Etymological Dictionary of Old French (DEAF)
The DEAF is a basic dictionary of Old French covering the period from 842 to the mid-14th century. The entries are arranged alphabetically by word families and are compiled according to strict philological principles (Ad fontes!). Further information can be found in our brief description. The project draws on the entire corpus of Old French literature, which is cataloged in the separately published Complément bibliographique. The publication appears online in DEAFél (DEAF électronique) as well as in print in installments of 192 columns. We leave the assessment of the work accomplished to others; here, we will content ourselves with presenting a few exemplary results that illustrate the encyclopedic aspects of the work.
Duration: 1984 to 2021
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Why Old French?
Old French spans the period from 842 to the mid-14th century, an era that is fundamental to contemporary European history. Of central importance in this regard are, above all, the cultural and social transformations that took place in the context of the Renaissance of the 12th and 13th centuries: Building on ancient scholarship and enriched by Islamic and Jewish scholars, an Enlightenment spirit—initially taking shape in France—evolved into a form of scholarship critical of dogma, which spread throughout Europe and led to the birth of universities. It was here that the transition from a clerical culture to a lay culture—usually attributed to the age of Humanism—began. Developments in other areas of European culture during the 12th and 13th centuries can also be summarized under the term translatio studii from Greco-Roman antiquity to the French Middle Ages: The rapid development of the sciences finds parallels, for example, in the flourishing of vernacular literature and the emergence of chansons de geste, in the golden age of Romanesque art and the birth of the Gothic style, as well as in the revival of Roman law as the foundation of the European legal system.
The linguistic medium of the socio-cultural transformations described was, alongside Medieval Latin, above all Old French as the most influential vernacular language of the European Middle Ages. The number and geographical origin of the surviving sources give an impression of the historical significance of Old French: Its corpus comprises many thousands of texts originating not only from France but also from England, Cyprus, and the Holy Land, where French was the language of the ruling class for centuries. The prestige of Old French is also evident in an extensive Franco-Italian literary tradition—for example, the Venetian Marco Polo recounted his travels in Old French—and in its influence on alloglot literary traditions: Thus, the most important representatives of the Middle High German classical period (Wolfram von Eschenbach, Hartmann von Aue, and Gottfried von Straßburg) adapted French models in their romances. The commentaries by Rashi and his students from the 11th to the 13th centuries, which contain many thousands of Old French glosses, are still preserved today in all major Jewish editions of the Bible.
Historical lexicography makes a central contribution to research into the cultural foundations of Europe and thus to a better understanding of our present-day world by viewing vocabulary as the key to Europe’s cultural memory and thereby contributing to the holistic integration of historical and cultural knowledge. Given its central importance for the European Middle Ages, Old French appears particularly well-suited to serve as the linchpin of such a research approach. At the same time, the interdisciplinary nature of historical lexicography—understood as part of a comprehensive cultural studies—requires the integration of related philological disciplines—Medieval Latin, German studies, Semitic studies, Jewish studies, etc. —as well as the incorporation of historical studies, particularly disciplines focused on the history of ideas and social history, such as the history of science, the history of ideas, and the history of mentalities. By shedding light on the dynamics of language and extralinguistic culture in the context of the European Middle Ages, the historical lexicography of Old French can fulfill the goal of achieving a historically grounded understanding and evaluation of our contemporary world.
Heidelberg Cod. Pal. lat. 1969
The Devil in a manuscript (ca. 1375) of *La Pelerinage de Vie humaine* by Guillaume de Digulleville
The DEAF is a basic dictionary of Old French. It is part of the long European tradition of humanities research in general and lexicography in particular, a field in which the German-speaking world plays an important role. The DEAF covers the period from 842 (the date of the Strasbourg alliance between Louis the German and Charles the Bald against Lothair I, recorded in Old High German and Old French) to the middle of the 14th century (the boundary between this period and Middle French, based on philological and sociocultural criteria).
All available materials are analyzed: dictionaries, glossaries, and literary and non-literary texts. The card index currently contains 1.5 million cards, which refer to approximately 12 million examples. From this vast corpus, the DEAF presents all Old French words with all their meanings, organizing them according to the dictionary’s entry structure. The DEAF is published in book form and online as DEAFél, in an in-depth scholarly format as DEAFplus, and as a digitized and pre-structured collection of materials in DEAFpré. The cited materials are cataloged in the DEAF Bibliography, which catalogs all texts, manuscripts, and editions; classifies them within the history of belles-lettres and scholarly literature; dates and locates them; and critically evaluates their quality. Since Old French has been well preserved, the sheer volume of sources is virtually overwhelming.
The DEAF is an etymological dictionary, meaning it explains the origin of words, the evolution of their meanings, and their continued use. To clarify the relationships, the vocabulary is organized into families. The headword in each case is the Old French word that developed directly from the etymon. The presentation of etymology takes neighboring languages into account, such as the continued use of the etymon in other Romance languages or borrowings from Old French into German (example: Galopp and galoppieren).
Bible moralisé, Vienna Manuscript 2554, ca. 1225, f°60v°b
First illustration of a gooseberry bush
Each meaning of a word is summarized in a definition. This definition is structured in the traditional way: a general term is narrowed down through defining characteristics until its scope of meaning is clear. For example, gravoire is defined not only as “stylet” (i.e., “stylus”), but also as “petit stylet dont on se servait pour faire la raie” (“small stylus used to part the hair”). Each definition is illustrated by one or more contexts, which are not copied from dictionaries but are generally taken from primary sources (Ad fontes!). No matter how precise a definition may be, it only comes to life through a well-chosen context (cf. the practice of the Duden). This is especially true for a dictionary covering a bygone era, since we are unlikely to develop an active feel for older stages of the language. The context can often provide additional information not included in the definition (e.g., that a “Frisiergriffel” can be made of ivory or bone). You can find a typical DEAF entry here.
Here, the dictionary enters the realm of the encyclopedia—an aspect that is particularly important for a historical dictionary. The contexts and explicit factual information in each individual entry enhance the DEAF’s value for the entire field of medieval studies. This is also why the dictionary does not primarily cite the oldest context, but rather the one(s) that are most meaningful for illustrating the meaning and providing encyclopedic content, e.g., gibeline "Sable," ce sunt gibeline et ermin... e mantes autres chieres bestes (Marco Polo): Sable and ermine were expensive furs at the end of the 13th century.
Manuscript, Paris BN fr. 1548, fol. 14r: a man who travels around the world
Encyclopedic text from the year 1246
Since 2008, the DEAF editorial team, in collaboration with the Karlsruhe Institute for Program Structures and Data Organization, has been developing an electronic editorial and publication system (DEAF Dictionary Writing System—DEAF-DWS). Given the remaining duration of the project, a two-stage approach was adopted: the letters D, E, and F—which, for reasons of the history of science, represent the “black hole” of Gallo-Roman lexicography—are being lexicographically documented largely in the customary manner.
