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← Didascalicon de Studio Legendi (On the Study of Reading)/Book 6 · Didascalicon — Liber 6
Chapter 3Didasc.6.3

De historia.

The Foundation of History

Hugh teaches that learning must begin with history, tracing events by person, place, time, and deed, and warns against despising small beginnings.

This is how your learning should work: first, study history and the truth of what happened, tracing it from beginning to end — what was done, when it was done, where it was done, and by whom — and carefully commit these things to memory. These four things especially must be sought out in history: the person, the event, the time, and the place. And I don't think you can become truly skilled in allegorical interpretation unless you're first grounded in history. Don't look down on these small points. Whoever looks down on little things gradually drifts away. If you'd looked down on learning the alphabet first, you wouldn't even have a name among grammarians now. I know there are some who want to start philosophizing right away. They say the made-up stories should be left to the false apostles.

The Folly of Skipping Steps

Those who rush past foundational learning gain only a crude semblance of knowledge, but those shaped by small things can safely attempt great things.

It's knowledge of a sort whose resemblance to the form of an ass is all too familiar. Don't imitate this kind. Once you've been shaped by small things, you'll attempt great things safely.

A Student's Diligence

Hugh recalls his own student efforts to master names, logic, rhetoric, geometry, and music, showing the breadth of his early labors.

I'll go so far as to say that I've never looked down on anything connected with learning, but I've often studied things that struck other people as a joke or sheer madness. I remember that when I was still a student, I worked hard to learn the names of everything that meets the eyes or comes into common use, freely weighing the nature of things — realizing that someone who didn't yet know their names couldn't pursue them. How often I paid my daily debt to myself by working through my own syllogisms — which, for the sake of brevity, I'd marked with just one or two terms on a page — so that I could also hold in memory, and keep count of, virtually every sentence, question, and objection I'd learned, along with their solutions!1 I often constructed arguments, and, setting opposing controversies side by side, I carefully distinguished what belonged to the rhetor, what to the orator, and what to the sophist. I put calculations into a number, and I drew a floor with black coals, and, with the example set right before my eyes, I clearly demonstrated what the difference is between an obtuse-angled, a right-angled, and an acute-angled triangle.2 I learned whether an equilateral square would fill an oblong when its two sides are multiplied by themselves, with the foot extending outward on both sides.3 Often a night watchman, I stayed awake through winter vigils.4 Often I'd draw a line out to full length on a wooden board marked with a ruler, so that I could both perceive the difference of sounds with my ear and at the same time delight my mind with the sweetness of honey.5

Orderly Progress, Not Boasting

Hugh admits his efforts were childish but not useless, and shares them not to boast but to show that walking in proper order is the fitting path.

These efforts were childish, I admit, but they weren't useless, and knowing them now doesn't burden my mind. But I'm not repeating all this to you so that I can boast about my knowledge — which is either nonexistent or negligible — but to show you that the one who walks in proper order walks most fittingly, and not like some people who want to make a great leap and fall into a precipice.6

The Value of Seemingly Useless Reading

Just as virtues have stages, so does knowledge; and though some historical details seem useless, all reading proves valuable when seen in context.

Just as there are certain steps or stages in the virtues, so there are in the branches of knowledge too. But you say, 'I come across many things in historical narratives that seem to be of no use whatever — why should I spend my time on stuff like this?' You're quite right. After all, there are many things in the Scriptures that, taken on their own and examined by themselves, seem to have nothing worth seeking in them; yet if you compare them with the passages they're connected to and begin to weigh them in their full context, you'll see that they are at once necessary and fitting.7 Some things are worth knowing for their own sake; others, even though they don't seem worth the effort on their own, should by no means be passed over carelessly, because without them those other things can't be thoroughly understood.8 Learn everything; afterward you'll see that nothing is wasted. Knowledge that's narrowed down isn't pleasant.

The Books That Belong to History

Hugh lists the biblical books most central to history and explains that history is the literal sense of any narrative, while noting places where the literal sense must be carefully distinguished.

You ask me which books are useful for this area of reading, if I have any opinion on the matter. Here are the ones I think should be studied most: Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, the book of Judges, Kings, and Chronicles; of the New Testament, first the four Gospels, then the Acts of the Apostles. These eleven seem to me to belong most to history, with the exception of those we properly call historians. Yet if we use this word's meaning more broadly, there's nothing wrong with saying that history is not only a narrative of past events, but the primary meaning of any narrative, which is expressed according to the literal sense of the words. Under this understanding, I believe all the books of both Testaments, in the order listed above, belong to this area of reading according to the literal sense. And perhaps, if it didn't seem childish, I'd insert here some guidelines on how to construct precepts, because I know that divine Scripture is more concise than all others in its own text; yet I deliberately refrain from these, so as not to stretch my purpose too far by excessive addition. There are certain places in sacred Scripture that can't be taken literally; these must be carefully distinguished, so that we don't pass over anything through negligence, or through misplaced effort twist what was written into something it was never meant to say.

