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<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Steffen Hope<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Arnfastus Monachus''', Arnfast the Monk, is known from a single poem on the miracles related to St Knud king and martyr. The poem survives only in excerpts (see Summary of contents below). The poem is followed by the line ‘Arnfastus monachus hec composuit’ (Arnfast the monk composed this). The dating of the poem is uncertain (see Date and place below), but it was possibly composed in the mid-thirteenth century. Its content and purpose both suggest that Arnfast was a monk at the Abbey of St Knud in Odense.<br /> <br /> == Biography       ==<br /> Our only source to Arnfast’s historical existence is the line that attributes the poem to him. The title ‘monachus’ taken together with the subject of the poem – namely the veneration of St Knud – suggests that he was a Benedictine at the Church of St Knud. Given his use of several verse forms in the different sections of the poem, Arnfast was no doubt well educated in Latin poetry. As suggested by a reference in Annales Ripenses (see [[Annales Danici]]) (GERTZ 1912, 58; KROMAN 1980, 261), there is likely to have been kept a register of miracles at the Church of St Knud, either at the shrine or in the cathedral treasury (see De miraculis Sancti Kanuti regis et martyris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). Arnfast’s poem appears to be a versification of some of the miracles recorded here. Since Arnfast most likely worked from a register of miracles and therefore had access to the cathedral’s written records, it is possible – but not certain – that he might have been the cantor and/or the treasurer.               <br /> <br /> The question of when Arnfast lived and worked is inextricably linked to the discussion about the dating of the poem. Based on internal evidence, Gertz (1912, 59) suggests that the poem was written around 1250, while Hans Olrik (1893, 339-41) has used the same evidence to argue for a date in the mid-fifteenth century. For the details about this discussion, see Date and place below.<br /> <br /> == Work ==<br /> <br /> === Excerpta quædam ex Arnfasti Monachi Poemate de miraculis S. Kanuti regis et martyris. ===<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The current title is given by Gertz in his edition of the poem (GERTZ 1912, 58). Langebek (1774, 381) refers to the poem as ‘De miraculis S. Canuti Regis scripsisse quondam Arnfastum Monachum’ (On the miracles of St Knud the king, written by a certain Arnfast the monk). The manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. – then at Copenhagen University Library, now at the Royal Library – does not provide a title or headline for the text. (Additionally, in the index of Gertz’ ''Vitae Sanctorum Danorum'', Arnfast is described as ‘carmen de s. Canuti regis miraculis componit’, i.e. Arnfast who composed a song/poem on the miracles of St Knud the king. This description should not be understood as a title, however.) <br /> <br /> These postmedieval titles are descriptive scholarly constructions aimed to facilitate an easy way to reference and discuss the poem in question. It is possible that Arnfast’s poem did not originally have a title. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Fuit quidam puerulus''.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 4 printed pages in Gertz’ edition. 6 handwritten pages in Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. (For the number of lines in the poem, see Composition and style below.)<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen, 58-59 &amp; 163-66.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (Danish) OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968), 339-47. <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ 1908-12 (see Editions above). <br /> * OLRIK 1893-94 (see Translations above). <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> Since the poem only survives in a late and most likely excerpted copy, there is no codicological or palaeographical evidence to provide a timeframe for either Arnfast or the poem itself. Consequently, any arguments about the date of the poem can only be done through internal evidence. The ''terminus post quem'' is 1186/87, since the stanza on the healing of the woman from Jutland, stanza III, contains a reference to Bishop Simon of Odense (d. between 1183 and 1187) (OLRIK 1894, 339). Given the reference to this miracle story in the Annales Ripenses, where it is said that the story is recorded in the ‘book of St Knud’, Arnfast no doubt based his stanza on a miracle collection kept at Odense Cathedral. Consequently, Arnfast might have composed his poem a long time after the death of Bishop Simon.       <br /> <br /> The best starting point for suggesting a date for Arnfast’s poem is the devastating fire that ravaged Odense which is mentioned in stanza VI. Hans Olrik pointed out that since the stanza refers to this incident as ‘Nuper’, ‘recently’, it is likely that the poem is composed within a few years after the fire (OLRIK 1894, 340). Olrik noted that the surviving historical record provided two possible alternatives, namely the fire of 1247 when King Abel sacked Odense, and the fire of 1444 (OLRIK 1894, 340-41). Arguing that the poem would have specified that the fire was started by King Abel’s soldiers, Olrik favoured the second option and suggested that Arnfast composed the poem around 1450 (OLRIK 1894, 341). <br /> <br /> Martin Clarentius Gertz, on the other hand, argued that the fire in question was that of 1247. The basis for this argument is that the fire did not touch the ‘sanctuario’ in the Church of St Alban, which Gertz interpreted as Knud’s shrine (GERTZ 1912, 59). From this, Gertz argued that the shrine of St Knud had been kept at the Church of St Alban until it was translated to the new cathedral at the end of the thirteenth century. Gertz also suggested that the memory of Bishop Simon would not have resonated as strongly in the fifteenth century as it might have done in the mid-thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 59).   <br /> <br /> Neither scholar’s line of argumentation is particularly solid, and some important counterarguments must be mentioned here. The idea that Arnfast would have attributed the fire to King Abel is uncertain at best, as such an attribution might have been avoided for reasons of diplomacy and tact, seeing that Abel was, after all, a member of the royal family. Moreover, if the poem had been composed before the murder of King Erik Plovpenning in 1250, Abel might not have been as clear-cut an antagonist as modern commentators would expect. <br /> <br /> Gertz’s dating relies mainly on the translation of ‘sanctuario’ or ‘sanctuarium’ as ‘shrine’. However, an alternative translation is simply ‘sanctuary’ or ‘holiest of holies’. In this case, the word might refer to the choir of the church, as is how [[Ailnothus]] employs this term in chapter 28 of Gesta Swenomagni where Knud’s martyrdom takes place ‘ad orientem sanctuarii’, in the eastern part of the sanctuary (GERTZ 1912, 120). Since the last line of the poem is formulated as ‘Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur’, ‘whose body was buried there in the grave’, it seems that Arnfast attributes Knud’s protection of the Church of St Alban to the fact that this was where he was first buried after his martyrdom. Since Knud’s body had rested in a grave in St Alban’s, Knud was also protective of this holy space. Arnfast’s use of the word ‘tumulo’, ‘grave’, might mean that it is not the shrine but the first burial place that is importance for explaining Knud’s patronage of the Church of St Alban. This usage is also suggested when comparing with the first antiphon for Laudes in the office for St Knud, the Historia Kanuti. This antiphon concludes with the verses ‘miranda sunt post obitum / ad eius gesta tumulum’ (‘after his death, wonders were performed at his grave’) (HOPE 2017, LXXIII.) Curiously, this word is also written out in a marginal comment to this antiphon in a copy of Breviarium Othoniense, now Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29, f.262). Finally, we must also note that Arnfastus himself uses the word ‘sacraria’ in stanza V when referring to the shrine of St Knud, although this might be due to scansion. Consequently, Gertz’s argument about Knud’s shrine being placed in the Church of St Alban in the mid-thirteenth century is far from certain.     <br /> <br /> Finally, Gertz’s suggestion that the memory of Bishop Simon would rather have been evoked in the thirteenth century than in the fifteenth century is possible. However, if Arnfast had used the now-lost miracle collection kept at the shrine of St Knud, the name of Simon might have been part of a familiar story often recounted to the monastic community at the feast of St Knud.            <br /> <br /> While we can never be entirely sure about the date of Arnfast’s poem, it is interesting to see its catalogue of miracles in light of the second anonymous Passio Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris (now known as Passio II), which is an adaptation of Ailnoth of Canterbury’s Gesta Swenomagni of uncertain date (GERTZ 1912, 536). Both the anonymous author and Arnfast refer to two of the same miracles, namely the healing of the woman from Jutland and the healing of Esbern. The anonymous author claims to have witnessed the healing of Esbern personally, and the lack of such a claim on Arnfast’s part led Gertz to suggest that the anonymous author wrote earlier than Arnfast but that both were active in the first half of the thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 537). That both the anonymous author and Arnfast included these miracles suggests that they both wrote in a time when the stories in question circulated actively, at least within the monastic community at the Church of St Knud, and it is therefore reasonable to follow Gertz’s suggestion that the two authors were relatively close in time. Since I have elsewhere argued that the anonymous Passio II was composed in the second quarter of the thirteenth century, in agreement with Gertz, I believe a mid-thirteenth-century date for Arnfast’s poem is the most likely (HOPE 2025, 24, 40). (However, see also BJERREGAARD 2025 for arguments about a later date.) <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> In its surviving form, the poem consists of six stanzas. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 recounts the healing of the boy or young man (‘puerulus’) Hesbernulus at the shrine of Saint Knud Rex in Odense cathedral. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is a general praise for the many miracles wrought at the shrine of the saint-king, and an exhortation that these miracles be recounted and not consigned to oblivion. <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 recounts how a high-born woman from Jutland, whose body was contracted, was healed at the cathedral of Odense. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 tells of a dispute between two of the Abbey of St Knud’s tenant farmers concerning a stolen horse. The thief swears his innocence and is punished by madness for his false oath. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 concerns the healing of a mute girl who was possessed by a demon. <br /> <br /> Stanza 6 reports how a fire ravaged the city of Odense, but the basilica of St Alban’s was saved due to St Knud’s intervention, since this church had been his original resting-place.      <br /> <br /> As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the surviving text-witness to the poem appears to be a transcription of a selection of excerpts from the original poem. The excerptor has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose (see Composition and style below). It is therefore likely that the original poem was longer, and that it contained several more stories.<br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> As has been noted by GERTZ (1912, 59), the poem in its surviving form is most likely the result of a later excerptor (see Medieval reception and transmission below). The poem is not written in one single metre, and the form of each individual stanza must therefore be analysed separately. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 is rendered in prose, possibly – as per Gertz’ suggestion – by a later editor or excerptor of the poem. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse typical of liturgical poetry. The stanza consists of 33 lines with the rhyming pattern aab. The first two lines of each rhyming section both have nine syllables with a paroxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the penultimate syllable. The third line has seven syllables with a proparoxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the antepenultimate syllable. The scheme of the stanza can be summarised accordingly: 9p+9p+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 10 lines. After the seventh and the tenth line is a line in prose. It is unclear whether these prose lines are part of the original poem. That the first prose line contains the spelling “Othensö” rather than, for example, “Othensia”, suggests that this line is written by a late-medieval editor. The rhyming pattern is: aaab + aab + aab. The syllable scheme is: 9p+9p+9p+7pp, 9p+9p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 36 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aaab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8p+8p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 21 lines. The eighth and ninth lines are lost. The rhyming pattern is: aab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 6: is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 16 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aa. The syllable scheme is: 13p+13p.<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> The miracle stories in stanzas 1, 3, 4, and 5 appear to have been part of the institutional historical memory at the Abbey of St Knud by the time Arnfastus versified them. This memory would have been maintained through oral as well as written accounts. It is possible that these stories were based on the now-lost collection of miracles kept at St Knud’s shrine (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). These stories might also have been informed by orally transmitted collective memory. For instance, the reference to Bishop Simon of Odense in stanza 3 was probably part of an institutional history that was transmitted orally by senior monks to the novices. The episcopacy of Simon had been a period of institutional expansion (JENSEN 2011), and we might imagine that Simon was a figure who served as an important reference point in the continuous maintenance of institutional identity at the Abbey of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The story in stanza 6 appears to have been based on Arnfastus’ own recollection of the events. <br /> <br /> The story of Hesbernulus, or Esbern, in stanza 1 is also recounted in the younger anonymous Passio Kanuti Regis et Martiris (see [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]), whose author claims to have been an eyewitness to the event. It is possible that Arnfastus knew of the anonymous Passio, but since this work was composed for an ecclesiastical community outside Odense (GERTZ 1912, 533-34; HOPE 2025, 28-30), it is more likely that Arnfastus drew on the now-lost miracle collection instead. <br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> Since stanza 2 emphasises the importance of commemoration, we can infer that the main purpose of Arnfastus’ poem was to commit the miracles of St Knud to institutional memory. Some of these stories were probably already recorded in the now-lost miracle collection, while the story of the fire appears to be a new addition to the saint-king’s catalogue of interventions on behalf of the living. In addition to the institutional context, we should also understand Arnfastus’ decision to versify these miracle accounts as an expression of his personal veneration of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The two main purposes of Arnfastus’ poem point to two main sets of audiences. From the institutional perspective, the intended audience was the rest of the Benedictine community at the Abbey of St Knud, and the poem served to remind the ministrants at St Knud’s shrine that their patron saint intervened on their behalf and deserved their praise and veneration. We should probably also expect that the poem was intended for the ears of other ecclesiastical communities in Odense. In particular, Arnfastus might have had in mind the clerics at the Church of St Alban, as the miracle in stanza 6 pertained to their house and served as a reminder that St Knud was also their patron on account of the historical connection between the church and Knud’s martyrdom. From an institutional perspective, we should perhaps also expect that the inclusion of a miracle that protected another institution could serve to remind the clerics of the Church of St Alban that they ranked below the cathedral in the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the diocese of Odense. The first set of audiences was, therefore, the wider ecclesiastical echelon of both the city and the diocese of Odense.<br /> <br /> The second set of audiences was St Knud himself, and also God. Since the poem served as an expression of personal devotion towards the patron saint of Odense cathedral, Arnfastus expected that the saint would recognise the veneration offered by the monk. The inclusion of God in the overview of intended audiences stems from the theological belief that by divine omnipotence, God would hear whatever was directed at the saints, as the saints were the ambassadors of the living in the court of God. <br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The only surviving record of Arnfastus’ poem is the manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. at the Royal Library in Copenhagen (ff.38r-40v). This is a transcription from the late seventeenth or the early eighteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 58). As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the version of the poem transmitted in this manuscript is likely recorded by an excerptor who has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose. The work of the excerptor suggests that Arnfastus’ poem was part of a living institutional memory at the cathedral of Odense, as it would have been preserved long enough for the excerptor to record his rendition of the poem. Even though the poem is likely to have been known and read at the cathedral of Odense – and possibly also at the Church of St Alban (see Purpose and audience above) – the transmission of the poem was most probably limited to the ecclesiastical milieux in Odense. <br /> <br /> It is possible that the miracle story concerning the fire in Odense might have been recorded in the now-lost miracle collection at the shrine of St Knud in Odense cathedral (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). <br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> <br /> * BJERREGAARD, M. M. 2025: “The younger passio of Cnut the Holy – Hagiography and Archaeology,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 35-52. <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen. <br /> * HOPE, S. 2017: Constructing institutional identity through the cult of royal saints, c.1050-c.1200, Odense.<br /> * HOPE, S. 2025: “The Younger Passio Kanuti – a reassessment of its historical context, its author, and its purpose,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 19-33.<br /> * JENSEN, E. L. 2011: “Simon - biskop”, in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. <br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek, Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol.<br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29. <br /> * LANGEBEK, J. 1772: Scriptores rerum danicarum medii aevi. 3, Copenhagen.<br /> * OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968).<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Arnfastus_Monachus&diff=1179 2026-03-12T01:28:32Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Steffen Hope<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Arnfastus Monachus''', Arnfast the Monk, is known from a single poem on the miracles related to St Knud king and martyr. The poem survives only in excerpts (see Summary of contents below). The poem is followed by the line ‘Arnfastus monachus hec composuit’ (Arnfast the monk composed this). The dating of the poem is uncertain (see Date and place below), but it was possibly composed in the mid-thirteenth century. Its content and purpose both suggest that Arnfast was a monk at the Abbey of St Knud in Odense.<br /> <br /> == Biography       ==<br /> Our only source to Arnfast’s historical existence is the line that attributes the poem to him. The title ‘monachus’ taken together with the subject of the poem – namely the veneration of St Knud – suggests that he was a Benedictine at the Church of St Knud. Given his use of several verse forms in the different sections of the poem, Arnfast was no doubt well educated in Latin poetry. As suggested by a reference in Annales Ripenses (see [[Annales Danici]]) (GERTZ 1912, 58; KROMAN 1980, 261), there is likely to have been kept a register of miracles at the Church of St Knud, either at the shrine or in the cathedral treasury (see De miraculis Sancti Kanuti regis et martyris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). Arnfast’s poem appears to be a versification of some of the miracles recorded here. Since Arnfast most likely worked from a register of miracles and therefore had access to the cathedral’s written records, it is possible – but not certain – that he might have been the cantor and/or the treasurer.               <br /> <br /> The question of when Arnfast lived and worked is inextricably linked to the discussion about the dating of the poem. Based on internal evidence, Gertz (1912, 59) suggests that the poem was written around 1250, while Hans Olrik (1893, 339-41) has used the same evidence to argue for a date in the mid-fifteenth century. For the details about this discussion, see Date and place below.<br /> <br /> == Work ==<br /> <br /> === Excerpta quædam ex Arnfasti Monachi Poemate de miraculis S. Kanuti regis et martyris. ===<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The current title is given by Gertz in his edition of the poem (GERTZ 1912, 58). Langebek (1774, 381) refers to the poem as ‘De miraculis S. Canuti Regis scripsisse quondam Arnfastum Monachum’ (On the miracles of St Knud the king, written by a certain Arnfast the monk). The manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. – then at Copenhagen University Library, now at the Royal Library – does not provide a title or headline for the text. (Additionally, in the index of Gertz’ ''Vitae Sanctorum Danorum'', Arnfast is described as ‘carmen de s. Canuti regis miraculis componit’, i.e. Arnfast who composed a song/poem on the miracles of St Knud the king. This description should not be understood as a title, however.) <br /> <br /> These postmedieval titles are descriptive scholarly constructions aimed to facilitate an easy way to reference and discuss the poem in question. It is possible that Arnfast’s poem did not originally have a title. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Fuit quidam puerulus''.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 4 printed pages in Gertz’ edition. 6 handwritten pages in Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. (For the number of lines in the poem, see Composition and style below.)<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen, 58-59 &amp; 163-66.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (Danish) OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968), 339-47. <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ 1908-12 (see Editions above). <br /> * OLRIK 1893-94 (see Translations above). <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> Since the poem only survives in a late and most likely excerpted copy, there is no codicological or palaeographical evidence to provide a timeframe for either Arnfast or the poem itself. Consequently, any arguments about the date of the poem can only be done through internal evidence. The ''terminus post quem'' is 1186/87, since the stanza on the healing of the woman from Jutland, stanza III, contains a reference to Bishop Simon of Odense (d. between 1183 and 1187) (OLRIK 1894, 339). Given the reference to this miracle story in the Annales Ripenses, where it is said that the story is recorded in the ‘book of St Knud’, Arnfast no doubt based his stanza on a miracle collection kept at Odense Cathedral. Consequently, Arnfast might have composed his poem a long time after the death of Bishop Simon.       <br /> <br /> The best starting point for suggesting a date for Arnfast’s poem is the devastating fire that ravaged Odense which is mentioned in stanza VI. Hans Olrik pointed out that since the stanza refers to this incident as ‘Nuper’, ‘recently’, it is likely that the poem is composed within a few years after the fire (OLRIK 1894, 340). Olrik noted that the surviving historical record provided two possible alternatives, namely the fire of 1247 when King Abel sacked Odense, and the fire of 1444 (OLRIK 1894, 340-41). Arguing that the poem would have specified that the fire was started by King Abel’s soldiers, Olrik favoured the second option and suggested that Arnfast composed the poem around 1450 (OLRIK 1894, 341). <br /> <br /> Martin Clarentius Gertz, on the other hand, argued that the fire in question was that of 1247. The basis for this argument is that the fire did not touch the ‘sanctuario’ in the Church of St Alban, which Gertz interpreted as Knud’s shrine (GERTZ 1912, 59). From this, Gertz argued that the shrine of St Knud had been kept at the Church of St Alban until it was translated to the new cathedral at the end of the thirteenth century. Gertz also suggested that the memory of Bishop Simon would not have resonated as strongly in the fifteenth century as it might have done in the mid-thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 59).   <br /> <br /> Neither scholar’s line of argumentation is particularly solid, and some important counterarguments must be mentioned here. The idea that Arnfast would have attributed the fire to King Abel is uncertain at best, as such an attribution might have been avoided for reasons of diplomacy and tact, seeing that Abel was, after all, a member of the royal family. Moreover, if the poem had been composed before the murder of King Erik Plovpenning in 1250, Abel might not have been as clear-cut an antagonist as modern commentators would expect. <br /> <br /> Gertz’s dating relies mainly on the translation of ‘sanctuario’ or ‘sanctuarium’ as ‘shrine’. However, an alternative translation is simply ‘sanctuary’ or ‘holiest of holies’. In this case, the word might refer to the choir of the church, as is how [[Ailnothus]] employs this term in chapter 28 of Gesta Swenomagni where Knud’s martyrdom takes place ‘ad orientem sanctuarii’, in the eastern part of the sanctuary (GERTZ 1912, 120). Since the last line of the poem is formulated as ‘Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur’, ‘whose body was buried there in the grave’, it seems that Arnfast attributes Knud’s protection of the Church of St Alban to the fact that this was where he was first buried after his martyrdom. Since Knud’s body had rested in a grave in St Alban’s, Knud was also protective of this holy space. Arnfast’s use of the word ‘tumulo’, ‘grave’, might mean that it is not the shrine but the first burial place that is importance for explaining Knud’s patronage of the Church of St Alban. This usage is also suggested when comparing with the first antiphon for Laudes in the office for St Knud, the Historia Kanuti. This antiphon concludes with the verses ‘miranda sunt post obitum / ad eius gesta tumulum’ (‘after his death, wonders were performed at his grave’) (HOPE 2017, LXXIII. Curiously, this word is also written out in a marginal comment to this antiphon in a copy of Breviarium Othoniense, now Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29, f.262). Finally, we must also note that Arnfastus himself uses the word ‘sacraria’ in stanza V when referring to the shrine of St Knud, although this might be due to scansion. Consequently, Gertz’s argument about Knud’s shrine being placed in the Church of St Alban in the mid-thirteenth century is far from certain.     <br /> <br /> Finally, Gertz’s suggestion that the memory of Bishop Simon would rather have been evoked in the thirteenth century than in the fifteenth century is possible. However, if Arnfast had used the now-lost miracle collection kept at the shrine of St Knud, the name of Simon might have been part of a familiar story often recounted to the monastic community at the feast of St Knud.            <br /> <br /> While we can never be entirely sure about the date of Arnfast’s poem, it is interesting to see its catalogue of miracles in light of the second anonymous Passio Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris (now known as Passio II), which is an adaptation of Ailnoth of Canterbury’s Gesta Swenomagni of uncertain date (GERTZ 1912, 536). Both the anonymous author and Arnfast refer to two of the same miracles, namely the healing of the woman from Jutland and the healing of Esbern. The anonymous author claims to have witnessed the healing of Esbern personally, and the lack of such a claim on Arnfast’s part led Gertz to suggest that the anonymous author wrote earlier than Arnfast but that both were active in the first half of the thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 537). That both the anonymous author and Arnfast included these miracles suggests that they both wrote in a time when the stories in question circulated actively, at least within the monastic community at the Church of St Knud, and it is therefore reasonable to follow Gertz’s suggestion that the two authors were relatively close in time. Since I have elsewhere argued that the anonymous Passio II was composed in the second quarter of the thirteenth century, in agreement with Gertz, I believe a mid-thirteenth-century date for Arnfast’s poem is the most likely (HOPE 2025, 24, 40). (However, see also BJERREGAARD 2025 for arguments about a later date.) <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> In its surviving form, the poem consists of six stanzas. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 recounts the healing of the boy or young man (‘puerulus’) Hesbernulus at the shrine of Saint Knud Rex in Odense cathedral. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is a general praise for the many miracles wrought at the shrine of the saint-king, and an exhortation that these miracles be recounted and not consigned to oblivion. <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 recounts how a high-born woman from Jutland, whose body was contracted, was healed at the cathedral of Odense. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 tells of a dispute between two of the Abbey of St Knud’s tenant farmers concerning a stolen horse. The thief swears his innocence and is punished by madness for his false oath. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 concerns the healing of a mute girl who was possessed by a demon. <br /> <br /> Stanza 6 reports how a fire ravaged the city of Odense, but the basilica of St Alban’s was saved due to St Knud’s intervention, since this church had been his original resting-place.      <br /> <br /> As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the surviving text-witness to the poem appears to be a transcription of a selection of excerpts from the original poem. The excerptor has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose (see Composition and style below). It is therefore likely that the original poem was longer, and that it contained several more stories.<br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> As has been noted by GERTZ (1912, 59), the poem in its surviving form is most likely the result of a later excerptor (see Medieval reception and transmission below). The poem is not written in one single metre, and the form of each individual stanza must therefore be analysed separately. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 is rendered in prose, possibly – as per Gertz’ suggestion – by a later editor or excerptor of the poem. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse typical of liturgical poetry. The stanza consists of 33 lines with the rhyming pattern aab. The first two lines of each rhyming section both have nine syllables with a paroxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the penultimate syllable. The third line has seven syllables with a proparoxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the antepenultimate syllable. The scheme of the stanza can be summarised accordingly: 9p+9p+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 10 lines. After the seventh and the tenth line is a line in prose. It is unclear whether these prose lines are part of the original poem. That the first prose line contains the spelling “Othensö” rather than, for example, “Othensia”, suggests that this line is written by a late-medieval editor. The rhyming pattern is: aaab + aab + aab. The syllable scheme is: 9p+9p+9p+7pp, 9p+9p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 36 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aaab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8p+8p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 21 lines. The eighth and ninth lines are lost. The rhyming pattern is: aab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 6: is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 16 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aa. The syllable scheme is: 13p+13p.<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> The miracle stories in stanzas 1, 3, 4, and 5 appear to have been part of the institutional historical memory at the Abbey of St Knud by the time Arnfastus versified them. This memory would have been maintained through oral as well as written accounts. It is possible that these stories were based on the now-lost collection of miracles kept at St Knud’s shrine (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). These stories might also have been informed by orally transmitted collective memory. For instance, the reference to Bishop Simon of Odense in stanza 3 was probably part of an institutional history that was transmitted orally by senior monks to the novices. The episcopacy of Simon had been a period of institutional expansion (JENSEN 2011), and we might imagine that Simon was a figure who served as an important reference point in the continuous maintenance of institutional identity at the Abbey of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The story in stanza 6 appears to have been based on Arnfastus’ own recollection of the events. <br /> <br /> The story of Hesbernulus, or Esbern, in stanza 1 is also recounted in the younger anonymous Passio Kanuti Regis et Martiris (see [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]), whose author claims to have been an eyewitness to the event. It is possible that Arnfastus knew of the anonymous Passio, but since this work was composed for an ecclesiastical community outside Odense (GERTZ 1912, 533-34; HOPE 2025, 28-30), it is more likely that Arnfastus drew on the now-lost miracle collection instead. <br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> Since stanza 2 emphasises the importance of commemoration, we can infer that the main purpose of Arnfastus’ poem was to commit the miracles of St Knud to institutional memory. Some of these stories were probably already recorded in the now-lost miracle collection, while the story of the fire appears to be a new addition to the saint-king’s catalogue of interventions on behalf of the living. In addition to the institutional context, we should also understand Arnfastus’ decision to versify these miracle accounts as an expression of his personal veneration of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The two main purposes of Arnfastus’ poem point to two main sets of audiences. From the institutional perspective, the intended audience was the rest of the Benedictine community at the Abbey of St Knud, and the poem served to remind the ministrants at St Knud’s shrine that their patron saint intervened on their behalf and deserved their praise and veneration. We should probably also expect that the poem was intended for the ears of other ecclesiastical communities in Odense. In particular, Arnfastus might have had in mind the clerics at the Church of St Alban, as the miracle in stanza 6 pertained to their house and served as a reminder that St Knud was also their patron on account of the historical connection between the church and Knud’s martyrdom. From an institutional perspective, we should perhaps also expect that the inclusion of a miracle that protected another institution could serve to remind the clerics of the Church of St Alban that they ranked below the cathedral in the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the diocese of Odense. The first set of audiences was, therefore, the wider ecclesiastical echelon of both the city and the diocese of Odense.<br /> <br /> The second set of audiences was St Knud himself, and also God. Since the poem served as an expression of personal devotion towards the patron saint of Odense cathedral, Arnfastus expected that the saint would recognise the veneration offered by the monk. The inclusion of God in the overview of intended audiences stems from the theological belief that by divine omnipotence, God would hear whatever was directed at the saints, as the saints were the ambassadors of the living in the court of God. <br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The only surviving record of Arnfastus’ poem is the manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. at the Royal Library in Copenhagen (ff.38r-40v). This is a transcription from the late seventeenth or the early eighteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 58). As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the version of the poem transmitted in this manuscript is likely recorded by an excerptor who has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose. The work of the excerptor suggests that Arnfastus’ poem was part of a living institutional memory at the cathedral of Odense, as it would have been preserved long enough for the excerptor to record his rendition of the poem. Even though the poem is likely to have been known and read at the cathedral of Odense – and possibly also at the Church of St Alban (see Purpose and audience above) – the transmission of the poem was most probably limited to the ecclesiastical milieux in Odense. <br /> <br /> It is possible that the miracle story concerning the fire in Odense might have been recorded in the now-lost miracle collection at the shrine of St Knud in Odense cathedral (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). <br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> <br /> * BJERREGAARD, M. M. 2025: “The younger passio of Cnut the Holy – Hagiography and Archaeology,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 35-52. <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen. <br /> * HOPE, S. 2017: Constructing institutional identity through the cult of royal saints, c.1050-c.1200, Odense.<br /> * HOPE, S. 2025: “The Younger Passio Kanuti – a reassessment of its historical context, its author, and its purpose,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 19-33.<br /> * JENSEN, E. L. 2011: “Simon - biskop”, in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. <br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek, Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol.<br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29. <br /> * LANGEBEK, J. 1772: Scriptores rerum danicarum medii aevi. 3, Copenhagen.<br /> * OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968).<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sancta_Ragnildis&diff=1178 2026-03-11T11:27:40Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Fröjmark<br /> <br /> '''Sancta Ragnildis.''' Lay saint, queen, and pilgrim (eleventh to twelfth centuries), buried in Södertälje. Her cult is known from the fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> Of particular interest as a testament to her veneration is the text De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium, &quot;Epitaph of St. Ragnhild of Tälje&quot;. This is an epitaph of hagiographic character, celebrating the memory of an otherwise little known Swedish queen from c.1100 or the early twelfth century.<br /> <br /> == De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium ==<br /> <br /> =====Title=====<br /> The work is headed by the title ''De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epithaphium''. The final sign has also been read as an “-s” to give “epitaphis”, but after consultation with Latinists Elin Andersson and Erika Kihlman (February 2026), the conclusion is to read it as an abbreviation for “-um”.<br /> <br /> In a strict sense, this title applies only to the two versified parts of the work (24 lines), and not to the five lines in prose.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Sweuorum domina Ragnildis flos sine spina''.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Nobis summa bona procures alma patrona''.<br /> <br /> =====Metre=====<br /> Quantitative leonine hexameter with lines of thirteen to fifteen syllables and with a marked caesura in the pentameter. Deviations from classical quantitative rules are few.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> The text consists of two versified parts with a short commentary (five lines) in between. The first versified part consists of seven lines. After line five at least one line is missing. The second versified part is formed of three groups of six lines each. The final line of the second group is missing, so that only seventeen lines remain.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> *BENZELIUS, J. 1703: Palæstina. Sive de Terra Promissionis, &amp; Singulis in ea Tribubus; item Fatis Variorum Incolarum; &amp; Sveonum Gothorumque Expeditionibus Sacris dissertationes duæ, geographico-historicæ, Upsaliæ, 150–52,<br /> *BENZELIUS, E. in VASTOVIUS, J. 1708: Vitis aquilonia. Sive Vitae sanctorum regni Sveo-Gothici''.'' Emendavit et notis illustravit Ericus Benzelius filius, Annotationes, Upsaliae, 80.<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, Sörmlandsbygden 2, 70–71.<br /> *ODENIUS, O. 1973: [Review of] T. Lundén'','' Svenska helgon, Fornvännen 68, 61.<br /> *LUNDÉN, T. 1983: ''S''veriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande, Storuman, 283–84.<br /> *UUB (Uppsala University Library), Fragm. ms &amp; lib. lat. 326: “Epitafium över Ragnhild av Södertälje (fragment),” edition in facsimile in Alvin: Platform for digital collections and digitized cultural heritage urn:nbn:se:alvin:portal:record-384245. Accessed on February 19, 2026.<br /> All editions except the facsimilia contain errors. A new edition is projected.<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> <br /> *(Swedish) ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, 71–72.<br /> *(Swedish) WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, Credo. Katolsk tidskrift 40, 25–26.<br /> *(Swedish) LUNDÉN, T. 1983: Sveriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande, Storuman, 284.<br /> *(Swedish) MARTLING, C. H. 2001: En svensk helgonkrönika, Skellefteå, 114–115.<br /> <br /> == Date and place ==<br /> The text is known from one manuscript copy originally written down on the inside of the back cover of an incunable belonging to the Strängnäs Cathedral Library (ANDERSSON 2021, 62). The incunable in question was printed in Cologne in 1474, and the copy of the epitaph was made in a late fifteenth-century hand. The sheet containing the epitaph has been removed from the book in recent times, and was acquired by the University Library of Uppsala in 1932 (Fragm ms lat 326).<br /> <br /> The versified parts are two versions of the epitaph of Ragnhild, a Swedish (according to one source Swedish and Norwegian) queen who is said to have lived ''c''.1100. The fact that Ragnhild is hallowed as a saint in the epitaph leads us to the conclusion that it was made at some distance in time from her death. The epitaph does not mention on which day or in which year St Ragnhild died. This is, indeed, a common characteristic of the early Christian grave monuments or epitaphs in Sweden, but it might just as well be seen as an indication that the epitaph was composed in a time when these dates were no longer known. In this respect, it resembles some late medieval epitaphs in the abbey church of Varnhem commemorating ancient Swedish kings.<br /> <br /> According to Bernhard BISCHOFF (quoted by WEHNER 1959, 72, note 4), the epitaph may not be dated earlier than the middle of the thirteenth century.<br /> <br /> The commentary between the two versified parts seems to be the copier's remarks. This commentary is clearly a later composition than the versified parts.<br /> == Summary of contents ==<br /> In the first versified part, Ragnhild is referred to as queen of the Swedes (''Sweuorum domina /.../ Regni regina''). She is said to have made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In this way she has become the like of St Helen (mother of Constantine). Finally, the author addresses Ragnhild as the ''alma patrona'', patron of souls, of the citizens of Tälje (present day Södertälje south of Stockholm).<br /> <br /> The second, longer, versified part, equally celebrates Ragnhild as the queen of Sweden, having made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In addition, she is said to have founded the church of Tälje and to have enriched it with land and other gifts. As for her descent, she is called ''Halsteni filia'', the daughter of Halsten (or perhaps daughter-in-law; cf. ANDERSSON 2021, 66). In the final lines, she is described as the ''alma patrona'' who is impelled by the faithful to come to the assistance of those who are ill.<br /> <br /> Of special interest is the comparison that is made between Ragnhild and three other women. As a pilgrim, Ragnhild is first contrasted to the wandering Dinah (Genesis 34), and then compared to St Helen. When St Helen is mentioned in the first part of the epitaph, this clearly refers to the finder of the True Cross. Here, in the second part, we might also think of another pilgrim in Swedish hagiography, St Helen (or Elin) of Skövde (cf. [[Sancta Helena de Skövde]]). This association is strengthened by the fact that the third woman referred to is the prophetess Huldah (Oldan; 4 Rg 22,14; 2 Par 34, 22), who figures also in the late-thirteenth-century office of St Helen of Skövde.<br /> <br /> The copier's commentary mentions that St Ragnhild rests in Tälje, where, he says, she coruscates with many miracles. During her pilgrimage she was plundered by robbers, but she was then clad by angels. He then comments upon the descent of St Ragnhild. It is written, he says, that she was the wife of King Inge. She was also the daughter of King Halsten, he further states, basing this on the second versified part of the epitaph.<br /> <br /> The copier thus adds information that he has gathered from other sources. St Ragnhild's marriage to a king named Inge, her burial in Tälje, and her reputation for holiness are pieces of information that can be gathered from two chronicles of Swedish kings from the 1450s. These are, in fact, the first datable mentions of St Ragnhild.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, the copier's commentary adds confusion to the tradition of St Ragnhild. While the chronicles make her the wife of King Inge Halstensson (''c''.1110–1120/25), the copier seems to have had King Inge Stenkilsson (''c''.1079–1110) in mind. To further complicate matters, neither of these could have been married to Ragnhild if she was the daughter of King Halsten. In such a case, Inge Stenkilsson would have been her uncle, and Inge Halstensson her brother. The epitaph and the chronicles reflect different and incompatible traditions concerning the descent and marriage of St Ragnhild, which the copier tries in vain to unite.<br /> == Sources ==<br /> The original epitaph in the church of Tälje is, just like the tomb of St Ragnhild, gone without a trace. They may have been victims of cultic purge in the late sixteenth century.<br /> <br /> The sources for the copier's commentary have been discussed above.<br /> <br /> A tradition of St Ragnhilds holiness exists both in the epitaph and in the chronicles from the 1450s, but the possible dependence between them can not be ascertained.<br /> <br /> No liturgical celebration of the memory of St. Ragnhild is known. The seventeenth-century church historian Johannes Baazius sets forth that St Ragnhild's name was inscribed in the calendar as a saint, but the basis for his assertion is unknown and probably non-existent.<br /> <br /> The source for the statement in the second versified part of the epitaph that makes Ragnhild the daughter of Halsten – probably King Halsten – is unknown.<br /> == Purpose and audience ==<br /> The author, or authors, of the two versified parts of our text are celebrating the local saintly patron of the Church of Tälje, in which her grave was also found. She is portrayed as a worthy saint to whom the faithful may justly address their prayers. She is also a former Swedish queen and – at least to the author of the second part – the founder and original benefactor of the church.<br /> <br /> The copier may have been a cleric from the episcopal see at Strängnäs who had the task of gathering information concerning the local tradition about St Ragnhild in Tälje. In his commentary, he has added some statements about the saint, while trying to reconcile different traditions concerning her background and marriage.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Medieval reception and transmission ==<br /> In the middle of the fifteenth century, St Ragnhild of Tälje found her way into the Swedish historical litterature. She is briefly mentioned in the Lilla rimkrönikan, a rhymed chronicle (ed. G. Klemming 1865 in Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor, vol. 1, 225–226), and in a 1457 manuscript of the Prosakrönikan (ed. G.E. Klemming 1868–1881 in Småstycken på forn svenska, 234–235). The Uppsala Canon [[Ericus Olai]] mentions her in his Chronica regni Gothorum (ca 1470; ed E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg 1993, 63, 69). The ''Cronica Swecie'', an early sixteenth-century prologue to Erikskrönikan (ed. G. E. Klemming 1865, Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor 1, 195), includes her in its enumeration of Swedish saints. Johannes Magnus, Olaus Petri, and other sixteenth-century historiographers followed.<br /> <br /> Yet, it is not the epitaph's tradition that was transmitted to new generations. For all that we know, it may well have stayed inside the walls of the Strängnäs Cathedral Library until it was rediscovered by Eric Benzelius and Johan Peringskiöld in the late seventeenth century. Instead, it is the chronicles' version that forms the base for the literary tradition of St Ragnhild.<br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, Sörmlandsbygden 2, 70–78.<br /> *ANDERSSON, E. 2021: “S:ta Ragnhilds epitafium: Försvunnet och återfunnet,” in Biblis: Tidskrift för bokhistoria, bibliografi, bokhantverk, samlande, No 94, 62–67.<br /> *BAAZIUS, J. 1642: Inventarium ecclesiæ sveo-gothorum, Lincopiæ, 113. [Improbable statement of a liturgical celebration of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> *COLLMAR, M. 1977: Strängnäs stifts herdaminne 1: Medeltiden, Nyköping, 488–89.<br /> *ELLIS NILSSON, S. 2015: Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery A Study of the Emergence of Cults of Native Saints in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lund and Uppsala from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries, Gothenburg.<br /> *ERICUS OLAI. 1993: Chronica regni Gothorum, ed. E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg. Stockholm, 63, 69.<br /> *FRÖJMARK, A. 1996: ‘Ragnhild’, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon 29, 613–15. [Includes select bibliography.]<br /> *JOHANNES MAGNUS, 1554: De omnibvs Gothorvm Sveonvmqve regibvs, Romæ, 587–88.<br /> *MAPPING LIVED RELIGION PROJECT (2019–2025), “Ragnhild of Tälje”, Mapping Saints Research Resource, Retrieved on February 23, 2026, from https://saints.dh.gu.se/explore/saints/256.<br /> *MARTLING, C. H. 2001: En svensk helgonkrönika, Skellefteå.<br /> *OLAUS PETRI. 1917: En swensk cröneka, ed J. Sahlgren, Uppsala, 51.<br /> *VASTOVIUS, J. 1708 (1623): Vitis aquilonia, ed E. Benzelius, Upsaliae, 60–61; annotationes cc. 47–48, 80.<br /> *WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, Credo. Katolsk tidskrift 40, 15–35, 55–72.<br /> *WILHELMSSON, C. 2025: The Queens and Royal Women of Sweden, c. 970–1330: Their Lives, Power, and Legacy. London &amp; New York, 105–112.<br /> *ZIEGLER, J. 1536 (1532): Terrae sanctae ... Syriae, Arabiae, Aegypti et Schondiae ... descriptio, 103v, xxxxxx. [First mention in printed form of the tradition of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sanctus_Suithunus&diff=1177 2026-03-11T11:06:54Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> by Steffen Hope <br /> <br /> Swithun was bishop of Winchester in the mid-ninth century. Based on evidence from charters, Michael Lapidge has suggested that his episcopate covered the period 852-63 (LAPIDGE 2003, 4). As suggested by the celebration of Swithun’s ''dies natalis'', he died on July 2. On the orders of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester (r.963-84), his body was exhumed and translated to a more prominent place within cathedral on July 15, 971 (LAPIDGE 2003, 8). Swithun’s cult became widespread throughout England, and was one of the most important native cults in the Middle Ages. Within the Norse sphere, the cult of St Swithun was strongest in Norway (cf. TOY 2009, 167, 170), and the only known surviving text pertaining to Swithun that was composed specifically for a Nordic institution is a liturgical office used in Stavanger. (The mass and the office for St Swithun was also included in Danish and Swedish manuscripts - for an overview, see TOY 2009, 167-86 - but these texts appear to have simply been imported from abroad, and should not be considered Nordic texts.) <br /> <br /> The reason why Stavanger was a hub for the cult of St Swithun is most likely that when the city was established as an episcopal see sometime in the 1120s, the first bishop was Rainald (or Reinald) who might have come from Winchester (LAPIDGE 2003, 56-57). According to an inventory from 1517, Stavanger cathedral possessed one of St Swithun’s arms, and it is likely that this relic was brought by Rainald for the consecration of the cathedral. Consequently, Swithun was the patron saint of Stavanger diocese.  <br /> <br /> Our understanding of the cult of St Swithun in medieval Norway is fragmentary. Eldbjørg Haug has argued for an active cult prior to the twelfth century (HAUG 2009, 462-5; HAUG 2010, 270-1), but these arguments have been criticised by Knut Helle (HELLE 2008, 577; 2009, 691). (For an overview of this debate in English, see ALVESTAD 2021.) While it is not unthinkable that Swithun was known in parts of Norway early in the Christianisation period, there is no evidence to suggest that there was an active cult prior to the establishment of the Stavanger diocese.<br /> <br /> The ''dies natalis'' of St Swithun, July 2, was included in the number of feasts which were mentioned as particularly holy days in the law of the Gulathing province (PAC AND HOPE 2025, 215-16). This law code was revised and committed to writing in the 1160s, which demonstrates that the cult of St Swithun had attained a high status in the Gulathing province by the mid-twelfth century. The Gulathing law was valid for the parishes and communities along the western seaboard, and did not apply in every part of Norway. Consequently, we do not know the status of the cult of St Swithun outside of the Gulathing law province in the twelfth century. <br /> <br /> Based on sources from the thirteenth century, it seems that St Swithun was regarded as an important saint within the Norwegian church organisation. The inclusion of both the ''dies natalis'' (July 2) and the ''translatio'' (July 15) in Icelandic manuscripts that are believed to contain the Ordo Nidrosiensis – the liturgical repertoire for the entire Norwegian church province – suggests that Swithun was venerated throughout Norway in the course of the thirteenth century, at least by the clergy. A few other thirteenth-century documents further support the hypothesis that Swithun had some importance outside of Stavanger diocese. In 1280, King Eirik Magnusson (r.1280-99) was crowned on July 2 in the cathedral of Bergen (DN 1, 69). On July 14 of the same year, Bishop Thorfinn of Hamar issued a proclamation of indulgence for 40 days to those who visited or otherwise helped the recently burned cathedral church of St Swithun (DN 3, 249). <br /> <br /> In later medieval Norway, Swithun’s main feast appears to have been July 15 since his ''dies natalis'' was replaced by the feast of Visitatio Mariae after 1389 (DYBDAHL 2011a, 170-72; see also DYBDAHL 2011b, 138). In Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519), Swithun is included in the litany, and the calendar includes his translation feast with the rank of semiduplex, the second highest liturgical rank. Breviarium Nidrosiense contains both a text for his translation, comprised of six lessons, and also the Historia de Sancti Suithuno, comprised of nine lessons, which is placed towards the end of the breviary along with other feasts that have been appended to the sanctorale, including the feast of [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]].<br /> <br /> == Historia de Sancto Suithuno ==<br /> The Historia is a complete office with antiphons, responsories and lessons that convey the story of St Swithun. The office has most likely been used in Stavanger cathedral (see Date and place below). As far as we know, the text of the office only survives in the printed Brevarium Nidrosiense, and no manuscripts containing the office have hitherto been identified. The breviary only contains the text of the office, while the musical notation is lost. <br /> <br /> At the time of its composition (see Date and place below), the office was performed at Swithun’s ''dies natalis'', July 2. There might have existed an office for the translation feast on July 15, and it is tempting to suggest that the translation of Swithun’s arm from Winchester to Stavanger might have been commemorated locally in Stavanger, either on July 15 or on a different day. No evidence for such a scenario exists, however. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The title Historia de Sancto Suithuno is used in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). Such titles are typical of liturgical offices in the Middle Ages. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Laetare plebs Wentoniae''. <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Gloria magna tibi''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The surviving chants of the Historia comprise 150 lines of liturgical poetry. In Breviarium Nidrosiense (see Medieval reception and transmission below), there are also additional chants from the common of saints, as well as collects, chapters, and lessons. The lessons cover roughly 217 lines (some of these are not full lines). The collect for Matins – which is the only one written in full, and which appears to have been repeated at Lauds – is comprised of 13 lines. Taken together, the Historia runs across six pages in Breviarium Nidrosiense (pp.894-99; ccc.ij.-ccc.iv.). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * DREVES, G. 1892: Analecta Hymnica medii aevii XIII, Leipzig, 235-37.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo, 143-45, 184-85.<br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 129-33. <br /> * TOY, J. 2009; English saints in the medieval liturgies of Scandinavian churches, London, 181-86.<br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo, 1342-48.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 133-34. <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo, 184-85.<br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 129-33. <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> Due to the liturgical metre used in the chants (see Composition and style below), the office is likely composed in the second half of the twelfth century (LAPIDGE 2003, 129). It is unclear whether the office was composed in Stavanger, or whether it was commissioned from elsewhere – such as Winchester – by the bishop and/or cathedral clergy. Regardless of where it was composed, it was certainly intended for Stavanger, since the city is mentioned in the Magnificat antiphon (see Summary of contents below). <br /> <br /> It is uncertain whether the office was performed outside of Stavanger diocese prior to its inclusion in Breviarium Nidrosiense in 1519. Michael Lapidge has suggested that Swithun might have been included in the Nidaros liturgy already in the 1150s when Jon Birgerson, bishop of Stavanger (1135-52) became the first Norwegian archbishop (LAPIDGE 2003, 57). Jon died in 1157, and it is doubtful whether the extensive programme of textual production – which included both the revised law of the Gulathing province and the eventual completion of the Ordo Nidrosiensis – was initiated at such an early stage of the history of the archdiocese. While Swithun was most likely subject to some degree of veneration at the metropolitan see by the beginning of the thirteenth century, we should not expect the Stavanger office to have been in place this early. <br /> <br /> The placement of the Historia de Sancto Suithuno towards the end of the Breviarium Nidrosiense can be explained in two ways. One possible explanation is that with the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae on July 2 after 1389, the Historia was moved from its original position in the sanctorale to what is in practice an appendix of the breviary. Another explanation is that the office was included at a later stage in the editing process, and added to the sanctorale for unknown reasons – possibly out of respect for a saint who might not have been important in Trondheim, but who was the patron saint of a diocese. (A similar mechanism might explain the similar placement of the feast of Sanctus Kanutus Rex, who was not important in Trondheim – perhaps not even in Norway – but who had acquired a high status in the Kalmar Union by 1519.) This second explanation would entail that the office had not been performed in Trondheim before 1519. It is likely that the performance of the Historia was limited to Stavanger diocese for most of the Middle Ages. <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The office contains chants and readings for Vesper, Matins, and Lauds. The present summary follows the order in which the elements of the liturgical office are grouped together. This is done in order to provide a better sense of how the content of the office is received by its audience. <br /> <br /> Vesper is comprised of two antiphons, one chapter, one responsory, and one responsory. <br /> <br /> The first antiphon (Gloriose presul aue), the chapter, and the hymn (Iste confessor) are all from the commune sanctorum and describe the ideal confessor and bishop. The responsory, Signorum, is also performed after the ninth lesson (as indicated in the breviary) and will be described below. The Magnificat antiphon is a general praise for Swithun, but it also marks the connection between Winchester and Stavanger and might allude to the transfer of Swithun’s arm relic, as the chant begins with ‘rejoice citizens of Winchester, be glad people of Stavanger’ (Letare plebs Uentonie gaude gens Stauangrie’). <br /> <br /> Matins is comprised of a collect, an invitatory antiphon, nine antiphons, nine lessons, and nine responsories. <br /> <br /> The collect praises God for Swithun, who shines in miraculous signs. <br /> <br /> The invitatory antiphon is an exhortation to praise Swithun who is summoned to Heaven and pleasing to God. <br /> <br /> The three antiphons of the first nocturne praise his upbringing in the laws of God (Orthodoxis parentibus), his god-fearing ministry (Seruit deo in timore), and the many qualities that demonstrated his sanctity (Multis eum virtutibus). <br /> <br /> Lesson 1 is a summary of Swithun’s youth, which is dated to the reign of Ecgberht of Wessex (r.802-39). The lesson states that Ecgberht was the eighth Christian king after King Cynegils was converted by Saint Birinus, who, in turn, is called the apostle of the West Angles. Responsory 1 (Sanctus Suithunus) praises his upbringing and his future career as a priest. Part of the responsory reuses text from the first antiphon of Matins. <br /> <br /> Lesson 2 reflects on his childhood. Responsory 2 (Traditur ingenuis) praises his studies and his learning. <br /> <br /> Lesson 3 describes his early priesthood under Bishop Helmstan of Winchester, and his qualities as a man of the Church. Responsory 3 (Presul Uentonie) states that upon the death of the bishop, Swithun was elevated to this rank. <br /> <br /> The three antiphons of the second nocturne recount his time as a priest under Helmstan (Deum amans), and his pious life and his preaching (Honoris illum). The third antiphon (Ales diuini) is a reflection on how the soul of a saint travels to God’s mountain (Heaven) and is thereby strengthened. <br /> <br /> Lesson 4 describes how Swithun gained the king’s friendship. Responsory 4 (Ordine sublimis) is a general reflection on how those in higher orders are made more sublime through their merits, and the versicle demonstrates this with a reference to the miracle of a poor woman’s eggs that were restored through Swithun’s intercession.<br /> <br /> Lesson 5 describes how Swithun became bishop on the death of Helmstan. Responsory 5 (Pauperibus miseris) praises his care for the poor. <br /> <br /> Lesson 6 recounts that Swithun was supported by Æthelwulf, the king’s son and successor. Responsory 6 (Uiuendi metas) is a reflection on how those who live a virtuous life will be rewarded. <br /> <br /> The first two of the three antiphons of the third nocturne (Adesse cupit; Eterno regi paruit) reflect on the rewards of pious living. The third antiphon (Euoluto) repeats Swithun’s elevation to the rank of bishop, repeating some of the words from lesson 5. <br /> <br /> Lesson 7 recounts how Swithun restored churches and how he avoided pomp and luxury. Responsory 7 (Congeries gibbi) recounts a miracle story about a hunchback. <br /> <br /> Lesson 8 recounts how Swithun strove to follow Christian doctrine from his earliest years. Responsory 8 (Diues homo) refers to a miracle story concerning a man who met, and escaped from, monstrous women. <br /> <br /> Lesson 9 recounts the death of Swithun and contains a praise of his saintly conduct. Responsory 9 (Signorum) states that Swithun shone in many miraculous signs. This responsory is also sung at Vesper. <br /> <br /> Laudes is comprised of six antiphons, including the Benedictus antiphon. A rubric states that the collect for Laudes is the same as above (i.e., for Matins). <br /> <br /> The first five antiphons – which are the regular Laudes antiphons – are concerned with Swithun’s miracles and qualities. His virtues shone to Heaven (Presul Suithunus) and the earthly citizens mourn him (Surreptum). Swithun is placed in a humble tomb, yet the miracles demonstrate his sanctity and glory (Cum locus exiguum), and all sicknesses are cured there (Omnibus infirmis). The last regular antiphon (Laus tibi) is a general song of praise. The Benedictus antiphon (Letabunda) is a reflection on the happy occasion of Swithun’s feast. <br /> <br /> Second Vespers includes one regular antiphon and the Magnificat antiphon. The regular antiphon (Magne sator mundi) is song of praise for God who glorified Swithun. <br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> The collect and the lessons are all written in prose. (For further details, see LAPIDGE 2003, 123, and GJERLØW 1979, 143).<br /> <br /> Most of the antiphons and responsories are written in syllable-counting rhymed verse, except the first Vesper antiphon. This style is typical of late twelfth-century liturgy, and consists of lines where the stress falls on either the penultimate or antepenultimate syllable, also known as paroxytone (p) or pro-paroxytone (pp) stress. <br /> <br /> In the following overview, the chants are presented in the order in which they appear in the liturgical office. <br /> <br /> The Magnificat antiphon consists of 8 lines of rhyming couplets. The lines are all in proparoxytone stress and each line contains 8 syllables, with the exception of the second line – ‘gaude gens Stauangrie’ – which has only 7 syllables. In both Analecta Hymnica (DREVES 1892, 235 and in the edition of Antiphonarium Nidrosiense GJERLØW (1979, 184) this line has been hyper-corrected by the addition of another syllable to make the meter complete. The line therefore reads ‘gaude gens Stauangariae’ in DREVES 1892. This hyper-correction has been carried over into the edition by LAPIDGE (2003, 129). In Breviarium Nidrosiense, however, the line only consists of 7 syllables. In the edition of the office in TOY (2009) and in the edition of Breviarium Nidrosiense by SPERBER (2019, 1343), the line is correctly transcribed.   <br /> <br /> The invitatory antiphon is a rhyming couplet with two lines of 15 syllables in paroxytone stress. <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the first nocturne all consist of two rhyming couplets with the following scheme: 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp. The third antiphon is an exception, where the first line only contains seven syllables. <br /> <br /> The responsories for the first nocturne have the following schemes: 5p+8p+5p+9p+7p+7pp (MR1); 7p+10p+6p+8p+6pp+7pp (MR2); 6pp+10p+5p+9p+5p+7pp (MR3). <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the second nocturne have the following schemes: 8pp+8pp+8p+8pp (MA4); 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA5); 8pp+8p+8pp+8pp (MA6). They are all comprised of rhyming couplets.<br /> <br /> The responsories for the second nocturne have the following schemes: 6pp+9p+6p+8p+7pp+7pp (MR4); 7pp+9p+6p+9p+5p+7pp (MR5) (here with the proviso that ‘coepit’ in the third line is pronounced as two syllables); 5p+8p+9p+7pp+8p+6pp+7pp (MR6).          <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the third nocturne have the following schemes: 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA7); 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA8); 8p+8p+8pp+8pp (MA9). They are all comprised of rhyming couplets. <br /> <br /> The responsories for the third nocturne have the following scheme: 6p+10p+6p+9p+7pp+7pp (MR7); 6p+10p+6pp+8p+6p+7p (MR8); 7p+7pp+6p+9p+10p+6p+7pp+8p (MR9) (with the proviso that ‘coetibus’ in the second to last line is pronounced as two syllables).              <br /> <br /> The five first antiphons of Laudes have the following scheme: 5p+8p+5p+7pp (LA1); 9p+6p+6p+7p (LA2); 10p+6p+6p+7p (LA3); 6p+9p+6p+7pp (LA4); 8p+9p+7p+8p (LA5). <br /> <br /> The Benedictus antiphon has the following scheme: 6p+8p+7p+9p+6p+9p+6p+8p. <br /> <br /> The Magnificat antiphon for Second Vespers has the following scheme: 6p+8p+6p+7pp+5p+8p+6p+7p.<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> The liturgical texts are drawn from both the Vita Sancti Swithuni from the late eleventh century, and from the Miracula Sancti Swithuni. As suggested by Michael Lapidge (2003, 134), the office is likely to have been composed by someone with access to both texts, which in turn points to Winchester as its place of origin. This hypothesis also explains why the lessons are so focused on English history, which might not have been equally prioritised by a liturgical composer based in Stavanger.   <br /> <br /> Vita Sancti Swithuni provides the material for the antiphons of the first nocturne (chapter 1), the second nocturne (chapter 2), and the third nocturne (chapter 4). Lessons 1-3 are drawn from chapter 1-2 of Vita Sancti Swithuni, and the responsories recount miracle stories from chapters 1-6. Lessons 4-6 are taken from chapter 3-4 of Vita Sancti Swithuni, and the responsories are drawn from chapters 1-6. Lessons 7-9 are drawn from from chapters 7-8 of Vita Sancti Swithuni. Curiously, lesson 8 begins ‘Uixit autem’ rather than ‘Vixit igitur’, which might be a choice on the part of the liturgist. The responsories from the third nocturne are drawn from chapters 2-3 of Miracula Sancti Swithuni. <br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> The main purpose of the Historia de Sancto Suithuno was to honour St Swithun and to demonstrate that he was held in high regards by the cathedral clergy in Stavanger. Since any liturgical office is a communication between the performing clergy and the recipient saint – as well as the omniscient and omnipresent God – the office served to strengthen the bond between the patron saint and his flock. The office also had as its purpose to educate the cathedral clergy and other ecclesiastical or monastic audiences about the history and the qualities of St Swithun. In particular, it was important for the cathedral clergy to teach its own members about the institution’s patron saint, so that the clergy would venerate the saint in accordance with how his cult centre understood and imagined him, and so that they could ensure that the knowledge about Swithun’s history and qualities was passed on to later generations. The office was, in other words, one of the mechanisms by which the cathedral’s institutional identity was formulated and perpetuated across centuries. <br /> <br /> In addition to the main intended audiences – God, Swithun, and the cathedral clergy – the laity who was present at the cathedral during St Swithun’s feast would also have been an audience to the performance of the Historia. The laity had no active part in the liturgical performance, but we should expect that they would nonetheless understand something of what the office tried to communicate of the glory of the patron saint – if not in words, so at least in music. <br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The office was included in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519), and it is likely that the office was transmitted to the metropolitan see shortly before the content of the breviary was brought to Paris for printing, perhaps as early as 1515 (GJERLØW 1986, 70; KARLSEN AND HAREIDE 2019, 3). No known manuscript sources have survived, and it is therefore impossible to say whether the office was transmitted beyond the diocese of Stavanger before the sixteenth century. Since the Historia was probably composed in the second half of the twelfth century (see Date and place above), it is likely that the veneration of Swithun in the diocese of Bjørgvin – which, like Stavanger, belonged to the Gulathing law province – had begun before the composition of the Stavanger office. In the diocese of Bjørgvin, the feast(s) of St Swithun would most likely have been performed with liturgical material from the common of saints (''commune sanctorum''), and we should not expect that the cult of Swithun was strong enough in Bjørgvin diocese to warrant the importation of a proprium office.<br /> <br /> == Commemoratio de translatione Sancti Suithuni episcopi et confessoris ==<br /> This is a short office for the translation feast of St Swithun that is included in Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). As stated in the calendar of the breviary, Swithun’s translation had the rank of semiduplex, which meant that the office contained six lessons. In the Breviarium, the office contains only a few chants. These are mainly from the common of a confessor bishop, and only the incipits – the first words – are recorded (see Sources below). Most of the texts – including all the six lessons – are performed during the third nocturne.<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The title Commemoratio de translatione Sancti Suithuni episcopi et confessoris is used in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). The title appears to be unique to the Breviarium. The use of the word “commemoratio” rather than “historia” might reflect the feast’s rank of semiduplex, as per the breviary’s calendar. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Confessor domini''.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Iste est, qui ante''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The office covers one page and most of a column in Breviarium Nidrosiense. The chants are all indicated by their incipits. The collect runs across five and a half lines. Taken together, the lessons cover 66 lines. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * TOY, J. 2009: English saints in the medieval liturgies of Scandinavian churches, London, 179-81.<br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo, 1078-79.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> No translations have yet been made. <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> The materials used for the Commemoratio are older than the Norwegian cult of St Swithun (see Summary of contents and Sources below), but it is possible that the materials were put in their current order in Norway. Three of the responsories and the Invitatory antiphon – all of which are from the common of saints – are also used for the feast of Swithun’s translation in a thirteenth-century Icelandic manuscript whose content is believed to reflect the Ordo Nidrosiensis (GJERLØW 1968, 367). The manuscript in question is [https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/en/AM04-0680-a/0#mode/2up AM 680 a 4to]. <br /> <br /> It is possible that the office on which the Commemoratio was used in Stavanger diocese from the earliest stages of the Norwegian cult of St Swithun, and that it was later brought to Trondheim. Since the first lesson mentions the exhumation of Swithun’s body, although briefly and as a past event, the office might have been performed on his ''dies translatio'' from the beginning. This supposition is supported by the evidence of AM 680 a 4to. <br /> <br /> The current shape of the office is probably a consequence of the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae after 1389, through which Swithun’s ''dies natalis'' was removed from the metropolitan sanctorale, and which appears to have diminished the status of Swithun’s cult in Trondheim. The Commemoratio is most likely based on an office of nine lessons, and has been reduced to six lessons to accommodate the translation feast’s rank of semiduplex. <br /> <br /> For the question of place, the issues presented here are important. While it seems overwhelmingly likely that the Commemoratio is based on an older office used in Stavanger, we do not know whether the shortened version is a product of the clergy at the Stavanger episcopal see or the metropolitan clergy in Trondheim. <br /> <br /> As for the date of the Commemoratio, its terminus post quem is 1389, since the edited office is a response to the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae. The impact of this change in Norway was probably not immediate, however. It is likely that Swithun’s cult was less diminished in Stavanger, and that the ''dies translatio'' was celebrated with a full office of nine lessons throughout the diocese. If we accept the hypothesis that the Commemoratio was given its surviving form in Trondheim, the relatively close contacts between the metropolitan see and the Papacy might have ensured that the liturgical changes were introduced more quickly here. We should therefore expect that the Commemoratio was composed or edited relatively shortly after 1389. <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The office contains four antiphons, three responsories, one collect (oratio), and six lessons. The chants are all from the ''commune sanctorum'', and feature in the common of a confessor bishop. They are only recorded by their incipits, and all provide descriptions of the ideal confessor and the just man of the books of the Old Testament (see more in Sources below). <br /> <br /> Lesson 1 recounts the story of a blind man who had lived five years in Rome and was healed by the intercession of Swithun. <br /> <br /> Lesson 2 recounts the healing of a man who was falsely accused of theft and blinded. <br /> <br /> Lesson 3 recounts the healing of Prior Byrhtferth’s blindness.<br /> <br /> Lesson 4 recounts the restoration of broken eggs. <br /> <br /> Lesson 5 recounts the healing of a boy who fell off a horse. <br /> <br /> Lesson 6 contains general praise of the many mute and blind people from all across England who were healed through the intercession of St Swithun.<br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> The chants of the Commemoratio are in prose, as is typical of the material from the ''commune sanctorum''. <br /> <br /> The lessons are mainly based on Lantfred’s ''Translatio et Miracula'' (see Sources below), and retain some of his stylistic traits (see LAPIDGE 2003, 224-32).<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> As mentioned above (see Summary of contents), the chants are all taken from the ''commune sanctorum'', presumably the common of a confessor saint. <br /> <br /> The collect is similar to one found in the Sarum missal (LAPIDGE 2003, 103). The Use of Sarum was the liturgical order of Southern England, i.e., the church province of Canterbury, to which Winchester belongs. It is likely that the collect belongs to the earliest material for St Swithun used in Norway, and that this was transmitted from Winchester together with the arm relic when Rainald became bishop of Stavanger. However, the collect itself is part of the ''commune sanctorum'' and can also be found in the liturgical offices of other saints, and we cannot discard the possibility that it has been brought to Norway from a different source. <br /> <br /> Four of the six lessons contain stories found in Translatio et Miracula Sancti Swithuni by Lantfred, the earliest hagiography about St Swithun. They are not taken verbatim from Lantfred, however. Lesson 1 is from chapter 16; lesson 2 is from chapter 26; lesson 3 is from chapter 28; and lesson 5 is from chapter 31 (see LAPIDGE 2003, 298, 310, 316, and 318 respectively). Lesson 4 is possibly taken from Vita Sancti Swithuni, which is from the eleventh century (LAPIDGE 2003, 636). Lesson 6 contains a passage that fits verbatim with the so-called Epitome Translationis et Miraculorum Sancti Swithuni, an abbreviation of Lantfred’s Translatio et Miracula dated to the late tenth century (LAPIDGE 2003, 570). The Epitome does not contain the other chapters from Lantfred that have been used for the lessons, and is therefore only the source of the sixth lesson.<br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> The main purposes of the Commemoratio are the same as those described for the Historia de Sancto Suithuno (see above), namely to provide material for the proper veneration of a saint whose place in the Norwegian cult of saints was well established, yet not of great importance outside of Stavanger diocese. <br /> <br /> Unlike the Historia de Sancto Suithuno, the Commemoratio in its surviving form was most likely not a product of the Stavanger cathedral clergy, but rather the result of editorial interventions by the Trondheim cathedral clergy. The purpose of the abbreviated office was to adapt the office to changes in the liturgical calendar. The intended audiences were the parishes of the church province who were expected to follow the liturgical order set down by the archbishop’s authority.<br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The Commemoratio office is only known through Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). That the manuscript AM 680 a 4to contains some of the same chants for the feast of Swithun’s ''translatio'' suggests that the office has been transmitted throughout the Norwegian church province, either completely or in parts. The version found in Breviarium Nidrosiense is most likely an abbreviation of an older and longer office cycle (see Date and place above).<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> <br /> * ALVESTAD, K. C. 2021: “Swithun in the North: A Winchester Saint in Norway,” in Early Medieval Winchester: Communities, Authority and Power in an Urban Space, c.800-c.1200, ed. R. Lavelle, S. Roffey, and K. Weikert, Oxford, 257-74.<br /> * DN = Dipolomatarium Norvegicum 1 – 3, Kristiania 1847 – 1855.<br /> * DREVES, G. 1892: Analecta Hymnica medii aevii XIII, Leipzig.<br /> * DYBDAHL, A. 2011: Primstaven i lys av helgenkulten, Trondheim. <br /> * DYBDAHL, A. 2011: A Group of Calendar Sticks from Trøndelag, Northern Norway and Greenland, Arv: Nordic yearbook of folklore 67, 129-49.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1968: Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae, Oslo. <br /> * GJERLØW, L.1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1986: “The Breviarium and the Missale Nidrosiense (1519),” in From Script to Book: A Symposium, ed. H. Bekker-Nielsen, M. Børch, and H. A. Sørensen, Odense, 50-77.<br /> * HAUG, E. 2009: “Fra Stavanger-kirkens Tidligste Historie,” Historisk Tidsskrift 88:3, 453-83.<br /> * HAUG, E. 2010: “Stavanger-privilegiet, Stavangers Romanske Domkirke og Klostersamfunnet på Utstein – Replikk til Knut Helle,” Historisk Tidsskrift 89:2, 263-71.<br /> * HELLE, K. 2008: “Stavanger By og Utstein Kloster,” Historisk Tidsskrift 87:4, 577-605.<br /> * HELLE, K. 2009: “Stavanger som By og Kirkelig Sentrum – svar til Eldbjørg Haug,” Historisk Tidsskrift 88:4, 685-97.<br /> * KARLSEN, E. AND HAREIDE, S. 2019: “The Nidaros Breviary (1519),” in Breviarium Nidrosiense, ed. I. SPERBER, Oslo, 3-9. <br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford. <br /> * TOY, J. 2009: English saints in the medieval liturgies of Scandinavian churches, London. <br /> * PAC, G. AND HOPE, S. 2025: “Saints and Legitimization of Bishoprics in Poland and Norway until c. 1200,” in Legitimation of the Elites in High Medieval Poland and Norway: Comparative Studies, ed. W. Jezierski, H. J. Orning, and G. Pac, Turnhout, 205-49.<br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sanctus_Suithunus&diff=1176 2026-03-11T10:41:26Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> by Steffen Hope <br /> <br /> Swithun was bishop of Winchester in the mid-ninth century. Based on evidence from charters, Michael Lapidge has suggested that his episcopate covered the period 852-63 (LAPIDGE 2003, 4). As suggested by the celebration of Swithun’s ''dies natalis'', he died on July 2. On the orders of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester (r.963-84), his body was exhumed and translated to a more prominent place within cathedral on July 15, 971 (LAPIDGE 2003, 8). Swithun’s cult became widespread throughout England, and was one of the most important native cults in the Middle Ages. Within the Norse sphere, the cult of St Swithun was strongest in Norway, and the only known surviving text pertaining to Swithun that was composed specifically for a Nordic institution is a liturgical office used in Stavanger. <br /> <br /> The reason why Stavanger was a hub for the cult of St Swithun is most likely that when the city was established as an episcopal see sometime in the 1120s, the first bishop was Rainald (or Reinald) who might have come from Winchester (LAPIDGE 2003, 56-57). According to an inventory from 1517, Stavanger cathedral possessed one of St Swithun’s arms, and it is likely that this relic was brought by Rainald for the consecration of the cathedral. Consequently, Swithun was the patron saint of Stavanger diocese.  <br /> <br /> Our understanding of the cult of St Swithun in medieval Norway is fragmentary. Eldbjørg Haug has argued for an active cult prior to the twelfth century (HAUG 2009, 462-5; HAUG 2010, 270-1), but these arguments have been criticised by Knut Helle (HELLE 2008, 577; 2009, 691). (For an overview of this debate in English, see ALVESTAD 2021.) While it is not unthinkable that Swithun was known in parts of Norway early in the Christianisation period, there is no evidence to suggest that there was an active cult prior to the establishment of the Stavanger diocese.<br /> <br /> The ''dies natalis'' of St Swithun, July 2, was included in the number of feasts which were mentioned as particularly holy days in the law of the Gulathing province (PAC AND HOPE 2025, 215-16). This law code was revised and committed to writing in the 1160s, which demonstrates that the cult of St Swithun had attained a high status in the Gulathing province by the mid-twelfth century. The Gulathing law was valid for the parishes and communities along the western seaboard, and did not apply in every part of Norway. Consequently, we do not know the status of the cult of St Swithun outside of the Gulathing law province in the twelfth century. <br /> <br /> Based on sources from the thirteenth century, it seems that St Swithun was regarded as an important saint within the Norwegian church organisation. The inclusion of both the ''dies natalis'' (July 2) and the ''translatio'' (July 15) in Icelandic manuscripts that are believed to contain the Ordo Nidrosiensis – the liturgical repertoire for the entire Norwegian church province – suggests that Swithun was venerated throughout Norway in the course of the thirteenth century, at least by the clergy. A few other thirteenth-century documents further support the hypothesis that Swithun had some importance outside of Stavanger diocese. In 1280, King Eirik Magnusson (r.1280-99) was crowned on July 2 in the cathedral of Bergen (DN 1, 69). On July 14 of the same year, Bishop Thorfinn of Hamar issued a proclamation of indulgence for 40 days to those who visited or otherwise helped the recently burned cathedral church of St Swithun (DN 3, 249). <br /> <br /> In later medieval Norway, Swithun’s main feast appears to have been July 15 since his ''dies natalis'' was replaced by the feast of Visitatio Mariae after 1389 (DYBDAHL 2011b, 138; see also DYBDAHL 2011a). In Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519), Swithun is included in the litany, and the calendar includes his translation feast with the rank of semiduplex, the second highest liturgical rank. Breviarium Nidrosiense contains both a text for his translation, comprised of six lessons, and also the Historia de Sancti Suithuno, comprised of nine lessons, which is placed towards the end of the breviary along with other feasts that have been appended to the sanctorale, including the feast of [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]].<br /> <br /> == Historia de Sancto Suithuno ==<br /> The Historia is a complete office with antiphons, responsories and lessons that convey the story of St Swithun. The office has most likely been used in Stavanger cathedral (see Date and place below). As far as we know, the text of the office only survives in the printed Brevarium Nidrosiense, and no manuscripts containing the office have hitherto been identified. The breviary only contains the text of the office, while the musical notation is lost. <br /> <br /> At the time of its composition (see Date and place below), the office was performed at Swithun’s ''dies natalis'', July 2. There might have existed an office for the translation feast on July 15, and it is tempting to suggest that the translation of Swithun’s arm from Winchester to Stavanger might have been commemorated locally in Stavanger, either on July 15 or on a different day. No evidence for such a scenario exists, however. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The title Historia de Sancto Suithuno is used in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). Such titles are typical of liturgical offices in the Middle Ages. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Laetare plebs Wentoniae''. <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Gloria magna tibi''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The surviving chants of the Historia comprise 150 lines of liturgical poetry. In Breviarium Nidrosiense (see Medieval reception and transmission below), there are also additional chants from the common of saints, as well as collects, chapters, and lessons. The lessons cover roughly 217 lines (some of these are not full lines). The collect for Matins – which is the only one written in full, and which appears to have been repeated at Lauds – is comprised of 13 lines. Taken together, the Historia runs across six pages in Breviarium Nidrosiense (pp.894-99; ccc.ij.-ccc.iv.). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * DREVES, G. 1892: Analecta Hymnica medii aevii XIII, Leipzig, 235-37.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo, 143-45, 184-85.<br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 129-33. <br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo, 1342-48.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 133-34. <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo, 184-85.<br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 129-33. <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> Due to the liturgical metre used in the chants (see Composition and style below), the office is likely composed in the second half of the twelfth century (LAPIDGE 2003, 129). It is unclear whether the office was composed in Stavanger, or whether it was commissioned from elsewhere – such as Winchester – by the bishop and/or cathedral clergy. Regardless of where it was composed, it was certainly intended for Stavanger, since the city is mentioned in the Magnificat antiphon (see Summary of contents below). <br /> <br /> It is uncertain whether the office was performed outside of Stavanger diocese prior to its inclusion in Breviarium Nidrosiense in 1519. Michael Lapidge has suggested that Swithun might have been included in the Nidaros liturgy already in the 1150s when Jon Birgerson, bishop of Stavanger (1135-52) became the first Norwegian archbishop (LAPIDGE 2003, 57). Jon died in 1157, and it is doubtful whether the extensive programme of textual production – which included both the revised law of the Gulathing province and the eventual completion of the Ordo Nidrosiensis – was initiated at such an early stage of the history of the archdiocese. While Swithun was most likely subject to some degree of veneration at the metropolitan see by the beginning of the thirteenth century, we should not expect the Stavanger office to have been in place this early. <br /> <br /> The placement of the Historia de Sancto Suithuno towards the end of the Breviarium Nidrosiense can be explained in two ways. One possible explanation is that with the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae on July 2 after 1389, the Historia was moved from its original position in the sanctorale to what is in practice an appendix of the breviary. Another explanation is that the office was included at a later stage in the editing process, and added to the sanctorale for unknown reasons – possibly out of respect for a saint who might not have been important in Trondheim, but who was the patron saint of a diocese. (A similar mechanism might explain the similar placement of the feast of Sanctus Kanutus Rex, who was not important in Trondheim – perhaps not even in Norway – but who had acquired a high status in the Kalmar Union by 1519.) This second explanation would entail that the office had not been performed in Trondheim before 1519. It is likely that the performance of the Historia was limited to Stavanger diocese for most of the Middle Ages. <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The office contains chants and readings for Vesper, Matins, and Lauds. The present summary follows the order in which the elements of the liturgical office are grouped together. This is done in order to provide a better sense of how the content of the office is received by its audience. <br /> <br /> Vesper is comprised of two antiphons, one chapter, one responsory, and one responsory. <br /> <br /> The first antiphon (Gloriose presul aue), the chapter, and the hymn (Iste confessor) are all from the commune sanctorum and describe the ideal confessor and bishop. The responsory, Signorum, is also performed after the ninth lesson (as indicated in the breviary) and will be described below. The Magnificat antiphon is a general praise for Swithun, but it also marks the connection between Winchester and Stavanger and might allude to the transfer of Swithun’s arm relic, as the chant begins with ‘rejoice citizens of Winchester, be glad people of Stavanger’ (Letare plebs Uentonie gaude gens Stauangrie’). <br /> <br /> Matins is comprised of a collect, an invitatory antiphon, nine antiphons, nine lessons, and nine responsories. <br /> <br /> The collect praises God for Swithun, who shines in miraculous signs. <br /> <br /> The invitatory antiphon is an exhortation to praise Swithun who is summoned to Heaven and pleasing to God. <br /> <br /> The three antiphons of the first nocturne praise his upbringing in the laws of God (Orthodoxis parentibus), his god-fearing ministry (Seruit deo in timore), and the many qualities that demonstrated his sanctity (Multis eum virtutibus). <br /> <br /> Lesson 1 is a summary of Swithun’s youth, which is dated to the reign of Ecgberht of Wessex (r.802-39). The lesson states that Ecgberht was the eighth Christian king after King Cynegils was converted by Saint Birinus, who, in turn, is called the apostle of the West Angles. Responsory 1 (Sanctus Suithunus) praises his upbringing and his future career as a priest. Part of the responsory reuses text from the first antiphon of Matins. <br /> <br /> Lesson 2 reflects on his childhood. Responsory 2 (Traditur ingenuis) praises his studies and his learning. <br /> <br /> Lesson 3 describes his early priesthood under Bishop Helmstan of Winchester, and his qualities as a man of the Church. Responsory 3 (Presul Uentonie) states that upon the death of the bishop, Swithun was elevated to this rank. <br /> <br /> The three antiphons of the second nocturne recount his time as a priest under Helmstan (Deum amans), and his pious life and his preaching (Honoris illum). The third antiphon (Ales diuini) is a reflection on how the soul of a saint travels to God’s mountain (Heaven) and is thereby strengthened. <br /> <br /> Lesson 4 describes how Swithun gained the king’s friendship. Responsory 4 (Ordine sublimis) is a general reflection on how those in higher orders are made more sublime through their merits, and the versicle demonstrates this with a reference to the miracle of a poor woman’s eggs that were restored through Swithun’s intercession.<br /> <br /> Lesson 5 describes how Swithun became bishop on the death of Helmstan. Responsory 5 (Pauperibus miseris) praises his care for the poor. <br /> <br /> Lesson 6 recounts that Swithun was supported by Æthelwulf, the king’s son and successor. Responsory 6 (Uiuendi metas) is a reflection on how those who live a virtuous life will be rewarded. <br /> <br /> The first two of the three antiphons of the third nocturne (Adesse cupit; Eterno regi paruit) reflect on the rewards of pious living. The third antiphon (Euoluto) repeats Swithun’s elevation to the rank of bishop, repeating some of the words from lesson 5. <br /> <br /> Lesson 7 recounts how Swithun restored churches and how he avoided pomp and luxury. Responsory 7 (Congeries gibbi) recounts a miracle story about a hunchback. <br /> <br /> Lesson 8 recounts how Swithun strove to follow Christian doctrine from his earliest years. Responsory 8 (Diues homo) refers to a miracle story concerning a man who met, and escaped from, monstrous women. <br /> <br /> Lesson 9 recounts the death of Swithun and contains a praise of his saintly conduct. Responsory 9 (Signorum) states that Swithun shone in many miraculous signs. This responsory is also sung at Vesper. <br /> <br /> Laudes is comprised of six antiphons, including the Benedictus antiphon. A rubric states that the collect for Laudes is the same as above (i.e., for Matins). <br /> <br /> The first five antiphons – which are the regular Laudes antiphons – are concerned with Swithun’s miracles and qualities. His virtues shone to Heaven (Presul Suithunus) and the earthly citizens mourn him (Surreptum). Swithun is placed in a humble tomb, yet the miracles demonstrate his sanctity and glory (Cum locus exiguum), and all sicknesses are cured there (Omnibus infirmis). The last regular antiphon (Laus tibi) is a general song of praise. The Benedictus antiphon (Letabunda) is a reflection on the happy occasion of Swithun’s feast. <br /> <br /> Second Vespers includes one regular antiphon and the Magnificat antiphon. The regular antiphon (Magne sator mundi) is song of praise for God who glorified Swithun. <br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> The collect and the lessons are all written in prose. For further details, see LAPIDGE 2003, 123, and GJERLØW 1979, 143).<br /> <br /> Most of the antiphons and responsories are written in syllable-counting rhymed verse, except the first Vesper antiphon. This style is typical of late twelfth-century liturgy, and consists of lines where the stress falls on either the penultimate or antepenultimate syllable, also known as paroxytone (p) or pro-paroxytone (pp) stress. <br /> <br /> In the following overview, the chants are presented in the order in which they appear in the liturgical office. <br /> <br /> The Magnificat antiphon consists of 8 lines of rhyming couplets. The lines are all in proparoxytone stress and each line contains 8 syllables, with the exception of the second line – ‘gaude gens Stauangrie’ – which has only 7 syllables. In both Analecta Hymnica (DREVES 1892, 235 and in the edition of Antiphonarium Nidrosiense GJERLØW (1979, 184) this line has been hyper-corrected by the addition another syllable to make the meter. The line therefore reads ‘gaude gens Stauangariae’ in DREVES 1892. This hyper-correction has been carried over into the edition by LAPIDGE (2003, 129). In Breviarium Nidrosiense, however, the line only consists of 7 syllables. In the edition of Breviarium Nidrosiense by SPERBER (2019, 1343), the line is correctly transcribed.   <br /> <br /> The invitatory antiphon is a rhyming couplet with two lines of 15 syllables in paroxytone stress. <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the first nocturne all consist of two rhyming couplets with the following scheme: 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp. The third antiphon is an exception, where the first line only contains seven syllables. <br /> <br /> The responsories for the first nocturne have the following schemes: 5p+8p+5p+9p+7p+7pp (MR1); 7p+10p+6p+8p+6pp+7pp (MR2); 6pp+10p+5p+9p+5p+7pp (MR3). <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the second nocturne have the following schemes: 8pp+8pp+8p+8pp (MA4); 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA5); 8pp+8p+8pp+8pp (MA6). They are all comprised of rhyming couplets.<br /> <br /> The responsories for the second nocturne have the following schemes: 6pp+9p+6p+8p+7pp+7pp (MR4); 7pp+9p+6p+9p+5p+7pp (MR5) (here with the proviso that ‘coepit’ in the third line is pronounced as two syllables); 5p+8p+9p+7pp+8p+6pp+7pp (MR6).          <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the third nocturne have the following schemes: 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA7); 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA8); 8p+8p+8pp+8pp (MA9). They are all comprised of rhyming couplets. <br /> <br /> The responsories for the third nocturne have the following scheme: 6p+10p+6p+9p+7pp+7pp (MR7); 6p+10p+6pp+8p+6p+7p (MR8); 7p+7pp+6p+9p+10p+6p+7pp+8p (MR9) (with the proviso that ‘coetibus’ in the second to last line is pronounced as two syllables).              <br /> <br /> The five first antiphons of Laudes have the following scheme: 5p+8p+5p+7pp (LA1); 9p+6p+6p+7p (LA2); 10p+6p+6p+7p (LA3); 6p+9p+6p+7pp (LA4); 8p+9p+7p+8p (LA5). <br /> <br /> The Benedictus antiphon has the following scheme: 6p+8p+7p+9p+6p+9p+6p+8p. <br /> <br /> The Magnificat antiphon for Second Vespers has the following scheme: 6p+8p+6p+7pp+5p+8p+6p+7p.<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> The liturgical texts are drawn from both the Vita Sancti Swithuni from the late eleventh century, and from the Miracula Sancti Swithuni. As suggested by Michael Lapidge (2003, 134), the office is likely to have been composed by someone with access to both texts, which in turn points to Winchester as its place of origin. This hypothesis also explains why the lessons are so focused on English history, which might not have been equally prioritised by a liturgical composer based in Stavanger.   <br /> <br /> Vita Sancti Swithuni provides the material for the antiphons of the first nocturne (chapter 1), the second nocturne (chapter 2), and the third nocturne (chapter 4). Lessons 1-3 are drawn from chapter 1-2 of Vita Sancti Swithuni, and the responsories recount miracle stories from chapters 1-6. Lessons 4-6 are taken from chapter 3-4 of Vita Sancti Swithuni, and the responsories are drawn from chapters 1-6. Lessons 7-9 are drawn from from chapters 7-8 of Vita Sancti Swithuni. Curiously, lesson 8 begins ‘Uixit autem’ rather than ‘Vixit igitur’, which might be a choice on the part of the liturgist. The responsories from the third nocturne are drawn from chapters 2-3 of Miracula Sancti Swithuni. <br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> The main purpose of the Historia de Sancto Suithuno was to honour St Swithun and to demonstrate that he was held in high regards by the cathedral clergy in Stavanger. Since any liturgical office is a communication between the performing clergy and the recipient saint – as well as the omniscient and omnipresent God – the office served to strengthen the bond between the patron saint and his flock. The office also had as its purpose to educate the cathedral clergy and other ecclesiastical or monastic audiences about the history and the qualities of St Swithun. In particular, it was important for the cathedral clergy to teach its own members about the institution’s patron saint, so that the clergy would venerate the saint in accordance with how his cult centre understood and imagined him, and so that they could ensure that the knowledge about Swithun’s history and qualities was passed on to later generations. The office was, in other words, one of the mechanisms by which the cathedral’s institutional identity was formulated and perpetuated across centuries. <br /> <br /> In addition to the main intended audiences – God, Swithun, and the cathedral clergy – the laity who was present at the cathedral during St Swithun’s feast would also have been an audience to the performance of the Historia. The laity had no active part in the liturgical performance, but we should expect that they would nonetheless understand something of what the office tried to communicate of the glory of the patron saint – if not in words, so at least in music. <br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The office was included in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519), and it is likely that the office was transmitted to the metropolitan see shortly before the content of the breviary was brought to Paris for printing, perhaps as early as 1515 (GJERLØW 1986, 70; KARLSEN AND HAREIDE 2019, 3). No known manuscript sources have survived, and it is therefore impossible to say whether the office was transmitted beyond the diocese of Stavanger before the sixteenth century. Since the Historia was probably composed in the second half of the twelfth century (see Date and place above), it is likely that the veneration of Swithun in the diocese of Bjørgvin – which, like Stavanger, belonged to the Gulathing law province – had begun before the composition of the Stavanger office. In the diocese of Bjørgvin, the feast(s) of St Swithun would most likely have been performed with liturgical material from the common of saints (''commune sanctorum''), and we should not expect that the cult of Swithun was strong enough in Bjørgvin diocese to warrant the importation of a proprium office.<br /> <br /> == Commemoratio de translatione Sancti Suithuni episcopi et confessoris ==<br /> This is a short office for the translation feast of St Swithun that is included in Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). As stated in the calendar of the breviary, Swithun’s translation had the rank of semiduplex, which meant that the office contained six lessons. In the Breviarium, the office contains only a few chants. These are mainly from the common of a confessor bishop, and only the incipits – the first words – are recorded (see Sources below). Most of the texts – including all the six lessons – are performed during the third nocturne.<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The title Commemoratio de translatione Sancti Suithuni episcopi et confessoris is used in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). The title appears to be unique to the Breviarium. The use of the word “commemoratio” rather than “historia” might reflect the feast’s rank of semiduplex, as per the breviary’s calendar. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Confessor domini''.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Iste est, qui ante''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The office covers one page and most of a column in Breviarium Nidrosiense. The chants are all indicated by their incipits. The collect runs across five and a half lines. Taken together, the lessons cover 66 lines. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo, 1078-79. <br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> No translations have yet been made. <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> The materials used for the Commemoratio are older than the Norwegian cult of St Swithun (see Summary of contents and Sources below), but it is possible that the materials were put in their current order in Norway. Three of the responsories and the Invitatory antiphon – all of which are from the common of saints – are also used for the feast of Swithun’s translation in a thirteenth-century Icelandic manuscript whose content is believed to reflect the Ordo Nidrosiensis (GJERLØW 1968, 367). The manuscript in question is [https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/en/AM04-0680-a/0#mode/2up AM 680 a 4to]. <br /> <br /> It is possible that the office on which the Commemoratio was used in Stavanger diocese from the earliest stages of the Norwegian cult of St Swithun, and that it was later brought to Trondheim. Since the first lesson mentions the exhumation of Swithun’s body, although briefly and as a past event, the office might have been performed on his ''dies translatio'' from the beginning. This supposition is supported by the evidence of AM 680 a 4to. <br /> <br /> The current shape of the office is probably a consequence of the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae after 1389, through which Swithun’s ''dies natalis'' was removed from the metropolitan sanctorale, and which appears to have diminished the status of Swithun’s cult in Trondheim. The Commemoratio is most likely based on an office of nine lessons, and has been reduced to six lessons to accommodate the translation feast’s rank of semiduplex. <br /> <br /> For the question of place, the issues presented here are important. While it seems overwhelmingly likely that the Commemoratio is based on an older office used in Stavanger, we do not know whether the shortened version is a product of the clergy at the Stavanger episcopal see or the metropolitan clergy in Trondheim. <br /> <br /> As for the date of the Commemoratio, its terminus post quem is 1389, since the edited office is a response to the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae. The impact of this change in Norway was probably not immediate, however. It is likely that Swithun’s cult was less diminished in Stavanger, and that the ''dies translatio'' was celebrated with a full office of nine lessons throughout the diocese. If we accept the hypothesis that the Commemoratio was given its surviving form in Trondheim, the relatively close contacts between the metropolitan see and the Papacy might have ensured that the liturgical changes were introduced more quickly here. We should therefore expect that the Commemoratio was composed or edited relatively shortly after 1389. <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The office contains four antiphons, three responsories, one collect (oratio), and six lessons. The chants are all from the ''commune sanctorum'', and feature in the common of a confessor bishop. They are only recorded by their incipits, and all provide descriptions of the ideal confessor and the just man of the books of the Old Testament (see more in Sources below). <br /> <br /> Lesson 1 recounts the story of a blind man who had lived five years in Rome and was healed by the intercession of Swithun. <br /> <br /> Lesson 2 recounts the healing of a man who was falsely accused of theft and blinded. <br /> <br /> Lesson 3 recounts the healing of Prior Byrhtferth’s blindness.<br /> <br /> Lesson 4 recounts the restoration of broken eggs. <br /> <br /> Lesson 5 recounts the healing of a boy who fell off a horse. <br /> <br /> Lesson 6 contains general praise of the many mute and blind people from all across England who were healed through the intercession of St Swithun.<br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> The chants of the Commemoratio are in prose, as is typical of the material from the ''commune sanctorum''. <br /> <br /> The lessons are mainly based on Lantfred’s ''Translatio et Miracula'' (see Sources below), and retain some of his stylistic traits (see LAPIDGE 2003, 224-32).<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> As mentioned above (see Summary of contents), the chants are all taken from the ''commune sanctorum'', presumably the common of a confessor saint. <br /> <br /> The collect is similar to one found in the Sarum missal (LAPIDGE 2003, 103). The Use of Sarum was the liturgical order of Southern England, i.e., the church province of Canterbury, to which Winchester belongs. It is likely that the collect belongs to the earliest material for St Swithun used in Norway, and that this was transmitted from Winchester together with the arm relic when Rainald became bishop of Stavanger. However, the collect itself is part of the ''commune sanctorum'' and can also be found in the liturgical offices of other saints, and we cannot discard the possibility that it has been brought to Norway from a different source. <br /> <br /> Four of the six lessons contain stories found in Translatio et Miracula Sancti Swithuni by Lantfred, the earliest hagiography about St Swithun. They are not taken verbatim from Lantfred, however. Lesson 1 is from chapter 16; lesson 2 is from chapter 26; lesson 3 is from chapter 28; and lesson 5 is from chapter 31 (see LAPIDGE 2003, 298, 310, 316, and 318 respectively). Lesson 4 is possibly taken from Vita Sancti Swithuni, which is from the eleventh century (LAPIDGE 2003, 636). Lesson 6 contains a passage that fits verbatim with the so-called Epitome Translationis et Miraculorum Sancti Swithuni, an abbreviation of Lantfred’s Translatio et Miracula dated to the late tenth century (LAPIDGE 2003, 570). The Epitome does not contain the other chapters from Lantfred that have been used for the lessons, and is therefore only the source of the sixth lesson.<br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> The main purposes of the Commemoratio are the same as those described for the Historia de Sancto Suithuno (see above), namely to provide material for the proper veneration of a saint whose place in the Norwegian cult of saints was well established, yet not of great importance outside of Stavanger diocese. <br /> <br /> Unlike the Historia de Sancto Suithuno, the Commemoratio in its surviving form was most likely not a product of the Stavanger cathedral clergy, but rather the result of editorial interventions by the Trondheim cathedral clergy. The purpose of the abbreviated office was to adapt the office to changes in the liturgical calendar. The intended audiences were the parishes of the church province who were expected to follow the liturgical order set down by the archbishop’s authority.<br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The Commemoratio office is only known through Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). That the manuscript AM 680 a 4to contains some of the same chants for the feast of Swithun’s ''translatio'' suggests that the office has been transmitted throughout the Norwegian church province, either completely or in parts. The version found in Breviarium Nidrosiense is most likely an abbreviation of an older and longer office cycle (see Date and place above).<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> <br /> * ALVESTAD, K. C. 2021: “Swithun in the North: A Winchester Saint in Norway,” in Early Medieval Winchester: Communities, Authority and Power in an Urban Space, c.800-c.1200, ed. R. Lavelle, S. Roffey, and K. Weikert, Oxford, 257-74.<br /> * DN = Dipolomatarium Norvegicum 1 – 3, Kristiania 1847 – 1855.<br /> * DREVES, G. 1892: Analecta Hymnica medii aevii XIII, Leipzig.<br /> * DYBDAHL, A. 2011: Primstaven i lys av helgenkulten, Trondheim. <br /> * DYBDAHL, A. 2011: A Group of Calendar Sticks from Trøndelag, Northern Norway and Greenland, Arv: Nordic yearbook of folklore 67, 129-49.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1968: Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae, Oslo. <br /> * GJERLØW, L.1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1986: “The Breviarium and the Missale Nidrosiense (1519),” in From Script to Book: A Symposium, ed. H. Bekker-Nielsen, M. Børch, and H. A. Sørensen, Odense, 50-77.<br /> * HAUG, E. 2009: “Fra Stavanger-kirkens Tidligste Historie,” Historisk Tidsskrift 88:3, 453-83.<br /> * HAUG, E. 2010: “Stavanger-privilegiet, Stavangers Romanske Domkirke og Klostersamfunnet på Utstein – Replikk til Knut Helle,” Historisk Tidsskrift 89:2, 263-71.<br /> * HELLE, K. 2008: “Stavanger By og Utstein Kloster,” Historisk Tidsskrift 87:4, 577-605.<br /> * HELLE, K. 2009: “Stavanger som By og Kirkelig Sentrum – svar til Eldbjørg Haug,” Historisk Tidsskrift 88:4, 685-97.<br /> * KARLSEN, E. AND HAREIDE, S. 2019: “The Nidaros Breviary (1519),” in Breviarium Nidrosiense, ed. I. SPERBER, Oslo, 3-9. <br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford.<br /> * PAC, G. AND HOPE, S. 2025: “Saints and Legitimization of Bishoprics in Poland and Norway until c. 1200,” in Legitimation of the Elites in High Medieval Poland and Norway: Comparative Studies, ed. W. Jezierski, H. J. Orning, and G. Pac, Turnhout, 205-49.<br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sanctus_Wilhelmus_Abbas&diff=1175 2026-03-11T10:34:12Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Jonas Wellendorf<br /> <br /> Wilhelm (c. 1125–1203) grew up in Paris. He came to Denmark around 1165 to reform the Augustinian community on Eskilsø in Roskilde Fjord. “Danger from the sea” (''DD'' I.iii.51) prompted the relocation of the house to Paraclitus/Æbelholt (7 km west of Hillerød) about ten years later, where it became known as Sancti Thome de Paraclito, ‘St. Thomas of the Paraclete’. Over time, Æbelholt grew to become the largest Augustinian house in Scandinavia. <br /> <br /> Documentary sources, the earliest dated 1208–14 (''DD'' I.iv.152), confirm that Wilhelm was considered a saint, albeit locally, soon after his death, and that the faithful visited his relics, leaving offerings (''oblationes''). In 1218, Pope Honorius III charged a committee consisting of Archbishop Anders Sunesen of Lund, Bishop Peder Jakobsen of Roskilde, and the abbot of Herrisvad with conducting an inquiry into the veracity of the reports of Wilhelm’s miracles. As a result, Wilhelm was canonized by the same pope in 1224 (''DD'' I.v.141). In 1238, Wilhelm’s earthly remains were moved (translated) to the new stone church at Æbelholt. Wilhelm’s feast day was June 16. <br /> <br /> Wilhelm ‘tilhørte … uden tvivl samtidens europæiske intellektuelle elite’ (‘doubtlessly belonged to the European intellectual elite of his time’) (KRAMER 2013, 19). In addition to being a prolific letter writer, composing not only for himself but also on behalf of others, he wrote a short ''Tractatus de revelatione capitis et corporis beate Genouefe'' (''BHL'' 3346) ‘Treatise on the Uncovering of the Head and Body of the Blessed Geneviève’ and a ''Genealogia regum danorum'' ‘Genealogy of the Kings of the Danes’. While much scholarly attention has been given to his letters, Wilhelm’s other writings and his Vita have not received much research since GERTZ published what are still the standard editions of these texts in ''Vita Sanctorum Danorum'' (''Vita'' and ''Tractatus'', 1908–1912, 300–68 and 378–82) and ''Scriptores minores Historiæ Danicæ medii ævi'' (''Genealogia'', 1917–18, 176–85).<br /> <br /> == Sancti Willelmi Abbatis vita et miracula (BHL 8908) ==<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> GERTZ printed the work under the title ''Sancti Willelmi Abbatis vita et miracula'' (The Life and Miracles of St. Wilhelm the Abbot). In manuscripts, the title is given as ''Vita sancti Guillermi abbatis de Datia''.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> “''Beatus Willelmus, ex nobili ortus prosapia,…''”<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> “…''a mortuis reuocatum meritis sancti Willelmi confessa est.''”<br /> <br /> =====Size===== <br /> 69 pp. in GERTZ’s edition.<br /> <br /> ====Editions==== <br /> *LAURENTIUS SURIUS, ''De probatis sanctorum historiis'', vol. 2, 1571, 576–85 (April 6): ''Vita S. VVilelmi abbatis Roschildensis in Dania, ab eius quidem discipulo conscripta, sed per F. Laurentium Surium aliquot locis in compendium redactam plerunque etiam phrasi mutata.'' [abbreviated and reworded]. Reprinted in 1578, 1618, and in 1875 as ''Historie seu vitae'' sanctorum, vol. 4, 218–244.<br /> *PAPEBROCH, ''Acta Sanctorum mensis Aprilis'' I, 625–643 [following ms V]. Antwerpiæ 1675.<br /> *SUHM/LANGEBEK, ''Scriptores rerum danicarum'' V, 458–495 [the text is copied from ''Acta Sanctorum'' but is inferior]. Hauniæ 1783.<br /> *GERTZ, ''Vitae sanctorum danorum'' pp. 300–369.<br /> <br /> ====Translation====<br /> *(Danish) OLRIK, “Abbed Vilhelms levned” in ''Danske helgeners levned'' II (1893–4, 179–286). Translated from the edition of LANGEBEK/SUHM, but with some emendations by GERTZ.<br /> *(English) VAN BAAK, “The Life and Miracles of Blessed William of Æbelholt”, in ''Life at Saint Victor'' (2021, 353–420).<br /> <br /> ====Commentaries==== <br /> OLRIK’s translation is accompanied by footnotes focusing on cultural and historical matters and providing the source of biblical quotations and references, but no full commentary exists. VAN BAAK and OLRIK also indicate biblical quotations.<br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> The text is anonymous and contains no formal introduction or conclusion indicating who wrote it, when it was written, and why. Therefore, determining the date and place of composition is bound to remain somewhat speculative. Internal evidence suggests that it was written after the dedication to St. Thomas of a new stone church at the abbey in 1210 (mentioned in ch. 39) and before Wilhelm’s canonization in 1224, which is not mentioned in the Vita.<br /> <br /> The text appears to have been written at Æbelholt. While the account of Wilhelm’s life is narrated by an omniscient narrator, an authorial “we” appears occasionally in the latter part of the text. The first instance is in a collective expression of sorrow by the brethren of Æbelholt at the death of Wilhelm: &lt;blockquote&gt;O quantus erat luctus omnium, quanta precipue lamenta discipulorum! qui festi nostri conuersi sunt in luctum et sabbata nostra in lamentationem, licet gaudendum nobis esset, quod, quem doctorem habuimus in terris, intercessorem haberemus in celis, si uis doloris rationem admitteret … (ed. GERTZ 1908–12, 341)<br /> <br /> O how great was the grief of all, how great especially the laments of the disciples! Our feasts were turned to mourning, and our Sabbath into lamentation. If only the power of sorrow allowed for reason, we would have rejoiced that the one whom we had as a teacher on earth, we now have as an intercessor in Heaven.  &lt;/blockquote&gt;On other occasions, “we” seems to indicate a single individual, where there is a clear distinction between “we”, the writer, and the brethren at Æbelholt in general, as in ch. 38:&lt;blockquote&gt;Ventrem, sicut uidimus, adeo inflatum habuit tumoris magnitudine, ut uix trium ulnarum cingulo cingeretur. Fratribus ad refectionem euntibus illa accepta licentia ad sepulcrum uiri dei lacrimis et orationibus insistebat (GERTZ 1908–12, 350).<br /> <br /> [Her] womb, as we saw, was so swollen from a tumor that it could scarcely be encircled by a belt three ells long. While the brethren went to eat, she, having received permission, stood by the grave of the man of God, weeping and praying.&lt;/blockquote&gt;A verb in the first person indicating an authorial voice is also used on at least one occasion (ch. 49, p. 356).<br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The text opens with a description of Wilhelm’s childhood and youth. He was raised by his uncle, the Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St-Germain-des-Prés, and developed a liking for studies early in life. Eventually, Wilhelm’s uncle ensured that he received a prebend among the secular canons at the Church of Ste-Geneviève in Paris. However, the other canons grew envious of Wilhelm’s pious way life, fearing that he might transform the church into a community of regular canons, which would result in their loss of freedom. On one occasion, they even tried to lure him away from Ste-Geneviève by making him swear a to enter a monastery, though the attempt failed and Wilhelm remained at Ste-Geneviève.<br /> <br /> Wilhelm’s fellow secular canons also caused controversies in other ways. Once, when Pope Eugenius III visited the Church of Geneviève accompanied by King Louis VII, a disagreement between the local canons and the pope's servants turned physical, and the canons struck the papal servants with sticks. When Louis VII attempted to intervene, he too was struck by heavy blows. In the aftermath of this scandalous fight, the Rule of Augustine was introduced at Ste-Geneviève, and the secular canons were replaced by regular canons from St-Victor. Wilhelm remained at Ste-Geneviève, assumed the habit of a regular canon, and thrived in his new life.<br /> <br /> One night, God appeared to him in a dream in the shape of a young man, telling him that he would travel to an island where he would suffer many temptations and tribulations. Eventually, however, he reassured Wilhelm, “You will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43).”<br /> <br /> A significant event during this period occurred when a false rumor emerged stating that the head of St. Geneviève, the main relic of the church, had been stolen. This prompted the king to summon the archbishop of Sens, along with all bishops, abbots, and priors of the archbishopric, to Paris to inspect the shrine. It turned out that the head was, in fact, in its proper place.<br /> <br /> In 1161, Bishop Absalon of Roskilde wrote to the abbot of Ste-Geneviève, requesting that he send Wilhelm, whom Absalon had met while studying in Paris, along with three brothers to Eskilsø to reform the community of regular canons there. When Wilhelm arrived at Eskilsø, there were only six local canons, and two of them left when Absalon appointed Wilhelm as abbot. After some time, the three French canons obtained permission to return home, and Wilhelm also requested leave, but the bishop convinced him to stay. The Vita now reports a series of unsuccessful attacks by the devil on Wilhelm, who faced various plots on his life by the local canons due to the strict discipline he had introduced at Eskilsø. Later, he moved the abbey to Paraclitus (Æbelholt).<br /> <br /> A brief section detailing five miraculous healings attributed to Wilhelm while he was still alive follows, along with one incident in which a workhorse, through Wilhelm’s intercession, became able to amble. Wilhelm himself was also healed through the intercession of St. Geneviève.<br /> <br /> The Vita now describes his death at the (probably much exaggerated) age of 98 years on Easter morning in 1202, 40 years after he had arrived in Denmark. He was buried in front of the altar of St. Thomas on Easter Monday. Accounts of 29 posthumous miracles follow. The first seven (ch. 32–36) involve water in which a relic of Wilhelm (a tooth) has been dipped and take place in the immediate surroundings of Æbelholt. From ch. 37 onwards, most miracles occur at Wilhelm’s grave in Æbelholt. All postmortem miracles are healings, with the exception of miracle 37 (visions of lit candles descending over the church convince the Bishop of Roskilde of Wilhelm’s sanctity) and miracle 54 (a man’s falcon is recovered).<br /> <br /> ===Composition and Style===<br /> The vita can be divided into four parts: 1) childhood and youth in Paris, chap. 1–9, 2) Life as abbot in Denmark, chap. 10–24, 3) Death, chap. 25–30, and 4) Miracles, chap. 31–63. The three latter parts are very much in tune with what one would expect of the life of a confessor, whereas the first has been characterised as a ‘chronique scandaleuse’ about the church of Ste-Geneviève (GAD p. 175). The posthumous miracles are primarily arranged thematically, even though there seems to be a chronological progress as well. The author of the vita must have been a competent and ambitious writer, and the vita et miracula of Wilhelm is the longest of the medieval Danish saints’ lives. The language of the text has been characterized as ‘plain and natural’ in the main (GERTZ P. 292), even though some sections are held in a markedly higher register than others. No thorough stylistic analysis has been carried out, but a great number of unmarked biblical citations show that the author was well versed in the Scripture. The author quotes a distich from Ovid’s ''Remedia amoris'' as well.<br /> <br /> ===Sources===<br /> The text does not refer to any written sources, and it seems likely that the information provided by the author about Wilhelm’s life is derived from oral accounts circulating at the abbey, ultimately tracing back to Wilhelm himself. The places of origin of most of the beneficiaries of the miracles are mentioned, and many of them are also named. This indicates that the author had access to a written record of the miracles performed by the saint at the shrine. However, at the opening of the miracle section, the author makes no mention of such a record and only refers to what he has heard and seen: ''Veniamus ad miracula, que uel audiuimus uel uidimus in civitate dei nostri, id est Paraclito, ubi requiescit gloriosus confessor dei Willelmus'' ‘Let us turn to the miracles which we either heard about or saw in the city of our God, that is Paraclitus, where the glorious confessor of God Wilhelm rests.’ (p. 344).<br /> <br /> Section 2 on Wilhelm’s life in Denmark is somewhat light on specifics. In Section 1, where the factual information provided in Wilhelm’s Vita can be checked against other sources, the Vita has, in many cases, been found to be inaccurate. One example is the events surrounding the supposed disappearance of the relics of St. Geneviève. Wilhelm wrote a short Tractatus about this, but a comparison between Wilhelm’s own exposition of the events and the presentation in the Vita reveals a number of factual differences, showing that the hagiographer is unlikely to have used the Tractatus as his main source.<br /> <br /> GERTZ attributed this to Wilhelm’s faulty memory in old age (1908–12, 291), while HEEBØLL-HOLM argues that at least some of the inaccuracies can be traced to authorial efforts “not to offend the French” (2016, 216).<br /> <br /> The Life of Wilhelm provides several dates, but scholars have rejected most of them, except for the day of his death, April 6. According to his Vita, Wilhelm was born in 1105; however, scholars believe he was born around 1127. The Vita states that Absalon called him to Denmark in 1161, while scholars suggest this occurred around 1165. Finally, the Vita indicates that he died in 1202, but scholars argue that his death actually occurred in 1203. The arguments for these re-datings are presented by OLRIK (pp. 215 &amp; 243–4) and have generally been accepted, reappearing in later scholarly literature (e.g., DAMSHOLT 2001).<br /> <br /> ===Literary Models===<br /> In general, the Vita follows the typical model of a confessor’s life. This is most clearly illustrated in the section describing his death, where several parallels can be found. A canon experiences a vision and is led to a locus amœnus, where he sees an impressive marble house. Inside, there is an empty golden throne decorated with precious stones. This place has been reserved for Wilhelm after his death (cf. e.g. ''Guðmundar saga''). Seven years before his death, he was informed in a vision that he had only seven days left to live (cf. e.g., ''Vita Fursei''). His death during Easter is partly and explicitly staged as a reenactment of the last days of Christ: On Maundy Thursday, Wilhelm holds a last supper with his disciples, and afterward, he intends to wash their feet. On Good Friday, he suffers great pain, and finally, on Resurrection Day, while the responsory about the ointment of the Lord is sung, Wilhelm receives his last anointing and dies. At that moment, one of Wilhelm's disciples sees a person clad in white ascend to heaven at a great distance, &quot;just like the ascension of the Lord is represented in paintings&quot; ''sicut in picturis solet fieri, in quibus domini ascensio memoratur'' (p. 342).<br /> <br /> ===Purpose and Audience===<br /> The general assumption is that the Vita was composed in the context of the efforts to have Wilhelm canonized. OLRIK (1893-94, 170) suggests that the aim of the Vita was to serve the pope as a testimony of Wilhelm’s sanctity. GERTZ (1908–12, 289–90) proposes that the Vita was written after the papal commission to examine Wilhelm’s sanctity was given in 1218, but finds it unlikely that the Vita was sent to Rome in connection with the preparations for Wilhelm’s canonization. Instead, he suggests that it was written for the edification of the local community. HEEBØLL-HOLM (2016, 217–18), who also believes that the Vita was written before Wilhelm’s canonization, finds it too parochial to have been part of the official canonization efforts. He instead suggests that it contains an abbreviated version for local use at Æbelholt of the materials sent to the pope by the committee. <br /> <br /> While the argument for a date before the official papal confirmation of Wilhelm’s sanctity is strong, there is no need to assume that the entire account of Wilhelm’s life and miracles was composed in one sitting. As the cult of Wilhelm became established at his shrine, records of his miracles were likely maintained at Æbelholt and updated as new miracles occurred or were reported (see MORTENSEN 2000, 98–106 for a discussion of how this might have happened in the case of St. Olav). It is plausible that accounts of new miracles were added to the official record of Wilhelm’s life in chunks. With this dynamic model in mind, the creation of Wilhelm’s Life and Miracles can be envisioned as an ongoing institutional project. At a certain point (likely before Wilhelm’s official canonization), a copy of this work-in-progress was probably sent to the Abbey of Saint Geneviève, Wilhelm’s ''alma mater'', in Paris. Manuscripts G and later V may then be descendants of this copy. Back at Æbelholt, new miracles may have continued to occur occasionally, and the miracle about the healed cow in Uppsala C 447 could be one of those. <br /> <br /> Even with such a dynamic model in mind, it seems likely that the preserved collection of miracles has been shaped by some editorial intervention, as similar miracles in many cases are clustered together (ch. 14–16 thus contain accounts of healings of three mute or deaf people, ch. 50–52 of four people healed from sacred fire), and the two final miracles (ch. 62–63) are resuscitations of dead boys. Two chapters, ch. 40 and 60, relate the healing of a woman from Copenhagen named Olava, and they may be different versions of the “same” miracle, although Olava is blind in the first and crippled in the latter<br /> <br /> ===Medieval Reception and Transmission===<br /> Two manuscripts are known, labeled G and V by GERTZ. While GERTZ’s edition uses G as its base text, earlier editions relied on V. In the introduction to the edition of Wilhelm’s Vita in ''AASS'' a third manuscript kept at the Abbey of Groenendael, near Brussels, is mentioned, but this manuscript has not been identified. Manuscript G, [https://portail.biblissima.fr/fr/ark:/43093/mdata3860af0a7c15bdf33377c1dbe1b87e39b2b758f0 Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève MS 558], is dated to the middle of the thirteenth century. Wilhelm’s Vita is found on fol. 151va–186ra. The manuscript, which mainly contains saints’ lives and passions, also includes Wilhelm’s treatise on the uncovering of the head and body of St. Geneviève, found on fol. 110vb–113ra. GERTZ considers manuscript V, [https://portail.biblissima.fr/fr/ark:/43093/mdata7519bd348119548c2e7c5c69536adf8829020b58 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Lat. 14652] (fifteenth century), to be a copy of G, and thus assigns it little independent text-critical value. It belonged to the Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris. Wilhelm’s Vita is found on fol. 242r–261r. <br /> <br /> No medieval Danish manuscripts of the Vita are preserved, and the main evidence for its circulation in Denmark is found in liturgical books that contain text related to the Vita. The six lessons in ''Breviarium Ottoniense'' (1482) reproduce text from the introduction of the Vita (ch. 1–2) of the life of St. Wilhelm, while the manuscript Copenhagen AM 670b 4° (beginning of the eighteenth century) contains excerpts from the section of the Vita which tells of the death of the saint (ch. 25–28). GERTZ printed readings from these two texts in the critical apparatus of his edition of the Vita.<br /> <br /> Additionally, six lessons from ''Breviarium Slesvicense'' (1514) and six lessons from ''Breviarium Lundense'' (1517) appear to be loosely based on the text of the Vita, covering his entire life. ''Diurnale Roschildense'' (1511) and ''Breviarium Roschildense'' (1517) contain a complete office with a text that is only loosely (if at all) based on the Vita. In ''Missale Hafniense'' from 1510, a short sequence of four stanzas on Wilhelm is preserved. Sections of these books are all printed by GERTZ (1908–12, 370–7). In addition to these textual witnesses, ''Breviarium Lundense'', [https://www.alvin-portal.org/alvin/view.jsf?aq=%5B%5B%7B%22A_FQ%22%3A%22C-samlingen+447%22%7D%5D%5D&amp;c=1&amp;aqe=%5B%5D&amp;af=%5B%5D&amp;searchType=EXTENDED&amp;query=C-samlingen+447&amp;pid=alvin-record%3A200609&amp;dswid=6977#alvin-record%3A200609 MS Uppsala, Universitetsbiblioteket, C 447] (1474; 1477?), contains on fol. 230r, a short miracle tale, not elsewhere attested, in which prayers to Wilhelm result in the healing of the broken leg of a cow (BHL 8908d) (ed. GERTZ 1908–12, 449).<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *DAMSHOLT, N. 2001: ‘Abbot William of Æbelholt: A Foreigner in Denmark’ pp. 4–19 in ''Medieval Spirituality in Scandinavia and Europe: A Collection of Essays in Honour of Tore Nyberg'' (ed. L. Bisgaard et al.), Odense.<br /> *GAD, T. 1961: ''Legenden i dansk middelalder'', København.<br /> *GERTZ, M. Cl. 1908-1912: ''Vitae sanctorum danorum'', København.<br /> *GERTZ, M. Cl. 1917-18: ''Scriptores minores Historiæ Danicæ medii Ævi'', København.<br /> *HEEBØLL-HOLM, T. K. 2016: ‘Why was William of Æbelholt Canonized? The Two Lives of Saint William’, pp. 211–34 in ''Historical and Intellectual Culture in the Long Twelfth Century: The Scandinavian Connection'' (eds. M. Münster-Swendsen, T. K. Heebøll-Holm, and S. Sønnesyn), Toronto.<br /> *KRAMER, F. E. 2013: ‘Klostrets historie’‚ pp. 13–29 in ''Æbelholt Klosters Brevbog''. København.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L. B. 2000: ‘Olav den Helliges mirakler i det 12. årh.: Streng tekstkontrol eller fri fabulern?’ pp. 89–107 in ''Olavslegenden og den latinske historieskrivning i 1100-tallets Norge'' (ed. I. Ekrem, L. B. Mortensen, and K. Skovgaard-Petersen), København.<br /> *OLRIK, H. 1893-1894: ''Danske helgeners levned'', København.<br /> *VAN BAAK, N. 2021: ‘“The Life and Miracles of Blessed William of Æbelholt”, pp. 353–420 in ''Life at Saint Victor: The'' Liber Ordinis, ''the'' Life of William of Æbelholt ''and a Selection of Works by Hugh, Richard, and Odo of Saint Victor, and Other Authors'' (eds. F. van Liere and J. Mousseau), Turnhout.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sancta_Ragnilde&diff=1174 2026-03-09T12:50:12Z

<p>Sthop9388: Sthop9388 moved page Sancta Ragnilde to Sancta Ragnildis</p> <hr /> <div>#REDIRECT [[Sancta Ragnildis]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sancta_Ragnildis&diff=1173 2026-03-09T12:50:12Z

