The main aim of this paper is to present the motif of a tree-shaped compositional scheme called arbor picta (arbor praedicandi) and to show it against the field of rhetorical elements such as dispositio and memoria as found in mediaeval sermons. The basic sources for the analysis of this question are two fourteenth-century theoretical treatises on the art of preaching (manuals: Libellus artis preadicatorie by Jacobus de Fusignano and Tractatulus solennis de arte et vero modo praedicandi by Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas), and one of the sermons from the collection de tempore of a fifteenth-century Polish preacher, Mikołaj of Błonie (Dominica sexagesime: sermo 39 “Semen est verbum Dei”). The problems of arbor praedicandi, which are part of a broader field of study on the structure of sermons, editorial methods of texts and mnemonics, were the subject of interest of many researchers such as H. Caplan, O.A. Dieter, S. Khan, S. Wenzel. In Poland, this issue has not yet become a subject of proper study.

In order to analyse this scheme in the treatises of Jacobus de Fusignano and Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas, as well as in the exemplary sermon, the paper briefly outlines the existence of topics and images of the tree in the writings of the Middle Ages (e.g. lignum vitae, arbor sapientiae, arbor amoris). Then fragments from the manuals of Jacobus de Fusignano and Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas are presented in which the authors discussed the scheme in question and explained its importance for the practice of preaching. An analysis of a practical example—here: sermo 39 from Mikołaj of Błonie’s collection de tempore—shows the creative use of the tree scheme in the sermon by the Polish preacher (with the speculative assumption that Mikołaj of Błonie knew Jacobus’s theory of preaching). Particular attention is also paid to the circumstances of the development of the art of preaching in the late Middle Ages in Poland. Finally, the importance of the concept of the sermon as a tree for the elements of rhetoric such as dispositio/divisio/partito and memoria is emphasised. In this study, it is shown that the use of the tree scheme in presenting abstract concepts and structuring texts allowed preachers and their audiences to visualise vague and often difficult ideas, as well as to describe their relationship within the subjects of the sermons. Therefore, the use of the scheme in the Middle Ages had great significance for ars memorativa and the didactic dimensions.

* The study is the result of research project No UM2013/11/N/ HS2/03506 funded by the National Science Centre. Polish text: L. Grzybowska, “Arbor praedicandi. Kilka uwag o dispositio w kazaniach średniowiecznych (na przykładzie sermo 39 «Semen est verbum Dei» Mikołaja z Błonia),” Terminus 3/ 16 (2014), pp. 259–283.

This paper presents how the Polish renaissance authors creatively transformed and adapted one of Erasmus’ dialogues, Senatulus sive Gynaikosynedrion, to the native context. Erasmus exploited a popular motif of a meeting of women who debate on different issues. The work is based on one of Aristophanes’ comedies, as well as an episode from a biography of the Roman emperor, Elagabalus. Senatulus was very popular and was translated into a number of vernacular languages all over Europe. Erasmus, with his characteristic sense of humour and criticism, pointed to some of the vices of women, but this did not constitute his ultimate aim. He used the seemingly paradoxical formula of a women’s council to draw attention to the social and political problems of the time.

Early-modern Polish texts that used the theme in question can be read in the context of Polish parliamentarism, but their literary inspiration should also to be taken into consideration. The first part of this paper focuses on problematic aspects of Senatulus and its somewhat provocative and ambiguous character, which probably attracted other authors to this particular text. Then two Polish dialogues that are linked to Erasmus’s work are examined. These are the anonymous Senatulus to jest sjem niewieści (Senatulus, or the council of women) from 1543 and Sjem niewieści (The council of women) written by Marcin Bielski in 1566/1567. Even a preliminary

comparison of these two works with Erasmus’ colloquium indicates that the Polish texts are, in a sense, sequels to the Latin original and further develop its basic idea. References to Erasmus’ work are present here on different levels. Similarity lays not only in the title and topics discussed by the characters, but also in the linguistic structure of the text. In both cases, the concept of the female parliament was used by the writers as a pretext to draw attention to the political, social, and economic problems Poland faced at that time and to suggest solutions.

* Polish text: J. A, Kowalik, “Aemulatores erasmi? «Sejmy niewieście» w polskiej kulturze literackiej XVI wieku,” Terminus 2/17 (2015), pp. 241–263.

This paper presents (in the form of transcription and translation) a letter written by a humanist and classical scholar, Iustus Lipsius (1547–1606), which its Cracow editor entitled Epistola erudita (1602). The rhetorical analysis of this text is based on Lipsius’ treatise Epistolica institutio (The Principles of Letter-Writing). The main problem concerns the role of traditional rhetoric in epistolography, especially if the letter is not reduced to a formal document built of template formulas. Early-modern epistolography (Petrarca, Erasmus, Lipsius, Vives) revives the ancient tradition of writing letters, according to which a letter is a kind of written conversation. It gives the sender and the addressee a unique opportunity to meet each other in the symbolic universe of the text.

* Polish version: J. Kiliańczyk-Zięba, “Marian Malicki, Repertuar wydawniczy drukarni Franciszka Cezarego starszego, 1616–1651. Część 1: Bibliografia druków Franciszka Cezarego starszego, 1616–1651”, Terminus 25/14 (2012), pp. 269–272.

Publication of this paper was financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland under the grant 643/P-DUN/2018.