Titivillus
Encyclopedia
Titivillus was a demon
said to work on behalf of Belphegor
, Lucifer
or Satan
to introduce errors into the work of scribes
. The first reference to Titivillus by name occurred in Tractatus de Penitentia, c. 1285, by Johannes Galensis, John of Wales. Titivillus has also been described as collecting idle chat that occurs during church service
, and mispronounced, mumbled or skipped words of the service, to take to Hell to be counted against the offenders.
He has been called the "patron demon of scribes," as Titivillus provides an easy excuse for the errors that are bound to creep into manuscript
s as they are copied.
Marc Drogin
noted in his instructional manual Medieval Calligraphy: Its history and technique (1980) "for the past half-century every edition of The Oxford English Dictionary has listed an incorrect page reference for, of all things, a footnote on the earliest mention of Titivillus."
Titivillus gained a broader role as a subversive figure of physical comedy, with satirical commentary on human vanities, in late medieval English pageants, such as the Iudicium that finishes the Towneley Cycle. He plays an antagonistic role in the Medieval English play Mankind
.
In an anonymous fifteenth-century English devotional treatise, Myroure of Oure Ladye, Titivillus introduced himself thus (I.xx.54):
"I am a poure dyuel, and my name ys Tytyvyllus ... I muste eche day ... brynge my master a thousande pokes full of faylynges, and of neglygences in syllables and wordes."
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
said to work on behalf of Belphegor
Belphegor
In demonology, Belphegor is a demon, and one of the seven princes of Hell, who helps people to make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich. According to some 16th century demonologists, his power is stronger in April...
, Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
or Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
to introduce errors into the work of scribes
Scribes
Scribes is a minimalist and extensible text editor for GNOME that combines simplicity with power. Scribes focuses on ways workflow and productivity can be intelligently automated and radically improved...
. The first reference to Titivillus by name occurred in Tractatus de Penitentia, c. 1285, by Johannes Galensis, John of Wales. Titivillus has also been described as collecting idle chat that occurs during church service
Church service
In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
, and mispronounced, mumbled or skipped words of the service, to take to Hell to be counted against the offenders.
He has been called the "patron demon of scribes," as Titivillus provides an easy excuse for the errors that are bound to creep into manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s as they are copied.
Marc Drogin
Marc Drogin
Marc Drogin is an American writer and illustrator.-Biography:Drogin began work as a technical secretary, first at New York University, and then at Columbia University in New York City. His first drawings appeared as line fillers in New York’s The Village Voice in the 1950s...
noted in his instructional manual Medieval Calligraphy: Its history and technique (1980) "for the past half-century every edition of The Oxford English Dictionary has listed an incorrect page reference for, of all things, a footnote on the earliest mention of Titivillus."
Titivillus gained a broader role as a subversive figure of physical comedy, with satirical commentary on human vanities, in late medieval English pageants, such as the Iudicium that finishes the Towneley Cycle. He plays an antagonistic role in the Medieval English play Mankind
Mankind (play)
Mankind is an English medieval morality play, written c.1470. The play is a moral allegory about Mankind, a representative of the human race, and follows his fall into sin and his repentance...
.
In an anonymous fifteenth-century English devotional treatise, Myroure of Oure Ladye, Titivillus introduced himself thus (I.xx.54):
"I am a poure dyuel, and my name ys Tytyvyllus ... I muste eche day ... brynge my master a thousande pokes full of faylynges, and of neglygences in syllables and wordes."
Further reading
- Marc Drogin, Medieval Calligraphy: Its history and technique 1980.
- Who is Titivillus?