The results will be published both in print and online. At the same time, all materials pertaining to the letters A–C and L–Z are being lemmatized and assigned a rough semantic structure in order to preserve the data already compiled for these parts of the alphabet in the long term and make it accessible for further lexicographical processing. These pre-structured materials are published exclusively in electronic form as DEAFpré. In addition to saving time—particularly in classifying and structuring the materials—and providing convenient search options, computer-assisted editing and publication offer, for the first time, the opportunity to make the scholarly resources compiled by DEAF accessible to a broad audience while simultaneously storing them in a format suitable for long-term digital archiving.
A user interface for the DEAF-DWS article editing system
Ad Fontes!
Hardos is one of those rather unassuming entries in Volume H that is nonetheless well-suited to illustrating the defining characteristics of the DEAF: scholarly rigor, innovation, and efficiency. Precisely because of its simple structure, this example is clear and compelling.
Hardos does not appear in any of the dictionaries written in the 20th century, nor is it found in those by Lacurne (1875–1882) and Godefroy (1880–1902). It appears in Henschel’s 1850 supplements to Dom Carpentier’s glossary (1766), following Du Cange (1678). The source of the entry is listed as “Roman de Roncevaux, pag. 44,” which is not particularly informative, since this title could refer to several different texts. The text in question can ultimately be identified as a version of the Song of Roland found in the Châteauroux manuscript; so our word—assuming it actually exists—does not come from some dusty document of dubious standing, but, as we can confidently state once again, from one of the manuscripts of the famous Song of Roland, a masterpiece of French and European literature. The most scientifically reliable edition of this text, by Foerster (1883), contains no glossary, and the two verses cited by Henschel do not reveal the broader context of the scene in which hardos is supposed to appear, leaving no other option but to skim through the text.
The result justifies the effort: The word is indeed found in this manuscript of the text. Henschel had not defined hardos, so the word must now be subjected to a semantic and etymological analysis. A reading of the broader context, familiarity with the complete work, and a comparison with related manuscripts in which the reading ardos appears make it clear that this must be a qualifying adjective used to describe an abyss or a deep well. The etymological trail, based on the one hand on an attested form and on the other on a reasonably clear semantic concept, leads to arduus “steep, arduous,” which was the subject of an article by Gilles Roques as part of the revision of the French Etymological Dictionary (FEW). The identification of the word yields initial findings and raises further questions: hardos is the oldest representative of the entire family in the Gallo-Roman linguistic area, and the ending stands alone (attested only once more in a Neo-Provençal word that is certainly independent): is our form the result of a word-inheritance process or a derivation? Has the Latin suffix -uus truly disappeared without leaving a trace, except in a few scholarly loanwords (including, notably, ardu)? The relevant articles in the FEW, as well as the morphological studies consulted, provide no answer.
As for the literary aspect, our word reveals a deliberate departure from the fairy-tale and magical elements in the development of the various versions of the Song of Roland. In the archaic Oxford Roland, the titular hero tries in vain to break Durendal, his sacred sword; as he dies, he finally hides it beneath his body so that it does not fall into the hands of the enemy pagans. The author or editor of the Châteauroux version of *Roland*, on the other hand, considers it more appropriate to have the holy sword vanish forever into a poisoned abyss inaccessible to humans. This can be understood as an indication of a shift in mentality: As a child of his time, the 13th-century author views the world somewhat more realistically than his counterpart at the turn of the 11th to the 12th century. This realism—though still far removed from the modern era—may have inspired him to make the change.
The question remains: Is it worth sacrificing several hours of a researcher’s life for a word like this? On the one hand, it must be said, the question cannot be posed in this way, for after all, it is the researcher’s declared mission to serve the advancement of knowledge and science to the best of their ability: Any other stance would contradict the scientific self-image and amount to a waste of resources. On the other hand, and while acknowledging the validity of the question, it is the results themselves that must provide the answer—results that almost inevitably emerge within the framework of pure and serious research. In the case of hardos, this means: An obscure word from a neglected source was located and identified; thanks to the newly discovered oldest example of a word family, the younger members of this family appear in a different light; the discussion of a morphological question can be revitalized; the understanding of an important text is enhanced by considerations of the history of mentalities—a small piece has been added to the mosaic that constitutes our picture of the past. It seems to be a rich harvest for such a small word, and proof that research is always worthwhile, even with such unassuming words as hardos.
Light from the Middle Ages
“Neither the human soul nor the human brain has demonstrably grown in historical times; their capacities were already fully developed long ago! Therefore, our presumption that we live in an age of moral progress is utterly ridiculous when compared to times of great peril, whose unbridled power of the ideal will soars toward heaven in a hundred soaring cathedrals.”
[Jacob Burckhardt, Reflections on World History]
About 150 years have passed since Jacob Burckhardt made this statement. Nevertheless, the prejudice against the “Dark Ages” persists. The following examples are intended to illustrate this and, at the same time, show how the analysis of medieval texts can lead to new assessments not only in terms of language but also in terms of specialized fields and historical context.
Botany
![First illustration of a gooseberry bush, Bible moralisée, Hs. Wien 2554 f°60v°b [ca. 1225]](/sites/default/files/styles/max_1300x1300/public/2026-01/groseill_1.jpg.avif?itok=lFXT02yt)
Interdisciplinarity in Circulus vitiosus:
Paleoethnobotany dates the gooseberry to the 12th century. The French word for gooseberry (and red currant), groseille, is similarly dated by lexicographers. This consistency inspires confidence. However, an examination of the sources reveals that the botanists did not base their conclusions on excavations, illustrations, or similar evidence, but rather on the dating of the French word groseille! Their date, the 12th century, is therefore worthless. Research shows that from the 9th through the 12th century, the word referred to the buckthorn; it was not until the 13th century that it came to refer to the gooseberry. Incidentally, the DEAF cites the first illustration of a gooseberry bush: *Bible moralisée*, Vienna manuscript 2554, ca. 1225, f°60v°b.
Astronomy
What we know: “In the West, however, during the same period [i.e., the Middle Ages], virtually no development in astronomy can be observed. Furthermore, for a long time, the Earth was once again regarded as flat.” [dtv Atlas of Astronomy 15]. This view is a scientific myth of the 19th and 20th centuries that continues to persist in the 21st century.
What the Middle Ages Tell Us:
Image du monde, encyclopedic text from the year 1246 (Manuscript Paris BN fr. 1548 f°14r°): homme qui va entour le monde (Caption for the illustration: Man walking around the Earth)
Introductory Treatise on Astronomy, an astronomical treatise from the year 1270. Chap. IV 2: And for this reason, the world was created in such a globular shape (= the shape of a ball); we say that this is the shape that most closely approaches perfection, for in its roundness it has neither end nor beginning. (And so the Earth was created round, with the properties of a globe—in the shape of a sphere—since that is the form that most closely approaches perfection, for in roundness there is neither beginning nor end.) [Ed. Stephen Dörr]
Grammar
What we know: “It can be said that at the beginning of the 16th century, there was no French grammar.” » (C. Demaiziere, La grammaire française au XVIe siècle: Les grammairiens picards, Paris 1983, p. 29)
What the Middle Ages Tell Us:
The beginning of the Old French adaptation of Ars minor by Donatus (Manuscript Berner Burgerbibliothek 439, f°76r°, 2nd half of the 13th century): How many parts of speech are there? viii. etc. Nouns and participles govern and are governed. Li pronons est gouvernés et si ne gouverne mie. (How many parts of speech are there? Eight, etc. Nouns and participles govern and are governed. The pronoun is governed and does not govern itself. [Ed. Thomas Städtler])
The *Grand Larousse de la Langue Française* (1973), vol. 3, p. 2273b, lists the following as the earliest attestation of gouverner “to govern” in a grammatical context: 1757, Encyclopédie.
