'Sub eisdem verbis abreviatis ut facilius in componendis libris auctoritates sic paterent' : Citer les autorités dans les textes encyclopédiques médiévaux: How did medieval encyclopedists—experts in citation and compilers of sources—approach the practice of referencing? What forms did their citations take, and how precise were they? Did they systematically "mark" or reference their sources, and did the process of documentation coincide with that of citation? By what criteria did they select their quotations, and were there recurring patterns in their methods? Did a hierarchy exist among the auctoritates they invoked? This chapter explores these questions to uncover the origin, status, function, and modalities of citation in medieval encyclopedias. It examines whether a typology of sources can be established based on their origin and nature, and how the value attributed to a source influenced the type of quotation used. Were there generic references for certain types of citations? How aware were encyclopedists of pseudoepigraphy, and did they engage in self-quotation? Was verbatim citation preferred over paraphrasing (ad sensum), and did the choice between literal and interpretive quotation affect how sources were referenced? The chapter also investigates whether simple reminiscence could be considered a source, and under what circumstances citations appeared without explicit references—while remaining recognizable as such. Through examples drawn from the encyclopedists’ own words and comparisons with related literary genres, it provides nuanced answers to these complex questions, shedding light on the evolving practices of citation in medieval scholarship.

HAL 2026 Book chapter