The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c12.35

c12.35

The *Carmen de Algorismo*¹ of Alexander de Villa Dei was written in verse, as indeed were many other textbooks of that time. That it was widely used is evidenced by the large number of manuscripts² extant in European libraries. Sacrobosco’s *Algorismus*,³ in which some lines from the *Carmen* are quoted, enjoyed a wide popularity as a textbook for university instruction.⁴ The work was evidently written with this end in view, as numerous commentaries by university lecturers are found. Probably the most widely used of these was that of Petrus de Dacia⁵ written in 1291. These works throw an interesting light upon the method of instruction in mathematics in use in the universities from the thirteenth even to the sixteenth century. Evidently the text was first read and copied by students.⁶ Following this came line by line an exposition of the text, such as is given in Petrus de Dacia’s commentary.