: Philip B. Jones
: The 'Secreto de los Secretos' A Castilian Version. A Critical Edition
: Digitalia
: 9781882528127
: 1
: CHF 53.80
:
: Mittelalter
: English
: 127
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: PDF

An authoritative study of the history and content of the famed didactic work with manuscript description and meticulous transcription of text. A must for Medieval scholars and students.
The Secretos de los secretos in Iberia (p. 1)

Its History, Content, and a Comparative Study

The Secretum secretorum, the Eastern versión of the Arabic text Sirr al-asr ar, and the Poridat de los paridades, the Western versión of the same, are didactíc"Politícal" works ascríbed to Aristotle. Because of their supposed authorship, the Secreto de los secretos enjoyed an immense popularity during the whole of the Middle Ages.

The evidence for this popularity lies in the existence of a great number of translatíons and adaptations in the Western European languages. A great many works were being translated out of the Arabic into the European languages, some of which were ascríbed to the famous Greek philosopher.

Perhaps the most widely circulated of these pseudo-Aristotelian writings was a"politeia" which claimed to be the secret counsel of the prudent teacher to his student, Alexander. It is a book of statecraft and political wisdom composed of letters and statements of communicatíon which, when adhered to, would enable the conqueror of the East to govern a diverse people.

This work ímpressed the people, who by simple logic, assumed that if they knew the words of wisdom and followed them, they, too, would be able to govern. The book is comprehensive, containing the methods of choosing counselors and dealing with people,as well as the knowledge of war machines, stones, and metáis.

In additíon, recommendatíons for the king`s conduct, ways of maintaining physical health by what he eats or drinks, and the knowledge of the seasons are included in the necessitíes of the"Governanees of Kings." The popularíty of such a book is almost assured, if not by rulers, then by those ruled, who, under the guise of Aristotle, were able to judge their rulers and to counsel them without fear.

Described as a deep secret, a mysterious wisdom of state, a book revealed only to Alexander, and now available to the reading world because of the interventíon of a Mohammedan Khalif, the Secretum secretorum was translated into various languages and numerous editíons.

Robert Steele, Moses Gaster, Lloyd Kasten, Hermán Knust, Richard Forster, and others have all given a brief history of the Secretum and indicated the popularity of the book. Although some of the concepts are Aristotelian, the text is believed to have originated in Syria perhaps in the eighth century. No earlier text has yet been found in Greek or Syrian.

The Arabic, then, serves as the original source of all the European Kitab sirr al-asrar texts. Found in two forms, commonly called the Eastern or Secretum secretorum and Western or Porídat de las paridades the book was translated into Latín.

It is not clear, however, whether all the texts in the vernacular were translated from the Latín text or had their sources in the Arabic. It is believed that Yuhanna ibn el-Batrik or Ibn Yahya al-Batrik (John son of the Patrician or Patrick) translated the Syrian text into Arabic for the Caliph of Ma`mun prior to 815 A.D. This is known as the short versión or Western versión.
CONTENTS8
ACKNOWLEDGMENT10
INTRODUCTION12
(History, Content, and Comparative Study)12
(Comparative Chart)22
(Chronological Chart)46
MANUSCRIPT DESCRIPTION68
DESCRIPTION of MANUSCRIPT TRANSCRIPTION70
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY72
Castilian Secreto de los secretos78