(fl 862–c900). Latin writer and teacher. He was the author of a commentary on the De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii of Martianus Capella, the ninth book of which deals with music. In 861–2 Remigius was at the monastery of St Germain in Auxerre as a pupil of Heiric of Auxerre. In 876 he succeeded Heiric as master of the school, and in 883 (893, according to some) was given the task of reorganizing the school at Reims. In the period just before his death he taught in Paris where, for example, he instructed Odo of Cluny in dialectic and music.
The commentary on Martianus Capella was but one among many commentaries on Latin grammarians and poets (e.g. Donatus, Priscian, Juvenal, Cato) by Remigius. He also wrote biblical commentaries and several works on religious subjects, including an essay on the ceremonies of the Mass sometimes ascribed to Alcuin. This last work is of some interest for the early history of plainchant (PL, ci, 1246–71).
Remigius’s treatment of Martianus’s book 9 is by far the fullest extant commentary, surpassing even the length of the original. Yet much of the expansion derives from Remigius's pedantic tendency to present grammatical excursions at every opportunity; in the tradition of Carolingian commentaries, he provides synonyms for individual words or short phrases at points where Martianus's vocabulary is unusual or difficult, and only rarely does he refer to the musical world of his own time. There is an interesting and early use of the term ‘vidula’ to designate a musical instrument, and a brief observation on differences between the singing of Goths and Germans. One point of particular interest long went unrecognized, owing to the inadequacy of Gerbert's old edition: Remigius employs neumatic notation in about a dozen cases, to demonstrate intervals and to explain obscure terms such as ‘anesis’ and ‘paracterica’.
The extent to which the glosses on music may have become common knowledge in later centuries is unclear. Still, the commentary on Martianus as a whole seems to have been a standard and widely distributed work during the Middle Ages, serving also as the main vehicle by which Martianus was known to the intellectuals of this age.
M. Manitius: Geschichte der lateinischen Literatur des Mittelalters, i (Munich, 1911/R), 504–19
C.E. Lutz, ed.: Remigii Autissiodorensis Commentum in Martianum Capellam (Leiden, 1962–5)
P.M. Smith: Remigius Autissiodorensis Commentum in Martianum Capellam: a Translation and Commentary (diss., Florida State U., 1987)
LAWRENCE GUSHEE/BRADLEY JON TUCKER