Mathematics
What we know: “Apart from isolated, often random exchanges, the picture of European learning capabilities in the field of scientific culture is also bleak,”, writes the FAZ on November 4, 1992, noting a general “ignorance of highly developed Arabic mathematics” during the Middle Ages.
What the Middle Ages Tell Us:
From Jean de Murs’s *Quadripartitorum numerorum* from the year 1343: I again multiplied the sixth root of a certain sum by its fifth root and added ten times that sum plus the number 20, and all these were equal to the square of that sum. What is the value of x?
Expressed as an equation, this gives:
√ 6x √ 5x + 10x + 20 = x²
From the Praktike de geometrie (3rd quarter of the 13th century): Calculation of the area of a circumscribed circle in an equilateral triangle with a side length of 14 feet: If you draw a compass inside the triangle as large as you can, it will contain .50 feet and a quarter of a foot and the 7th part of a quarter of a foot.
Result: 50 2/7 square feet.
Medicine
What we know: “After Galen [late 2nd century], no further anatomical studies were conducted. Autopsies were once again condemned as repulsive and cruel and deemed unnecessary. The Christian belief in the resurrection of the flesh may have reinforced the resistance to anatomy. The Western Middle Ages had hardly any knowledge of Galen’s anatomical writings.” (Der Neue Pauly. Encyclopedia of Antiquity, Anatomy [Preprint 1996])
What the Middle Ages Tell Us:
Gui de Chauliac’s description of the autopsies performed by Mondino dei Luzzi and Niccolò Bertruccio in Bologna since 1315 is clear enough: as discussed by Master Dimus of Bologna, who has written on this subject and has performed the dissection many times. And my teacher, Master Bertuces, in this manner would seat the dead man on a bench and give four lessons: the nutritive members, the spiritual members, the members that have a soul. In the fourth, he discussed the extremities (according to Master Dimus of Bologna, who has written about this and performed dissections on corpses many times. My teacher, Master Bertuces, would place the dead person on a bench and use it to teach four lessons: the organs nourished by blood and those nourished by the spirit, and the organs that possess a soul. In the fourth lesson, he discussed the extremities [Ed. Sabine Tittel].
Conclusion
The variety of perspectives and examples may bring to mind a kaleidoscope. Beautiful individual tiles tumble about, creating ever-changing, captivating images. But appearances can be deceiving. The DEAF does not see itself as a kaleidoscope, but rather as a mosaic. Each tile is crafted with the utmost scientific precision; one resembles the other in structure. It is a vast puzzle that comes together to form a picture conveying a vivid and historically accurate impression of an important era in European history. The DEAF’s dictionary structure serves as the window that opens up a view of the Middle Ages.
Former Research Center Directors
Founder of the research project
- Prof. Dr. Kurt Baldinger
Former staff members (as of the project’s conclusion in 2020)
- Maud Becker
- Dr. Stephen Dörr
- Marcus Husar (IT)
- Prof. Dr. Frankwalt Möhren
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Städtler
- Dr. Sabine Tittel
Members of the Advisory Committee
- Prof. Dr. Immo Appenzeller (Heidelberg)
- Prof. Dr. Marie Guy Boutier (Liège)
- Prof. Dr. Eva Buchi (Nancy)
- Prof. Dr. Jean-Paul Chauveau (Nancy)
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Field (Baltimore)
- Prof. Dr. Martin Glessgen (Zurich)
- Prof. Dr. Frank-Rutger Hausmann (Freiburg), Vice Chair
- Prof. Dr. Christian Mair (Freiburg)
- Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Raible (Freiburg), Chair
- Prof. Dr. Gilles Roques (Nancy)
- Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schweickard (Saarbrücken)
- Prof. Dr. Maria Selig (Regensburg)
- Prof. Dr. Achim Stein (Stuttgart)
Collaborating Partners of the DEAF and Its Staff
Knowledge Networks in Medieval Romance Speaking Europe (ALMA) - ALMA, HAdW
Analysis and Computer Processing of the French Language – ATILF, Nancy
Anglo-Norman Dictionary, Aberystwyth
Dictionary of Middle French – DMF, Nancy
Galloromanic Linguistic Documents, University of Zurich
Electronic Dictionary of Old Gascon – DAGél
The Values of French, King’s College, London
TRansfer Of Literature and Learning to the NORRøn World – TrollNorr, University of Bonn
Database of Phantom Words, ATILF, Nancy
The editors of DEAF are signatories of the BERLIN APPEAL “CULTURAL HERITAGE IS THE FUTURE OF EUROPE”.
See European Cultural Heritage Summit.
Comments on DEAF
David Trotter, Romanische Forschungen 123 (2011), pp. 287–290 [288–289]:
“In a scientific context where long-term projects are struggling, it is reassuring to see that the DEAF has not run out of steam. Credit is due not only to the editors and the scientific committee, but also to the Heidelberg Academy, which supports them. [...] This volume lives up to its predecessors and only serves to underscore the importance of the DEAF, particularly in two respects: with regard to the historical lexicography of French, and also for its exemplary role in lexicographical methodology. Anyone who wants to learn how to compile a dictionary will benefit from reading the DEAF. [...]
Old French was not only an exporter but also an importer of words (many of which would be passed on to neighboring languages). It played a crucial role in the transmission of knowledge and as a language of culture throughout the educated world of Europe at that time. For those familiar with it, the DEAF has become the essential key to accessing and understanding this world.”
Ralph Dutli, Literarisches Echo:
In a postscript to his essay “Flying Donkeys. The Impossible Poetry of the Fatrasies,” which concludes the volume of his Fatrasie translations, Ralph Dutli writes: “Another stroke of luck: When I moved from Paris to Heidelberg in 1994, I had no idea that I was also moving to a city where Old French, so to speak, maintained a diplomatic mission. It is in Heidelberg, of all places—where I live—that the DEAF (‘Dictionnaire Etymologique de l’Ancien Français’) is taking shape, an admirable undertaking to document all Old French words in terms of their meaning and etymology. A team of five (Stephen Dörr, Marc Kiwitt, Frankwalt Möhren, Thomas Städtler, Sabine Tittel) is hard at work on this silent cathedral made entirely of words. If even the air along the Neckar is allowed to buzz with Old French words, then a journey to the Fatrasien is not out of place—a journey to the River Scarpe, which flows through Arras. Poetry is the river that unites all rivers beyond space and time. A message to friends: Scarpe diem, Neck-Arras.” (Ralph Dutli, Fatrasien. Absurd Poetry of the Middle Ages, 2010, p. 138)
Gilles Roques, “Typology of Glossaries in Editions of Medieval French Texts,” Doctoral Seminar No. 1: Languages and Glossaries, Liège, May 17, 2010 (Eurolab: Dynamics of Vernacular Languages in Renaissance Europe. Actors and Places), pp. 6–7. Available online at eurolab.meshs.fr):
“[...] The fact is that the author of a glossary must also be informed about issues in lexicology. In this regard, reliable guides are needed, and, based on the principle that a good lexicographer is a dead lexicographer, I will cite three names whose works are constantly on my mind: Lecoy 1984 and 1988, Henry 1960 and 1996, and Baldinger 1990. As for living scholars, I will cite Möhren 1986 and Städtler 1988, pillars of the monumental *Dictionnaire étymologique de l’ancien français* (DEAF), which is driving the revival of studies on the Old French lexicon, Trotter 2005, who leads the remarkable *The Anglo-Norman Dictionary* (AND), and Matsumura 1999, who is an excellent expert on our ancient texts and regionalisms.”
