Rara et mirabilia, sicut Deo facere placuerit. Percorsi filosofici medievali del mostruoso

The article explores the philosophical and theological evolution of the "monstrous" (monstrum) from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Grounded in Latin and Greek etymologies (monere, monstrare, teras), the monster was originally understood as a divine sign, warning, or a rare exception within nature’s statistical regularity (ut in pluribus), rather than a violation of absolute natural laws. Through the lens of Albert the Great, the text clarifies the medieval semantic distinctions between miracles, marvels, and monsters, categorizing the latter as physical deviations caused by material or secondary causes. Finally, it outlines three medieval conceptualizations of the monstrous: objective anatomical deformities, subjective hermeneutic anomalies that challenged legal and religious frameworks, and "regular" natural deviations, such as the female body, which Aristotelian-Thomistic thought famously classified as a necessary "mutilated male" essential for the preservation of the species.