| Keywords |
|
| ID |
2 |
| Text |
Liber in partibus Donati (800 - 812) Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel |
| Quotation |
...ut si dicas: “De palatio venio imperatoris et imperator mihi fuit locutus”, sic plenum habet intellectum, ac si proprium ponas nomen et dicas: “De palatio venio Caroli et Carolus fuit mihi locutus”. Et ideo ista duo inter propria rite possunt nomina computari. (…) Ergo si placet, sic istae quattuor propriorum nominum species iam hodie apud nos teneantur, ut dicamus praenomen ‘imperator’, et sit illi proprium dignitatis, quod nulli alio in suo convenit regno. Dicamus nomen ‘Carolus’, et sit illi proprium, quod accepit in baptismo. Dicamus ‘Francus’, et sit illi appellativum in genere suo cum ceteris. Dicamus ‘prudens’, et sit illi agnomen appellativum accidens ei extrinsecus. Dicamus et de praeteritis praenomen ‘rex’, nomen ‘Salomon’, cognomen ‘Hebreus’, agnomen ‘propheta’. Nam non omnibus poterunt ista quattuor convenire. |
| Translation |
If you say: ‘I’m coming from the emperor’s palace and the emperor talked to me’ you understand very well who is meant, just as when you use the individual name saying: ‘I’m coming from Charles’ palace and Charles talked to me. Therefore these two names (praenomen et nomen) can be rightly considered among the proper names …So, if you want, these four categories of the proper names could be maintained still nowadays as follows: we could say IMPERATOR as praenomen, and it would belong only to him according to his dignity, because it wouldn’t be adequate for anyone else in his realm. We could say CAROLUS as nomen, and it would be his individual name, because he received it through the baptism. We could say FRANCUS, and it would be his appellative name within his own kindred (genus), which he shares with the other members. We could say PRUDENS (prudent, farseeing), and it would be his appellative agnomen, given him from the outside. We could also use, talking about the past people, the praenomen REX, the nomen SALOMON, the cognomen HEBREUS and the agnomen PROPHETA. And in fact, these four names won’t be adequate for everyone. |
| Summary |
Smaragdus comments on Donatus`s explanation about the nature of the proper names, which were of four types in the ancient Roman onomastic system: praenomen, nomen, cognomen, agnomen. Smaragdus states that Charlemagne can be identified both through his own name Charles and through his title imperator/emperor, because one can refer only to him using the title "emperor". Charlemagne is also one of the very few people, who is worthy enough to carry, still in the present days, the four names of the ancient Roman tradition. His cognomen "Francus" declares his ethnic affiliation. His agnomen "prudent" reminds of a typically Christian virtue. The biblical King Salomon is another person who can carry the four Roman names. |
| Quotation source |
p. 29, 434 - 30, 455 |
| Temporal Coverage |
800 - 812 |
| Associated use case(s) |
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| Comment |
Charlemagne's appellation as "Imperator Carolus Francus Prudens" is a synthesis of the various identities he was supposed to embody: the Roman, the Germanic, and the Christian one. His cognomen derives from the people of the Franks, who are called "genus". Also King Salomo's cognomen results from his ethnic belonging. In the manuscript Paris, Bibl. Nat. 13029, written in Brittany after 818, the name of Carolus is always replaced by the name of Ludovicus. |