Giovanni Palumbo, Medioevo Romanzo 33 (2009), p. 230:
“As usual, the various entries contain, scattered here and there, veritable micro-essays on philology, which provide a sort of permanent review of all the standard critical editions.”
David Trotter, Romanische Forschungen 121 (2009), pp. 550–552:
“No one understands better than dictionary editors that, despite their status and authority, dictionaries are never definitive. For a long time now, however, the DEAF has been defying this rule, evolving over the years and across its installments into a quasi-definitive work—and in any case, one that is unparalleled and irreplaceable. The first three installments of J demonstrate once again why. First, a well-coordinated and well-trained team. [...] Second, the rigor and—perhaps above all—the intellectual honesty that have long characterized the DEAF. [...] Third (or first...) guarantee of quality: the thoroughness of the work on the texts (ad fontes), whether to verify the meaning of an attestation or to provide content for the entries. [...] A fourth aspect of the DEAF worth highlighting: a constant and commendable commitment to innovation. [...] Finally, the fifth strength is a visibly close and effective collaboration with other lexicographic projects and with other researchers. [...] The typographical presentation is excellent; the binding has withstood the winds of the beaches of the Côtes d’Armor (formerly: the North Coast), where we read these three fascicles. At the library, too, the DEAF is highly recommended to specialists in the French language, whether they are medievalists or not, because, as we have already noted, it is a dictionary that, with great expertise, retraces not only the history of the Old French lexicon, but of the French language itself.”
Gilles Roques, “Lexicographical Tools and Lexical Materials in the Field of Medieval French,” in: Maria Colombo/Monica Barsi (eds.), Historical Lexicography and Lexicology of French. Bilans et perspectives, Monza (Polimetrica) 2008, pp. 25–50 [30]:
“Continued and perfected by a student of Baldinger, F. Möhren, who has just been succeeded by a student of both, Th. Städtler, it constitutes a superb philological achievement of German scholarship, written in French, at a time when German scholarship had, in fact, abandoned the field of philology—at least as it pertains to French.”
Philippe Ménard, Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 123 (2007), pp. 361–354 [364]:
“We owe the editors a great deal of gratitude for the admirable perseverance they demonstrate. By slowly scrutinizing the old texts, they discover, hidden in the shadows, words and meanings that had eluded readers who were too skilled and too hasty. Beneath the dust of the centuries, they find gold.”
Robert Martin, Romania 123 (2005), pp. 236–238:
“The compilation of the DEAF continues with a rigor worthy of the highest praise. Following G and H (and the corresponding indexes), the letter I has now been completed and work on the letter J is well underway. The method remains unchanged: one is dazzled by the wealth of documentation and by the exemplary precision of its treatment.”
Philippe Ménard, Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 120 (2004), pp. 544–547:
“This volume shares the same characteristics as the previous ones: numerous investigations conducted on the sources themselves, in difficult cases on the manuscripts, corrections of dates and meanings, attention paid to the earliest attested instances, extensive information on spellings, discussion of traditional interpretations, analysis of technical texts, deliberate search for rare words and isolated usages, corrections made to the FEW, and significant contributions—particularly in this volume—to the vocabulary of 14th-century scholarly texts.”
David Trotter, A Companion to Ancrene Wisse (2003), p. 89:
“The groundbreaking Dictionnaire Etymologique de l’Ancien Français (DEAF) in Heidelberg (1971–) contains, in its richly detailed discussions of etymology, usage, and semantics, by far the most comprehensive treatment of the lexicon of medieval French that has yet been attempted. It is gratifying to note that Anglo-French is fully integrated into this most impressive dictionary.”
Gilles Roques, Revue de Linguistique romane 65 (2001), p. 272:
“The valiant team at the DEAF continues to pick up the pace, which bodes well for its future—a future to which an ever-growing number of us are deeply committed [...] the method is perfect, and we are already looking forward to the first volume of I, which is already in press.”
David Trotter, French Studies 55 (2001), pp. 582–83 [582]:
“The publication of the final fascicle of the DEAF’s ‘H’ is of major significance not only for those working on French (both modern and medieval), but also for the history of the influence of the Germanic languages (English, Dutch, and various forms of German) on French. [...] By any standard, the DEAF is a remarkable dictionary, and these four fascicles (an index is to follow) confirm the depth and breadth of its analysis. [...] What the DEAF provides is nothing less than a complete, meticulously detailed rewriting of the history of French vocabulary [...].»
Remo Bracchi, Salesianum 63 (2001), pp. 419–20:
“This fascicle [=H3] contains masterful treatments—both from the perspective of the philological reconstruction of the forms that have been handed down and from that of the outline of their semantic profile or etymological comparison. Historical erudition and linguistic acumen come together to provide us with articles that are true monographs in their own right.”
Takeshi Matsumura, Language, Information, Text 7 (2000), pp. 89–94 [94]:
“While awaiting the next installment, one should read and reread this issue of the DEAF, which the team led by Frankwalt Möhren has produced with exemplary meticulousness.”
Takeshi Matsumura, Revue de Linguistique romane 62 (1998), pp. 265ff.:
“Here we find the fruits of their work, which has become a tradition: in-depth reflection on etymology (see hardi¹, etc.), precision regarding the evolution of usage, critical analysis of sources [...], identification of a primary meaning underlying the various occurrences [...], and examination of hapaxes. When one considers the small number of contributors, one cannot help but admire the accelerated pace, which in a sense seems like a race against the clock. [...] The DEAF, which must be read and reread constantly, deserves “selfless assistance” from “researchers and language enthusiasts.”
Franz Lebsanft, Revue de Linguistique romane 62 (1998), pp. 262ff.:
“We are grateful to its meticulous editors, who deserve great credit for taking stock of a discipline so fundamental to the history of the French language and in constant evolution (through the expansion and refinement of source materials as well as shifts in perspective) and for establishing the standards for any future undertaking in historical lexicography.”
