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The Monastic Rules of Visigothic Iberia - eTheses Repository ...

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4.8.2 Figurative Language in the Common Rule: A Case Study<br />

In order to help study the use <strong>of</strong> figurative language, it will be useful to concentrate<br />

on a single text in particular; in this case, the Common Rule. Throughout the Common Rule,<br />

there are some notable themes, in particular the use <strong>of</strong> imagery concerning medical and<br />

sickness themes, and canine imagery. <strong>The</strong> use <strong>of</strong> medical imagery is one <strong>of</strong> the most<br />

prevalent, and a theme that has been noted elsewhere. Constable (2003: 8), for example,<br />

noted: “the Rule <strong>of</strong> Benedict includes so much medical terminology that some scholars have<br />

suggested that the author had medical training”. <strong>The</strong>re are also other examples in the<br />

monastic rules. Isidore, for example, likens covetousness to a deadly plague: “indecenter<br />

quoque uel notabiliter non incedat, philargyriae contagium, ut lethiferam pestem,<br />

abhorreat”. 356<br />

In the Common Rule, there are a total <strong>of</strong> four instances <strong>of</strong> medical imagery:<br />

“Quia per LXX et eo amplius annos abrupte peccauerunt; et ideo congruum est ut arta<br />

paenitentia coarceantur. Quia et medicus tantum pr<strong>of</strong>undius uulnera abscidit quantum<br />

putridas carnes uidet. Tales ergo per paenitentiam ueram corrigantur, ut si noluerint<br />

excommunicatione continuo emendentur” 357<br />

“Ita ut ante missarum sollemnia sollicite ab abbate percunctentur, ne fortasse aliquis<br />

aduersus aliquem odio liuoris stimuletur, aut malitiae iaculo uulneretur, ne intestinum uirus<br />

quandoque aperto in superficiem cutis perrumpatur, et inter palmarum fructus myrrae<br />

amaritudo demonstretur” 358<br />

356 Rule <strong>of</strong> Isidore 3.3.<br />

357 Common Rule 8.<br />

358 Common Rule 13.<br />

140

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