Vivarium (monastery)

For other uses, see Vivarium (disambiguation).

Depiction of Vivarium in an 8th-century Cassiodorus manuscript

The Vivarium was a monastery founded around the year 544 by Roman statesman, Cassiodorus near Squillace, in Calabria, Italy.[1] He also established a biblical studies center focused on studying the Bible as well as a library. It became a place where they worked on preserving Greek and Latin classical literature.[2]

In 540, Cassiodorus retired from public life and moved into the monastery, ordering the Benedictine monks living there to learn about medicinal herbs and to copy various medical texts, supposedly including works of Galen, Hippocrates and of the pharmacist Dioscorides.[3]

After Cassiodorus' death, the manuscripts housed here were dispersed, some making their way to the Lateran Palace.[2]

References

1. "Cassiodorus". Britannica. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
2. "Cassiodorus Founds the Scriptorium and Library at the Vivarium". History of Information. 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
3. Hackett, Jeremiah (1997). Roger Bacon and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays 1996. Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters / Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters. Vol. 57. Leiden ; New York: Brill. p. 340. ISBN 9789004100152. OCLC 1008634975. Retrieved April 13, 2022. ...he had a number of medical texts, including works attributed (perhaps wrongly) to Galen, Hippocrates and of the pharmacist Dioscorides

Bibliography

• Franco Cardini, Cassiodorus the Great. Rome, barbarians and monasticism, Milan, Jaca Book, 2009.
• Luciana Cuppo Csaki, Contra voluntatem fundatorum: the monasterium Vivariense Cassiodorus after 575 in: ACTA XIII Congressus Internationalis Archaeologiae Christianae (Vatican City, Split 1998) vol. II, pp. 551-586.
• Luciana Cuppo Csaki, The Monastery of Cassiodorus Vivariense: reconnaissance and research, 1994-1999, in: Frühes Rom und zwischen Christentum Konstantinopel, Akten des XIV. Internationalen Kongresses für Christliche Archäologie, Wien 19.-26. 9. 1999, Herausgegeben von R. Harreither, Ph. Pergola, R. Pillinger, A. Pulz (Wien, 2006) pp. 301-316.
• Irwin, Raymond. “VII. Cassiodorus Senator.” The Heritage of the English Library. Vol. 1. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group, 2021.
• Rand, E. K. “The New Cassiodorus.” Speculum 13.4 (1938): 433–447.
• Souter, A. “Cassiodorus’ Library at Vivarium: Some Additions." Journal of theological studies os-XLI.161 (1940): 46–47
• Fabio Troncarelli, Vivarium. The books, the fate, Turnhout: Brepols, 1998.