A Ring on the Little Finger (Andreas Cappellanno and Medieval Chiromancy)

JOURNAL OFTHE WARBURGAND COURTAULDINSTITUTESWarburg Institute, University of London, Woburn Square, London WClH 0AB

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In a well-known passage from the treatiseOn Love (De amore, ii.7.21), written sometime between the late twelfth and earlythirteenth century, the still mysteriousauthor known as Andreas Capellanus, orAndr, le chapelain, considers on whichhand and which finger a ring presented byones lover should be worn:1

I should like individual knights of love to beinformed that if a lover has accepted a ring from

his partner as a love-token, he should place it onthe little finger of his left hand and always keepthe stone of the ring hidden on the inside of thehand. The reason for this is that the left handnormally refrains from all dishonourable andbase acts of touch: a mans life and death aresaid to reside in the little finger more than inothers: and all lovers are bound to keep theirlove hidden.2

In his view, therefore, the ring should beworn on the left hand and placed on the

* This article was researched and written underthe Censimento, Archivio e Studio di Volgarizza-menti Italiani (CASVI), financed by the MinisterodellIstruzione, Universit e Ricerca, as one of theProgetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale (PRIN),2005, in which are involved the Universities of Lecce(director R. Coluccia), Catania (M. Spampinato),Basilicata (R. Librandi),Turin (A.Vitale Brovarone)and SienaUniversity for Foreigners (C. Ciociola).1. De amore was written between 1174, the date

of a letter cited within the text, and 1238, when itwas quoted in the treatise De amore by Albertano daBrescia.The identity of Andreas Capellanus is, how-ever, by no means clear. See J. F. Benton, The Courtof Champagne as a Literary Center, Speculum, xxxvi,1961, pp. 55191: The identification of AndreasCapellanus, author of the celebrated treatise DeAmore, as the chaplain of Countess Marie is socommonly repeated that it is easy to forget the un-certain nature of the evidence and doubts of anumber of critics. The present discussion is intended to show that the question is still open(p. 578). According to L. A. Vigneras, Chrtien deTroyes Rediscovered,Modern Philology, xxxii, 1935,pp. 34142, a certain Andreas, chaplain of a Frenchking, signed seven documents between 1182 and1186; but an Andreas Cambellanus (chamberlain),can be found in Parisian records of 119091; see P.Dronke, Andreas Capellanus, Journal of MedievalLatin, iv, 1994, pp. 5163 (52), citing A. Karnein,De amore in volkssprachlicher Literatur, Heidelberg1985, p. 36.The traditional view was to place AndreasCapellanus at the court of Champagne, to consider

De amore as a summa of courtly love (see also n. 3below) and to date it no later than the end of the 12thcentury. According to the most recent scholarship,however, the treatise should probably be dated toaround the 1230s (see Dronke, p. 56); and Andreasshould be shifted from Champagne to the city ofParis, either in the court (Karnein) or in the univer-sity (Dronke). Finally, Dronke himself suggests thatAndreas Capellanus is nothing but the witty pseudo-nym of a cleric imitating Andrea of Paris, a literarycharacter who died for love in a lost vernacularromance (ibid., pp. 5355).2. Andreas Capellanus, De amore libri tres, ed. E.

Trojel, Copenhagen 1892; repr. Munich 1964, p. 294:Hoc tamen singulos volumus amoris milites edoceri,quod, si amans a coamante anulum amoris causasusceperit, ipsum in sinistra manu et in minuto debetdigito collocare et anuli gemmam ab interiori manusparte semper portare absconsa; et hoc ideo, quiasinistra manus a cunctis magis consuevit tactibusinhonestis et turpibus abstinere, et in minuto digitoprae cunctis digitis mors fertur hominis et vitamanere et quia singuli tenentur amantes suumamorem retinere secretum. Translation (with slightmodifications) from Andreas Capellanus On Love,ed. and transl. P. G.Walsh, London 1982, pp. 26971. See also the translation in The Art of Courtly Loveby Andreas Capellanus, ed. and transl. J. J. Parry, NewYork 1941, pp. 17677. On the use and custom ofrings in general see A.Ward, J. Cherry, C. Gere andB. Cartlidge, The Ring from Antiquity to the TwentiethCentury, London 1981.

NOTES

175

JOURNAL OFTHEWARBURG AND COURTAULD INSTITUTES, LXIX, 2006

A RING ONTHE LITTLE FINGER:

ANDREAS CAPELLANUS AND MEDIEVAL CHIROMANCY*

Stefano Rapisarda

11_Rapisarda:JWCI 9/7/07 15:33 Page 175

little finger (minutus digitus). Moreover, thestone should be turned inwards so that itis not visible, for secrecy is one of the keyfeatures of what we refer to, since GastonParis coined the term, as courtly love.3

The custom of lovers and sweetheartswearing a ring on their little finger isconfirmed by various Old French literarysources:4

Chrtien de Troyes, Contes du Graal (c. 1181):Gauvain, requested by Grinomalant to bring aring to the girl he loves, placed the ring on hislittle finger and said: Sir, on my faith, trust methat you have a wise and kind lover 5