Laying the Foundation

The reader is invited to walk in order: history is the foundation from which allegory is drawn like honey from the comb, and upon it the structure of faith is raised.

So this, dear reader, is what we're setting before you. This field of your labor, well plowed with the plow, will bring you back a rich harvest.9 Everything has been done in order — walk in order. Through shadow one arrives at substance: learn the figure, and you will find the truth.10 I'm not saying this so that you should first labor over the figures of the Old Testament and probe its mystical teachings before you come to drink from the Gospel's streams.11 But just as you can see that no building can stand firm without a foundation, so it is also in teaching. Now the foundation and starting point of sacred teaching is history, from which the truth of allegory is drawn out like honey from the comb. So when you're about to build, lay the foundation of history first; then through its typical meaning raise the structure of your mind up into the citadel of faith.12

The Beauty of the Moral Sense

Through the grace of its moral meaning, the edifice of learning is painted with the most beautiful color.

And at last, through the grace of its moral meaning, adorn the edifice as though overlaid with the most beautiful color.

Three Ways to Encounter God

History reveals God's deeds, allegory his sacraments, and morality his perfection to imitate.

In history, you have a way to marvel at God's deeds; in allegory, a way to believe his sacraments; in morality, a way to imitate his perfection.

A Journey Through Salvation History

The reader is invited to trace God's works from creation and paradise through the fall, the flood, the patriarchs, the exodus, the law, the promised land, the judges, the kings, David, Solomon, and the healing of Ezekiel.

So read and learn, because in the beginning God made heaven and earth.✦ Read how in the beginning he planted a paradise of pleasure, and in it placed the man he had formed.✦ When he sinned, he expelled him and cast him down into the miseries of this world.✦ Read how the whole offspring of the human race descended from one man, how a wave then overwhelmed sinners, how divine mercy preserved Noah, a just man, with his sons in the midst of the waters, how Abraham then received the seal of faith, but after that Israel went down into Egypt, how God then led the sons of Israel out of Egypt by the hand of Moses and Aaron through the Red Sea, fed them in the desert, gave them the law, and settled them in the land of promise, how he often handed sinners over to the hands of their enemies, and again freed those who repented, how he first ruled the people through judges, and then through kings.✦✦ He took David as his servant from following the flocks.✦ He illumined Solomon with wisdom.✦ To Ezekiel, weeping, he added fifteen years.✦

From Captivity to the Coming of Christ

The story moves from Babylonian exile and return to the sending of Christ, the promise of eternal life, final judgment, and the unending mercies of the Lord from beginning to end.

Next he sent the transgressing people as captives to Babylon through the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. After seventy years he brought them back through Cyrus. Yet at the end, with the age already wavering, he sent his Son into flesh, and promised eternal life to the penitent, once the apostles had been sent into the whole world. He foretold that he would come at the end of the ages to render judgment, to give to each one according to their works—eternal fire to sinners, but to the just, eternal life and a kingdom without end. See, from the beginning of the world all the way to the end of the ages, the mercies of the Lord never fail.

Read the original Latin

Sic nimirum in doctrina fieri oportet, ut videlicet prius historiam discas et rerum gestarum veritatem, a principio repetens usque ad finem quid gestum sit, quando gestum sit, ubi gestum sit, et a quibus gestum sit, diligenter memoriae commendes. haec enim quattuor praecipue in historia requirenda sunt, persona, negotium, tempus et locus. neque ego te perfecte subtilem posse fieri puto in allegoria, nisi prius fundatus fueris in historia. noli contemnere minima haec. paulatim defluit qui minima contemnit. si primo alphabetum discere contempsisses, nunc inter grammaticos tantum nomen non haberes. scio quosdam esse qui statim philosophari volunt. fabulas pseudoapostolis relinquendas aiunt.

quorum scientia formae asini similis est. noli huiusmodi imitari.

