Bibliography

Sinéad
O'Sullivan

6 publications between 1998 and 2012 indexed
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2012

edited work
Teeuwen, Mariken, and Sinéad OʼSullivan (eds), Carolingian scholarship and Martianus Capella: ninth-century commentary traditions on De nuptiis in context, Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 12, Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.  
abstract:
It is well known that the Carolingian royal family inspired and promoted a cultural revival of great consequence. The courts of Charlemagne and his successors welcomed lively gatherings of scholars who avidly pursued knowledge and learning, while education became a booming business in the great monastic centres, which were under the protection of the royal family. Scholarly emphasis was placed upon Latin language, religion, and liturgy, but the works of classical and late antique authors were collected, studied, and commented upon with similar zeal. A text that was read by ninth-century scholars with an almost unrivalled enthusiasm is Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, a late antique encyclopedia of the seven liberal arts embedded within a mythological framework of the marriage between Philology (learning) and Mercury (eloquence). Several ninth-century commentary traditions testify to the work’s popularity in the ninth century. Martianus’s text treats a wide range of secular subjects, including mythology, the movement of the heavens, numerical speculation, and the ancient tradition on each of the seven liberal arts. De nuptiis and its exceptionally rich commentary traditions provide the focus of this volume, which addresses both the textual material found in the margins of De nuptiis manuscripts, and the broader intellectual context of commentary traditions on ancient secular texts in the early medieval world.
abstract:
It is well known that the Carolingian royal family inspired and promoted a cultural revival of great consequence. The courts of Charlemagne and his successors welcomed lively gatherings of scholars who avidly pursued knowledge and learning, while education became a booming business in the great monastic centres, which were under the protection of the royal family. Scholarly emphasis was placed upon Latin language, religion, and liturgy, but the works of classical and late antique authors were collected, studied, and commented upon with similar zeal. A text that was read by ninth-century scholars with an almost unrivalled enthusiasm is Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, a late antique encyclopedia of the seven liberal arts embedded within a mythological framework of the marriage between Philology (learning) and Mercury (eloquence). Several ninth-century commentary traditions testify to the work’s popularity in the ninth century. Martianus’s text treats a wide range of secular subjects, including mythology, the movement of the heavens, numerical speculation, and the ancient tradition on each of the seven liberal arts. De nuptiis and its exceptionally rich commentary traditions provide the focus of this volume, which addresses both the textual material found in the margins of De nuptiis manuscripts, and the broader intellectual context of commentary traditions on ancient secular texts in the early medieval world.
article
OʼSullivan, Sinéad, “Obscurity, pagan lore, and secrecy in glosses on Books I-II from the oldest gloss tradition”, in: Mariken Teeuwen, and Sinéad OʼSullivan (eds), Carolingian scholarship and Martianus Capella: ninth-century commentary traditions on De nuptiis in context, 12, Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. 99–121.
article
OʼSullivan, Sinéad, “The stemmatic relationship between the manuscripts transmitting the Oldest Gloss tradition”, in: Mariken Teeuwen, and Sinéad OʼSullivan (eds), Carolingian scholarship and Martianus Capella: ninth-century commentary traditions on De nuptiis in context, 12, Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. 35–54.

2010

work
OʼSullivan, Sinéad, Glossae aeui Carolini in libros I-II Martiani Capellae De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis, 237, Turnhout: Brepols, 2010.  
abstract:

This edition presents a comprehensive view of the oldest gloss tradition on books I-II of Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, a key text for Carolingian scholars. It furnishes descriptions of all extant manuscripts transmitting these glosses and outlines their stemmatic relationship. The relevant centres of glossing activity are indicated. The glosses are accompanied by an apparatus of variants both to text and gloss as well as by a source apparatus and traditio textus to the glosses. The edition of glosses is organized by lemma and in categories according to the nature of the content. Additions of second and third hands are noted. The comprehensiveness made possible by thorough examination of all extant manuscripts brings into focus the layering of annotations over time, the close cooperation between scribes, the presence of a ‘core’ corpus of annotations and the range and variety of material across the tradition. More generally, the glosses provide insight into how Martianus was read and understood in the ninth and tenth centuries. Martianus’ rich blend of astral religion, classical mythology and pagan tradition had an enormous impact on Carolingian commentators. The earliest tradition of glossing on De nuptiis thus supplements our knowledge of how pagan culture was received in the early medieval West, raising important questions about the nature of this reception.

abstract:

This edition presents a comprehensive view of the oldest gloss tradition on books I-II of Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, a key text for Carolingian scholars. It furnishes descriptions of all extant manuscripts transmitting these glosses and outlines their stemmatic relationship. The relevant centres of glossing activity are indicated. The glosses are accompanied by an apparatus of variants both to text and gloss as well as by a source apparatus and traditio textus to the glosses. The edition of glosses is organized by lemma and in categories according to the nature of the content. Additions of second and third hands are noted. The comprehensiveness made possible by thorough examination of all extant manuscripts brings into focus the layering of annotations over time, the close cooperation between scribes, the presence of a ‘core’ corpus of annotations and the range and variety of material across the tradition. More generally, the glosses provide insight into how Martianus was read and understood in the ninth and tenth centuries. Martianus’ rich blend of astral religion, classical mythology and pagan tradition had an enormous impact on Carolingian commentators. The earliest tradition of glossing on De nuptiis thus supplements our knowledge of how pagan culture was received in the early medieval West, raising important questions about the nature of this reception.

2001

article
OʼSullivan, Sinéad, “The image of adornment in Aldhelm’s De virginitate: Cyprian and his influence”, Peritia 15 (2001): 48–57.  
abstract:
An examination of the image of adornment in Aldhelm’s De virginitate, detailing the influence of Cyprian, an important transmitter of patristic thinking on the subject. Aldhelm transforms the image from a purely physical idea to a spiritual one, seeing it as a symbol of inner virginity.
abstract:
An examination of the image of adornment in Aldhelm’s De virginitate, detailing the influence of Cyprian, an important transmitter of patristic thinking on the subject. Aldhelm transforms the image from a purely physical idea to a spiritual one, seeing it as a symbol of inner virginity.

1998

article
OʼSullivan, Sinéad, “Aldhelm’s De virginitate—patristic pastiche or innovative exposition?”, Peritia 12 (1998): 271–295.