Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia
Ambiguum 10 of Maximus the Confessor in Modern Study
Papers Collected on the Occasion of the Budapest Colloquium on Saint Maximus, 3–4 February 2021
Ambiguum 10 is an important sample of Maximus the Confessor’s philosophical exegesis which has not received concentrated scholarly attention so far. This volume includes a new critical text edition by Prof. Carl Laga and a new English translation by Dr. Joshua Lollar. It also offers a unique insight into the universe of the great Christian thinker showcasing his extensive knowledge of Aristotelian Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy and offering possible parallels with the Corpus Hermeticum and Ps-Dionysius the Areopagite. The present volume is the first attempt to bring together scholars from different traditions to understand the message and the reception of this seminal work.
Ordres et désordres dans les chaînes exégétiques grecques
Amoncellement de fragments ? catalogue d’extraits ? tapisserie exégétique ? Les chaînes ont pour premier principe d’organisation le texte biblique qu’elles commentent en le suivant pas à pas. Mais comment les différentes scholies sont-elles classées entre elles si elles le sont ? Jusqu’à présent la question de l’organisation interne des chaînes a fait l’objet de remarques rapides en marge de l’étude de telle ou telle collection mais rarement d’un examen approfondi. C’est pourtant un aspect essentiel pour comprendre ce genre en préciser les différentes formes et saisir l’enjeu de ces entreprises byzantines : conserver un maximum de textes favoriser la consultation la mémorisation ou la confrontation de différentes exégèses composer un commentaire continu etc. Cet ouvrage collectif rassemble des enquêtes originales portant aussi bien sur les chaînes de l’Ancien que du Nouveau Testament. Sont explorés différents phénomènes structurants relatifs à la connexion entre texte biblique et commentaire au classement des sources à l’enchaînement des contenus exégétiques à la disposition des scholies sur la page. On met au jour la méthode de travail d’un caténiste ou les étapes de l’élaboration d’une compilation ; une place est accordée au désordre et à ses causes notamment en lien avec les phénomènes de transformation et de combinaison de différentes collections. Premier tour d’horizon permettant déjà de découvrir des situations très diverses ce volume ouvre la voie à une approche comparative des chaînes nécessaire pour mieux comprendre cette pratique de compilation byzantine.
Organising a Literary Corpus in the Middle Ages
The Corpus Nazianzenum and the Corpus Dionysiacum
Through the word corpus the metaphor of the body is applied to a collection of works by the same author that are transmitted together. These works not only share the same skin the manuscript but also function organically thanks to a complex system of paracontents. It is possible to see this system at work in the case of only a very few medieval authors throughout history cultures and languages; the Corpus Nazianzenum and the Corpus Dionysiacum are such instances.
Both Gregory of Nazianzus and Dionysius the Areopagite are super-authors who forged their own literary identity as much as they shaped the body of their writings. This sets both corpora apart from other collections of patristic works. They are also exceptional because of the large scale and enduring character of their cultural impact in the different cultures in which the corpora were translated commented and annotated. By confronting these two exceptional cases it is possible to gain some new light on the intellectual and book-historical aspects of literary creation and reception in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Les sermons du manuscrit de Vienne (ÖNB MS LAT. 4147)
Interrogations sur leur unité, leur datation et leur origine
En 1994 François-Joseph Leroy publiait vingt-deux sermons inédits qu’il attribua à un contemporain d’Augustin et dans lesquels il vit une collection non apologétique et non polémique de textes donatistes. C’était là une découverte exceptionnelle. Pourtant depuis l’édition provisoire de Leroy la recherche ne s’est guère penchée sur ce corpus. C’est la raison pour laquelle le Groupe de Recherches sur l’Afrique Antique (GRAA) a entrepris une nouvelle édition critique de ces 22 sermons accompagnée de la première traduction annotée et rassemblé autour de ce corpus les contributions de différents spécialistes historiens et littéraires pour en analyser tant la langue le style et les procédés homilétiques que la portée supposée donatiste la spiritualité et la théologie.
