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14
MarekOtisk
7
th
century
4
.However,duringtheperiodbetweenthe7
th
and9
th
century,we
havenoevidenceofactiveuseofanyformofthistoolintheLatinChristian
environment
5
.Nevertheless,asignificantchangetookplaceinthelastquarter
ofthe10
th
century,whenmonasticandcathedralschoolsgraduallybeganusing
theabacus,ascanbeobservedinpreservedwrittensourcesreferringtoabacus
calculations
6
;itwasalsointhisperiodthatthefirsttextsdedicatedtomethods
ofcalculationontheboardabacuswerewritten,accompaniedbyimagesde-
pictingthiscalculatingtable.
ItispreciselytheabacusoftheLatinpre-scholasticMiddleAgeswhich
willbethemainobjectofinterestofthisarticle.Byanalysingthetwooldest
survivingdescriptionsoftheabacus(byRicherofReimsandBerneliusthe
youngerfromParis),togetherwithapairoftheoldestimagesofthecalculating
toolpreservedinmanuscripts(betweentheendofthe10
th
andbeginningof
the12
th
century),Iwillattempttoprovideadetaileddescriptionofthisarith-
metictoolwhichprovedtobeasourceofgreatfascinationinitstimeformany
intellectuals,andwhichisalsoknownastheGerbert’sabacus(afterthecivil
nameofPopeSilvesterII)inperiodtexts.Duetoitsfrequentuseinmonastic
schools,itisalsooftencalledthemonasticabacus.
Afterprovidingabriefhistoricaloverview,thefocuswillshiftmainlyto
thedescriptionandanalysisoftheindividualpartsoftheabacus,whilepri-
maryemphasiswillbeputonthesurvivingdescriptionsandimagesofthetool
fromtheendofthe10
th
andbeginningofthe11
th
centuryaswellasmutual
comparisons.Anattemptwillalsobemadetoexplaincomplementaryinfor-
mationontheabacusesfromthatperiod.
II
Thereisclearevidence,datingbacktothelastthirdofthe10
th
century,that
earlymedievalEuropebegantoreturntotheuseoftheabacus.Themainini-
4
SeeMartianusCapella:Denuptiis…VI,579,p.204;VI,706,p.251;VII,725,
p.259;resp.VII,729,p.261.
5
AlthoughthecommentariesontheMartianworkmentiontheabacus1seeRemigius
Autissiodorensis:CommentuminMartianumCapellam,libriIII1IX.Ed.C.E.Lutz.Lei-
den1965,p.21.
6
SeeforexampleW.vonSpeyer:Libellusdestudio.Ed.K.Strecker.Monumenta
GermaniaeHistorica.Poetae.T.5/1.Leipzig1937,pp.1691173;orNotkerderDeutsche:
Boethius‚DeconsolationePhilosophiae.Ed.P.W.Tax.In:DieWerkeNotkersdesDeutschen.
Bd.1.Tübingen1986,pp.19120.