Roman de Tristan en prose (c. 1240): On the littlefinger of his left hand, he wore a gold ring, whichwas very expensive and very beautiful, with aprecious stone. And you should know that inthose times no one wore a gold ring unless theypossessed great power and authority.6

Jean Renart, LEscoufle (120002): The lady puther hand under her white blouse because shewas swearing an oath; on her little finger hetouched the ring which was there.7

Nevertheless, when Andreas Capellanusrecommends that a ring betokening loveshould be placed on the little finger, hecontradicts a very old tradition prescribingthat rings were to be worn on the fourthfinger, which therefore became known asthe ring finger. As Isidore of Sevillewrites:

They are called fingers (digiti) because there areten (decem) of them or because they are elegantlyjoined together (decenter iuncti), for they have inthemselves both the perfect number and a verybeautiful proportion.The first finger is called thethumb (pollex) because it predominates over(polleat) the others in virtue and power. Thesecond is called the index (index) and greeting

176 NOTES

3. See J. B. Moore, Courtly Love: A Problemof Terminology, Journal of the History of Ideas,xc, 1979, pp. 62132, which deals for the most partwith the problem of interpreting De amore: is it aserious work or are the authors intentions ironic?The question remains a matter of discussion, andDronke (as in n. 1), p. 56, believes that the style ofargument belongs more to a scholastic than to acourtly milieu.

4. In wedding ceremoniesthe love described byAndreas Capellanus would usually be adulterous, ofcoursethe situation is more confused because thereare di`erent local traditions. See, e.g., the account ofa late medieval Spanish wedding in J.-B. Molin andP.Mutembe, Le rituel du mariage en France du XIIe auXVIe sicle, Paris 1974, p. 159, where the groom placesa ring on the index finger of the womans right hand,while the bride places one on the little finger of hisright hand: Deinde tradet viro ad puellam annulosuo in dextera manu in digit[o] iuxta pollice[m].Similiter et mulier tradet illi in extremum dextri.In a Parisian pontifical of the first half of the 13thcentury, the ring is first placed on the thumb, whilesaying In the name of the Father (In nomine Patris),then on the little finger, saying In the name of theSon (In nomine Filii) and finally on the middle finger,where it remains, saying And of the Holy Spirit (EtSpiritus Sancti). In some ceremonies the ring remainson the middle finger of the right hand; in others, onthe ring-finger of the same hand. It was only with theintroduction of the Roman rite of 1592 that wear-ing a wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left

hand became the rule, probably because wearing aring on the right hand was a bishops prerogative.The preference for the fourth finger, according toMolin and Mutembe (p. 168), was developed souslinfluence dun texte de saint Isidore de Sville,souvent cit par les rituels. See Isidore of Seville, Deecclesiasticis oIciis, ii.20: quod inprimis anulus absponso sponsae datur, fit hoc nimirum vel proptermutuae fidei signum vel propter id magis, ut eodempignore eorum corda iungantur. Unde et quartodigito anulus idem inseritur quod eo vena quaedam,ut fertur, sanguinis ad cor usque perveniat. Molinand Mutembe (ad loc.) identify Isidores source asMacrobius (quoted n. 9 below).

5. Les Romans de Chrtien de Troyes edit daprs lacopie de Guiot (Bibl. nat., fr. 794), v, Le Conte du Graal(Perceval), ed. F. Lecoy, 2 vols, Paris 197275, i, p. 82(ll. 880003): Lors a mes sire Gauvains mis / lanelau son plus petit doit / et dit: Sire, foi que vos doi, /amie avez cortoiose et sage

6. Le Roman de Tristan en prose, ed. R. L. Curtis,3 vols, Cambridge 1985, i, p. 55: Et il avoit ou petitdoit de la main senestre un anel dor mout riche etmout bon a une pierre precieuse. Et sachiez que aceli tens ne portoit nus hons anel dor, sil nestoit degrant pooir ou dautorit.

7. Jean Renart, LEscoufle. Nouvelle dition daprsle ms. 6565 de la Bibliothque de lArsenal, ed. F.Sweetser, Geneva 1974, p. 144 (ll. 447075): Labele a mis por la suour / Sa main sous sa blanchechemise; / o son petit doit / Senti lanel qui estoitens.


RING ON THE LITTLE FINGER 177

(salutaris) or pointing (demonstratorius) fingerbecause we generally use it for greeting andfor pointing things out. The third is called thenaughty finger (impudicus) because it is oftenused to express an o`ence against decency.Thefourth is called the ring finger (anularis) becausewe wear a ring (anulus) on it; it is also calledmedicinal (medicinalis) because doctors use it forcollecting medicinal powders.The fifth is calledthe ear finger (auricularis) because we use it toclean our ears (aures).8

But what is the rationale for wearing ringson the fourth finger? The basis for thislongstanding practice is an anatomical andphysiological fact, as Macrobius points outin a passage from his Saturnalia, where oneof the characters says:

A discussion of that very point [i.e., which handand which finger a ring should be worn] hadcome to us from Egypt, and I was in doubt fora while whether to call it just an idle tale or atrue explanation. But later, after consulting somebooks on anatomy, I discovered the truth: thatthere is a certain nerve which has its origin inthe heart and runs from there to the finger nextto the little finger of the left hand ; and thatthis is the reason why it seemed good to themen of old to encircle that finger with a ring, asthough to honour it with a crown.9

