speculum-literature

A form of speculum literature — A medieval literary genre, popular from the 12th through the 16th centuries, inspired by the urge to encompass encyclopedic knowledge within a single work.

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Meanings

nounspeculum-literature or (rare) speculum-literature (uncountable)
  1. alternativerareuncountableAlternative form of speculum literature.

    This speculum-literature did, of course, not disappear at once in the 16th century.

    1871, A[ntonius] van der Linde, translated by J[an] H[endrik] Hessels, “Speculum nostræ Salutis”, in The Haarlem Legend of the Invention of Printing by Lourens Janszoon Coster, Critically Examined […], London: Blades, East, & Blades, […], page 84
    2 more examples

    In this medieval tradition this science’s ethical-political function was emphasised; thus it became part of speculum-literature.

    2006, Rhoda Schnur, Perrine Galand-Hallyn, editors, Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Bonnensis: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies, Bonn, 3–9 August, 2003, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, →ISBN, page 159

    This evokes the medieval tradition of speculum-literature with its strong didactic slant.

    2007, Cordula Politis, The Individualization of Fortune in the Sixteenth-Century Novels of Jorg Wickram: The Beginnings of the Modern Narrative in German Literature, Lewiston, N.Y.; Queenston, Ont.; Lampeter, Ceredigion: The Edwin Mellen Press, →ISBN, page 86
Cite this entry
APA

speculum-literature. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speculum-literature

MLA

“speculum-literature.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speculum-literature. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “speculum-literature,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speculum-literature.

Source: speculum-literature on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.