gems, early lapidaries, early gemology, early mineralogy, Albertus Magnus, Marbode

Haefele examines textual and interpretive problems surrounding Marbod of Rennes’ Liber lapidum (Lapidarius), the influential medieval Latin poem on the properties and powers of stones. The study concentrates especially on the prologue and the poem on coral, using these passages to clarify Marbod’s conception of the occult and medicinal powers attributed to stones and aspects of the work’s textual tradition. Haefele also addresses the proposed connection between Marbod’s Lapidarius and the Macer Floridus, rejecting the suggestion that Marbod authored the latter on linguistic, stylistic and conceptual grounds.