Second, during the whole period under discussion there was an active
production of new text-books on the established subjects, some of which
were widely used in the universities. Among the grammars was the
_Doctrinale_ of Alexander da Villa Dei, written in 1199. This rhyming
grammar was enormously popular, and continued to be so, well into the
sixteenth century. The _Grecismus_ and _Labyrinthus_ of Eberhard of
Bethune (early thirteenth century), also grammars in rhyme, were widely
used. Logical treatises often mentioned in university programs of study
were _De Sex Principiis_ (On the Six Principles), written about 1150 by
Gilbert de la Porree, a teacher of John of Salisbury; and the _Summulae_
of Petrus Hispanus (thirteenth century). In the thirteenth century
Albertus Magnus made a digest of all the works of Aristotle, which
proved to be easier for students than the originals, and which were
sometimes used in place of them. Among mathematical works of this
century were the _Algorismus_ (Arithmetic) and the _Libellus de Sphaera_
(On the Sphere) by John Holywood (Sacrobosco); and the _Perspectiva
Communis_, i.e. Optics, by John (Peckham) of Pisa. A treatise on Music
by John de Muris of Paris was produced in the early part of the
fourteenth century. All of these were well-known university text-books.
They appear in the list at Leipzig throughout the fifteenth century (see
p. 139).
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105