Procopius the Christian Sophist
Catenist, Compiler, Epitomist
The rich literary production of Gaza in the fifth and sixth centuries AD has received quite some attention in recent scholarship. Yet the figure and work of Procopius the Sophist as author of catenae compiler and epitomist of patristic exegesis have remained relatively unknown and under-explored. This collection of essays delves deeply into Procopius’ exegetical work. At the outset a strong case is made that one should distinguish between the famous orator of Gaza and "the Christian sophist" Procopius. A first large section of the book deals with the Genesis Epitome that is studied from three different angles: the limited and as a rule critical use of Origen and his tradition; the importance given to Theodore of Mopsuestia’s exegesis of Gen 1–3; and the relations between Procopius’ Epitome and John Philoponus’ De opificio mundi. The section on the Exodus Epitome studies the specificity of Procopius’ work in comparison to the Catena on Exodus the way the material is organised and the literary genre of the work. The volume further contains contributions on the connections between the Scholia on Kings attributed to Procopius the type B catena and the so-called "Catena Lipsiensis"; the relations between Procopius’ Catena on Proverbs and other catenae on this book; the sources of the Isaiah Epitome that show a diligent and able compiler at work; and the comparison between the characteristic features of Procopius’ Epitomes and those of the Catena III on Obadiah. As a whole it offers a wide perspective and significantly advances research on and our knowledge of Procopius the Christian sophist a still somewhat mysterious early Byzantine author and scholar.
The Christian Metaphysics of St Maximus the Confessor
Creation, World-Order, and Redemption
This book offers an investigation into the basic structures of St Maximus the Confessor’s thought in the context of ancient and late antique philosophy. The introduction explains what is meant by the term ‘metaphysics of Maximus’ and discusses possible senses of terms like ‘Christian philosophy’ and ‘Byzantine philosophy’. On the background of a definition of ‘Christian philosophy’ the author devotes two chapters to discuss Maximus’ ideas of knowledge of the created world and of God. The chapters that follow are devoted to the doctrine of creation the function of the so-called logoi (divine Ideas) in the procession and conversion of the totality of beings in relation to God and the relation between the logoi and the so-called divine activities. The logoi eternally comprised in God’s knowledge as the divine thoughts in accordance with which everything is created are then shown to function as principles of a rather complex order of being: the cosmos instituted as a whole-part system. This whole-part system secures the possible communion between all creatures and facilitates the conversion of everything to the divine source as a unity in plurality deified by God. The last chapter treats of the doctrines of Incarnation and deification in order to clarify the exact sense of deification for all beings. In the final part of the book the author applies Maximian metaphysics to a major ethical challenge in our days: the environmental crisis thus proving that late antique philosophy still has relevance today.
Nicholas Trevet’s Commentary on the Psalms (1317 – c. 1321): A Publishing History
How did medieval authors publish their works in the age before print? This study seeks to achieve new insights into the publishing strategies of medieval authors by focusing on Nicholas Trevet an English Dominican friar and Oxford master. Shortly after 1317 Trevet was commissioned by his provincial prior to write a literal commentary on the Psalter. He chose as his reference version the less commonly used Latin translation by Jerome from the Hebrew and delivered his work before 1321/22.
The first book-length examination of Trevet’s commentary this detailed study traces the ways in which the work was circulated by the author and his proxies. Through a combined analysis of codicological textual and historical features of the nine extant fourteenth-century manuscripts this study identifies contemporary efforts to make Trevet’s work available to readers within and without the Dominican Order in England and on the Continent. Even during the author’s lifetime the commentary was copied in Paris and reached readers in Avignon and likely in Naples.
Le Institutiones humanarum litterarum di Cassiodoro
Commento alle redazioni interpolate Φ Δ
The Institutiones humanarum litterarum - that is the second book of Cassiodorus’ masterpiece devoted to secular learning - have come down to us in three different textual forms: the ‘authentic’ recension Ω corresponding to Cassiodorus’ final wishes and two subsequent recensions designated as Φ and Δ. In these two recensions later interpolations were added on the basis of an earlier authorial draft providing modern readers with valuable information both about Cassiodorus’ progressive revisions and about the early fortune of his work.