Isidore as well, in his chapter On Rings,writes: Men have begun to wear a ring on

their fourth finger starting from the thumb,since there is a vein here which links it tothe heartsomething which the ancientsthought worth noting and honouring.10

The tradition of wearing rings on thefourth finger was handed down fromantiquity to the present day. Yet even inthe late Latin world there were minorexceptions to this rule. Pliny, for instance,speaks of a contemporary fashion forwearing rings on the little finger:

It had originally been the custom to wear ringson a single finger only, the one next to the littlefinger; that is how we see them on the statuesof Numa and Servius Tullius. Afterwards peopleput them on the finger next to the thumb, evenin the case of statues of the gods; and morerecently, it pleased them to give the little finger aring as well.The Gallic Provinces and the BritishIslands are said to have used the middle finger.Nowadays this is the only finger exempted, whileall the others bear the burden, and even eachfinger-joint has another smaller ring of its own.Some people put all their rings on their littlefinger only, while others wear only one ring evenon that finger and use it to seal up their signetring, which is kept stored away as a rarity, notdeserving the insult of common use, and isbrought out from its cabinet as from a sanctuary.And so even wearing a single ring on the littlefinger may advertise the possession of a costlierpiece of apparatus put away in store.11

8. Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originumlibri viginti, ed.W. M. Lindsay, 2 vols, Oxford 1911;at xi.i.7071: Digiti nuncupati, vel quia decem sunt,vel quia decenter iuncti existunt. Nam habent in seet numerum perfectum et ordinem decentissimum.Primus pollex vocatus, eo quod inter ceteros polleatvirtute et potestate. Secundus index et salutaris seudemonstratorius, quia eo fere salutamus vel ostend-imus. Tertius impudicus, quod plerumque per eumprobri insectatio exprimitur. Quartus anularis, eoquod in ipso anulus geritur. Idem et medicinalis,quod eo trita collyria a medicis colliguntur. Quintusauricularis, pro eo quod eo aurem scalpimus.

9. Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii.13.8: De hac ipsaquaestione sermo quidam ad nos ab Aegypto venerat,de quo dubitabam fabulamne an verum rationemvocarem; sed libris anatomicorum postea consultis,verum repperi, nervum quemdam de corde natumpriorsum pergere usque ad digitum manus sinistraeminimo proximum ; et ideo visum veteribus, ut

ille digitus anulo tamquam corona circumdaretur.Translation (with modifications) from Macrobius,The Saturnalia, transl. P. V. Davies, New York andLondon 1969, p. 498. Molin and Mutembe (as in n.4), p. 168 n. 22, identify Macrobiuss source as AulusGellius (quoted n. 13 below).10. Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae (as in n. 8), at

xix.32.2: Anulos homines primum gestare coeperuntquarto a pollice digito, quod eo vena quedam adcor usque pertingat, quod notandam ornandamquealiquo insigni veteres putaverunt. For Macrobius asIsidores source see n. 4 above.11. Pliny the Elder, Historia naturalis, xxxiii.6.24

25: Singulis primo digitis geri mos fuerat, qui suntminimis proximi. Sic in Numae et Servi Tullii statuisvidemus. Postea pollici proximo induere, etiam indeorum simulacris, dein iuvit et minimo dare. GalliaeBritanniaeque medio dicuntur usae. Hic nunc solusexcipitur, ceteri omnes onerantur, atque privatimarticuli minoribus aliis. Sunt qui uni tantum minimo


178 NOTES

Macrobius, again in the Saturnalia, hasanother of his characters say that heremembers having read in the works of ajurist that in the past rings were notregarded as decorations but rather wereused as indications of personal identityand as expressions of will: only free menhad the right to wear a ring, and they woreonly one. There was no rule as to itsposition: it could be worn on either handand on any of the fingers. But then the ageof luxury arrived, and people began toincorporate precious gems into their rings.At that point, to avoid the risk of damagingthese valuable rings, they started to wearthem on their left hand, since it was lessused in everyday matters.The thumb wasexcluded because even on the left hand itis frequently employed, so there wouldbe a high risk of damage to the ring. Norwas the second finger acceptable, since itwas naked and unprotected (nudus et sinetuitione). The third finger was ruled out,on account of its large size (magnitudo), aswas the little finger, due to its smallness(brevitas).12 This left only the fourth fingeras the natural place to wear a ring.

