obstinatia

Forms

obstinātia f (genitive obstinātiae); first declension^[1][2] The spelling ⟨obstinacia⟩ also occurs.^[1]

Etymology

It is a medieval noun from Latin obstinō (“to persist, be resolved”).^[1] Du Cange explains it with the classical words pertinācia and pervicācia, both meaning stubbornness,^[3] and it has the same sense as the classical obstinātiō.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Cange quotes it from Cummian's letter on the Easter controversy, where those who lead the people into error by their obstinacy will answer for it before the strict Judge.^[3] The earliest dated British example is in Eadmer, in the sense of stubbornness.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the romance of Arthur and Gorlagon a king sees the resolve of another's mind and fears for his life, a use the DMLBS glosses as persistence or determination,^[2] but most examples mean stubbornness.^[2][3][1]

In theological and legal writing it became a word for persisting in sin or error: Wyclif speaks of the final obstinacy of sin, and a register of Canterbury of 1425 joins it with hardening and pertinacity as the marks of a heretic.^[2] In the Latin of Poland it means stubbornness, doggedness and even insolence, in documents of 1514 and 1552.^[1]

Timeline

• 1080–1120 – Eadmer uses it of stubbornness.^[2]
• 1163–1172 – Helmold describes people who defended their freedom with such obstinacy of mind that they would sooner die.^[3][4]
• 1425 – A Canterbury register names obstinacy, with pertinacity, as what turned an error into heresy.^[2]
• 1514 – A Polish document speaks of anyone's stubbornness and rashness.^[1]
• 1552 – A Polish cathedral chapter decrees a penalty for someone's hardness and obstinacy of heart.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Persistence, determination, resoluteness.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Stubbornness, obstinacy; persistence in sin or error.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• obstinātiō
• obstinātus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de