Panel 7
Understanding the world
Around 1350, Provost Johannes van Myrle († 1355) established himself as a major patron for Sint-Truiden Abbey. Using his own funds, he commissioned the (likely lay) scribe Willem de Dycka to copy four large-format manuscripts, including the Catholicon, the Rationale divinorum officiorum, and the two-volume Speculum historiale.
Mirror of History (Speculum historiale)
The two-volume Speculum historiale (copied by Willem de Dycka in 1350 and 1352) constitutes the historical section of Vincent of Beauvais's famous 13th-century encyclopedia, the Speculum majus, and traces universal history from the Creation to 1254.
The famous author Jacob van Maerlant translated and adapted this Latin encyclopedic universal history in the late 13th century (c. 1283–1288) into Middle Dutch (in verse), thereby making world history accessible to those in the Low Countries who did not master Latin.
Much more than simple piety
When thinking of the library of a medieval abbey, one thinks of Bibles, books of hours, and hagiographies. But abbeys such as Sint-Truiden were much more than mere places of prayer.
To better understand the world and be able to govern, teach, and maintain it, the monks gathered knowledge on almost every imaginable subject: from linguistics and physics to history, law, and medicine.
In an age lacking the Internet or printed reference works, encyclopedias and universal chronicles were indispensable. They brought together the gigantic sum of human knowledge in one or several volumes.
Monks, scholars, and administrators consulted these works not only to study, but also to properly understand Latin texts and interpret history.
In medieval thought, faith and science were not opposed; they complemented each other. To understand God, one also had to understand His creation and the history of humanity.
The drawings in the margin contain exuberant and humorous depictions, such as jousting monkeys riding goats, monkey-heralds playing instruments, hunting scenes, and falconers.