This custom continued during theMiddle Ages, as a passage from the Poli-craticus of John of Salisbury (c. 111580)shows:

It is well known that the ancient Greeks wore aring on the finger of the left hand which is nextto the little one.They say that the Romans, too,commonly wore their rings in the same manner.King Apion in his Egyptian books says that thereason for this practice is that when you cut andopen human bodies, a custom which the Greekscall anatomas, you find a very fine nerve con-necting that finger to a persons heart.13 So itseemed that it was right to honour in this waysuch an important finger, which is joined andeven appears to be united to the most importantorgan, that is, the heart.14

There was therefore a consistenttradition, going back to the Greeks andRomans, of wearing rings on the fourthfinger. We can observe the persistence ofthis custom in various genres of texts fromthe Middle Ages:

1) Law books. Decretum Gratiani (twelfthcentury), on wedding ceremonies:

Item: that a ring is given by the groom to thebride at the beginning of the ceremony happens

congerant, alii vero et huic tantum unum, quisignantem signent. Conditus ille, ut res rara et iniuriausus indigna, velut e sacrario promitur, ut et unumin minimo digito habuisse pretiosioris in reconditosupellectilis ostentatio sit. Iam alii pondera eorumostentant. Aliis plures quam unum gestare labor est,alii bratteas infercire leviore materia propter casumtutius gemmarum sollicitudini putant, alii subgemmis venena cludunt, sicut Demosthenes summusGraeciae orator, anulos que mortis gratia habent.Translation (with modifications) from Pliny theElder, Natural History, transl. H. Rackham, 10 vols,London and Cambridge MA 193863, ix, p. 21.12. Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii.13.1116.13. The reason why John mentions a very fine

nerve instead of a vein is that, in contrast to the restof the tradition, which relies on Isidore of Seville, heis quoting almost verbatim from Aulus Gellius,Noctesatticae, x.10.12: Veteres Graecos anulum habuissein digito accepimus sinistrae manus qui minimoest proximus. Romanos quoque homines aiunt sicplerumque anulis usitatos. Causam esse huius reiApion in libris Aegyptiacis hanc dicit, quod insectisapertisque humanis corporibus, ut mos in Aegypto

fuit, quas Graeci appellant, repertum estnervum quendam tenuissimum ab eo uno digito dequo diximus, ad cor hominis pergere ac pervenire;propterea non inscitum visum esse eum potissimumdigitum tali honore decorandum, qui continens etquasi conexus esse cum principatu cordis videretur.For the Egyptian books of King Apion see F. Jacoby,Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, iii C, Leiden1958, p. 126 (616: Apion von Oasis und Alexandeia,F 7).14. John of Salisbury, Policraticus, ed. C. C. I.

Webb, 2 vols, Oxford 1909, ii, p. 30 (vi.12): Veteresquoque Graecos annulum habuisse in sinistrae manusdigito qui minimo proximus est celeberrime traditur.Romanos quoque homines aiunt sic plerumque usi-tatos annulis, causamque hujus rei Apion in librisAegyptiacis dicit, quod insectis apertisque corporibus,ut mos fuit, quas Graeci anatomas vocant, compertumest quemdam tenuissimum nervum ab eo uno digito,de quo diximus, ad cor hominis pertingere, acpervenire: visumque esse eum potissimum digitumtali honore decorandum, qui continens, et quasiconnexus cum principatu cordis videretur.


without doubt as a sign of mutual trust or ratheras a pledge of love by which their hearts arejoined. For this reason, the ring has to be placedon the fourth finger because in it there is acertain vein which, it is said, carries blood to theheart.15

2) Sermons. Martin of Laon (d. 1203), inhis Sermo IV In natale Domini, repeats thepassage from Gratians Decretum virtuallyword for word.16

3) Episcopal investiture protocols. EpistolaXXIX of Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims(c. 80682):

Rules for the ceremony in which the metro-politan and the diocesan bishop are to beconsecrated. When the consecrator reaches theplaces in which there are signs of the cross, lethim take the vase with the anointing unctionin his left hand, and with his right thumb, ashe sings of what is contained within, let him ineach place make the sign of the cross with theanointing unction on the head of the person tobe consecrated; and then the consecration iscomplete. And when everyone says Amen, letthe Gospels be lifted by the bishops from hisshoulders, and let him place the ring on his righthand on the finger which comes before the littleone, explaining why the ring is given to him.17

4) Homiletic works. Honorius of Autun(fl. 110635), Gemma animae:

Concerning the ring. It is believed that theGospels accepted the use of rings, since the guestat the dinner in which the fatted calf is served isdressed in the best robe and given a ring (Luke15[2223]). In former times kings used to signletters with a ring; this was also the custom fornobles and for those who took wives. It is saidthat a certain wise Prometheus was the first towear a ring made of iron as a sign of love andthat in it he put a diamond stone, signifyingthat just as iron dominates everything, so loveconquers all, and that just as a diamond is un-breakable, so love is unconquerable. He decidedthat the ring should be worn on the finger inwhich there is a vein that runs up to the heart,and for this reason it acquired the name of ringfinger (annularis).18

It is clear that the practice of wearinga ring from ones lover on the little finger,as described by Andreas Capellanus, goesagainst the widespread tradition reflectedin these texts. Except for Pliny, whomentions a recent fad for loading all thefingers with rings, it was customary to wearany type of ring, whether a love token ora religious symbol, on the ring finger, not

15. Concordia discordantium canonum, canon VII.33 in Patrologia Latina [hereafter PL], ed. J.-P. Migne,Paris 1850, clxxxvii, col. 1450A: Item, quod inprimis negotiis annulus a sponso sponsae datur, fithoc nimirum vel propter mutuae fidei signum, velpropter id magis, ut eodem pignore eorum cordajungantur. Unde et quarto digito annulus ideminseritur, quod id est quod in eo vena quaedam, utfertur, sanguinis ad cor usque perveniat. Cf. Gratian,Decretum, C. XXX, q. 5 c. 7, who refers to Isidore,DeoIciis, ii.16 (cited by Molin and Mutembe, as in n.4, p. 168 n. 22).16. Martin of Laon, Sermo IV In natale Domini, in