This volume provides a full commentary to the first critical edition of the interpolated recensions Φ and Δ (CC SL 99A). In doing so it conveys a full picture of the complex history of the Institutiones saeculares from their first appearance in the monastery of Vivarium to the Carolingian Renaissance at which time they knew their greatest success and circulation.
The Art of Publication from the Ninth to the Sixteenth Century
Written transmission relies on the fact of ‘publication’ the step between the authorial process and reception. But what does ‘publishing’ mean in the context of a manuscript culture in which books were copied slowly and singly by hand? This is a fundamental question. If one fails to appreciate the act of publication one’s understanding of any authorial work and its reception from any period will remain defective. The case studies in this volume ask what it meant for medieval and renaissance authors and their associates to publish. The contexts under scrutiny range from England to Italy from hagiography to literary criticism and from Carolingian monasteries to renaissance libraries. Medieval publishing remains undiscovered territory in the main. This volume constitutes a first effort towards a long-term narrative from the ninth to the sixteenth century.
The Manuscripts of Leo the Great’s Letters
The Transmission and Reception of Papal Documents in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
This book explores the transmission of the letters of Leo the Great (pope 440-461). After setting out the contours of Leo’s papacy and the factors contributing to the sending and subsequent transmission of his letters to posterity it deals in detail with around sixty collections of Leo’s letters and over 300 manuscripts ranging in date from the sixth up to the sixteenth century. Each period of the Middle Ages is introduced as the context for collecting and copying the letters and the relationships between the letter collections themselves are traced. The result is a survey of the impact of Leo the Great upon Latin Christendom an impact that was felt in theology and canon law especially from the age of the Emperor Justinian to the Council of Ferrara-Florence and moving through the major monasteries of Europe from Corbie to Clairvaux. At every cultural Renaissance Leo was a presence being copied rearranged interpreted and eventually printed. This book is a testament to the legacy of one of the midfifth century’s most influential figures.
Studies in Maximus the Confessor’s Opuscula Theologica et Polemica
Papers Collected on the Occasion of the Belgrade Colloquium on Saint Maximus, 3–4 February 2020
Opuscula theologica et polemica is a collection of minor works of Maximus the Confessor that has not received much scholarly attention so far. Nevertheless it offers a unique insight in the Christological and personological universe of the Christian thinker. The present volume is the first attempt to bring together scholars of different traditions and to apply different approaches - theological philosophical philological and historical - to this seminal work.
Hieronymus Romanus
Studies on Jerome and Rome on the Occasion of the 1600th Anniversary of his Death
Rome be it as a concrete space or as a concept and idea occupies an outstanding place in the thoughts and actions of Jerome of Stridon (c. 347-419). Glowing propagandist of the ideal of asceticism in the Latin sphere and highly influential scholar of the Bible he received his philological education here as well as his baptism. Beyond this background of study and adherence to the church of Rome the Vrbs continued to hold a key position for him who under the pontificate of Damasus established himself as a mediator between East and West and translator of Scripture. A sharp-tongued and increasingly controversial figure at the same time Jerome subsequently turned into the target of antiascetic criticism and once bereft of papal protection had to leave Rome for good. However even in distant Palestine the city on the Tiber and its memories remained present in the writings of Jerome who did not stop using a Roman network in order to have his works circulate within the Vrbs and eventually lamented its fall as that of “the entire world in a city”.
From multifaceted perspectives - historical philological theological exegetical and archaeological - the papers collected in this volume explore Rome’s unique and exemplary meaning for Jerome’s life and works. In the juxtaposition of both lieux de mémoire the father of the Church and the Vrbs this reciprocal thematic cut illuminates additional aspects of a Roma Christiana as imagined by Jerome and of the Stridonian himself as both key figurations of Late Antiquity.
The Multilingual Physiologus
Studies in the Oldest Greek Recension and its Translations
The Physiologus is an ancient Christian collection of astonishing stories about animals stones and plants that serve as positive or negative models for Christians. Written originally in Greek the Physiologus was translated in ancient times into Latin Armenian Syriac Coptic Ethiopic Georgian Arabic and Old Slavonic. Throughout its transformations and adaptations the Physiologus has never lost its attraction.
