The Greek Grammar of Roger Bacon

...comes, this article li designates the proper and true subject of such a place, as if referring to the King of France. And this would not suffice to denote the arrival of the King of England. For no one would say of the King of England coming to Paris, The king comes original: "Li reis vent", but would add something else, saying, The King of England comes original: "Li reis de Engleterre vent"." We have in our grammar two parallel passages; one on page 13: "and the French language has them as li le la," and another on page 157: "just as it would be said in French the king original: "li rois" in the nominative case, and of the king original: "de li rois" in the genitive case."

Greek teachers. Itacism.

It would not be surprising if the grammatical rules of the Greek language, as laid down in this grammar, accorded with those given in Bacon’s other works, even if the former were from a different hand, for the rules of accidence Accidence refers to the part of grammar dealing with the inflections of words, such as conjugation and declension., however differently worded and arranged, are substantially the same. But it so happens that Bacon’s individuality is stamped even on such stereotyped precepts. Bacon’s knowledge of Greek was for the most part derived from Greeks, in the same way as he owed his knowledge of Hebrew to Jews. This mode of studying Greek presented no difficulty to him, for there were then numbers of Greeks in England, France, and Italy. He advised students to visit the last-named country on account of this, for there were many places where the clergy and the population were purely Greek, and it would be worth while to go there for information.

"And there are many Greeks in England and France who are sufficiently educated here. Nor would it be a great matter, for such great benefit, to go to Italy, in which the clergy and the people are purely Greek in many places; and bishoprics and archbishoprics, and wealthy men and elders could send there for books, and for one or more who might know Greek; just as Lord Robert, the holy Bishop of Lincoln, used to do" original: "Et sunt multi (Graeci) in Anglia et Francia..." Robert Grosseteste, the Bishop of Lincoln, was a major influence on Bacon and a promoter of Greek studies in the 13th century.

(Compendium Studii Philosophiae vi. p. 434; compare Opus Tertium, p. 33). We meet with the same remark in our grammar (p. 31): "for in the kingdom of Sicily many churches" original: "nam in regno Siciliae multae ecclesiae"