The Influence of the de Inventione in the Middle Ages

Apparently, the de Inventione was quite influential in the Middle Ages. Why?

Cicero, De Inventione 1.1

Cicero begins his (surely youthful) de Inventione wondering whether the past glories of rhetoric and public persuasion had not done more harm than good: "not the least part" of the many disasters that had befallen Rome and the other great cities of the past had been brought on by the art of disertissimos homines.

Quaero: What, if anything, are the connotations of disertus for Cicero? Do they change over the course of his career?

A Slow Walk Through Cicero

I have decided to begin a systematic study of Cicero's works, with a view to understanding how they may apply to contemporary issues. A daunting task, but one I've danced around for years. My 1995 dissertation grappled with a number of Ciceronian texts, but I've never taken on the job of trying to understand the whole of Cicero's substantial output. I intend to use this blog to post my comments and questions about the texts I'm reading.