Also known as:
Alexander Neckam;
Latin: Alexander Nequam
NECKAM (Nequam), ALESSANDRO. - Polymath and educationist, b. at St. Albans (England) in the year
1157, d. at Kempsey (Worcestershire) in 1217. He was educated at St. Albans, then became master of the school at Dunstable. Before 1180 N. went to Paris, where he devoted himself also to the study of medicine and the natural sciences: and he also taught the liberal arts. Having returned to his homeland in 1186, he resumed the direction of the school at Dunstable, then became a regular canon at Cirencester, where in 1213 he was elected abbot.
A man of vast culture, a poet and a prolific writer, as an "encyclopedist" N. stands between Isidore and Albertus Magnus. As regards literary genre, his works occupy an eminent place in didactic poetry. Of broad views, he applied himself to the study of the ancient classics. A distinguished grammarian, he also knew Hebrew, and in his biblical exegesis there are found beginnings of textual criticism. His study of nature presents immediate and valuable observations; N. is the first European author to mention the compass. His works are therefore a source of great value for the history of culture.
Many writings, especially theological ones, are still unpublished. Among his biblical commentaries mention should be made of: Expositio in Cantica canticorum; Glossa super psalterium; Tractatus super parabolas Salomonis; Moralia super Evangelia lib. IV. He left other treatises, commentaries and sermons, poems and fables.
Bibliography7 worksTexts: Alexandri N. De naturis rerum II. duo... De laudibus divinae sapientiae, ed. Th. Wright, London 1863, pp. 1-354, 357-503; for the poe
BIBL.: Texts: Alexandri N. De naturis rerum II. duo... De laudibus divinae sapientiae, ed. Th. Wright, London 1863, pp. 1-354, 357-503; for the poems, ed. A. Scheler, in Jahrbuch für romanische und englische Literatur, 7, pp. 60-74, 155-73; fables, ed. E. P. Méril in Poésies inédites du moyen-âge... Paris 1854, pp. 169-75, 262-67; Studies: [W. Hunt], s. v. in Dict. of nation. biogr., XIV, p. 154; [C. R. Beasley], s. v. in The Encyclopedia Britannica, XVI, p. 188 f.; Manitius, III, pp. 775 f., 784-94; E. R. Curtius, Europäische Literatur und latein. Mittelalter, Bern 1948, p. 57 f.
Huber, Agostino. “Neckam (Nequam), alessandro.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, coll. 1725–1726. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/neckam-nequam-alessandro.
MLA
Huber, Agostino. “Neckam (Nequam), alessandro.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, coll. 1725–1726. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/neckam-nequam-alessandro.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec8_neckam_nequam_alessandro,
author = {Huber, Agostino},
title = {Neckam (Nequam), alessandro},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VIII},
pages = {1725--1726},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/neckam-nequam-alessandro}
}
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