May Plouzeau, Revue des Langues romanes 101 (1997), pp. 237ff.:
“... In short, the brilliance of this young dictionary puts all its predecessors to shame. It goes without saying that the content is worthy of this presentation, and there is no room for doubt: the dictionary has found its rhythm; the work breathes with the vitality of a healthy being, and within this living organism, the head and the members harmoniously share the tasks.”
Jean-Pierre Chambon, Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 107 (1991), pp. 179–181 [181]:
“It goes without saying that, as it stands, the DEAF is and remains at the forefront of French lexicography and lexicology, within which it has carved out a unique place and plays an extremely stimulating role.”
Jean-Pierre Chambon, Journal of Romance Philology 105 (1989), pp. 532–535 [533]:
“The facts are established with truly exemplary rigor, the analyses are meticulously conducted, and nothing is ever left in the dark. It must be said—or reiterated—here that the DEAF is not merely what its title suggests: it is also the finest model for describing the lexicon of a medieval Romance language. [...] In short, this is a major contribution to Romance lexicology.”
Johannes Kramer, Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur 99 (1989), pp. 291–293 [293]:
“The most important benefit of the etymological commentary in the DEAF is certainly that it documents the current state of the discussion and thus represents the update of the corresponding FEW entries that has undoubtedly become necessary after several decades. The DEAF thus, so to speak, puts a stop to the FEW becoming obsolete [...].»
Hans Dieter Bork, Journal of Romance Philology 87 (1975), pp. 102–109 [106]:
“The DEAF does not merely compile unverified external materials, but verifies them—in some cases down to the manuscript level—and increasingly draws on its own excerpts.”
Max Pfister, Journal of Romance Philology 91 (1975), pp. 176–188 [187–188]:
In addition to the substantial supplementary material on the two Old French standard works *Gdf* and *TL*, the *DEAF* will become indispensable for all medievalists due to its outstanding philological and etymological commentary, which lays a new foundation for Old French lexicology and textual criticism. [...] The methodological approach adopted, the clear layout of the publication, and the pace of work and publication demonstrated thus far are exemplary. In the interest of ensuring the continuous continuation of this research, one can only hope that the necessary funding for this important foundational work will continue to be available.
Honor for Frankwalt Möhren
Highest Honor for Frankwalt Möhren"> On March 23, 2018, Frankwalt Möhren was elected as an Associé étranger de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (AIBL).
He thus holds one of the 40 seats reserved for associés étrangers in this oldest French learned society, founded in 1663.
Heidelberg Lexicographical Months
As part of the “Heidelberg Lexicographical Months,” the DEAF offers young researchers a four-month internship during which they receive an introduction to lexicographical and textual-philological methods.
Presentation for the Glossaire des Patois de la Suisse Romande
On September 12, 2018, Sabine Tittel gave a presentation in Neuchâtel as part of the "Inauguration of the Glossaire des Patois de la Suisse Romande web portal." Under the title “The Latest Developments in the Electronic DEAF Toward the Semantic Web as Linked Open Data,” Ms. Tittel presented the possibilities for transforming dictionary data into the RDF graph format.
Presentation for the workshop of the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
On October 9, 2018, in Leipzig, Sabine Tittel participated in the workshop “(Digital) Forms of Publication” organized by the eHumanities Working Group of the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities and delivered a presentation titled “The Use of RDFa for Linking the Online Edition and Online Dictionary of Medieval French.”
Presentation at the Euralex 2018 Conference
On July 18, 2018, she gave a presentation in Ljubljana as part of the International EuraLex Conference, titled “Historical Corpus and Historical Dictionary: Merging Two Ongoing Projects of Old French by Integrating Their Editing Systems." The publication can be found at here.
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Lecture as part of the European Master of Lexicography (EMLex) 2018
On March 23, 2018, Sabine Tittel gave a lecture in Nancy at the Université de Lorraine as part of the European Master of Lexicography program -- EMLex 2018 -- on the DEAF: "People, Paper, Online, Ongoing. The Dictionnaire étymologique de l'Ancien Français (DEAF) and its place in eLexicography".
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Workshop on RomaniO
On March 19 and 20, 2018, a workshop on the research project “RomaniO” was held at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. – Ontology of the Worlds of Life and Knowledge in the Romance-Speaking Middle Ages Based on Transversal Case Studies in Law, Medicine, and Astronomy.” The DEAF, under the direction of Sabine Tittel, organized this workshop, which was funded by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It brought together around 20 experts from the disciplines of French, Occitan, Gascon, and Italian philology, as well as applied computational linguistics (from Germany, Italy, and Switzerland). The participants delivered keynote presentations on various topics, which led to fruitful discussions. The interdisciplinary brainstorming session enabled further development of the planned RomaniO research project in terms of both structure and content.
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Blog post for the "The Value of Old French" Project
For the ERC project *The Value of Old French*, which is based at King's College London and receives 1.7 million pounds in funding from the European Research Council, Stephen Dörr and Marcus Husar have written a blog post outlining the computer-assisted processing of the lexicon and the collaboration with the DEAF. You can find the text here.
Workshop “Research Data in the Humanities: Methods for Digital Collection, Processing, and Presentation” organized by the eHumanities Working Group of the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, October 18–20, 2017
Sabine Tittel participated in the workshop “Humanities Research Data: Methods for Digital Collection, Processing, and Presentation,” organized by the eHumanities Working Group of the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, October 18–20, 2017, in Mainz, and delivered a presentation titled “Transforming DEAF into Linked Open Data with OntoLex-Lemon,” which sparked a lively discussion.
From June 26–30, 2017, Sabine Tittel participated in the “2nd Summer Datathon on Linguistic Linked Open Data (SD-LLOD-17)”, which was organized by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Cercedilla, Spain. The scientific directors were Jorge Gracia (Ontology Engineering Group, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), John Philip McCrae (Insight Centre for Data Analytics, NUI Galway), and Christian Chiarcos (ACoLi – Goethe University Frankfurt). The workshop aimed to train participants in Semantic Web and Linguistic Linked Data technologies, primarily the OntoLex-lemon model and the NLP Interchange Format (NIF). The largest and most important part of the event was the so-called “datathon,” which consisted of working on individual projects using participants’ own data in “mini-projects.” Sabine Tittel led one of the seven projects: “Linking Corpus and Dictionary Data with Linked Open Data.” The goal was to use “Linked Open Data” technologies to link the “word in the text corpus” with the “word in the dictionary” in such a way that this link could, on the one hand, replace the role of the glossary in the text edition and, on the other hand, allow the data obtained in this way to be accessed on the Semantic Web via search queries. Of the 30 participants in total, five were part of the team, whose success was recognized when 66% of all participants voted the project the “Datathon Best Mini Project Award” at the end of the event. Pictures of the week are posted on Twitter: #sdllod17.
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Workshop “Reuse and Reusability of Research in the Academies Program,” November 9–11, 2016
From November 9–11, 2016, our editor Sabine Tittel participated in the workshop “Reuse and Reusability of Research in the Academies Program” organized by the “eHumanities” working group of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Düsseldorf and gave a presentation titled “Dictionnaire étymologique de l’ancien français: Reusability of the DEAF’s Working Environment and Research Data.”
