- Grobian
Saint Grobian (
Medieval Latin , "Sanctus Grobianus") was a fictionalpatron saint of vulgar and coarse people. His name is derived from theMiddle High German "grob" or "grop", meaning coarse or vulgar. TheOld High German cognate is "gerob", "gerop".The word "grobian" has thus passed into the
English language as an obscure word for any crude, sloppy, or buffoonish person.History
The satirist
Sebastian Brant (1457-1521) conceived Saint Grobian as the patron saint of coarse manners in his famous poem "Das Narrenschiff " (1494 ). "Das Narrenschiff" describes the worship paid to this new saint.Grobian is found later in several works of the period.
Friedrich Dedekind (1524-1598) published "Grobianus et Grobiana: sive, de morum simplicitate, libri tres" in1558 atCologne . Here Grobian is a counselor who teaches men on how to avoid bad manners,gluttony , anddrunkenness .Dedekind's work appeared in
England in1605 as "The Schoole of Slovenrie: Or, Cato turnd wrong side outward", published by one "R.F.". The "Schoole" was imagined as a place where one was instructed to use one's greasyfinger s to grab at the nicest portions of any dish and snatch food belonging to fellow diners. Holding back the desire tourinate , fart, andvomit is taught to be bad for one's health; thus, one has to indulge freely in all three activities.The work also inspired Thomas Dekker's "The Guls Horne-Booke" (
1609 ).The German writer
Melchior Meyr was the author of a work entitled "Gesprachs mit einem Grobian" (1866 ).ources
*Rod Evans, "The Gilded Tongue" (Cincinnati: Writers Digest Books, 2006), 59.
External links
*en icon [http://www.polybiblio.com/jrwindle/1487.html Polybiblio: Grobianus et Grobiana: sive, de morum simplicitate, libri tres]
*en icon [http://leehrsn.stormloader.com/dek/intro.html Gull’s Hornbook]
*en icon [http://www.johnwebster.galeon.com/glossary-g.htm Glossary: Grobianism]
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