Parvis imbutus tentabis grandia tutus.

ego tibi affirmare audeo nihil me umquam quod ad eruditionem pertineret contempsisse, sed multa saepe didicisse quae aliis ioco aut deliramento similia viderentur. memini me, dum adhuc scholaris essem, elaborasse ut omnium rerum oculis subiectarum aut in usum venientium vocabula scirem, perpendens libere rerum naturam illum non posse prosequi qui earundem nomina adhuc ignoraret. quoties sophismatum meorum, quae gratia brevitatis una vel duabus in pagina dictionibus signaveram, a memetipso cotidianum exegi debitum, ut etiam sententiarum, quaestionum et oppositionum omnium fere quas didiceram et solutiones memoriter tenerem et numerum! causas saepe informavi, et, dispositis ad invicem controversiis, quod rhetoris, quod oratoris, quod sophistae officium esset, diligenter distinxi. calculos in numerum posui, et nigris pavimentum carbonibus depinxi, et, ipso exemplo oculis subiecto, quae ampligonii, quae orthogonii, quae oxygonii differentia esset, patenter demonstravi. utrumne quadratum aequilaterum duobus in se lateribus multiplicatis embadum impleret, utrobique procurrente podismo didici. saepe nocturnus horoscopus ad hiberna pervigilia excubavi. saepe ad numerum protensum in ligno magadam ducere solebam, ut et vocum differentiam aure perciperem, et animum pariter meli dulcedine oblectarem.

haec puerilia quidem fuerant, sed tamen non inutilia, neque ea nunc scire stomachum meum onerat. haec autem non tibi replico, ut meam scientiam, quae vel nulla vel parva est, iactitem, sed ut ostendam tibi illum incedere aptissime qui incedit ordinate, neque ut quidam, dum magnum saltum facere volunt, praecipitium incidunt.

Sicut in virtutibus, ita in scientiis quidam gradus sunt. sed dicis: 'multa invenio in historiis, quae nullius videntur esse utilitatis, quare in huiusmodi occupabor?' bene dicis. multa siquidem sunt in scripturis, quae in se considerata nihil expetendum habere videntur, quae tamen si aliis quibus cohaerent comparaveris, et in toto suo trutinare coeperis, necessaria pariter et competentia esse videbis. alia propter se scienda sunt, alia autem, quamvis propter se non videantur nostro labore digna, quia tamen sine ipsis illa enucleate sciri non possunt, nullatenus debent negligenter praeteriri. omnia disce, videbis postea nihil esse superfluum. coartata scientia iucunda non est.

De libris autem qui ad hanc lectionem utiles sint, si quid mihi videatur, quaeris. hos magis frequentandos existimo: Genesim, Exodum, Iosue, librum Iudicum, et Regum, et Paralipomenon; Novi Testamenti, primum, quattuor evangelia, dehinc Actus apostolorum. hi xi magis ad historiam mihi pertinere videntur, exceptis his quos historiographos proprie appellamus. si tamen huius vocabuli significatione largius utimur, nullum est inconveniens, ut scilicet historiam esse dicamus, non tantum rerum gestarum narrationem, sed illam primam significationem cuiuslibet narrationis, quae secundum proprietatem verborum exprimitur. secundum quam acceptionem omnes utriusque testamenti libros eo ordine quo supra enumerati sunt ad hanc lectionem secundum litteralem sensum pertinere puto. et fortasse, nisi puerile videretur, in hoc loco aliqua de modo construendi praecepta interponerem, quia novi divinam scripturam magis ceteris omnibus in textu suo esse concisam, quibus tamen idcirco supersedere volo, ne nimia propositum interpositione extendam. sunt quaedam loca in divina pagina, quae secundum litteram legi non possunt, quae magna discretione discernere oportet, ne vel per negligentiam aliqua praetereamus, aut, per importunam diligentiam, ad id ad quod scripta non sunt violenter intorqueamus.

Hoc est ergo, o lector, quod tibi proponimus. hic campus tui laboris vomere bene sulcatus multiplicem tibi fructum referet. ordine cuncta gesta sunt: ordine incede. per umbram venitur ad corpus: figuram disce et invenies veritatem. nec hoc nunc dico ut prius Veteris Testamenti figuras labores evolvere, et mystica eius dicta scruteris, quam ad evangelii fluenta potanda accedas. sed sicut vides quod omnis aedificatio fundamento carens stabilis esse non potest, sic est etiam in doctrina. fundamentum autem et principium doctrinae sacrae historia est, de qua quasi mel de favo, veritas allegoriae exprimitur. aedificaturus ergo primum fundamentum historiae pone, deinde per significationem typicam in arcem fidei fabricam mentis erige.

ad extremum vero, per moralitatis gratiam quasi pulcherrimo superducto colore aedificium pinge.

