Biblical Exegesis and the Twelfth-Century Expansion of Servius

As part of its adaptation and expansion of Servius, the twelfth-century commentary on the works of Virgil traditionally (though incorrectly) attributed to Anselm of Laon includes a range of biblical quotations, offered to illustrate its interpretations of Virgil’s text. Rather than supporting a Christianized or allegorical reading of Virgil, however, the details of these intertexts reveal the commentator’s understanding of the Bible as literature, composed by human authors working in terms of conventions comparable to those of classical poetry and prose. This approach to biblical and classical texts alike makes this commentary an important witness to larger trends in the intellectual culture of Northern Europe in the twelfth century, especially the growing emphasis on the literal sense of Scripture that would dominate later scholastic exegesis. Though the Virgil commentary remains unedited, this chapter includes an appendix cataloguing its various biblical and para-biblical quotations