Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from St. Augustine to the Renaissance

by James J. Murphy

Explores rhetorical theory from the middle ages to the renaissance.

Genres: History

411 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Dr. Murphy spent his career studying the history and pedagogy of language use, with scholarly work exploring rhetoricians from the Classical Period, the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, and on to modernity. His work extended to the pedagogy of teaching rhetoric, writing, and debate, including texts that have been published in numerous editions and multiple languages including Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Polish. Before settling at UC Davis in 1965, he taught at St. Mary’s College, Stanford, and Princeton. During his career, he published 75 journal articles and book chapters and edited numerous volumes.
Dr. James J. Murphy, (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1957), Professor Emeritus at UC Davis, passed away in 2021, at the age of 98. He remained alert and intellectually engaged until just a few days before his death. His final publication, The Oxford Handbook of Quintilian, which he co-edited, arrived exactly one week before he died.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This history of medieval rhetoric is stellar. It is organized into two sections: one on classical rhetoric and how it was carried on in the middle ages and one on the three major medieval rhetorical genres (ars poetriae, ars dictiminis, and ars praedicandi). VERY VERY useful in helping me to understand how rhetoric shifted after Augustine and why.