Advances in the History of Rhetoric Jan 2004

The Controversia of Anselm de Besate

Beth S. Bennett University of Alabama

Abstract

Abstract In eleventh century Italy, Anselm de Besate claimed rhetoric had become too technical and difficult to use. He wrote the Rhetorimachia as a controversia, applying declamatory form to a written composition, in order to illustrate rhetoric's usefulness. Nonetheless, Anselm complained that critics failed to understand this intent. Contemporary readers, unfamiliar with the declamatory tradition, have also misunderstood the intent of his controversia. Here, I compare Anselm's controversia with those found in Seneca the Elder and with the declamatory pedagogy of Quintilian, showing that Anselm was imitating a well-established tradition of educational practice as well as displaying his rhetorical artistry.

Journal
Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published
2004-01-01
DOI
10.1080/15362426.2004.10557222
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Topics
classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy
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References (15) · 1 in this index

  1. Bennett (1991)
    “The Rhetoric of Martianus Capella and Anselm de Besate in the Tradition of Menippean Satire.”
    Philosophy and Rhetoric
  2. Bennett (1987)
    The Significance of the Rhetorimachia of Anselm de Besate to the History of Rhetoric
    Rhetorica
  3. Benner (1977)
    Education in Ancient Rome: From the Elder Cato to the Younger Pliny.
     ↗
  4. Benner (1949)
    Roman Declamation in the Late Republic and Early Empire.
  5. [Cicero] (1977 [1954])
    Ad C. Herennium: De ratione dicendi (Rhetorica ad Herennium).
Show all 15 →
  1. Edward (1928)
    “Introductory Essay.”.
  2. Manitius (1958)
    Gunzo Epistola ad Augienses und Anselm von Besate Rhetorimachia.
  3. Morgan (1998)
    Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman World.
  4. Murphy (1974)
    Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from Saint Augustine to the R…
  5. Petronius (1986)
    Petronius: The Satyricon and Seneca: The Apocolocyntosis.
  6. Quintilian (1980)
    Institutio oratoria.
  7. Seneca the Elder (1974)
    Controversiae Suasoriae.
  8. Southern (1953)
    The Making of the Middle Ages.
  9. Sussman (1987)
    “Introduction.”.
  10. Winterbottom (1984)
    “Introduction.”.
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