The prosodic florilegia and the transmission of the Latin poets in the Middle Ages

From the 3th and 4th century of our age, the quantitative rhythm of the Latin language changed into an accentual rhythm, and the perception for the syllabic quantity of Latin words disappeared. Since knowledge of prosody is crucial for reading and writing in Latin, Medieval school teachers invented the prosodic florilegia, i.e. lists of classical and Medieval Latin verses from the most studied authors (Vergil, Ovid, Persius, Juvenal, Statius, Prudentius, etc.). Today we possess 6 different florilegia from the 9th century, which are both teaching and learning tools. My thesis consists of a critical edition of the corpus of the florilegia which endeavours to be a solid base for further study of these texts, of their compilers, and of the context in which they were used. The present critical edition will also be the starting point for investigating the circulation of Latin poets in the Middle Ages, and for highlighting networks of textual transmission and cultural practices connected to Latin poetry.