Hugo von Lüttich: Peregrinarius
ISBN: 9789004451315
Platform/Publisher: BRILL / BRILL
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: Education Higher; Higher education and state; Educational change; Bologna process (European higher education);

This work is a description by the priest Hugh of Liège of his experiences on a pilgrimage in a work which he calls Peregrinarius Hugonis . Taken partly from real life and partly fantasized, it is entirely written in Latin couplets.

The final destination of this pilgrimage is never mentioned, but it might have been Rome. On his journey, the Muses appear to Hugh and demand that he write letters to the Kings of England and France, and to the Pope. The letters lead to a grand Peace Conference and an end to the 100-Years War which had recently begun (1342). The work contains countless cameos, interspersed between the letters, from the author's private life and fantasy world, and together they present the author with the chance to air all his knowledge of theology, natural science and medicine.

The Peregrinarius is a colourful representation of the manners of its time. It shows how power politics was viewed by a man of the people, and what cures he had to offer against its evils. All in all, an entertaining book in a Latin, which if not exactly classical, is any event well-composed and easy to follow.


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