More's Epigrams of 1518, usually associated with More's humanist phase, contain a number of poems designed as meditations on proper attitudes towards the goods of fortune. Special attention is given to how phrasing and argumentation used in the Epigrams reappears within a number of More's later works, including Last Things, Treatise on the Passion, and A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation. Both briefer and longer examples are discussed, the latter including More's more elaborate description of the world as prison (Epigram 119) and fame as an insubstantial wind (Epigram 132). Numerous parallels between the arguments of these epigrams and his later works, written for “spirituall profytt” ( The Correspondence of Sir Thomas More, ed. Elizabeth Frances Rogers [Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1947], 531), are examined, giving us insights into the writings of the humanist More. As much of his earlier English poetry, some of the More's Latin poems were written with an eye towards “the happy continuannce and graciouse encreace of vertue” ( CW 1:51/20–21)
{"title":"“Our very prison this earth is”: the world as prison and other images common to More's Epigrams and later works","authors":"Bradley Ritter","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0150","url":null,"abstract":"More's Epigrams of 1518, usually associated with More's humanist phase, contain a number of poems designed as meditations on proper attitudes towards the goods of fortune. Special attention is given to how phrasing and argumentation used in the Epigrams reappears within a number of More's later works, including Last Things, Treatise on the Passion, and A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation. Both briefer and longer examples are discussed, the latter including More's more elaborate description of the world as prison (Epigram 119) and fame as an insubstantial wind (Epigram 132). Numerous parallels between the arguments of these epigrams and his later works, written for “spirituall profytt” ( The Correspondence of Sir Thomas More, ed. Elizabeth Frances Rogers [Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1947], 531), are examined, giving us insights into the writings of the humanist More. As much of his earlier English poetry, some of the More's Latin poems were written with an eye towards “the happy continuannce and graciouse encreace of vertue” ( CW 1:51/20–21)","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":" 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138611276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This essay argues for a particular purpose in the section of the Dialogue during which Anthony argues to Vincent that the world is, properly understood, a prison. Anthony, in the vein of Socrates, challenges Vincent by presenting questions and arguments—sometimes even deliberately simplified arguments—that force Vincent into a deeper engagement with the relevant issues, and hence to an improved clarity. Specifically, Anthony Socratically pushes Vincent better to appreciate the enormous gulfs between human and divine perspectives on the relevant issues. By realizing the limits of his own human-centered assumptions, Vincent is able to deepen and elevate his understanding of the points at hand. It is by means of this new orientation that Vincent is able to find peace, a victory over his passions, as is implied by the Latin word for “conquer” embedded in his name.
{"title":"The prison analogy in Thomas More's A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation","authors":"Joshua Avery","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0151","url":null,"abstract":"This essay argues for a particular purpose in the section of the Dialogue during which Anthony argues to Vincent that the world is, properly understood, a prison. Anthony, in the vein of Socrates, challenges Vincent by presenting questions and arguments—sometimes even deliberately simplified arguments—that force Vincent into a deeper engagement with the relevant issues, and hence to an improved clarity. Specifically, Anthony Socratically pushes Vincent better to appreciate the enormous gulfs between human and divine perspectives on the relevant issues. By realizing the limits of his own human-centered assumptions, Vincent is able to deepen and elevate his understanding of the points at hand. It is by means of this new orientation that Vincent is able to find peace, a victory over his passions, as is implied by the Latin word for “conquer” embedded in his name.","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":" 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138618202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The essay examines More’s 1535 letter to Antonio Bonvisi. It compares the epistle, as a whole and in its salutation and valediction, with the humanist epistolary conventions expressed by Erasmus and discovers that More often, but not always, ignores Erasmian precepts. The essay argues that More’s rhetorical choices deepen our understanding of his enactment of friendship in the letter and of More’s self-understanding near the end of his life.
{"title":"Epistolary precepts and the expressions of friendship in More’s 1535 letter to Bonvisi","authors":"Benjamin V. Beier","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0152","url":null,"abstract":"The essay examines More’s 1535 letter to Antonio Bonvisi. It compares the epistle, as a whole and in its salutation and valediction, with the humanist epistolary conventions expressed by Erasmus and discovers that More often, but not always, ignores Erasmian precepts. The essay argues that More’s rhetorical choices deepen our understanding of his enactment of friendship in the letter and of More’s self-understanding near the end of his life.","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":"122 40","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138608345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The medicinal metra of Boethius’ Consolatio remade by More in manipulation of Menippean elements in the Dialogue of Comfort","authors":"Barbara H. Wyman","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0149","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":" 50","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138614094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“Good Christian readers” and Thomas More's A Treatise upon the Passion","authors":"Stephen W. Smith","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0153","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":"331 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138625675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Drawing near to God: Lady Philosophy as physician in the Consolation","authors":"Andrew T. Seeley","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0148","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0148","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":" 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138611475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Kent Cartwright, Shakespeare and the Comedy of Enchantment","authors":"Scott F. Crider","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0142","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42458679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Concepción Cabrillana, Tomás Moro: Diálogos de Luciano. Introducción, traducción del original latino y notas","authors":"Frank Mitjans","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0144","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48807314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The presumption of innocence in the early writings of St. Thomas More","authors":"D. Duncan, Daniel J. Tocci","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0140","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48616904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Travis DeCook, The Origins of the Bible and Early Modern Political Thought: Revelation and the Boundaries of Scripture","authors":"Michael A. Dauphinais","doi":"10.3366/more.2023.0143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/more.2023.0143","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41939,"journal":{"name":"MOREANA","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44838077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}