<p>Sthop9388: Sthop9388 moved page Sancta Ragnilde to Sancta Ragnildis</p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Fröjmark<br /> <br /> '''Sancta Ragnildis.''' Lay saint, queen, and pilgrim (eleventh to twelfth centuries), buried in Södertälje. Her cult is known from the fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> The main testament to her veneration is the text ''De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium'', &quot;Epitaph of St. Ragnhild of Tälje&quot;. This is an epitaph of hagiographic character, celebrating the memory of an otherwise little known Swedish queen from c.1100 or the early twelfth century.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium ==<br /> <br /> =====Title=====<br /> The work is headed by the title ''De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epithaphium''. The final sign has also been read as an “-s” to give “epitaphis”, but after consultation with Latinists Elin Andersson and Erika Kihlman (February 2026), the conclusion is to read it as an abbreviation for “-um”.<br /> <br /> In a strict sense, this title applies only to the two versified parts of the work (24 lines), and not to the five lines in prose.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Sweuorum domina Ragnildis flos sine spina''.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Nobis summa bona procures alma patrona''.<br /> <br /> =====Metre=====<br /> Quantitative leonine hexameter with lines of thirteen to fifteen syllables and with a marked caesura in the pentameter. Deviations from classical quantitative rules are few.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> The text consists of two versified parts with a short commentary (five lines) in between. The first versified part consists of seven lines. After line five at least one line is missing. The second versified part is formed of three groups of six lines each. The final line of the second group is missing, so that only seventeen lines remain.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> *BENZELIUS, J. 1703: ''Palæstina. Sive de Terra Promissionis, &amp; Singulis in ea Tribubus; item Fatis Variorum Incolarum; &amp; Sveonum Gothorumque Expeditionibus Sacris dissertationes duæ, geographico-historicæ'', pp. 150–52, Upsaliæ.<br /> *BENZELIUS, E. in VASTOVIUS, J. 1708: ''Vitis aquilonia. Sive Vitae sanctorum regni Sveo-Gothici''. Emendavit et notis illustravit Ericus Benzelius filius, Annotationes p. 80. Upsaliae.<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, pp. 70–71.<br /> *ODENIUS, O. 1973: [Review of] T. Lundén, ''Svenska helgon, Fornvännen'' 68, p. 61.<br /> *LUNDÉN, T. 1983: ''Sveriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande'', pp. 283–84. Storuman.<br /> *UUB (Uppsala University Library), Fragm. ms &amp; lib. lat. 326: “Epitafium över Ragnhild av Södertälje (fragment),” edition in facsimile in ''Alvin: Platform for digital collections and digitized cultural heritage'' urn:nbn:se:alvin:portal:record-384245. Accessed on February 19, 2026.<br /> All editions except the facsimilia contain errors. A new edition is projected.<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> <br /> *(Swedish) ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, pp. 71–72.<br /> *(Swedish) WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, ''Credo. Katolsk tidskrift'' 40, pp. 25–26.<br /> *(Swedish) LUNDÉN, T. 1983: ''Sveriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande'', p. 284. Storuman. <br /> *(Swedish) MARTLING, Carl Henrik, En svensk helgonkrönika. Skellefteå 2001, pp. 114–115.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Date and place ==<br /> The text is known from one manuscript copy originally written down on the inside of the back cover of an incunable belonging to the Strängnäs Cathedral Library (ANDERSSON 2021, 62). The incunablein question was printed in Cologne in 1474, and the copy of the epitaph was made in a late fifteenth-century hand. The sheet containing the epitaph has been removed from the book in recent times, and was acquired by the University Library of Uppsala in 1932 (Fragm ms lat 326).<br /> <br /> The versified parts are two versions of the epitaph of Ragnhild, a Swedish (according to one source Swedish and Norwegian) queen who is said to have lived ''c''.1100. The fact that Ragnhild is hallowed as a saint in the epitaph leads us to the conclusion that it was made at some distance in time from her death. The epitaph does not mention on which day or in which year St Ragnhild died. This is, indeed, a common characteristic of the early Christian grave monuments or epitaphs in Sweden, but it might just as well be seen as an indication that the epitaph was composed in a time when these dates were no longer known. In this respect, it resembles some late medieval epitaphs in the abbey church of Varnhem commemorating ancient Swedish kings.<br /> <br /> According to Bernhard BISCHOFF (quoted by WEHNER 1959, 72, note 4), the epitaph may not be dated earlier than the middle of the thirteenth century.<br /> <br /> The commentary between the two versified parts seems to be the copier's remarks. This commentaryis clearly secondary to the versified parts in terms of its value as source material.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Summary of contents ==<br /> In the first versified part, Ragnhild is referred to as queen of the Swedes (''Sweuorum domina /.../ Regni regina''). She is said to have made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In this way she has become the like of St Helen (mother of Constantine). Finally, the author addresses Ragnhild as the ''alma patrona'', patron of souls, of the citizens of Tälje (present day Södertälje south of Stockholm).<br /> <br /> The second, longer, versified part, equally celebrates Ragnhild as the queen of Sweden, having made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In addition, she is said to have founded the church of Tälje and to have enriched it with land and other gifts. As for her descent, she is called ''Halsteni filia'', the daughter of Halsten (or perhaps daughter-in-law; cf. ANDERSSON 2021, p.66). In the final lines, she is described as the ''alma patrona'' who is impelled by the faithful to come to the assistance of those who are ill.<br /> <br /> Of special interest is the comparison that is made between Ragnhild and three other women. As a pilgrim, Ragnhild is first contrasted to the wandering Dinah (Genesis 34), and then compared to St Helen. When St Helen is mentioned in the first part of the epitaph, this clearly referred to the finder of the True Cross. Here, in the second part, we might also think of another pilgrim in Swedish hagiography, St Helen (or Elin) of Skövde (cf. [[Sancta Helena de Skövde]]). This association is strengthened by the fact that the third woman referred to is the prophetess Huldah (Oldan; 4 Rg 22,14; 2 Par 34, 22), who figures also in the late-thirteenth-century office of St Helen of Skövde.<br /> <br /> The copier's commentary mentions that St Ragnhild rests in Tälje, where, he says, she coruscates with many miracles. During her pilgrimage she was plundered by robbers, but she was then clad by angels. He then comments upon the descent of St Ragnhild. It is written, he says, that she was the wife of king Inge. She was also the daughter of King Halsten, he further states, basing this on the second versified part of the epitaph.<br /> <br /> The copier thus adds information that he has gathered from other sources. St Ragnhild's marriage to a king named Inge, her burial in Tälje, and her reputation for holiness are pieces of information that can be gathered from two chronicles of Swedish kings from the 1450s. These are, in fact, the first datable mentions of St Ragnhild.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, the copier's commentary adds confusion to the tradition of St Ragnhild. While the chronicles make her the wife of King Inge Halstensson (''c''.1110–1120/25), the copier seems to have had King Inge Stenkilsson (''c''.1079–1110) in mind. To make matters worse, neither of these could have been married to Ragnhild if she was the daughter of King Halsten. In such a case, Inge Stenkilsson would have been her uncle, and Inge Halstensson her brother. The epitaph and the chronicles reflect different and incompatible traditions concerning the descent and marriage of St Ragnhild, which the copier tries in vain to unite.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Sources ==<br /> The original epitaph in the church of Tälje is, just like the tomb of St Ragnhild, gone without a trace. They may have been victims of cultic purge in the late sixteenth century.<br /> <br /> The sources for the copier's commentary have been discussed above.<br /> <br /> A tradition of St Ragnhilds holiness exists both in the epitaph and in the chronicles from the 1450s, but the possible dependence between them can not be ascertained.<br /> <br /> No liturgical celebration of the memory of St. Ragnhild is known. The seventeenth-century church historian Johannes Baazius sets forth that St Ragnhild's name was inscribed in the calendar as a saint, but the basis for his assertion is unknown and probably non-existent.<br /> <br /> The source for the statement in the second versified part of the epitaph that makes Ragnhild the daughter of Halsten – probably King Halsten – is unknown.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Purpose and audience ==<br /> The author, or authors, of the two versified parts of our text are celebrating the local saintly patron of the Church of Tälje, in which her grave was also found. She is portrayed as a worthy saint to whom the faithful may justly adress their prayers. She is also a former Swedish queen and – at least to the author of the second part – the founder and original benefactor of the church.<br /> <br /> The copier may have been a cleric from the episcopal see at Strängnäs who had the task of gathering information concerning the local tradition about St Ragnhild in Tälje. In his commentary, he has added some statements about the saint, while trying to reconcile different traditions concerning her background and marriage.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Medieval reception and transmission ==<br /> In the middle of the fifteenth century, St Ragnhild of Tälje found her way into the Swedish historical litterature. She is briefly mentioned in the ''Lilla rimkrönikan'', a rhymed chronicle (ed. G. Klemming 1865 in Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor, vol. 1, 225–226), and in a 1457 manuscript of the Prosakrönikan (ed. G.E. Klemming 1868–1881 in Småstycken på forn svenska, 234–235). The Uppsala Canon [[Ericus Olai]] mentions her in his ''Chronica regni Gothorum'' (ca 1470; ed E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg 1993, 63, 69). The ''Cronica Swecie'', an early sixteenth-century prologue to ''Erikskrönikan'' (ed. G. E. Klemming 1865, ''Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor'' 1, 195), includes her in its enumeration of Swedish saints. Johannes Magnus, Olaus Petri, and other sixteenth-century historiographers followed.<br /> <br /> Yet, it is not the epitaph's tradition that was transmitted to new generations. For all that we know, it may well have stayed inside the walls of the Strängnäs Cathedral Library until it was rediscovered by Eric Benzelius and Johan Peringskiöld in the late seventeenth century. Instead, it is the chronicles' version that forms the base for the literary tradition of St Ragnhild.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, 70–78.<br /> *ANDERSSON, Elin, “S:ta Ragnhilds epitafium: Försvunnet och återfunnet,” in ''Biblis: Tidskrift för bokhistoria, bibliografi, bokhantverk, samlande'', No 94 (2021), 62–67. <br /> *BAAZIUS, J. 1642: ''Inventarium ecclesiæ sveo-gothorum'', 113, Lincopiæ. [Improbable statement of a liturgical celebration of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> *COLLMAR, M. 1977: ''Strängnäs stifts herdaminne'' 1: ''Medeltiden'', 488–89, Nyköping.<br /> *ELLIS NILSSON, Sara, 2015: ''Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery A Study of the Emergence of Cults of Native Saints in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lund and Uppsala from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries'', Gothenburg <br /> *ERICUS OLAI, ''Chronica regni Gothorum'', ed. E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg. Stockholm 1993, pp. 63, 69. <br /> *FRÖJMARK, A. 1996: ‘Ragnhild’, ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' 29, 613–15. [Includes select bibliography.]<br /> *JOHANNES MAGNUS, 1554: ''De omnibvs Gothorvm Sveonvmqve regibvs'', 587–88, Romæ.<br /> *MAPPING LIVED RELIGION PROJECT (2019–2025), “Ragnhild of Tälje”, Mapping Saints Research Resource, Retrieved on February 23, 2026, from https://saints.dh.gu.se/explore/saints/256.<br /> *OLAUS PETRI, 1917: ''En swensk cröneka'', ed J. Sahlgren, 51, Uppsala.<br /> *VASTOVIUS, J. 1708 (1623):''Vitis aquilonia'', ed E. Benzelius, 60–61, annotationes cc. 47–48, 80, Upsaliae.<br /> *WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, ''Credo. Katolsk tidskrift'' 40, 15–35, 55–72.<br /> *WILHELMSSON, Caroline, ''The Queens and Royal Women of Sweden, c. 970–1330: Their Lives, Power, and Legacy''. London &amp; New York 2025, pp. 105–112.<br /> *ZIEGLER, J. 1536 (1532): ''Terrae sanctae ... Syriae, Arabiae, Aegypti et Schondiae ... descriptio'', 103v, xxxxxx. [First mention in printed form of the tradition of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sancta_Ragnildis&diff=1172 2026-03-03T13:32:18Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Fröjmark<br /> <br /> '''Sancta Ragnildis.''' Lay saint, queen, and pilgrim (eleventh to twelfth centuries), buried in Södertälje. Her cult is known from the fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> The main testament to her veneration is the text ''De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium'', &quot;Epitaph of St. Ragnhild of Tälje&quot;. This is an epitaph of hagiographic character, celebrating the memory of an otherwise little known Swedish queen from c.1100 or the early twelfth century.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium ==<br /> <br /> =====Title=====<br /> The work is headed by the title ''De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epithaphium''. The final sign has also been read as an “-s” to give “epitaphis”, but after consultation with Latinists Elin Andersson and Erika Kihlman (February 2026), the conclusion is to read it as an abbreviation for “-um”.<br /> <br /> In a strict sense, this title applies only to the two versified parts of the work (24 lines), and not to the five lines in prose.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Sweuorum domina Ragnildis flos sine spina''.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Nobis summa bona procures alma patrona''.<br /> <br /> =====Metre=====<br /> Quantitative leonine hexameter with lines of thirteen to fifteen syllables and with a marked caesura in the pentameter. Deviations from classical quantitative rules are few.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> The text consists of two versified parts with a short commentary (five lines) in between. The first versified part consists of seven lines. After line five at least one line is missing. The second versified part is formed of three groups of six lines each. The final line of the second group is missing, so that only seventeen lines remain.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> *BENZELIUS, J. 1703: ''Palæstina. Sive de Terra Promissionis, &amp; Singulis in ea Tribubus; item Fatis Variorum Incolarum; &amp; Sveonum Gothorumque Expeditionibus Sacris dissertationes duæ, geographico-historicæ'', pp. 150–52, Upsaliæ.<br /> *BENZELIUS, E. in VASTOVIUS, J. 1708: ''Vitis aquilonia. Sive Vitae sanctorum regni Sveo-Gothici''. Emendavit et notis illustravit Ericus Benzelius filius, Annotationes p. 80. Upsaliae.<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, pp. 70–71.<br /> *ODENIUS, O. 1973: [Review of] T. Lundén, ''Svenska helgon, Fornvännen'' 68, p. 61.<br /> *LUNDÉN, T. 1983: ''Sveriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande'', pp. 283–84. Storuman.<br /> *UUB (Uppsala University Library), Fragm. ms &amp; lib. lat. 326: “Epitafium över Ragnhild av Södertälje (fragment),” edition in facsimile in ''Alvin: Platform for digital collections and digitized cultural heritage'' urn:nbn:se:alvin:portal:record-384245. Accessed on February 19, 2026.<br /> All editions except the facsimilia contain errors. A new edition is projected.<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> <br /> *(Swedish) ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, pp. 71–72.<br /> *(Swedish) WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, ''Credo. Katolsk tidskrift'' 40, pp. 25–26.<br /> *(Swedish) LUNDÉN, T. 1983: ''Sveriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande'', p. 284. Storuman. <br /> *(Swedish) MARTLING, Carl Henrik, En svensk helgonkrönika. Skellefteå 2001, pp. 114–115.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Date and place ==<br /> The text is known from one manuscript copy originally written down on the inside of the back cover of an incunable belonging to the Strängnäs Cathedral Library (ANDERSSON 2021, 62). The incunablein question was printed in Cologne in 1474, and the copy of the epitaph was made in a late fifteenth-century hand. The sheet containing the epitaph has been removed from the book in recent times, and was acquired by the University Library of Uppsala in 1932 (Fragm ms lat 326).<br /> <br /> The versified parts are two versions of the epitaph of Ragnhild, a Swedish (according to one source Swedish and Norwegian) queen who is said to have lived ''c''.1100. The fact that Ragnhild is hallowed as a saint in the epitaph leads us to the conclusion that it was made at some distance in time from her death. The epitaph does not mention on which day or in which year St Ragnhild died. This is, indeed, a common characteristic of the early Christian grave monuments or epitaphs in Sweden, but it might just as well be seen as an indication that the epitaph was composed in a time when these dates were no longer known. In this respect, it resembles some late medieval epitaphs in the abbey church of Varnhem commemorating ancient Swedish kings.<br /> <br /> According to Bernhard BISCHOFF (quoted by WEHNER 1959, 72, note 4), the epitaph may not be dated earlier than the middle of the thirteenth century.<br /> <br /> The commentary between the two versified parts seems to be the copier's remarks. This commentaryis clearly secondary to the versified parts in terms of its value as source material.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Summary of contents ==<br /> In the first versified part, Ragnhild is referred to as queen of the Swedes (''Sweuorum domina /.../ Regni regina''). She is said to have made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In this way she has become the like of St Helen (mother of Constantine). Finally, the author addresses Ragnhild as the ''alma patrona'', patron of souls, of the citizens of Tälje (present day Södertälje south of Stockholm).<br /> <br /> The second, longer, versified part, equally celebrates Ragnhild as the queen of Sweden, having made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In addition, she is said to have founded the church of Tälje and to have enriched it with land and other gifts. As for her descent, she is called ''Halsteni filia'', the daughter of Halsten (or perhaps daughter-in-law; cf. ANDERSSON 2021, p.66). In the final lines, she is described as the ''alma patrona'' who is impelled by the faithful to come to the assistance of those who are ill.<br /> <br /> Of special interest is the comparison that is made between Ragnhild and three other women. As a pilgrim, Ragnhild is first contrasted to the wandering Dinah (Genesis 34), and then compared to St Helen. When St Helen is mentioned in the first part of the epitaph, this clearly referred to the finder of the True Cross. Here, in the second part, we might also think of another pilgrim in Swedish hagiography, St Helen (or Elin) of Skövde (cf. [[Sancta Helena de Skövde]]). This association is strengthened by the fact that the third woman referred to is the prophetess Huldah (Oldan; 4 Rg 22,14; 2 Par 34, 22), who figures also in the late-thirteenth-century office of St Helen of Skövde.<br /> <br /> The copier's commentary mentions that St Ragnhild rests in Tälje, where, he says, she coruscates with many miracles. During her pilgrimage she was plundered by robbers, but she was then clad by angels. He then comments upon the descent of St Ragnhild. It is written, he says, that she was the wife of king Inge. She was also the daughter of King Halsten, he further states, basing this on the second versified part of the epitaph.<br /> <br /> The copier thus adds information that he has gathered from other sources. St Ragnhild's marriage to a king named Inge, her burial in Tälje, and her reputation for holiness are pieces of information that can be gathered from two chronicles of Swedish kings from the 1450s. These are, in fact, the first datable mentions of St Ragnhild.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, the copier's commentary adds confusion to the tradition of St Ragnhild. While the chronicles make her the wife of King Inge Halstensson (''c''.1110–1120/25), the copier seems to have had King Inge Stenkilsson (''c''.1079–1110) in mind. To make matters worse, neither of these could have been married to Ragnhild if she was the daughter of King Halsten. In such a case, Inge Stenkilsson would have been her uncle, and Inge Halstensson her brother. The epitaph and the chronicles reflect different and incompatible traditions concerning the descent and marriage of St Ragnhild, which the copier tries in vain to unite.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Sources ==<br /> The original epitaph in the church of Tälje is, just like the tomb of St Ragnhild, gone without a trace. They may have been victims of cultic purge in the late sixteenth century.<br /> <br /> The sources for the copier's commentary have been discussed above.<br /> <br /> A tradition of St Ragnhilds holiness exists both in the epitaph and in the chronicles from the 1450s, but the possible dependence between them can not be ascertained.<br /> <br /> No liturgical celebration of the memory of St. Ragnhild is known. The seventeenth-century church historian Johannes Baazius sets forth that St Ragnhild's name was inscribed in the calendar as a saint, but the basis for his assertion is unknown and probably non-existent.<br /> <br /> The source for the statement in the second versified part of the epitaph that makes Ragnhild the daughter of Halsten – probably King Halsten – is unknown.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Purpose and audience ==<br /> The author, or authors, of the two versified parts of our text are celebrating the local saintly patron of the Church of Tälje, in which her grave was also found. She is portrayed as a worthy saint to whom the faithful may justly adress their prayers. She is also a former Swedish queen and – at least to the author of the second part – the founder and original benefactor of the church.<br /> <br /> The copier may have been a cleric from the episcopal see at Strängnäs who had the task of gathering information concerning the local tradition about St Ragnhild in Tälje. In his commentary, he has added some statements about the saint, while trying to reconcile different traditions concerning her background and marriage.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Medieval reception and transmission ==<br /> In the middle of the fifteenth century, St Ragnhild of Tälje found her way into the Swedish historical litterature. She is briefly mentioned in the ''Lilla rimkrönikan'', a rhymed chronicle (ed. G. Klemming 1865 in Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor, vol. 1, 225–226), and in a 1457 manuscript of the Prosakrönikan (ed. G.E. Klemming 1868–1881 in Småstycken på forn svenska, 234–235). The Uppsala Canon [[Ericus Olai]] mentions her in his ''Chronica regni Gothorum'' (ca 1470; ed E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg 1993, 63, 69). The ''Cronica Swecie'', an early sixteenth-century prologue to ''Erikskrönikan'' (ed. G. E. Klemming 1865, ''Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor'' 1, 195), includes her in its enumeration of Swedish saints. Johannes Magnus, Olaus Petri, and other sixteenth-century historiographers followed.<br /> <br /> Yet, it is not the epitaph's tradition that was transmitted to new generations. For all that we know, it may well have stayed inside the walls of the Strängnäs Cathedral Library until it was rediscovered by Eric Benzelius and Johan Peringskiöld in the late seventeenth century. Instead, it is the chronicles' version that forms the base for the literary tradition of St Ragnhild.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, 70–78.<br /> *ANDERSSON, Elin, “S:ta Ragnhilds epitafium: Försvunnet och återfunnet,” in ''Biblis: Tidskrift för bokhistoria, bibliografi, bokhantverk, samlande'', No 94 (2021), 62–67. <br /> *BAAZIUS, J. 1642: ''Inventarium ecclesiæ sveo-gothorum'', 113, Lincopiæ. [Improbable statement of a liturgical celebration of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> *COLLMAR, M. 1977: ''Strängnäs stifts herdaminne'' 1: ''Medeltiden'', 488–89, Nyköping.<br /> *ELLIS NILSSON, Sara, 2015: ''Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery A Study of the Emergence of Cults of Native Saints in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lund and Uppsala from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries'', Gothenburg <br /> *ERICUS OLAI, ''Chronica regni Gothorum'', ed. E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg. Stockholm 1993, pp. 63, 69. <br /> *FRÖJMARK, A. 1996: ‘Ragnhild’, ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' 29, 613–15. [Includes select bibliography.]<br /> *JOHANNES MAGNUS, 1554: ''De omnibvs Gothorvm Sveonvmqve regibvs'', 587–88, Romæ.<br /> *MAPPING LIVED RELIGION PROJECT (2019–2025), “Ragnhild of Tälje”, Mapping Saints Research Resource, Retrieved on February 23, 2026, from https://saints.dh.gu.se/explore/saints/256.<br /> *OLAUS PETRI, 1917: ''En swensk cröneka'', ed J. Sahlgren, 51, Uppsala.<br /> *VASTOVIUS, J. 1708 (1623):''Vitis aquilonia'', ed E. Benzelius, 60–61, annotationes cc. 47–48, 80, Upsaliae.<br /> *WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, ''Credo. Katolsk tidskrift'' 40, 15–35, 55–72.<br /> *WILHELMSSON, Caroline, ''The Queens and Royal Women of Sweden, c. 970–1330: Their Lives, Power, and Legacy''. London &amp; New York 2025, pp. 105–112.<br /> *ZIEGLER, J. 1536 (1532): ''Terrae sanctae ... Syriae, Arabiae, Aegypti et Schondiae ... descriptio'', 103v, xxxxxx. [First mention in printed form of the tradition of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sancta_Ragnildis&diff=1171 2026-02-26T12:33:37Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Fröjmark<br /> <br /> '''Sancta Ragnildis.''' Lay saint, queen, and pilgrim (eleventh to twelfth centuries), buried in Södertälje. Her cult is known from the fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> The main testament to her veneration is the text ''De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium'', &quot;Epitaph of St. Ragnhild of Tälje&quot;. This is an epitaph of hagiographic character, celebrating the memory of an otherwise little known Swedish queen from c.1100 or the early twelfth century.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epitaphium ==<br /> <br /> =====Title=====<br /> The work is headed by the title ''De sancta Ragnilde in Thelgis epithaphium''. The final sign has also been read as an “-s” to give “epitaphis”, but after consultation with Latinists Elin Andersson and Erika Kihlman (February 2026), the conclusion is to read it as an abbreviation for “-um”.<br /> <br /> In a strict sense, this title applies only to the two versified parts of the work (24 lines), and not to the five lines in prose.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Sweuorum domina Ragnildis flos sine spina''.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Nobis summa bona procures alma patrona''.<br /> <br /> =====Metre=====<br /> Quantitative leonine hexameter with lines of thirteen to fifteen syllables and with a marked caesura in the pentameter. Deviations from classical quantitative rules are few.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> The text consists of two versified parts with a short commentary (five lines) in between. The first versified part consists of seven lines. After line five at least one line is missing. The second versified part is formed of three groups of six lines each. The final line of the second group is missing, so that only seventeen lines remain.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> *BENZELIUS, J. 1703: ''Palæstina. Sive de Terra Promissionis, &amp; Singulis in ea Tribubus; item Fatis Variorum Incolarum; &amp; Sveonum Gothorumque Expeditionibus Sacris dissertationes duæ, geographico-historicæ'', pp. 150--52, Upsaliæ.<br /> *BENZELIUS, E. in VASTOVIUS, J. 1708: ''Vitis aquilonia. Sive Vitae sanctorum regni Sveo-Gothici''. Emendavit et notis illustravit Ericus Benzelius filius, Annotationes p. 80. Upsaliae.<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, pp. 70--71.<br /> *ODENIUS, O. 1973: [Review of] T. Lundén, ''Svenska helgon, Fornvännen'' 68, p. 61.<br /> *LUNDÉN, T. 1983: ''Sveriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande'', pp. 283--84. Storuman.<br /> *UUB (Uppsala University Library), Fragm. ms &amp; lib. lat. 326: “Epitafium över Ragnhild av Södertälje (fragment),” edition in facsimile in ''Alvin: Platform for digital collections and digitized cultural heritage'' urn:nbn:se:alvin:portal:record-384245. Accessed on February 19, 2026.<br /> All editions except the facsimilia contain errors. A new edition is projected.<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> <br /> *(Swedish) ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, pp. 71--72.<br /> *(Swedish) WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, ''Credo. Katolsk tidskrift'' 40, pp. 25--26.<br /> *(Swedish) LUNDÉN, T. 1983: ''Sveriges missionärer, helgon och kyrkogrundare. En bok om Sveriges kristnande'', p. 284. Storuman. <br /> *(Swedish) MARTLING, Carl Henrik, En svensk helgonkrönika. Skellefteå 2001, pp. 114–115.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Date and place ==<br /> The text is known from one manuscript copy originally written down on the inside of the back cover of an incunable belonging to the Strängnäs Cathedral Library (ANDERSSON 2021, 62). The incunablein question was printed in Cologne in 1474, and the copy of the epitaph was made in a late fifteenth-century hand. The sheet containing the epitaph has been removed from the book in recent times, and was acquired by the University Library of Uppsala in 1932 (Fragm ms lat 326).<br /> <br /> The versified parts are two versions of the epitaph of Ragnhild, a Swedish (according to one source Swedish and Norwegian) queen who is said to have lived ''c''.1100. The fact that Ragnhild is hallowed as a saint in the epitaph leads us to the conclusion that it was made at some distance in time from her death. The epitaph does not mention on which day or in which year St Ragnhild died. This is, indeed, a common characteristic of the early Christian grave monuments or epitaphs in Sweden, but it might just as well be seen as an indication that the epitaph was composed in a time when these dates were no longer known. In this respect, it resembles some late medieval epitaphs in the abbey church of Varnhem commemorating ancient Swedish kings.<br /> <br /> According to Bernhard BISCHOFF (quoted by WEHNER 1959, 72, note 4), the epitaph may not be dated earlier than the middle of the thirteenth century.<br /> <br /> The commentary between the two versified parts seems to be the copier's remarks. This commentaryis clearly secondary to the versified parts in terms of its value as source material.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Summary of contents ==<br /> In the first versified part, Ragnhild is referred to as queen of the Swedes (''Sweuorum domina /.../ Regni regina''). She is said to have made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In this way she has become the like of St Helen (mother of Constantine). Finally, the author addresses Ragnhild as the ''alma patrona'', patron of souls, of the citizens of Tälje (present day Södertälje south of Stockholm).<br /> <br /> The second, longer, versified part, equally celebrates Ragnhild as the queen of Sweden, having made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. In addition, she is said to have founded the church of Tälje and to have enriched it with land and other gifts. As for her descent, she is called ''Halsteni filia'', the daughter of Halsten (or perhaps daughter-in-law; cf. ANDERSSON 2021, p.66). In the final lines, she is described as the ''alma patrona'' who is impelled by the faithful to come to the assistance of those who are ill.<br /> <br /> Of special interest is the comparison that is made between Ragnhild and three other women. As a pilgrim, Ragnhild is first contrasted to the wandering Dinah (Genesis 34), and then compared to St Helen. When St Helen is mentioned in the first part of the epitaph, this clearly referred to the finder of the True Cross. Here, in the second part, we might also think of another pilgrim in Swedish hagiography, St Helen (or Elin) of Skövde (cf. [[Sancta Helena de Skövde]]). This association is strengthened by the fact that the third woman referred to is the prophetess Huldah (Oldan; 4 Rg 22,14; 2 Par 34, 22), who figures also in the late-thirteenth-century office of St Helen of Skövde.<br /> <br /> The copier's commentary mentions that St Ragnhild rests in Tälje, where, he says, she coruscates with many miracles. During her pilgrimage she was plundered by robbers, but she was then clad by angels. He then comments upon the descent of St Ragnhild. It is written, he says, that she was the wife of king Inge. She was also the daughter of King Halsten, he further states, basing this on the second versified part of the epitaph.<br /> <br /> The copier thus adds information that he has gathered from other sources. St Ragnhild's marriage to a king named Inge, her burial in Tälje, and her reputation for holiness are pieces of information that can be gathered from two chronicles of Swedish kings from the 1450s. These are, in fact, the first datable mentions of St Ragnhild.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, the copier's commentary adds confusion to the tradition of St Ragnhild. While the chronicles make her the wife of King Inge Halstensson (''c''.1110-1120/25), the copier seems to have had King Inge Stenkilsson (''c''.1079--1110) in mind. To make matters worse, neither of these could have been married to Ragnhild if she was the daughter of King Halsten. In such a case, Inge Stenkilsson would have been her uncle, and Inge Halstensson her brother. The epitaph and the chronicles reflect different and incompatible traditions concerning the descent and marriage of St Ragnhild, which the copier tries in vain to unite.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Sources ==<br /> The original epitaph in the church of Tälje is, just like the tomb of St Ragnhild, gone without a trace. They may have been victims of cultic purge in the late sixteenth century.<br /> <br /> The sources for the copier's commentary have been discussed above.<br /> <br /> A tradition of St Ragnhilds holiness exists both in the epitaph and in the chronicles from the 1450s, but the possible dependence between them can not be ascertained.<br /> <br /> No liturgical celebration of the memory of St. Ragnhild is known. The seventeenth-century church historian Johannes Baazius sets forth that St Ragnhild's name was inscribed in the calendar as a saint, but the basis for his assertion is unknown and probably non-existent.<br /> <br /> The source for the statement in the second versified part of the epitaph that makes Ragnhild the daughter of Halsten - probably King Halsten - is unknown.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Purpose and audience ==<br /> The author, or authors, of the two versified parts of our text are celebrating the local saintly patron of the Church of Tälje, in which her grave was also found. She is portrayed as a worthy saint to whom the faithful may justly adress their prayers. She is also a former Swedish queen and - at least to the author of the second part - the founder and original benefactor of the church.<br /> <br /> The copier may have been a cleric from the episcopal see at Strängnäs who had the task of gathering information concerning the local tradition about St Ragnhild in Tälje. In his commentary, he has added some statements about the saint, while trying to reconcile different traditions concerning her background and marriage.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == Medieval reception and transmission ==<br /> In the middle of the fifteenth century, St Ragnhild of Tälje found her way into the Swedish historical litterature. She is briefly mentioned in the ''Lilla rimkrönikan'', a rhymed chronicle (ed. G. Klemming 1865 in Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor, vol. 1, 225–226), and in a 1457 manuscript of the Prosakrönikan (ed. G.E. Klemming 1868–1881 in Småstycken på forn svenska, 234–235). The Uppsala Canon [[Ericus Olai]] mentions her in his ''Chronica regni Gothorum'' (ca 1470; ed E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg 1993, 63, 69). The ''Cronica Swecie'', an early sixteenth-century prologue to ''Erikskrönikan'' (ed. G. E. Klemming 1865, ''Svenska medeltidens rim-krönikor'' 1, 195), includes her in its enumeration of Swedish saints. Johannes Magnus, Olaus Petri, and other sixteenth-century historiographers followed.<br /> <br /> Yet, it is not the epitaph's tradition that was transmitted to new generations. For all that we know, it may well have stayed inside the walls of the Strängnäs Cathedral Library until it was rediscovered by Eric Benzelius and Johan Peringskiöld in the late seventeenth century. Instead, it is the chronicles' version that forms the base for the literary tradition of St Ragnhild.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> *ALM, H. 1931: ‘Drottning Ragnhild och hennes gravskrift i Tälje’, ''Sörmlandsbygden'' 2, 70-78.<br /> *ANDERSSON, Elin, “S:ta Ragnhilds epitafium: Försvunnet och återfunnet,” in ''Biblis: Tidskrift för bokhistoria, bibliografi, bokhantverk, samlande'', No 94 (2021), 62–67. <br /> *BAAZIUS, J. 1642: ''Inventarium ecclesiæ sveo-gothorum'', 113, Lincopiæ. [Improbable statement of a liturgical celebration of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> *COLLMAR, M. 1977: ''Strängnäs stifts herdaminne'' 1: ''Medeltiden'', 488-89, Nyköping.<br /> *ELLIS NILSSON, Sara, 2015: ''Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery A Study of the Emergence of Cults of Native Saints in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lund and Uppsala from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries'', Gothenburg <br /> *ERICUS OLAI, ''Chronica regni Gothorum'', ed. E. Heuman &amp; J. Öberg. Stockholm 1993, pp. 63, 69. <br /> *FRÖJMARK, A. 1996: ‘Ragnhild’, ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' 29, 613-15. [Includes select bibliography.]<br /> *JOHANNES MAGNUS, 1554: ''De omnibvs Gothorvm Sveonvmqve regibvs'', 587-88, Romæ.<br /> *MAPPING LIVED RELIGION PROJECT (2019–2025), “Ragnhild of Tälje”, Mapping Saints Research Resource, Retrieved on February 23, 2026, from https://saints.dh.gu.se/explore/saints/256.<br /> *OLAUS PETRI, 1917: ''En swensk cröneka'', ed J. Sahlgren, 51, Uppsala.<br /> *VASTOVIUS, J. 1708 (1623):''Vitis aquilonia'', ed E. Benzelius, 60-61, annotationes cc. 47-48, 80, Upsaliae.<br /> *WEHNER, R. 1959: ‘S:ta Ragnhild i sitt tidevarv’, ''Credo. Katolsk tidskrift'' 40, 15-35, 55-72. <br /> *WILHELMSSON, Caroline, ''The Queens and Royal Women of Sweden, c. 970–1330: Their Lives, Power, and Legacy''. London &amp; New York 2025, pp. 105–112.<br /> *ZIEGLER, J. 1536 (1532): ''Terrae sanctae ... Syriae, Arabiae, Aegypti et Schondiae ... descriptio'', 103v, xxxxxx. [First mention in printed form of the tradition of St. Ragnhild.]<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Ryenses&diff=1170 2026-02-12T16:02:45Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> '''Annales Ryenses''' is the name currently used for an anonymous work of history comprised of a paraphrase of [[Saxo Grammaticus]] and an annalistically arranged continuation. <br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Colbazenses]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Danici]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Saxo Grammaticus]]<br /> <br /> ====Title====<br /> Various titles have been used over the years. LINDENBRUCH, who mistakenly believed the annals to have been written by Erik, king of Denmark, Sweden and Norway and duke of Pomerania, called it Chronicon Erici regis, and for a long time this was the title commonly used. LANGEBEK suggested the Cistercian abbey of Ryd as its place of origin, and gradually the name Annales Ryenses (or Rydårbogen in Danish) won acceptance. With regard to the complicated transmission of the text, it would be better to use the title indicated in the incipit, Narratio de origine gentis Danorum. As it is unlikely that a consensus on this can be reached among scholars, we should, for practical reasons alone, continue to use the title Annales Ryenses.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit/explicit=====<br /> The incipit of the Annales Ryenses is well attested; the Danish translations (see Medieval reception and transmission) leave no room for doubt that the Latin manuscript (see Medieval reception and transmission) has preserved the opening words of the original: ''Incipit narratio de origine gentis Danorum''. <br /> <br /> As for the explicit, we are probably looking in vain. The annalistic arrangement of the four versions (see Medieval reception and transmission) meant that either version could easily be continued and the explicit thus continually altered. <br /> <br /> The Latin manuscript ends in 1288 with the words ''Castrum Almœthorp destructum est''.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> 26 small quarto pages.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> *LINDENBRUCH, E. 1603 &amp; 1609: Historica narratio de origine gentis Danorum et de regibus eiusdem gentis et eorundem rebus gestis a Dan primo rege usque ad Ericum Menuit 117. Compendiose olim conscripta ab Erico, Daniœ rege, Wartislai VII ducis Pomeraniœ filio et nunc primum in lucem edita ab ...<br /> *STEPHANIUS 1629: De regno Daniœ et Norwegiœ. Tractatus varii, Lugduni Batavorum.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1772: SRD 1, Copenhagen, 148–70.<br /> *LAPPENBERG 1859: MGH SS 16, Hannover, 386–410.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii aevi, Copenhagen, 62–125.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen, 233–55.<br /> <br /> ====Translations====<br /> *WIELAND, J.P. 1729: Historisk Beretning om Det Danske Folks Oprindelse.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1879: Valdemar Sejr. Udvalgt samling af samtidige kildeskrifter og oldbreve, Copenhagen, 8–13 (selection).<br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. 1927: Erik Klipping og hans Sønner. Rigets opløsning. Udvalg af Kilder til Tidsrummet 1275–1340, Copenhagen, 10–13 (selection). <br /> *OLSEN, R.A. 1989: Ryd Klosters årbog, Højbjerg.<br /> <br /> ===Date and place===<br /> It is the common assumption among Danish historians that the Annals were composed shortly (or at least relatively shortly) after the year with which they end. While faith in this thumb-rule can be misplaced, it seems quite reasonable to assume that the rule fits the case in this instance. The Latin manuscript is dated on palaeographical grounds to c.1300. The fact that it is a copy, not an original, means that this version must have been composed shortly after 1288, the year with which it ends. E. JØRGENSEN argued that the common stock of the three longer versions ended with the entry for the year 1261, and that from 1262 onwards each version was independent of the others (with a few exceptions). However, KRISTENSEN has argued convincingly that the three versions do not break away from each other in 1262 but in fact resemble each other closely. She did not carry her arguments beyond 1265, but hinted that there were close similarities right up to the end of the Latin version, after which the two longer Danish versions break away from each other.<br /> <br /> A composition (shortly) after 1288 would also make sense in another way. The Annales Ryenses have used a narrative about the foundation of the Cistercian abbey which eventually settled in Ryd. This narrative was composed at Ryd in 1289, when the abbey was re-established after the monks had been forced to leave their monastery in 1284. If, and it is a big if, the Annales Ryenses was composed at Ryd, it is tempting to see the composition as being connected with the re-establishment of the abbey. The problem is that the use of the narrative is our best argument for placing these annals at Ryd. The earliest pieces of information about Ryd in the Annales Ryenses are quotations from the narrative, which unfortunately only exists today in an incomplete form. The later pieces of information on Ryd might equally well have come from the narrative, even if this cannot be verified unless the missing part reappears. The fact that no information about Ryd after the year 1284 can be found in any of the versions of the Annales Ryenses is consistent with the hypothesis that all such information came from the narrative, rather than from any independent source of knowledge. While it is certain that there was access to this narrative at Ryd, its contents would be of interest to all Cistercian houses in Denmark. Consequently, copies of the narrative could probably be found elsewhere. On the whole, it might be said that the place of composition is likely to have been the Cistercian abbey of Ryd, but it is far from certain.<br /> <br /> ===Composition and style===<br /> The process of paraphrasing Saxo Grammaticus has been carried out with such thoroughness that no trace of Saxo´s own phraseology remains. The language of the Annales Ryenses is the dry, rather monotonous Latin so characteristic of the Danish annals, with occasional outbursts of nationalistic fervour expressed in often coarse terms. Up to the time of Sven Estridsen, the Annales Ryenses is composed as narrative of the reign of each Danish king from Dan, the first king. In this part of the work there are very few dates. From 1074 onwards, the Annales Ryenses assumes an annalistic character with the year A.D. as the structural principle.<br /> <br /> ===Sources===<br /> In general it can be said that the Annales Ryenses has used much material of a Lundensian provenance, i.e. the [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Chronicon Lethrense]], [[Saxo Grammaticus]], the Annales Valdemarii (cf. [[Annales Danici]]), but also other written material such as the [[De fundatione monasterii Auree Insule]], as well as folkloristic material.<br /> <br /> ===Purpose and audience===<br /> It seems safe to say that the Annales Ryenses was meant to stimulate patriotic feelings, but nothing definite can yet be said about the audience of the Annales. A prominent feature is the strong anti-German sentiment, but it is still open to debate in which groups of society this would find favour. It remains a fact that the Annales retained its popularity (in one version or other) throughout the Middle Ages, and it is perhaps best understood when compared with [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]].<br /> <br /> ===Medieval reception and transmission===<br /> Four versions of this work exist today, one in Latin and three in Danish. Each of the four versions is preserved in a single medieval manuscript only, neither of which is the original of its particular version.<br /> <br /> (1) The Latin version to 1288 is preserved in the manuscript Hamburg Stadtbibliothek, 98b 4°. The manuscript contains only one other text, the Annales Albiani. Both texts are written in the same hand, which is dated on palaeographical grounds to c.1300. A myriad of errors, especially in Danish place-names, make it extremely unlikely that this manuscript is the original.<br /> <br /> (2) The Danish version to 1314 is preserved in the manuscript Copenhagen, Royal Library, E don. var. 3 8°, a manuscript also containing various legal texts. It has been palaeographically dated to c.1400. The text of the Annales Ryenses, along with that of some of the legal texts, has been dated on philological grounds to roughly the same time, c.1400. The text is so full of errors, not only in personal names and place-names but also generally, that it is very doubtful whether the scribe at all understood the exemplar from which he was working.<br /> <br /> (3) The Danish version to 1295 (the scribe wrote the year 1296 but there is no entry for that year) is preserved in the manuscript Stockholm, Royal Library, K 4, which contains a wide variety of texts. In this manuscript two sorts of paper were used, one dated to the years 1468–1480 and the other dated to c.1480. So far the philologists have not offered any real dating of this version other than remarking that it is in Middle Danish (1350–1525). It is the common opinion that this manuscript is not the original of this version. Historical, philological and codicological research on this text and its manuscript is long overdue, however.<br /> <br /> 4) The Danish version to 1226 is preserved in the manuscript Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 606 8°, dated on palaeographical grounds to the second half of the fifteenth century. E. JØRGENSEN, who was a classical philologist as well as a historian, believed the language of the text to be later than that found in the versions to 1314 and 1295, but no Old-Danish philologist appears to have investigated the text.<br /> <br /> It seems to be the opinion of historians and philologists alike that the Danish versions are translations of the Latin text of the original. In this sense, the Latin version to 1288 can be said to give us the most reliable impression of what the original looked like. As for the question of the contents of the original, it emerges quite clearly from a comparison of the four versions that neither of them has all the material of the original. All four went through editorial processes which included additions as well as omissions; any attempt at reconstructing this original should take all versions into account. Even so, it remains doubtful whether full certainty could be reached.<br /> <br /> It may, therefore, prove very difficult to sort out the intricacies of the medieval reception. On the face of it, the Annales Ryenses (in one version or other) were known throughout Denmark (Annales Essenbecenses, and Annales Ripenses (cf. [[Annales Danici]]), Chronica Jutensis, [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]], [[Petrus Olai]]), Sweden ([[Annales Visbyenses]], [[Ericus Olai]]), Iceland (Knytlinga saga, [[Annales Islandorum regii]]) and northern Germany (Annales Lubicenses, Detmar, Herman Korner, Cronik der nordelbischen Sassen), thus making it one of our most widely diffused historiographical works in the Middle Ages, rivalled only by the &gt;Compendium Saxonis with its continuation, the Chronica Jutensis. An astonishing success for this product from a relatively obscure Cistercian abbey! However, in reality we often lack the means to determine whether the traces found in other texts are evidence of the use of the Annales Ryenses (in one version or other) or of the use of the same Lundensian material used by the composer of the Annales Ryenses.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *ANDERSSON, I.M. 1954: Erik Menved och Norden. Studier i dansk utrikespolitik 1300–1319, 306–67, Lund.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1956: Sverige i dansk annalistik 900–1400 (Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Hist. ser. 3), Stockholm.<br /> *GREEN-PEDERSEN, S.E. 1981: “De danske cistercienserklostres grundlœggelse og den politiske magtkamp i det 12. århundrede,” Middelalder, metode og medier. Festskrift til Niels Skyum-Nielsen på 60-årsdagen den 17. oktober 1981, ed. K. Fledelius, N. Lund, H. Nielsen, Copenhagen, 41–65. <br /> *HØRBY, K. 1975: [review of] &quot;Leif Szomlaiski: Yngre Sjœllandske Krønike.&quot; HistTD 75, 133–40.<br /> <br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. (ed.) 1920: Annales Danici medii aevi, Copenhagen.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil aar 1800, Copenhagen.<br /> *KNUDSEN, A.L. 1994: Saxostudier og rigshistorie på Valdemar Atterdags tid, Copenhagen.<br /> *KNUDSEN, A.L. 1996: “The Use of Saxo Grammaticus in the Later Middle Ages,” in The Birth of Identities. Denmark and Europe in the Middle Ages, ed. B.P. McGuire, Copenhagen, 147–60.<br /> *KNUDSEN, A.L. 2000: ”Interessen for den danske fortid omkring 1300. En middelalderlig dansk nationalisme,” HistTD 100, 1–34.<br /> *KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks œldste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1936: &quot;Ueber die Herkunft des Liber census Daniae,&quot; APhS 11, 1–81.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> *NIELSEN, H. 1969: “Rydårbogen,” in KLNM 14, coll. 516–18, Copenhagen.<br /> *OLSEN, T.D. 1971: “Rydårbogens skriver og hans forlœg,” in Studier i dansk dialektologi og sproghistorie tilegnede Poul Andersen på halvfjerdsårsdagen den 8. juni 1971, ed. K. Hald, C. Lisse, J.K. Sørensen, Copenhagen, 263–75.<br /> *SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, Hannover.<br /> *SJÖSTEDT, L. 1952: “Rydårboken och årboken 67–1287,” in Festskrift till Gottfrid Carlsson 18/12 1952, Lund, 10–14.<br /> *USINGER, R. 1861: Die dänischen Annalen und Chroniken des Mittelalters, Hannover.<br /> <br /> Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1169 2026-01-30T17:54:54Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Category:Article]]<br /> <br /> by Anderz Piltz<br /> <br /> '''Mathias Ouidi''' (Mats Övidsson, Övedsson), usually called Magister Mathias, born ''c''.1300, dead probably in 1350 in Stockholm. Master of Arts, canon at the cathedral of Linköping (not later than 1333), Baccalarius of Theology, and rector of the parish church of Saint Giles (Egidius) in Söderköping (not later than 1343). According to tradition, he was also Master of Theology. A close friend and influential confessor of Saint Birgitta (see [[Sancta Birgitta]]) prior to her journey to Rome in 1349, Mathias was by far the most prolific and original of Swedish writers, let alone theologians, in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> == Biography ==<br /> Information about Mathias is very sparse. His name cannot be traced in any university registers, but there is every reason to believe that he studied in the faculties of arts and theology at Paris. His earliest work, the ''Poetria'', is dedicated to archbishop Olof Björnsson, who was the incumbent of the see of Uppsala between 1318 and 1332. In 1333, Mathias is mentioned four times in documents from Linköping and its vicinity. In all probability, he was living in Sweden when Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of Birgitta, died on 12 February 1344; in ''Copia exemplorum'', Mathias refers to an event which took place in the parish of Tåby outside Söderköping in late July of that year (see further Piltz 1974, 31 ff.).<br /> <br /> In his theological works, Mathias is an inspired champion of orthodox Christianity. It is said that in his youth he was tempted by all the heresies in the world and thus suffered a serious religious crisis which, however, he overcame, and after which he was rewarded by God with an exceptional command of the Sacred Scriptures – a command that is amply demonstrated in his writings. Hence his interest in various heterodox tenets, which he attacks in the name of “true theology”, by which he means essentially the biblical texts in their original spiritual force, without too much academic glossing.<br /> <br /> Like his famous confessant, Mathias was convinced that the world was ageing and close to its end, since love had grown cold and lawlessness was reigning. He stressed the Franciscan principle that Christians should imitate God’s humility, displayed in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. <br /> <br /> Mathias was the close witness of Birgitta’s early mystical experiences and miracles, and he was convinced that she was the authentic voice of God to her contemporaries. As an expert theologian, he wrote an enthusiastic introduction (''Stupor et mirabilia'') to the first collection of her Revelations (see below). For unknown reasons, they parted ways around 1346: Birgitta prepared herself to go to Rome, Mathias planned to participate in a “crusade” undertaken by King Magnus Eriksson against the Russians (June-October 1348, autumn 1350-spring 1351); it cannot be established whether he actually took part or not. Birgitta was in Rome when she learned that Mathias had died in Sweden. <br /> <br /> According to tradition, Mathias was buried by the king himself in the Dominican conventual church “Helga Lösen” in the Old Town of Stockholm. He was famed for his saintliness, and miracles were attributed to his intercession. His tomb was destroyed during the Lutheran reformation in the sixteenth century. <br /> <br /> Mathias is one of the candidates as author of the Old Swedish works ''Paraphrase of the Pentateuch'' and ''Mirror of Kings''. But his main legacy comprises seven works in Latin. They all testify to his interest in rhetorics, profane as well as sacred, his scholarly ambitions as a theologian, and – at least as far as ''Homo conditus'' is concerned – his talent as a writer. <br /> <br /> Birgittine sources state that Mathias was the author of the prologue ''Stupor et mirabilia'' to the Revelations of St. Birgitta (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; Rev. VI, 75; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477, 601), furthermore of an excellent gloss on the whole Bible (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477), that he had an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures (Rev. V ''interrogacio'' 16, 36-37), and that he was a prolific writer (''Acta et processus'', 78, 477). A survey of Mathias’ writings is found in the Uppsala manuscript C 54 (fol. 60v), which originally belonged to the library of Vadstena Abbey: <br /> <br /> ''Hic liber Subscriptus ... dicitur Copia exemplorum, quem fecit magister Mathias Canonicus lyncopensis et collegit. Hic venerabilis vir M. fuit primus confessor matris nostre gloriose Sancte birgitte quia vita et religione valde erat preclarus et tempore suo magistrorum omnium summus. Qui plures libros fecit, scilicet Concordancias super totam bibliam quem'' [sic] ''habemus in Watzsteno in tribus voluminibus magne quantitatis. Item vnum librum qui dicitur Homo conditus. Item super apokalipsim. Item tractatum de modo loquendi et quamplures alios.'' <br /> <br /> (“This book which is written here below is called the ''Treasury of Examples'' and was written and compiled by Master Matthias, a Canon of Linköping. This venerable man M. was the first confessor of our glorious mother Birgitta, since he was particularly distinguished in piety and the most important Master of his time. He is the author of several books, namely, a ''Concordance'' over the whole Bible, which we have in Vadstena in three large volumes, further a book entitled ''Homo conditus'', one on the ''Book of Revelation'' and a treatise on the ''Art of Rhetoric'', and several others.”)<br /> <br /> == Works ==<br /> <br /> === Stupor et mirabilia ===<br /> This introduction to the first collection of the Birgittine corpus is an expert opinion on the authenticity and orthodoxy of the “heavenly revelations” that Birgitta Birgersdotter claimed to have received and had successively edited with the help of her confessors. It is written in a lofty and excited style. Mathias claims in antithetical sentences that what happened through Birgitta is more remarkable than the revelation that took place in the Old Testament through Moses, and in a way it even goes beyond the incarnation of Christ himself: “Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration” (25).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Stupor et mirabilia audita sunt in terra nostra. Mirabile siquidem'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) ab ipso factam ad verba eius ab ipso missa fatebuntur.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of standard pages: 12.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes''. Lübeck: Bartholomeus Ghotan [for Vadstena Abbey], 1492<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sancte Birgitte'' [ed. Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein], Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1500 <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Reuelationes celestes preelecte sponse Christi beate Birgitte'' … Nuremberg: Federicus Peypus, sumptibus Joannis Kobergers, 1517<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes'' [ed. Olaus Magnus], 2 vols., Romae, in aedibus diuae Birgittae viduae: Franciscus Mediolanensis de Ferrariis, 1557 [vol. 1, p. 24]<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Romae: Stephanus Paulinus, sumptibus Iulij Burchionij, 1606<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: Ioannes Keerbergius, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: apud viduam et haeredem P. Belleri, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''a Consalvo Duranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae.'' Coloniae Agrippinae: ex off. Anthonii Boetzeri haeredum [typis Henricus Krafft], 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''á Consaluo Duranto episcopo Ferettrano notis illustratae'' … Tomvs I. Romae: Ludouicus Grignanus, 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes Caelestes seraphicae matris sanctae Birgittae Suecae'' … Munich: Sebastianus Rauch, sumptibus Joannis Wagneri et Joannis Hermanni à Gelder, 1680<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes S. Birgittae e codice membraneo fol. 21 Bibliothecae Universitatis Lundensis (“Cod. Falkenberg”), Suecice et Britannice praefatus''. Facsimile ed. by Elias Wessén, 2 vols. (Corpus codicum Suecicorum medii aevi), Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1952–1956<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelaciones''. ''Book I, with Magister Mathias’ Prologue'', ed. by Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 7:1), Uppsala [also Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm, and, extra series, Stockholm: Almqvist &amp; Wiksell International], 1977 [printed 1978], pp. 227-240<br /> <br /> ==== Electronic texts ====<br /> <br /> * ''St Birgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones, Book I'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.umilta.net/bk1.html&lt;/nowiki&gt; <br /> * ''Corpus Reuelacionum Sancte Birgitte'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://62.20.57.210/ra/diplomatariet/CRB/index.htm&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) Sancta Birgitta, ''The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden'', vol. I: ''Liber Caelestis, Books I-III'', translated by Denis Searby, with introductions and notes by Bridget Morris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 [p. 47-52]<br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Das puch der Himlischen offenbarung der heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem kunigreich Sweden'' [ed. by Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1502 <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Brigitta''. Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus, 4 vols. (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg: Verlag von G. Joseph Manz, 1856 [“Vorrede … vom Magister Matthias aus Schweden,” vol. IV, 345-53] <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Birgitta.'' Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus. Aufs neue durchgesehen und verbessert von einem katholischen Priester (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg, 1888 [microfiche ed.: Wildberg: Belser Wiss. Dienst (Edition St. Walburg), 1994 – 11 microfiches, 29x]<br /> * (Polish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Skarby niebieskich taiemnic'', [Zamosc], 1698 <br /> * (Spanish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Celestiales Revelaciones de Santa Brígida, Princesa de Suecia'' …, 4 vols., Madrid: [Tipografia del Sagrado Corazón], 1901 <br /> * (Swedish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Himmelska uppenbarelser'', trans. by T. Lundén, 4 vols., Malmö: Allhem, 1957–1959; vol. 1, 57-60, contains a summary of and an excerpt from ''Stupor et mirabilia''<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUNDÉN, HJ. 1973: ''Den heliga Birgitta. Ormungens dotter som blev Kristi brud.'' Stockholm <br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Written in Sweden, ''terminus post quem'' is the death of Ulf Gudmarsson, which is referred to in the text.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is obvious, since the authenticity of the Birgittine revelations was initially questioned and accused of being of demonic origin, especially since they had been addressed to a woman without theological training. Mathias, who was the country's foremost theological expert, vouches for their divine origin and insists that they should be read as instructions from Heaven and taken seriously by all Christians.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> ''Stupor and mirabilia'' came to be considered the preface of Birgitta's ''Revelations'' and is included in all editions since Bartholomeus Gothan's editio princeps, printed in Lübeck in 1492.<br /> <br /> === Testa nucis ===<br /> This text is only preserved in a short fragment in the MS. C 521 (foll. 172v-173r), earlier pertaining to the monastery of Vadstena. It seems to convey traditional rhetorical doctrine. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> This tract is obviously identical with the ''Tractatus de modo loquendi'' mentioned in the same MS (see above).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Incipit Testa nucis. Rethorica est potencia considerandi vnumquodque contingens persuasibile'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) vtrum in eo negocium expleri pot&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;u&gt;erit, et partes temporis, mensis, dies&lt;/nowiki&gt;'' (the fragment ends here).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of pages: 6. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable]<br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The dedication of ''Poetria'' (see below) to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala indicates that ''Testa nucis'', to which several explicit references are made in ''Poetria'', was written in the early 1320s, during Mathias' studies at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, in a period when he was obviously intensely interested in literary theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The fragmentary character of the preserved text makes it impossible to have a more precise idea of its layout. The beginning of the fragment reproduces the main rules of classical rhetoric as the ability to persuade, in three areas: before a court of law, in a political assembly, and in ceremonial speeches (which should unite the audience around common values). An effective speech consists of five elements: inventory of arguments, outline, style, delivery, and memorization. The art of persuasion refers to obvious facts, or to confidence in the speaker's credibility, arouses emotions, provides examples, analogies, and probabilities, and discusses various types of mitigating or aggravating circumstances of an action.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The traditional scholastic style of definitions and distinctions of traditional rhetorical concepts is adopted.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Its principal source appears to be William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Rhetoric'', with occasional reminiscences from ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' and Cicero’s ''De inventione'' (Bergh 1996, 8 f.).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The aim is to convey traditional rhetorical theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 172v-173r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs' edition.<br /> <br /> === Poetria ===<br /> The ''Poetria'' is a treatise on poetry. It is partly written in hexameters in a rather abstruse style. It is not typical of the medieval tradition, which took a keen interest in technical matters such as tropes, figures of speech and other stylistic devices, but not in aesthetic theory. Mathias makes an effort to integrate Aristotelian theory into a treatise on poetry, a remarkable ambition in fourteenth-century Sweden. He uses examples from Avianus, Homer, Ovid, Persius and Virgil. The text is divided into three parts, ''representacio'' (visualization), ''tonus'' (intonation), and ''metrum'' (not on metrics but on the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Maria Ihesus Christus. Incipit Poetria domini magistri Mathie. Cum plurima nostratum studia ante mentis oculos pertractarem''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Eterni tecum mansuri solis ad ortum. Explicit Poetria magistri Mathie Lincopensis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Metre/rhythm =====<br /> The many metrical examples adduced are mostly hexametric. The treatise ends with a poem by Mattias himself, comprising 94 lines, which aims to illustrate various poetical tropes (mentioned in the margin) discussed in the previous theoretical part. <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 42 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable] <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm <br /> <br /> Note that Bergh in his critical and exegetical remarks (pp. 17-27) corrects Sawicki on many points; Sawicki's edition should therefore be avoided as misrepresenting the original text in a number of passages.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions) <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * BERGH, B. 1996, and his ''Introduction'' should be consulted first of all, since he points out the very obscurity of this text and consequently the difficulties implied in interpreting it.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> ''Poetria'' is obviously written in close connexion to ''Testa nucis'' (to which several references are made; see above) in Paris around 1320, during Mathias' studies in the Faculty of Arts, when he seemed intensely interested in literary theory. It is dedicated to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala, who was the incumbent from 1318 to 1332. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Mathias wanted to find an aesthetic theory for poetry. The main theme of this treatise on poetry is ''representatio'', which in this context means “visualizations”: ''representaciones tam certe et veraciter factas, ut non credatur res ficta esse'' (“so certain and plausible that the matter does not seem to have been made up”; 66). <br /> <br /> ''Vnde merito similitudinem habet poeta cum pictore. Sicut enim pictor peritus rem, que in se delectabilis non esset aspicere, propter conuenienciam in disposicione partium picture et colorum delectabiliter inuenitur representare, sic poeta perfectus delectat animam in faciendo rem secundum suas proprietates imaginari'' <br /> <br /> (“[T]he poet is rightly compared to the painter. For the skilful painter, by the harmonious arrangement of the different parts and colours of the picture, turns out to give an agreeable representation of something that would not in itself be agreeable to look at, and in the same way the perfect poet gives pleasure by making us imagine a thing in accordance to its characteristics”; 6-7). <br /> <br /> In this view it is the most important of three components of poetry, the other two being ''tonus'' (rhytm) and ''metrum'' (the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). The text ends with a didactic poem in hexameters which intend to illustrate the poetic figures, terms, and techniques discussed in the theoretical part of the text. <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The style is more personal than in ''Testa nucis'' (''sicut credo, reor attendendum, ut michi'' ''videtur'', etc). Mathias is fully aware of his own ability to judge and produce poetry, and also of his status as a pioneer in Sweden in literary theory. He speaks disparagingly of the creators of leonine verses of his time: ''aut leonina. Et hoc solum est, quod nostri metriste in versibus facere sciunt'';” or the kind called ‘leonine’. &quot;This is the only thing our poetasters are capable of in their verses” (79-80).<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Mathias is dependent on Hermannus Alemannus’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics'', a particularly obscure rendering of the original text, due to intermediary (Syrian, Arabic) versions. He is not unaware of his pioneer achievement (Bergh 1996, 9 ff.). Maybe the mature theologian Mathias felt uneasy about these juvenile exercises, judging from later warnings about the allurement of philosophy.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> One can assume that the young Mathias, aware of his talent, wanted to gain a patron and benefactor in the (newly appointed?) Archbishop of Uppsala, and also, thereby, to gain a readership and intellectual reputation: <br /> <br /> ''vt luce vestri nominis et gracie quam ex se et sui actoris sciencia famosius rutilans duracionem in tempore cum lectorum frequencia optima nancisscatur''; <br /> <br /> “so that it will gleam with greater renown through the light of Your name and grace than through itself and the knowledge of its author, and thus procure long duration and a great number of readers” (4).<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 169r-172r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs’ edition.