Peter Alphonse's Disciplina Clericalis: From the Fifteenth Century Worcester Cathedral Manuscript F. 172

by Petrus Alfonsi

Excerpt from Peter Alphonse's Disciplina Clericalis: From the Fifteenth Century Worcester Cathedral Manuscript F. 172

Peter Alphonse, * the author of the popular mediaeval collection of oriental folk tales or exempla, known as Disciplina C lericalis, was, according to his own testimony, born at Huesca in the kingdom of Aragon in the year He was by birth and was known before his conversion by the n abbi Moses Sephardi, or Moses the Spaniard. He was baptized under the name 'petrus Alphonsus, ' - the first part of the name due to the apostle on whose birthday the event occurred, the second part deriving from Alphon sus it, the glorious emperor of Spain who was my spiritual father and who received me at the baptismal He was according to Seiderhjelm'f one of the many Jewish intellectuals of the Middle Ages who served as intermediaries between oriental and occidental culture.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Genres: Medieval

84 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Petrus Alfonsi (born Moses Sephardi) (c.1062 - 1110) was a Jewish Spanish physician, writer, astronomer, and polemicist, who converted to Christianity in 1106. He is also known just as Alphonsi, and as Pedro Alfonso, Peter Alfonsi or Peter Alphonse. Born in Islamic Spain, he mostly lived in England and France after his conversion.

He was born at an unknown date and place in the 11th century in Spain, and educated in al-Andalus, or Islamic Spain. As he describes himself, he was baptised at Huesca, capital of the Kingdom of Aragon, on St. Peter's Day, 29 June 1106, when he was probably approaching middle age; this is the first clear date we have in his biography. In honor of the saint Peter, and of his royal patron and godfather, the Aragonese King Alfonso I he took the name of Petrus Alfonsi (Alfonso's Peter).

By 1116 at the latest he had emigrated to England, where he seems to have remained some years, before moving to northern France. The date of his death is as unclear as that of his birth. He was famous as a writer during his lifetime, and remained so for the rest of the Middle Ages, with over 160 surviving medieval manuscripts containing works of his. The most common are his Dialogi contra Iudaeos (Dialogue Against the Jews), an imaginary conversation between a Jew and a Christian, and Disciplina Clericalis (A Training-school for the Clergy), in fact a collection of Eastern fables.

Reviews

[Jared]

“I have also observed that the temperament of man is delicate; it must be instructed by being led, as it were, little by little, so that it will not become bored. I am mindful also of its hardness, which must to some extent be softened and sweetened, so that it may retain what it learns with greater facility, remembering that, as it is forgetful, it needs many things to help it remember what it tends to forget. For this reason I have compiled this small volume, taking it in part from the parables and counsels of the philosophers, in part from the parables and counsels of the Arabs, from tales and poems, and finally from animal- and bird-fables.”

[Royce Ratterman]

Read for personal research. I found this work of immense interest.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Overall, this work is also a good resource for the researcher and enthusiast.

[Carrie Wilhite]

How do I even rate a philosophy book from hundreds of years ago? This book was all over the place, but that’s how it was supposed to be…?

[Amma]

Dramione placeholder.
The scholars Guide to denial

[Sadie]

oh yes some super awesome advice and why you shouldn’t trust women

[Genesis]

I read it loosely while I was transcluding this book in Wikisource. It is a bad anonymous translation with the missing parts translated by William Henry Hulme. It would have been better if Mr. Hulme had translated it all by himself.

It is a book about discipline, virtue, and discretion. Worth reading.

[Lulu]

compiled and translated it from Arabic courtly sources from al-Andalus at the beginning of the 12th century c. 1110?, it is a collection of fables and tales and is the oldest European book of its kind

[Laila Mahmoud]

حكايات مشرقية لطيفة و نزهة جميلة في طرقات الوعظ و الحكمة