Summer School in Klagenfurt, September 11–16, 2016
The Summer School 2016 on the Edition of Medieval Texts took place in Klagenfurt under the direction of Stephen Dörr (DEAF Heidelberg), Franz Lebsanft (Bonn), Richard Trachsler (Zurich), Raymund Wilhelm (Klagenfurt), and Fabio Zinelli (Paris) and was primarily aimed at master’s students, doctoral candidates, and postdoctoral researchers. The morning sessions focused on the theory and practice of ecdotics, while the afternoon “workshops” focused on producing a text edition with the goal of publishing it.
XXVIII International Congress of Romance Linguistics and Philology
From July 18–23, 2016, the 28th International Congress of Romance Linguistics and Philology took place in Rome, at which the DEAF was well represented. Thomas Städtler, together with Stefano Asperti, chaired the “Latino e lingue romanze” section. Sabine Tittel, together with Martin Gleßgen, gave a presentation on “Le Dictionnaire de l’ancien gascon électronique – DAGél,” and Stephen Dörr contributed a paper on “Le Roman de la Rose – exemple prototypique de diasystèmes entre tradition manuscrite et imprimés.” Our doctoral candidates Laura Henkelmann and Theresa Schmitt gave a presentation on “Between Astronomy and Geomancy—The Contribution of Medieval Latin to the Understanding of Scientific Texts.”
Medieval Studies Day 2016 Heidelberg, June 25, 2016
On June 25, 2016, in cooperation with the University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, and Karlsruhe, the Medieval Studies Day 2016 took place at the New University of Heidelberg. Here, those interested in the Middle Ages had the opportunity to learn about various fields of research, as well as study and training opportunities related to the Middle Ages, and to actively participate in seminars. As part of this event, the DEAF offered a “workshop visit” on the topic “The Dictionnaire étymologique de l’ancien français (DEAF) — How Is an Old French Dictionary Created in Heidelberg?”
Academic Exchange with the Project “The Values of French Literature and Language in the European Middle Ages” (ERC Advanced Grant at King’s College London)
On June 6, 2016, Simon Gaunt and Simone Ventura from London’s King’s College visited the DEAF offices for an academic exchange regarding the project “The Values of French Literature and Language in the European Middle Ages.” A report worth reading on this topic can be found here.
Heidelberg Children’s University, February 27, 2016
On February 27, 2016, the annual Children’s University took place in Heidelberg. As part of this event, the DEAF offered the fully booked workshop "Elephants and Unicorns—Reading and Understanding Medieval Texts in Handwritten Books". [Press release]
Workshop organized by the “Electronic Publishing” Working Group of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
From September 14 to 16, 2015, a workshop on “Electronic Publishing,” a workshop organized by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities on the topic of “Historical Semantics and the Semantic Web” took place in Heidelberg. Our editor, Sabine Tittel, gave a presentation on “Semantic Integration of Knowledge on the European Middle Ages: A Project in European Lexicography”. The workshop program can be viewed here
International Colloquium
From September 7–8, 2015, an international colloquium on the topic “La régionalité lexicale du français au Moyen Âge” took place. The DEAF was represented by Sabine Tittel: La régionalité lexicale de l’ancien français (1100–1350), Thomas Städtler: Regional French in a Latin Context after 1100 and Frankwalt Möhren: Regional Variation in the DEAF.
Medieval Studies Day 2015 Heidelberg, June 27, 2015
On June 27, 2015, in cooperation with the University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, and Karlsruhe, the Medieval Studies Day 2015 took place at the New University of Heidelberg. Here, those interested in the Middle Ages could learn about various fields of research, as well as study and training opportunities related to the Middle Ages, and actively participate in seminars. As part of this event, the DEAF offered the seminar “Predicting the Future in the Middle Ages—A Personal Experiment Based on ‘Geomancy.’”
Closing Session of the COST Action “Medieval Europe” in Florence, March 16 and 17, 2015
From March 16 to 17, 2015, the Management Committee and the four working groups of the COST Action “Medieval Europe—Medieval Cultures and Technological Resources” held their closing session in Florence as guests of SISMEL. Thomas Städtler and Sabine Tittel attended the event. Several presentations addressed the approaches developed during the COST Action for standardizing information on the Middle Ages. The two project proposals (submitted to the European Union’s “Horizon 2020” program) “Lexicographic Semantic Integration in the European Middle Ages – LexEMA” (Sabine Tittel) and “Mobility of Medieval Manuscripts in the Middle Ages – MOMENTUM,” which emerged from the COST Action, were presented, and their strengths and weaknesses were discussed.
Heidelberg Children’s University, February 7, 2015
On February 7, 2015, the annual Children’s University took place in Heidelberg from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. As part of this event, the DEAF offered the workshop "Elephants and Unicorns—Reading and Understanding Medieval Texts in Handwritten Books". The seminar was fully booked, and our young “participants” headed home full of enthusiasm—with plans to delve even further into medieval manuscripts.
COST Action IS1005 – “Medieval Europe: Medieval Cultures and Technological Resources”
Medieval Europe: Medieval Cultures and Technological Resources
Since March 2011, the DEAF has been participating in COST Action IS1005 “Medieval Europe: Medieval Cultures and Technological Resources», which brings together projects from twenty-one European countries and Israel. The COST Action aims to increase accessibility to and integration of medieval research results and tools through the combination of medievalist scholarship and modern technologies within a Virtual Center for Medieval Studies (VCMS). Thomas Städtler chairs Working Group 3 “Textual Corpora and Reading Tools” of the COST Action and is a member of the Action’s Management Committee and Steering Group.
On May 24, 2011, Thomas Städtler (DEAF), Annette Kehnel (University of Mannheim), and Ludger Lieb (University of Heidelberg) hosted an international colloquium on the theme of the COST Action, in which Agostino Paravicini Bagliani (SISMEL Florence and University of Lausanne) participated as the keynote speaker.
From November 3 to 5, 2011, the Management Committee and the four working groups of the COST Action met in Heidelberg as guests of the DEAF and the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. During this meeting, several existing databases that could serve as models for a larger-scale network of medievalist resources were presented, and possibilities for integration among the participating projects were discussed.
From October 17 to 19, 2013, the Management Committee of the COST Action met in Budapest to discuss the future of the VCMS—Virtual Center for Medieval Studies.
On April 25 and 26, 2013, the workshop “Connecting Textual Corpora and Dictionaries” took place in Kraków, Poland, under the direction of Sabine Tittel, Prof. Michał Rzepiela, and Krzysztof Nowak. For more information about this workshop, visit the homepage of the Instytut Języka Polskiego.
On January 13 and 14, 2014, the workshop “Structure and Draft of a First Application” took place at the Academy of Sciences in Heidelberg.
On March 16 and 17, 2015, the Management Committee and the four working groups of the COST Action “Medieval Europe – Medieval Cultures and Technological Resources” attended the closing session in Florence. Several presentations addressed the various approaches to standardizing information about the Middle Ages. The two applications (for the European Union’s “Horizon 2020”)—“Lexicographic Semantic Integration in the European Middle Ages – LexEMA” (Sabine Tittel) and “Mobility of Medieval Manuscripts in the Middle Ages – MOMENTUM,” which emerged from the COST Action, were presented, and their strengths and weaknesses were discussed.
