, fols. 50-104,
_Gesta trium regum_; 25073, fols. 260-83, _de nativitate domini et
de tribus regibus_. At Berlin MSS 799 and 800, both of the 15th
century, have the _Gesta trium regum_ ascribed to John of Hildesheim.
So Wolfenbüttel 3266, anno 1461. The printed edition of 1478 in 46
chapters and about 30 folios is also ascribed to John of Hildesheim.
We read on the binding, “Ioannis Hildeshemensis Liber de trium regum
translatione.” The Incipit is: “Reverendissimo in Christo patri ac
domino domino florencio de weuelkouen divina providencia monasteriensis
ecclesie episcopo dignissimo.” The colophon is: “Liber de gestis ac
trina beatissimorum trium regum translacione ... per me Johannem
guldenschoff de moguncia.” Some other MSS, also of the 15th century,
are: Vatic. Palat. Lat. 859, de gestis et translationibus trium regum,
and at Oxford, University College 33, Liber collectus de gestis et
translationibus sanctorum trium regum de Colonia; Laud Misc., 658,
The history of the three kings of Cologne, in forty-one chapters
with a preface. It is thus seen that the number of chapters varies.
Coxe’s catalogue of the Laud MSS states that the Latin original was
printed at Cologne in quarto in 1481, and that it is very different
from the version printed by Wynkyn de Worde. “The Story of the Magi,”
in Bodleian (Bernard) 2325, covers only folio 68. At Amiens is a MS
which the catalogue dates in the 14th century and ascribes to John
of Hildesheim, and its Incipit is practically that of the printed
edition: Amiens 481, fols. 1-58, “Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac
domino domino Florentino de Wovellonem (_sic_) divina providencia
Monasteriensis ecclesie episcopo dignissimo. Cum venerandissimorum
trium Magorum, ymo verius trium Regum.” The work ends in the MS with
the words, “... summi Regis servant legem incole Colonie. Amen.
Explicit hystoria.”
[2058] BN 16819, 10th century, fols. 46r-49r.
[2059] Marco Polo (I, 13-14, ed. Yule and Cordier, 1903, vol. I,
78-81), who located the Magi in Saba, Persia, recounts further legends
concerning them and their gifts.
See also F. W. K. Müller, _Uigurica_, I, i, _Die Anbetung der Magier,
ein Christliches Bruchstück_, Berlin, 1908.
[2060] Beazley, _Dawn of Modern Geography_, I, 274, says, “Augustine
and Chrysostom felt and spoke in the same way, though in more measured
language, and nearly all early Christian writers who touched upon the
matter did so to echo the voice of authorities so unquestioned.” But I
cannot agree with this statement. He goes on to imply that a majority
of the fathers, like Cosmas Indicopleustes, attacked the belief in
the sphericity of the earth; but here, too, I wonder if he is not
following Letronne, _Des Opinions Cosmographiques des Pères_, without
having examined the citations. Certainly no such attitude is found in
Basil’s _Hexaemeron_, Hom. 3 and 9 as the citation implies. I have not
seen Marinelli, _La geographia e i Padri della Chiesa, estratto dal
Bollettino della Società geografica italiana_, anno 1882, pp. 11-15.
[2061] _Divin. Instit._, III, 24.
[2062] Migne, PG, vol. 29; PN, vol. 8.
[2063] Duhem (1914) II, 394, however, prefers Gregory of Nyssa’s work
as “à la fois plus sobre, plus concis, et plus philosophique....”
[2064] Homily I was delivered in the morning, II in the evening; III
was in the morning and speaks of a coming evening address. At the close
of Homily VII Basil urges his hearers to talk over at their evening
meal what they have heard this morning and this evening. If we regard
Homily VI as the morning address referred to, we shall have Homily V
left to cover an entire day. Homily VI, however, is the longest of the
nine. In any case Homily VIII is clearly preached in the morning, and
IX at evening.
[2065] Bk. II, caps. 10-17.
[2066] _Epistola 65, ad Pammachium._ Augustine’s _De Genesi ad
litteram_, which Cassiodorus (_Institutes_, I, 1) esteemed above the
commentaries of Basil and Ambrose upon Genesis, is a somewhat similar
work, but, after a briefer treatment of the work of creation, continues
to comment on the text up to Adam’s expulsion from Paradise.
[2067] Migne, PL, 14, 131-2. The most recent edition of the
_Hexaemeron_ of Ambrose is by C. Schenkl. Vienna, 1896.
[2068] Fialon, _Étude sur St. Basile_, 1869, p. 296.
[2069] Homily IX.
[2070] For example, in the catalogue, published in 1744, of MSS in
the then Royal Library at Paris there are listed five copies of
Eustathius’ Latin translation, dating from the ninth to the fourteenth
century—2200, 4; 1701, 1; 1702, 1; 1787A, 2; 2633, 1; and fifteen
copies of the _Hexaemeron_ of Ambrose—1718; 1702, 2; 1719 to 1727
inclusive; 2387, 4; 2637 and 2638.
I have not noted what MSS of the _Hexaemerons_ of Basil and Ambrose
are found in the British Museum and Bodleian libraries. Some other
medieval copies of Basil’s in Latin translation are: BN 12134, 9th
century Lombard hand; Vendôme 122, 11th century, fols. 1 v-60; Soissons
121, 12th century, fol. 97, Eustathius’ prologue and a part of his
translation; Grenoble 258, 12th century, fols. 1-45, “Eustathii
translatio....”
The _Hexaemeron_ of Ambrose, since written originally in Latin, is
naturally found oftener. The oldest MS is said to be CU Corpus Christi
193, large Lombard script of the 8th century which closely resembles BN
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