Liber manualis

16/08/2016, 21:01

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Liber manualis Dhuoda.
Fragments
Editions

Dhuoda, Manuel pour mon fils, intro., text and notes by Pierre Rich, French trans. by B. Vregille and C.
Mondsert, Paris, Du Cerf, 1975. (Sources Chrtiennes, 225).
Dhuoda, The Liber Manualis of Dhuoda: Advice of a Ninth-Century Mother for Her Sons, ttext and English
trans. by Myra Ellen Bowers. PhD thesis. Catholic University of America, 1977.
Dhuoda, Educare nel Medioevo. Per la formazione di mio figlio. text and Italian trans. by Gabriella Zanoletti,
Milan, Jaca Book, 1982.
Translations

Dhuoda, La educacin cristiana de mi hijo, Castilian trans. by Marcelo Merino. Pamplona, Eunate, 1995.
Duoda, De mare a fill. Escrits duna dona del segle IX, Catalan trans. by Merc Otero Vidal. Barcelona,
LaSal, 1989.
Dhuoda, Handbook for William: A Carolingian Womans Counsel for Her Son, English trans. by Carol Neel.
Lincoln and London, University of Nebraska Press, 1991.
Register

Dhuoda, countess of Barcelona and marchioness of Septimania, encourages her son Guillermo to frequently
read the book that she wrote for him to relieve the pain of their separation and so that he might always
remember that in it he will find the testimony of his birth and, also, all the wisdom that he will need to be
useful in the world and to find spiritual happiness.

http://www.ub.edu/duoda/diferencia/html/en/primario13.html

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Liber manualis

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Version

In Name of the Holy Trinity

The manual that Dhuoda dedicated to her son Guillermo begins.
Most of the mothers of this world are able to enjoy the closeness of their children, whilst I Dhuoda, find
myself so far from you, my son Guillermo, and consequently full of anxiety and of the desire to be useful to
you; that is why I am sending you this little written work of mine, so that you can read it and be educated; I
will be happy if, although I am absent in body, this very book makes you think, when you read it, of what,
out of love for me, you should do.
[...]
Prologue
There are many things that are evident for many that for me are hidden; If I say of my fellow women of
confused notions, lacking in intelligence, that they are lacking, the more so am I. But it is always present that
which opens the mouth of the dumb and makes the tongues of little girls and boys eloquent (Sb. 10, 21). I,
Dhuoda, although of delicate sensitivity, living unworthy amongst worthy women, am, however, your
mother, my son Guillermo, and I address you now with these words in my manual, so that, like the game of
dice seems to young people to be the most convenient and adequate amongst the worldly arts, or, also, like
some women as a habit examine their faces in the mirror to get rid of imperfections, bringing out their
clarity, since they take great pains to please their husbands in the world, in the same way I ask you that, when
you are grieved by the amount of worldly and temporal activities, you might often read this little book that I
address to you, and, in memory of me, as if it were a matter of mirrors and of games of dice, not neglect it.
Although you will have more and more books, give yourself the pleasure of often reading this little work of
mine, and be capable, with the help of all-powerful God, of understanding it for your own benefit. You will
find in it, in brief, everything that you might wish to know; you will also find a mirror where you will be able
to contemplate without hesitation the state of health of your soul, in such a way as to not only please the
world but that you might also please in everything Him who has shaped you out of the dust of the earth (Gn.
1,7)): because it is absolutely necessary for you, my son Guillermo, in both matters to show yourself in such
a way as to be useful to the world and to have the courage to always please God in everything.
What most concerns me, oh son Guillermo, is to address these words of salvation to you, amongst which my
ardent and attentive heart rises up in flames so that you might have, in this little book in codex, out of my
desire, testimony of your birth, with the help of God, as is more usefully ordered in what follows.
Original text

In nomine Sanctae Trinitatis

Incipit liber Dhuodane Manualis quem ad filium suum transmisit Wilhelmum.
Cernens plurimas cum suis in saeculo gaudere proles, et me Dhuodanam, o fili Wilhelme, a te elongatam
conspiciens procul, ob id quasi anxia et utilitatis desiderio plena, hoc opusculum ex nomine meo scriptum in
tuam specietenus formam legendi dirigo, gaudens quod, si absens sum corpore, iste praesens libellus tibi ad
mentem reducat quid erga me, cum legeris, debeas agere.
[...]