Habes in historia quo Dei facta mireris, in allegoria quo eius sacramenta credas, in moralitate quo perfectionem ipsius imiteris. lege ergo et disce quia in principio fecit Deus caelum et terram. lege quia in principio plantavit paradisum voluptatis, in quo posuit hominem quem formaverat. peccantem expulit et in aerumnas huius saeculi deiecit. lege qualiter ab uno homine universa humani generis propago descenderit, qualiter deinde peccantes unda obruit, qualiter Noe iustum cum filiis suis in mediis aquis divina clementia servavit, qualiter deinde Abraham fidei signaculum suscepit, post vero Israel in Aegyptum descendit, quomodo deinde Deus filios Israel de Aegypto in manu Moysi et Aaron per mare Rubrum eduxit, in deserto pavit, legem dedit, in terra promissionis locavit, qualiter saepe peccantes in manus inimicorum suorum tradidit, et rursum paenitentes liberavit, quomodo primum per iudices, deinde per reges populum rexit. David servum suum de post fetantes accepit. Salomonem sapientia illustravit. Ezechiel flenti xv annos addidit.

dehinc praevaricantem populum captivum in Babylonem per manum Nabuchadonosor misit. post lxx annos per Cyrum reduxit. ad extremum vero, nutante iam saeculo, Filium in carnem misit, vitam aeternam paenitentibus, missis in mundum universum apostolis, promisit. venturum se in fine saeculorum ad iudicium praedixit reddere unicuique secundum opera sua, peccatoribus videlicet ignem aeternum, iustis autem vitam aeternam et regnum cuius non erit finis. vide quia, ex quo mundus coepit usque in finem saeculorum, non deficiunt miserationes Domini.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gen.1.1 — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
  2. ↩Gen.2.8 — And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
  3. ↩Gen.3.23-Gen.3.24 — So the LORD God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. Gen.3.24 — So he drove out the man, and he settled east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flaming sword that turns every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
  4. ↩Gen.17.11;Rom.4.11 — You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Rom.4.11 — And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that comes by faith while he was still uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe even though they are uncircumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them as well.
  5. ↩Gen.46.6 — They took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came to Egypt—Jacob and all his offspring with him.
  6. ↩Ps.78.70-Ps.78.71;2Sam.7.8 — He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds Ps.78.71 — From following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 2Sam.7.8 — Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel.
  7. ↩1Kgs.3.12 — Behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, and after you none shall arise like you.
  8. ↩Isa.38.5 — Go and say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.'

Notes

  1. 1 ↩gratia brevitatis: 'for the sake of brevity' is the natural reading; gratia could theoretically mean 'by the grace of brevity,' but the secular-pedagogical context favors the idiomatic sense.
  2. 2 ↩calculos in numerum posui: literally 'I placed calculations into a number'; the precise mathematical sense is uncertain — possibly reducing calculations to a numerical system or record. pavimentum carbonibus depinxi: 'I depicted a floor with charcoal,' likely referring to drawing geometric figures on a surface.
  3. 3 ↩The geometry is difficult to reconstruct with certainty: quadratum aequilaterum (equilateral square), embadum (oblong), podismo (foot/base). The sentence describes a geometric investigation involving a square and an oblong figure, but the precise theorem is unclear.
  4. 4 ↩horoscopus here likely means 'night watchman' or 'one who keeps watch at night' rather than the later astrological sense; context is nocturnal study vigils.
  5. 5 ↩numerum protensum in ligno magadam ducere: 'to draw a line extended to full length on wood with a ruler' (magadam likely a ruler or measuring stick); the sentence blends musical-pitch notation with the pleasure of study.
  6. 6 ↩The final ut (token 26) is ambiguous between comparative ('as') and negative-purpose ('so that... not'); context supports comparative reading introducing the simile of those who leap recklessly, so rendered with 'and not like'.
  7. 7 ↩comparaveris and coepers are ambiguous between future perfect indicative and perfect subjunctive; the conditional reading ('if you compare...you'll see') is adopted here as the most natural sense.
  8. 8 ↩enucleate is rendered 'thoroughly' (adverbial sense); the word could also be taken as a neuter ablative ('with thorough examination'). The sense is the same either way.
  9. 9 ↩Agricultural metaphor (campus, vomer, sulcatus, fructus) rendered in plain contemporary English; 'multiplicem fructum' rendered as 'a rich harvest' to capture the manifold sense naturally.
  10. 10 ↩umbra/corpus and figura/veritas express the hermeneutical movement from literal to spiritual sense; rendered as 'shadow/substance' and 'figure/truth' to preserve the theological contrast plainly.
  11. 11 ↩Purpose/result ambiguity of 'ut' after 'dico'; rendered as purpose ('so that you should') which fits the corrective intent. 'fluenta... potanda' rendered as 'drink from the streams' to keep the water metaphor concrete.
  12. 12 ↩Multiple architectural and spatial metaphors compressed: fundamentum, typica significatio, arx fidei, fabrica mentis. Rendered to keep the building image coherent: 'foundation,' 'structure,' 'citadel.' 'Fabrica mentis' rendered as 'the structure of your mind' to keep the architectural metaphor intact.

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