<br /> <br /> === Alphabetum distinccionum ===<br /> Mathias' most comprehensive work is the ''Alphabetum distinccionum,'' a (selective) concordance to the biblical text combined with a kind of theological encyclopedia of so called ''distincciones'' between the different senses of Scripture, with special stress on the ''sensus moralis''. The entries are small tracts of theological character, useful for homiletical purposes. <br /> <br /> It is meant to be an encyclopaedia of the principal nouns, verbs, some few adverbs, and the most important proper names, along with some “natural things” (''res naturales'') mentioned in the Bible. It is in fact a systematic gloss on the Bible and comprises even terms not occurring in the Scriptures, such as ''Accidia, Actuosa deuocio, Condignum, Fomes (peccati), Scriptura sacra, Sinderesis, Syrena, Theologia, Trinitas''. The reader may combine interpretations of separate words and so construct various expositions as required. However, the result must never contradict faith or morals: (''sic'') ''vt veritas fidei seruetur ex vno et honestas morum non ledatur ex altero.''<br /> <br /> Today, the text only survives as fragments of two parchment codices, and in quoted extracts in other works. The volumes were dispersed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when they were confiscated by the secular authorities and reused for various account books and legal records (domböcker). The surviving leaves are scattered across eight institutions in five cities: Stockholm, Vadstena, Helsinki, Oslo, and London, most of them available digitally. <br /> <br /> By employing various methods and accounting for all pertinent evidence communicated by the extant witnesses, especially cross-references, roughly forty per cent of the original ''c''.4000 headwords can be identified (according to SUPPONEN, 2023). The headwords survive at least partly in 603 entries. The cross-references provide 821 otherwise unknown headwords. <br /> <br /> The book contributed to his reputation among the Birgittines that he knew the entire Bible inside out, “from Alpha to Omega”. It now exists only as fragments in the form of 326 preserved leaves of two manuscripts, apart from quotes in sermons by Vadstena brothers. It is an encyclopaedia of the most important nouns, verbs and proper names in the Vulgate. The concepts are explained, with descriptive applications and examples of the use of the word in question. A peculiarity is Mathias's strong interest in natural phenomena (''res naturales''), their definition and properties: the visible, material things are understood as references to the invisible. All of nature is a kind of allegorical rebus that illustrates spiritual truths and heavenly things, for those who have eyes with which to see it. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> Although this work is called ''Concordancie super totam bibliam'' in MS. C 54 of Uppsala University Library, the prologue, which is almost completely preserved, indicates the correct title: <br /> <br /> “''Distinguuntur ergo in hoc alphabeto textus et glose Biblie et naturales rerum, de quibus Scripture mencionem faciunt, proprietates per vocabula et sentencias figurales, misticas et historicas''” <br /> <br /> (“In this alphabetical register, the varied meanings of the texts of the Bible and the glosses are conveyed, as well as the natural phenomena that are mentioned in Scripture, [and] the properties that are demonstrated by their names, as well as their figurative, mystical and historical meanings”).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The work is said to have filled three huge volumes in the Birgittine Abbey of Vadstena. Only 145 folios remain, scattered in different libraries (which makes them very difficult to read without modern technical devices). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: “Mathiæ canonici Lincopensis ''Alphabeti distinccionum'' sive ''Concordanciarum'' fragmenta selecta”, in ''Symbolae Septentrionales: Latin Studies Presented to Jan Öberg'', ed. M. Asztalos &amp; C. Gejrot, Stockholm, 137-171 [samples of the extant fragments]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was likely composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. According to the Birgittine ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl.) and ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, Mathias ''glossavit totam Bibliam excellenter'' ''et composuit multa volumina librorum'' (“wrote an excellent gloss on the whole Bible and was the author of many volumes”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to Mathias’ divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator Biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' is an alphabetically organised reference work that compiles materials from various preaching aids. It comprises a concordance for contextualising the themes and divisions of sermons, as well as devices for expanding upon sermons, such as distinctions, encyclopaedic descriptions, and biblical exempla. The text consists of two parts: the text proper and an interlinear reference apparatus, that provides commentaries on biblical verses in the text proper and citations of the verses and accompanying references in the apparatus. The headwords are described in their historical sense in the text proper, while the moral or allegorical readings are presented in the apparatus. The interlinear apparatus also contains cross-references to other entries. <br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias owes much to St. Bonaventure OFM; he also echoes John Duns Scotus OFM. Inspired by principles set up by pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, probably with Bartholomeus Anglicus (''c''.1250) as intermediary, Mathias refers, often in detail, to the facts, processes and events of nature as analogies of spiritual realities in the realm of grace. The book also conveys vitriolic criticism of the hierarchy and the religious orders (cf. Piltz 1986, 139 ff.; Piltz 1995, 137 ff.). SUPPONEN (pp.122-167) gives a thorough overview of the textual sources: the third concordance of St. Jacques, Glossa ordinaria, Bartholomeus Anglicus, etc.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The method applied in this concordance could best be demonstrated with a quotation from the entry ''Sensus Scripture'': <br /> <br /> ''Sensus hystoricus est, cum res quandoque secundum litteram vel facta vel dicta sit (vt saluacio filiorum Israel de Egypto), plano sermone refertur. Allegoria (Ysaie: egredietur virga de radice Iesse), cum verbis vel rebus misticis presencia Christi et Ecclesie sacramenta signantur (sanguis agni sanguinem Christi significat). Tropologia est moralis instructio (non diligamus verbo neque lingua) ad correccionem morum per aperta vel figurata verba (omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida). Anagoge, id est ”ad superiora ducens loqucio”, est que de premiis (beati mundo corde) futuris apertis vel misticis verbis (beati qui lauant stolas suas, etc.) disputat.''<br /> <br /> (“The meanings of Scripture: (...) historical meaning is expressed when something is stated to have been done or said (for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt) in clear words. Allegory (Isaiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”) when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the Church are signified (the blood of the lamb signifies the blood of Christ). Tropology is moral teaching (“Let us not love in word nor in tongue”) with the aim of improving our conduct through ordinary or figurative words (“Let your garments always be white”). Anagoge, that is, “speech that leads upward,” deals with rewards (“Blessed are the pure in heart”) in the future, presented in clear or mystical words (“Blessed are those who wash their robes.””)<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The primary purpose is obvious: to provide preachers with all the scholarly tools they need to compose a sermon which is orthodox, instructive, and with a strong moral appeal to conversion and a striving for a virtuous life. Mathias' personal background may have contributed with an existential incentive: he took a special interest in the symbolic potency of the visible world. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (V, int. 16:36-37) states that Mathias in his earlier life (in Paris?) had experienced the conflict between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He had overcome this temptation by not trusting his own senses and judgement too much. He was rewarded with an exceptional knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Mathias had been seriously attracted by the “second Averroism” which, while proclaiming the submission to the teachings of the Church, in reality professed a learned and more complicated form of incredulity, founded on the orthodox Aristotelian thesis that all knowledge must be based on sensual perception. This is precisely the argument of the Devil, Mathias contends in this commentary on the Apocalypse (12, 244-251), since he takes his subtle and sophistic reasons from the phenomena (''ex apparenciis'') in the visible world of the four elements: but with the help of grace the human mind is illuminated and can reach a spiritual understanding of corporal things in the visible world. Hence his interest in the natural and sensual phenomena: they are altogether symbols and vehicles of spiritual truths. What Mathias attacks, with strong anti-dialectical bias, is the separation of theology and exegesis. In connection with the greatest Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure, Mathias claims that theology should appeal to all human capacities and mentalities: its method (''modus tradendi'') is ''narrativus, preceptivus, excitativus, comminatorius, promissivus, precatorius, laudativus.'' The purpose of theology escapes the presumptuos, the unclean, the treacherous, the idle. All this explains why it is so obscure: it demands an intellectual and moral effort, in order not to become insipid. It aims at inclining our wills so that we want to be good, ''vt boni fiamus''. All these statements in the entry Sacra Scriptura are paraphrazes on the ''Breviloquium'' of Bonaventure.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' has survived in fragments of two manuscripts, later reused for secondary purposes: ''MS Linköping'' (''MS L''), Stockholm, The National Archives, ''MPO, Fr 3'', and ''Östergötlands handlingar 1539:3:1'', second quarter of the fourteenth century, a bifolium; and ''MS Vadstena'' (''MS V''), written before 1381 in Linköping or Uppsala, and preserved in 88 fragments that comprise 163 leaves in total, in the Swedish National Archives, and seven other institutions (see above). It was in the possession of Birger Gregersson (Archbishop of Uppsala 1366-1383), who might have commissioned the copy. Quotations in sermons by the Vadstena preachers and frequent annotations in MS V demonstrate that the Birgittines used the book up to the early fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> SUPPONEN (pp. 83-92) has furthermore identified extracts of ''Alphabetum'' in Uppsala, UUB, C 391, foll. 129v-131r, copied by Styrkarus Thyrgilli (d. 1416), which comprises a part of the entries ''Misericordia'' and ''Iudicare, Iudicium'', but is missing in the MSS L and V. Another extract is found in UUB, C 3, a compendium from approximately 1447. Other traces of smaller excerpts from the fifteenth century have been discovered by other scholars. <br /> <br /> === Exposicio super Apocalipsim ===<br /> The most influential work of Mathias was, without comparison, Mathias' commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, expounding the biblical text from the beginning to chapter 15, verse 5. In the traditional scholastic style, Mathias explains the literal and, above all, the allegorical and moral sense of the sacred text.<br /> <br /> Mathias was more restrictive in identifying the agents of the Apocalypse with historical persons, events and periods than was Nicholas of Lyra or the writers in the Joachimite tradition. This Bible commentary follows the normal pattern for this genre, but it has a more personal tone through the constantly recurring polemic against contemporary theology, which, according to Mathias, has lost touch with exegesis and degenerated into an academic display where one constructs more and more theoretical problems around the biblical text, in order to escape its existential appeal. Mathias launches a vehement attack on the dialectic methods used in theology, i.e. the obsession with arguments for and against a given proposition, discussed not so much for its spiritual content as in order to discover its philosophical or logical implications, and thereby gain a reputation for shrewdness (''scire volunt ut sciantur'', a quote from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux). Mathias brands ''dyalectica'' as one of the Devil’s weapons to avert people from devotion and charity. Mathias here shows a strong anti-Aristotelian bias (perhaps all the more as Aristotle thought that metaphor and allegory are incompatible with “scientific” knowledge). In stark contrast to contemporary theology, Mathias directs his attention to the pre-scholastic methods of biblical exegesis, practised in monastic circles in the twelfth century, freely associating related words, detecting biblical analogies, and expounding the various senses of a given text; whatever is concluded must, however, be in perfect conformity with traditional morals. Thus, his interest remains the existential dimension of the Scriptures, explained according to rules set out once and for all by the four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great). Probably inspired by the Franciscan rigorists, he insists on a thorough reform of the Church. The commentary on the Apocalypse was the main doctrinal source of St. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444), who made a personal copy of it. Even Nicholas Cusanus, the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, acquired a copy of it and was impressed by Mathias as a spiritual writer (Piltz 1986, 143 ff.).<br /> <br /> ===== Manuscript tradition =====<br /> The complete list of the 21 manuscripts in Billing-Ottosson's edition, pp. 18-22. They can be distributed in two main categories, the “Bernardino” MSS, and the “independent” MSS. The copy (N, kept in the National Library of Naples, Cod VI.A.19), produced by S:t Bernardino of Siena sometime between 1425 and 1434 served as the original text of all the other “Bernardine” manuscripts. The “independent” manuscripts are independent of N and represent another tradition. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Beatus qui legit et qui audit verba prophecie huius et seruit ea, que in ea scripta sunt. Triplex gracia ad profectum in Scriptura Sacra requiri potest''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Et hoc est quod saluator insinuat Luce vicesimo primo de illo tempore loquens: Virtutes, inquit, celorum mouebuntur. Et tunc videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 428 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Billing-Ottosson, A.-M. 2003: ''Exposicio super Apocalypsim'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:3), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ 1986: pp. 143-145<br /> * ULFGARD 2021: pp. 676-741<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl., a collection compiled in Sweden 1344-1349) as well as in ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, states that ''Tempore quo magister Mathias, glosator biblie,'' ''glossabat super Apocalipsim, ait Dominus'' ... (“at the time when Magister Mathias, the glossator of the Bible, wrote a gloss on the Book of Revelation, the Lord said ...”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to his divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The commentary intended to give a literal as well as spiritual exposition of the sacred text, but it is much more restrained in identifying historical events and persons than Mathias’ predecessors in this genre, e.g. Joachim de Fiore (d. 1202), the most influential apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period, or Nicolas of Lyra (d. 1349), the foremost medieval exegete. Mathias deals with timeless truths, virtues and vices, as incarnate in history, past, present, and future. The picture of Christendom is sombre. The seven Churches in chapter two symbolize the virtues of active life, the seven seals in chapter five symbolize seven kinds of tribulations: the suffering of the just, the prosperity of the evil, the fight against the heretics, false brethren and hypocrites, the impunity of evil men, and sins committed by just man, making them fall by their own feebleness. The seven-fold corruption of the Church is represented by the seven trumpets. The corruption of the masses calls for punishment: it will be inflicted by the grasshoppers and the scorpions of chapter nine, i.e. by the evil princes of this earth. But Christ watches over his Church and will assist it, especially in making Sacred Scripture more transparent by the proclamation of his word, and by the good pastors of his Church; these, however, will be rare, and their effort will, for the most part, remain without effect. ''Valde ergo prope est interitus mundi'' (“The end of this world is imminent”, 10,88).<br /> <br /> Mathias insisted on a thorough reform of the Church, probably under the influence of the Franciscan rigorists. Such an influence explains his vehement accusations launched against the ignorance of the clergy, its worldly ambitions, the scandal of theology transformed into philosophy “with little sense and no affection” (''tantum scire faciunt, vt non afficiant''). The Roman Curia, where the origin of religion ought to be, was more rotten than any local church. One of the roots of this corruption was the transformation of theology into dialectical philosophy: ''experimento cotidie discimus videntes theologicam veritatem fere totam esse subuersam esse in philosophicam vanitatem'' (“From daily experience we see with our own eyes that theological truth has almost completely been transformed into philosophical vanity”; 12, 246). <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> This exposition follows the models of the genre but is more personal in tone than what was usual. His strong condemnations of the dialectical methods in theology might have something to do with his early years in Paris. Did he, as a mature man having gone through a spiritual crisis, have reasons to look at his own interest in literal theory (and quotes of Averroes) with strong disapproval? A significant passage (13, 197-198) illustrates what may be the essence of his strong stance against contemporary philosophy, as it was practiced in Paris: the Averroists taught in the Aristotelian spirit that knowledge can only be based on the testimony of the senses. From this they had drawn conclusions contrary to essential Christian dogmas. One of Mathias’ main concerns was to show the opposite: <br /> <br /> ''Sicut nempe per sensibiles apparencias elementorum mundi astucia dyaboli raciones contra diuinam sapienciam confingit, sic econtra diuina veritas per sensibilia se defendit. Multas enim raciones nec minus probabiles sancti doctores ex sensibilibus adinuenerant, quam falsi mundi sapientes contra sanctam fiden adinuenerunt. Non enim pauciores nec minus probabiles raciones beatus doctor Augustinus adinuenit pro sancta Christi fide quam Auerroes et Porphyrius heretici contra sanctam fidem confinxerunt.''<br /> <br /> (“Just as the Devil's cunning has invented rational arguments from the appearances of the elements of this world against divine Wisdom, so divine Wisdom also defends itself with the help of these testimonies of the senses. The holy doctors of the Church have found no less credible arguments from what the senses can perceive than the false wise men of the world have found against the holy faith. The blessed teacher Augustine has found no fewer or less credible arguments for the holy faith of Christ than the heretics Averroes and Porphyry have invented against the holy faith.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The manuscripts of this text are scattered in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. There is reason to believe that Birgittine religious from Vadstena brought a copy to the convent al Paradiso in Florence, and all foreign manuscripts have been reproduced from a common hyparchetype there. St. Bernardino of Siena made a copy of the ''Exposicio'' for his own use, in 1413 at the latest, and he used as master copy in al Paradiso. Later on, he made a second copy with his own hand. Possibly, this is the original of a manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus and of other manuscripts in Germany. Bernardino used Mathias’ commentary as one of three principal sources for his famous sermons, and Cusanus wanted a personal copy of it after having heard Bernardino's impressive Lenten sermons in Padua in 1423. According to a notice in three MSS. in Munich, Bernardino was moved by the exceptional spiritual sweetness (''singularem dulcedinem spiritus'') of Mathias’ exposition. He is even reported to have sent two friars to Sweden in order to retrieve its final part, but they returned empty-handed. Cusanus warned that the copy was defective: ''exemplar fuit corruptum, sitis cauciores!'' He professed himself to be a great admirer of the Swedish master, whom he affirmed to be truly illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Even in the fifteenth century, Mathias’ treatment of the last book of the Bible was obviously perceived and appreciated as fresh, original and profound. <br /> <br /> As BILLING-OTTOSSON has shown in the list (pp. 18-35) of manuscripts preserved, the Uppsala manuscript C 126 is the one that is closest to the archetype and consequently offers the most reliable version of the text. All other manuscripts are dependent on a hyparchetype that has been lost.<br /> <br /> === Homo conditus ===<br /> For the benefit of parish priests in the diocese of Linköping, Mathias composed ''Homo conditus'' (named after its incipit), a handbook in narrative style, which avoids technical terminology and encompasses all of Christian doctrine, from Creation to the Last Judgement and Heaven and Hell, according to the general plan of Peter Lombard’s ''Sentences''. It is supplemented with detailed treatises on the apostolic Creed, the virtues and vices, the seven sacraments, the five senses, the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, the Ave Maria, and what should be hoped for and feared in the afterlife. A series of sermon introductions are added, conforming to the Gospel readings at Mass through the liturgical year in the Diocese of Linköping. Using this book, a priest could explain the whole of Catholic dogma in the course of one year (it goes without saying that it was meant to be translated into the vernacular by the preacher). Mathias’s concern about religious and philosophical heresies (residual paganism, superstitious practices, astrology, fatalism) is of great interest as one of the rare sources for medieval Nordic mentality. ''Homo conditus'' is written in a vital, spontaneous prose style, saturated with metaphors and biblical allusions.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit/explicit =====<br /> Principal text: ''Homo conditus in omnibus bonis habundabat. Erat nempe perfectus in natura (...) cum nichil aliud iam poterunt nisi proprias penas cogitare, ne vacent amplius peccandi libertate.''<br /> <br /> Sermon introductions: ''Dominica prima Aduentus. Semper debet homo salutem suam operari (...) Castitas nempe, specialiter virginea, est celestis conuersacio. Require septimo capitulo, littera k, et de luxuria littera i.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 206 standard pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1984: ''Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:1), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1986: ''Vägen till Jerusalem: Valda texter ur Homo conditus i översättning och med kommentar'', Uppsala [partial translation]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A.1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A.1986b: pp. 146-149<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> A linguistic comparison with the other works ascribed to Mathias (Piltz, A.1974, pp. 47-52) proves that ''Homo conditus'' is written by him. The presence or absence of saints in the sermon draft ''de sanctis'' shows that the text fits into the liturgical situation in the diocese of Linköping during the period 1330-1350. It is therefore edited after Mathias’ return to Sweden (after a second period of studies in Paris 1333-1342/43) in 1344, when he was a canon in Linköping, and in 1343 he was provided with a rectorate in Söderköping in the same diocese.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The author himself has written a short summary of the whole book (Piltz, A. 1984, R:1-R:3):<br /> <br /> ''In hoc opusculo vndecim capitula sunt. Primum continet mala et dampna, que peccatum facit in natura racionali. Secundum est de fide, spe et karitate, quibus sanantur mala peccati. Tercium est de generali informacione fidei per breuem exposicionem simboli apostolici. Quartum disserit diuisim de articulis simboli cum septem sacramentis. Quintum habet generaliter de preceptis et preuaricacione eorum, virtutibus et viciis et donis Spiritus Sancti cum immissionibus dyaboli et beatitudinibus et miseriis et sensuum regimine. Sextum continet specialiter de decem preceptis et penis preuaricatorum. Septimum habet specialiter de septem viciis capitalibus et de virtutibus illis oppositis. Octauum continet de septem donis Spiritus Sancti et immissionibus dyaboli illis oppositis et beatitudinibus. Nonum de tribus partibus emendacionis peccatorum et triplici satisfaccione per elemosinam, ieiunium et oracionem, in qua oracio dominica et salutacio angelica exponuntur. Decimum de quinque per ordinem, que speranda sunt. Vndecimum de quinque per ordinem, que timenda sunt.''<br /> <br /> (“This work consists of eleven chapters. The first deals with the misfortunes and injuries which sin causes in the rational soul. The second deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the misfortune of sin is cured. The third contains a general review of the faith in the form of a brief explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. The fourth reviews the articles of faith in order, together with the seven sacraments. The fifth is a general survey of the commandments and the punishment of transgressors. The seventh is a special review of the seven capital vices and the virtues which are their opposites. The eighth contains the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the devilish inspirations which are their opposites, as well as the Beatitudes. The ninth focuses on the expiation for sin and the threefold expiation of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, including an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the Angel’s greeting. The tenth concerns the order of the five things in which we should hope. The eleventh deals in turn with the five things that we should fear.”)<br /> <br /> There is a detailed summary in Piltz 1974,14-28.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The general outline is determined by the catechetical categories (the Creed, the common prayers, sins and vices, the sacraments) and corresponds in content to the traditional presentation in the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard, the obligatory basic text in theological studies from the twelfth century until the Protestant Reformation. <br /> <br /> Mathias’ interest in the art of oratory, which he documented in his youth through the tract ''Testa nucis'' (see above), must have been evident when he, as a preacher, addressed a congregation in their own language. ''Homo conditus'' is a compendium of Christian doctrine, written in Latin but meant to be translated into Swedish by the priest. It avoids theological jargon as much as possible. The address is directed at the individual listener and appeals to his own ability to reason: <br /> <br /> ''Omnia animalia creata sunt ad aliquam vtilitatem, vermes auibus in cibum, aues et pecora hominibus. Si ergo homo moreretur in corpore et anima, ad quem vtilitatem esset ipse creatus? Numquid creasset ipsum Deum racionalem ad nichil aliud nisi scire et intelligere et sufferre calamitates huius mundi et deinde mori sicut aliud brutum? Quis vel demens hoc credere posset? Nonne vides malos homines prosperari in hoc mundo, et bonos aduersitates et tribulaciones pati? Hoc numquam iustissimus Deus faceret, nisi bonis hominibus in alia vita meliora reseruaret. Crede ergo firmiter sacre fidei promittenti tibi aliam vitam. An non actor fidei Christus Iesus adeo fide dignus est, quod mentiri non potuit?'' (II:10-11).<br /> <br /> (“All living things are created for some use, worms for food for birds, birds and cattle for people. Now if man died body and soul, for what use was he created? Would God have created his reason for no other purpose than to know and realize and suffer the misfortunes of this world, and then die like another beast? Who is so mad as to believe such a thing? Do you not see that the wicked live well in this world and the good suffer adversity and hardship? God would never do so in his supreme justice, if he had not reserved something better for the good in another life. Therefore, believe firmly in the holy faith, which promises you another life. Or is not the author of faith Christ Jesus trustworthy enough to escape suspicion of lying?”)<br /> <br /> Christian faith must be expressed in concrete action, a theme that this guide constantly insists on. No one is so poor that he cannot do good to his neighbour through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: <br /> <br /> ''Est enim elemosina spiritualis, que fit de possessione anime, corporalis vero, que fit de possessione corporis. Si ergo velis elemosinam spiritualem facere, ora ad Deum pro omnibus, conpatere afflictis, instrue ignorantes, corrige errantes, dimitte in nomine Christi inimicicias. Frequenter enim nobis bona temporalia deficiunt nec sufficimus elemosinam facere, licet velimus. Numquam tamen nobis tantum deficit numquam tam pauperes sumus, quod non possimus orare non solum pro Christianis sed pro omni humano genere; pro iustis, vt Deus det eis perseueranciam in bono, pro peccatoribus, vt Deus concedat eis veram penitenciam, pro paganis et Iudeis, vt concedat eis veram Dei et Christi recognicionem.'' (IX:227-228).<br /> <br /> (“There is a spiritual almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the soul; there is a bodily almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the body. If you want to give a spiritual almsgiving, then pray to God for all, have compassion on the unfortunate, teach the ignorant, correct the erring, forgive the unkind deeds, in the name of Christ. Often temporal possessions fail us and we are unable to give alms, although we would like to. But we never suffer such a lack, we are never so poor that we cannot pray, not only for Christians, but for the whole human race: for the righteous, that God may give them perseverance in good, for sinners, that God may give them true repentance, for the Gentiles and the Jews, that He may make them recognize God and His Anointed.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> There is no general relationship of dependence between ''Homo conditus'' and any predecessor in the genre of sermon manuals, even if individual details may correspond to other authors. Rather, all of them seem to have sought to produce their own variations and to vary the given catechetical categories in new ways. See Piltz,1974, pp. 59-76.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is to provide a practical and easily accessible handbook for the ordinary parish priest in the Diocese of Linköping in his task of delivering a sermon that is doctrinally sound, rhetorically effective, and refers to the biblical texts read in mass on Sundays and holidays, i.e. on the mandatory sermon days. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The text is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts from the library of Vadstena Monastery, now in Uppsala University Library, there with the designations C 217 and C 387 (both written in the late fourteenth century century). The latter had previously been owned by the priest Johannes Johannis from Kalmar, who entered the monastery in 1404, when it was incorporated into the monastery library. There are a few quotes from ''Homo conditus'' in diverse sermon collections from Vadstena.<br /> <br /> === Copia exemplorum ===<br /> Perhaps as a supplement to ''Homo conditus'', Mathias compiled an alphabetical collection of anecdotes, ''Copia exemplorum'' (633 entries from ''Absolucio'' to ''Vxor'').<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> There is only one copy preserved of this text, Uppsala University Library, C 54, foll. 60v-110r. Fol. 60v has the following notice, written by a fifteenth-century hand: ''Hic liber subscriptus qui incipit absolucio multum etc. dicitur Copia exemplorum quem fecit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Istum librum collegit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis. Absolucio multum beneficium confert morituris, ualet eciam defunctis'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''frequenter maritus malus lucrifit per bonam uxorem, R. amor carnis. Explicit copia exemplorum propter simplices collecta.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 118 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> ''Copia exemplorum'' is edited in the form of a reproduction of the final rough drafts of an edition prepared by Lars Wåhlin in 1901:<br /> <br /> * Wåhlin, L. &amp; Andersson-Schmitt, M. 1990: ''Magister Mathias: Copia exemplorum.'' Herausgegeben von Lars Wåhlin†. Mit Einleitung und Indizes von Margarete Andersson-Schmitt (Studia seminarii Latini Upsaliensis, 2), Uppsala<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan''. (Samlingar och studier till Svenska kyrkans historia. 9. Stockholm <br /> <br /> This doctoral dissertation is a thorough study of the book's genre and sources. In the Introduction (''Einführung'') of Wåhlin's edition there is an updated overview of the sources.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The text recounts an event that occurred in Tåby outside Söderköping in the Diocese of Linköping on July 24/25, 1344. It is obviously compilated in Linköping.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias is drawing mostly from French sources, above all the ''Alphabetum narracionum'' by Arnould of Liège OP (d. after 1310) and ''Miracula beate Marie virginis'' (Strömberg 1944, 36 ff., Andersson-Schmitt, ix-xvii).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience, composition and style ====<br /> For obvious reasons, the presentation is considerably more vivid and lively in this compilation, which was made ''propter simplices'', for common people, than in any other of Mathias’ works, which were intended for a clerical readership. The purpose of these examples is to arouse the audience’s curiosity and interest, which is why purely burlesque elements are not avoided. Here is a passage under the entry ''Adulterium'' (6,1): <br /> <br /> ''Vxor Gengulphi adultera cum ab eo argueretur et negaret, iussa est in purgacionem sceleris brachium in fontem frigidum mittere, quod uelut igne adustum retraxit, et mox ab ea se separauit. unde et cum ab adultero Gengulphus occisus miracula faceret, adultera ei detrahens dicebat: “Sic Gengulphus facit miracula sicut anus meus cantat.” unde et mox uellet nollet turpes sonos emisit, et extunc omni uita sua sextis feriis, quando uir eius occisus fuit.'' <br /> <br /> (“Gengulf’s wife was unfaithful, and when he accused her of this and she denied it, she was asked to put her arm in a cold spring to cleanse herself of this crime. She withdrew her arm, as if it had been burned by fire, and he immediately separated from her. But when Gengulf had been murdered by the adulterer and was performing miracles, the adulteress mocked him and said: “Gengulf performs miracles as well as my ass sings.” After that, she let out shameful sounds, whether she wanted to or not, and this happened every Friday after that, the day her husband had been murdered.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> 73 exempla from ''Copia exemplorum'' have been excerpted in the Vadstena manuscript in Uppsala University Library C 181, fols. 163r-168r.<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> * ANDERSSON-sCHMITT, M. 1990: see ''Copia exemplorum'', Edition, above.<br /> * BERGH, B. 1996: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * CARLSSON, G. 1949: “Mäster Mathias från Linköping. Ett bidrag till hans biografi,” ''Samlaren'', ny följd, 29.<br /> * FERM, O, 2021: “Magister Mathias Ouidi Lincopensis,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * KILSTRÖM, B. I. 1958: ''Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden'' (Bibliotheca theologiae practicae, 8), Uppsala.<br /> * KLOCKARS, B. 1971: ''Birgitta och hennes värld'' (Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Historiska serien, 16), Uppsala.<br /> * LIEDGREN, J. 1961: ''Magister Mathias’ svenska kungörelse om Birgittas första stora uppenbarelse: Ett förbisett dokument i Riksarkivet'' (Riksarkivets meddelanden, 1958), Stockholm.<br /> * MALM, M. 1997: “Uppenbarelse och poetik: Magister Mathias om effektiv framställning,” ''Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap'' 26:3/4, 61-80.<br /> * MALM, M. 2012: “The Soul of Poetry Redefined. Vacillations of Mimesis from Aristotle to Romanticism.” ''Tusculanum'' (Copenhagen).<br /> * MALM, M. 2021: “Magister Mathias on Literary Representation,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * PACETTI, D. 1961: “L’Expositio super Apocalypsim di Mattia di Svezia (c. 1281-1350) precipua fonte dottrinale di S. Bernardino da Siena,” ''Archivum Franciscanum historicum'' 54.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986: “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his Theological Context: A Preliminary Survey,” in M. Asztalos (ed.), ''The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages'' (Studia latina Stockholmiensia, 30), Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: see ''Alphabetum distinccionum'', Editions, above.<br /> * SAVICKI, S. 1936: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1959: ''Ecclesia Lincopensis: Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustaf Vasa'' (Stockholm Studies in History, 4), Stockholm.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1943: “Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” ''Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift'' 19, 301-322.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan'' (Samlingar och studier till Svenska Kyrkans historia, 9), Stockholm.<br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2005: “Från Paris till Linköping: akademiska bibelstudier och kyrklig bibelutläggning i medeltidens Europa belysta utifrån Magister Mathias Apokalyps-kommentar,” in K. O. U. Lejon (red.), ''Diocesis Lincopensis,'' 2: ''Medeltida internationella influenser'' (Linköpings stiftshistoriska sällskaps skriftserie, 2), Skellefteå, 141-167.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2021: “Magister Mathias of Linköping. Exegete and Theologian”, in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm, 676-741.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1168 2026-01-30T17:54:00Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Category:Article]]<br /> <br /> by Anderz Piltz<br /> <br /> '''Mathias Ouidi''' (Mats Övidsson, Övedsson), usually called Magister Mathias, born ''c''.1300, dead probably in 1350 in Stockholm. Master of Arts, canon at the cathedral of Linköping (not later than 1333), Baccalarius of Theology, and rector of the parish church of Saint Giles (Egidius) in Söderköping (not later than 1343). According to tradition, he was also Master of Theology. A close friend and influential confessor of Saint Birgitta (see [[Sancta Birgitta]]) prior to her journey to Rome in 1349, Mathias was by far the most prolific and original of Swedish writers, let alone theologians, in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> == Biography ==<br /> Information about Mathias is very sparse. His name cannot be traced in any university registers, but there is every reason to believe that he studied in the faculties of arts and theology at Paris. His earliest work, the ''Poetria'', is dedicated to archbishop Olof Björnsson, who was the incumbent of the see of Uppsala between 1318 and 1332. In 1333, Mathias is mentioned four times in documents from Linköping and its vicinity. In all probability, he was living in Sweden when Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of Birgitta, died on 12 February 1344; in ''Copia exemplorum'', Mathias refers to an event which took place in the parish of Tåby outside Söderköping in late July of that year (see further Piltz 1974, 31 ff.).<br /> <br /> In his theological works, Mathias is an inspired champion of orthodox Christianity. It is said that in his youth he was tempted by all the heresies in the world and thus suffered a serious religious crisis which, however, he overcame, and after which he was rewarded by God with an exceptional command of the Sacred Scriptures – a command that is amply demonstrated in his writings. Hence his interest in various heterodox tenets, which he attacks in the name of “true theology”, by which he means essentially the biblical texts in their original spiritual force, without too much academic glossing.<br /> <br /> Like his famous confessant, Mathias was convinced that the world was ageing and close to its end, since love had grown cold and lawlessness was reigning. He stressed the Franciscan principle that Christians should imitate God’s humility, displayed in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. <br /> <br /> Mathias was the close witness of Birgitta’s early mystical experiences and miracles, and he was convinced that she was the authentic voice of God to her contemporaries. As an expert theologian, he wrote an enthusiastic introduction (''Stupor et mirabilia'') to the first collection of her Revelations (see below). For unknown reasons, they parted ways around 1346: Birgitta prepared herself to go to Rome, Mathias planned to participate in a “crusade” undertaken by King Magnus Eriksson against the Russians (June-October 1348, autumn 1350-spring 1351); it cannot be established whether he actually took part or not. Birgitta was in Rome when she learned that Mathias had died in Sweden. <br /> <br /> According to tradition, Mathias was buried by the king himself in the Dominican conventual church “Helga Lösen” in the Old Town of Stockholm. He was famed for his saintliness, and miracles were attributed to his intercession. His tomb was destroyed during the Lutheran reformation in the sixteenth century. <br /> <br /> Mathias is one of the candidates as author of the Old Swedish works ''Paraphrase of the Pentateuch'' and ''Mirror of Kings''. But his main legacy comprises seven works in Latin. They all testify to his interest in rhetorics, profane as well as sacred, his scholarly ambitions as a theologian, and – at least as far as ''Homo conditus'' is concerned – his talent as a writer. <br /> <br /> Birgittine sources state that Mathias was the author of the prologue ''Stupor et mirabilia'' to the Revelations of St. Birgitta (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; Rev. VI, 75; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477, 601), furthermore of an excellent gloss on the whole Bible (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477), that he had an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures (Rev. V ''interrogacio'' 16, 36-37), and that he was a prolific writer (''Acta et processus'', 78, 477). A survey of Mathias’ writings is found in the Uppsala manuscript C 54 (fol. 60v), which originally belonged to the library of Vadstena Abbey: <br /> <br /> ''Hic liber Subscriptus ... dicitur Copia exemplorum, quem fecit magister Mathias Canonicus lyncopensis et collegit. Hic venerabilis vir M. fuit primus confessor matris nostre gloriose Sancte birgitte quia vita et religione valde erat preclarus et tempore suo magistrorum omnium summus. Qui plures libros fecit, scilicet Concordancias super totam bibliam quem'' [sic] ''habemus in Watzsteno in tribus voluminibus magne quantitatis. Item vnum librum qui dicitur Homo conditus. Item super apokalipsim. Item tractatum de modo loquendi et quamplures alios.'' <br /> <br /> (“This book which is written here below is called the ''Treasury of Examples'' and was written and compiled by Master Matthias, a Canon of Linköping. This venerable man M. was the first confessor of our glorious mother Birgitta, since he was particularly distinguished in piety and the most important Master of his time. He is the author of several books, namely, a ''Concordance'' over the whole Bible, which we have in Vadstena in three large volumes, further a book entitled ''Homo conditus'', one on the ''Book of Revelation'' and a treatise on the ''Art of Rhetoric'', and several others.”)<br /> <br /> == Works ==<br /> <br /> === Stupor et mirabilia ===<br /> This introduction to the first collection of the Birgittine corpus is an expert opinion on the authenticity and orthodoxy of the “heavenly revelations” that Birgitta Birgersdotter claimed to have received and had successively edited with the help of her confessors. It is written in a lofty and excited style. Mathias claims in antithetical sentences that what happened through Birgitta is more remarkable than the revelation that took place in the Old Testament through Moses, and in a way it even goes beyond the incarnation of Christ himself: “Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration” (25).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Stupor et mirabilia audita sunt in terra nostra. Mirabile siquidem'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) ab ipso factam ad verba eius ab ipso missa fatebuntur.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of standard pages: 12.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes''. Lübeck: Bartholomeus Ghotan [for Vadstena Abbey], 1492<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sancte Birgitte'' [ed. Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein], Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1500 <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Reuelationes celestes preelecte sponse Christi beate Birgitte'' … Nuremberg: Federicus Peypus, sumptibus Joannis Kobergers, 1517<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes'' [ed. Olaus Magnus], 2 vols., Romae, in aedibus diuae Birgittae viduae: Franciscus Mediolanensis de Ferrariis, 1557 [vol. 1, p. 24]<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Romae: Stephanus Paulinus, sumptibus Iulij Burchionij, 1606<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: Ioannes Keerbergius, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: apud viduam et haeredem P. Belleri, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''a Consalvo Duranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae.'' Coloniae Agrippinae: ex off. Anthonii Boetzeri haeredum [typis Henricus Krafft], 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''á Consaluo Duranto episcopo Ferettrano notis illustratae'' … Tomvs I. Romae: Ludouicus Grignanus, 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes Caelestes seraphicae matris sanctae Birgittae Suecae'' … Munich: Sebastianus Rauch, sumptibus Joannis Wagneri et Joannis Hermanni à Gelder, 1680<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes S. Birgittae e codice membraneo fol. 21 Bibliothecae Universitatis Lundensis (“Cod. Falkenberg”), Suecice et Britannice praefatus''. Facsimile ed. by Elias Wessén, 2 vols. (Corpus codicum Suecicorum medii aevi), Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1952–1956<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelaciones''. ''Book I, with Magister Mathias’ Prologue'', ed. by Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 7:1), Uppsala [also Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm, and, extra series, Stockholm: Almqvist &amp; Wiksell International], 1977 [printed 1978], pp. 227-240<br /> <br /> ==== Electronic texts ====<br /> <br /> * ''St Birgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones, Book I'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.umilta.net/bk1.html&lt;/nowiki&gt; <br /> * ''Corpus Reuelacionum Sancte Birgitte'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://62.20.57.210/ra/diplomatariet/CRB/index.htm&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) Sancta Birgitta, ''The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden'', vol. I: ''Liber Caelestis, Books I-III'', translated by Denis Searby, with introductions and notes by Bridget Morris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 [p. 47-52]<br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Das puch der Himlischen offenbarung der heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem kunigreich Sweden'' [ed. by Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1502 <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Brigitta''. Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus, 4 vols. (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg: Verlag von G. Joseph Manz, 1856 [“Vorrede … vom Magister Matthias aus Schweden,” vol. IV, 345-53] <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Birgitta.'' Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus. Aufs neue durchgesehen und verbessert von einem katholischen Priester (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg, 1888 [microfiche ed.: Wildberg: Belser Wiss. Dienst (Edition St. Walburg), 1994 – 11 microfiches, 29x]<br /> * (Polish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Skarby niebieskich taiemnic'', [Zamosc], 1698 <br /> * (Spanish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Celestiales Revelaciones de Santa Brígida, Princesa de Suecia'' …, 4 vols., Madrid: [Tipografia del Sagrado Corazón], 1901 <br /> * (Swedish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Himmelska uppenbarelser'', trans. by T. Lundén, 4 vols., Malmö: Allhem, 1957–1959; vol. 1, 57-60, contains a summary of and an excerpt from ''Stupor et mirabilia''<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUNDÉN, HJ. 1973: ''Den heliga Birgitta. Ormungens dotter som blev Kristi brud.'' Stockholm <br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Written in Sweden, ''terminus post quem'' is the death of Ulf Gudmarsson, which is referred to in the text.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is obvious, since the authenticity of the Birgittine revelations was initially questioned and accused of being of demonic origin, especially since they had been addressed to a woman without theological training. Mathias, who was the country's foremost theological expert, vouches for their divine origin and insists that they should be read as instructions from Heaven and taken seriously by all Christians.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> ''Stupor and mirabilia'' came to be considered the preface of Birgitta's ''Revelations'' and is included in all editions since Bartholomeus Gothan's editio princeps, printed in Lübeck in 1492.<br /> <br /> === Testa nucis ===<br /> This text is only preserved in a short fragment in the MS. C 521 (foll. 172v-173r), earlier pertaining to the monastery of Vadstena. It seems to convey traditional rhetorical doctrine. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> This tract is obviously identical with the ''Tractatus de modo loquendi'' mentioned in the same MS (see above).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Incipit Testa nucis. Rethorica est potencia considerandi vnumquodque contingens persuasibile'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) vtrum in eo negocium expleri pot&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;u&gt;erit, et partes temporis, mensis, dies&lt;/nowiki&gt;'' (the fragment ends here).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of pages: 6. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable]<br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The dedication of ''Poetria'' (see below) to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala indicates that ''Testa nucis'', to which several explicit references are made in ''Poetria'', was written in the early 1320s, during Mathias' studies at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, in a period when he was obviously intensely interested in literary theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The fragmentary character of the preserved text makes it impossible to have a more precise idea of its layout. The beginning of the fragment reproduces the main rules of classical rhetoric as the ability to persuade, in three areas: before a court of law, in a political assembly, and in ceremonial speeches (which should unite the audience around common values). An effective speech consists of five elements: inventory of arguments, outline, style, delivery, and memorization. The art of persuasion refers to obvious facts, or to confidence in the speaker's credibility, arouses emotions, provides examples, analogies, and probabilities, and discusses various types of mitigating or aggravating circumstances of an action.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The traditional scholastic style of definitions and distinctions of traditional rhetorical concepts is adopted.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Its principal source appears to be William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Rhetoric'', with occasional reminiscences from ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' and Cicero’s ''De inventione'' (Bergh 1996, 8 f.).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The aim is to convey traditional rhetorical theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 172v-173r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs' edition.<br /> <br /> === Poetria ===<br /> The ''Poetria'' is a treatise on poetry. It is partly written in hexameters in a rather abstruse style. It is not typical of the medieval tradition, which took a keen interest in technical matters such as tropes, figures of speech and other stylistic devices, but not in aesthetic theory. Mathias makes an effort to integrate Aristotelian theory into a treatise on poetry, a remarkable ambition in fourteenth-century Sweden. He uses examples from Avianus, Homer, Ovid, Persius and Virgil. The text is divided into three parts, ''representacio'' (visualization), ''tonus'' (intonation), and ''metrum'' (not on metrics but on the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Maria Ihesus Christus. Incipit Poetria domini magistri Mathie. Cum plurima nostratum studia ante mentis oculos pertractarem''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Eterni tecum mansuri solis ad ortum. Explicit Poetria magistri Mathie Lincopensis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Metre/rhythm =====<br /> The many metrical examples adduced are mostly hexametric. The treatise ends with a poem by Mattias himself, comprising 94 lines, which aims to illustrate various poetical tropes (mentioned in the margin) discussed in the previous theoretical part. <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 42 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable] <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm <br /> <br /> Note that Bergh in his critical and exegetical remarks (pp. 17-27) corrects Sawicki on many points; Sawicki's edition should therefore be avoided as misrepresenting the original text in a number of passages.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions) <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * BERGH, B. 1996, and his ''Introduction'' should be consulted first of all, since he points out the very obscurity of this text and consequently the difficulties implied in interpreting it.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> ''Poetria'' is obviously written in close connexion to ''Testa nucis'' (to which several references are made; see above) in Paris around 1320, during Mathias' studies in the Faculty of Arts, when he seemed intensely interested in literary theory. It is dedicated to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala, who was the incumbent from 1318 to 1332. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Mathias wanted to find an aesthetic theory for poetry. The main theme of this treatise on poetry is ''representatio'', which in this context means “visualizations”: ''representaciones tam certe et veraciter factas, ut non credatur res ficta esse'' (“so certain and plausible that the matter does not seem to have been made up”; 66). <br /> <br /> ''Vnde merito similitudinem habet poeta cum pictore. Sicut enim pictor peritus rem, que in se delectabilis non esset aspicere, propter conuenienciam in disposicione partium picture et colorum delectabiliter inuenitur representare, sic poeta perfectus delectat animam in faciendo rem secundum suas proprietates imaginari'' <br /> <br /> (“[T]he poet is rightly compared to the painter. For the skilful painter, by the harmonious arrangement of the different parts and colours of the picture, turns out to give an agreeable representation of something that would not in itself be agreeable to look at, and in the same way the perfect poet gives pleasure by making us imagine a thing in accordance to its characteristics”; 6-7). <br /> <br /> In this view it is the most important of three components of poetry, the other two being ''tonus'' (rhytm) and ''metrum'' (the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). The text ends with a didactic poem in hexameters which intend to illustrate the poetic figures, terms, and techniques discussed in the theoretical part of the text. <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The style is more personal than in ''Testa nucis'' (''sicut credo, reor attendendum, ut michi'' ''videtur'', etc). Mathias is fully aware of his own ability to judge and produce poetry, and also of his status as a pioneer in Sweden in literary theory. He speaks disparagingly of the creators of leonine verses of his time: ''aut leonina. Et hoc solum est, quod nostri metriste in versibus facere sciunt'';” or the kind called ‘leonine’. &quot;This is the only thing our poetasters are capable of in their verses” (79-80).<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Mathias is dependent on Hermannus Alemannus’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics'', a particularly obscure rendering of the original text, due to intermediary (Syrian, Arabic) versions. He is not unaware of his pioneer achievement (Bergh 1996, 9 ff.). Maybe the mature theologian Mathias felt uneasy about these juvenile exercises, judging from later warnings about the allurement of philosophy.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> One can assume that the young Mathias, aware of his talent, wanted to gain a patron and benefactor in the (newly appointed?) Archbishop of Uppsala, and also, thereby, to gain a readership and intellectual reputation: <br /> <br /> ''vt luce vestri nominis et gracie quam ex se et sui actoris sciencia famosius rutilans duracionem in tempore cum lectorum frequencia optima nancisscatur''; <br /> <br /> “so that it will gleam with greater renown through the light of Your name and grace than through itself and the knowledge of its author, and thus procure long duration and a great number of readers” (4).<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 169r-172r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs’ edition.<br /> <br /> === Alphabetum distinccionum ===<br /> Mathias' most comprehensive work is the ''Alphabetum distinccionum,'' a (selective) concordance to the biblical text combined with a kind of theological encyclopedia of so called ''distincciones'' between the different senses of Scripture, with special stress on the ''sensus moralis''. The entries are small tracts of theological character, useful for homiletical purposes. <br /> <br /> It is meant to be an encyclopaedia of the principal nouns, verbs, some few adverbs, and the most important proper names, along with some “natural things” (''res naturales'') mentioned in the Bible. It is in fact a systematic gloss on the Bible and comprises even terms not occurring in the Scriptures, such as ''Accidia, Actuosa deuocio, Condignum, Fomes (peccati), Scriptura sacra, Sinderesis, Syrena, Theologia, Trinitas''. The reader may combine interpretations of separate words and so construct various expositions as required. However, the result must never contradict faith or morals: (''sic'') ''vt veritas fidei seruetur ex vno et honestas morum non ledatur ex altero.''<br /> <br /> Today, the text only survives as fragments of two parchment codices, and in quoted extracts in other works. The volumes were dispersed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when they were confiscated by the secular authorities and reused for various account books and legal records (domböcker). The surviving leaves are scattered across eight institutions in five cities: Stockholm, Vadstena, Helsinki, Oslo, and London, most of them available digitally. <br /> <br /> By employing various methods and accounting for all pertinent evidence communicated by the extant witnesses, especially cross-references, roughly forty per cent of the original ''c''.4000 headwords can be identified (according to SUPPONEN, 2023). The headwords survive at least partly in 603 entries. The cross-references provide 821 otherwise unknown headwords. <br /> <br /> The book contributed to his reputation among the Birgittines that he knew the entire Bible inside out, “from Alpha to Omega”. It now exists only as fragments in the form of 326 preserved leaves of two manuscripts, apart from quotes in sermons by Vadstena brothers. It is an encyclopaedia of the most important nouns, verbs and proper names in the Vulgate. The concepts are explained, with descriptive applications and examples of the use of the word in question. A peculiarity is Mathias's strong interest in natural phenomena (''res naturales''), their definition and properties: the visible, material things are understood as references to the invisible. All of nature is a kind of allegorical rebus that illustrates spiritual truths and heavenly things, for those who have eyes with which to see it. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> Although this work is called ''Concordancie super totam bibliam'' in MS. C 54 of Uppsala University Library, the prologue, which is almost completely preserved, indicates the correct title: <br /> <br /> “''Distinguuntur ergo in hoc alphabeto textus et glose Biblie et naturales rerum, de quibus Scripture mencionem faciunt, proprietates per vocabula et sentencias figurales, misticas et historicas''” <br /> <br /> (“In this alphabetical register, the varied meanings of the texts of the Bible and the glosses are conveyed, as well as the natural phenomena that are mentioned in Scripture, [and] the properties that are demonstrated by their names, as well as their figurative, mystical and historical meanings”).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The work is said to have filled three huge volumes in the Birgittine Abbey of Vadstena. Only 145 folios remain, scattered in different libraries (which makes them very difficult to read without modern technical devices). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: “Mathiæ canonici Lincopensis ''Alphabeti distinccionum'' sive ''Concordanciarum'' fragmenta selecta”, in ''Symbolae Septentrionales: Latin Studies Presented to Jan Öberg'', ed. M. Asztalos &amp; C. Gejrot, Stockholm, 137-171 [samples of the extant fragments]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was likely composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. According to the Birgittine ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl.) and ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, Mathias ''glossavit totam Bibliam excellenter'' ''et composuit multa volumina librorum'' (“wrote an excellent gloss on the whole Bible and was the author of many volumes”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to Mathias’ divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator Biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' is an alphabetically organised reference work that compiles materials from various preaching aids. It comprises a concordance for contextualising the themes and divisions of sermons, as well as devices for expanding upon sermons, such as distinctions, encyclopaedic descriptions, and biblical exempla. The text consists of two parts: the text proper and an interlinear reference apparatus, that provides commentaries on biblical verses in the text proper and citations of the verses and accompanying references in the apparatus. The headwords are described in their historical sense in the text proper, while the moral or allegorical readings are presented in the apparatus. The interlinear apparatus also contains cross-references to other entries. <br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias owes much to St. Bonaventure OFM; he also echoes John Duns Scotus OFM. Inspired by principles set up by pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, probably with Bartholomeus Anglicus (''c''.1250) as intermediary, Mathias refers, often in detail, to the facts, processes and events of nature as analogies of spiritual realities in the realm of grace. The book also conveys vitriolic criticism of the hierarchy and the religious orders (cf. Piltz 1986, 139 ff.; Piltz 1995, 137 ff.). SUPPONEN (pp.122-167) gives a thorough overview of the textual sources: the third concordance of St. Jacques, Glossa ordinaria, Bartholomeus Anglicus, etc.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The method applied in this concordance could best be demonstrated with a quotation from the entry ''Sensus Scripture'': <br /> <br /> ''Sensus hystoricus est, cum res quandoque secundum litteram vel facta vel dicta sit (vt saluacio filiorum Israel de Egypto), plano sermone refertur. Allegoria (Ysaie: egredietur virga de radice Iesse), cum verbis vel rebus misticis presencia Christi et Ecclesie sacramenta signantur (sanguis agni sanguinem Christi significat). Tropologia est moralis instructio (non diligamus verbo neque lingua) ad correccionem morum per aperta vel figurata verba (omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida). Anagoge, id est ”ad superiora ducens loqucio”, est que de premiis (beati mundo corde) futuris apertis vel misticis verbis (beati qui lauant stolas suas, etc.) disputat.''<br /> <br /> (“The meanings of Scripture: (...) historical meaning is expressed when something is stated to have been done or said (for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt) in clear words. Allegory (Isaiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”) when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the Church are signified (the blood of the lamb signifies the blood of Christ). Tropology is moral teaching (“Let us not love in word nor in tongue”) with the aim of improving our conduct through ordinary or figurative words (“Let your garments always be white”). Anagoge, that is, “speech that leads upward,” deals with rewards (“Blessed are the pure in heart”) in the future, presented in clear or mystical words (“Blessed are those who wash their robes.””)<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The primary purpose is obvious: to provide preachers with all the scholarly tools they need to compose a sermon which is orthodox, instructive, and with a strong moral appeal to conversion and a striving for a virtuous life. Mathias' personal background may have contributed with an existential incentive: he took a special interest in the symbolic potency of the visible world. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (V, int. 16:36-37) states that Mathias in his earlier life (in Paris?) had experienced the conflict between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He had overcome this temptation by not trusting his own senses and judgement too much. He was rewarded with an exceptional knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Mathias had been seriously attracted by the “second Averroism” which, while proclaiming the submission to the teachings of the Church, in reality professed a learned and more complicated form of incredulity, founded on the orthodox Aristotelian thesis that all knowledge must be based on sensual perception. This is precisely the argument of the Devil, Mathias contends in this commentary on the Apocalypse (12, 244-251), since he takes his subtle and sophistic reasons from the phenomena (''ex apparenciis'') in the visible world of the four elements: but with the help of grace the human mind is illuminated and can reach a spiritual understanding of corporal things in the visible world. Hence his interest in the natural and sensual phenomena: they are altogether symbols and vehicles of spiritual truths. What Mathias attacks, with strong anti-dialectical bias, is the separation of theology and exegesis. In connection with the greatest Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure, Mathias claims that theology should appeal to all human capacities and mentalities: its method (''modus tradendi'') is ''narrativus, preceptivus, excitativus, comminatorius, promissivus, precatorius, laudativus.'' The purpose of theology escapes the presumptuos, the unclean, the treacherous, the idle. All this explains why it is so obscure: it demands an intellectual and moral effort, in order not to become insipid. It aims at inclining our wills so that we want to be good, ''vt boni fiamus''. All these statements in the entry Sacra Scriptura are paraphrazes on the ''Breviloquium'' of Bonaventure.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' has survived in fragments of two manuscripts, later reused for secondary purposes: ''MS Linköping'' (''MS L''), Stockholm, The National Archives, ''MPO, Fr 3'', and ''Östergötlands handlingar 1539:3:1'', second quarter of the fourteenth century, a bifolium; and ''MS Vadstena'' (''MS V''), written before 1381 in Linköping or Uppsala, and preserved in 88 fragments that comprise 163 leaves in total, in the Swedish National Archives, and seven other institutions (see above). It was in the possession of Birger Gregersson (Archbishop of Uppsala 1366-1383), who might have commissioned the copy. Quotations in sermons by the Vadstena preachers and frequent annotations in MS V demonstrate that the Birgittines used the book up to the early fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> SUPPONEN (pp. 83-92) has furthermore identified extracts of ''Alphabetum'' in Uppsala, UUB, C 391, foll. 129v-131r, copied by Styrkarus Thyrgilli (d. 1416), which comprises a part of the entries ''Misericordia'' and ''Iudicare, Iudicium'', but is missing in the MSS L and V. Another extract is found in UUB, C 3, a compendium from approximately 1447. Other traces of smaller excerpts from the fifteenth century have been discovered by other scholars. <br /> <br /> === Exposicio super Apocalipsim ===<br /> The most influential work of Mathias was, without comparison, Mathias' commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, expounding the biblical text from the beginning to chapter 15, verse 5. In the traditional scholastic style, Mathias explains the literal and, above all, the allegorical and moral sense of the sacred text.