The present volume offers an introduction to the significance of the Greek text a new examination of its manuscript tradition and a completely revised state of the art for each of the ancient translations. Two chapters of the Physiologus on the pelican and on the panther are edited in Greek and in each translation. These editions are accompanied by a new English rendering of the edited texts as well as short interpretative essays concerning the two animals.
The volume affords new insights into this fascinating book’s diffusion transmission and reception over the centuries from its composition at the beginning of the third century CE in Alexandria to the end of the Middle Ages and across all regions of the Byzantine Empire the Latin West Egypt and Ethiopia the Middle East the Caucasus and Slavia orthodoxa.
Litterarum dulces fructus
Studies in Early Medieval Latin Culture in Honour of Michael W. Herren for his 80th Birthday
Drawing inspiration from the scholarship of Professor Michael Herren founding editor of The Journal of Medieval Latin this florilegium of studies advances our understanding of the dynamics of Latin and vernacular literature and learning in the early medieval world. Taken together the papers gathered in this volume cast light on authors poets glossators and compilers at work as they grappled with linguistic and literary ambitions and challenges while negotiating their use of ancient authorities to address contemporary concerns.
Latin Anonymous Sermons from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (ad 300-800)
Classification, Transmission, Dating
This volume contains the proceedings of the international conference on anonymous sermons funded by the F.R.S.-FNRS and held on 16 May 2019 at the Université de Namur (Belgium) within the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters and the research centre Pratiques Médiévales de l’Écrit (PraME). It brings together scholars working on late antique and early medieval Latin preaching and follows on previous volumes on Augustine and African sermons published in the Ministerium Sermonis subseries. The focus here is on Christian Latin preached texts thought to date from the period c. 300-800 ad which are not currently attributed to a known author. Long neglected because of their uncertain attribution these sermons offer new material for the study of late antique and early medieval Christianity. The contributions assembled here provide an essential entry point to the study of these little-known sermons: after an introduction which sets the aims of the book discusses the state of the art and describes main avenues for research individual papers present future tools to classify sermons and explore their medieval transmission in manuscripts offer new critical editions of previously unknown sermons and develop methods and reliable criteria to shed new light on their historical context of composition. Both engaging with current issues and challenges and offering innovative case studies this book opens up new ground for future research on late antique and early medieval Latin Christian preaching in general.
In Defence of Faith, Against the Manichaeans
Critical Edition and Historical, Literary and Theological Study of the Treatise Aduersus Manichaeos, Attributed to Evodius of Uzalis
The subject of this publication is the treatise Aduersus Manichaeos attributed to Evodius of Uzalis. Evodius was a friend and contemporary of Augustine of Hippo. The treatise Aduersus Manichaeos is an important source on the North African Catholic church and its polemics against the Manichaeans. Although the treatise is strongly influenced by the anti-Manichaean writings of Augustine of Hippo it also offers much original and likely authentic information on the Manichaean movement. Thus far however no systematic study had been conducted on this anti-Manichaean treatise attributed to Evodius. As a result some of its historical circumstances have been shrouded in mystery.
The present volume reconstructs the circumstances in which Aduersus Manichaeos was written and studies the treatise in relation to its fifth-century North African context. The study offers a literary historical and theological analysis of Aduersus Manichaeos. The publication also complements the study of Aduersus Manichaeos with a new critical edition of the original Latin text with a facing English translation.
Lire Grégoire de Nazianze au x e siècle
Études sur Basile le Minime et ses Commentaires aux Discours 4 et 5
Au Xe siècle le prestige de Grégoire de Nazianze dit le Théologien est à son zénith dans l’empire byzantin : Constantin VII Porphyrogénète vient de déposer les reliques du saint homme à l’église des Saints-Apôtres dans la capitale impériale et ses textes sont désormais enseignés dans les écoles byzantines aux côtés d’auteurs comme Homère et Démosthène. C’est dans ce contexte que Basile le Minime évêque de Césarée de Cappadoce et proche de l’empereur écrit ses Commentaires aux Discours de Grégoire afin de rendre les œuvres du Théologien accessibles à un plus large public de lecteurs.