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Incipit prologus
Multis plura patent, mihi tamen latent, meae quoque similes, obscurato sensu, carent intellectu, si minus
dicam, plus ego. Adest semper ille qui ora aperit mutorum et infantium linguas facit disertas.Dhuoda
quanquam in fragili sensu, inter dignas uiuens indigne, tamen genitrix tua, fili Wilhelme, ad te nunc meus
sermo dirigitur manualis, ut, ueluti tabularum lusus maxime iuuenibus inter ceteras artium partes mundanas
congruus et abtus constat ad tempus, uel certe inter aliquas ex parte in speculis mulierum demonstratio
apparere soleat uultu, ut sordida extergant, exhibentesque nitida, suis in saeculo satagunt placere maritis, ita
te obto ut, inter mundanas et saeculares actionum turmas oppressus, hunc libellum a me tibi directum
frequenter legere, et, ob memoriam mei, uelut in speculis atque tabulis ioco, ita non negligas.
Licet sint tibi multa adcrescentium librorum uolumina, hoc opusculum meum tibi placeat frequenter legere,
et cum adiutorio omnipotentis Dei utiliter ualeas intelligere. Inuenies in eo quidquid in breui cognoscere
malis; inuenies etiam et speculum in quo salutem animae tuae indubitanter possis conspicere, ut non solum
saeculo, sed ei per omnia possis placere qui te formauit ex limo; quod tibi per omnia necesse est, fili
Wilhelme, ut in utroque negotio talis te exibeas, qualiter possis utilis esse saeculo, et Deo per omnia placere
ualeas semper.
Sunt mihi curae multae, ad te, o fili Wilhelme, uerba dirigere salutis, inter quas ardens et uigil meus aestuat
animus, ut tibi de tua, auxiliante Deo, natiuitate, in hunc codicem libelli ex meo desiderio habeas
conscriptum, sicut in sequentibus est utiliter praeordinatum.
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2004-2008 Duoda, Women Research Center. University of Barcelona. All rights reserved. Credits. Legal
note.
Credits

Scentific Direction: Maria Milagros Rivera Garretas

We are thankful to the Research Project from the Instituto de la Mujer I + D entitled: "Entre la historia
social y la historia humana: un recurso informtico para redefinir la investigacin y la docencia" (I+D+I
73/01) for its financial support to this project.
Institut Catal de la Dona de la Generalitat de Catalunya and the Agrupaci de Recerca en Humanitats de la
Universitat de Barcelona for they contribution to its development (22655).
Technical Direction: Dr. scar Adn
Executive Production: Dr. Sonia Prieto
Edition: Marta Garca
Correction: Gemma Gabarr
Catalan Translation: David Madueo
English Translation: Caroline Wilson
German Translation: Doris Leibetseder

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Liber manualis

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Italian Translation: Clara Jourdan

Legal note

Copying or reproduction in whole or in part by whatever means is prohibited without express written
authorization.
The texts, data and information contained in these pages are free for personal use. However, written
permission from Duoda, Women Research Center is required for their publication in any medium or for their
use, distribution or inclusion in other contexts accessible to third parties.
2004-2008 Duoda, Women Research Center. University of Barcelona. All rights reserved.
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I. Editions
II. Translations
III. Register
IV. Version
V. Original text

Related Essays

1. 1. Neither Private Nor Public Women: The Personal is Political, Mara-Milagros Rivera Garretas.
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Dhuoda:
Dhuoda was a cultured Frankish noblewoman of Germanic mother tongue, born around the year 803. On the
29th June 824 she got married in the palace chapel of Aquisgrn to Bernard of Septimania, second nephew of
Charlemagne, becoming Marquess of Septimania and Countess of Barcelona, Gerona, Ampurias and
Roselln. She lived in Uzs, where, on the 29th November 826, her most desired son Guillermo was born;
almost fifteen years later, on the 22nd March 841, her son Bernard was born. Shortly afterwards, her husband
took away the two boys, to use them as pawns in his power interests. To relieve her pain and help them to
think about her and be educated according to her desire, Dhuoda wrote to them then, in Latin, a manual book
that is, a book to carry and have to hand-. She began it on 30th November 841 and she finished it on 2nd
February 843, still without knowing what name had been given to her small son.

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