The Munich Computus - Text and Translation

The focus in the study of early-medieval computistics has generally been on the few texts that can be attributed to well-known authors, leaving the impression that this science was advanced only by single scholars, who appear to have been self-educated geniuses rather than the product of an intellectual milieu. The present study of the Munich Computus of AD 719 closes the gap between the scientific works of Isidore and those of Bede.

The editio princeps presented here (accompanied by an English translation and comprehensive commentary) applies editorial techniques that aim at placing every single passage in its scientific context by tracing the development of the underlying ideas prior to AD 719, as well as analyzing the impact on the Carolingian renaissance. The introduction highlights the history of this text, while the source analysis brings to light previously unknown texts, making it possible to define the immense Irish contribution to the history of science in the century between Isidore and Bede and with this to put the latter's scientific achievements into perspective