PL, ccviii, col. 506B: Illud autem quod in primisannulus a sponso sponsae datur, fit hoc nimirum velpropter mutuae fidei signum, sive propter id magis,ut eodem pignore eorum corda in amore jungantur:unde et quarto digito annulus ille inseritur, quod deeo vena quaedam, ut fertur, sanguinis ad cor usqueperveniat.17. Hincmar of Reims, Epistola XXIX, in PL,

cxxvi, col. 188. Quo debeant ordine consecrarimetropolitanus atque dioecesanus episcopus. Ut

autem ventum fuerit ad loca in quibus sunt crucessignatae, accipiat consecrator vas chrismatis insinistra manu, et cum dextro pollice, cantans quaeibidem continentur, per singula loca faciat crucemde chrismate in verticem consecrandi, et perfectaconsecratione, et respondentibus omnibus Amen,tollantur ab episcopis Evangelia de collo ejus, etmittat annulum in dexterae manus digito qui prae-cedit minimum, dicens ad quid illi annulus datur.18. Honorius of Autun, Gemma animae, in PL,

clxxii, col. 609CD (i.216): De annulo. Annuli ususex Evangelio acceptus creditur, ubi saginati vituliconviva prima stola vestitur, annulo insignitur (Luc.XV). Olim solebant reges litteras cum annulo signare;cum hoc soliti erant et nobiles quique sponsassubarrhare. Fertur quod Prometheus quidam sapiensprimus annulum ferreum ob insigne amoris fecerit,et in eo adamantem lapidem posuerit; quia videlicetsicut ferrum domat omnia, ita amor vincit omnia; etsicut adamas est infrangibilis, ita amor est insuper-abilis. Quem enim in illo digito portari constituit, inquo venam ut cordis deprehendit, unde et annularisnomen accepit.


subarrhare - OK?


on the little one.Why, then, does AndreasCapellanus opt for the little finger? Andwhy does he say that life and death residein this finger? The various modern editorsand translators of De amore have notanswered these questions either.19 Instead,they have simply annotated the text with areference to the Policraticus, in which, aswe have seen, John of Salisbury speaks ofthe fourth finger, not the little one.20

Nor can any answer be found withinthe anatomical tradition, which similarlyrefers to the fourth finger as privilegedbecause it is joined to the heart by a veinor nerve. Guy de Chauliac (c. 130068),for example, makes no mention of anyspecial status of the little finger in hisInventarium sive Chirurgia magna,21 nordoes Arnold of Villanova (d. 1311) in thesection of his Doctrina Galieni de interior-ibus where he discusses the anatomy of thelittle finger.22

We might expect some of thethirteenth-century translators of AndreasCapellanuss treatise to explain, by meansof annotations or glosses, why life anddeath reside in the little finger.This neverhappens, however. Neither of the medievalItalian translators, for instance, providesan explanation.Why? Either they did not

recognise it as a deviation from the normalconvention or, more probably, they did notunderstand the passage themselves. One ofthem records the interesting variant lifeand love (la vita e lamore) instead oflife and death: the ring ought to be wornon the little finger because the life and loveof man lies here more than in any otherfinger.23 Is this a departure from the Latintradition, or is it an attempt to rectify bymeans of conjectural emendation what heregarded as a corrupt reading in the Latinbecause it was incomprehensible to him?We cannot say. The other Italian versionis substantially the same, except that thistranslator adds one detail: the life anddeath of man and woman (de luomo edella femmina) reside more in the littlefinger than the others.24

The Florentine Antonio Pucci (d.1388) includes a simplified version of thepassage from De amore in his Libro di variestorie; but he, too, makes no comment,stating merely that:

if one lover receives a ring from the other, he orshe should wear it, out of love, on the little fingerof the left hand and the stone should be held inthe inside part of the hand, and it must behidden.25

180 NOTES

19. In addition to the editions and translations byTrojel,Walsh and Parry (n. 2 above), see: Des knig-lich frnkischen Kaplans Andreas 3 Bcher Ueber dieLiebe, introd. and transl. H. M. Elster, Dresden 1924,pp. 32334; Trait de lamour courtois, ed. and transl.C. Buridant, Paris 1974, pp. 175 and 248 n. 140 (henotes, however, that the John of Salisbury passage isnot a suacient explanation); and De amore, transl. J.Insana, Milan 1992, p. 150.20. See n. 14 above.21. Guy de Chauliac, Inventarium sive Chirurgia

magna, ed. M. R. McVaugh, NewYork and Cologne1997, pp. 4043 (Capitulum quatrum de anathomiahomoplatis et brachiorum seu manuum magnarum).22. Arnold of Villanova, Doctrina Galieni de inter-

ioribus, ed. R. J. Durling, in his Opera medica omnia,XV, Barcelona 1985, p. 318.23. Andreas Capellanus,Trattato damore/De amore

libri tres, ed. S. Battaglia, Rome 1947, p. 337: Maquesto vogliamo che sappiano gli amanti: che se luno

