La Oratio pro memoria et de eloquentia in integrum restituenda de Nicolaus Mameranus (1561)

Abstract

The Oratio pro memoria by N. Mameranus is a plea in defence of memory presented in the context of the orationes quodlibeticae held in 1560 at the University of Louvain. Mameranus criticises the practice of reading speeches in writing. This chartaceus et sedentarius orator Mameranus does not consider him worthy of being called an orator. The main argument against reading is the tedium it causes in the audience and the inability to move the affections of the listeners. He proposes that memory should be reestablished as an essential part of oratorical practice.