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Duelling with the Past: Medieval Authors and the Problem of the Christian Era, c.

990!!"#. By Peter Verbist. Studies in the Early Middle Ages 21. Turnhout, Belgium:Brepols, 21. Pp. !, "##. $12.. %SB&: 2'("'(2)"'(.

Duelling with the Pastis an inno*ati*e +or that o--ers a uniue, *aluable insight intothe /omple!, te/hni/al +orld o- late tenth' to early t+el-th /entury com$utus studiesin the /entral Middle Ages. 0/.'11"(. Verbist3s aim is to /riti/ally analyse/riti/ally t+o ey elements o- the *arious /omputisti/al pro/esses that eight medie*alauthors undertoo +hen attempting to /orre/t the -la+ed 4hristian era dating system0Anno Domini o- 5ionysius E!iguus 0/. 6) ' (66. The -irst relates to the/hronologi/al and /hronographi/al /omponents -or ea/h o- these arguments 0su/h asthe number o- years by +hi/h the 5ionysian era +as /orre/ted, and the /omputisti/al

basis -or su/h /orre/tions to tae pla/e. The se/ond /on/erns the underlying themati/impetuses -or /ondu/ting and re/ording su/h treatises on this theologi/ally sensiti*esub7e/t. Through this t+o'-old e!amination Verbist su//ess-ully demonstrates the

-orm and e!tent to +hi/h these treatises /hallenged popular /ontemporarymethodologi/al pra/ti/es regarding the a//eptan/e and transmission o- the date -or theyear o- 4hrist3s birth. Although in many +ays it is treated as a supplementary issue,Verbist also attempts to sho+ ho+ the e!tant te!ts on this sub7e/t ga*e /reden/e tointelle/tual indi*idualism in 8estern a/ademia be-ore the ad*ent o- S/holasti/ismasresult o- their +or.

The stru/ture o- Duelling with P$ast is /ommendably /omprehensi*e and easy tona*igate-ollo+. The%ts introdu/tion brie-ly a/uaints the reader +ith the ma7or issues/on/erning the /onstru/tion o- early medie*al dating systems to determine 4hrist3sin/arnation and passion9 Verbist%t outlines the main di--i/ulties that /omputus s/holarsen/ountered +ith auctoritas 0te!tual authority and *arious argumenta 0establishedrules o- thumb +hen trying to promulgate alternati*e dating systems to that o-5ionysius3s 4hristian era. e And also pro*ides a brie- sur*eyhistoriography o- theattempts to establish a /onsistent tradition -or both the ;ree and

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the /hapters -our and eight +hen he ist, dis/ussing Marianus S/ottus and eimo o-Bamberg3s /omputisti/al systems. The %t is /on/erning that the non'spe/ialist +ill or/asual reader +ould probably ha*e a hard time trying to grasp all o- the interestingaspe/ts that are being presented to them at any one time. >or e!ample the -un/tion andmeaning o- terms lie 'erior assertio, lacunae, or /hronography. % +ould /ertainly

agree +ith 5a*id 5e-ries suggestion that it may ha*e been use-ul to ha*e a glossaryo- de-initions -or re-eren/e to impro*e the a//essibility o- the boo. a*ing said that,Verbist3s /hapter -our3s -antasti/ analysis o- Sigebert o- ;emblou!3s the (iberdecennalis 012by Siegbert o- ;eemblo! 0d. /. 1112, is e!tremely so /lear and/ogent in its e!planation o- the di--i/ult issues Sigebert +as +restling +iththatSiegbert is dealing +ith, as +ith all the other authors, that it does remedy this problemsome+hat.TheThat being said, the *alue and impli/ations o- this timely +or are a/tually uite

pro-ound. %n pro*iding us +ith an Although it is +orth highlighting that Verbist is nottrying to /onstru/t a partial synthesis o- early medie*al /hronology +ith these te!ts.

e is pro*iding an up'to'date, group e!amination o- the /urrent /orpus o- te!ts thatdealing +ith /omputisti/al /orre/tions -rom this parti/ular era, he has has donesomething +hi/h ' something that has not been attempted be-ore, despite thesigni-i/ant amount o- attention re/ently paid to /entral medie*al apo/alypti/ism.Moreo*er Verbist has he indire/tly re*ealeds some o- the pressing /ontemporarytheologi/al /on/erns +hi/h guided medie*al /omputes s/holarsthat perhaps +ere notall that apparent in some resear/h -ields. 8e are gi*en strong indi/ations that/al/ulations regarding the -uture ages o- the +orld +ere not a ma7or /on/ern to theseauthors. is >urtherore, the un/o*ering o- these authors3 uest -or intelle/tualautonomy by these authors in the -a/e o- +idespread silent a/uies/en/e aboutto+ards a generally a/no+ledged erroneous dating system be/ons to bein/orporated into our present understanding o- medie*al interpretations to+ardsauthorityas +ell as millenarianism.

%he )niversit* of E+eter ;eorge ouse