Richard of Thetford

Start of the Ars dilatandi sermones in the manuscript Merton 249

Richard of Thetford was a 13th-century English preacher and author. His religious affiliation is uncertain.[1] He may have been a monk of Thetford Priory.[2] In the margin of one manuscript, he is called a canon, which would associate him with the Holy Sepulchre Priory in Thetford.[3] A chaplain named Richard is recorded at the priory in 1247–1248.[4]

Thetford wrote a Latin manual on sermon composition of the ars praedicandi type, entitled Ars dilatandi sermones (Art of Amplifying Sermons).[5] It was one of the most widely copied of such manuals,[6][7] being extant in some form in at least 26 manuscripts.[8] In some manuscripts the work is misattributed to Albert the Great.[7] In others, it is combined with other material to form an extended ars misattributed to Bonaventure.[6] Thetford was also influential, being used by other preacher–writers, including Martin von Amberg, Olivier de Went, Ranulph Higden and Robert of Basevorn.[7]

Ars dilatandi sermones is primarily about the eight modes of expanding (dilating) a sermon. His sample text is 1 Corinthians 14:12.[6] The eight modes are:

(I) explaining a noun or name with a sentence, by definition, description, or etymology (interpretatio); (II) division of a concept (what other artes more properly call distinctio) with confirmation; (III) giving an argument; (IV) with fitting (concordantes) proof texts; (V) with different grammatical forms of the same word (degrees of comparison; compound verbs); (VI) developing the properties of an object; (VII) using the four senses of Scripture; (VIII) indicating causes and effects.[6]

His example etymologies cover Latin, Greek, English and French.[6] He recommends the exemplum as "of great use to layfolk, because ... graphic examples delight them."[9]

References

  1. ↑ Wenzel 2015, p. 7.
  2. ↑ Charland 1936, p. 80.
  3. ↑ Charland 1936, p. 80, noting that it is just possible that he is the Richardus de Totteford who sold his possessions to Waverley Abbey in 1263.
  4. ↑ Murphy 1974, p. 327.
  5. ↑ Wenzel 2015, p. 7. The translation of the title is from Murphy 1974, p. 326.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Wenzel 2015, p. 8.
  7. 1 2 3 Charland 1936, p. 77.
  8. ↑ Charland 1936, pp. 78–79.
  9. ↑ Wenzel 2015, p. 111.

Bibliography

  • Charland, Thomas-Marie (1936). Artes praedicandi: contribution à l'histoire de la rhétorique au Moyen Âge. Ottawa: Institut d'Études Médiévales.
  • Engelhardt, George J. (1978). "Richard of Thetford: A Treatise on the Eight Modes of Dilatation". Allegorica. 3: 77–160.
  • Murphy, James J. (1974). Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from Saint Augustine to the Renaissance. University of California Press.
  • Wenzel, Siegfried (2015). Medieval 'Artes Praedicandi': A Synthesis of Scholastic Sermon Structure. University of Toronto Press.
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