<br /> <br /> Mathias was more restrictive in identifying the agents of the Apocalypse with historical persons, events and periods than was Nicholas of Lyra or the writers in the Joachimite tradition. This Bible commentary follows the normal pattern for this genre, but it has a more personal tone through the constantly recurring polemic against contemporary theology, which, according to Mathias, has lost touch with exegesis and degenerated into an academic display where one constructs more and more theoretical problems around the biblical text, in order to escape its existential appeal. Mathias launches a vehement attack on the dialectic methods used in theology, i.e. the obsession with arguments for and against a given proposition, discussed not so much for its spiritual content as in order to discover its philosophical or logical implications, and thereby gain a reputation for shrewdness (''scire volunt ut sciantur'', a quote from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux). Mathias brands ''dyalectica'' as one of the Devil’s weapons to avert people from devotion and charity. Mathias here shows a strong anti-Aristotelian bias (perhaps all the more as Aristotle thought that metaphor and allegory are incompatible with “scientific” knowledge). In stark contrast to contemporary theology, Mathias directs his attention to the pre-scholastic methods of biblical exegesis, practised in monastic circles in the twelfth century, freely associating related words, detecting biblical analogies, and expounding the various senses of a given text; whatever is concluded must, however, be in perfect conformity with traditional morals. Thus, his interest remains the existential dimension of the Scriptures, explained according to rules set out once and for all by the four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great). Probably inspired by the Franciscan rigorists, he insists on a thorough reform of the Church. The commentary on the Apocalypse was the main doctrinal source of St. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444), who made a personal copy of it. Even Nicholas Cusanus, the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, acquired a copy of it and was impressed by Mathias as a spiritual writer (Piltz 1986, 143 ff.).<br /> <br /> ===== Manuscript tradition =====<br /> The complete list of the 21 manuscripts in Billing-Ottosson's edition, pp. 18-22. They can be distributed in two main categories, the “Bernardino” MSS, and the “independent” MSS. The copy (N, kept in the National Library of Naples, Cod VI.A.19), produced by S:t Bernardino of Siena sometime between 1425 and 1434 served as the original text of all the other “Bernardine” manuscripts. The “independent” manuscripts are independent of N and represent another tradition. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Beatus qui legit et qui audit verba prophecie huius et seruit ea, que in ea scripta sunt. Triplex gracia ad profectum in Scriptura Sacra requiri potest''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Et hoc est quod saluator insinuat Luce vicesimo primo de illo tempore loquens: Virtutes, inquit, celorum mouebuntur. Et tunc videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 428 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Billing-Ottosson, A.-M. 2003: ''Exposicio super Apocalypsim'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:3), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ 1986: pp. 143-145<br /> * ULFGARD 2021: pp. 676-741<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl., a collection compiled in Sweden 1344-1349) as well as in ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, states that ''Tempore quo magister Mathias, glosator biblie,'' ''glossabat super Apocalipsim, ait Dominus'' ... (“at the time when Magister Mathias, the glossator of the Bible, wrote a gloss on the Book of Revelation, the Lord said ...”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to his divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The commentary intended to give a literal as well as spiritual exposition of the sacred text, but it is much more restrained in identifying historical events and persons than Mathias’ predecessors in this genre, e.g. Joachim de Fiore (d. 1202), the most influential apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period, or Nicolas of Lyra (d. 1349), the foremost medieval exegete. Mathias deals with timeless truths, virtues and vices, as incarnate in history, past, present, and future. The picture of Christendom is sombre. The seven Churches in chapter two symbolize the virtues of active life, the seven seals in chapter five symbolize seven kinds of tribulations: the suffering of the just, the prosperity of the evil, the fight against the heretics, false brethren and hypocrites, the impunity of evil men, and sins committed by just man, making them fall by their own feebleness. The seven-fold corruption of the Church is represented by the seven trumpets. The corruption of the masses calls for punishment: it will be inflicted by the grasshoppers and the scorpions of chapter nine, i.e. by the evil princes of this earth. But Christ watches over his Church and will assist it, especially in making Sacred Scripture more transparent by the proclamation of his word, and by the good pastors of his Church; these, however, will be rare, and their effort will, for the most part, remain without effect. ''Valde ergo prope est interitus mundi'' (“The end of this world is imminent”, 10,88).<br /> <br /> Mathias insisted on a thorough reform of the Church, probably under the influence of the Franciscan rigorists. Such an influence explains his vehement accusations launched against the ignorance of the clergy, its worldly ambitions, the scandal of theology transformed into philosophy “with little sense and no affection” (''tantum scire faciunt, vt non afficiant''). The Roman Curia, where the origin of religion ought to be, was more rotten than any local church. One of the roots of this corruption was the transformation of theology into dialectical philosophy: ''experimento cotidie discimus videntes theologicam veritatem fere totam esse subuersam esse in philosophicam vanitatem'' (“From daily experience we see with our own eyes that theological truth has almost completely been transformed into philosophical vanity”; 12, 246). <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> This exposition follows the models of the genre but is more personal in tone than what was usual. His strong condemnations of the dialectical methods in theology might have something to do with his early years in Paris. Did he, as a mature man having gone through a spiritual crisis, have reasons to look at his own interest in literal theory (and quotes of Averroes) with strong disapproval? A significant passage (13, 197-198) illustrates what may be the essence of his strong stance against contemporary philosophy, as it was practiced in Paris: the Averroists taught in the Aristotelian spirit that knowledge can only be based on the testimony of the senses. From this they had drawn conclusions contrary to essential Christian dogmas. One of Mathias’ main concerns was to show the opposite: <br /> <br /> ''Sicut nempe per sensibiles apparencias elementorum mundi astucia dyaboli raciones contra diuinam sapienciam confingit, sic econtra diuina veritas per sensibilia se defendit. Multas enim raciones nec minus probabiles sancti doctores ex sensibilibus adinuenerant, quam falsi mundi sapientes contra sanctam fiden adinuenerunt. Non enim pauciores nec minus probabiles raciones beatus doctor Augustinus adinuenit pro sancta Christi fide quam Auerroes et Porphyrius heretici contra sanctam fidem confinxerunt.''<br /> <br /> (“Just as the Devil's cunning has invented rational arguments from the appearances of the elements of this world against divine Wisdom, so divine Wisdom also defends itself with the help of these testimonies of the senses. The holy doctors of the Church have found no less credible arguments from what the senses can perceive than the false wise men of the world have found against the holy faith. The blessed teacher Augustine has found no fewer or less credible arguments for the holy faith of Christ than the heretics Averroes and Porphyry have invented against the holy faith.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The manuscripts of this text are scattered in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. There is reason to believe that Birgittine religious from Vadstena brought a copy to the convent al Paradiso in Florence, and all foreign manuscripts have been reproduced from a common hyparchetype there. St. Bernardino of Siena made a copy of the ''Exposicio'' for his own use, in 1413 at the latest, and he used as master copy in al Paradiso. Later on, he made a second copy with his own hand. Possibly, this is the original of a manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus and of other manuscripts in Germany. Bernardino used Mathias’ commentary as one of three principal sources for his famous sermons, and Cusanus wanted a personal copy of it after having heard Bernardino's impressive Lenten sermons in Padua in 1423. According to a notice in three MSS. in Munich, Bernardino was moved by the exceptional spiritual sweetness (''singularem dulcedinem spiritus'') of Mathias’ exposition. He is even reported to have sent two friars to Sweden in order to retrieve its final part, but they returned empty-handed. Cusanus warned that the copy was defective: ''exemplar fuit corruptum, sitis cauciores!'' He professed himself to be a great admirer of the Swedish master, whom he affirmed to be truly illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Even in the fifteenth century, Mathias’ treatment of the last book of the Bible was obviously perceived and appreciated as fresh, original and profound. <br /> <br /> As BILLING-OTTOSSON has shown in the list (pp. 18-35) of manuscripts preserved, the Uppsala manuscript C 126 is the one that is closest to the archetype and consequently offers the most reliable version of the text. All other manuscripts are dependent on a hyparchetype that has been lost.<br /> <br /> === Homo conditus ===<br /> For the benefit of parish priests in the diocese of Linköping, Mathias composed ''Homo conditus'' (named after its incipit), a handbook in narrative style, which avoids technical terminology and encompasses all of Christian doctrine, from Creation to the Last Judgement and Heaven and Hell, according to the general plan of Peter Lombard’s ''Sentences''. It is supplemented with detailed treatises on the apostolic Creed, the virtues and vices, the seven sacraments, the five senses, the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, the Ave Maria, and what should be hoped for and feared in the afterlife. A series of sermon introductions are added, conforming to the Gospel readings at Mass through the liturgical year in the Diocese of Linköping. Using this book, a priest could explain the whole of Catholic dogma in the course of one year (it goes without saying that it was meant to be translated into the vernacular by the preacher). Mathias’s concern about religious and philosophical heresies (residual paganism, superstitious practices, astrology, fatalism) is of great interest as one of the rare sources for medieval Nordic mentality. ''Homo conditus'' is written in a vital, spontaneous prose style, saturated with metaphors and biblical allusions.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit/explicit =====<br /> Principal text: ''Homo conditus in omnibus bonis habundabat. Erat nempe perfectus in natura (...) cum nichil aliud iam poterunt nisi proprias penas cogitare, ne vacent amplius peccandi libertate.''<br /> <br /> Sermon introductions: ''Dominica prima Aduentus. Semper debet homo salutem suam operari (...) Castitas nempe, specialiter virginea, est celestis conuersacio. Require septimo capitulo, littera k, et de luxuria littera i.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 206 standard pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1984: ''Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:1), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1986: ''Vägen till Jerusalem: Valda texter ur Homo conditus i översättning och med kommentar'', Uppsala [partial translation]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A.1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A.1986b: pp. 146-149<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> A linguistic comparison with the other works ascribed to Mathias (Piltz, A.1974, pp. 47-52) proves that ''Homo conditus'' is written by him. The presence or absence of saints in the sermon draft ''de sanctis'' shows that the text fits into the liturgical situation in the diocese of Linköping during the period 1330-1350. It is therefore edited after Mathias’ return to Sweden (after a second period of studies in Paris 1333-1342/43) in 1344, when he was a canon in Linköping, and in 1343 he was provided with a rectorate in Söderköping in the same diocese.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The author himself has written a short summary of the whole book (Piltz, A. 1984, R:1-R:3):<br /> <br /> ''In hoc opusculo vndecim capitula sunt. Primum continet mala et dampna, que peccatum facit in natura racionali. Secundum est de fide, spe et karitate, quibus sanantur mala peccati. Tercium est de generali informacione fidei per breuem exposicionem simboli apostolici. Quartum disserit diuisim de articulis simboli cum septem sacramentis. Quintum habet generaliter de preceptis et preuaricacione eorum, virtutibus et viciis et donis Spiritus Sancti cum immissionibus dyaboli et beatitudinibus et miseriis et sensuum regimine. Sextum continet specialiter de decem preceptis et penis preuaricatorum. Septimum habet specialiter de septem viciis capitalibus et de virtutibus illis oppositis. Octauum continet de septem donis Spiritus Sancti et immissionibus dyaboli illis oppositis et beatitudinibus. Nonum de tribus partibus emendacionis peccatorum et triplici satisfaccione per elemosinam, ieiunium et oracionem, in qua oracio dominica et salutacio angelica exponuntur. Decimum de quinque per ordinem, que speranda sunt. Vndecimum de quinque per ordinem, que timenda sunt.''<br /> <br /> (“This work consists of eleven chapters. The first deals with the misfortunes and injuries which sin causes in the rational soul. The second deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the misfortune of sin is cured. The third contains a general review of the faith in the form of a brief explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. The fourth reviews the articles of faith in order, together with the seven sacraments. The fifth is a general survey of the commandments and the punishment of transgressors. The seventh is a special review of the seven capital vices and the virtues which are their opposites. The eighth contains the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the devilish inspirations which are their opposites, as well as the Beatitudes. The ninth focuses on the expiation for sin and the threefold expiation of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, including an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the Angel’s greeting. The tenth concerns the order of the five things in which we should hope. The eleventh deals in turn with the five things that we should fear.”)<br /> <br /> There is a detailed summary in Piltz 1974,14-28.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The general outline is determined by the catechetical categories (the Creed, the common prayers, sins and vices, the sacraments) and corresponds in content to the traditional presentation in the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard, the obligatory basic text in theological studies from the twelfth century until the Protestant Reformation. <br /> <br /> Mathias’ interest in the art of oratory, which he documented in his youth through the tract ''Testa nucis'' (see above), must have been evident when he, as a preacher, addressed a congregation in their own language. ''Homo conditus'' is a compendium of Christian doctrine, written in Latin but meant to be translated into Swedish by the priest. It avoids theological jargon as much as possible. The address is directed at the individual listener and appeals to his own ability to reason: <br /> <br /> ''Omnia animalia creata sunt ad aliquam vtilitatem, vermes auibus in cibum, aues et pecora hominibus. Si ergo homo moreretur in corpore et anima, ad quem vtilitatem esset ipse creatus? Numquid creasset ipsum Deum racionalem ad nichil aliud nisi scire et intelligere et sufferre calamitates huius mundi et deinde mori sicut aliud brutum? Quis vel demens hoc credere posset? Nonne vides malos homines prosperari in hoc mundo, et bonos aduersitates et tribulaciones pati? Hoc numquam iustissimus Deus faceret, nisi bonis hominibus in alia vita meliora reseruaret. Crede ergo firmiter sacre fidei promittenti tibi aliam vitam. An non actor fidei Christus Iesus adeo fide dignus est, quod mentiri non potuit?'' (II:10-11).<br /> <br /> (“All living things are created for some use, worms for food for birds, birds and cattle for people. Now if man died body and soul, for what use was he created? Would God have created his reason for no other purpose than to know and realize and suffer the misfortunes of this world, and then die like another beast? Who is so mad as to believe such a thing? Do you not see that the wicked live well in this world and the good suffer adversity and hardship? God would never do so in his supreme justice, if he had not reserved something better for the good in another life. Therefore, believe firmly in the holy faith, which promises you another life. Or is not the author of faith Christ Jesus trustworthy enough to escape suspicion of lying?”)<br /> <br /> Christian faith must be expressed in concrete action, a theme that this guide constantly insists on. No one is so poor that he cannot do good to his neighbour through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: <br /> <br /> ''Est enim elemosina spiritualis, que fit de possessione anime, corporalis vero, que fit de possessione corporis. Si ergo velis elemosinam spiritualem facere, ora ad Deum pro omnibus, conpatere afflictis, instrue ignorantes, corrige errantes, dimitte in nomine Christi inimicicias. Frequenter enim nobis bona temporalia deficiunt nec sufficimus elemosinam facere, licet velimus. Numquam tamen nobis tantum deficit numquam tam pauperes sumus, quod non possimus orare non solum pro Christianis sed pro omni humano genere; pro iustis, vt Deus det eis perseueranciam in bono, pro peccatoribus, vt Deus concedat eis veram penitenciam, pro paganis et Iudeis, vt concedat eis veram Dei et Christi recognicionem.'' (IX:227-228).<br /> <br /> (“There is a spiritual almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the soul; there is a bodily almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the body. If you want to give a spiritual almsgiving, then pray to God for all, have compassion on the unfortunate, teach the ignorant, correct the erring, forgive the unkind deeds, in the name of Christ. Often temporal possessions fail us and we are unable to give alms, although we would like to. But we never suffer such a lack, we are never so poor that we cannot pray, not only for Christians, but for the whole human race: for the righteous, that God may give them perseverance in good, for sinners, that God may give them true repentance, for the Gentiles and the Jews, that He may make them recognize God and His Anointed.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> There is no general relationship of dependence between ''Homo conditus'' and any predecessor in the genre of sermon manuals, even if individual details may correspond to other authors. Rather, all of them seem to have sought to produce their own variations and to vary the given catechetical categories in new ways. See Piltz,1974, pp. 59-76.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is to provide a practical and easily accessible handbook for the ordinary parish priest in the Diocese of Linköping in his task of delivering a sermon that is doctrinally sound, rhetorically effective, and refers to the biblical texts read in mass on Sundays and holidays, i.e. on the mandatory sermon days. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The text is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts from the library of Vadstena Monastery, now in Uppsala University Library, there with the designations C 217 and C 387 (both written in the late fourteenth century century). The latter had previously been owned by the priest Johannes Johannis from Kalmar, who entered the monastery in 1404, when it was incorporated into the monastery library. There are a few quotes from ''Homo conditus'' in diverse sermon collections from Vadstena.<br /> <br /> === Copia exemplorum ===<br /> Perhaps as a supplement to ''Homo conditus'', Mathias compiled an alphabetical collection of anecdotes, ''Copia exemplorum'' (633 entries from ''Absolucio'' to ''Vxor'').<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> There is only one copy preserved of this text, Uppsala University Library, C 54, foll. 60v-110r. Fol. 60v has the following notice, written by a fifteenth-century hand: ''Hic liber subscriptus qui incipit absolucio multum etc. dicitur Copia exemplorum quem fecit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Istum librum collegit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis. Absolucio multum beneficium confert morituris, ualet eciam defunctis'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''frequenter maritus malus lucrifit per bonam uxorem, R. amor carnis. Explicit copia exemplorum propter simplices collecta.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 118 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> ''Copia exemplorum'' is edited in the form of a reproduction of the final rough drafts of an edition prepared by Lars Wåhlin in 1901:<br /> <br /> * Wåhlin, L. &amp; Andersson-Schmitt, M. 1990: ''Magister Mathias: Copia exemplorum.'' Herausgegeben von Lars Wåhlin†. Mit Einleitung und Indizes von Margarete Andersson-Schmitt (Studia seminarii Latini Upsaliensis, 2), Uppsala<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan''. (Samlingar och studier till Svenska kyrkans historia. 9. Stockholm <br /> <br /> This doctoral dissertation is a thorough study of the book's genre and sources. In the Introduction (''Einführung'') of Wåhlin's edition there is an updated overview of the sources.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The text recounts an event that occurred in Tåby outside Söderköping in the Diocese of Linköping on July 24/25, 1344. It is obviously compilated in Linköping.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias is drawing mostly from French sources, above all the ''Alphabetum narracionum'' by Arnould of Liège OP (d. after 1310) and ''Miracula beate Marie virginis'' (Strömberg 1944, 36 ff., Andersson-Schmitt, ix-xvii).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience, composition and style ====<br /> For obvious reasons, the presentation is considerably more vivid and lively in this compilation, which was made ''propter simplices'', for common people, than in any other of Mathias’ works, which were intended for a clerical readership. The purpose of these examples is to arouse the audience’s curiosity and interest, which is why purely burlesque elements are not avoided. Here is a passage under the entry ''Adulterium'' (6,1): <br /> <br /> ''Vxor Gengulphi adultera cum ab eo argueretur et negaret, iussa est in purgacionem sceleris brachium in fontem frigidum mittere, quod uelut igne adustum retraxit, et mox ab ea se separauit. unde et cum ab adultero Gengulphus occisus miracula faceret, adultera ei detrahens dicebat: “Sic Gengulphus facit miracula sicut anus meus cantat.” unde et mox uellet nollet turpes sonos emisit, et extunc omni uita sua sextis feriis, quando uir eius occisus fuit.'' <br /> <br /> (“Gengulf’s wife was unfaithful, and when he accused her of this and she denied it, she was asked to put her arm in a cold spring to cleanse herself of this crime. She withdrew her arm, as if it had been burned by fire, and he immediately separated from her. But when Gengulf had been murdered by the adulterer and was performing miracles, the adulteress mocked him and said: “Gengulf performs miracles as well as my ass sings.” After that, she let out shameful sounds, whether she wanted to or not, and this happened every Friday after that, the day her husband had been murdered.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> 73 exempla from ''Copia exemplorum'' have been excerpted in the Vadstena manuscript in Uppsala University Library C 181, fols. 163r-168r.<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> * ANDERSSON-sCHMITT, M. 1990: see ''Copia exemplorum'', Edition, above.<br /> * BERGH, B. 1996: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * CARLSSON, G. 1949: “Mäster Mathias från Linköping. Ett bidrag till hans biografi,” ''Samlaren'', ny följd, 29.<br /> * FERM, O, 2021: “Magister Mathias Ouidi Lincopensis,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * KILSTRÖM, B. I. 1958: ''Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden'' (Bibliotheca theologiae practicae, 8), Uppsala.<br /> * KLOCKARS, B. 1971: ''Birgitta och hennes värld'' (Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Historiska serien, 16), Uppsala.<br /> * LIEDGREN, J. 1961: ''Magister Mathias’ svenska kungörelse om Birgittas första stora uppenbarelse: Ett förbisett dokument i Riksarkivet'' (Riksarkivets meddelanden, 1958), Stockholm.<br /> * MALM, M. 1997: “Uppenbarelse och poetik: Magister Mathias om effektiv framställning,” ''Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap'' 26:3/4, 61-80.<br /> * MALM, M. 2012: “The Soul of Poetry Redefined. Vacillations of Mimesis from Aristotle to Romanticism.” ''Tusculanum'' (Copenhagen).<br /> * MALM, M. 2021: “Magister Mathias on Literary Representation,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * PACETTI, D. 1961: “L’Expositio super Apocalypsim di Mattia di Svezia (c. 1281-1350) precipua fonte dottrinale di S. Bernardino da Siena,” ''Archivum Franciscanum historicum'' 54.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986: “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his Theological Context: A Preliminary Survey,” in M. Asztalos (ed.), ''The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages'' (Studia latina Stockholmiensia, 30), Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: see ''Alphabetum distinccionum'', Editions, above.<br /> * SAVICKI, S. 1936: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1959: ''Ecclesia Lincopensis: Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustaf Vasa'' (Stockholm Studies in History, 4), Stockholm.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1943: “Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” ''Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift'' 19, 301-322.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan'' (Samlingar och studier till Svenska Kyrkans historia, 9), Stockholm.<br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2005: “Från Paris till Linköping: akademiska bibelstudier och kyrklig bibelutläggning i medeltidens Europa belysta utifrån Magister Mathias Apokalyps-kommentar,” in K. O. U. Lejon (red.), ''Diocesis Lincopensis,'' 2: ''Medeltida internationella influenser'' (Linköpings stiftshistoriska sällskaps skriftserie, 2), Skellefteå, 141-167.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2021: “Magister Mathias of Linköping. Exegete and Theologian”, in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm, 676-741.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Bero_Magni_de_Ludosia&diff=1167 2026-01-30T17:48:59Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Olle Ferm and Erika Kihlman; revised version 2025: Robert Andrews (''Disputata super libros De anima'' and ''Disputata super libros De generatione et corruptione''), and Erika Kihlman (Biography, Sermons and academic speeches, Commentaries on the ''Doctrinale'' and ''Verba communia'')<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Bero Magni (Björn Magnusson, Bero de Ludosia), born ca 1410, died 1465, was a member of the cathedral chapter at Skara and a canon at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna (from 1464). He was ''magister regens'' at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Vienna 1433–1465, and also taught at the Faculty of Theology in the 1440s. His extant works comprise commentaries on Aristotle and Latin grammar, academic speeches and sermons, and ''Verba communia'', a metrical treatise on grammar.<br /> <br /> ==Biography==<br /> Bero came from Old Lödöse (Ludosia) in the diocese of Skara. His exact date of birth is not known but it is reasonable to assume that he was ca 20 years old when he matriculated at the University of Vienna in 1429 and began his studies at the Faculty of Arts. He became ''baccalaureus artium'' in 1431, received his ''licentia docendi'' in 1433, and is listed as one of the ''magistri regentes'' of the Arts Faculty the same year. Concurrent with his teaching duties there he began studying at the Faculty of Theology in the 1430s. He became ''cursor biblicus'' in 1439, ''sententiarius'' in 1443, and is referred to as ''baccalaureus'' in theology in 1445 (an exact date for his examination is not known). He did not take the examination for the licentiate until May 1465. The promotion to doctor of theology was to follow shortly after, but Bero died before this took place.<br /> <br /> During his career he acted as the examiner from the Saxon Nation several times. He was the dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1446, and is referred to as the prior of the ''Collegium ducale'' (the university residence for masters of arts and two doctors of theology) in 1448, which suggests that he had lived in the college for a number of years before this.<br /> <br /> The records from the Faculty of Arts show that Bero lectured on several set texts of the general syllabus, but he seems to have preferred teaching logic and lecturing on Aristotle’s works: ''Ethica'', ''Physica'', ''Oeconomica'', ''De anima'', and ''De generatione et corruptione''. His lectures on the last two are preserved, as are lectures on Book 1 of the Latin grammar ''Doctrinale'' by Alexander de Villa-Dei.<br /> <br /> While in Vienna, Bero received financial support from the cathedral chapter at Skara. It is not known when this support began but he was already a canon with a prebend when he was elected Cathedral Dean by the Chapter in 1449. Although there is nothing to support that Bero ever returned to Skara, he was eventually elected Bishop of Skara, confirmed by Pope Pius II in 1462. His refusal to redeem the papal bull of appointment and to present himself for consecration resulted in his deposition, and a new bishop was appointed on 3 May 1465. <br /> <br /> In January 1464 Bero was installed as canon in St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, and a year later he could take over the residence from another canon. Bero’s name appears for the last time in the records of the Faculty of Theology for 8 June and it is probable that he died shortly after this date, as his successor as canon at St. Stephen’s was installed on 3 September 1465.  <br /> <br /> During his time in Vienna, Bero acquired numerous books which were donated to Skara cathedral. An inventory of the donation was made sometime before 1477 and it lists 138 volumes, which makes Bero’s the largest private library known to have been owned by a Swede in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> The data of Bero’s life have been gathered from Swedish charters and from the records of the University of Vienna (AFA, AFT, MUW). Biographies and/or studies of his library can be found in ASCHBACH 1865, 295, 526, CARLSSON 1918, CARLSSON 1922, KARLSSON 1905, and KIHLMAN 2011a and 2011b, with references to the records and the charters.<br /> <br /> ==Works==<br /> The extant works of Bero comprise commentaries on Aristotle’s ''De anima'' and ''De generatione et corruptione'', two sermons and two academic speeches, commentaries on Book 1 of Alexander de Villa-Dei’s ''Doctrinale'', and the ''Verba communia'', a metrical grammatical treatise. <br /> <br /> ===Disputata super libros [Aristotelis] de anima===<br /> ''Reportationes'' of lectures held no later than 1437 (the manuscript was bought in that year, according to a note by the purchaser).<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Circa primum librum De anima quaeritur primo utrum anima sit subiectum in scientia libri De anima''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''malos in Gehenna ignis perpetui, et bonos in vitam dei patris aeternam, ad quam nos perducat dominus deus per seculorum infinita secula benedictus. Amen.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> ''Expliciunt disputata super libros De anima Magistri Beronis de Ludosia.''<br /> <br /> =====Size===== <br /> 219 folia; 122,387 words; 420 pages in a modern edition. <br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * Andrews, R. (ed.) forthcoming, ''Bero Magni de Ludosia:'' ''Disputata super libros De anima''. Bibliotheca Philosophorum Suecorum Medii Aevi. Stockholm.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Analysed in detail in ANDREWS 2016. <br /> <br /> Book I q. 5 analysed in ANDREWS 2017.<br /> <br /> Bero Magni organizes his ''De anima'' commentary on the pattern of John Buridan’s, utilising the same 44 question titles. He cites Buridan by name in every debate, interpreting and defending Buridan from different opponents. Bero has been cited as one of the first interpreters of Buridan (LUKÁŠ 2022, p. 301 n. 76; KLIMA 2023, p. viii n. 1). Bero’s work includes early formulations of Buridan’s Ass, Ockham’s Razor, and the Liar’s Paradox as a concept, “What I am thinking is false.” Bero mentions by name several other important figures, such as his near-contemporaries Marsilius of Inghen and Laurentius of Lindores.<br /> <br /> ====Medieval Reception and Transmission====<br /> Only one manuscript is known: Heiligenkreuz, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 303 (GSELL 1891, 195; LOHR 1967, 380).<br /> <br /> Another commentary on the ''De anima'' is found in the same Heiligenkreuz manuscript (ff. 229r–274v); it reads like a paraphrase or summary of Bero’s, or at least derives from the same milieu and with the same inspiration from John Buridan’s questions. It is anonymous, but earns an attribution to Master Thomas (perhaps Thomas Wölfel von Wuldersdorf, of the same faculty and time?), due to a first-person example on f. 259: “''me surgente, non erit assensus; id est, tunc non assentit huic ‘Thomas sedet’''.” Edition in preparation: Andrews, R. (ed.): ''Magister Thomas:'' ''Recapitulatio quaestionum De anima.'' Bibliotheca Philosophorum Suecorum Medii Aevi. Stockholm.<br /> <br /> ===Disputata super libros Aristotelis de generatione et corruptione===<br /> ''Reportationes'' of lectures copied in 1441, 1442, and 1447.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Est liber tertius in ordine librorum naturalium. Item dicitur respectu eius scientiae ‘ens mobile ad formam’ est subiectum. Prima primi. Et iste habet 24 quaestiones. Utrum ens mobile ad formam sit subiectum'' (Karlsruhe 130) / ''Circa libros De generatione et corruptione Aristotelis quaeritur primo utrum ens mobile ad formam sit subiectum'' (Klagenfurt 64) / ''Circa primum librum De generatione et corruptione quaeritur primo utrum ens mobile ad formam sit subiectum'' (Melk 884).<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''In eo enim relucet infinitus vigor et potestas cui pro conservatione huius laboris sit honor, laus, et gloria per infinita secula seculorum. Amen.''<br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> Karlsruhe 130 f. 120r'': Et tantum de disputatis super libros Aristotelis De generatione et corruptione Reverendi Magistri Beronis de Ludosia, scriptis per Petrum de Voburgh pro tunc baccalarium in artibus, et finitis anno domini 1441 dominica die ante purificacionem Mariae, etc.''<br /> <br /> Klagenfurt 64 f. 123v: ''Deo dicamus gratias. Explicuit disputata De generatione et corruptione Reverendi Magistri Beronis de Ludosia per Michaelem de Novoforo anno domini 1442 feria tertia post festum conceptionis Beatae Virginis.''<br /> <br /> Melk 884 f. 330va: ''Et sic est finis huius. Expliciunt disputata Reuerendi Magistri Beronis de Ludosia super libros De generatione et corruptione feria secunda ante festum Cathedri Sancti Petri. Et illud fuit in die cineris anno domini 1447.''<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> Karlsruhe 130 ff. 118, Klagenfurt 64 ff. 126, Melk 884 ff. 130; 114,000 words; 411 pages in a modern edition.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * Andrews, R. (ed.) forthcoming, ''Bero Magni de Ludosia:'' ''Quaestiones in libros De generatione et corruptione''. Bibliotheca Philosophorum Suecorum Medii Aevi. Stockholm.<br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents====<br /> Whereas Bero’s commentary on the ''De anima'' builds upon Buridan’s commentary on the same work, Bero’s ''De generatione'' takes as its basis the commentary by Marsilius de Inghen (1335/40–1396): ''Quaestiones super libris de generatione et corruptione'' (see ''Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke'', 7199–7201; https://www.gesamtkatalogderwiegendrucke.de/). Aristotle’s work describes how things of the world change; Bero Magni treats the same issues, but he also takes up ordinary puzzles and curiosities which seem to challenge philosophic theory, and even tries to explain what we now regard as superstitions. The text offers us much information about the intellectual life of a medieval Swede and his teaching at the University of Vienna.<br /> <br /> ====Medieval Reception and Transmission====<br /> Three manuscripts are known containing ''reportationes'' copied in 1441, 1442 and 1447:<br /> <br /> (1) Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Aug. 130, ff. 2r–120r, completed 1 Feb. 1441 (HOLDER 1971, 287–88; 720).<br /> <br /> (2) Klagenfurt, Universitätsbibliothek, Cart.-Hs. 64, ff. 1r–126v, completed 11 Dec. 1442 (LOHR 1967, 380; MAIROLD 1980).<br /> <br /> (3) Melk, Stiftsbibliothek, 884, ff. 200r–330v, completed 20 Feb. 1447. <br /> <br /> Bero’s work influenced another anonymous commentary on ''De generatione'' completed in 1439, now in Germany, München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, clm 19677, ff. 3r–94r. Many parallel passages and marginal annotations (such as on ff. 16r, “Incipe primam suppositionem in Berone”) are evidence of its dependence on Bero. It is likely also from the University of Vienna, because of its flattering mention in the colophon (f. 94r) of Albert II, Duke of Austria (died 27 October 1439), and the mention of the River Traun (“Truna,” f. 87r). Edition in preparation: Andrews, R. (ed.): ''Anonymus discipulus Beronis:'' ''Disputata super libros Aristotelis De generatione et corruptione''. Bibliotheca Philosophorum Suecorum Medii Aevi. Stockholm.<br /> <br /> ===Sermons and academic speeches===<br /> Two sermons and two academic speeches have come down to us. A brief analysis of Bero’s oratorical style is available in AILI 2011.<br /> <br /> ====Christmas Day Sermon====<br /> This sermon ''ad clerum'' was held in St Stephen’s Cathedral on Christmas Day, 25 December 1444 as part of the requirements for the licentiate degree in theology.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit===== <br /> ''&lt;V&gt;erbum caro factum est scribitur originaliter Iohannis primo capitulo et in hodierne festivitatis celeberrime summi atque predignissimi officiorum transumptive per ecclesiam Dei sacro legitur evangelio''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> ''verbum caro factum, quod in perfecte trinitatis unitate simplicissima coeternum Patri et Spiritui sancto consubstancialiter vivit et regnat unus Deus per infinita secula benedictus. Amen.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> ''Anno 1444. Explicit sermo in die nativitatis Domini factus ad clerum Wy&lt;e&gt;nne in ecclesia sancti Stephani per venerabilem magistrum Beronem sacre theologie bacalarium formatum.''<br /> <br /> ===== Editions and translations =====<br /> <br /> * Kihlman, E., “Sermo in die Nativitatis Domini factus. 25.12.1444”, in GEJROT and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 27–55.<br /> <br /> ===== Medieval Reception and Transmission =====<br /> Preserved in one manuscript: St. Florian, Stiftsbibliothek, XI 115, fol. 273r–276r (CZERNY 1871, 54)<br /> <br /> ====Good Friday Sermon====<br /> This sermon for Good Friday 1454 was held at the ''Collegium ducale'' of the University of Vienna. It is included in a comparative study on academic and popular preaching (see ANDERSSON 2011).<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Lacescente stomacho cunctisque admodum inanitus viribus et virtutibus''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Pro qua consumacione sit Ei cum Patre et Spiritu sancto – uni Deo – laus, honor, virtus, gloria, potestas et imperium per indefessa et immortalia seculorum secula benedicto. Amen.''<br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> ''Iste sermo factus est Wyenne in aula collegii ducalis, anno etc. liiii:to in die Parasceves per magistrum Beronem de Ludosia.''<br /> <br /> ===== Edition and translation =====<br /> Gejrot, C., “Sermo in die Parasceves factus. 19.4.1454”, in GEJROT and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 57–83.<br /> <br /> ===== Medieval Reception and Transmission =====<br /> Preserved in two manuscripts: Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 4533, fol. 187r– 191r, and Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 4717, fol. 357r–361r (DENIS 1793–1795, col. 3211 and col. 94; TC III, 303 and 364).<br /> <br /> ==== Collation at the beginning of the disputation season ====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit===== <br /> ''A secundissimis Austrie ducum principibus inmortalis memorie, que aput Deum et homines nota est redolescencia flagrantibus''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> ''rector infallibilis, per quem ‘translati sumus de morte ad vitam’ (vbi thema), Christus, omnium Dominus indefessa per eterna et immortalia seculorum secula benedictus! Amen.''<br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> ''Hec collacio facta est Wienne in aula collegii ducalis anno etc. liiii:to, quinta die Julii per magistrum Beronem de Ludosia.''<br /> <br /> ===== Editions and translations =====<br /> <br /> * Gejrot, C., “Collatio ante disputationum tempus facta. 5.7.1454”, in GEJROT and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 85–103.<br /> <br /> ===== Medieval Reception and Transmission =====<br /> Preserved in one manuscript: Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 4533, fol. 191v–194v (DENIS 1793–1795, col. 3211; TC III, 303).<br /> <br /> ==== Collation made after the disputation season ====<br /> This speech was held on 13 September 1454, at the end of the summer disputation exercises in the ''Collegium ducale'' at the University of Vienna.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Ut finis principio correspondeat huius breuissime, quam hac pro vice facturus collaciunculam existo, verbis pro themate istis utar: In hoc cognovimus caritatem Dei''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''confiteamur ei glorificantes et dicentes gloria tibi Domine laudabili glorioso et superexaltato per eterna indefessa et immortalia seculorum secula benedicto! Amen.''<br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> ''Hec collacio facta est in aula collegii ducalis studio Wienne&lt;n&gt;sis in profesto exaltacionis sancte crucis, anno etc. liiii:to per magistrum Beronem de Ludosia.''<br /> <br /> ====Editions and translations====<br /> <br /> * Gejrot, C., “Collatio post disputationum tempus facta. 13.9.1454”, in GEJROT and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 105–119.<br /> <br /> ====Medieval Reception and Transmission====<br /> Preserved in one manuscript: Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 4533, fol. 195r–197r (DENIS 1793–1795, col. 3211; TC III, 303).<br /> <br /> === Commentaries on the ''Doctrinale'' ===<br /> Two extant manuscripts transmit student ''reportationes'' of lectures on Book 1 of Alexander de Villa-Dei’s ''Doctrinale''. Since there are no records of Bero lecturing on grammar in the official lists of lectures at the Faculty of Arts, these lectures were probably part of the extra-ordinary lecture series that were not registered by the faculty.<br /> <br /> ==== Lectures 1446 ====<br /> The ''reportationes'' from 1446 were taken down by the student Martin Tornator from Strasbourg, and derive from lectures by the teachers Bero, Schreck, and Pruck, all of whom are depicted in black and red ink by the scribe below the colophon. It is not possible to identify which parts of the commentary Bero is responsible for.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Circa inicium prime partis allexandri mouetur primo Quid sit ars Pro quo notandum est quod iste terminus ars capitur dupliciter''<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''ut a fallo fallito a fodio fodito Et omnia verba imitatiue forme sunt prime coniugacionis neutra et abstracta et cetera et sic est finis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> ''Expliciunt concepta prime partis alexandri reuerendorum magistrorum beronis schreck et pruck in studio weynensi alme vniuersitatis Scripta per me martinum tornatoris de argentina anno 1446 proxima feria 3a ante festum sancti io. baptiste de mane hora octaua et cetera.''<br /> <br /> ===== Editions and translations =====<br /> No editions or translations exist.<br /> <br /> ===== Medieval Reception and Transmission =====<br /> Preserved in one manuscript: München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, clm 26822, ff. 46–189v (HALM and MEYER 1881, 217). <br /> <br /> (A similar commentary is found in München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, clm 14686. ff. 1–155v. No mention of Bero seems to be made but the name ”Pruk” appears a number of times.)<br /> <br /> ==== Lectures 1449 ====<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Vnde grecista uersus (?) at meditatiuum sit in urio dictum Sic parturio Et sic est finis conceptorum super prima parte allexandri referendi magistri beonis (sic) de leodosia (sic) wiennensis etc.''<br /> <br /> ===== Colophon =====<br /> ''Et finita est feria 4ta ante festum simonis et iude appostolorum etc. Anno domini mo 1449 per me petrum keller.''<br /> <br /> ===== Editions and translations =====<br /> No editions or translations exist.<br /> <br /> ===== Medieval Reception and Transmission =====<br /> Preserved in one manuscript: Sion/Sitten, Archives de l’État du Valais, Archives du Chapitre de Sion, Ms 76, ff. 18r–164v (SCARPATETTI 1991, 125).<br /> <br /> === Verba communia ===<br /> This grammatical treatise, preserved only in an early print, deals with the verbs classified as ''commune'', i.e. verbs with a passive form but with both active and passive meaning. It comprises 111 hexameter lines of which 86 have been shown to be borrowings from other works. The authorship is discussed in the accompanying anonymous prologue, in which Bero’s name is suggested together with that of Marsilius of Inghen. In the likewise anonymous commentary, however, Bero is numerously referred to as the author. A brief study of the treatise is available in KIHLMAN 2025.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Absque Deo nulla &lt;in mundo&gt; visio fit in evo''<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Actum sive pati signare gerundia valent / atque supina: per hoc datur hiis oratio bina. / Finito libro sit laus et gloria Cristo.''<br /> <br /> ===== Edition and translation =====<br /> An edition and translation of the treatise are found as an appendix in KIHLMAN 2025, pp. 189–200.<br /> <br /> ===== Medieval Reception and Transmission =====<br /> Preserved in print with a prologue and a commentary (both anonymous): ''Verba communia'' (Memmingen: Albrecht Kunne, 1487).<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> *AFA = ''Acta facultatis artium'' II–III (1416–1447; 1447–1497), Ph 6, Ph 7. Wien, Archiv der Universität Wien.<br /> *AFT = ''Die Akten der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Wien (1396–1508)'', ed. P. Uiblein, 2 vols, Wien, 1978.<br /> *AILI, H. 2011: “The Latinity of Bero Magni”, in FERM and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 245–251.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2011: “Popular and Academic Preaching on Good Friday: A Comparative Study”, in FERM and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 175–233.<br /> *ANDREWS, R. 2016: ''Bero Magni of Lödöse'', Questions on the Soul: ''A Medieval Swedish Philosopher on Life''. Sällskapet Runica et Mediævalia. Scripta minora 25. Stockholm. &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.medievalia.nu/publikation/andrews-2016/&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> *ANDREWS, R. 2017: “Bero Magni de Ludosia on Parts of Sensation”, in ''Questions on the Soul by John Buridan and Others: A Companion to John Buridan’s Philosophy of Mind'', ed. G. Klima. Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action 3. Cham, pp. 130-147.<br /> *ANDREWS, R. 2018: “Bero Magni de Ludosia”, in H. Lagerlund, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy''. Springer, Dordrecht. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-024-1151-5_562-1<br /> *ANDREWS, R. (ed.) forthcoming: ''Magister Thomas:'' ''Recapitulatio quaestionum De anima''. Bibliotheca Philosophorum Suecorum Medii Aevi. Stockholm.<br /> *ANDREWS, R. (ed.) forthcoming: ''Anonymus discipulus Beronis:'' ''Disputata super libros Aristotelis De generatione et corruptione''. Bibliotheca Philosophorum Suecorum Medii Aevi. Stockholm.<br /> *ASCHBACH, J. 1865: ''Geschichte der Wiener Universität im ersten Jahrhunderte ihres Bestehens'', vol. 1. Wien.<br /> *CARLSSON, G. 1918: “Vårt största enskilda medeltidsbibliotek och dess ägare,” NTBB 5, 228–38.<br /> *CARLSSON, G. 1922: “Mäster Beros av Lödöse bibliotek,” NTBB 9, 129–142.<br /> *CARLSSON, G. 1924: “Bero Magni de Ludosia,” SBL 4, 13–14.<br /> *CZERNY, A. 1871: ''Die Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek St. Florian''. Linz.<br /> *DENIS, [J.N.C.] M. 1793–1799: Codices manuscripti theologici Bibliothecae palatinae Vindobonensis latini, I–II. Wien.<br /> *FERM, O. and E. KIHLMAN (eds) 2011: ''Swedish Students at the University of Vienna in the Middle Ages''. Sällskapet Runica et Mediævalia. Scripta Minora 20. Stockholm. <br /> *GEJROT, C. and E. KIHLMAN (ed. and transl.) 2011, ''Bero Magni de Ludosia. Sermones et Collationes. Sermons from the University of Vienna in the Mid-Fifteenth Century''. Sällskapet Runica et Mediævalia. Editiones, 2. Stockholm.<br /> *GSELL, B. 1891: “Verzeichniss der Handschriften in der bibliothek des Stiftes Heiligenkreuz,” ''Xenia Bernardina: Sancti Bernardi primi abbatis Claravallensis octavos natales sæculares ediderunt antistites et conventus Cisternienses provinciæ Austriaco-Hungaricæ'', P. 2: ''Die Handschriftenverzeichnisse der Cisternienser-Stifte'', vol 1: ''Reun, Heiligenkreuz-Neukloster, Zwettl, Lilienfeld'', Wien.<br /> *HALM, C. and G. MEYER (1881): ''Cataloguus codicum Latinorum bibliothecae regiae Monacensis'', P II, vol. 4, München. <br /> *HOLDER, A. 1971: ''Die Handschriften der Badischen Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe'', vol. 6: ''Die Reichenauer Handschriften'', 2: ''Die Papierhandschriften, Fragmenta, Nachträge. Neudruck mit bibliographischen Nachträgen'', Wiesbaden.<br /> *KARLSSON, K.H. 1905: “Electus Björn i Skara samt striderna om domprosteriet i Skara 1449–1475,” ''Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift'' 6, 27–31.<br /> *KIHLMAN, E. 2011a: ”Bero Magni de Ludosia – Student and Teacher”, in FERM and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 89–133.<br /> *KIHLMAN, E. 2011b: ”The Inventory of Bero’s Library. An Edition with Analysis”, in FERM and KIHLMAN 2011, pp. 135–173.<br /> *KIHLMAN, E. 2025: ”Bero Magni – ''grammaticus''”, in ''Salutacione sincera. Bidrag till Svenskt Diplomatarium tillägnade Claes Gejrot'', ed. I. Hedström, S. Risberg, P. Ståhl. Stockholm, pp. 177–200.<br /> *KLIMA, G. and P. G. Sobol, P. Hartman, and J. Zupko (ed. and tr.) 2023: ''John Buridan’s Questions on Aristotle’s De Anima'' – ''Iohannis Buridani Quaestiones in Aristotelis De Anima'', Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action 9. Cham.<br /> *LUKÁŠ, L. 2022: “Buridan Wycliffised? The Nature of the Intellect in Late Medieval Prague University Disputations”, in  ''The Embodied Soul: Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe between 1200 and 1420'', ed. M. Gensler, M. Mansfeld, and M. Michałowska. Cham, pp. 277–310. <br /> *LOHR, C.H. 1967: “Medieval Latin Aristotle Commentaries: Authors A–F,” ''Traditio'' 23, 313–413.<br /> *MAIROLD, M. 1980: “Die Millstätter bibliothek,” ''Carinthia'' I 170, 87–106.<br /> *MUW = ''Die Matrikel der Universität Wien'', vol. 1: ''1377–1450''. Publikationen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung 6:1. Graz–Köln, 1956.<br /> *SCARPATETTI, B.M. von 1991: ''Katalog der datierten Handschriften in der Schweiz in lateinischer Schrift vom Anfang des Mittelalters bis 1550'', P. III: ''Die Handschriften der Bibliotheken St. Gallen- Zürich'', Zürich. <br /> *TC = ''Tabulae codicum manuscriptorum praeter graecos et orientales in bibliotheca Palatina Vindobonensi asservatorum'', vol. 3: ''Cod. 3501–Cod. 5000'', ed. Academia Caesarea Vindobonensis. Wien, 1869 (repr. Wien, 1965).<br /> *UNTERKIRCHER, F. 1971: ''Die datierten Handschriften der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek von 1401 bis 1450'' (Katalog der datierten Handschriften in lateinischer Schrift in Österreich 2), Text- und Tafelband, Wien.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1166 2026-01-30T17:48:31Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Category:Article]]<br /> <br /> by Anderz Piltz<br /> <br /> '''Mathias Ouidi''' (Mats Övidsson, Övedsson), usually called Magister Mathias, born ''c''.1300, dead probably in 1350 in Stockholm. Master of Arts, canon at the cathedral of Linköping (not later than 1333), Baccalarius of Theology, and rector of the parish church of Saint Giles (Egidius) in Söderköping (not later than 1343). According to tradition, he was also Master of Theology. A close friend and influential confessor of Saint Birgitta (see [[Sancta Birgitta]]) prior to her journey to Rome in 1349, Mathias was by far the most prolific and original of Swedish writers, let alone theologians, in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> == Biography ==<br /> Information about Mathias is very sparse. His name cannot be traced in any university registers, but there is every reason to believe that he studied in the faculties of arts and theology at Paris. His earliest work, the ''Poetria'', is dedicated to archbishop Olof Björnsson, who was the incumbent of the see of Uppsala between 1318 and 1332. In 1333, Mathias is mentioned four times in documents from Linköping and its vicinity. In all probability, he was living in Sweden when Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of Birgitta, died on 12 February 1344; in ''Copia exemplorum'', Mathias refers to an event which took place in the parish of Tåby outside Söderköping in late July of that year (see further Piltz 1974, 31 ff.).<br /> <br /> In his theological works, Mathias is an inspired champion of orthodox Christianity. It is said that in his youth he was tempted by all the heresies in the world and thus suffered a serious religious crisis which, however, he overcame, and after which he was rewarded by God with an exceptional command of the Sacred Scriptures – a command that is amply demonstrated in his writings. Hence his interest in various heterodox tenets, which he attacks in the name of “true theology”, by which he means essentially the biblical texts in their original spiritual force, without too much academic glossing.<br /> <br /> Like his famous confessant, Mathias was convinced that the world was ageing and close to its end, since love had grown cold and lawlessness was reigning. He stressed the Franciscan principle that Christians should imitate God’s humility, displayed in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. <br /> <br /> Mathias was the close witness of Birgitta’s early mystical experiences and miracles, and he was convinced that she was the authentic voice of God to her contemporaries. As an expert theologian, he wrote an enthusiastic introduction (''Stupor et mirabilia'') to the first collection of her Revelations (see below). For unknown reasons, they parted ways around 1346: Birgitta prepared herself to go to Rome, Mathias planned to participate in a “crusade” undertaken by King Magnus Eriksson against the Russians (June-October 1348, autumn 1350-spring 1351); it cannot be established whether he actually took part or not. Birgitta was in Rome when she learned that Mathias had died in Sweden. <br /> <br /> According to tradition, Mathias was buried by the king himself in the Dominican conventual church “Helga Lösen” in the Old Town of Stockholm. He was famed for his saintliness, and miracles were attributed to his intercession. His tomb was destroyed during the Lutheran reformation in the sixteenth century. <br /> <br /> Mathias is one of the candidates as author of the Old Swedish works ''Paraphrase of the Pentateuch'' and ''Mirror of Kings''. But his main legacy comprises seven works in Latin. They all testify to his interest in rhetorics, profane as well as sacred, his scholarly ambitions as a theologian, and – at least as far as ''Homo conditus'' is concerned – his talent as a writer. <br /> <br /> Birgittine sources state that Mathias was the author of the prologue ''Stupor et mirabilia'' to the Revelations of St. Birgitta (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; Rev. VI, 75; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477, 601), furthermore of an excellent gloss on the whole Bible (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477), that he had an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures (Rev. V ''interrogacio'' 16, 36-37), and that he was a prolific writer (''Acta et processus'', 78, 477). A survey of Mathias’ writings is found in the Uppsala manuscript C 54 (fol. 60v), which originally belonged to the library of Vadstena Abbey: <br /> <br /> ''Hic liber Subscriptus ... dicitur Copia exemplorum, quem fecit magister Mathias Canonicus lyncopensis et collegit. Hic venerabilis vir M. fuit primus confessor matris nostre gloriose Sancte birgitte quia vita et religione valde erat preclarus et tempore suo magistrorum omnium summus. Qui plures libros fecit, scilicet Concordancias super totam bibliam quem'' [sic] ''habemus in Watzsteno in tribus voluminibus magne quantitatis. Item vnum librum qui dicitur Homo conditus. Item super apokalipsim. Item tractatum de modo loquendi et quamplures alios.'' <br /> <br /> (“This book which is written here below is called the ''Treasury of Examples'' and was written and compiled by Master Matthias, a Canon of Linköping. This venerable man M. was the first confessor of our glorious mother Birgitta, since he was particularly distinguished in piety and the most important Master of his time. He is the author of several books, namely, a ''Concordance'' over the whole Bible, which we have in Vadstena in three large volumes, further a book entitled ''Homo conditus'', one on the ''Book of Revelation'' and a treatise on the ''Art of Rhetoric'', and several others.”)<br /> <br /> == Works ==<br /> <br /> === Stupor et mirabilia ===<br /> This introduction to the first collection of the Birgittine corpus is an expert opinion on the authenticity and orthodoxy of the “heavenly revelations” that Birgitta Birgersdotter claimed to have received and had successively edited with the help of her confessors. It is written in a lofty and excited style. Mathias claims in antithetical sentences that what happened through Birgitta is more remarkable than the revelation that took place in the Old Testament through Moses, and in a way it even goes beyond the incarnation of Christ himself: “Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration” (25).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Stupor et mirabilia audita sunt in terra nostra. Mirabile siquidem'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) ab ipso factam ad verba eius ab ipso missa fatebuntur.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of standard pages: 12.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes''. Lübeck: Bartholomeus Ghotan [for Vadstena Abbey], 1492<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sancte Birgitte'' [ed. Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein], Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1500 <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Reuelationes celestes preelecte sponse Christi beate Birgitte'' … Nuremberg: Federicus Peypus, sumptibus Joannis Kobergers, 1517<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes'' [ed. Olaus Magnus], 2 vols., Romae, in aedibus diuae Birgittae viduae: Franciscus Mediolanensis de Ferrariis, 1557 [vol. 1, p. 24]<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Romae: Stephanus Paulinus, sumptibus Iulij Burchionij, 1606<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: Ioannes Keerbergius, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: apud viduam et haeredem P. Belleri, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''a Consalvo Duranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae.'' Coloniae Agrippinae: ex off. Anthonii Boetzeri haeredum [typis Henricus Krafft], 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''á Consaluo Duranto episcopo Ferettrano notis illustratae'' … Tomvs I. Romae: Ludouicus Grignanus, 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes Caelestes seraphicae matris sanctae Birgittae Suecae'' … Munich: Sebastianus Rauch, sumptibus Joannis Wagneri et Joannis Hermanni à Gelder, 1680<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes S. Birgittae e codice membraneo fol. 21 Bibliothecae Universitatis Lundensis (“Cod. Falkenberg”), Suecice et Britannice praefatus''. Facsimile ed. by Elias Wessén, 2 vols. (Corpus codicum Suecicorum medii aevi), Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1952–1956<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelaciones''. ''Book I, with Magister Mathias’ Prologue'', ed. by Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 7:1), Uppsala [also Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm, and, extra series, Stockholm: Almqvist &amp; Wiksell International], 1977 [printed 1978], pp. 227-240<br /> <br /> ==== Electronic texts ====<br /> <br /> * ''St Birgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones, Book I'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.umilta.net/bk1.html&lt;/nowiki&gt; <br /> * ''Corpus Reuelacionum Sancte Birgitte'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://62.20.57.210/ra/diplomatariet/CRB/index.htm&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) Sancta Birgitta, ''The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden'', vol. I: ''Liber Caelestis, Books I-III'', translated by Denis Searby, with introductions and notes by Bridget Morris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 [p. 47-52]<br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Das puch der Himlischen offenbarung der heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem kunigreich Sweden'' [ed. by Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1502 <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Brigitta''. Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus, 4 vols. (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg: Verlag von G. Joseph Manz, 1856 [“Vorrede … vom Magister Matthias aus Schweden,” vol. IV, 345-53] <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Birgitta.'' Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus. Aufs neue durchgesehen und verbessert von einem katholischen Priester (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg, 1888 [microfiche ed.: Wildberg: Belser Wiss. Dienst (Edition St. Walburg), 1994 – 11 microfiches, 29x]<br /> * (Polish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Skarby niebieskich taiemnic'', [Zamosc], 1698 <br /> * (Spanish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Celestiales Revelaciones de Santa Brígida, Princesa de Suecia'' …, 4 vols., Madrid: [Tipografia del Sagrado Corazón], 1901 <br /> * (Swedish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Himmelska uppenbarelser'', trans. by T. Lundén, 4 vols., Malmö: Allhem, 1957–1959; vol. 1, 57-60, contains a summary of and an excerpt from ''Stupor et mirabilia''<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUNDÉN, HJ. 1973: ''Den heliga Birgitta. Ormungens dotter som blev Kristi brud.'' Stockholm <br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Written in Sweden, ''terminus post quem'' is the death of Ulf Gudmarsson, which is referred to in the text.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is obvious, since the authenticity of the Birgittine revelations was initially questioned and accused of being of demonic origin, especially since they had been addressed to a woman without theological training. Mathias, who was the country's foremost theological expert, vouches for their divine origin and insists that they should be read as instructions from Heaven and taken seriously by all Christians.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> ''Stupor and mirabilia'' came to be considered the preface of Birgitta's ''Revelations'' and is included in all editions since Bartholomeus Gothan's editio princeps, printed in Lübeck in 1492.<br /> <br /> === Testa nucis ===<br /> This text is only preserved in a short fragment in the MS. C 521 (foll. 172v-173r), earlier pertaining to the monastery of Vadstena. It seems to convey traditional rhetorical doctrine. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> This tract is obviously identical with the ''Tractatus de modo loquendi'' mentioned in the same MS (see above).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Incipit Testa nucis. Rethorica est potencia considerandi vnumquodque contingens persuasibile'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) vtrum in eo negocium expleri pot&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;u&gt;erit, et partes temporis, mensis, dies&lt;/nowiki&gt;'' (the fragment ends here).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of pages: 6. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable]<br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The dedication of ''Poetria'' (see below) to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala indicates that ''Testa nucis'', to which several explicit references are made in ''Poetria'', was written in the early 1320s, during Mathias' studies at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, in a period when he was obviously intensely interested in literary theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The fragmentary character of the preserved text makes it impossible to have a more precise idea of its layout. The beginning of the fragment reproduces the main rules of classical rhetoric as the ability to persuade, in three areas: before a court of law, in a political assembly, and in ceremonial speeches (which should unite the audience around common values). An effective speech consists of five elements: inventory of arguments, outline, style, delivery, and memorization. The art of persuasion refers to obvious facts, or to confidence in the speaker's credibility, arouses emotions, provides examples, analogies, and probabilities, and discusses various types of mitigating or aggravating circumstances of an action.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The traditional scholastic style of definitions and distinctions of traditional rhetorical concepts is adopted.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Its principal source appears to be William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Rhetoric'', with occasional reminiscences from ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' and Cicero’s ''De inventione'' (Bergh 1996, 8 f.).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The aim is to convey traditional rhetorical theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 172v-173r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs' edition.<br /> <br /> === Poetria ===<br /> The ''Poetria'' is a treatise on poetry. It is partly written in hexameters in a rather abstruse style. It is not typical of the medieval tradition, which took a keen interest in technical matters such as tropes, figures of speech and other stylistic devices, but not in aesthetic theory. Mathias makes an effort to integrate Aristotelian theory into a treatise on poetry, a remarkable ambition in fourteenth-century Sweden. He uses examples from Avianus, Homer, Ovid, Persius and Virgil. The text is divided into three parts, ''representacio'' (visualization), ''tonus'' (intonation), and ''metrum'' (not on metrics but on the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Maria Ihesus Christus. Incipit Poetria domini magistri Mathie. Cum plurima nostratum studia ante mentis oculos pertractarem''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Eterni tecum mansuri solis ad ortum. Explicit Poetria magistri Mathie Lincopensis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Metre/rhythm =====<br /> The many metrical examples adduced are mostly hexametric. The treatise ends with a poem by Mattias himself, comprising 94 lines, which aims to illustrate various poetical tropes (mentioned in the margin) discussed in the previous theoretical part. <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 42 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable] <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm <br /> <br /> Note that Bergh in his critical and exegetical remarks (pp. 17-27) corrects Sawicki on many points; Sawicki's edition should therefore be avoided as misrepresenting the original text in a number of passages.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions) <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * BERGH, B. 1996, and his ''Introduction'' should be consulted first of all, since he points out the very obscurity of this text and consequently the difficulties implied in interpreting it.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> ''Poetria'' is obviously written in close connexion to ''Testa nucis'' (to which several references are made; see above) in Paris around 1320, during Mathias' studies in the Faculty of Arts, when he seemed intensely interested in literary theory. It is dedicated to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala, who was the incumbent from 1318 to 1332. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Mathias wanted to find an aesthetic theory for poetry. The main theme of this treatise on poetry is ''representatio'', which in this context means “visualizations”: ''representaciones tam certe et veraciter factas, ut non credatur res ficta esse'' (“so certain and plausible that the matter does not seem to have been made up”; 66). <br /> <br /> ''Vnde merito similitudinem habet poeta cum pictore. Sicut enim pictor peritus rem, que in se delectabilis non esset aspicere, propter conuenienciam in disposicione partium picture et colorum delectabiliter inuenitur representare, sic poeta perfectus delectat animam in faciendo rem secundum suas proprietates imaginari'' <br /> <br /> (“[T]he poet is rightly compared to the painter. For the skilful painter, by the harmonious arrangement of the different parts and colours of the picture, turns out to give an agreeable representation of something that would not in itself be agreeable to look at, and in the same way the perfect poet gives pleasure by making us imagine a thing in accordance to its characteristics”; 6-7). <br /> <br /> In this view it is the most important of three components of poetry, the other two being ''tonus'' (rhytm) and ''metrum'' (the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). The text ends with a didactic poem in hexameters which intend to illustrate the poetic figures, terms, and techniques discussed in the theoretical part of the text. <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The style is more personal than in ''Testa nucis'' (''sicut credo, reor attendendum, ut michi'' ''videtur'', etc). Mathias is fully aware of his own ability to judge and produce poetry, and also of his status as a pioneer in Sweden in literary theory. He speaks disparagingly of the creators of leonine verses of his time: ''aut leonina. Et hoc solum est, quod nostri metriste in versibus facere sciunt'';” or the kind called ‘leonine’. &quot;This is the only thing our poetasters are capable of in their verses” (79-80).