Llibre de Menescalia

The Llibre de Menescalia, is a Catalan manuscript, translated into Spanish as Libro de Albeytería,[1] that became the reference veterinary work about horses of the 15th and 16th centuries. It should be brought to mind" that, in those days, the Catalan language, had spread throughout the Mediterranean, apart from being understood in a broad part of Europe for its similarity to Occitan (which includes Gascon, Provençal, etc..), the Lombard, the Milanese, etc ... The book had as well, a great success in Castile, for it was translated into Spanish in 1499 and republished in that language several times. The work consists of two books. The first, Book of Menescalia, deals with the external anatomy of the horse, qualities that must concur for the choice of the parents, coat, the way to raise the foal, etc. The second, Treatise of the Menescalia of the mules, is about the mules widely used in Catalonia.[2]

Llibre de Menescalia

First editions

Manuel Dieç compiled by order of Alfonso V, between 1424 and 1436, the information about equine veterinary medicine provided by the most famous professors in the army and the classical and modern texts he could find, forming with them a Book of the Art of Menescalia[3] Aragonese translation published in Zaragoza by Pablo Hurus, in 1499. Manuel Dieç's book of menescalia became in the 15th century and during the 16th century the reference work in equine medicine. The original manuscript of 1436, was translated into Spanish in 1499, Aragonese, Portuguese, Neapolitan, French… and is cited as a reference in works printed in Paris, Mexico, Bologna or Nuremberg.

Content

The manuscript, of which there is some copy extant, consists of two books.[4] The first, Llibre de menescalia (Book of Menescalia ), is the longest, with an extension of more than ninety chapters, most of which deal with the external anatomy of the horse, qualities that must concur for the choice of the parents, coat, the way of breeding the foal, etc. The second Tractat de la menescalia de les mules (Treatise on the Menescalia of Mules ) is about the mule, qualities related to its exterior and how to administer their food. It emphasizes in this work the clarity and good method with which the author set out the same ideas, as well as the fact of being the first work of these characteristics to tie the horse with astronomy-astrology, although does not contain any worthy advance of consideration, in the opinion of Pedro Darder.[5] In all probability the author knew other texts on the subject, such as Cirujia del cavall (Horse Surgery) by Gallien Corretger, Giordano Ruffo's Treatise on Menescalia and The Book of Horses from Theodoric Borgognoni. The Aragonese from Sos Martín Martínez de Ampiés translated this book into Spanish and had it printed in Toledo (1507).

His work inspired authors such as Salvador Vila with Dels nodriments dals cavalls i de les mules (Of the nurriture of horses and mules, etc. ), Juan Álvarez de Salamiellas ( Libro de menescalia y de albeitería y física de las bestias ), Rinni ( Anatomia del cavalo infirmitate i suo remedyii ), etc. That book was spread in handwritten copies and also printed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in its original Catalan version (Barcelona 1515 and 1523) and in Spanish (Zaragoza 1495, 1499 and 1545; Toledo 1507, 1511 and 1515), etc..[6]

Author of the Book of the Coch

We know because it is written in the title of the printed book that the author of the Llibre del Coch was called " Master Robert "[7] and that he was a cook of "King Ferdinand of Naples",[7] but we do not know if he was born in Nola,[7] in Noia,[8] or elsewhere, nor "does anyone know who was this personage"[7] only that he was "a native of Catalonia".[9]

The chapter “De offici de mestre de Estable” ( that describes some obligations of the charge: "Master of horse keepers"), says very clearly:“E de aquesta materia nom curaré més de parlar-ne ara perquè en lo llibre de Menescalia ja molt largament n'he parlat:...”(“.. about this matter I will be carefull of not speaking now because in the book of Menescalia I have already spoken very lengthily...”),[10] therefore it is obvious to suppose that the author of the “Llibre del Coch,” and the author of the “Libre of Menescalia”[11] should be the same person: mossen Manuel Dieç, butler of the king Alfonso the Magnanimous; at later date, Mestre Robert de Nola (if he ever existed, for the name could be invented) would have copied the lost original ms., written by Manuel Dieç. (See folio VIIIr or in Wikitexts: Page: Llibre del Coch (1520) .djvu / 9 )[10]

References
  1. Ru (1568). Libro de Albeytería'. en la estampa de P.
  2. Acta historica et archaeologica mediaevalia, pàg. 201. Edicions Universitat Barcelona, 1994. ISBN 8447504549
  3. Lluis Cifuentes y Carmel Ferragud, "El Libre de la menescalia de Manuel Dies: de espejo de caballeros a manual de albéitares", en Asclepio vol. LI (1-1999), pp. http://asclepio.revistas.csic.es/index.php/asclepio/article/viewFile/325/323
  4. Lluis Cifuentes y Carmel Ferragud, "El Libre de la menescalia de Manuel Dies: de espejo de caballeros a manual de albéitares", en Asclepio vol. LI (1-1999), pp. http://asclepio.revistas.csic.es/index.php/asclepio/article/viewFile/325/323
  5. Pedro Darder, Cirugía veterinaria: Tomo 1-2, Julián Viñas, 1860, p. 41
  6. Biblioteca colombina-menescalia
  7. Cuina medieval catalana, pàg. 52, Eliana Thibaut i Comalada
  8. Cuina medieval catalana, pàg. 16, Eliana Thibaut i Comalada
  9. Conquista y comida: consecuencias del encuentro de dos mundos, pàg. 24. Janet Long, Ed. UNAM, 2003. ISBN 9703208525 (in Spanish)
  10. Rupert de Nola (1568). Libre del coch. en la estampa de Pau Cortey y Pedro Malo. pp. 7–.
  11. Manuel Díez (1518). Libro de albeytería nuevamente corregido y emendado [e] añadidas en el sesente y nueve preguntas. Jorge Coci.

Bibliography
  • CIFUENTES, Lluís i FERRAGUD, Carmel: El Libre de la menescalia de Manuel Dies: de espejo de caballeros a manual de albéitares, Asclepio, Revista de Historia de la Medicina y de la Ciencia, Vol 51, n 1, (1999), pàg. 93-127; Edita Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; ISSN 1988-3102
  • Manuel Díez i el seu manual de menescalia | Sciència.cat (sciencia.cat) c.
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