Fruit de leur époqure les Commentaires de Basile offrent une source d'information appréciable sur la réception des Discours de Grégoire et sur la culture byzantine en général. Alliant paraphrases explicatives commentaires de texte et explications savantes Basile propose sous la forme de scholies une « lecture expliquée » du texte de Grégoire comme pouvait le dispenser à ses élèves un maître de grammaire. Il renvoie en miroir à ses lecteurs leur propre culture. Sur ses traces le présent ouvrage s'intéresse à la démarche exégétique de Basile comme témoignage de l'érudition de son époque. Il propose une approche originale qui met en lumière la spécificité des commentaires byzantins et de ceux de Basile en particulier en prenant pour point de départ ses Commentaires aux Discours 4 et 5 récemment publiés dans le Corpus Christianorum (Series Graeca 90 ; Corpus Nazianzenum 29).
Les formes laïques de la philosophie
Raymond Lulle dans l’histoire de la philosophie médiévale
Si les auteurs de la philosophie médiévale sont majoritairement des clercs qui écrivent en latin de nouveaux lieux institutionnels des savoirs se développent peu à peu dans toute l’Europe à la fin du Moyen Âge et dans la première modernité permettant l’existence de formes philosophiques proprement laïques ; une redéfinition de l’objet philosophique en ses formes et ses matières s’impose alors. Autodidacte philosophe et théologien poète Raymond Lulle invente de nouvelles formes d’écriture de la philosophie romanesque poétique invitant à oublier toute distinction entre philosophie et littérature pour mieux proposer un art dynamique et systématique. Les études ici réunies contribuent à donner à l’œuvre de Raymond Lulle la place qui lui revient dans l’histoire de la philosophie médiévale et de cette philosophie alternative celle des laïcs trop souvent méconnue.
Nihil veritas erubescit
Mélanges offerts à Paul Mattei par ses élèves, collègues et amis
En hommage à Paul Mattei Professeur de langue et littérature latines à l’Université Lyon-II – Lumière ce volume rassemble quarante-huit contributions consacrées à la patristique au christianisme antique ainsi qu’à la littérature tardoantique et médiévale.
Divisé en huit sections le volume propose dans les quatre premières des études sur les Pères africains sur Augustin en particulier ainsi que sur d’autres Pères latins et sur des questions exégétiques. Sont ainsi évoquées les figures de Tertullien Cyprien de Carthage Augustin d’Hippone mais également Ambroise de Milan ainsi que des aspects aussi bien lexicaux littéraires que doctrinaux de la lecture de la Bible par les Pères latins et grecs.
Les quatre sections suivantes proposent des contributions sur la poésie tardoantique païenne ou chrétienne sur la littérature latine et grecque du Moyen-Âge sur l’histoire en particulier ecclésiastique et sur des questionnements linguistiques.
Les contributions inédites rassemblées dans ce volume témoignent de la richesse des liens scientifiques tissés par Paul Mattei.
Philologie, herméneutique et histoire des textes entre Orient et Occident
Mélanges en hommage à Sever J. Voicu
Ce volume en hommage à Sever Voicu ancien Scriptor Graecus à la Bibliothèque Vaticane et professeur à l’Istituto Patristico «Augustinianum» à Rome rassemble des contributions sur la patristique les christianismes orientaux les apocryphes de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament la paléographie et la codicologie.
La première section accueille des études codicologiques sur la circulation de manuscrits et de textes entre le XIVe et le XVIe siècle. La deuxième section est dédiée aux traductions anciennes (en latin en copte en arménien en éthiopien) ainsi qu’à l’édition de textes fragmentaires (grecs coptes). Les contributions de la troisième section cherchent à éclairer des questions exégétiques ou discutent le contexte de production d’un texte son auteur son destinataire. Suivent des études sur des textes pseudépigraphes grecs ainsi que sur les apocryphes de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament en grec en latin en arménien en géorgien en roumain. Le volume se termine par une section consacrée à des textes de Jean Chrysostome ou qui lui sont attribués en grec et dans des traductions syriaques arméniennes géorgiennes et slavonnes. Le livre contient plusieurs éditions de textes inédits ainsi que des descriptions de manuscrits pas ou peu connus.