<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Mathias is dependent on Hermannus Alemannus’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics'', a particularly obscure rendering of the original text, due to intermediary (Syrian, Arabic) versions. He is not unaware of his pioneer achievement (Bergh 1996, 9 ff.). Maybe the mature theologian Mathias felt uneasy about these juvenile exercises, judging from later warnings about the allurement of philosophy.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> One can assume that the young Mathias, aware of his talent, wanted to gain a patron and benefactor in the (newly appointed?) Archbishop of Uppsala, and also, thereby, to gain a readership and intellectual reputation: <br /> <br /> ''vt luce vestri nominis et gracie quam ex se et sui actoris sciencia famosius rutilans duracionem in tempore cum lectorum frequencia optima nancisscatur''; <br /> <br /> “so that it will gleam with greater renown through the light of Your name and grace than through itself and the knowledge of its author, and thus procure long duration and a great number of readers” (4).<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 169r-172r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs’ edition.<br /> <br /> === Alphabetum distinccionum ===<br /> Mathias' most comprehensive work is the ''Alphabetum distinccionum,'' a (selective) concordance to the biblical text combined with a kind of theological encyclopedia of so called ''distincciones'' between the different senses of Scripture, with special stress on the ''sensus moralis''. The entries are small tracts of theological character, useful for homiletical purposes. <br /> <br /> It is meant to be an encyclopaedia of the principal nouns, verbs, some few adverbs, and the most important proper names, along with some “natural things” (''res naturales'') mentioned in the Bible. It is in fact a systematic gloss on the Bible and comprises even terms not occurring in the Scriptures, such as ''Accidia, Actuosa deuocio, Condignum, Fomes (peccati), Scriptura sacra, Sinderesis, Syrena, Theologia, Trinitas''. The reader may combine interpretations of separate words and so construct various expositions as required. However, the result must never contradict faith or morals: (''sic'') ''vt veritas fidei seruetur ex vno et honestas morum non ledatur ex altero.''<br /> <br /> Today, the text only survives as fragments of two parchment codices, and in quoted extracts in other works. The volumes were dispersed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when they were confiscated by the secular authorities and reused for various account books and legal records (domböcker). The surviving leaves are scattered across eight institutions in five cities: Stockholm, Vadstena, Helsinki, Oslo, and London, most of them available digitally. <br /> <br /> By employing various methods and accounting for all pertinent evidence communicated by the extant witnesses, especially cross-references, roughly forty per cent of the original ''c''.4000 headwords can be identified (according to SUPPONEN, 2023). The headwords survive at least partly in 603 entries. The cross-references provide 821 otherwise unknown headwords. <br /> <br /> The book contributed to his reputation among the Birgittines that he knew the entire Bible inside out, “from Alpha to Omega”. It now exists only as fragments in the form of 326 preserved leaves of two manuscripts, apart from quotes in sermons by Vadstena brothers. It is an encyclopaedia of the most important nouns, verbs and proper names in the Vulgate. The concepts are explained, with descriptive applications and examples of the use of the word in question. A peculiarity is Mathias's strong interest in natural phenomena (''res naturales''), their definition and properties: the visible, material things are understood as references to the invisible. All of nature is a kind of allegorical rebus that illustrates spiritual truths and heavenly things, for those who have eyes with which to see it. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> Although this work is called ''Concordancie super totam bibliam'' in MS. C 54 of Uppsala University Library, the prologue, which is almost completely preserved, indicates the correct title: <br /> <br /> “''Distinguuntur ergo in hoc alphabeto textus et glose Biblie et naturales rerum, de quibus Scripture mencionem faciunt, proprietates per vocabula et sentencias figurales, misticas et historicas''” <br /> <br /> (“In this alphabetical register, the varied meanings of the texts of the Bible and the glosses are conveyed, as well as the natural phenomena that are mentioned in Scripture, [and] the properties that are demonstrated by their names, as well as their figurative, mystical and historical meanings”).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The work is said to have filled three huge volumes in the Birgittine Abbey of Vadstena. Only 145 folios remain, scattered in different libraries (which makes them very difficult to read without modern technical devices). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: “Mathiæ canonici Lincopensis ''Alphabeti distinccionum'' sive ''Concordanciarum'' fragmenta selecta”, in ''Symbolae Septentrionales: Latin Studies Presented to Jan Öberg'', ed. M. Asztalos &amp; C. Gejrot, Stockholm, 137-171 [samples of the extant fragments]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was likely composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. According to the Birgittine ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl.) and ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, Mathias ''glossavit totam Bibliam excellenter'' ''et composuit multa volumina librorum'' (“wrote an excellent gloss on the whole Bible and was the author of many volumes”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to Mathias’ divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator Biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' is an alphabetically organised reference work that compiles materials from various preaching aids. It comprises a concordance for contextualising the themes and divisions of sermons, as well as devices for expanding upon sermons, such as distinctions, encyclopaedic descriptions, and biblical exempla. The text consists of two parts: the text proper and an interlinear reference apparatus, that provides commentaries on biblical verses in the text proper and citations of the verses and accompanying references in the apparatus. The headwords are described in their historical sense in the text proper, while the moral or allegorical readings are presented in the apparatus. The interlinear apparatus also contains cross-references to other entries. <br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias owes much to St. Bonaventure OFM; he also echoes John Duns Scotus OFM. Inspired by principles set up by pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, probably with Bartholomeus Anglicus (''c''.1250) as intermediary, Mathias refers, often in detail, to the facts, processes and events of nature as analogies of spiritual realities in the realm of grace. The book also conveys vitriolic criticism of the hierarchy and the religious orders (cf. Piltz 1986, 139 ff.; Piltz 1995, 137 ff.). SUPPONEN (pp.122-167) gives a thorough overview of the textual sources: the third concordance of St. Jacques, Glossa ordinaria, Bartholomeus Anglicus, etc.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The method applied in this concordance could best be demonstrated with a quotation from the entry ''Sensus Scripture'': <br /> <br /> ''Sensus hystoricus est, cum res quandoque secundum litteram vel facta vel dicta sit (vt saluacio filiorum Israel de Egypto), plano sermone refertur. Allegoria (Ysaie: egredietur virga de radice Iesse), cum verbis vel rebus misticis presencia Christi et Ecclesie sacramenta signantur (sanguis agni sanguinem Christi significat). Tropologia est moralis instructio (non diligamus verbo neque lingua) ad correccionem morum per aperta vel figurata verba (omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida). Anagoge, id est ”ad superiora ducens loqucio”, est que de premiis (beati mundo corde) futuris apertis vel misticis verbis (beati qui lauant stolas suas, etc.) disputat.''<br /> <br /> (“The meanings of Scripture: (...) historical meaning is expressed when something is stated to have been done or said (for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt) in clear words. Allegory (Isaiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”) when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the Church are signified (the blood of the lamb signifies the blood of Christ). Tropology is moral teaching (“Let us not love in word nor in tongue”) with the aim of improving our conduct through ordinary or figurative words (“Let your garments always be white”). Anagoge, that is, “speech that leads upward,” deals with rewards (“Blessed are the pure in heart”) in the future, presented in clear or mystical words (“Blessed are those who wash their robes.””)<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The primary purpose is obvious: to provide preachers with all the scholarly tools they need to compose a sermon which is orthodox, instructive, and with a strong moral appeal to conversion and a striving for a virtuous life. Mathias' personal background may have contributed with an existential incentive: he took a special interest in the symbolic potency of the visible world. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (V, int. 16:36-37) states that Mathias in his earlier life (in Paris?) had experienced the conflict between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He had overcome this temptation by not trusting his own senses and judgement too much. He was rewarded with an exceptional knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Mathias had been seriously attracted by the “second Averroism” which, while proclaiming the submission to the teachings of the Church, in reality professed a learned and more complicated form of incredulity, founded on the orthodox Aristotelian thesis that all knowledge must be based on sensual perception. This is precisely the argument of the Devil, Mathias contends in this commentary on the Apocalypse (12, 244-251), since he takes his subtle and sophistic reasons from the phenomena (''ex apparenciis'') in the visible world of the four elements: but with the help of grace the human mind is illuminated and can reach a spiritual understanding of corporal things in the visible world. Hence his interest in the natural and sensual phenomena: they are altogether symbols and vehicles of spiritual truths. What Mathias attacks, with strong anti-dialectical bias, is the separation of theology and exegesis. In connection with the greatest Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure, Mathias claims that theology should appeal to all human capacities and mentalities: its method (''modus tradendi'') is ''narrativus, preceptivus, excitativus, comminatorius, promissivus, precatorius, laudativus.'' The purpose of theology escapes the presumptuos, the unclean, the treacherous, the idle. All this explains why it is so obscure: it demands an intellectual and moral effort, in order not to become insipid. It aims at inclining our wills so that we want to be good, ''vt boni fiamus''. All these statements in the entry Sacra Scriptura are paraphrazes on the ''Breviloquium'' of Bonaventure.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' has survived in fragments of two manuscripts, later reused for secondary purposes: ''MS Linköping'' (''MS L''), Stockholm, The National Archives, ''MPO, Fr 3'', and ''Östergötlands handlingar 1539:3:1'', second quarter of the fourteenth century, a bifolium; and ''MS Vadstena'' (''MS V''), written before 1381 in Linköping or Uppsala, and preserved in 88 fragments that comprise 163 leaves in total, in the Swedish National Archives, and seven other institutions (see above). It was in the possession of Birger Gregersson (Archbishop of Uppsala 1366-1383), who might have commissioned the copy. Quotations in sermons by the Vadstena preachers and frequent annotations in MS V demonstrate that the Birgittines used the book up to the early fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> SUPPONEN (pp. 83-92) has furthermore identified extracts of ''Alphabetum'' in Uppsala, UUB, C 391, foll. 129v-131r, copied by Styrkarus Thyrgilli (d. 1416), which comprises a part of the entries ''Misericordia'' and ''Iudicare, Iudicium'', but is missing in the MSS L and V. Another extract is found in UUB, C 3, a compendium from approximately 1447. Other traces of smaller excerpts from the fifteenth century have been discovered by other scholars. <br /> <br /> === Exposicio super Apocalipsim ===<br /> The most influential work of Mathias was, without comparison, Mathias' commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, expounding the biblical text from the beginning to chapter 15, verse 5. In the traditional scholastic style, Mathias explains the literal and, above all, the allegorical and moral sense of the sacred text.<br /> <br /> Mathias was more restrictive in identifying the agents of the Apocalypse with historical persons, events and periods than was Nicholas of Lyra or the writers in the Joachimite tradition. This Bible commentary follows the normal pattern for this genre, but it has a more personal tone through the constantly recurring polemic against contemporary theology, which, according to Mathias, has lost touch with exegesis and degenerated into an academic display where one constructs more and more theoretical problems around the biblical text, in order to escape its existential appeal. Mathias launches a vehement attack on the dialectic methods used in theology, i.e. the obsession with arguments for and against a given proposition, discussed not so much for its spiritual content as in order to discover its philosophical or logical implications, and thereby gain a reputation for shrewdness (''scire volunt ut sciantur'', a quote from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux). Mathias brands ''dyalectica'' as one of the Devil’s weapons to avert people from devotion and charity. Mathias here shows a strong anti-Aristotelian bias (perhaps all the more as Aristotle thought that metaphor and allegory are incompatible with “scientific” knowledge). In stark contrast to contemporary theology, Mathias directs his attention to the pre-scholastic methods of biblical exegesis, practised in monastic circles in the twelfth century, freely associating related words, detecting biblical analogies, and expounding the various senses of a given text; whatever is concluded must, however, be in perfect conformity with traditional morals. Thus, his interest remains the existential dimension of the Scriptures, explained according to rules set out once and for all by the four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great). Probably inspired by the Franciscan rigorists, he insists on a thorough reform of the Church. The commentary on the Apocalypse was the main doctrinal source of St. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444), who made a personal copy of it. Even Nicholas Cusanus, the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, acquired a copy of it and was impressed by Mathias as a spiritual writer (Piltz 1986, 143 ff.).<br /> <br /> ===== Manuscript tradition =====<br /> The complete list of the 21 manuscripts in Billing-Ottosson's edition, pp. 18-22. They can be distributed in two main categories, the “Bernardino” MSS, and the “independent” MSS. The copy (N, kept in the National Library of Naples, Cod VI.A.19), produced by S:t Bernardino of Siena sometime between 1425 and 1434 served as the original text of all the other “Bernardine” manuscripts. The “independent” manuscripts are independent of N and represent another tradition. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Beatus qui legit et qui audit verba prophecie huius et seruit ea, que in ea scripta sunt. Triplex gracia ad profectum in Scriptura Sacra requiri potest''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Et hoc est quod saluator insinuat Luce vicesimo primo de illo tempore loquens: Virtutes, inquit, celorum mouebuntur. Et tunc videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 428 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Billing-Ottosson, A.-M. 2003: ''Exposicio super Apocalypsim'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:3), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ 1986: pp. 143-145<br /> * ULFGARD 2021: pp. 676-741<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl., a collection compiled in Sweden 1344-1349) as well as in ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, states that ''Tempore quo magister Mathias, glosator biblie,'' ''glossabat super Apocalipsim, ait Dominus'' ... (“at the time when Magister Mathias, the glossator of the Bible, wrote a gloss on the Book of Revelation, the Lord said ...”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to his divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The commentary intended to give a literal as well as spiritual exposition of the sacred text, but it is much more restrained in identifying historical events and persons than Mathias’ predecessors in this genre, e.g. Joachim de Fiore (d. 1202), the most influential apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period, or Nicolas of Lyra (d. 1349), the foremost medieval exegete. Mathias deals with timeless truths, virtues and vices, as incarnate in history, past, present, and future. The picture of Christendom is sombre. The seven Churches in chapter two symbolize the virtues of active life, the seven seals in chapter five symbolize seven kinds of tribulations: the suffering of the just, the prosperity of the evil, the fight against the heretics, false brethren and hypocrites, the impunity of evil men, and sins committed by just man, making them fall by their own feebleness. The seven-fold corruption of the Church is represented by the seven trumpets. The corruption of the masses calls for punishment: it will be inflicted by the grasshoppers and the scorpions of chapter nine, i.e. by the evil princes of this earth. But Christ watches over his Church and will assist it, especially in making Sacred Scripture more transparent by the proclamation of his word, and by the good pastors of his Church; these, however, will be rare, and their effort will, for the most part, remain without effect. ''Valde ergo prope est interitus mundi'' (“The end of this world is imminent”, 10,88).<br /> <br /> Mathias insisted on a thorough reform of the Church, probably under the influence of the Franciscan rigorists. Such an influence explains his vehement accusations launched against the ignorance of the clergy, its worldly ambitions, the scandal of theology transformed into philosophy “with little sense and no affection” (''tantum scire faciunt, vt non afficiant''). The Roman Curia, where the origin of religion ought to be, was more rotten than any local church. One of the roots of this corruption was the transformation of theology into dialectical philosophy: ''experimento cotidie discimus videntes theologicam veritatem fere totam esse subuersam esse in philosophicam vanitatem'' (“From daily experience we see with our own eyes that theological truth has almost completely been transformed into philosophical vanity”; 12, 246). <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> This exposition follows the models of the genre but is more personal in tone than what was usual. His strong condemnations of the dialectical methods in theology might have something to do with his early years in Paris. Did he, as a mature man having gone through a spiritual crisis, have reasons to look at his own interest in literal theory (and quotes of Averroes) with strong disapproval? A significant passage (13, 197-198) illustrates what may be the essence of his strong stance against contemporary philosophy, as it was practiced in Paris: the Averroists taught in the Aristotelian spirit that knowledge can only be based on the testimony of the senses. From this they had drawn conclusions contrary to essential Christian dogmas. One of Mathias’ main concerns was to show the opposite: <br /> <br /> ''Sicut nempe per sensibiles apparencias elementorum mundi astucia dyaboli raciones contra diuinam sapienciam confingit, sic econtra diuina veritas per sensibilia se defendit. Multas enim raciones nec minus probabiles sancti doctores ex sensibilibus adinuenerant, quam falsi mundi sapientes contra sanctam fiden adinuenerunt. Non enim pauciores nec minus probabiles raciones beatus doctor Augustinus adinuenit pro sancta Christi fide quam Auerroes et Porphyrius heretici contra sanctam fidem confinxerunt.''<br /> <br /> (“Just as the Devil's cunning has invented rational arguments from the appearances of the elements of this world against divine Wisdom, so divine Wisdom also defends itself with the help of these testimonies of the senses. The holy doctors of the Church have found no less credible arguments from what the senses can perceive than the false wise men of the world have found against the holy faith. The blessed teacher Augustine has found no fewer or less credible arguments for the holy faith of Christ than the heretics Averroes and Porphyry have invented against the holy faith.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The manuscripts of this text are scattered in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. There is reason to believe that Birgittine religious from Vadstena brought a copy to the convent al Paradiso in Florence, and all foreign manuscripts have been reproduced from a common hyparchetype there. St. Bernardino of Siena made a copy of the ''Exposicio'' for his own use, in 1413 at the latest, and he used as master copy in al Paradiso. Later on, he made a second copy with his own hand. Possibly, this is the original of a manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus and of other manuscripts in Germany. Bernardino used Mathias’ commentary as one of three principal sources for his famous sermons, and Cusanus wanted a personal copy of it after having heard Bernardino's impressive Lenten sermons in Padua in 1423. According to a notice in three MSS. in Munich, Bernardino was moved by the exceptional spiritual sweetness (''singularem dulcedinem spiritus'') of Mathias’ exposition. He is even reported to have sent two friars to Sweden in order to retrieve its final part, but they returned empty-handed. Cusanus warned that the copy was defective: ''exemplar fuit corruptum, sitis cauciores!'' He professed himself to be a great admirer of the Swedish master, whom he affirmed to be truly illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Even in the fifteenth century, Mathias’ treatment of the last book of the Bible was obviously perceived and appreciated as fresh, original and profound. <br /> <br /> As BILLING-OTTOSSON has shown in the list (pp. 18-35) of manuscripts preserved, the Uppsala manuscript C 126 is the one that is closest to the archetype and consequently offers the most reliable version of the text. All other manuscripts are dependent on a hyparchetype that has been lost.<br /> <br /> === Homo conditus ===<br /> For the benefit of parish priests in the diocese of Linköping, Mathias composed ''Homo conditus'' (named after its incipit), a handbook in narrative style, which avoids technical terminology and encompasses all of Christian doctrine, from Creation to the Last Judgement and Heaven and Hell, according to the general plan of Peter Lombard’s ''Sentences''. It is supplemented with detailed treatises on the apostolic Creed, the virtues and vices, the seven sacraments, the five senses, the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, the Ave Maria, and what should be hoped for and feared in the afterlife. A series of sermon introductions are added, conforming to the Gospel readings at Mass through the liturgical year in the Diocese of Linköping. Using this book, a priest could explain the whole of Catholic dogma in the course of one year (it goes without saying that it was meant to be translated into the vernacular by the preacher). Mathias’s concern about religious and philosophical heresies (residual paganism, superstitious practices, astrology, fatalism) is of great interest as one of the rare sources for medieval Nordic mentality. ''Homo conditus'' is written in a vital, spontaneous prose style, saturated with metaphors and biblical allusions.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit/explicit =====<br /> Principal text: ''Homo conditus in omnibus bonis habundabat. Erat nempe perfectus in natura (...) cum nichil aliud iam poterunt nisi proprias penas cogitare, ne vacent amplius peccandi libertate.''<br /> <br /> Sermon introductions: ''Dominica prima Aduentus. Semper debet homo salutem suam operari (...) Castitas nempe, specialiter virginea, est celestis conuersacio. Require septimo capitulo, littera k, et de luxuria littera i.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 206 standard pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1984: ''Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:1), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1986: ''Vägen till Jerusalem: Valda texter ur Homo conditus i översättning och med kommentar'', Uppsala [partial translation]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A.1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A.1986b: pp. 146-149<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> A linguistic comparison with the other works ascribed to Mathias (Piltz, A.1974, pp. 47-52) proves that ''Homo conditus'' is written by him. The presence or absence of saints in the sermon draft ''de sanctis'' shows that the text fits into the liturgical situation in the diocese of Linköping during the period 1330-1350. It is therefore edited after Mathias’ return to Sweden (after a second period of studies in Paris 1333-1342/43) in 1344, when he was a canon in Linköping, and in 1343 he was provided with a rectorate in Söderköping in the same diocese.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The author himself has written a short summary of the whole book (Piltz, A. 1984, R:1-R:3):<br /> <br /> ''In hoc opusculo vndecim capitula sunt. Primum continet mala et dampna, que peccatum facit in natura racionali. Secundum est de fide, spe et karitate, quibus sanantur mala peccati. Tercium est de generali informacione fidei per breuem exposicionem simboli apostolici. Quartum disserit diuisim de articulis simboli cum septem sacramentis. Quintum habet generaliter de preceptis et preuaricacione eorum, virtutibus et viciis et donis Spiritus Sancti cum immissionibus dyaboli et beatitudinibus et miseriis et sensuum regimine. Sextum continet specialiter de decem preceptis et penis preuaricatorum. Septimum habet specialiter de septem viciis capitalibus et de virtutibus illis oppositis. Octauum continet de septem donis Spiritus Sancti et immissionibus dyaboli illis oppositis et beatitudinibus. Nonum de tribus partibus emendacionis peccatorum et triplici satisfaccione per elemosinam, ieiunium et oracionem, in qua oracio dominica et salutacio angelica exponuntur. Decimum de quinque per ordinem, que speranda sunt. Vndecimum de quinque per ordinem, que timenda sunt.''<br /> <br /> (“This work consists of eleven chapters. The first deals with the misfortunes and injuries which sin causes in the rational soul. The second deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the misfortune of sin is cured. The third contains a general review of the faith in the form of a brief explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. The fourth reviews the articles of faith in order, together with the seven sacraments. The fifth is a general survey of the commandments and the punishment of transgressors. The seventh is a special review of the seven capital vices and the virtues which are their opposites. The eighth contains the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the devilish inspirations which are their opposites, as well as the Beatitudes. The ninth focuses on the expiation for sin and the threefold expiation of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, including an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the Angel’s greeting. The tenth concerns the order of the five things in which we should hope. The eleventh deals in turn with the five things that we should fear.”)<br /> <br /> There is a detailed summary in Piltz 1974,14-28.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The general outline is determined by the catechetical categories (the Creed, the common prayers, sins and vices, the sacraments) and corresponds in content to the traditional presentation in the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard, the obligatory basic text in theological studies from the twelfth century until the Protestant Reformation. <br /> <br /> Mathias’ interest in the art of oratory, which he documented in his youth through the tract ''Testa nucis'' (see above), must have been evident when he, as a preacher, addressed a congregation in their own language. ''Homo conditus'' is a compendium of Christian doctrine, written in Latin but meant to be translated into Swedish by the priest. It avoids theological jargon as much as possible. The address is directed at the individual listener and appeals to his own ability to reason: <br /> <br /> ''Omnia animalia creata sunt ad aliquam vtilitatem, vermes auibus in cibum, aues et pecora hominibus. Si ergo homo moreretur in corpore et anima, ad quem vtilitatem esset ipse creatus? Numquid creasset ipsum Deum racionalem ad nichil aliud nisi scire et intelligere et sufferre calamitates huius mundi et deinde mori sicut aliud brutum? Quis vel demens hoc credere posset? Nonne vides malos homines prosperari in hoc mundo, et bonos aduersitates et tribulaciones pati? Hoc numquam iustissimus Deus faceret, nisi bonis hominibus in alia vita meliora reseruaret. Crede ergo firmiter sacre fidei promittenti tibi aliam vitam. An non actor fidei Christus Iesus adeo fide dignus est, quod mentiri non potuit?'' (II:10-11).<br /> <br /> (“All living things are created for some use, worms for food for birds, birds and cattle for people. Now if man died body and soul, for what use was he created? Would God have created his reason for no other purpose than to know and realize and suffer the misfortunes of this world, and then die like another beast? Who is so mad as to believe such a thing? Do you not see that the wicked live well in this world and the good suffer adversity and hardship? God would never do so in his supreme justice, if he had not reserved something better for the good in another life. Therefore, believe firmly in the holy faith, which promises you another life. Or is not the author of faith Christ Jesus trustworthy enough to escape suspicion of lying?”)<br /> <br /> Christian faith must be expressed in concrete action, a theme that this guide constantly insists on. No one is so poor that he cannot do good to his neighbour through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: <br /> <br /> ''Est enim elemosina spiritualis, que fit de possessione anime, corporalis vero, que fit de possessione corporis. Si ergo velis elemosinam spiritualem facere, ora ad Deum pro omnibus, conpatere afflictis, instrue ignorantes, corrige errantes, dimitte in nomine Christi inimicicias. Frequenter enim nobis bona temporalia deficiunt nec sufficimus elemosinam facere, licet velimus. Numquam tamen nobis tantum deficit numquam tam pauperes sumus, quod non possimus orare non solum pro Christianis sed pro omni humano genere; pro iustis, vt Deus det eis perseueranciam in bono, pro peccatoribus, vt Deus concedat eis veram penitenciam, pro paganis et Iudeis, vt concedat eis veram Dei et Christi recognicionem.'' (IX:227-228).<br /> <br /> (“There is a spiritual almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the soul; there is a bodily almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the body. If you want to give a spiritual almsgiving, then pray to God for all, have compassion on the unfortunate, teach the ignorant, correct the erring, forgive the unkind deeds, in the name of Christ. Often temporal possessions fail us and we are unable to give alms, although we would like to. But we never suffer such a lack, we are never so poor that we cannot pray, not only for Christians, but for the whole human race: for the righteous, that God may give them perseverance in good, for sinners, that God may give them true repentance, for the Gentiles and the Jews, that He may make them recognize God and His Anointed.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> There is no general relationship of dependence between ''Homo conditus'' and any predecessor in the genre of sermon manuals, even if individual details may correspond to other authors. Rather, all of them seem to have sought to produce their own variations and to vary the given catechetical categories in new ways. See Piltz,1974, pp. 59-76.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is to provide a practical and easily accessible handbook for the ordinary parish priest in the Diocese of Linköping in his task of delivering a sermon that is doctrinally sound, rhetorically effective, and refers to the biblical texts read in mass on Sundays and holidays, i.e. on the mandatory sermon days. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The text is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts from the library of Vadstena Monastery, now in Uppsala University Library, there with the designations C 217 and C 387 (both written in the late fourteenth century century). The latter had previously been owned by the priest Johannes Johannis from Kalmar, who entered the monastery in 1404, when it was incorporated into the monastery library. There are a few quotes from ''Homo conditus'' in diverse sermon collections from Vadstena.<br /> <br /> === Copia exemplorum ===<br /> Perhaps as a supplement to ''Homo conditus'', Mathias compiled an alphabetical collection of anecdotes, ''Copia exemplorum'' (633 entries from ''Absolucio'' to ''Vxor'').<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> There is only one copy preserved of this text, Uppsala University Library, C 54, foll. 60v-110r. Fol. 60v has the following notice, written by a fifteenth-century hand: ''Hic liber subscriptus qui incipit absolucio multum etc. dicitur Copia exemplorum quem fecit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Istum librum collegit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis. Absolucio multum beneficium confert morituris, ualet eciam defunctis'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''frequenter maritus malus lucrifit per bonam uxorem, R. amor carnis. Explicit copia exemplorum propter simplices collecta.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 118 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> ''Copia exemplorum'' is edited in the form of a reproduction of the final rough drafts of an edition prepared by Lars Wåhlin in 1901:<br /> <br /> * Wåhlin, L. &amp; Andersson-Schmitt, M. 1990: ''Magister Mathias: Copia exemplorum.'' Herausgegeben von Lars Wåhlin†. Mit Einleitung und Indizes von Margarete Andersson-Schmitt (Studia seminarii Latini Upsaliensis, 2), Uppsala<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan''. (Samlingar och studier till Svenska kyrkans historia. 9. Stockholm <br /> <br /> This doctoral dissertation is a thorough study of the book's genre and sources. In the Introduction (''Einführung'') of Wåhlin's edition there is an updated overview of the sources.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The text recounts an event that occurred in Tåby outside Söderköping in the Diocese of Linköping on July 24/25, 1344. It is obviously compilated in Linköping.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias is drawing mostly from French sources, above all the ''Alphabetum narracionum'' by Arnould of Liège OP (d. after 1310) and ''Miracula beate Marie virginis'' (Strömberg 1944, 36 ff., Andersson-Schmitt, ix-xvii).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience, composition and style ====<br /> For obvious reasons, the presentation is considerably more vivid and lively in this compilation, which was made ''propter simplices'', for common people, than in any other of Mathias’ works, which were intended for a clerical readership. The purpose of these examples is to arouse the audience’s curiosity and interest, which is why purely burlesque elements are not avoided. Here is a passage under the entry ''Adulterium'' (6,1): <br /> <br /> ''Vxor Gengulphi adultera cum ab eo argueretur et negaret, iussa est in purgacionem sceleris brachium in fontem frigidum mittere, quod uelut igne adustum retraxit, et mox ab ea se separauit. unde et cum ab adultero Gengulphus occisus miracula faceret, adultera ei detrahens dicebat: “Sic Gengulphus facit miracula sicut anus meus cantat.” unde et mox uellet nollet turpes sonos emisit, et extunc omni uita sua sextis feriis, quando uir eius occisus fuit.'' <br /> <br /> (“Gengulf’s wife was unfaithful, and when he accused her of this and she denied it, she was asked to put her arm in a cold spring to cleanse herself of this crime. She withdrew her arm, as if it had been burned by fire, and he immediately separated from her. But when Gengulf had been murdered by the adulterer and was performing miracles, the adulteress mocked him and said: “Gengulf performs miracles as well as my ass sings.” After that, she let out shameful sounds, whether she wanted to or not, and this happened every Friday after that, the day her husband had been murdered.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> 73 exempla from ''Copia exemplorum'' have been excerpted in the Vadstena manuscript in Uppsala University Library C 181, fols. 163r-168r.<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> * ANDERSSON-sCHMITT, M. 1990: see ''Copia exemplorum'', Edition, above.<br /> * BERGH, B. 1996: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * CARLSSON, G. 1949: “Mäster Mathias från Linköping. Ett bidrag till hans biografi,” ''Samlaren'', ny följd, 29.<br /> * FERM, O, 2021: “Magister Mathias Ouidi Lincopensis,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * KILSTRÖM, B. I. 1958: ''Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden'' (Bibliotheca theologiae practicae, 8), Uppsala.<br /> * KLOCKARS, B. 1971: ''Birgitta och hennes värld'' (Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Historiska serien, 16), Uppsala.<br /> * LIEDGREN, J. 1961: ''Magister Mathias’ svenska kungörelse om Birgittas första stora uppenbarelse: Ett förbisett dokument i Riksarkivet'' (Riksarkivets meddelanden, 1958), Stockholm.<br /> * MALM, M. 1997: “Uppenbarelse och poetik: Magister Mathias om effektiv framställning,” ''Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap'' 26:3/4, 61-80.<br /> * MALM, M. 2012: “The Soul of Poetry Redefined. Vacillations of Mimesis from Aristotle to Romanticism.” ''Tusculanum'' (Copenhagen).<br /> * MALM, M. 2021: “Magister Mathias on Literary Representation,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * PACETTI, D. 1961: “L’Expositio super Apocalypsim di Mattia di Svezia (c. 1281-1350) precipua fonte dottrinale di S. Bernardino da Siena,” ''Archivum Franciscanum historicum'' 54.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986: “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his Theological Context: A Preliminary Survey,” in M. Asztalos (ed.), ''The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages'' (Studia latina Stockholmiensia, 30), Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: see ''Alphabetum distinccionum'', Editions, above.<br /> * SAVICKI, S. 1936: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1959: ''Ecclesia Lincopensis: Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustaf Vasa'' (Stockholm Studies in History, 4), Stockholm.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1943: “Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” ''Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift'' 19, 301-322.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan'' (Samlingar och studier till Svenska Kyrkans historia, 9), Stockholm.<br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2005: “Från Paris till Linköping: akademiska bibelstudier och kyrklig bibelutläggning i medeltidens Europa belysta utifrån Magister Mathias Apokalyps-kommentar,” in K. O. U. Lejon (red.), ''Diocesis Lincopensis,'' 2: ''Medeltida internationella influenser'' (Linköpings stiftshistoriska sällskaps skriftserie, 2), Skellefteå, 141-167.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2021: “Magister Mathias of Linköping. Exegete and Theologian”, in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm, 676-741.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1165 2026-01-30T17:47:41Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anderz Piltz<br /> <br /> '''Mathias Ouidi''' (Mats Övidsson, Övedsson), usually called Magister Mathias, born ''c''.1300, dead probably in 1350 in Stockholm. Master of Arts, canon at the cathedral of Linköping (not later than 1333), Baccalarius of Theology, and rector of the parish church of Saint Giles (Egidius) in Söderköping (not later than 1343). According to tradition, he was also Master of Theology. A close friend and influential confessor of Saint Birgitta (see [[Sancta Birgitta]]) prior to her journey to Rome in 1349, Mathias was by far the most prolific and original of Swedish writers, let alone theologians, in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> == Biography ==<br /> Information about Mathias is very sparse. His name cannot be traced in any university registers, but there is every reason to believe that he studied in the faculties of arts and theology at Paris. His earliest work, the ''Poetria'', is dedicated to archbishop Olof Björnsson, who was the incumbent of the see of Uppsala between 1318 and 1332. In 1333, Mathias is mentioned four times in documents from Linköping and its vicinity. In all probability, he was living in Sweden when Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of Birgitta, died on 12 February 1344; in ''Copia exemplorum'', Mathias refers to an event which took place in the parish of Tåby outside Söderköping in late July of that year (see further Piltz 1974, 31 ff.).<br /> <br /> In his theological works, Mathias is an inspired champion of orthodox Christianity. It is said that in his youth he was tempted by all the heresies in the world and thus suffered a serious religious crisis which, however, he overcame, and after which he was rewarded by God with an exceptional command of the Sacred Scriptures – a command that is amply demonstrated in his writings. Hence his interest in various heterodox tenets, which he attacks in the name of “true theology”, by which he means essentially the biblical texts in their original spiritual force, without too much academic glossing.<br /> <br /> Like his famous confessant, Mathias was convinced that the world was ageing and close to its end, since love had grown cold and lawlessness was reigning. He stressed the Franciscan principle that Christians should imitate God’s humility, displayed in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. <br /> <br /> Mathias was the close witness of Birgitta’s early mystical experiences and miracles, and he was convinced that she was the authentic voice of God to her contemporaries. As an expert theologian, he wrote an enthusiastic introduction (''Stupor et mirabilia'') to the first collection of her Revelations (see below). For unknown reasons, they parted ways around 1346: Birgitta prepared herself to go to Rome, Mathias planned to participate in a “crusade” undertaken by King Magnus Eriksson against the Russians (June-October 1348, autumn 1350-spring 1351); it cannot be established whether he actually took part or not. Birgitta was in Rome when she learned that Mathias had died in Sweden. <br /> <br /> According to tradition, Mathias was buried by the king himself in the Dominican conventual church “Helga Lösen” in the Old Town of Stockholm. He was famed for his saintliness, and miracles were attributed to his intercession. His tomb was destroyed during the Lutheran reformation in the sixteenth century. <br /> <br /> Mathias is one of the candidates as author of the Old Swedish works ''Paraphrase of the Pentateuch'' and ''Mirror of Kings''. But his main legacy comprises seven works in Latin. They all testify to his interest in rhetorics, profane as well as sacred, his scholarly ambitions as a theologian, and – at least as far as ''Homo conditus'' is concerned – his talent as a writer. <br /> <br /> Birgittine sources state that Mathias was the author of the prologue ''Stupor et mirabilia'' to the Revelations of St. Birgitta (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; Rev. VI, 75; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477, 601), furthermore of an excellent gloss on the whole Bible (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477), that he had an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures (Rev. V ''interrogacio'' 16, 36-37), and that he was a prolific writer (''Acta et processus'', 78, 477). A survey of Mathias’ writings is found in the Uppsala manuscript C 54 (fol. 60v), which originally belonged to the library of Vadstena Abbey: <br /> <br /> ''Hic liber Subscriptus ... dicitur Copia exemplorum, quem fecit magister Mathias Canonicus lyncopensis et collegit. Hic venerabilis vir M. fuit primus confessor matris nostre gloriose Sancte birgitte quia vita et religione valde erat preclarus et tempore suo magistrorum omnium summus. Qui plures libros fecit, scilicet Concordancias super totam bibliam quem'' [sic] ''habemus in Watzsteno in tribus voluminibus magne quantitatis. Item vnum librum qui dicitur Homo conditus. Item super apokalipsim. Item tractatum de modo loquendi et quamplures alios.'' <br /> <br /> (“This book which is written here below is called the ''Treasury of Examples'' and was written and compiled by Master Matthias, a Canon of Linköping. This venerable man M. was the first confessor of our glorious mother Birgitta, since he was particularly distinguished in piety and the most important Master of his time. He is the author of several books, namely, a ''Concordance'' over the whole Bible, which we have in Vadstena in three large volumes, further a book entitled ''Homo conditus'', one on the ''Book of Revelation'' and a treatise on the ''Art of Rhetoric'', and several others.”)<br /> <br /> == Works ==<br /> <br /> === Stupor et mirabilia ===<br /> This introduction to the first collection of the Birgittine corpus is an expert opinion on the authenticity and orthodoxy of the “heavenly revelations” that Birgitta Birgersdotter claimed to have received and had successively edited with the help of her confessors. It is written in a lofty and excited style. Mathias claims in antithetical sentences that what happened through Birgitta is more remarkable than the revelation that took place in the Old Testament through Moses, and in a way it even goes beyond the incarnation of Christ himself: “Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration” (25).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Stupor et mirabilia audita sunt in terra nostra. Mirabile siquidem'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) ab ipso factam ad verba eius ab ipso missa fatebuntur.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of standard pages: 12.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes''. Lübeck: Bartholomeus Ghotan [for Vadstena Abbey], 1492<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sancte Birgitte'' [ed. Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein], Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1500 <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Reuelationes celestes preelecte sponse Christi beate Birgitte'' … Nuremberg: Federicus Peypus, sumptibus Joannis Kobergers, 1517<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes'' [ed. Olaus Magnus], 2 vols., Romae, in aedibus diuae Birgittae viduae: Franciscus Mediolanensis de Ferrariis, 1557 [vol. 1, p. 24]<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Romae: Stephanus Paulinus, sumptibus Iulij Burchionij, 1606<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: Ioannes Keerbergius, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: apud viduam et haeredem P. Belleri, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''a Consalvo Duranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae.'' Coloniae Agrippinae: ex off. Anthonii Boetzeri haeredum [typis Henricus Krafft], 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''á Consaluo Duranto episcopo Ferettrano notis illustratae'' … Tomvs I. Romae: Ludouicus Grignanus, 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes Caelestes seraphicae matris sanctae Birgittae Suecae'' … Munich: Sebastianus Rauch, sumptibus Joannis Wagneri et Joannis Hermanni à Gelder, 1680<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes S. Birgittae e codice membraneo fol. 21 Bibliothecae Universitatis Lundensis (“Cod. Falkenberg”), Suecice et Britannice praefatus''. Facsimile ed. by Elias Wessén, 2 vols. (Corpus codicum Suecicorum medii aevi), Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1952–1956<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelaciones''. ''Book I, with Magister Mathias’ Prologue'', ed. by Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 7:1), Uppsala [also Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm, and, extra series, Stockholm: Almqvist &amp; Wiksell International], 1977 [printed 1978], pp. 227-240<br /> <br /> ==== Electronic texts ====<br /> <br /> * ''St Birgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones, Book I'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.umilta.net/bk1.html&lt;/nowiki&gt; <br /> * ''Corpus Reuelacionum Sancte Birgitte'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://62.20.57.210/ra/diplomatariet/CRB/index.htm&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) Sancta Birgitta, ''The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden'', vol. I: ''Liber Caelestis, Books I-III'', translated by Denis Searby, with introductions and notes by Bridget Morris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 [p. 47-52]<br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Das puch der Himlischen offenbarung der heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem kunigreich Sweden'' [ed. by Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1502 <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Brigitta''. Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus, 4 vols. (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg: Verlag von G. Joseph Manz, 1856 [“Vorrede … vom Magister Matthias aus Schweden,” vol. IV, 345-53] <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Birgitta.'' Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus. Aufs neue durchgesehen und verbessert von einem katholischen Priester (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg, 1888 [microfiche ed.: Wildberg: Belser Wiss. Dienst (Edition St. Walburg), 1994 – 11 microfiches, 29x]<br /> * (Polish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Skarby niebieskich taiemnic'', [Zamosc], 1698 <br /> * (Spanish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Celestiales Revelaciones de Santa Brígida, Princesa de Suecia'' …, 4 vols., Madrid: [Tipografia del Sagrado Corazón], 1901 <br /> * (Swedish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Himmelska uppenbarelser'', trans. by T. Lundén, 4 vols., Malmö: Allhem, 1957–1959; vol. 1, 57-60, contains a summary of and an excerpt from ''Stupor et mirabilia''<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUNDÉN, HJ. 1973: ''Den heliga Birgitta. Ormungens dotter som blev Kristi brud.'' Stockholm <br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Written in Sweden, ''terminus post quem'' is the death of Ulf Gudmarsson, which is referred to in the text.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is obvious, since the authenticity of the Birgittine revelations was initially questioned and accused of being of demonic origin, especially since they had been addressed to a woman without theological training. Mathias, who was the country's foremost theological expert, vouches for their divine origin and insists that they should be read as instructions from Heaven and taken seriously by all Christians.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> ''Stupor and mirabilia'' came to be considered the preface of Birgitta's ''Revelations'' and is included in all editions since Bartholomeus Gothan's editio princeps, printed in Lübeck in 1492.<br /> <br /> === Testa nucis ===<br /> This text is only preserved in a short fragment in the MS. C 521 (foll. 172v-173r), earlier pertaining to the monastery of Vadstena. It seems to convey traditional rhetorical doctrine. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> This tract is obviously identical with the ''Tractatus de modo loquendi'' mentioned in the same MS (see above).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Incipit Testa nucis. Rethorica est potencia considerandi vnumquodque contingens persuasibile'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) vtrum in eo negocium expleri pot&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;u&gt;erit, et partes temporis, mensis, dies&lt;/nowiki&gt;'' (the fragment ends here).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of pages: 6. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable]<br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The dedication of ''Poetria'' (see below) to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala indicates that ''Testa nucis'', to which several explicit references are made in ''Poetria'', was written in the early 1320s, during Mathias' studies at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, in a period when he was obviously intensely interested in literary theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The fragmentary character of the preserved text makes it impossible to have a more precise idea of its layout. The beginning of the fragment reproduces the main rules of classical rhetoric as the ability to persuade, in three areas: before a court of law, in a political assembly, and in ceremonial speeches (which should unite the audience around common values). An effective speech consists of five elements: inventory of arguments, outline, style, delivery, and memorization. The art of persuasion refers to obvious facts, or to confidence in the speaker's credibility, arouses emotions, provides examples, analogies, and probabilities, and discusses various types of mitigating or aggravating circumstances of an action.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The traditional scholastic style of definitions and distinctions of traditional rhetorical concepts is adopted.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Its principal source appears to be William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Rhetoric'', with occasional reminiscences from ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' and Cicero’s ''De inventione'' (Bergh 1996, 8 f.).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The aim is to convey traditional rhetorical theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 172v-173r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs' edition.<br /> <br /> === Poetria ===<br /> The ''Poetria'' is a treatise on poetry. It is partly written in hexameters in a rather abstruse style. It is not typical of the medieval tradition, which took a keen interest in technical matters such as tropes, figures of speech and other stylistic devices, but not in aesthetic theory. Mathias makes an effort to integrate Aristotelian theory into a treatise on poetry, a remarkable ambition in fourteenth-century Sweden. He uses examples from Avianus, Homer, Ovid, Persius and Virgil. The text is divided into three parts, ''representacio'' (visualization), ''tonus'' (intonation), and ''metrum'' (not on metrics but on the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Maria Ihesus Christus. Incipit Poetria domini magistri Mathie. Cum plurima nostratum studia ante mentis oculos pertractarem''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Eterni tecum mansuri solis ad ortum. Explicit Poetria magistri Mathie Lincopensis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Metre/rhythm =====<br /> The many metrical examples adduced are mostly hexametric. The treatise ends with a poem by Mattias himself, comprising 94 lines, which aims to illustrate various poetical tropes (mentioned in the margin) discussed in the previous theoretical part. <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 42 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable] <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm <br /> <br /> Note that Bergh in his critical and exegetical remarks (pp. 17-27) corrects Sawicki on many points; Sawicki's edition should therefore be avoided as misrepresenting the original text in a number of passages.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions) <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * BERGH, B. 1996, and his ''Introduction'' should be consulted first of all, since he points out the very obscurity of this text and consequently the difficulties implied in interpreting it.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> ''Poetria'' is obviously written in close connexion to ''Testa nucis'' (to which several references are made; see above) in Paris around 1320, during Mathias' studies in the Faculty of Arts, when he seemed intensely interested in literary theory. It is dedicated to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala, who was the incumbent from 1318 to 1332. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Mathias wanted to find an aesthetic theory for poetry. The main theme of this treatise on poetry is ''representatio'', which in this context means “visualizations”: ''representaciones tam certe et veraciter factas, ut non credatur res ficta esse'' (“so certain and plausible that the matter does not seem to have been made up”; 66). <br /> <br /> ''Vnde merito similitudinem habet poeta cum pictore. Sicut enim pictor peritus rem, que in se delectabilis non esset aspicere, propter conuenienciam in disposicione partium picture et colorum delectabiliter inuenitur representare, sic poeta perfectus delectat animam in faciendo rem secundum suas proprietates imaginari'' <br /> <br /> (“[T]he poet is rightly compared to the painter. For the skilful painter, by the harmonious arrangement of the different parts and colours of the picture, turns out to give an agreeable representation of something that would not in itself be agreeable to look at, and in the same way the perfect poet gives pleasure by making us imagine a thing in accordance to its characteristics”; 6-7). <br /> <br /> In this view it is the most important of three components of poetry, the other two being ''tonus'' (rhytm) and ''metrum'' (the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). The text ends with a didactic poem in hexameters which intend to illustrate the poetic figures, terms, and techniques discussed in the theoretical part of the text. <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The style is more personal than in ''Testa nucis'' (''sicut credo, reor attendendum, ut michi'' ''videtur'', etc). Mathias is fully aware of his own ability to judge and produce poetry, and also of his status as a pioneer in Sweden in literary theory. He speaks disparagingly of the creators of leonine verses of his time: ''aut leonina. Et hoc solum est, quod nostri metriste in versibus facere sciunt'';” or the kind called ‘leonine’. &quot;This is the only thing our poetasters are capable of in their verses” (79-80).<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Mathias is dependent on Hermannus Alemannus’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics'', a particularly obscure rendering of the original text, due to intermediary (Syrian, Arabic) versions. He is not unaware of his pioneer achievement (Bergh 1996, 9 ff.). Maybe the mature theologian Mathias felt uneasy about these juvenile exercises, judging from later warnings about the allurement of philosophy.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> One can assume that the young Mathias, aware of his talent, wanted to gain a patron and benefactor in the (newly appointed?) Archbishop of Uppsala, and also, thereby, to gain a readership and intellectual reputation: <br /> <br /> ''vt luce vestri nominis et gracie quam ex se et sui actoris sciencia famosius rutilans duracionem in tempore cum lectorum frequencia optima nancisscatur''; <br /> <br /> “so that it will gleam with greater renown through the light of Your name and grace than through itself and the knowledge of its author, and thus procure long duration and a great number of readers” (4).<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 169r-172r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs’ edition.<br /> <br /> === Alphabetum distinccionum ===<br /> Mathias' most comprehensive work is the ''Alphabetum distinccionum,'' a (selective) concordance to the biblical text combined with a kind of theological encyclopedia of so called ''distincciones'' between the different senses of Scripture, with special stress on the ''sensus moralis''. The entries are small tracts of theological character, useful for homiletical purposes. <br /> <br /> It is meant to be an encyclopaedia of the principal nouns, verbs, some few adverbs, and the most important proper names, along with some “natural things” (''res naturales'') mentioned in the Bible. It is in fact a systematic gloss on the Bible and comprises even terms not occurring in the Scriptures, such as ''Accidia, Actuosa deuocio, Condignum, Fomes (peccati), Scriptura sacra, Sinderesis, Syrena, Theologia, Trinitas''. The reader may combine interpretations of separate words and so construct various expositions as required. However, the result must never contradict faith or morals: (''sic'') ''vt veritas fidei seruetur ex vno et honestas morum non ledatur ex altero.''<br /> <br /> Today, the text only survives as fragments of two parchment codices, and in quoted extracts in other works. The volumes were dispersed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when they were confiscated by the secular authorities and reused for various account books and legal records (domböcker). The surviving leaves are scattered across eight institutions in five cities: Stockholm, Vadstena, Helsinki, Oslo, and London, most of them available digitally. <br /> <br /> By employing various methods and accounting for all pertinent evidence communicated by the extant witnesses, especially cross-references, roughly forty per cent of the original ''c''.4000 headwords can be identified (according to SUPPONEN, 2023). The headwords survive at least partly in 603 entries. The cross-references provide 821 otherwise unknown headwords. <br /> <br /> The book contributed to his reputation among the Birgittines that he knew the entire Bible inside out, “from Alpha to Omega”. It now exists only as fragments in the form of 326 preserved leaves of two manuscripts, apart from quotes in sermons by Vadstena brothers. It is an encyclopaedia of the most important nouns, verbs and proper names in the Vulgate. The concepts are explained, with descriptive applications and examples of the use of the word in question. A peculiarity is Mathias's strong interest in natural phenomena (''res naturales''), their definition and properties: the visible, material things are understood as references to the invisible. All of nature is a kind of allegorical rebus that illustrates spiritual truths and heavenly things, for those who have eyes with which to see it. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> Although this work is called ''Concordancie super totam bibliam'' in MS. C 54 of Uppsala University Library, the prologue, which is almost completely preserved, indicates the correct title: <br /> <br /> “''Distinguuntur ergo in hoc alphabeto textus et glose Biblie et naturales rerum, de quibus Scripture mencionem faciunt, proprietates per vocabula et sentencias figurales, misticas et historicas''” <br /> <br /> (“In this alphabetical register, the varied meanings of the texts of the Bible and the glosses are conveyed, as well as the natural phenomena that are mentioned in Scripture, [and] the properties that are demonstrated by their names, as well as their figurative, mystical and historical meanings”).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The work is said to have filled three huge volumes in the Birgittine Abbey of Vadstena. Only 145 folios remain, scattered in different libraries (which makes them very difficult to read without modern technical devices). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: “Mathiæ canonici Lincopensis ''Alphabeti distinccionum'' sive ''Concordanciarum'' fragmenta selecta”, in ''Symbolae Septentrionales: Latin Studies Presented to Jan Öberg'', ed. M. Asztalos &amp; C. Gejrot, Stockholm, 137-171 [samples of the extant fragments]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was likely composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. According to the Birgittine ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl.) and ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, Mathias ''glossavit totam Bibliam excellenter'' ''et composuit multa volumina librorum'' (“wrote an excellent gloss on the whole Bible and was the author of many volumes”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to Mathias’ divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator Biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' is an alphabetically organised reference work that compiles materials from various preaching aids. It comprises a concordance for contextualising the themes and divisions of sermons, as well as devices for expanding upon sermons, such as distinctions, encyclopaedic descriptions, and biblical exempla. The text consists of two parts: the text proper and an interlinear reference apparatus, that provides commentaries on biblical verses in the text proper and citations of the verses and accompanying references in the apparatus. The headwords are described in their historical sense in the text proper, while the moral or allegorical readings are presented in the apparatus. The interlinear apparatus also contains cross-references to other entries. <br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias owes much to St. Bonaventure OFM; he also echoes John Duns Scotus OFM. Inspired by principles set up by pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, probably with Bartholomeus Anglicus (''c''.1250) as intermediary, Mathias refers, often in detail, to the facts, processes and events of nature as analogies of spiritual realities in the realm of grace. The book also conveys vitriolic criticism of the hierarchy and the religious orders (cf. Piltz 1986, 139 ff.; Piltz 1995, 137 ff.). SUPPONEN (pp.122-167) gives a thorough overview of the textual sources: the third concordance of St. Jacques, Glossa ordinaria, Bartholomeus Anglicus, etc.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The method applied in this concordance could best be demonstrated with a quotation from the entry ''Sensus Scripture'': <br /> <br /> ''Sensus hystoricus est, cum res quandoque secundum litteram vel facta vel dicta sit (vt saluacio filiorum Israel de Egypto), plano sermone refertur. Allegoria (Ysaie: egredietur virga de radice Iesse), cum verbis vel rebus misticis presencia Christi et Ecclesie sacramenta signantur (sanguis agni sanguinem Christi significat). Tropologia est moralis instructio (non diligamus verbo neque lingua) ad correccionem morum per aperta vel figurata verba (omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida). Anagoge, id est ”ad superiora ducens loqucio”, est que de premiis (beati mundo corde) futuris apertis vel misticis verbis (beati qui lauant stolas suas, etc.) disputat.''<br /> <br /> (“The meanings of Scripture: (...) historical meaning is expressed when something is stated to have been done or said (for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt) in clear words. Allegory (Isaiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”) when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the Church are signified (the blood of the lamb signifies the blood of Christ). Tropology is moral teaching (“Let us not love in word nor in tongue”) with the aim of improving our conduct through ordinary or figurative words (“Let your garments always be white”). Anagoge, that is, “speech that leads upward,” deals with rewards (“Blessed are the pure in heart”) in the future, presented in clear or mystical words (“Blessed are those who wash their robes.””)<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The primary purpose is obvious: to provide preachers with all the scholarly tools they need to compose a sermon which is orthodox, instructive, and with a strong moral appeal to conversion and a striving for a virtuous life. Mathias' personal background may have contributed with an existential incentive: he took a special interest in the symbolic potency of the visible world. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (V, int. 16:36-37) states that Mathias in his earlier life (in Paris?) had experienced the conflict between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He had overcome this temptation by not trusting his own senses and judgement too much. He was rewarded with an exceptional knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Mathias had been seriously attracted by the “second Averroism” which, while proclaiming the submission to the teachings of the Church, in reality professed a learned and more complicated form of incredulity, founded on the orthodox Aristotelian thesis that all knowledge must be based on sensual perception. This is precisely the argument of the Devil, Mathias contends in this commentary on the Apocalypse (12, 244-251), since he takes his subtle and sophistic reasons from the phenomena (''ex apparenciis'') in the visible world of the four elements: but with the help of grace the human mind is illuminated and can reach a spiritual understanding of corporal things in the visible world. Hence his interest in the natural and sensual phenomena: they are altogether symbols and vehicles of spiritual truths. What Mathias attacks, with strong anti-dialectical bias, is the separation of theology and exegesis. In connection with the greatest Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure, Mathias claims that theology should appeal to all human capacities and mentalities: its method (''modus tradendi'') is ''narrativus, preceptivus, excitativus, comminatorius, promissivus, precatorius, laudativus.'' The purpose of theology escapes the presumptuos, the unclean, the treacherous, the idle. All this explains why it is so obscure: it demands an intellectual and moral effort, in order not to become insipid. It aims at inclining our wills so that we want to be good, ''vt boni fiamus''. All these statements in the entry Sacra Scriptura are paraphrazes on the ''Breviloquium'' of Bonaventure.