To date, the DEAF has made the following scientific contributions toward the objectives of the COST Action:
- From April 15 to 29, 2012, Lisa Šumski visited the Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes in Paris as part of a Short-Term Scientific Mission funded by the COST Action. The mission aimed to explore the possibilities of linking bibliographic information from the DEAFBiblEl (Heidelberg) and Jonas (Paris) databases.
- As part of its activities within Working Group 3, the DEAF designed and implemented a Prototypical Onomasiological Portal for Medieval Romance Dictionaries, which aims to illustrate the potential of a content-based approach to the integration of lexicographical resources.
- From December 16 to 30, 2012, Marc Kiwitt undertook a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) to the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. The goal of the STSM was to explore possibilities for linking the digital resources available at the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts with the bibliographic database developed at the DEAF, and to examine the potential benefits of these resources for the Virtual Center of Medieval Studies developed within the COST Action.
International Colloquium in Nancy “Electronic Editions, Corpus Studies, and Textual Databases in Medieval Studies,” January 16–17, 2015
On January 16 and 17, 2015, the international colloquium "Electronic Editions, Corpus Studies, and Textual Databases in Medieval Studies", organized by the “Société de Langues et de Littératures Médiévales d’Oc et d’Oïl – SLLMOO.” Sabine Tittel delivered a presentation titled “Combining a Textual Database with Historical Lexicography: The Oldest Linguistic Documents of France and the Etymological Dictionary of Old French,” which sparked a lively discussion about the possibilities for closer future cooperation between electronic editions, corpus projects, and dictionaries.
Summer School in Klagenfurt, September 14–19, 2014
The summer school on the edition of medieval texts took place in Klagenfurt under the direction of Raymund Wilhelm, Franz Lebsanft, Richard Trachsler, David Trotter, Fabio Zinelli, and Stephen Dörr in Klagenfurt and was primarily aimed at master’s students, doctoral candidates, and postdoctoral researchers. The morning sessions covered the theory and practice of textual criticism, while the afternoon workshops focused on producing a text edition (DixCommNeroW), with the goal of publishing it.
““Atelier lexicographique” in Rostock
Stephen Dörr and Sabine Tittel traveled to the University of Rostock from December 12–13, 2013, for the “Atelier lexicographique – Taller lexicográfico: The Digitization Projects of the Dictionnaire Étymologique de l’Ancien Français and the Diccionario del Español Medieval—Conference and Workshop.” Following presentations by Prof. Dr. Rafael Arnold (Rostock) and Prof. Dr. Jutta Langenbacher (Paderborn), Stephen Dörr, and Sabine Tittel, all aspects of the planned digitization of the material for the Old Spanish dictionary (Diccionario del Español Medieval—DEM) were discussed in depth: type of material, digitization steps, database structure, user interface (GUI), technical implementation, online publication, etc. A close collaboration was agreed upon so that the Old Spanish digitization project can build on the experience of the DEAF.
“27th Congress of Romance Linguistics and Philology,” Nancy, July 15–20, 2013
Sabine Tittel gave a presentation titled “Source Philology for Which Lexicography?” a presentation titled “What Kind of Philology for Corpus Lexicography?” Additionally, together with Martin-Dietrich Gleßgen (Zurich), she gave a presentation titled “Textual Databases and Historical Lexicography: How to Bring Together the Oldest Linguistic Documents of France and the DEAF?” Together with Martin-Dietrich Gleßgen (Zurich), she also delivered a presentation titled “Textual Databases and Historical Lexicography: The Oldest Linguistic Documents of France” in the section “Ongoing Projects; New Resources and Tools.” This presentation introduced to a large audience the new collaboration between the DEAF and the DocLing project—The Oldest Linguistic Documents of France; this collaboration is the first of its kind to combine a comprehensive dictionary project with an equally extensive corpus linguistics project and generated a great deal of interest.
Lisa Šumski delivered a presentation in the “Textual and Editorial Philology” section titled “How to Edit the *Ovide moralisé en vers*? Lexical Microvariance and Macrovariance in Book X,” in which the main focus was on the interpretation of lexical variants in the individual manuscripts.
Together with Yan Greub, director of the French Etymological Dictionary, Stephen Dörr organized and chaired the one-day session “Quelle philologie pour quelle lexicographie?,” and chaired it; eleven presentations by speakers from seven countries explored the question of on what textual basis scholarly dictionaries can and should be compiled. The very large audience and the discussion of the methods demonstrated the high value that the scholarly community places on both editorial philology and lexicography.
Thomas Städtler had the honor of delivering one of the five plenary lectures at the conference. Under the title “Pour une réconciliation entre théorie et pratique: le cas de la sémantique historique,” he spoke about the analytical methods of historical semantic theory, to describe and explain shifts in meaning and lexical change, and on the potential applications of the resulting findings in historical dictionaries of the French language.
During the conference, Thomas Städtler was awarded the Prix Albert Dauzat by the Société de Linguistique Romane for his scholarly achievements.
Thomas Städtler Appointed Adjunct Professor
On July 4, 2013, Thomas Städtler was appointed adjunct professor at the Faculty of Philology at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg.
International Conference “Transcrire et/ou traduire” at the University of Klagenfurt
On November 15 and 16, 2012, an international conference on the topic "Transcrire et/ou traduire – Trascrizione/traduzione – Transcribing or Translating? Variation and Linguistic Change in the Manuscript Tradition of Medieval Texts." Lisa Sumski gave a presentation on “Linguistic Variation and Change in the Manuscript Tradition of the Ovide moralisé in Verse: The Oldest Manuscript, Rouen Bibl. Mun. 1044 [O.4], and the Z Group”; Stephen Dörr spoke on the topic “Textes d’autorités – autorité de textes.” Further information can be found here.
Festschrift for Prof. Dr. Frankwalt Möhren
On July 22, 2012, Prof. Dr. Frankwalt Möhren was presented with a festschrift on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Further information and photos can be found here.
Romance Texts of the Middle Ages (RTM)
Together with Raymund Wilhelm, Stephen Dörr edits the series Romance Texts of the Middle Ages (RTM), which is published by Winter Verlag. The volumes in this new series aim to make previously little-known texts accessible in scholarly editions. The series seeks to encompass as diverse a range of discursive traditions as possible: specialized and practical texts from everyday life are just as much of interest here as texts from the fields of science, religion, law, literature, etc. Both individual texts and anthologies will be included. The focus is on textual production across the entire Romanic world during the period prior to the establishment of national linguistic and communicative spheres. This allows for the inclusion of “smaller” idioms of merely regional significance, some of which have developed only rudimentary writing traditions of their own. The volumes in the series are conceived as research contributions sui generis. They are therefore also suitable as a basis for university courses.