amante dallaltro, anello per amore prenda, nelminimo dito della sinistra mano le de portare, e lagemma portare dallato dentro della mano e semprenascosa. E questo de fare perch la sinistra mano datutti i liciti toccamenti si suole pi astenere, e nelminimo dito si dee portare, che pi che li altri sta lavita e lamore delluomo: e ancora, perch tutti liamanti sono tenuti di tenere loro amore segreto.24. Ibid., p. 339 [in the apparatus]: quello anello

de portare nella mano manca e nel dito mignolo, e lagemma dellanello da lato della palma della mano: eper ci adiviene perch la mano manca si guarda datoccare pi che la diritta ogni brutta cosa; e nel ditomignolo la vita e la morte de luomo e dellafemmina pi che negli altri.25. Antonio Pucci, Libro di varie storie (1362), ed.

A.Varvaro, in Atti della Accademia di Scienze, Lettere eArti di Palermo, Parte 2, Lettere, s. IV, vol. xvi, parteII, fasc. II, 1957, pp. 3312 (279): e se luno amantericeve dallaltro anella, per amore debbonlo portare



Nor, finally, do we find any explan-ation in the versified French version ofDrouart LaVache (c. 1290):

I want you to learn, you who maintain your lovein good order, that if a lover gives a ring to hisbeloved, in courtship, the ring must always beon the little finger of the left hand, and the stonemust be artfully hidden on the inside of the hand.There is a good reason for this and here it is:Nature teaches us and says that the left hand isbetter at keeping itself from touching uncleanli-ness than the right, and in the little finger, so itis said, is mans death or life, more than in anyother finger; and because a woman must keepher love a secret.26

Summing up what we have estab-lished so far, there seem to have beentwo traditions in the Middle Ages whichco-existed: the majority view, datingback to classical antiquity and based onanatomical and physiological fact; and aminority position, which was recent andmainly French and which, for reasons thatremain obscure, maintained that life anddeath resided in the little finger. Where,then, did this latter belief come from?

The most likely explanation, in myopinion, is that the passage reflects theinfluence of chiromancy, which at the timeattracted wide attention and was broadlydi`used among the upper classes, theclergy, at court and at university.27 Underthe name of palmistry, it survives today,practised by fortune-tellers and regardedby some as a game and by others assuperstition, quackery and esotericism. Inthe Middle Ages, by contrast, after thefirst Latin treatises got into circulationthroughout Europe, chiromancy was con-sidered a natural science, more closelyrelated to medicine and physiognomy thanto divination and prophecy. At least in itsorigins, it was a rational and philosophicaldiscipline, which spread in theWest follow-ing winding roads, under the banner ofAristotles authority, treading a narrowpath between the licit and illicit, betweenthe reading of natural signs and the pre-diction of future events.28 It helped princesto select their advisers, clergymen to knowwhether they would gain benefices andepiscopates, men to determine whether

in dito mignolo della mano sinistra e dee portare lagemma volta in entro celatamente.26. Drouart la Vache, Li Livres dAmours. Texte

tabli daprs le manuscrit unique de la Bibliothque delArsenal, ed. R. Bossuat, Paris 1926, p. 185: Tantweil je que vos aprens, / Vous qui bonne amourmaintens, / Que, se li amans a ssamie / Donne .i.anel, par cortoisie, / Ou petit doi touz jors doit estre /Li aniax, de la mani senestre, / Et doit la pierre estremucie / Par dedenz la main, par maistrie: / Et raison ia telle et bonne: / Nature nous aprent et donne / Quemix se garde la senestre / Dordure touchier que ladestre, / Et ou petit doi, quoi con die, / Est la morsde lomme ou la vie, / Plus quel nest en nul autredoit, Et por ce que la fame doit / Samour gardersecreement.27. In Western Europe the term chiromancy first

occurs in the 12th century, almost simultaneouslyin Plantagenet England in the Policraticus of Johnof Salisbury, and in Christian Spain in De divisionephilosophiae by Dominicus Gundissalinus or Gundi-salvi (Domingo Gonales), archdeacon of Toledo, towhom many translations and adaptations of Arabictexts are attributed: ed. L. Baur, Munster 1903, pp.11920, cum enim multae sint sciencie iudicandi

ut ciromancia in manu. For the oldest survivingtext see C. Burnett, The Earliest Chiromancy in theWest, this Journal, l, 1987, pp. 18995: he describesa chiromancy in the so-called Eadwine Psalter(Cambridge, Trinity College MS R.17.1), whichappears to be more or less contemporary with thePolicraticus and the treatise of Gundissalinus. It isaccompanied by an onomancy; the texts are tran-scribed consecutively, without beginning a new page,soon after some annotations to the Credo and PaterNoster. The presence of two divinatory texts in adevotional manuscript might seem at first sight ratherodd; but the chiromancy was apparently designed forclergymen, containing a series of predictions aimedat an ecclesiastical user, such as the gaining of bene-fices and episcopal oaces.Thomas Beckets interestin divinatory practices is well known; see John ofSalisbury, Policraticus (as in n. 14), i, p. 144 (ii.27);Manuali medievali di chiromanzia, ed. S. Rapisarda,transl. and comm. idem and R. M. Piccione, Rome2005, pp. 912. Moreover, the same hand is respon-sible not only for copying the onomancy and thechiromancy but also for the annotations to the Credo.28. See Manuali medievali di chiromanzia (as in n.

