Zoologie et philologie dans les grands traités ichtyologiques renaissants

Abstract

Basing his study on the greatest treatises in ichthyology of latest medieval times and beginning of Renaissance (Hortus sanitatis and works of Paolo Giovio, Petrus Gyllius, Pierre Belon, Edward Wotton, Ippolito Salviani, Guillaume Rondelet, Olaus Magnus, Conrad Gesner), the author intends to show the great changes that happened between 1491 and 1556. Firstly, the author tries to observe what are the main classes in animal knowledge; based on Aristotle’s works, they are generally mixed up: in Middle Ages, scholars divide the informations between natura and operationes, whereas at the beginning of Renaissance they resort to a list of several distinctive features for each animal (food, housing, reproduction…). Secondly it is noted that each author’s scientific project depends on two main aspects: the way the author considers animal nature and the way he uses his sources. Thirdly, a few methodological changes can be noticed: the main place given to observation (and, consequently, to realistic representations) and the introduction of vernacular terms. Finally, if we can observe a real rupture in this period, we can nevertheless see that Gesner, the youngest ichthyologist, is also, regarding his methods, the most “medieval” scholar.

Keywords

• Hortus sanitatis
• ichthyology
• Renaissance
• philology
• zoology
• epistemology