Sources of theNotabilia(1427), a medieval handwritten grammatical treatise from the Portuguese monastery of Alcobaça

A significant medieval Latin-Portuguese grammatical treatise, known as the Notabilia (1427), has been identified within the Cistercian Monastery of Alcobaça's collection, housed in the Portuguese National Library. This elaborate manuscript, comprising 31 chapters and potentially copied by two scribes, remains unpublished despite its complexity and historical importance. The study reveals that the Notabilia draws from multiple influential sources, including Donatus (mid-4th century), Priscian (late 5th to early 6th century), Alexander of Villa Dei (c.1170–c.1250), Giovanni Balbi de Genova (fl.1286–1298), and two pre-modist grammarians, Petrus Helias (c.1100–post-1166) and Robert Kilwardby (c.1215–1279). The treatise may also reference lesser-known works such as the Catalan-Aragonese grammaticae proverbiandi or Giovanni da Soncino's Italian Notabilia. This analysis sheds light on the intellectual and linguistic exchanges of the time, particularly within monastic and academic circles.

Fernandes, G. (2017). Sources of theNotabilia(1427), a medieval handwritten grammatical treatise from the Portuguese monastery of Alcobaça. Folia Linguistica, 51(s38-s1), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1515/flih-2017-0003