27), esp. pp. 1820.


182 NOTES

their brides were chaste or promiscuous,women to find out whether their men werebrave or cowardly, and everyone to dis-cover whether they would have sons ordaughters, be rich or poor and have a longor a short life.

In the rubrics on the hands illustratingseveral twelfth-century chiromancies,29 weread that if a cross is seen under the littlefinger in a mans right hand (dextra viri), itis a sign of life and death: This cross goingout, removes life and brings its opposite[i.e., death]. The more it goes out, thesooner [life] departs.30 And in relation tothe womans left hand (sinistra mulieris),which is more or less a mirror image ofthe mans right hand, we read: This crossgoing out removes life and brings itsopposite, that is, death.31 In each case,the cross at the base of the little finger isshown on a drawing which accompaniesthe prediction (see Figs 1 and 2, no. 21 inboth pictures).

A cross located in the same place canbe observed in similar works. For example,there is a cross of life and death on thewomans left hand (manus sinistra queest mulieris) in another illustrated chiro-

mancy, Palmistria Salomonis (Figs 34).The caption reads: This cross removeslife and brings its opposite (Fig. 3bis).32

The caption under the mans right hand(manus dextera qui est masculi) reads: Whenthis cross is present, it removes life; andthe further it extends, the more death ad-vances (Fig. 4bis).33 The same statementsappear in an Anglo-Norman version ofthis work, which depicts a Mayn de femmeand a mans right hand (Figs 56). On theformer it says Cete crois tout la vie emeyne la mort (Fig. 5bis), while on thelatter, Cete croiz signefie la vie et le pluske ele ist vint el la mort (Fig. 6bis).34

More structured treatises, such asthe Tractatus ciromancie of Roderick ofMajorca, provide the same information:

Concerning the middle line. when it is wellarticulated, deep and clearly visible, and reachesup to the mount of the blade, it means a longlife; and when it does not traverse the entirehand, it means a short life; and when it is cutby a line, producing a sort of cross towards theend, it means a near and imminent death, whichwill happen within a year.35

Similarly, in the Chiromantia of pseudo-John of Seville, we read:

29. C. Burnett, Chiromancy: Supplement: ThePrincipal Latin Texts on Chiromancy Extant in theMiddle Ages, in his Magic and Divination in theMiddle Ages, Aldershot and Brookfield,VT 1996, pp.129 (1829).30. For text and (slightly modified) translation

see ibid., pp. 2425 (Dextra viri, no. 21), Heccrux exiens vita removet et eius contrarium inducit.Que quanto plus exierit, tanto magis mox excedit(London, British Library MS Sloane 2030, fol. 126r).See also the variants in Oxford, Bodleian LibraryMS Ashmole 399, fol. 17r (Dextra viri, no. 21), Heccrux exiens vitam remordet; and Cambridge,TrinityCollege MS 0.2.5., fol. 130r, Que quanto plus ex-tenditur, tanto magis mox accedit.31. Ibid., p. 28 (Sinistra mulieris, no. 21), Hec

crux exiens vitam removet et eius contrarium in-ducit, scilicet mortem (Oxford, Bodleian LibraryMS Ashmole 399, fol. 16v); variant in Cambridge,Trinity College MS 0.2.5., fol. 129v, Hec crux exiensvitam removet. Quanto hec crux extendit, tantomors propinquior erit; omitted in Oxford, BodleianLibrary MS Ashmole 399, fol. 17r.

32. Cambridge, Trinity College MS 0.2.5, fol.388v, hec crux vitam removet et eius contrariuminducit.33. Ibid., fol. 389r, hec crux existens vitam

removet in quanto plus extendit tanto plus morsexcedit.34. Cambridge, Trinity College MS 0.3.45, fols

59v60r. For an edition of all the Anglo-Normanchiromancies see S. Rapisarda, Chiromanzie anglo-normanne, forthcoming.35. R. A. Pack and R. Hamilton, Rodericus de

Majoricis: Tractatus Ciromancie, Archives dhistoiredoctrinale et littraire du moyen ge, xxxviii, 1971, pp.271305 (28788); and see now Manuali medievali dichiromanzia (as in n. 27), p. 214, 6. De linea mediana.quando est bene articulata et profunda et beneapparens, protensa usque ad montem incisionis,longam significat vitam, et si pertransit totammanum, brevem significat vitam. Et quando lineaipsam secat ad modum crucis versus finem, mortemproximam significat et imminentem, infra annumfuturam.