Guillaume de Digulleville. Le Pelerinage de Vie humaine – The Pilgrimage to the Heavenly Jerusalem
Published by the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (WBG) in Darmstadt is the edition Guillaume de Digulleville. Le Pelerinage de Vie humaine – The Pilgrimage to the Heavenly Jerusalem, edited by Veit Probst, prepared by Sabine Tittel, Stephen Dörr, Frankwalt Möhren, and Thomas Städtler (with contributions by Wolfgang Metzger, Karin Zimmermann). DEAF call number: PelVieD.
A devout monk recounts his pilgrimage to the Heavenly Jerusalem. But it was all just a dream. This text, translated into German for the first time, is an allegorical poem in which the first-person narrator encounters various personifications of virtues and vices before finally reaching his destination despite all obstacles and awakening from the dream. The author of this pilgrimage is the Cistercian monk Guillaume de Digulleville (1295–after 1358). Highly educated, he provides an extremely interesting and particularly varied introduction to the scholastic-influenced religious thought of the late Middle Ages. This edition finally makes the Heidelberg illuminated manuscript of the work widely accessible. It features a facsimile of the manuscript, the Old French text with a German translation, a detailed commentary, and a glossary. The manuscript features exceptionally rich illumination with 126 miniatures and a complex decorative system, ranging from the meticulous calligraphy of the text and the initials executed in gold and color to the characteristic frames and scrollwork on the pages.
Le Pelerinage de Vie humaine – The Pilgrimage to Heavenly Jerusalem, WBG 2013
The edition was presented to the public on July 2, 2013, in the Manuscript Reading Room of the Heidelberg University Library by the Director of the University Library, Dr. Veit Probst, and the Head of the DEAF Research Center, PD Dr. Thomas Städtler. Opening remarks were delivered by the President of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Dr. Dres. h.c. Paul Kirchhof, as well as by Jasmine Stern of the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt. The SWR reported on the presentation in its program “Landesschau aktuell.”
An expanded version of the glossary for the edition Guillaume de Digulleville. Le Pelerinage de Vie humaine – The Pilgrimage to the Heavenly Jerusalem is available as a PDF.
Medieval Day on July 8, 2011
The DEAF was represented at the Medieval Day organized by Heidelberg University and the College of Jewish Studies under the motto “The Fascination of the Middle Ages – Experiencing and Studying the Middle Ages,” and was represented there by Lisa Šumski and Thomas Städtler with an information booth.
Presentation of the new computer-based editorial system:
Presentation on July 2, 2010, featuring lectures by René Witte (Montréal) and Sabine Tittel (DEAF) at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Approaches to Europe’s Cultural Memory:
Article in the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung dated February 28, 2009.
Prix Honoré Chavée:
The Secrétaire perpétuel of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Institut de France, has informed Frankwalt Möhren that the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres has awarded him the Prix Honoré Chavée “for his entire body of work and, in particular, for the Dictionnaire Étymologique de l'Ancien Français (DEAF)’ (May 2007).
Children’s University:
The Heidelberg Children’s University visits the DEAF for a lecture and workshop (February 2006).
Conference:
International Intradisciplinary Conference on Lexicography, Berlin, October 2002.
Colloquium:
The Future of Historical Lexicography — The Example of the Dictionnaire Etymologique de l'Ancien Français, Heidelberg, June 28–30, 2001.
Medieval Studies Colloquium at the Department of Romance Languages
Dr. Stephen Dörr
Since the 2000–2001 winter semester, I have been organizing, together with Prof. Dr. Raymund Wilhelm, a regularly held “Medieval Studies Colloquium at the Department of Romance Languages.”
This colloquium features scholarly presentations on topics in linguistics, literary studies, and textual philology related to the Romance Middle Ages. The “Medieval Studies Colloquium” is aimed not only at colleagues but also, in particular, at students. It offers a forum designed to foster dialogue between the historians of language and literature at the Department of Romance Studies, the staff of the Romance dictionary projects at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and interested students.
Calendar
Winter Semester 2009/2010
February 4–5, 2010: Colloquium “Edizione dei testi e linguistica storica / Édition de textes et linguistique historique.”
Summer Semester 2007
June 28, 2007: Study Day in Medieval Studies
'Intorno a Dante / Travel Images – Language Reflection – Translation'.
Winter Semester 2006/2007
October 29, 2006: Study Day in Medieval Studies
'Translating in the Middle Ages / Übersetzen im Mittelalter'.
Summer Semester 2006
June 29, 2006: Study Day
Bonvesin da la Riva – Written Culture in Medieval Milan.
Winter Semester 2005/2006
January 26, 2006: Study Day in Medieval Studies: “Text Edition and Linguistic History.”
Summer Semester 2005
June 23, 2005: Eva-Maria Guida (Heidelberg): 'The Vocabulary of Old Spanish from the Perspective of the Diccionario del español medieval (DEM): Findings and Perspectives'.
July 7, 2005: Tino Licht (Heidelberg): “11th-Century Metz Literature: The *Passio Sanctae Luciae metrica* by Sigebert of Gembloux.”
Summer Semester 2004
May 13, 2004: Volker Mohr (Heidelberg): “French” and “English” in Medieval England: An Overview of Research Perspectives in English Studies.
Winter Semester 2003/2004
January 19, 2004: David Trotter (Aberystwyth): Anglo-Norman: The Anglo Part, the Norman Part.
Summer semester 2003
May 27, 2003: Frankwalt Möhren (Heidelberg): Medieval Geometry—Between Papyrus and Computer.
July 17, 2003: Folker Reichert (Stuttgart): Odorico da Pordenone’s Journey to Asia and the Versions of His Account.
Winter Semester 2002/2003
December 10, 2002: Raymund Wilhelm (Heidelberg): Historical Linguistics and Textual Criticism. On the Old Milanese “Alexiuslied” by Bonvesin de la Riva.
February 4, 2003: Luigi Catalani (Berlin): The Development of the Negation Structure in Middle French.
Summer Semester 2002
May 27, 2002: Monika Tausend (Munich): Romance Dictionaries: Old Occitan. From Raynouard to the *Dictionnaire de l’occitan médiéval* (DOM).
July 15, 2002: Thomas Städtler (Heidelberg): A Manuscript Fragment from Michelstadt: Evidence of a Heroic Epic Believed to Be Lost?
Winter Semester 2001/2002
November 19, 2001: Klaus Heitmann (Heidelberg): Old French Literature of the 10th Century: *La vie de saint Léger*.
February 4, 2002: Edgar Radtke (Heidelberg): A Bolognese accounting note from the first half of the Trecento?
Summer Semester 2001
June 18, 2001: Sabine Tittel (Heidelberg): Gui de Chauliac’s *La Grande Chirurgie*: Partial Edition and Lexical Analysis.
July 2, 2001: Erdmuthe Döffinger-Lange (Stuttgart): The Gauvain Section in Chrétien’s *Conte du Graal*.
Winter Semester 2000/2001
January 15, 2001: Silvia Albesano (Pavia): “Volgarizzare” Boethius’s *De consolatione philosophiae*: A Comparison of Two 14th-Century Translators (Grazia di Meo, Alberto della Piagentina).
February 5, 2001: Marc Kiwitt (Paris): The Fevres Treatise on Fever—an Old French Text in Hebrew Script.