Pia dictamina

This is a term applied, for example in Analecta Hymnica, to medieval Latin hymns intended for private devotion rather than liturgical or para-liturgical use. Such hymns are sometimes called ‘rhythmi’, a term applied frequently and broadly in the Middle Ages to any kind of rhymed text; but this term is perhaps better reserved for rhythmically-structured hymns. Different kinds of Pia dictamina include: ‘Psalters’ with 150 strophes, concerning Christ, Mary, or each psalm in turn; ‘Rosaries’ with fifty strophes, corresponding to the fifty ‘Hail Marys’ of the rosary; sets of eight officia parva, for private meditation after each office hour; and Gloss-Songs, which paraphrase and comment upon a...