Glossary

This is a list of frequently used terms in Art & Academe, collected to assist readers as they proceed forward.

Artes Liberales: The seven liberal arts, as defined by the ancients and practiced by medieval scholars. Divided between the trivium (q.v.) and the quadrivium (q.v.).

Categories: The ways in which a substance can be; the ten ways that define a subject in reality. Substance is the most important, followed by quality, quantity, relation, and (less significantly) time, place, posture, possession, action, and passion.

Commentator, The: A name given to Averroes as the preeminent commentator on Aristotelian philosophy.

Complexion: An individual's natural balance of the humors, affecting personality, physiognomy, and susceptibility to disease. There are four basic complexions — sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic.

Contra-naturals: Things that promote dyscrasia (q.v.) — injurious objects, poisons, corrosives, parasites, supernatural entities, etc.

Disputatio: A formal method of debating between academic opponents, used to settle philosophical differences and for instructive purposes.

Doctor: Someone who has graduated from a university faculty (not just medicine).

Dyscrasia: Disease; a state of ill-health due to an overabundance of healthy or morbid humors.

Empirica: A practical result of experimental philosophy (q.v.).

Empiricus: One who practices experimental philosophy (q.v.); a scientist (in the modern meaning). In the specific case, a medicus (q.v.) who has little formal (but often substantial practical) knowledge of medicine; used in a derogatory or condescending manner.

Eucrasia: A state of good health, where all the humors are in balance.

Experimental Philosophy: The direct observation of the world, as opposed to theoretical speculation.

Formulae: A type of empirica (q.v.) resulting from study and laboratory activity; the products of alchemical research, astrological calculations, or medicinal remedies.

Faculties: Four divisions of academic learning taught at universities — artes liberales, civil and/or canon law, philosophy, and theology.

License: The medieval equivalent of a modern academic degree, which grants the holder the right to teach specific subjects at specified universities.

Ligature: A type of empirica (q.v.) designed to assist an action through the manipulation of the natural laws of the world.

Medicus: A general term for someone who has received formal academic training in medicine and/or chirurgy.

Nations: Groups of foreign students, coming from the same general area, living together in a university town.

Natural Magic: Another term for experimental philosophy (q.v.); does not actually involve magic in the supernatural sense.

Non-naturals: Things that promote eucrasia (q.v.) — climate, diet, exercise, sleep, emotions, sensations. Excessive non-naturals can cause dyscrasia (q.v.).

Oath of Matriculation: The official swearing of a student to be a master's pupil. Hermetic magi are forbidden to swear oaths of fealty outside of the Order.

Philosopher, The: A title given to Aristotle, which will become more common in the mid-thirteenth century.

Physicus: A medicus (q.v.) who has received advanced training in medicine and philosophiae; not generally used for those who practice chirurgy.

Quadrivium: The second or greater division of the liberal arts, including arithmetic, music, astronomy, and geometry.

Regimen: A "recipe" for good health, prescribed by a physician. Involves affecting the non-naturals (q.v.) to stave off disease.

Trivium: The first or lesser division of the liberal arts, including grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Students learn these arts before moving on to the quadrivium (q.v.).

Universals: Plato's forms or ideas, a perfect template for any subject in reality. Universals are unchangeable, have no beginning or end, exist outside reality, and can only be known through reason.