1. Dextra viri, mans right hand (after Burnett, Chiromancy: supplement, p. 18)

2. Sinistra mulieris, womans left hand (ibid., p. 19)


184 NOTES

3. Cambridge,Trinity College MS 0.2.5, folio 388v, Palmistria Salomonis



4. Cambridge,Trinity College MS 0.2.5. folio 389r, Palmistria Salomonis


186 NOTES

5. Cambridge,Trinity College MS 0.3.45, folio 59v



6. Cambridge,Trinity College MS 0.3.45, folio 60r


188 NOTES

3bis. Detail of Trinity College MS 0.2.5, folio 388v: the cross under the little finger

4bis. Detail of Trinity College MS 0.2.5, folio 389r (rotated 180): the cross under the little finger



5bis. Detail of Trinity College MS 0.3.45, folio 59v

6bis. Detail of Trinity College MS 0.3.45, folio 60r


190 NOTES

Now it is time to speak about the middle line.When it is well articulated, clearly visible anddeep, and reaches up to the hands mount ofthe blade, it means a long life; and when it doesnot traverse the entire hand, it means a shortlife; and when there is a line near the end of itproducing a sort of cross, it foretells death withina year.36

Indications of the length of a personslife and of his or her sudden transit fromlife to death are thus found at the mountof the blade, which is located directlybelow the mount of the little finger, which,for this reason, is more significant than theothers.

The same belief may also have influ-enced the semiotics of chiromancy. Somechiromancy books locate the signs of thenumber of weddings or the quality of acouples relationship or the nobility ofones partner at the base of the littlefinger, in the folds at the joint of the palm.For example, in the Chiromantia parva, weread:

From this line on the side of the hand betweenthe table line and the little finger, however manylines appear, they signify as many marriages(apart from the first line); if they are oblique,past marriages; if straight, future ones.37

Much the same passage is found inpseudo-John of Seville, Chiromantia:

Concerning the mount of the little fingersomesay thatif the lines between the table line andthe base of the little finger are oblique, they meanpast marriages; if straight, future ones.38

And in Roderick of Majorca, Tractatusciromancie:

Concerning the mount of the little finger ifthe lines between the table line and the base ofthe finger mentioned above [i.e., the little finger]are oblique, they mean happy marriages; but ifthey are cut, the prediction changes.39

In conclusion, we can say that thepassage from Andreas Capellanuss Deamore seems to reflect the influence ofchiromantic theory. The presence of thisallusion to the modern science of chiro-mancy is perhaps a further clue to theperceived Aristotelian naturalism, thevanitates and insaniae falsae which, inthe eyes of tienne Tempier, bishop ofParis, made the content of Andreas Capel-lanuss De amore unacceptable and which,it has been claimed, contributed to theParisian condemnations of 1277.40

36. Ps.-John of Seville, Chiromantia, i: 4. De lineamediana sive sinistra trianguli nunc est dicendum. et quando est bene articulata, bene apparens et pro-funda, protensa usque ad montem incisionis manus,significat longam vitam, et quando non transit pertotam manum, significat brevem vitam, et quandouna linea ipsam circa finem in modum crucis,mortem infra annum denunciat futuram, in R. A.Pack, A Pseudo-Aristotelian Chiromancy, Archivesdhistoire doctrinale et littraire du moyen ge, xxxvi,1969, pp. 189241 (210); see now Manuali medievalidi chiromanzia (as in n. 27), p. 134.37. For the text and translation (slightly modi-

fied), see Burnett (as in n. 29), pp. 1415 (no. 31),Iuxta eandem a latere manus inter lineam men-salem et auricularem quotcumque linee apparuerint,totidem designant nupcias, excepta prima linea. Sioblique fuerint, peractas; si recte, futuras. See alsothe rubrics below the little finger in The Hands:ibid., p. 20 (Dextra viri, no. 1), [Linee] nupciarum.Quot lineas tales post primam habuerit, tot uxoribusnubet; et si longiores, nobiliores; and p. 24 (Sinistra

mulieris, no. 1), Quot lineas tales post primamhabuerit, tot viris desponsabitur. Et si maiores sintsecunde quam prime, nobiliores erunt mariti quamipsa sponsa.38. Ps.-John of Seville, Chiromantia, i: 21. De

monte auricularisdicunt aliqui quodlinee intermensalem et radicem auricularis transversantesnupcias preteritas significant, sed directe, futuras; sedtedia magis quam impedimenta talium nupciarumsignificant, in Pack (as in n. 36), p. 223; see nowManuali medievali di chiromanzia (as in n. 27), p. 160.39. Pack and Hamilton (as in n. 35), p. 297; and

see now Manuali medievali di chiromanzia (as in n.27), p. 236: 17. De monte auriculariset si intermensalem et radicem digiti predicti transversantessint linee, nupcias cum summo gaudio significant; siautem scindantur, mutatur iudicium.40. M. Grabmann, Das Werk De Amore des

Andreas Capellanus und das Verurteilungsdekretdes Bischofs StephanTempier von Paris vom 7 Mrz1277, Speculum, vii, 1932, pp. 7579; A. J. Denomy,The De Amore of Andreas Capellanus and the



Condemnation of 1277,Mediaeval Studies, viii, 1946,pp. 10749. See Epistola scripta a StephanoEpiscopo Parisiensi anno 1277, in La condemnation

parisienne de 1277, ed. and transl. D. Pich, Paris1999, pp. 7279 (72, 76).

Universit degli Studi di Catania


JOURNAL OFTHE WARBURGAND COURTAULDINSTITUTESWarburg Institute, University of London, Woburn Square, London WCIH 0AB

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Dear Dr Rapisarda,

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A Ring on the Little Finger (Andreas Cappellanno and Medieval Chiromancy)

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