La classification des abeilles, de l'Antiquité au début de l'ère moderne

This paper aims to analyse the history of the classification of bees, taking into consideration some important ancient, medieval and Renaissance texts. With regards to Antiquity, it will address specifically Aristotle's Historia animalium, Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia and Virgil's Georgica. In the Middle Ages Arabic sources added new material to the history of classification, such as Avicenna's De animalibus. Medieval encyclopaedism represents a complex phenomenon that shows a progressive idea of direct observations together with the collection of many sources. In this paper, two medieval philosophers and encyclopaedists will be taken into consideration, Thomas of Cantimpre, and Albert the Great. The latter presents a progressive growth of classifying interest, dividing bees into nine species, some of which were in turn divided into further species. Lastly, the case of Federico Cesi's Apiarium is particular. His work was written at the beginning of the 17th century and presents...