Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Leo XIII Published Riddles Anonymously in His Latin Newspaper



Going by the pseudonym “X,” Pope Leo XIII anonymously crafted poetic puzzles in Latin for a Roman periodical at the turn of the 19th century.

The pope created lengthy riddles, known as “charades,” in Latin in which readers had to guess a rebus-like answer from two or more words that together formed the syllables of a new word.

Eight of his puzzles were published anonymously in “Vox Urbis,” a Rome newspaper that was printed entirely in Latin between 1898-1913, according to an article in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.

A reader who submitted the correct answer to the riddle would receive a book of Latin poetry written by either Pope Leo or another noted Catholic figure.

The identity of the mysterious riddle-maker, however, was soon revealed by a French reporter covering the Vatican for the daily newspaper Le Figaro.

Felix Ziegler published his scoop Jan. 9, 1899, a year after the puzzles started appearing, revealing that “Mr. X” was, in fact, the reigning pope, the Vatican newspaper said July 20.

Link to Catholic Spirit..

2 comments:

  1. How wonderful - someone should write a book, the secret lives of Popes - those popes, that is, who had secret lives that wouldn't turn your hair white over night. I used to like Anglo-Saxon riddles - no 'rebus-like' construction (as far as I know), but tricky all the same. The following is one to which the answer is no longer known: 'I saw a woman sit alone.' How tricky is that? (dates from the Exeter Book, 10th cent.)

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  2. Wow. From this to 100 years later Pope Francis could barely muddle through the Urbi et Orbi (spoken) from the balcony when he was elected.

    So much of our heritage: lost. Thanks for the "renewal" Vatican II.

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