NORMOTIPO

NORMOTYPE. – An individual whose characteristics, both in terms of constitution, temperament, and disposition, present values equal to the statistical “norm.”

According to N. Pende, the normotype must embody such normative perfection not only in physical appearance but also in the dynamic-humoral, intellectual, and moral spheres; under these conditions, he admits only a theoretical type, denying its practical realization. In contrast, Quetelet and Viola affirm its existence in the percentage of 1.3%, though basing this solely on the morphological aspect (constitution).

In particular, Viola distinguishes two varieties of normotype: the superior paracentral type (with body mass above the statistical norm) and the inferior paracentral type (with body mass below the norm); in both, however, the equilibrium of the relationships proper to normotypy would be preserved, particularly in the troncocartic aspect. Viola’s superior paracentral normotype would correspond to the athletic type of German constitutionalists and to De Giovanni’s second morphological combination.

BIBL.: M. Barbara, I fondamenti della biotipologia umana, Milano 1929; N. Pende, Trattato di biotipologia umana induttiale e sociale, ivi 1939; id., La scienza moderna della persona umana, ivi 1949; M. Martiny, Essai de biotipologie humaine, Paris 1948; M. Bufano, Trattato di patologia medica, I, Milano 1950.

ALESSANDRO MAROLLA

NORMANCHI, NORMANCHIO

NORMANCH

Bishops of the diocese: Dudley Charles Cary-Elwes (1908–21), Laurence Youens (1921–32), Laurence Youens (1933–39), and Thomas Leo Parker after 1941.

The diocese contains within its boundaries many important historical sites: Cambridge, Bury St Edmund’s, home to the glorious abbey where the body of St Edmund, martyr, was venerated; Fotheringay, where Mary Stuart was executed; Wisbech, where priests were imprisoned during the persecution; Walsingham, a shrine and pilgrimage destination second only to Loreto, of which it was a copy; Framlingham Castle, where Mary the Catholic in 1551 moved against rebellious heretics. It also produced illustrious martyrs for the Church, including the blessed: Everard Hanse (1581), John Payne (1582), Robert Southwell (1595), Henry Morse (1645), etc., and the venerables Richard Drury (1607), Henry Heath (1643), etc.

Bibl.: The Catholic Directory, London 1950, pp. 257–69. Enrico E. G. Rope