Hrabanus Maurus (776-856), a pupil of Alcuin's, wrote a work, _De
Clericorum Institutione_, in which the phrase _Septem Liberales Artes_
is said to occur for the first time. About the same date Theodulfus
wrote his allegorical poem _De Septem Liberalibus in quadam Pictura
Descriptis_.[13]
The Liberal Studies after St. Augustine did not include Philosophy,
which rested upon the Seven Arts, as upon "seven pillars," and was
usually divided into (1) Physical, (2) Logical, (3) Ethical.[14] After a
time Philosophy came to be an all-embracing term. In a commentary on the
_Timæus_ of Plato, assigned by Cousin to the twelfth century, we find
the following scheme:--
{ Ethics.
{ Practical { Economics.
{ { Politics.
{
{ { Theology.
PHILOSOPHY { { { Arithmetic }
{ { Mathematics. { Music }
{ Theoretical { { Geometry } = Quadrivium.
{ { { Astronomy }
{ { Physics.
The author expressly says that "Mathematica quadrivium continet"; but he
plainly does not include the _Trivium_ under Philosophy. This, however,
was done the following century. In the _Itinerarium Mentis in Deum_ of
St. Bonaventura (1221-74) we find the following arrangements:--
{ { Metaphysics--essence: leads to First
{ { Principle = Father.
{ Natural { Mathematics--numbers, figures: leads
{ { to Image = Son.
{ { Physics--natures, powers, diffusions:
{ { leads to Gift of Holy Spirit.
{
PHILOSOPHY { { Grammar--power of expression = Father.
{ Rational { Logic--perspicuity in argument = Son.
{ { Rhetoric--skill in persuading = Holy
{ { Spirit.
{
{ { Monastics--innascibility of Father.
{ Moral { Œconomics--familiarity of Son.
{ { Politics--liberality of Holy Spirit.
Here we have the _Trivium_, under the division "Rational," while the
_Quadrivium_ must still be included under "Mathematics." In both cases
we get nine sciences or disciplines, and the number was apparently
chosen, because it is the square of three, the number of the Holy
Trinity. In the latter case this was certainly true. Speaking of the
primary divisions of Philosophy, the Saint says: "The first treats of
the cause of being, and therefore leads to the Power of the Father; the
second of the ground of understanding, and therefore leads to the Wisdom
of the Word; the third of the order of living, and therefore leads to
the goodness of the Holy Spirit."
Dante, in his _Convivio_ (II, 14, 15), gives the following scheme, based
upon the "ten heavens," nine of which are moved by angels or
intelligences, while the last rests in God.