View source for Fons memorabilium universi

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[[File:Fons memorabilium universi - folio 1r - Balliol College MS 238A.jpg|thumb|right|The first page of the first of five volumes of an [[illuminated manuscript]] copy of this text, commissioned by Bishop [[William Grey (Bishop of Ely)|William Grey]], created c. 1444–1448, and given by Grey to [[Balliol College]].]]
'''''Fons memorabilium universi''''' ("Source of notable information about the universe") is an early [[encyclopedia]], written in [[Latin]] by the Italian [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] Domenico Bandini of Arezzo (also given as Domenico di Bandino or Dominicus Bandinus, c. 1335 – 1418).<ref name=Hankey1957>{{cite journal|author=A. T. Hankey|title=Domenico di Bandino of Arezzo (?1335-1418)|journal=Italian Studies|pages=110–128|year=1957|volume=12|doi=10.1179/its.1957.12.1.110}}</ref><ref name=magic>{{cite book|title=History of Magic and Experimental Science|author=Lynn Thorndike|author-link=Lynn Thorndike|volume=III|chapter=Chapter 32|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1923}}</ref>
Planned to inform and edify educated men who lack other books, the work covered God and the natural world, as was common for encyclopedias of the time, but also added a voluminous last part dealing with man and historical figures, philosophy and history, theology, ethics, heretics and women.<ref name=meyer>{{cite journal|author=Heinz Meyer|title=Das Enzyklopädiekonzept des 'Fons memorabilium universi' des Domenico Bandini im Verhältnis zur Tradition|journal=Frühmittelalterliche Studien|volume=27|year=1993|pages=220–240|doi=10.1515/9783110242256.220 |s2cid=201730872 |language=German}}</ref>
Bandini, a teacher of grammar and rhetoric who lived in [[Florence]], [[Bologna]], [[Città di Castello]] and [[Arezzo]], worked on the encyclopedia from before 1374 until his death in 1418. In Florence he was influenced by [[Coluccio Salutati]], causing him to emphasize topics related to the [[classical antiquity]] in his work. Bandini's son Laurentius completed and published the work after Bandini's death<ref name=Hankey1957/> and added an introductory apology, defending the work against criticism of style.<ref name=meyer/>
At least 26 manuscripts survive, including one at [[Balliol College]], of which digital photographs are available online, and two at the [[Vatican Library]]. Many of these contain only parts of the work. They all date from before 1460.<ref>{{cite journal|author=A. T. Hankey|title= The Successive Revisions and Surviving Codices of the 'Fons Memorabilium Universi' of Domenico di Bandino|journal=Rinascimento|pages=3–49|volume=11|year=1960}}</ref>
The whole work consists of between two and five volumes, depending on writing style and size.
The work was not very influential and was already almost forgotten in the [[15th century]]. It was never printed, unlike the very successful [[13th century]] encyclopedia ''[[De proprietatibus rerum]]'' by [[Bartholomeus Anglicus]], from which Bandini had borrowed heavily. He also frequently cited the earlier works of [[Marcus Terentius Varro]], [[Pliny the Elder]], [[Gaius Julius Solinus]], [[Isidore of Seville]] and [[Hrabanus Maurus]].<ref name=meyer/>
The end of book 8 "on the planets" contains an unrelated interpolation praising two lawyers from [[Bologna]]. The paragraph has been interpreted as an advertisement inserted by the lawyers, either by having paid the scribes or by having worked as scribes themselves.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Law Advertising in Medieval Manuscripts|author=Lynn Thorndike|journal=Political Science Quarterly|volume=51|number=2|date=June 1936|pages=270–272|doi=10.2307/2143625 |jstor=2143625}}</ref>
==Organization==
The work is organized in 5 parts (to reflect the [[Holy Wounds|five wounds of Christ]]),<ref name=magic/> with each part divided into several books containing numerous cross references. Each of the 34 books covers one circle of topics. Some of these books consist of several introductory and systematical chapters, followed by an alphabetically ordered list of articles. This organization had been developed in the 13th century by [[Vincent of Beauvais]] in his ''Speculum naturale'' and had also been used by [[Bartholomaus Anglicus]] in his ''De proprietatibus rerum'' and by [[Thomas of Cantimpré]] in his ''Liber de natura rerum''.
The titles of the books are:<ref name=meyer/>
* Part I
**1. De deo
**2. De angelis
**3. De anima
**4. De inferno
* Part II
**5. De mundo
**6. De celo et signis celestibus
**7. De stellis fixis
**8. De planetis
**9. De tempore
* Part III
**10. De elementis in generali
**11. De elemento ignis
**12. De elemento aeris
**13. De impressionibus aeris
**14. De ornatu aeris (de avibus)
**15. De aquis salsis
**16. De aquis dulcibus
**17. De piscibus
* Part IV
**18. De provinciis
**19. De insulis
**20. De civitatibus
**21. De aedificiis
**22. De populis
**23. De montibus
**24. De arboribus
**25. De herbis
**26. De quadrupedibus
**27. De reptilibus, serpentibus et vermibus
**28. De lapidibus et gemmis
**29. De metallis
* Part V
**30. De viris claris
**31. De sectis philosophorum
**32. De virtutibus theologicis et moralibus
**33. De sectis haereticorum
**34. De mulieribus claris
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/balliolarchivist/collections/72157625091983501/ Digital images of Oxford Balliol College MS 238A-E, 5 volume 15th century manuscript copy of ''Fons memorabilium uniuersi''] at [[Balliol College]]. The first book of Part V is missing.
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[[Category:Encyclopedias in Latin]]
[[Category:Italian encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Medieval European encyclopedias]]
[[Category:15th-century books in Latin]]