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' has survived in fragments of two manuscripts, later reused for secondary purposes: ''MS Linköping'' (''MS L''), Stockholm, The National Archives, ''MPO, Fr 3'', and ''Östergötlands handlingar 1539:3:1'', second quarter of the fourteenth century, a bifolium; and ''MS Vadstena'' (''MS V''), written before 1381 in Linköping or Uppsala, and preserved in 88 fragments that comprise 163 leaves in total, in the Swedish National Archives, and seven other institutions (see above). It was in the possession of Birger Gregersson (Archbishop of Uppsala 1366-1383), who might have commissioned the copy. Quotations in sermons by the Vadstena preachers and frequent annotations in MS V demonstrate that the Birgittines used the book up to the early fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> SUPPONEN (pp. 83-92) has furthermore identified extracts of ''Alphabetum'' in Uppsala, UUB, C 391, foll. 129v-131r, copied by Styrkarus Thyrgilli (d. 1416), which comprises a part of the entries ''Misericordia'' and ''Iudicare, Iudicium'', but is missing in the MSS L and V. Another extract is found in UUB, C 3, a compendium from approximately 1447. Other traces of smaller excerpts from the fifteenth century have been discovered by other scholars. <br /> <br /> === Exposicio super Apocalipsim ===<br /> The most influential work of Mathias was, without comparison, Mathias' commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, expounding the biblical text from the beginning to chapter 15, verse 5. In the traditional scholastic style, Mathias explains the literal and, above all, the allegorical and moral sense of the sacred text.<br /> <br /> Mathias was more restrictive in identifying the agents of the Apocalypse with historical persons, events and periods than was Nicholas of Lyra or the writers in the Joachimite tradition. This Bible commentary follows the normal pattern for this genre, but it has a more personal tone through the constantly recurring polemic against contemporary theology, which, according to Mathias, has lost touch with exegesis and degenerated into an academic display where one constructs more and more theoretical problems around the biblical text, in order to escape its existential appeal. Mathias launches a vehement attack on the dialectic methods used in theology, i.e. the obsession with arguments for and against a given proposition, discussed not so much for its spiritual content as in order to discover its philosophical or logical implications, and thereby gain a reputation for shrewdness (''scire volunt ut sciantur'', a quote from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux). Mathias brands ''dyalectica'' as one of the Devil’s weapons to avert people from devotion and charity. Mathias here shows a strong anti-Aristotelian bias (perhaps all the more as Aristotle thought that metaphor and allegory are incompatible with “scientific” knowledge). In stark contrast to contemporary theology, Mathias directs his attention to the pre-scholastic methods of biblical exegesis, practised in monastic circles in the twelfth century, freely associating related words, detecting biblical analogies, and expounding the various senses of a given text; whatever is concluded must, however, be in perfect conformity with traditional morals. Thus, his interest remains the existential dimension of the Scriptures, explained according to rules set out once and for all by the four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great). Probably inspired by the Franciscan rigorists, he insists on a thorough reform of the Church. The commentary on the Apocalypse was the main doctrinal source of St. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444), who made a personal copy of it. Even Nicholas Cusanus, the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, acquired a copy of it and was impressed by Mathias as a spiritual writer (Piltz 1986, 143 ff.).<br /> <br /> ===== Manuscript tradition =====<br /> The complete list of the 21 manuscripts in Billing-Ottosson's edition, pp. 18-22. They can be distributed in two main categories, the “Bernardino” MSS, and the “independent” MSS. The copy (N, kept in the National Library of Naples, Cod VI.A.19), produced by S:t Bernardino of Siena sometime between 1425 and 1434 served as the original text of all the other “Bernardine” manuscripts. The “independent” manuscripts are independent of N and represent another tradition. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Beatus qui legit et qui audit verba prophecie huius et seruit ea, que in ea scripta sunt. Triplex gracia ad profectum in Scriptura Sacra requiri potest''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Et hoc est quod saluator insinuat Luce vicesimo primo de illo tempore loquens: Virtutes, inquit, celorum mouebuntur. Et tunc videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 428 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Billing-Ottosson, A.-M. 2003: ''Exposicio super Apocalypsim'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:3), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ 1986: pp. 143-145<br /> * ULFGARD 2021: pp. 676-741<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl., a collection compiled in Sweden 1344-1349) as well as in ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, states that ''Tempore quo magister Mathias, glosator biblie,'' ''glossabat super Apocalipsim, ait Dominus'' ... (“at the time when Magister Mathias, the glossator of the Bible, wrote a gloss on the Book of Revelation, the Lord said ...”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to his divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The commentary intended to give a literal as well as spiritual exposition of the sacred text, but it is much more restrained in identifying historical events and persons than Mathias’ predecessors in this genre, e.g. Joachim de Fiore (d. 1202), the most influential apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period, or Nicolas of Lyra (d. 1349), the foremost medieval exegete. Mathias deals with timeless truths, virtues and vices, as incarnate in history, past, present, and future. The picture of Christendom is sombre. The seven Churches in chapter two symbolize the virtues of active life, the seven seals in chapter five symbolize seven kinds of tribulations: the suffering of the just, the prosperity of the evil, the fight against the heretics, false brethren and hypocrites, the impunity of evil men, and sins committed by just man, making them fall by their own feebleness. The seven-fold corruption of the Church is represented by the seven trumpets. The corruption of the masses calls for punishment: it will be inflicted by the grasshoppers and the scorpions of chapter nine, i.e. by the evil princes of this earth. But Christ watches over his Church and will assist it, especially in making Sacred Scripture more transparent by the proclamation of his word, and by the good pastors of his Church; these, however, will be rare, and their effort will, for the most part, remain without effect. ''Valde ergo prope est interitus mundi'' (“The end of this world is imminent”, 10,88).<br /> <br /> Mathias insisted on a thorough reform of the Church, probably under the influence of the Franciscan rigorists. Such an influence explains his vehement accusations launched against the ignorance of the clergy, its worldly ambitions, the scandal of theology transformed into philosophy “with little sense and no affection” (''tantum scire faciunt, vt non afficiant''). The Roman Curia, where the origin of religion ought to be, was more rotten than any local church. One of the roots of this corruption was the transformation of theology into dialectical philosophy: ''experimento cotidie discimus videntes theologicam veritatem fere totam esse subuersam esse in philosophicam vanitatem'' (“From daily experience we see with our own eyes that theological truth has almost completely been transformed into philosophical vanity”; 12, 246). <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> This exposition follows the models of the genre but is more personal in tone than what was usual. His strong condemnations of the dialectical methods in theology might have something to do with his early years in Paris. Did he, as a mature man having gone through a spiritual crisis, have reasons to look at his own interest in literal theory (and quotes of Averroes) with strong disapproval? A significant passage (13, 197-198) illustrates what may be the essence of his strong stance against contemporary philosophy, as it was practiced in Paris: the Averroists taught in the Aristotelian spirit that knowledge can only be based on the testimony of the senses. From this they had drawn conclusions contrary to essential Christian dogmas. One of Mathias’ main concerns was to show the opposite: <br /> <br /> ''Sicut nempe per sensibiles apparencias elementorum mundi astucia dyaboli raciones contra diuinam sapienciam confingit, sic econtra diuina veritas per sensibilia se defendit. Multas enim raciones nec minus probabiles sancti doctores ex sensibilibus adinuenerant, quam falsi mundi sapientes contra sanctam fiden adinuenerunt. Non enim pauciores nec minus probabiles raciones beatus doctor Augustinus adinuenit pro sancta Christi fide quam Auerroes et Porphyrius heretici contra sanctam fidem confinxerunt.''<br /> <br /> (“Just as the Devil's cunning has invented rational arguments from the appearances of the elements of this world against divine Wisdom, so divine Wisdom also defends itself with the help of these testimonies of the senses. The holy doctors of the Church have found no less credible arguments from what the senses can perceive than the false wise men of the world have found against the holy faith. The blessed teacher Augustine has found no fewer or less credible arguments for the holy faith of Christ than the heretics Averroes and Porphyry have invented against the holy faith.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The manuscripts of this text are scattered in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. There is reason to believe that Birgittine religious from Vadstena brought a copy to the convent al Paradiso in Florence, and all foreign manuscripts have been reproduced from a common hyparchetype there. St. Bernardino of Siena made a copy of the ''Exposicio'' for his own use, in 1413 at the latest, and he used as master copy in al Paradiso. Later on, he made a second copy with his own hand. Possibly, this is the original of a manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus and of other manuscripts in Germany. Bernardino used Mathias’ commentary as one of three principal sources for his famous sermons, and Cusanus wanted a personal copy of it after having heard Bernardino's impressive Lenten sermons in Padua in 1423. According to a notice in three MSS. in Munich, Bernardino was moved by the exceptional spiritual sweetness (''singularem dulcedinem spiritus'') of Mathias’ exposition. He is even reported to have sent two friars to Sweden in order to retrieve its final part, but they returned empty-handed. Cusanus warned that the copy was defective: ''exemplar fuit corruptum, sitis cauciores!'' He professed himself to be a great admirer of the Swedish master, whom he affirmed to be truly illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Even in the fifteenth century, Mathias’ treatment of the last book of the Bible was obviously perceived and appreciated as fresh, original and profound. <br /> <br /> As BILLING-OTTOSSON has shown in the list (pp. 18-35) of manuscripts preserved, the Uppsala manuscript C 126 is the one that is closest to the archetype and consequently offers the most reliable version of the text. All other manuscripts are dependent on a hyparchetype that has been lost.<br /> <br /> === Homo conditus ===<br /> For the benefit of parish priests in the diocese of Linköping, Mathias composed ''Homo conditus'' (named after its incipit), a handbook in narrative style, which avoids technical terminology and encompasses all of Christian doctrine, from Creation to the Last Judgement and Heaven and Hell, according to the general plan of Peter Lombard’s ''Sentences''. It is supplemented with detailed treatises on the apostolic Creed, the virtues and vices, the seven sacraments, the five senses, the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, the Ave Maria, and what should be hoped for and feared in the afterlife. A series of sermon introductions are added, conforming to the Gospel readings at Mass through the liturgical year in the Diocese of Linköping. Using this book, a priest could explain the whole of Catholic dogma in the course of one year (it goes without saying that it was meant to be translated into the vernacular by the preacher). Mathias’s concern about religious and philosophical heresies (residual paganism, superstitious practices, astrology, fatalism) is of great interest as one of the rare sources for medieval Nordic mentality. ''Homo conditus'' is written in a vital, spontaneous prose style, saturated with metaphors and biblical allusions.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit/explicit =====<br /> Principal text: ''Homo conditus in omnibus bonis habundabat. Erat nempe perfectus in natura (...) cum nichil aliud iam poterunt nisi proprias penas cogitare, ne vacent amplius peccandi libertate.''<br /> <br /> Sermon introductions: ''Dominica prima Aduentus. Semper debet homo salutem suam operari (...) Castitas nempe, specialiter virginea, est celestis conuersacio. Require septimo capitulo, littera k, et de luxuria littera i.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 206 standard pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1984: ''Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:1), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1986: ''Vägen till Jerusalem: Valda texter ur Homo conditus i översättning och med kommentar'', Uppsala [partial translation]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A.1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A.1986b: pp. 146-149<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> A linguistic comparison with the other works ascribed to Mathias (Piltz, A.1974, pp. 47-52) proves that ''Homo conditus'' is written by him. The presence or absence of saints in the sermon draft ''de sanctis'' shows that the text fits into the liturgical situation in the diocese of Linköping during the period 1330-1350. It is therefore edited after Mathias’ return to Sweden (after a second period of studies in Paris 1333-1342/43) in 1344, when he was a canon in Linköping, and in 1343 he was provided with a rectorate in Söderköping in the same diocese.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The author himself has written a short summary of the whole book (Piltz, A. 1984, R:1-R:3):<br /> <br /> ''In hoc opusculo vndecim capitula sunt. Primum continet mala et dampna, que peccatum facit in natura racionali. Secundum est de fide, spe et karitate, quibus sanantur mala peccati. Tercium est de generali informacione fidei per breuem exposicionem simboli apostolici. Quartum disserit diuisim de articulis simboli cum septem sacramentis. Quintum habet generaliter de preceptis et preuaricacione eorum, virtutibus et viciis et donis Spiritus Sancti cum immissionibus dyaboli et beatitudinibus et miseriis et sensuum regimine. Sextum continet specialiter de decem preceptis et penis preuaricatorum. Septimum habet specialiter de septem viciis capitalibus et de virtutibus illis oppositis. Octauum continet de septem donis Spiritus Sancti et immissionibus dyaboli illis oppositis et beatitudinibus. Nonum de tribus partibus emendacionis peccatorum et triplici satisfaccione per elemosinam, ieiunium et oracionem, in qua oracio dominica et salutacio angelica exponuntur. Decimum de quinque per ordinem, que speranda sunt. Vndecimum de quinque per ordinem, que timenda sunt.''<br /> <br /> (“This work consists of eleven chapters. The first deals with the misfortunes and injuries which sin causes in the rational soul. The second deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the misfortune of sin is cured. The third contains a general review of the faith in the form of a brief explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. The fourth reviews the articles of faith in order, together with the seven sacraments. The fifth is a general survey of the commandments and the punishment of transgressors. The seventh is a special review of the seven capital vices and the virtues which are their opposites. The eighth contains the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the devilish inspirations which are their opposites, as well as the Beatitudes. The ninth focuses on the expiation for sin and the threefold expiation of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, including an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the Angel’s greeting. The tenth concerns the order of the five things in which we should hope. The eleventh deals in turn with the five things that we should fear.”)<br /> <br /> There is a detailed summary in Piltz 1974,14-28.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The general outline is determined by the catechetical categories (the Creed, the common prayers, sins and vices, the sacraments) and corresponds in content to the traditional presentation in the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard, the obligatory basic text in theological studies from the twelfth century until the Protestant Reformation. <br /> <br /> Mathias’ interest in the art of oratory, which he documented in his youth through the tract ''Testa nucis'' (see above), must have been evident when he, as a preacher, addressed a congregation in their own language. ''Homo conditus'' is a compendium of Christian doctrine, written in Latin but meant to be translated into Swedish by the priest. It avoids theological jargon as much as possible. The address is directed at the individual listener and appeals to his own ability to reason: <br /> <br /> ''Omnia animalia creata sunt ad aliquam vtilitatem, vermes auibus in cibum, aues et pecora hominibus. Si ergo homo moreretur in corpore et anima, ad quem vtilitatem esset ipse creatus? Numquid creasset ipsum Deum racionalem ad nichil aliud nisi scire et intelligere et sufferre calamitates huius mundi et deinde mori sicut aliud brutum? Quis vel demens hoc credere posset? Nonne vides malos homines prosperari in hoc mundo, et bonos aduersitates et tribulaciones pati? Hoc numquam iustissimus Deus faceret, nisi bonis hominibus in alia vita meliora reseruaret. Crede ergo firmiter sacre fidei promittenti tibi aliam vitam. An non actor fidei Christus Iesus adeo fide dignus est, quod mentiri non potuit?'' (II:10-11).<br /> <br /> (“All living things are created for some use, worms for food for birds, birds and cattle for people. Now if man died body and soul, for what use was he created? Would God have created his reason for no other purpose than to know and realize and suffer the misfortunes of this world, and then die like another beast? Who is so mad as to believe such a thing? Do you not see that the wicked live well in this world and the good suffer adversity and hardship? God would never do so in his supreme justice, if he had not reserved something better for the good in another life. Therefore, believe firmly in the holy faith, which promises you another life. Or is not the author of faith Christ Jesus trustworthy enough to escape suspicion of lying?”)<br /> <br /> Christian faith must be expressed in concrete action, a theme that this guide constantly insists on. No one is so poor that he cannot do good to his neighbour through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: <br /> <br /> ''Est enim elemosina spiritualis, que fit de possessione anime, corporalis vero, que fit de possessione corporis. Si ergo velis elemosinam spiritualem facere, ora ad Deum pro omnibus, conpatere afflictis, instrue ignorantes, corrige errantes, dimitte in nomine Christi inimicicias. Frequenter enim nobis bona temporalia deficiunt nec sufficimus elemosinam facere, licet velimus. Numquam tamen nobis tantum deficit numquam tam pauperes sumus, quod non possimus orare non solum pro Christianis sed pro omni humano genere; pro iustis, vt Deus det eis perseueranciam in bono, pro peccatoribus, vt Deus concedat eis veram penitenciam, pro paganis et Iudeis, vt concedat eis veram Dei et Christi recognicionem.'' (IX:227-228).<br /> <br /> (“There is a spiritual almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the soul; there is a bodily almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the body. If you want to give a spiritual almsgiving, then pray to God for all, have compassion on the unfortunate, teach the ignorant, correct the erring, forgive the unkind deeds, in the name of Christ. Often temporal possessions fail us and we are unable to give alms, although we would like to. But we never suffer such a lack, we are never so poor that we cannot pray, not only for Christians, but for the whole human race: for the righteous, that God may give them perseverance in good, for sinners, that God may give them true repentance, for the Gentiles and the Jews, that He may make them recognize God and His Anointed.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> There is no general relationship of dependence between ''Homo conditus'' and any predecessor in the genre of sermon manuals, even if individual details may correspond to other authors. Rather, all of them seem to have sought to produce their own variations and to vary the given catechetical categories in new ways. See Piltz,1974, pp. 59-76.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is to provide a practical and easily accessible handbook for the ordinary parish priest in the Diocese of Linköping in his task of delivering a sermon that is doctrinally sound, rhetorically effective, and refers to the biblical texts read in mass on Sundays and holidays, i.e. on the mandatory sermon days. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The text is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts from the library of Vadstena Monastery, now in Uppsala University Library, there with the designations C 217 and C 387 (both written in the late fourteenth century century). The latter had previously been owned by the priest Johannes Johannis from Kalmar, who entered the monastery in 1404, when it was incorporated into the monastery library. There are a few quotes from ''Homo conditus'' in diverse sermon collections from Vadstena.<br /> <br /> === Copia exemplorum ===<br /> Perhaps as a supplement to ''Homo conditus'', Mathias compiled an alphabetical collection of anecdotes, ''Copia exemplorum'' (633 entries from ''Absolucio'' to ''Vxor'').<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> There is only one copy preserved of this text, Uppsala University Library, C 54, foll. 60v-110r. Fol. 60v has the following notice, written by a fifteenth-century hand: ''Hic liber subscriptus qui incipit absolucio multum etc. dicitur Copia exemplorum quem fecit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Istum librum collegit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis. Absolucio multum beneficium confert morituris, ualet eciam defunctis'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''frequenter maritus malus lucrifit per bonam uxorem, R. amor carnis. Explicit copia exemplorum propter simplices collecta.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 118 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> ''Copia exemplorum'' is edited in the form of a reproduction of the final rough drafts of an edition prepared by Lars Wåhlin in 1901:<br /> <br /> * Wåhlin, L. &amp; Andersson-Schmitt, M. 1990: ''Magister Mathias: Copia exemplorum.'' Herausgegeben von Lars Wåhlin†. Mit Einleitung und Indizes von Margarete Andersson-Schmitt (Studia seminarii Latini Upsaliensis, 2), Uppsala<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan''. (Samlingar och studier till Svenska kyrkans historia. 9. Stockholm <br /> <br /> This doctoral dissertation is a thorough study of the book's genre and sources. In the Introduction (''Einführung'') of Wåhlin's edition there is an updated overview of the sources.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The text recounts an event that occurred in Tåby outside Söderköping in the Diocese of Linköping on July 24/25, 1344. It is obviously compilated in Linköping.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias is drawing mostly from French sources, above all the ''Alphabetum narracionum'' by Arnould of Liège OP (d. after 1310) and ''Miracula beate Marie virginis'' (Strömberg 1944, 36 ff., Andersson-Schmitt, ix-xvii).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience, composition and style ====<br /> For obvious reasons, the presentation is considerably more vivid and lively in this compilation, which was made ''propter simplices'', for common people, than in any other of Mathias’ works, which were intended for a clerical readership. The purpose of these examples is to arouse the audience’s curiosity and interest, which is why purely burlesque elements are not avoided. Here is a passage under the entry ''Adulterium'' (6,1): <br /> <br /> ''Vxor Gengulphi adultera cum ab eo argueretur et negaret, iussa est in purgacionem sceleris brachium in fontem frigidum mittere, quod uelut igne adustum retraxit, et mox ab ea se separauit. unde et cum ab adultero Gengulphus occisus miracula faceret, adultera ei detrahens dicebat: “Sic Gengulphus facit miracula sicut anus meus cantat.” unde et mox uellet nollet turpes sonos emisit, et extunc omni uita sua sextis feriis, quando uir eius occisus fuit.'' <br /> <br /> (“Gengulf’s wife was unfaithful, and when he accused her of this and she denied it, she was asked to put her arm in a cold spring to cleanse herself of this crime. She withdrew her arm, as if it had been burned by fire, and he immediately separated from her. But when Gengulf had been murdered by the adulterer and was performing miracles, the adulteress mocked him and said: “Gengulf performs miracles as well as my ass sings.” After that, she let out shameful sounds, whether she wanted to or not, and this happened every Friday after that, the day her husband had been murdered.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> 73 exempla from ''Copia exemplorum'' have been excerpted in the Vadstena manuscript in Uppsala University Library C 181, fols. 163r-168r.<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> * ANDERSSON-sCHMITT, M. 1990: see ''Copia exemplorum'', Edition, above.<br /> * BERGH, B. 1996: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * CARLSSON, G. 1949: “Mäster Mathias från Linköping. Ett bidrag till hans biografi,” ''Samlaren'', ny följd, 29.<br /> * FERM, O, 2021: “Magister Mathias Ouidi Lincopensis,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * KILSTRÖM, B. I. 1958: ''Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden'' (Bibliotheca theologiae practicae, 8), Uppsala.<br /> * KLOCKARS, B. 1971: ''Birgitta och hennes värld'' (Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Historiska serien, 16), Uppsala.<br /> * LIEDGREN, J. 1961: ''Magister Mathias’ svenska kungörelse om Birgittas första stora uppenbarelse: Ett förbisett dokument i Riksarkivet'' (Riksarkivets meddelanden, 1958), Stockholm.<br /> * MALM, M. 1997: “Uppenbarelse och poetik: Magister Mathias om effektiv framställning,” ''Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap'' 26:3/4, 61-80.<br /> * MALM, M. 2012: “The Soul of Poetry Redefined. Vacillations of Mimesis from Aristotle to Romanticism.” ''Tusculanum'' (Copenhagen).<br /> * MALM, M. 2021: “Magister Mathias on Literary Representation,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * PACETTI, D. 1961: “L’Expositio super Apocalypsim di Mattia di Svezia (c. 1281-1350) precipua fonte dottrinale di S. Bernardino da Siena,” ''Archivum Franciscanum historicum'' 54.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986: “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his Theological Context: A Preliminary Survey,” in M. Asztalos (ed.), ''The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages'' (Studia latina Stockholmiensia, 30), Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: see ''Alphabetum distinccionum'', Editions, above.<br /> * SAVICKI, S. 1936: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1959: ''Ecclesia Lincopensis: Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustaf Vasa'' (Stockholm Studies in History, 4), Stockholm.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1943: “Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” ''Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift'' 19, 301-322.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan'' (Samlingar och studier till Svenska Kyrkans historia, 9), Stockholm.<br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2005: “Från Paris till Linköping: akademiska bibelstudier och kyrklig bibelutläggning i medeltidens Europa belysta utifrån Magister Mathias Apokalyps-kommentar,” in K. O. U. Lejon (red.), ''Diocesis Lincopensis,'' 2: ''Medeltida internationella influenser'' (Linköpings stiftshistoriska sällskaps skriftserie, 2), Skellefteå, 141-167.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2021: “Magister Mathias of Linköping. Exegete and Theologian”, in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm, 676-741.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1164 2026-01-30T17:46:53Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anderz Piltz<br /> <br /> '''Mathias Ouidi''' (Mats Övidsson, Övedsson), usually called Magister Mathias, born ''c''.1300, dead probably in 1350 in Stockholm. Master of Arts, canon at the cathedral of Linköping (not later than 1333), Baccalarius of Theology, and rector of the parish church of Saint Giles (Egidius) in Söderköping (not later than 1343). According to tradition, he was also Master of Theology. A close friend and influential confessor of Saint Birgitta (see [[Sancta Birgitta]]) prior to her journey to Rome in 1349, Mathias was by far the most prolific and original of Swedish writers, let alone theologians, in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> == Biography ==<br /> Information about Mathias is very sparse. His name cannot be traced in any university registers, but there is every reason to believe that he studied in the faculties of arts and theology at Paris. His earliest work, the ''Poetria'', is dedicated to archbishop Olof Björnsson, who was the incumbent of the see of Uppsala between 1318 and 1332. In 1333, Mathias is mentioned four times in documents from Linköping and its vicinity. In all probability, he was living in Sweden when Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of Birgitta, died on 12 February 1344; in ''Copia exemplorum'', Mathias refers to an event which took place in the parish of Tåby outside Söderköping in late July of that year (see further Piltz 1974, 31 ff.).<br /> <br /> In his theological works, Mathias is an inspired champion of orthodox Christianity. It is said that in his youth he was tempted by all the heresies in the world and thus suffered a serious religious crisis which, however, he overcame, and after which he was rewarded by God with an exceptional command of the Sacred Scriptures – a command that is amply demonstrated in his writings. Hence his interest in various heterodox tenets, which he attacks in the name of “true theology”, by which he means essentially the biblical texts in their original spiritual force, without too much academic glossing.<br /> <br /> Like his famous confessant, Mathias was convinced that the world was ageing and close to its end, since love had grown cold and lawlessness was reigning. He stressed the Franciscan principle that Christians should imitate God’s humility, displayed in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. <br /> <br /> Mathias was the close witness of Birgitta’s early mystical experiences and miracles, and he was convinced that she was the authentic voice of God to her contemporaries. As an expert theologian, he wrote an enthusiastic introduction (''Stupor et mirabilia'') to the first collection of her Revelations (see below). For unknown reasons, they parted ways around 1346: Birgitta prepared herself to go to Rome, Mathias planned to participate in a “crusade” undertaken by King Magnus Eriksson against the Russians (June-October 1348, autumn 1350-spring 1351); it cannot be established whether he actually took part or not. Birgitta was in Rome when she learned that Mathias had died in Sweden. <br /> <br /> According to tradition, Mathias was buried by the king himself in the Dominican conventual church “Helga Lösen” in the Old Town of Stockholm. He was famed for his saintliness, and miracles were attributed to his intercession. His tomb was destroyed during the Lutheran reformation in the sixteenth century. <br /> <br /> Mathias is one of the candidates as author of the Old Swedish works ''Paraphrase of the Pentateuch'' and ''Mirror of Kings''. But his main legacy comprises seven works in Latin. They all testify to his interest in rhetorics, profane as well as sacred, his scholarly ambitions as a theologian, and – at least as far as ''Homo conditus'' is concerned – his talent as a writer. <br /> <br /> Birgittine sources state that Mathias was the author of the prologue ''Stupor et mirabilia'' to the Revelations of St. Birgitta (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; Rev. VI, 75; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477, 601), furthermore of an excellent gloss on the whole Bible (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477), that he had an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures (Rev. V ''interrogacio'' 16, 36-37), and that he was a prolific writer (''Acta et processus'', 78, 477). A survey of Mathias’ writings is found in the Uppsala manuscript C 54 (fol. 60v), which originally belonged to the library of Vadstena Abbey: <br /> <br /> ''Hic liber Subscriptus ... dicitur Copia exemplorum, quem fecit magister Mathias Canonicus lyncopensis et collegit. Hic venerabilis vir M. fuit primus confessor matris nostre gloriose Sancte birgitte quia vita et religione valde erat preclarus et tempore suo magistrorum omnium summus. Qui plures libros fecit, scilicet Concordancias super totam bibliam quem'' [sic] ''habemus in Watzsteno in tribus voluminibus magne quantitatis. Item vnum librum qui dicitur Homo conditus. Item super apokalipsim. Item tractatum de modo loquendi et quamplures alios.'' <br /> <br /> (“This book which is written here below is called the ''Treasury of Examples'' and was written and compiled by Master Matthias, a Canon of Linköping. This venerable man M. was the first confessor of our glorious mother Birgitta, since he was particularly distinguished in piety and the most important Master of his time. He is the author of several books, namely, a ''Concordance'' over the whole Bible, which we have in Vadstena in three large volumes, further a book entitled ''Homo conditus'', one on the ''Book of Revelation'' and a treatise on the ''Art of Rhetoric'', and several others.”)<br /> <br /> == Works ==<br /> <br /> === Stupor et mirabilia ===<br /> This introduction to the first collection of the Birgittine corpus is an expert opinion on the authenticity and orthodoxy of the “heavenly revelations” that Birgitta Birgersdotter claimed to have received and had successively edited with the help of her confessors. It is written in a lofty and excited style. Mathias claims in antithetical sentences that what happened through Birgitta is more remarkable than the revelation that took place in the Old Testament through Moses, and in a way it even goes beyond the incarnation of Christ himself: “Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration” (25).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Stupor et mirabilia audita sunt in terra nostra. Mirabile siquidem'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) ab ipso factam ad verba eius ab ipso missa fatebuntur.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of standard pages: 12.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes''. Lübeck: Bartholomeus Ghotan [for Vadstena Abbey], 1492<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sancte Birgitte'' [ed. Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein], Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1500 <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Reuelationes celestes preelecte sponse Christi beate Birgitte'' … Nuremberg: Federicus Peypus, sumptibus Joannis Kobergers, 1517<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes'' [ed. Olaus Magnus], 2 vols., Romae, in aedibus diuae Birgittae viduae: Franciscus Mediolanensis de Ferrariis, 1557 [vol. 1, p. 24]<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Romae: Stephanus Paulinus, sumptibus Iulij Burchionij, 1606<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: Ioannes Keerbergius, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: apud viduam et haeredem P. Belleri, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''a Consalvo Duranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae.'' Coloniae Agrippinae: ex off. Anthonii Boetzeri haeredum [typis Henricus Krafft], 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''á Consaluo Duranto episcopo Ferettrano notis illustratae'' … Tomvs I. Romae: Ludouicus Grignanus, 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes Caelestes seraphicae matris sanctae Birgittae Suecae'' … Munich: Sebastianus Rauch, sumptibus Joannis Wagneri et Joannis Hermanni à Gelder, 1680<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes S. Birgittae e codice membraneo fol. 21 Bibliothecae Universitatis Lundensis (“Cod. Falkenberg”), Suecice et Britannice praefatus''. Facsimile ed. by Elias Wessén, 2 vols. (Corpus codicum Suecicorum medii aevi), Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1952–1956<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelaciones''. ''Book I, with Magister Mathias’ Prologue'', ed. by Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 7:1), Uppsala [also Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm, and, extra series, Stockholm: Almqvist &amp; Wiksell International], 1977 [printed 1978], pp. 227-240<br /> <br /> ==== Electronic texts ====<br /> <br /> * ''St Birgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones, Book I'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.umilta.net/bk1.html&lt;/nowiki&gt; <br /> * ''Corpus Reuelacionum Sancte Birgitte'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://62.20.57.210/ra/diplomatariet/CRB/index.htm&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) Sancta Birgitta, ''The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden'', vol. I: ''Liber Caelestis, Books I-III'', translated by Denis Searby, with introductions and notes by Bridget Morris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 [p. 47-52]<br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Das puch der Himlischen offenbarung der heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem kunigreich Sweden'' [ed. by Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1502 <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Brigitta''. Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus, 4 vols. (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg: Verlag von G. Joseph Manz, 1856 [“Vorrede … vom Magister Matthias aus Schweden,” vol. IV, 345-53] <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Birgitta.'' Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus. Aufs neue durchgesehen und verbessert von einem katholischen Priester (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg, 1888 [microfiche ed.: Wildberg: Belser Wiss. Dienst (Edition St. Walburg), 1994 – 11 microfiches, 29x]<br /> * (Polish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Skarby niebieskich taiemnic'', [Zamosc], 1698 <br /> * (Spanish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Celestiales Revelaciones de Santa Brígida, Princesa de Suecia'' …, 4 vols., Madrid: [Tipografia del Sagrado Corazón], 1901 <br /> * (Swedish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Himmelska uppenbarelser'', trans. by T. Lundén, 4 vols., Malmö: Allhem, 1957–1959; vol. 1, 57-60, contains a summary of and an excerpt from ''Stupor et mirabilia''<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUNDÉN, HJ. 1973: ''Den heliga Birgitta. Ormungens dotter som blev Kristi brud.'' Stockholm <br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Written in Sweden, ''terminus post quem'' is the death of Ulf Gudmarsson, which is referred to in the text.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is obvious, since the authenticity of the Birgittine revelations was initially questioned and accused of being of demonic origin, especially since they had been addressed to a woman without theological training. Mathias, who was the country's foremost theological expert, vouches for their divine origin and insists that they should be read as instructions from Heaven and taken seriously by all Christians.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> ''Stupor and mirabilia'' came to be considered the preface of Birgitta's ''Revelations'' and is included in all editions since Bartholomeus Gothan's editio princeps, printed in Lübeck in 1492.<br /> <br /> === ''Testa nucis'' ===<br /> This text is only preserved in a short fragment in the MS. C 521 (foll. 172v-173r), earlier pertaining to the monastery of Vadstena. It seems to convey traditional rhetorical doctrine. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> This tract is obviously identical with the ''Tractatus de modo loquendi'' mentioned in the same MS (see above).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Incipit Testa nucis. Rethorica est potencia considerandi vnumquodque contingens persuasibile'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) vtrum in eo negocium expleri pot&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;u&gt;erit, et partes temporis, mensis, dies&lt;/nowiki&gt;'' (the fragment ends here).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of pages: 6. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable]<br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The dedication of ''Poetria'' (see below) to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala indicates that ''Testa nucis'', to which several explicit references are made in ''Poetria'', was written in the early 1320s, during Mathias' studies at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, in a period when he was obviously intensely interested in literary theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The fragmentary character of the preserved text makes it impossible to have a more precise idea of its layout. The beginning of the fragment reproduces the main rules of classical rhetoric as the ability to persuade, in three areas: before a court of law, in a political assembly, and in ceremonial speeches (which should unite the audience around common values). An effective speech consists of five elements: inventory of arguments, outline, style, delivery, and memorization. The art of persuasion refers to obvious facts, or to confidence in the speaker's credibility, arouses emotions, provides examples, analogies, and probabilities, and discusses various types of mitigating or aggravating circumstances of an action.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The traditional scholastic style of definitions and distinctions of traditional rhetorical concepts is adopted.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Its principal source appears to be William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Rhetoric'', with occasional reminiscences from ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' and Cicero’s ''De inventione'' (Bergh 1996, 8 f.).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The aim is to convey traditional rhetorical theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 172v-173r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs' edition.<br /> <br /> === Poetria ===<br /> The ''Poetria'' is a treatise on poetry. It is partly written in hexameters in a rather abstruse style. It is not typical of the medieval tradition, which took a keen interest in technical matters such as tropes, figures of speech and other stylistic devices, but not in aesthetic theory. Mathias makes an effort to integrate Aristotelian theory into a treatise on poetry, a remarkable ambition in fourteenth-century Sweden. He uses examples from Avianus, Homer, Ovid, Persius and Virgil. The text is divided into three parts, ''representacio'' (visualization), ''tonus'' (intonation), and ''metrum'' (not on metrics but on the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Maria Ihesus Christus. Incipit Poetria domini magistri Mathie. Cum plurima nostratum studia ante mentis oculos pertractarem''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Eterni tecum mansuri solis ad ortum. Explicit Poetria magistri Mathie Lincopensis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Metre/rhythm =====<br /> The many metrical examples adduced are mostly hexametric. The treatise ends with a poem by Mattias himself, comprising 94 lines, which aims to illustrate various poetical tropes (mentioned in the margin) discussed in the previous theoretical part. <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 42 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable] <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm <br /> <br /> Note that Bergh in his critical and exegetical remarks (pp. 17-27) corrects Sawicki on many points; Sawicki's edition should therefore be avoided as misrepresenting the original text in a number of passages.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions) <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * BERGH, B. 1996, and his ''Introduction'' should be consulted first of all, since he points out the very obscurity of this text and consequently the difficulties implied in interpreting it.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> ''Poetria'' is obviously written in close connexion to ''Testa nucis'' (to which several references are made; see above) in Paris around 1320, during Mathias' studies in the Faculty of Arts, when he seemed intensely interested in literary theory. It is dedicated to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala, who was the incumbent from 1318 to 1332. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Mathias wanted to find an aesthetic theory for poetry. The main theme of this treatise on poetry is ''representatio'', which in this context means “visualizations”: ''representaciones tam certe et veraciter factas, ut non credatur res ficta esse'' (“so certain and plausible that the matter does not seem to have been made up”; 66). <br /> <br /> ''Vnde merito similitudinem habet poeta cum pictore. Sicut enim pictor peritus rem, que in se delectabilis non esset aspicere, propter conuenienciam in disposicione partium picture et colorum delectabiliter inuenitur representare, sic poeta perfectus delectat animam in faciendo rem secundum suas proprietates imaginari'' <br /> <br /> (“[T]he poet is rightly compared to the painter. For the skilful painter, by the harmonious arrangement of the different parts and colours of the picture, turns out to give an agreeable representation of something that would not in itself be agreeable to look at, and in the same way the perfect poet gives pleasure by making us imagine a thing in accordance to its characteristics”; 6-7). <br /> <br /> In this view it is the most important of three components of poetry, the other two being ''tonus'' (rhytm) and ''metrum'' (the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). The text ends with a didactic poem in hexameters which intend to illustrate the poetic figures, terms, and techniques discussed in the theoretical part of the text. <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The style is more personal than in ''Testa nucis'' (''sicut credo, reor attendendum, ut michi'' ''videtur'', etc). Mathias is fully aware of his own ability to judge and produce poetry, and also of his status as a pioneer in Sweden in literary theory. He speaks disparagingly of the creators of leonine verses of his time: ''aut leonina. Et hoc solum est, quod nostri metriste in versibus facere sciunt'';” or the kind called ‘leonine’. &quot;This is the only thing our poetasters are capable of in their verses” (79-80).<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Mathias is dependent on Hermannus Alemannus’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics'', a particularly obscure rendering of the original text, due to intermediary (Syrian, Arabic) versions. He is not unaware of his pioneer achievement (Bergh 1996, 9 ff.). Maybe the mature theologian Mathias felt uneasy about these juvenile exercises, judging from later warnings about the allurement of philosophy.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> One can assume that the young Mathias, aware of his talent, wanted to gain a patron and benefactor in the (newly appointed?) Archbishop of Uppsala, and also, thereby, to gain a readership and intellectual reputation: <br /> <br /> ''vt luce vestri nominis et gracie quam ex se et sui actoris sciencia famosius rutilans duracionem in tempore cum lectorum frequencia optima nancisscatur''; <br /> <br /> “so that it will gleam with greater renown through the light of Your name and grace than through itself and the knowledge of its author, and thus procure long duration and a great number of readers” (4).<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 169r-172r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs’ edition.<br /> <br /> === Alphabetum distinccionum ===<br /> Mathias' most comprehensive work is the ''Alphabetum distinccionum,'' a (selective) concordance to the biblical text combined with a kind of theological encyclopedia of so called ''distincciones'' between the different senses of Scripture, with special stress on the ''sensus moralis''. The entries are small tracts of theological character, useful for homiletical purposes. <br /> <br /> It is meant to be an encyclopaedia of the principal nouns, verbs, some few adverbs, and the most important proper names, along with some “natural things” (''res naturales'') mentioned in the Bible. It is in fact a systematic gloss on the Bible and comprises even terms not occurring in the Scriptures, such as ''Accidia, Actuosa deuocio, Condignum, Fomes (peccati), Scriptura sacra, Sinderesis, Syrena, Theologia, Trinitas''. The reader may combine interpretations of separate words and so construct various expositions as required. However, the result must never contradict faith or morals: (''sic'') ''vt veritas fidei seruetur ex vno et honestas morum non ledatur ex altero.''<br /> <br /> Today, the text only survives as fragments of two parchment codices, and in quoted extracts in other works. The volumes were dispersed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when they were confiscated by the secular authorities and reused for various account books and legal records (domböcker). The surviving leaves are scattered across eight institutions in five cities: Stockholm, Vadstena, Helsinki, Oslo, and London, most of them available digitally. <br /> <br /> By employing various methods and accounting for all pertinent evidence communicated by the extant witnesses, especially cross-references, roughly forty per cent of the original ''c''.4000 headwords can be identified (according to SUPPONEN, 2023). The headwords survive at least partly in 603 entries. The cross-references provide 821 otherwise unknown headwords. <br /> <br /> The book contributed to his reputation among the Birgittines that he knew the entire Bible inside out, “from Alpha to Omega”. It now exists only as fragments in the form of 326 preserved leaves of two manuscripts, apart from quotes in sermons by Vadstena brothers. It is an encyclopaedia of the most important nouns, verbs and proper names in the Vulgate. The concepts are explained, with descriptive applications and examples of the use of the word in question. A peculiarity is Mathias's strong interest in natural phenomena (''res naturales''), their definition and properties: the visible, material things are understood as references to the invisible. All of nature is a kind of allegorical rebus that illustrates spiritual truths and heavenly things, for those who have eyes with which to see it. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> Although this work is called ''Concordancie super totam bibliam'' in MS. C 54 of Uppsala University Library, the prologue, which is almost completely preserved, indicates the correct title: <br /> <br /> “''Distinguuntur ergo in hoc alphabeto textus et glose Biblie et naturales rerum, de quibus Scripture mencionem faciunt, proprietates per vocabula et sentencias figurales, misticas et historicas''” <br /> <br /> (“In this alphabetical register, the varied meanings of the texts of the Bible and the glosses are conveyed, as well as the natural phenomena that are mentioned in Scripture, [and] the properties that are demonstrated by their names, as well as their figurative, mystical and historical meanings”).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The work is said to have filled three huge volumes in the Birgittine Abbey of Vadstena. Only 145 folios remain, scattered in different libraries (which makes them very difficult to read without modern technical devices). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: “Mathiæ canonici Lincopensis ''Alphabeti distinccionum'' sive ''Concordanciarum'' fragmenta selecta”, in ''Symbolae Septentrionales: Latin Studies Presented to Jan Öberg'', ed. M. Asztalos &amp; C. Gejrot, Stockholm, 137-171 [samples of the extant fragments]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was likely composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. According to the Birgittine ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl.) and ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, Mathias ''glossavit totam Bibliam excellenter'' ''et composuit multa volumina librorum'' (“wrote an excellent gloss on the whole Bible and was the author of many volumes”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to Mathias’ divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator Biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' is an alphabetically organised reference work that compiles materials from various preaching aids. It comprises a concordance for contextualising the themes and divisions of sermons, as well as devices for expanding upon sermons, such as distinctions, encyclopaedic descriptions, and biblical exempla. The text consists of two parts: the text proper and an interlinear reference apparatus, that provides commentaries on biblical verses in the text proper and citations of the verses and accompanying references in the apparatus. The headwords are described in their historical sense in the text proper, while the moral or allegorical readings are presented in the apparatus. The interlinear apparatus also contains cross-references to other entries. <br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias owes much to St. Bonaventure OFM; he also echoes John Duns Scotus OFM. Inspired by principles set up by pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, probably with Bartholomeus Anglicus (''c''.1250) as intermediary, Mathias refers, often in detail, to the facts, processes and events of nature as analogies of spiritual realities in the realm of grace. The book also conveys vitriolic criticism of the hierarchy and the religious orders (cf. Piltz 1986, 139 ff.; Piltz 1995, 137 ff.). SUPPONEN (pp.122-167) gives a thorough overview of the textual sources: the third concordance of St. Jacques, Glossa ordinaria, Bartholomeus Anglicus, etc.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The method applied in this concordance could best be demonstrated with a quotation from the entry ''Sensus Scripture'': <br /> <br /> ''Sensus hystoricus est, cum res quandoque secundum litteram vel facta vel dicta sit (vt saluacio filiorum Israel de Egypto), plano sermone refertur. Allegoria (Ysaie: egredietur virga de radice Iesse), cum verbis vel rebus misticis presencia Christi et Ecclesie sacramenta signantur (sanguis agni sanguinem Christi significat). Tropologia est moralis instructio (non diligamus verbo neque lingua) ad correccionem morum per aperta vel figurata verba (omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida). Anagoge, id est ”ad superiora ducens loqucio”, est que de premiis (beati mundo corde) futuris apertis vel misticis verbis (beati qui lauant stolas suas, etc.) disputat.''<br /> <br /> (“The meanings of Scripture: (...) historical meaning is expressed when something is stated to have been done or said (for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt) in clear words. Allegory (Isaiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”) when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the Church are signified (the blood of the lamb signifies the blood of Christ). Tropology is moral teaching (“Let us not love in word nor in tongue”) with the aim of improving our conduct through ordinary or figurative words (“Let your garments always be white”). Anagoge, that is, “speech that leads upward,” deals with rewards (“Blessed are the pure in heart”) in the future, presented in clear or mystical words (“Blessed are those who wash their robes.””)<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The primary purpose is obvious: to provide preachers with all the scholarly tools they need to compose a sermon which is orthodox, instructive, and with a strong moral appeal to conversion and a striving for a virtuous life. Mathias' personal background may have contributed with an existential incentive: he took a special interest in the symbolic potency of the visible world. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (V, int. 16:36-37) states that Mathias in his earlier life (in Paris?) had experienced the conflict between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He had overcome this temptation by not trusting his own senses and judgement too much. He was rewarded with an exceptional knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Mathias had been seriously attracted by the “second Averroism” which, while proclaiming the submission to the teachings of the Church, in reality professed a learned and more complicated form of incredulity, founded on the orthodox Aristotelian thesis that all knowledge must be based on sensual perception. This is precisely the argument of the Devil, Mathias contends in this commentary on the Apocalypse (12, 244-251), since he takes his subtle and sophistic reasons from the phenomena (''ex apparenciis'') in the visible world of the four elements: but with the help of grace the human mind is illuminated and can reach a spiritual understanding of corporal things in the visible world. Hence his interest in the natural and sensual phenomena: they are altogether symbols and vehicles of spiritual truths. What Mathias attacks, with strong anti-dialectical bias, is the separation of theology and exegesis. In connection with the greatest Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure, Mathias claims that theology should appeal to all human capacities and mentalities: its method (''modus tradendi'') is ''narrativus, preceptivus, excitativus, comminatorius, promissivus, precatorius, laudativus.'' The purpose of theology escapes the presumptuos, the unclean, the treacherous, the idle. All this explains why it is so obscure: it demands an intellectual and moral effort, in order not to become insipid. It aims at inclining our wills so that we want to be good, ''vt boni fiamus''. All these statements in the entry Sacra Scriptura are paraphrazes on the ''Breviloquium'' of Bonaventure.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' has survived in fragments of two manuscripts, later reused for secondary purposes: ''MS Linköping'' (''MS L''), Stockholm, The National Archives, ''MPO, Fr 3'', and ''Östergötlands handlingar 1539:3:1'', second quarter of the fourteenth century, a bifolium; and ''MS Vadstena'' (''MS V''), written before 1381 in Linköping or Uppsala, and preserved in 88 fragments that comprise 163 leaves in total, in the Swedish National Archives, and seven other institutions (see above). It was in the possession of Birger Gregersson (Archbishop of Uppsala 1366-1383), who might have commissioned the copy. Quotations in sermons by the Vadstena preachers and frequent annotations in MS V demonstrate that the Birgittines used the book up to the early fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> SUPPONEN (pp. 83-92) has furthermore identified extracts of ''Alphabetum'' in Uppsala, UUB, C 391, foll. 129v-131r, copied by Styrkarus Thyrgilli (d. 1416), which comprises a part of the entries ''Misericordia'' and ''Iudicare, Iudicium'', but is missing in the MSS L and V. Another extract is found in UUB, C 3, a compendium from approximately 1447. Other traces of smaller excerpts from the fifteenth century have been discovered by other scholars. <br /> <br /> === Exposicio super Apocalipsim ===<br /> The most influential work of Mathias was, without comparison, Mathias' commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, expounding the biblical text from the beginning to chapter 15, verse 5. In the traditional scholastic style, Mathias explains the literal and, above all, the allegorical and moral sense of the sacred text.<br /> <br /> Mathias was more restrictive in identifying the agents of the Apocalypse with historical persons, events and periods than was Nicholas of Lyra or the writers in the Joachimite tradition. This Bible commentary follows the normal pattern for this genre, but it has a more personal tone through the constantly recurring polemic against contemporary theology, which, according to Mathias, has lost touch with exegesis and degenerated into an academic display where one constructs more and more theoretical problems around the biblical text, in order to escape its existential appeal. Mathias launches a vehement attack on the dialectic methods used in theology, i.e. the obsession with arguments for and against a given proposition, discussed not so much for its spiritual content as in order to discover its philosophical or logical implications, and thereby gain a reputation for shrewdness (''scire volunt ut sciantur'', a quote from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux). Mathias brands ''dyalectica'' as one of the Devil’s weapons to avert people from devotion and charity. Mathias here shows a strong anti-Aristotelian bias (perhaps all the more as Aristotle thought that metaphor and allegory are incompatible with “scientific” knowledge). In stark contrast to contemporary theology, Mathias directs his attention to the pre-scholastic methods of biblical exegesis, practised in monastic circles in the twelfth century, freely associating related words, detecting biblical analogies, and expounding the various senses of a given text; whatever is concluded must, however, be in perfect conformity with traditional morals. Thus, his interest remains the existential dimension of the Scriptures, explained according to rules set out once and for all by the four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great). Probably inspired by the Franciscan rigorists, he insists on a thorough reform of the Church. The commentary on the Apocalypse was the main doctrinal source of St. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444), who made a personal copy of it. Even Nicholas Cusanus, the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, acquired a copy of it and was impressed by Mathias as a spiritual writer (Piltz 1986, 143 ff.).<br /> <br /> ===== Manuscript tradition =====<br /> The complete list of the 21 manuscripts in Billing-Ottosson's edition, pp. 18-22. They can be distributed in two main categories, the “Bernardino” MSS, and the “independent” MSS. The copy (N, kept in the National Library of Naples, Cod VI.A.19), produced by S:t Bernardino of Siena sometime between 1425 and 1434 served as the original text of all the other “Bernardine” manuscripts. The “independent” manuscripts are independent of N and represent another tradition. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Beatus qui legit et qui audit verba prophecie huius et seruit ea, que in ea scripta sunt. Triplex gracia ad profectum in Scriptura Sacra requiri potest''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Et hoc est quod saluator insinuat Luce vicesimo primo de illo tempore loquens: Virtutes, inquit, celorum mouebuntur. Et tunc videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 428 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Billing-Ottosson, A.-M. 2003: ''Exposicio super Apocalypsim'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:3), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ 1986: pp. 143-145<br /> * ULFGARD 2021: pp. 676-741<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl., a collection compiled in Sweden 1344-1349) as well as in ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, states that ''Tempore quo magister Mathias, glosator biblie,'' ''glossabat super Apocalipsim, ait Dominus'' ... (“at the time when Magister Mathias, the glossator of the Bible, wrote a gloss on the Book of Revelation, the Lord said ...”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to his divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The commentary intended to give a literal as well as spiritual exposition of the sacred text, but it is much more restrained in identifying historical events and persons than Mathias’ predecessors in this genre, e.g. Joachim de Fiore (d. 1202), the most influential apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period, or Nicolas of Lyra (d. 1349), the foremost medieval exegete. Mathias deals with timeless truths, virtues and vices, as incarnate in history, past, present, and future. The picture of Christendom is sombre. The seven Churches in chapter two symbolize the virtues of active life, the seven seals in chapter five symbolize seven kinds of tribulations: the suffering of the just, the prosperity of the evil, the fight against the heretics, false brethren and hypocrites, the impunity of evil men, and sins committed by just man, making them fall by their own feebleness. The seven-fold corruption of the Church is represented by the seven trumpets. The corruption of the masses calls for punishment: it will be inflicted by the grasshoppers and the scorpions of chapter nine, i.e. by the evil princes of this earth. But Christ watches over his Church and will assist it, especially in making Sacred Scripture more transparent by the proclamation of his word, and by the good pastors of his Church; these, however, will be rare, and their effort will, for the most part, remain without effect. ''Valde ergo prope est interitus mundi'' (“The end of this world is imminent”, 10,88).<br /> <br /> Mathias insisted on a thorough reform of the Church, probably under the influence of the Franciscan rigorists. Such an influence explains his vehement accusations launched against the ignorance of the clergy, its worldly ambitions, the scandal of theology transformed into philosophy “with little sense and no affection” (''tantum scire faciunt, vt non afficiant''). The Roman Curia, where the origin of religion ought to be, was more rotten than any local church. One of the roots of this corruption was the transformation of theology into dialectical philosophy: ''experimento cotidie discimus videntes theologicam veritatem fere totam esse subuersam esse in philosophicam vanitatem'' (“From daily experience we see with our own eyes that theological truth has almost completely been transformed into philosophical vanity”; 12, 246). <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> This exposition follows the models of the genre but is more personal in tone than what was usual. His strong condemnations of the dialectical methods in theology might have something to do with his early years in Paris. Did he, as a mature man having gone through a spiritual crisis, have reasons to look at his own interest in literal theory (and quotes of Averroes) with strong disapproval? A significant passage (13, 197-198) illustrates what may be the essence of his strong stance against contemporary philosophy, as it was practiced in Paris: the Averroists taught in the Aristotelian spirit that knowledge can only be based on the testimony of the senses. From this they had drawn conclusions contrary to essential Christian dogmas. One of Mathias’ main concerns was to show the opposite: <br /> <br /> ''Sicut nempe per sensibiles apparencias elementorum mundi astucia dyaboli raciones contra diuinam sapienciam confingit, sic econtra diuina veritas per sensibilia se defendit. Multas enim raciones nec minus probabiles sancti doctores ex sensibilibus adinuenerant, quam falsi mundi sapientes contra sanctam fiden adinuenerunt. Non enim pauciores nec minus probabiles raciones beatus doctor Augustinus adinuenit pro sancta Christi fide quam Auerroes et Porphyrius heretici contra sanctam fidem confinxerunt.''<br /> <br /> (“Just as the Devil's cunning has invented rational arguments from the appearances of the elements of this world against divine Wisdom, so divine Wisdom also defends itself with the help of these testimonies of the senses. The holy doctors of the Church have found no less credible arguments from what the senses can perceive than the false wise men of the world have found against the holy faith. The blessed teacher Augustine has found no fewer or less credible arguments for the holy faith of Christ than the heretics Averroes and Porphyry have invented against the holy faith.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The manuscripts of this text are scattered in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. There is reason to believe that Birgittine religious from Vadstena brought a copy to the convent al Paradiso in Florence, and all foreign manuscripts have been reproduced from a common hyparchetype there. St. Bernardino of Siena made a copy of the ''Exposicio'' for his own use, in 1413 at the latest, and he used as master copy in al Paradiso. Later on, he made a second copy with his own hand. Possibly, this is the original of a manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus and of other manuscripts in Germany. Bernardino used Mathias’ commentary as one of three principal sources for his famous sermons, and Cusanus wanted a personal copy of it after having heard Bernardino's impressive Lenten sermons in Padua in 1423. According to a notice in three MSS. in Munich, Bernardino was moved by the exceptional spiritual sweetness (''singularem dulcedinem spiritus'') of Mathias’ exposition. He is even reported to have sent two friars to Sweden in order to retrieve its final part, but they returned empty-handed. Cusanus warned that the copy was defective: ''exemplar fuit corruptum, sitis cauciores!'' He professed himself to be a great admirer of the Swedish master, whom he affirmed to be truly illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Even in the fifteenth century, Mathias’ treatment of the last book of the Bible was obviously perceived and appreciated as fresh, original and profound. <br /> <br /> As BILLING-OTTOSSON has shown in the list (pp. 18-35) of manuscripts preserved, the Uppsala manuscript C 126 is the one that is closest to the archetype and consequently offers the most reliable version of the text. All other manuscripts are dependent on a hyparchetype that has been lost.<br /> <br /> === Homo conditus ===<br /> For the benefit of parish priests in the diocese of Linköping, Mathias composed ''Homo conditus'' (named after its incipit), a handbook in narrative style, which avoids technical terminology and encompasses all of Christian doctrine, from Creation to the Last Judgement and Heaven and Hell, according to the general plan of Peter Lombard’s ''Sentences''. It is supplemented with detailed treatises on the apostolic Creed, the virtues and vices, the seven sacraments, the five senses, the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, the Ave Maria, and what should be hoped for and feared in the afterlife. A series of sermon introductions are added, conforming to the Gospel readings at Mass through the liturgical year in the Diocese of Linköping. Using this book, a priest could explain the whole of Catholic dogma in the course of one year (it goes without saying that it was meant to be translated into the vernacular by the preacher). Mathias’s concern about religious and philosophical heresies (residual paganism, superstitious practices, astrology, fatalism) is of great interest as one of the rare sources for medieval Nordic mentality. ''Homo conditus'' is written in a vital, spontaneous prose style, saturated with metaphors and biblical allusions.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit/explicit =====<br /> Principal text: ''Homo conditus in omnibus bonis habundabat. Erat nempe perfectus in natura (...) cum nichil aliud iam poterunt nisi proprias penas cogitare, ne vacent amplius peccandi libertate.''<br /> <br /> Sermon introductions: ''Dominica prima Aduentus. Semper debet homo salutem suam operari (...) Castitas nempe, specialiter virginea, est celestis conuersacio. Require septimo capitulo, littera k, et de luxuria littera i.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 206 standard pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1984: ''Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:1), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1986: ''Vägen till Jerusalem: Valda texter ur Homo conditus i översättning och med kommentar'', Uppsala [partial translation]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A.1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A.1986b: pp. 146-149<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> A linguistic comparison with the other works ascribed to Mathias (Piltz, A.1974, pp. 47-52) proves that ''Homo conditus'' is written by him. The presence or absence of saints in the sermon draft ''de sanctis'' shows that the text fits into the liturgical situation in the diocese of Linköping during the period 1330-1350. It is therefore edited after Mathias’ return to Sweden (after a second period of studies in Paris 1333-1342/43) in 1344, when he was a canon in Linköping, and in 1343 he was provided with a rectorate in Söderköping in the same diocese.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The author himself has written a short summary of the whole book (Piltz, A. 1984, R:1-R:3):<br /> <br /> ''In hoc opusculo vndecim capitula sunt. Primum continet mala et dampna, que peccatum facit in natura racionali. Secundum est de fide, spe et karitate, quibus sanantur mala peccati. Tercium est de generali informacione fidei per breuem exposicionem simboli apostolici. Quartum disserit diuisim de articulis simboli cum septem sacramentis. Quintum habet generaliter de preceptis et preuaricacione eorum, virtutibus et viciis et donis Spiritus Sancti cum immissionibus dyaboli et beatitudinibus et miseriis et sensuum regimine. Sextum continet specialiter de decem preceptis et penis preuaricatorum. Septimum habet specialiter de septem viciis capitalibus et de virtutibus illis oppositis. Octauum continet de septem donis Spiritus Sancti et immissionibus dyaboli illis oppositis et beatitudinibus. Nonum de tribus partibus emendacionis peccatorum et triplici satisfaccione per elemosinam, ieiunium et oracionem, in qua oracio dominica et salutacio angelica exponuntur. Decimum de quinque per ordinem, que speranda sunt. Vndecimum de quinque per ordinem, que timenda sunt.''<br /> <br /> (“This work consists of eleven chapters. The first deals with the misfortunes and injuries which sin causes in the rational soul. The second deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the misfortune of sin is cured. The third contains a general review of the faith in the form of a brief explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. The fourth reviews the articles of faith in order, together with the seven sacraments. The fifth is a general survey of the commandments and the punishment of transgressors. The seventh is a special review of the seven capital vices and the virtues which are their opposites. The eighth contains the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the devilish inspirations which are their opposites, as well as the Beatitudes. The ninth focuses on the expiation for sin and the threefold expiation of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, including an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the Angel’s greeting. The tenth concerns the order of the five things in which we should hope. The eleventh deals in turn with the five things that we should fear.”)<br /> <br /> There is a detailed summary in Piltz 1974,14-28.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The general outline is determined by the catechetical categories (the Creed, the common prayers, sins and vices, the sacraments) and corresponds in content to the traditional presentation in the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard, the obligatory basic text in theological studies from the twelfth century until the Protestant Reformation. <br /> <br /> Mathias’ interest in the art of oratory, which he documented in his youth through the tract ''Testa nucis'' (see above), must have been evident when he, as a preacher, addressed a congregation in their own language. ''Homo conditus'' is a compendium of Christian doctrine, written in Latin but meant to be translated into Swedish by the priest. It avoids theological jargon as much as possible. The address is directed at the individual listener and appeals to his own ability to reason: <br /> <br /> ''Omnia animalia creata sunt ad aliquam vtilitatem, vermes auibus in cibum, aues et pecora hominibus. Si ergo homo moreretur in corpore et anima, ad quem vtilitatem esset ipse creatus? Numquid creasset ipsum Deum racionalem ad nichil aliud nisi scire et intelligere et sufferre calamitates huius mundi et deinde mori sicut aliud brutum? Quis vel demens hoc credere posset? Nonne vides malos homines prosperari in hoc mundo, et bonos aduersitates et tribulaciones pati? Hoc numquam iustissimus Deus faceret, nisi bonis hominibus in alia vita meliora reseruaret. Crede ergo firmiter sacre fidei promittenti tibi aliam vitam. An non actor fidei Christus Iesus adeo fide dignus est, quod mentiri non potuit?'' (II:10-11).<br /> <br /> (“All living things are created for some use, worms for food for birds, birds and cattle for people. Now if man died body and soul, for what use was he created? Would God have created his reason for no other purpose than to know and realize and suffer the misfortunes of this world, and then die like another beast? Who is so mad as to believe such a thing? Do you not see that the wicked live well in this world and the good suffer adversity and hardship? God would never do so in his supreme justice, if he had not reserved something better for the good in another life. Therefore, believe firmly in the holy faith, which promises you another life. Or is not the author of faith Christ Jesus trustworthy enough to escape suspicion of lying?”)<br /> <br /> Christian faith must be expressed in concrete action, a theme that this guide constantly insists on. No one is so poor that he cannot do good to his neighbour through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: <br /> <br /> ''Est enim elemosina spiritualis, que fit de possessione anime, corporalis vero, que fit de possessione corporis. Si ergo velis elemosinam spiritualem facere, ora ad Deum pro omnibus, conpatere afflictis, instrue ignorantes, corrige errantes, dimitte in nomine Christi inimicicias. Frequenter enim nobis bona temporalia deficiunt nec sufficimus elemosinam facere, licet velimus. Numquam tamen nobis tantum deficit numquam tam pauperes sumus, quod non possimus orare non solum pro Christianis sed pro omni humano genere; pro iustis, vt Deus det eis perseueranciam in bono, pro peccatoribus, vt Deus concedat eis veram penitenciam, pro paganis et Iudeis, vt concedat eis veram Dei et Christi recognicionem.'' (IX:227-228).<br /> <br /> (“There is a spiritual almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the soul; there is a bodily almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the body. If you want to give a spiritual almsgiving, then pray to God for all, have compassion on the unfortunate, teach the ignorant, correct the erring, forgive the unkind deeds, in the name of Christ. Often temporal possessions fail us and we are unable to give alms, although we would like to. But we never suffer such a lack, we are never so poor that we cannot pray, not only for Christians, but for the whole human race: for the righteous, that God may give them perseverance in good, for sinners, that God may give them true repentance, for the Gentiles and the Jews, that He may make them recognize God and His Anointed.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> There is no general relationship of dependence between ''Homo conditus'' and any predecessor in the genre of sermon manuals, even if individual details may correspond to other authors. Rather, all of them seem to have sought to produce their own variations and to vary the given catechetical categories in new ways. See Piltz,1974, pp. 59-76.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is to provide a practical and easily accessible handbook for the ordinary parish priest in the Diocese of Linköping in his task of delivering a sermon that is doctrinally sound, rhetorically effective, and refers to the biblical texts read in mass on Sundays and holidays, i.e. on the mandatory sermon days. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The text is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts from the library of Vadstena Monastery, now in Uppsala University Library, there with the designations C 217 and C 387 (both written in the late fourteenth century century). The latter had previously been owned by the priest Johannes Johannis from Kalmar, who entered the monastery in 1404, when it was incorporated into the monastery library. There are a few quotes from ''Homo conditus'' in diverse sermon collections from Vadstena.<br /> <br /> === ''Copia exemplorum'' ===<br /> Perhaps as a supplement to ''Homo conditus'', Mathias compiled an alphabetical collection of anecdotes, ''Copia exemplorum'' (633 entries from ''Absolucio'' to ''Vxor'').<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> There is only one copy preserved of this text, Uppsala University Library, C 54, foll. 60v-110r. Fol. 60v has the following notice, written by a fifteenth-century hand: ''Hic liber subscriptus qui incipit absolucio multum etc. dicitur Copia exemplorum quem fecit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Istum librum collegit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis. Absolucio multum beneficium confert morituris, ualet eciam defunctis'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''frequenter maritus malus lucrifit per bonam uxorem, R. amor carnis. Explicit copia exemplorum propter simplices collecta.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 118 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> ''Copia exemplorum'' is edited in the form of a reproduction of the final rough drafts of an edition prepared by Lars Wåhlin in 1901:<br /> <br /> * Wåhlin, L. &amp; Andersson-Schmitt, M. 1990: ''Magister Mathias: Copia exemplorum.'' Herausgegeben von Lars Wåhlin†. Mit Einleitung und Indizes von Margarete Andersson-Schmitt (Studia seminarii Latini Upsaliensis, 2), Uppsala<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan''. (Samlingar och studier till Svenska kyrkans historia. 9. Stockholm <br /> <br /> This doctoral dissertation is a thorough study of the book's genre and sources. In the Introduction (''Einführung'') of Wåhlin's edition there is an updated overview of the sources.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The text recounts an event that occurred in Tåby outside Söderköping in the Diocese of Linköping on July 24/25, 1344. It is obviously compilated in Linköping.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias is drawing mostly from French sources, above all the ''Alphabetum narracionum'' by Arnould of Liège OP (d. after 1310) and ''Miracula beate Marie virginis'' (Strömberg 1944, 36 ff., Andersson-Schmitt, ix-xvii).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience, composition and style ====<br /> For obvious reasons, the presentation is considerably more vivid and lively in this compilation, which was made ''propter simplices'', for common people, than in any other of Mathias’ works, which were intended for a clerical readership. The purpose of these examples is to arouse the audience’s curiosity and interest, which is why purely burlesque elements are not avoided. Here is a passage under the entry ''Adulterium'' (6,1): <br /> <br /> ''Vxor Gengulphi adultera cum ab eo argueretur et negaret, iussa est in purgacionem sceleris brachium in fontem frigidum mittere, quod uelut igne adustum retraxit, et mox ab ea se separauit. unde et cum ab adultero Gengulphus occisus miracula faceret, adultera ei detrahens dicebat: “Sic Gengulphus facit miracula sicut anus meus cantat.” unde et mox uellet nollet turpes sonos emisit, et extunc omni uita sua sextis feriis, quando uir eius occisus fuit.'' <br /> <br /> (“Gengulf’s wife was unfaithful, and when he accused her of this and she denied it, she was asked to put her arm in a cold spring to cleanse herself of this crime. She withdrew her arm, as if it had been burned by fire, and he immediately separated from her. But when Gengulf had been murdered by the adulterer and was performing miracles, the adulteress mocked him and said: “Gengulf performs miracles as well as my ass sings.” After that, she let out shameful sounds, whether she wanted to or not, and this happened every Friday after that, the day her husband had been murdered.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> 73 exempla from ''Copia exemplorum'' have been excerpted in the Vadstena manuscript in Uppsala University Library C 181, fols. 163r-168r.<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> * ANDERSSON-sCHMITT, M. 1990: see ''Copia exemplorum'', Edition, above.<br /> * BERGH, B. 1996: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * CARLSSON, G. 1949: “Mäster Mathias från Linköping. Ett bidrag till hans biografi,” ''Samlaren'', ny följd, 29.<br /> * FERM, O, 2021: “Magister Mathias Ouidi Lincopensis,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * KILSTRÖM, B. I. 1958: ''Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden'' (Bibliotheca theologiae practicae, 8), Uppsala.<br /> * KLOCKARS, B. 1971: ''Birgitta och hennes värld'' (Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Historiska serien, 16), Uppsala.<br /> * LIEDGREN, J. 1961: ''Magister Mathias’ svenska kungörelse om Birgittas första stora uppenbarelse: Ett förbisett dokument i Riksarkivet'' (Riksarkivets meddelanden, 1958), Stockholm.<br /> * MALM, M. 1997: “Uppenbarelse och poetik: Magister Mathias om effektiv framställning,” ''Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap'' 26:3/4, 61-80.<br /> * MALM, M. 2012: “The Soul of Poetry Redefined. Vacillations of Mimesis from Aristotle to Romanticism.” ''Tusculanum'' (Copenhagen).<br /> * MALM, M. 2021: “Magister Mathias on Literary Representation,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * PACETTI, D. 1961: “L’Expositio super Apocalypsim di Mattia di Svezia (c. 1281-1350) precipua fonte dottrinale di S. Bernardino da Siena,” ''Archivum Franciscanum historicum'' 54.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986: “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his Theological Context: A Preliminary Survey,” in M. Asztalos (ed.), ''The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages'' (Studia latina Stockholmiensia, 30), Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: see ''Alphabetum distinccionum'', Editions, above.<br /> * SAVICKI, S. 1936: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1959: ''Ecclesia Lincopensis: Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustaf Vasa'' (Stockholm Studies in History, 4), Stockholm.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1943: “Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” ''Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift'' 19, 301-322.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan'' (Samlingar och studier till Svenska Kyrkans historia, 9), Stockholm.<br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2005: “Från Paris till Linköping: akademiska bibelstudier och kyrklig bibelutläggning i medeltidens Europa belysta utifrån Magister Mathias Apokalyps-kommentar,” in K. O. U. Lejon (red.), ''Diocesis Lincopensis,'' 2: ''Medeltida internationella influenser'' (Linköpings stiftshistoriska sällskaps skriftserie, 2), Skellefteå, 141-167.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2021: “Magister Mathias of Linköping. Exegete and Theologian”, in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm, 676-741.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1163 2026-01-30T17:46:21Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anderz Piltz<br /> <br /> '''Mathias Ouidi''' (Mats Övidsson, Övedsson), usually called Magister Mathias, born ''c''.1300, dead probably in 1350 in Stockholm. Master of Arts, canon at the cathedral of Linköping (not later than 1333), Baccalarius of Theology, and rector of the parish church of Saint Giles (Egidius) in Söderköping (not later than 1343). According to tradition, he was also Master of Theology. A close friend and influential confessor of Saint Birgitta (see [[Sancta Birgitta]]) prior to her journey to Rome in 1349, Mathias was by far the most prolific and original of Swedish writers, let alone theologians, in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> == Biography ==<br /> Information about Mathias is very sparse. His name cannot be traced in any university registers, but there is every reason to believe that he studied in the faculties of arts and theology at Paris. His earliest work, the ''Poetria'', is dedicated to archbishop Olof Björnsson, who was the incumbent of the see of Uppsala between 1318 and 1332. In 1333, Mathias is mentioned four times in documents from Linköping and its vicinity. In all probability, he was living in Sweden when Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of Birgitta, died on 12 February 1344; in ''Copia exemplorum'', Mathias refers to an event which took place in the parish of Tåby outside Söderköping in late July of that year (see further Piltz 1974, 31 ff.).<br /> <br /> In his theological works, Mathias is an inspired champion of orthodox Christianity. It is said that in his youth he was tempted by all the heresies in the world and thus suffered a serious religious crisis which, however, he overcame, and after which he was rewarded by God with an exceptional command of the Sacred Scriptures – a command that is amply demonstrated in his writings. Hence his interest in various heterodox tenets, which he attacks in the name of “true theology”, by which he means essentially the biblical texts in their original spiritual force, without too much academic glossing.<br /> <br /> Like his famous confessant, Mathias was convinced that the world was ageing and close to its end, since love had grown cold and lawlessness was reigning. He stressed the Franciscan principle that Christians should imitate God’s humility, displayed in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. <br /> <br /> Mathias was the close witness of Birgitta’s early mystical experiences and miracles, and he was convinced that she was the authentic voice of God to her contemporaries. As an expert theologian, he wrote an enthusiastic introduction (''Stupor et mirabilia'') to the first collection of her Revelations (see below). For unknown reasons, they parted ways around 1346: Birgitta prepared herself to go to Rome, Mathias planned to participate in a “crusade” undertaken by King Magnus Eriksson against the Russians (June-October 1348, autumn 1350-spring 1351); it cannot be established whether he actually took part or not. Birgitta was in Rome when she learned that Mathias had died in Sweden. <br /> <br /> According to tradition, Mathias was buried by the king himself in the Dominican conventual church “Helga Lösen” in the Old Town of Stockholm. He was famed for his saintliness, and miracles were attributed to his intercession. His tomb was destroyed during the Lutheran reformation in the sixteenth century. <br /> <br /> Mathias is one of the candidates as author of the Old Swedish works ''Paraphrase of the Pentateuch'' and ''Mirror of Kings''. But his main legacy comprises seven works in Latin. They all testify to his interest in rhetorics, profane as well as sacred, his scholarly ambitions as a theologian, and – at least as far as ''Homo conditus'' is concerned – his talent as a writer. <br /> <br /> Birgittine sources state that Mathias was the author of the prologue ''Stupor et mirabilia'' to the Revelations of St. Birgitta (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; Rev. VI, 75; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477, 601), furthermore of an excellent gloss on the whole Bible (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477), that he had an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures (Rev. V ''interrogacio'' 16, 36-37), and that he was a prolific writer (''Acta et processus'', 78, 477). A survey of Mathias’ writings is found in the Uppsala manuscript C 54 (fol. 60v), which originally belonged to the library of Vadstena Abbey: <br /> <br /> ''Hic liber Subscriptus ... dicitur Copia exemplorum, quem fecit magister Mathias Canonicus lyncopensis et collegit. Hic venerabilis vir M. fuit primus confessor matris nostre gloriose Sancte birgitte quia vita et religione valde erat preclarus et tempore suo magistrorum omnium summus. Qui plures libros fecit, scilicet Concordancias super totam bibliam quem'' [sic] ''habemus in Watzsteno in tribus voluminibus magne quantitatis. Item vnum librum qui dicitur Homo conditus. Item super apokalipsim. Item tractatum de modo loquendi et quamplures alios.'' <br /> <br /> (“This book which is written here below is called the ''Treasury of Examples'' and was written and compiled by Master Matthias, a Canon of Linköping. This venerable man M. was the first confessor of our glorious mother Birgitta, since he was particularly distinguished in piety and the most important Master of his time. He is the author of several books, namely, a ''Concordance'' over the whole Bible, which we have in Vadstena in three large volumes, further a book entitled ''Homo conditus'', one on the ''Book of Revelation'' and a treatise on the ''Art of Rhetoric'', and several others.”)<br /> <br /> === Works ===<br /> <br /> === Stupor et mirabilia ===<br /> This introduction to the first collection of the Birgittine corpus is an expert opinion on the authenticity and orthodoxy of the “heavenly revelations” that Birgitta Birgersdotter claimed to have received and had successively edited with the help of her confessors. It is written in a lofty and excited style. Mathias claims in antithetical sentences that what happened through Birgitta is more remarkable than the revelation that took place in the Old Testament through Moses, and in a way it even goes beyond the incarnation of Christ himself: “Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration” (25).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Stupor et mirabilia audita sunt in terra nostra. Mirabile siquidem'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) ab ipso factam ad verba eius ab ipso missa fatebuntur.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of standard pages: 12.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes''. Lübeck: Bartholomeus Ghotan [for Vadstena Abbey], 1492<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sancte Birgitte'' [ed. Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein], Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1500 <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Reuelationes celestes preelecte sponse Christi beate Birgitte'' … Nuremberg: Federicus Peypus, sumptibus Joannis Kobergers, 1517<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes'' [ed. Olaus Magnus], 2 vols., Romae, in aedibus diuae Birgittae viduae: Franciscus Mediolanensis de Ferrariis, 1557 [vol. 1, p. 24]<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Romae: Stephanus Paulinus, sumptibus Iulij Burchionij, 1606<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: Ioannes Keerbergius, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: apud viduam et haeredem P. Belleri, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''a Consalvo Duranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae.'' Coloniae Agrippinae: ex off. Anthonii Boetzeri haeredum [typis Henricus Krafft], 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''á Consaluo Duranto episcopo Ferettrano notis illustratae'' … Tomvs I. Romae: Ludouicus Grignanus, 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes Caelestes seraphicae matris sanctae Birgittae Suecae'' … Munich: Sebastianus Rauch, sumptibus Joannis Wagneri et Joannis Hermanni à Gelder, 1680<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes S. Birgittae e codice membraneo fol. 21 Bibliothecae Universitatis Lundensis (“Cod. Falkenberg”), Suecice et Britannice praefatus''. Facsimile ed. by Elias Wessén, 2 vols. (Corpus codicum Suecicorum medii aevi), Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1952–1956<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelaciones''. ''Book I, with Magister Mathias’ Prologue'', ed. by Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 7:1), Uppsala [also Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm, and, extra series, Stockholm: Almqvist &amp; Wiksell International], 1977 [printed 1978], pp. 227-240<br /> <br /> ==== Electronic texts ====<br /> <br /> * ''St Birgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones, Book I'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.umilta.net/bk1.html&lt;/nowiki&gt; <br /> * ''Corpus Reuelacionum Sancte Birgitte'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://62.20.57.210/ra/diplomatariet/CRB/index.htm&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) Sancta Birgitta, ''The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden'', vol. I: ''Liber Caelestis, Books I-III'', translated by Denis Searby, with introductions and notes by Bridget Morris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 [p. 47-52]<br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Das puch der Himlischen offenbarung der heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem kunigreich Sweden'' [ed. by Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1502 <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Brigitta''. Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus, 4 vols. (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg: Verlag von G. Joseph Manz, 1856 [“Vorrede … vom Magister Matthias aus Schweden,” vol. IV, 345-53] <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Birgitta.'' Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus. Aufs neue durchgesehen und verbessert von einem katholischen Priester (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg, 1888 [microfiche ed.: Wildberg: Belser Wiss. Dienst (Edition St. Walburg), 1994 – 11 microfiches, 29x]<br /> * (Polish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Skarby niebieskich taiemnic'', [Zamosc], 1698 <br /> * (Spanish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Celestiales Revelaciones de Santa Brígida, Princesa de Suecia'' …, 4 vols., Madrid: [Tipografia del Sagrado Corazón], 1901 <br /> * (Swedish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Himmelska uppenbarelser'', trans. by T. Lundén, 4 vols., Malmö: Allhem, 1957–1959; vol. 1, 57-60, contains a summary of and an excerpt from ''Stupor et mirabilia''<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUNDÉN, HJ. 1973: ''Den heliga Birgitta. Ormungens dotter som blev Kristi brud.'' Stockholm <br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Written in Sweden, ''terminus post quem'' is the death of Ulf Gudmarsson, which is referred to in the text.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is obvious, since the authenticity of the Birgittine revelations was initially questioned and accused of being of demonic origin, especially since they had been addressed to a woman without theological training. Mathias, who was the country's foremost theological expert, vouches for their divine origin and insists that they should be read as instructions from Heaven and taken seriously by all Christians.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> ''Stupor and mirabilia'' came to be considered the preface of Birgitta's ''Revelations'' and is included in all editions since Bartholomeus Gothan's editio princeps, printed in Lübeck in 1492.<br /> <br /> === ''Testa nucis'' ===<br /> This text is only preserved in a short fragment in the MS. C 521 (foll. 172v-173r), earlier pertaining to the monastery of Vadstena. It seems to convey traditional rhetorical doctrine. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> This tract is obviously identical with the ''Tractatus de modo loquendi'' mentioned in the same MS (see above).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Incipit Testa nucis. Rethorica est potencia considerandi vnumquodque contingens persuasibile'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) vtrum in eo negocium expleri pot&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;u&gt;erit, et partes temporis, mensis, dies&lt;/nowiki&gt;'' (the fragment ends here).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of pages: 6. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable]<br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The dedication of ''Poetria'' (see below) to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala indicates that ''Testa nucis'', to which several explicit references are made in ''Poetria'', was written in the early 1320s, during Mathias' studies at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, in a period when he was obviously intensely interested in literary theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The fragmentary character of the preserved text makes it impossible to have a more precise idea of its layout. The beginning of the fragment reproduces the main rules of classical rhetoric as the ability to persuade, in three areas: before a court of law, in a political assembly, and in ceremonial speeches (which should unite the audience around common values). An effective speech consists of five elements: inventory of arguments, outline, style, delivery, and memorization. The art of persuasion refers to obvious facts, or to confidence in the speaker's credibility, arouses emotions, provides examples, analogies, and probabilities, and discusses various types of mitigating or aggravating circumstances of an action.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The traditional scholastic style of definitions and distinctions of traditional rhetorical concepts is adopted.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Its principal source appears to be William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Rhetoric'', with occasional reminiscences from ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' and Cicero’s ''De inventione'' (Bergh 1996, 8 f.).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The aim is to convey traditional rhetorical theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 172v-173r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs' edition.<br /> <br /> === Poetria ===<br /> The ''Poetria'' is a treatise on poetry. It is partly written in hexameters in a rather abstruse style. It is not typical of the medieval tradition, which took a keen interest in technical matters such as tropes, figures of speech and other stylistic devices, but not in aesthetic theory. Mathias makes an effort to integrate Aristotelian theory into a treatise on poetry, a remarkable ambition in fourteenth-century Sweden. He uses examples from Avianus, Homer, Ovid, Persius and Virgil. The text is divided into three parts, ''representacio'' (visualization), ''tonus'' (intonation), and ''metrum'' (not on metrics but on the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Maria Ihesus Christus. Incipit Poetria domini magistri Mathie. Cum plurima nostratum studia ante mentis oculos pertractarem''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Eterni tecum mansuri solis ad ortum. Explicit Poetria magistri Mathie Lincopensis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Metre/rhythm =====<br /> The many metrical examples adduced are mostly hexametric. The treatise ends with a poem by Mattias himself, comprising 94 lines, which aims to illustrate various poetical tropes (mentioned in the margin) discussed in the previous theoretical part. <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 42 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable] <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm <br /> <br /> Note that Bergh in his critical and exegetical remarks (pp. 17-27) corrects Sawicki on many points; Sawicki's edition should therefore be avoided as misrepresenting the original text in a number of passages.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions) <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * BERGH, B. 1996, and his ''Introduction'' should be consulted first of all, since he points out the very obscurity of this text and consequently the difficulties implied in interpreting it.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> ''Poetria'' is obviously written in close connexion to ''Testa nucis'' (to which several references are made; see above) in Paris around 1320, during Mathias' studies in the Faculty of Arts, when he seemed intensely interested in literary theory. It is dedicated to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala, who was the incumbent from 1318 to 1332. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Mathias wanted to find an aesthetic theory for poetry. The main theme of this treatise on poetry is ''representatio'', which in this context means “visualizations”: ''representaciones tam certe et veraciter factas, ut non credatur res ficta esse'' (“so certain and plausible that the matter does not seem to have been made up”; 66). <br /> <br /> ''Vnde merito similitudinem habet poeta cum pictore. Sicut enim pictor peritus rem, que in se delectabilis non esset aspicere, propter conuenienciam in disposicione partium picture et colorum delectabiliter inuenitur representare, sic poeta perfectus delectat animam in faciendo rem secundum suas proprietates imaginari'' <br /> <br /> (“[T]he poet is rightly compared to the painter. For the skilful painter, by the harmonious arrangement of the different parts and colours of the picture, turns out to give an agreeable representation of something that would not in itself be agreeable to look at, and in the same way the perfect poet gives pleasure by making us imagine a thing in accordance to its characteristics”; 6-7). <br /> <br /> In this view it is the most important of three components of poetry, the other two being ''tonus'' (rhytm) and ''metrum'' (the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). The text ends with a didactic poem in hexameters which intend to illustrate the poetic figures, terms, and techniques discussed in the theoretical part of the text. <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The style is more personal than in ''Testa nucis'' (''sicut credo, reor attendendum, ut michi'' ''videtur'', etc). Mathias is fully aware of his own ability to judge and produce poetry, and also of his status as a pioneer in Sweden in literary theory. He speaks disparagingly of the creators of leonine verses of his time: ''aut leonina. Et hoc solum est, quod nostri metriste in versibus facere sciunt'';” or the kind called ‘leonine’. &quot;This is the only thing our poetasters are capable of in their verses” (79-80).<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Mathias is dependent on Hermannus Alemannus’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics'', a particularly obscure rendering of the original text, due to intermediary (Syrian, Arabic) versions. He is not unaware of his pioneer achievement (Bergh 1996, 9 ff.). Maybe the mature theologian Mathias felt uneasy about these juvenile exercises, judging from later warnings about the allurement of philosophy.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> One can assume that the young Mathias, aware of his talent, wanted to gain a patron and benefactor in the (newly appointed?) Archbishop of Uppsala, and also, thereby, to gain a readership and intellectual reputation: <br /> <br /> ''vt luce vestri nominis et gracie quam ex se et sui actoris sciencia famosius rutilans duracionem in tempore cum lectorum frequencia optima nancisscatur''; <br /> <br /> “so that it will gleam with greater renown through the light of Your name and grace than through itself and the knowledge of its author, and thus procure long duration and a great number of readers” (4).<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 169r-172r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs’ edition.<br /> <br /> === Alphabetum distinccionum ===<br /> Mathias' most comprehensive work is the ''Alphabetum distinccionum,'' a (selective) concordance to the biblical text combined with a kind of theological encyclopedia of so called ''distincciones'' between the different senses of Scripture, with special stress on the ''sensus moralis''. The entries are small tracts of theological character, useful for homiletical purposes. <br /> <br /> It is meant to be an encyclopaedia of the principal nouns, verbs, some few adverbs, and the most important proper names, along with some “natural things” (''res naturales'') mentioned in the Bible. It is in fact a systematic gloss on the Bible and comprises even terms not occurring in the Scriptures, such as ''Accidia, Actuosa deuocio, Condignum, Fomes (peccati), Scriptura sacra, Sinderesis, Syrena, Theologia, Trinitas''. The reader may combine interpretations of separate words and so construct various expositions as required. However, the result must never contradict faith or morals: (''sic'') ''vt veritas fidei seruetur ex vno et honestas morum non ledatur ex altero.''<br /> <br /> Today, the text only survives as fragments of two parchment codices, and in quoted extracts in other works. The volumes were dispersed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when they were confiscated by the secular authorities and reused for various account books and legal records (domböcker). The surviving leaves are scattered across eight institutions in five cities: Stockholm, Vadstena, Helsinki, Oslo, and London, most of them available digitally. <br /> <br /> By employing various methods and accounting for all pertinent evidence communicated by the extant witnesses, especially cross-references, roughly forty per cent of the original ''c''.4000 headwords can be identified (according to SUPPONEN, 2023). The headwords survive at least partly in 603 entries. The cross-references provide 821 otherwise unknown headwords. <br /> <br /> The book contributed to his reputation among the Birgittines that he knew the entire Bible inside out, “from Alpha to Omega”. It now exists only as fragments in the form of 326 preserved leaves of two manuscripts, apart from quotes in sermons by Vadstena brothers. It is an encyclopaedia of the most important nouns, verbs and proper names in the Vulgate. The concepts are explained, with descriptive applications and examples of the use of the word in question. A peculiarity is Mathias's strong interest in natural phenomena (''res naturales''), their definition and properties: the visible, material things are understood as references to the invisible. All of nature is a kind of allegorical rebus that illustrates spiritual truths and heavenly things, for those who have eyes with which to see it. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> Although this work is called ''Concordancie super totam bibliam'' in MS. C 54 of Uppsala University Library, the prologue, which is almost completely preserved, indicates the correct title: <br /> <br /> “''Distinguuntur ergo in hoc alphabeto textus et glose Biblie et naturales rerum, de quibus Scripture mencionem faciunt, proprietates per vocabula et sentencias figurales, misticas et historicas''” <br /> <br /> (“In this alphabetical register, the varied meanings of the texts of the Bible and the glosses are conveyed, as well as the natural phenomena that are mentioned in Scripture, [and] the properties that are demonstrated by their names, as well as their figurative, mystical and historical meanings”).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The work is said to have filled three huge volumes in the Birgittine Abbey of Vadstena. Only 145 folios remain, scattered in different libraries (which makes them very difficult to read without modern technical devices). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: “Mathiæ canonici Lincopensis ''Alphabeti distinccionum'' sive ''Concordanciarum'' fragmenta selecta”, in ''Symbolae Septentrionales: Latin Studies Presented to Jan Öberg'', ed. M. Asztalos &amp; C. Gejrot, Stockholm, 137-171 [samples of the extant fragments]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was likely composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. According to the Birgittine ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl.) and ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, Mathias ''glossavit totam Bibliam excellenter'' ''et composuit multa volumina librorum'' (“wrote an excellent gloss on the whole Bible and was the author of many volumes”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to Mathias’ divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator Biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' is an alphabetically organised reference work that compiles materials from various preaching aids. It comprises a concordance for contextualising the themes and divisions of sermons, as well as devices for expanding upon sermons, such as distinctions, encyclopaedic descriptions, and biblical exempla. The text consists of two parts: the text proper and an interlinear reference apparatus, that provides commentaries on biblical verses in the text proper and citations of the verses and accompanying references in the apparatus. The headwords are described in their historical sense in the text proper, while the moral or allegorical readings are presented in the apparatus. The interlinear apparatus also contains cross-references to other entries. <br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias owes much to St. Bonaventure OFM; he also echoes John Duns Scotus OFM. Inspired by principles set up by pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, probably with Bartholomeus Anglicus (''c''.1250) as intermediary, Mathias refers, often in detail, to the facts, processes and events of nature as analogies of spiritual realities in the realm of grace. The book also conveys vitriolic criticism of the hierarchy and the religious orders (cf. Piltz 1986, 139 ff.; Piltz 1995, 137 ff.). SUPPONEN (pp.122-167) gives a thorough overview of the textual sources: the third concordance of St. Jacques, Glossa ordinaria, Bartholomeus Anglicus, etc.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The method applied in this concordance could best be demonstrated with a quotation from the entry ''Sensus Scripture'': <br /> <br /> ''Sensus hystoricus est, cum res quandoque secundum litteram vel facta vel dicta sit (vt saluacio filiorum Israel de Egypto), plano sermone refertur. Allegoria (Ysaie: egredietur virga de radice Iesse), cum verbis vel rebus misticis presencia Christi et Ecclesie sacramenta signantur (sanguis agni sanguinem Christi significat). Tropologia est moralis instructio (non diligamus verbo neque lingua) ad correccionem morum per aperta vel figurata verba (omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida). Anagoge, id est ”ad superiora ducens loqucio”, est que de premiis (beati mundo corde) futuris apertis vel misticis verbis (beati qui lauant stolas suas, etc.) disputat.''<br /> <br /> (“The meanings of Scripture: (...) historical meaning is expressed when something is stated to have been done or said (for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt) in clear words. Allegory (Isaiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”) when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the Church are signified (the blood of the lamb signifies the blood of Christ). Tropology is moral teaching (“Let us not love in word nor in tongue”) with the aim of improving our conduct through ordinary or figurative words (“Let your garments always be white”). Anagoge, that is, “speech that leads upward,” deals with rewards (“Blessed are the pure in heart”) in the future, presented in clear or mystical words (“Blessed are those who wash their robes.””)<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The primary purpose is obvious: to provide preachers with all the scholarly tools they need to compose a sermon which is orthodox, instructive, and with a strong moral appeal to conversion and a striving for a virtuous life. Mathias' personal background may have contributed with an existential incentive: he took a special interest in the symbolic potency of the visible world. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (V, int. 16:36-37) states that Mathias in his earlier life (in Paris?) had experienced the conflict between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He had overcome this temptation by not trusting his own senses and judgement too much. He was rewarded with an exceptional knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Mathias had been seriously attracted by the “second Averroism” which, while proclaiming the submission to the teachings of the Church, in reality professed a learned and more complicated form of incredulity, founded on the orthodox Aristotelian thesis that all knowledge must be based on sensual perception. This is precisely the argument of the Devil, Mathias contends in this commentary on the Apocalypse (12, 244-251), since he takes his subtle and sophistic reasons from the phenomena (''ex apparenciis'') in the visible world of the four elements: but with the help of grace the human mind is illuminated and can reach a spiritual understanding of corporal things in the visible world. Hence his interest in the natural and sensual phenomena: they are altogether symbols and vehicles of spiritual truths. What Mathias attacks, with strong anti-dialectical bias, is the separation of theology and exegesis. In connection with the greatest Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure, Mathias claims that theology should appeal to all human capacities and mentalities: its method (''modus tradendi'') is ''narrativus, preceptivus, excitativus, comminatorius, promissivus, precatorius, laudativus.'' The purpose of theology escapes the presumptuos, the unclean, the treacherous, the idle. All this explains why it is so obscure: it demands an intellectual and moral effort, in order not to become insipid. It aims at inclining our wills so that we want to be good, ''vt boni fiamus''. All these statements in the entry Sacra Scriptura are paraphrazes on the ''Breviloquium'' of Bonaventure.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' has survived in fragments of two manuscripts, later reused for secondary purposes: ''MS Linköping'' (''MS L''), Stockholm, The National Archives, ''MPO, Fr 3'', and ''Östergötlands handlingar 1539:3:1'', second quarter of the fourteenth century, a bifolium; and ''MS Vadstena'' (''MS V''), written before 1381 in Linköping or Uppsala, and preserved in 88 fragments that comprise 163 leaves in total, in the Swedish National Archives, and seven other institutions (see above). It was in the possession of Birger Gregersson (Archbishop of Uppsala 1366-1383), who might have commissioned the copy. Quotations in sermons by the Vadstena preachers and frequent annotations in MS V demonstrate that the Birgittines used the book up to the early fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> SUPPONEN (pp. 83-92) has furthermore identified extracts of ''Alphabetum'' in Uppsala, UUB, C 391, foll. 129v-131r, copied by Styrkarus Thyrgilli (d. 1416), which comprises a part of the entries ''Misericordia'' and ''Iudicare, Iudicium'', but is missing in the MSS L and V. Another extract is found in UUB, C 3, a compendium from approximately 1447. Other traces of smaller excerpts from the fifteenth century have been discovered by other scholars. <br /> <br /> === Exposicio super Apocalipsim ===<br /> The most influential work of Mathias was, without comparison, Mathias' commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, expounding the biblical text from the beginning to chapter 15, verse 5. In the traditional scholastic style, Mathias explains the literal and, above all, the allegorical and moral sense of the sacred text.<br /> <br /> Mathias was more restrictive in identifying the agents of the Apocalypse with historical persons, events and periods than was Nicholas of Lyra or the writers in the Joachimite tradition. This Bible commentary follows the normal pattern for this genre, but it has a more personal tone through the constantly recurring polemic against contemporary theology, which, according to Mathias, has lost touch with exegesis and degenerated into an academic display where one constructs more and more theoretical problems around the biblical text, in order to escape its existential appeal. Mathias launches a vehement attack on the dialectic methods used in theology, i.e. the obsession with arguments for and against a given proposition, discussed not so much for its spiritual content as in order to discover its philosophical or logical implications, and thereby gain a reputation for shrewdness (''scire volunt ut sciantur'', a quote from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux). Mathias brands ''dyalectica'' as one of the Devil’s weapons to avert people from devotion and charity. Mathias here shows a strong anti-Aristotelian bias (perhaps all the more as Aristotle thought that metaphor and allegory are incompatible with “scientific” knowledge). In stark contrast to contemporary theology, Mathias directs his attention to the pre-scholastic methods of biblical exegesis, practised in monastic circles in the twelfth century, freely associating related words, detecting biblical analogies, and expounding the various senses of a given text; whatever is concluded must, however, be in perfect conformity with traditional morals. Thus, his interest remains the existential dimension of the Scriptures, explained according to rules set out once and for all by the four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great). Probably inspired by the Franciscan rigorists, he insists on a thorough reform of the Church. The commentary on the Apocalypse was the main doctrinal source of St. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444), who made a personal copy of it. Even Nicholas Cusanus, the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, acquired a copy of it and was impressed by Mathias as a spiritual writer (Piltz 1986, 143 ff.).<br /> <br /> ===== Manuscript tradition =====<br /> The complete list of the 21 manuscripts in Billing-Ottosson's edition, pp. 18-22. They can be distributed in two main categories, the “Bernardino” MSS, and the “independent” MSS. The copy (N, kept in the National Library of Naples, Cod VI.A.19), produced by S:t Bernardino of Siena sometime between 1425 and 1434 served as the original text of all the other “Bernardine” manuscripts. The “independent” manuscripts are independent of N and represent another tradition. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Beatus qui legit et qui audit verba prophecie huius et seruit ea, que in ea scripta sunt. Triplex gracia ad profectum in Scriptura Sacra requiri potest''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Et hoc est quod saluator insinuat Luce vicesimo primo de illo tempore loquens: Virtutes, inquit, celorum mouebuntur. Et tunc videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 428 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Billing-Ottosson, A.-M. 2003: ''Exposicio super Apocalypsim'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:3), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ 1986: pp. 143-145<br /> * ULFGARD 2021: pp. 676-741<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl., a collection compiled in Sweden 1344-1349) as well as in ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, states that ''Tempore quo magister Mathias, glosator biblie,'' ''glossabat super Apocalipsim, ait Dominus'' ... (“at the time when Magister Mathias, the glossator of the Bible, wrote a gloss on the Book of Revelation, the Lord said ...”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to his divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The commentary intended to give a literal as well as spiritual exposition of the sacred text, but it is much more restrained in identifying historical events and persons than Mathias’ predecessors in this genre, e.g. Joachim de Fiore (d. 1202), the most influential apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period, or Nicolas of Lyra (d. 1349), the foremost medieval exegete. Mathias deals with timeless truths, virtues and vices, as incarnate in history, past, present, and future. The picture of Christendom is sombre. The seven Churches in chapter two symbolize the virtues of active life, the seven seals in chapter five symbolize seven kinds of tribulations: the suffering of the just, the prosperity of the evil, the fight against the heretics, false brethren and hypocrites, the impunity of evil men, and sins committed by just man, making them fall by their own feebleness. The seven-fold corruption of the Church is represented by the seven trumpets. The corruption of the masses calls for punishment: it will be inflicted by the grasshoppers and the scorpions of chapter nine, i.e. by the evil princes of this earth. But Christ watches over his Church and will assist it, especially in making Sacred Scripture more transparent by the proclamation of his word, and by the good pastors of his Church; these, however, will be rare, and their effort will, for the most part, remain without effect. ''Valde ergo prope est interitus mundi'' (“The end of this world is imminent”, 10,88).<br /> <br /> Mathias insisted on a thorough reform of the Church, probably under the influence of the Franciscan rigorists. Such an influence explains his vehement accusations launched against the ignorance of the clergy, its worldly ambitions, the scandal of theology transformed into philosophy “with little sense and no affection” (''tantum scire faciunt, vt non afficiant''). The Roman Curia, where the origin of religion ought to be, was more rotten than any local church. One of the roots of this corruption was the transformation of theology into dialectical philosophy: ''experimento cotidie discimus videntes theologicam veritatem fere totam esse subuersam esse in philosophicam vanitatem'' (“From daily experience we see with our own eyes that theological truth has almost completely been transformed into philosophical vanity”; 12, 246). <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> This exposition follows the models of the genre but is more personal in tone than what was usual. His strong condemnations of the dialectical methods in theology might have something to do with his early years in Paris. Did he, as a mature man having gone through a spiritual crisis, have reasons to look at his own interest in literal theory (and quotes of Averroes) with strong disapproval? A significant passage (13, 197-198) illustrates what may be the essence of his strong stance against contemporary philosophy, as it was practiced in Paris: the Averroists taught in the Aristotelian spirit that knowledge can only be based on the testimony of the senses. From this they had drawn conclusions contrary to essential Christian dogmas. One of Mathias’ main concerns was to show the opposite: <br /> <br /> ''Sicut nempe per sensibiles apparencias elementorum mundi astucia dyaboli raciones contra diuinam sapienciam confingit, sic econtra diuina veritas per sensibilia se defendit. Multas enim raciones nec minus probabiles sancti doctores ex sensibilibus adinuenerant, quam falsi mundi sapientes contra sanctam fiden adinuenerunt. Non enim pauciores nec minus probabiles raciones beatus doctor Augustinus adinuenit pro sancta Christi fide quam Auerroes et Porphyrius heretici contra sanctam fidem confinxerunt.''<br /> <br /> (“Just as the Devil's cunning has invented rational arguments from the appearances of the elements of this world against divine Wisdom, so divine Wisdom also defends itself with the help of these testimonies of the senses. The holy doctors of the Church have found no less credible arguments from what the senses can perceive than the false wise men of the world have found against the holy faith. The blessed teacher Augustine has found no fewer or less credible arguments for the holy faith of Christ than the heretics Averroes and Porphyry have invented against the holy faith.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The manuscripts of this text are scattered in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. There is reason to believe that Birgittine religious from Vadstena brought a copy to the convent al Paradiso in Florence, and all foreign manuscripts have been reproduced from a common hyparchetype there. St. Bernardino of Siena made a copy of the ''Exposicio'' for his own use, in 1413 at the latest, and he used as master copy in al Paradiso. Later on, he made a second copy with his own hand. Possibly, this is the original of a manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus and of other manuscripts in Germany. Bernardino used Mathias’ commentary as one of three principal sources for his famous sermons, and Cusanus wanted a personal copy of it after having heard Bernardino's impressive Lenten sermons in Padua in 1423. According to a notice in three MSS. in Munich, Bernardino was moved by the exceptional spiritual sweetness (''singularem dulcedinem spiritus'') of Mathias’ exposition. He is even reported to have sent two friars to Sweden in order to retrieve its final part, but they returned empty-handed. Cusanus warned that the copy was defective: ''exemplar fuit corruptum, sitis cauciores!'' He professed himself to be a great admirer of the Swedish master, whom he affirmed to be truly illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Even in the fifteenth century, Mathias’ treatment of the last book of the Bible was obviously perceived and appreciated as fresh, original and profound. <br /> <br /> As BILLING-OTTOSSON has shown in the list (pp. 18-35) of manuscripts preserved, the Uppsala manuscript C 126 is the one that is closest to the archetype and consequently offers the most reliable version of the text. All other manuscripts are dependent on a hyparchetype that has been lost.<br /> <br /> === Homo conditus ===<br /> For the benefit of parish priests in the diocese of Linköping, Mathias composed ''Homo conditus'' (named after its incipit), a handbook in narrative style, which avoids technical terminology and encompasses all of Christian doctrine, from Creation to the Last Judgement and Heaven and Hell, according to the general plan of Peter Lombard’s ''Sentences''. It is supplemented with detailed treatises on the apostolic Creed, the virtues and vices, the seven sacraments, the five senses, the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, the Ave Maria, and what should be hoped for and feared in the afterlife. A series of sermon introductions are added, conforming to the Gospel readings at Mass through the liturgical year in the Diocese of Linköping. Using this book, a priest could explain the whole of Catholic dogma in the course of one year (it goes without saying that it was meant to be translated into the vernacular by the preacher). Mathias’s concern about religious and philosophical heresies (residual paganism, superstitious practices, astrology, fatalism) is of great interest as one of the rare sources for medieval Nordic mentality. ''Homo conditus'' is written in a vital, spontaneous prose style, saturated with metaphors and biblical allusions.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit/explicit =====<br /> Principal text: ''Homo conditus in omnibus bonis habundabat. Erat nempe perfectus in natura (...) cum nichil aliud iam poterunt nisi proprias penas cogitare, ne vacent amplius peccandi libertate.''<br /> <br /> Sermon introductions: ''Dominica prima Aduentus. Semper debet homo salutem suam operari (...) Castitas nempe, specialiter virginea, est celestis conuersacio. Require septimo capitulo, littera k, et de luxuria littera i.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 206 standard pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1984: ''Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:1), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1986: ''Vägen till Jerusalem: Valda texter ur Homo conditus i översättning och med kommentar'', Uppsala [partial translation]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A.1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A.1986b: pp. 146-149<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> A linguistic comparison with the other works ascribed to Mathias (Piltz, A.1974, pp. 47-52) proves that ''Homo conditus'' is written by him. The presence or absence of saints in the sermon draft ''de sanctis'' shows that the text fits into the liturgical situation in the diocese of Linköping during the period 1330-1350. It is therefore edited after Mathias’ return to Sweden (after a second period of studies in Paris 1333-1342/43) in 1344, when he was a canon in Linköping, and in 1343 he was provided with a rectorate in Söderköping in the same diocese.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The author himself has written a short summary of the whole book (Piltz, A. 1984, R:1-R:3):<br /> <br /> ''In hoc opusculo vndecim capitula sunt. Primum continet mala et dampna, que peccatum facit in natura racionali. Secundum est de fide, spe et karitate, quibus sanantur mala peccati. Tercium est de generali informacione fidei per breuem exposicionem simboli apostolici. Quartum disserit diuisim de articulis simboli cum septem sacramentis. Quintum habet generaliter de preceptis et preuaricacione eorum, virtutibus et viciis et donis Spiritus Sancti cum immissionibus dyaboli et beatitudinibus et miseriis et sensuum regimine. Sextum continet specialiter de decem preceptis et penis preuaricatorum. Septimum habet specialiter de septem viciis capitalibus et de virtutibus illis oppositis. Octauum continet de septem donis Spiritus Sancti et immissionibus dyaboli illis oppositis et beatitudinibus. Nonum de tribus partibus emendacionis peccatorum et triplici satisfaccione per elemosinam, ieiunium et oracionem, in qua oracio dominica et salutacio angelica exponuntur. Decimum de quinque per ordinem, que speranda sunt. Vndecimum de quinque per ordinem, que timenda sunt.''<br /> <br /> (“This work consists of eleven chapters. The first deals with the misfortunes and injuries which sin causes in the rational soul. The second deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the misfortune of sin is cured. The third contains a general review of the faith in the form of a brief explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. The fourth reviews the articles of faith in order, together with the seven sacraments. The fifth is a general survey of the commandments and the punishment of transgressors. The seventh is a special review of the seven capital vices and the virtues which are their opposites. The eighth contains the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the devilish inspirations which are their opposites, as well as the Beatitudes. The ninth focuses on the expiation for sin and the threefold expiation of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, including an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the Angel’s greeting. The tenth concerns the order of the five things in which we should hope. The eleventh deals in turn with the five things that we should fear.”)<br /> <br /> There is a detailed summary in Piltz 1974,14-28.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The general outline is determined by the catechetical categories (the Creed, the common prayers, sins and vices, the sacraments) and corresponds in content to the traditional presentation in the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard, the obligatory basic text in theological studies from the twelfth century until the Protestant Reformation. <br /> <br /> Mathias’ interest in the art of oratory, which he documented in his youth through the tract ''Testa nucis'' (see above), must have been evident when he, as a preacher, addressed a congregation in their own language. ''Homo conditus'' is a compendium of Christian doctrine, written in Latin but meant to be translated into Swedish by the priest. It avoids theological jargon as much as possible. The address is directed at the individual listener and appeals to his own ability to reason: <br /> <br /> ''Omnia animalia creata sunt ad aliquam vtilitatem, vermes auibus in cibum, aues et pecora hominibus. Si ergo homo moreretur in corpore et anima, ad quem vtilitatem esset ipse creatus? Numquid creasset ipsum Deum racionalem ad nichil aliud nisi scire et intelligere et sufferre calamitates huius mundi et deinde mori sicut aliud brutum? Quis vel demens hoc credere posset? Nonne vides malos homines prosperari in hoc mundo, et bonos aduersitates et tribulaciones pati? Hoc numquam iustissimus Deus faceret, nisi bonis hominibus in alia vita meliora reseruaret. Crede ergo firmiter sacre fidei promittenti tibi aliam vitam. An non actor fidei Christus Iesus adeo fide dignus est, quod mentiri non potuit?'' (II:10-11).<br /> <br /> (“All living things are created for some use, worms for food for birds, birds and cattle for people. Now if man died body and soul, for what use was he created? Would God have created his reason for no other purpose than to know and realize and suffer the misfortunes of this world, and then die like another beast? Who is so mad as to believe such a thing? Do you not see that the wicked live well in this world and the good suffer adversity and hardship? God would never do so in his supreme justice, if he had not reserved something better for the good in another life. Therefore, believe firmly in the holy faith, which promises you another life. Or is not the author of faith Christ Jesus trustworthy enough to escape suspicion of lying?”)<br /> <br /> Christian faith must be expressed in concrete action, a theme that this guide constantly insists on. No one is so poor that he cannot do good to his neighbour through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: <br /> <br /> ''Est enim elemosina spiritualis, que fit de possessione anime, corporalis vero, que fit de possessione corporis. Si ergo velis elemosinam spiritualem facere, ora ad Deum pro omnibus, conpatere afflictis, instrue ignorantes, corrige errantes, dimitte in nomine Christi inimicicias. Frequenter enim nobis bona temporalia deficiunt nec sufficimus elemosinam facere, licet velimus. Numquam tamen nobis tantum deficit numquam tam pauperes sumus, quod non possimus orare non solum pro Christianis sed pro omni humano genere; pro iustis, vt Deus det eis perseueranciam in bono, pro peccatoribus, vt Deus concedat eis veram penitenciam, pro paganis et Iudeis, vt concedat eis veram Dei et Christi recognicionem.'' (IX:227-228).<br /> <br /> (“There is a spiritual almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the soul; there is a bodily almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the body. If you want to give a spiritual almsgiving, then pray to God for all, have compassion on the unfortunate, teach the ignorant, correct the erring, forgive the unkind deeds, in the name of Christ. Often temporal possessions fail us and we are unable to give alms, although we would like to. But we never suffer such a lack, we are never so poor that we cannot pray, not only for Christians, but for the whole human race: for the righteous, that God may give them perseverance in good, for sinners, that God may give them true repentance, for the Gentiles and the Jews, that He may make them recognize God and His Anointed.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> There is no general relationship of dependence between ''Homo conditus'' and any predecessor in the genre of sermon manuals, even if individual details may correspond to other authors. Rather, all of them seem to have sought to produce their own variations and to vary the given catechetical categories in new ways. See Piltz,1974, pp. 59-76.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is to provide a practical and easily accessible handbook for the ordinary parish priest in the Diocese of Linköping in his task of delivering a sermon that is doctrinally sound, rhetorically effective, and refers to the biblical texts read in mass on Sundays and holidays, i.e. on the mandatory sermon days. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The text is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts from the library of Vadstena Monastery, now in Uppsala University Library, there with the designations C 217 and C 387 (both written in the late fourteenth century century). The latter had previously been owned by the priest Johannes Johannis from Kalmar, who entered the monastery in 1404, when it was incorporated into the monastery library. There are a few quotes from ''Homo conditus'' in diverse sermon collections from Vadstena.<br /> <br /> === ''Copia exemplorum'' ===<br /> Perhaps as a supplement to ''Homo conditus'', Mathias compiled an alphabetical collection of anecdotes, ''Copia exemplorum'' (633 entries from ''Absolucio'' to ''Vxor'').<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> There is only one copy preserved of this text, Uppsala University Library, C 54, foll. 60v-110r. Fol. 60v has the following notice, written by a fifteenth-century hand: ''Hic liber subscriptus qui incipit absolucio multum etc. dicitur Copia exemplorum quem fecit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Istum librum collegit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis. Absolucio multum beneficium confert morituris, ualet eciam defunctis'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''frequenter maritus malus lucrifit per bonam uxorem, R. amor carnis. Explicit copia exemplorum propter simplices collecta.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 118 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> ''Copia exemplorum'' is edited in the form of a reproduction of the final rough drafts of an edition prepared by Lars Wåhlin in 1901:<br /> <br /> * Wåhlin, L. &amp; Andersson-Schmitt, M. 1990: ''Magister Mathias: Copia exemplorum.'' Herausgegeben von Lars Wåhlin†. Mit Einleitung und Indizes von Margarete Andersson-Schmitt (Studia seminarii Latini Upsaliensis, 2), Uppsala<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan''. (Samlingar och studier till Svenska kyrkans historia. 9. Stockholm <br /> <br /> This doctoral dissertation is a thorough study of the book's genre and sources. In the Introduction (''Einführung'') of Wåhlin's edition there is an updated overview of the sources.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The text recounts an event that occurred in Tåby outside Söderköping in the Diocese of Linköping on July 24/25, 1344. It is obviously compilated in Linköping.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias is drawing mostly from French sources, above all the ''Alphabetum narracionum'' by Arnould of Liège OP (d. after 1310) and ''Miracula beate Marie virginis'' (Strömberg 1944, 36 ff., Andersson-Schmitt, ix-xvii).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience, composition and style ====<br /> For obvious reasons, the presentation is considerably more vivid and lively in this compilation, which was made ''propter simplices'', for common people, than in any other of Mathias’ works, which were intended for a clerical readership. The purpose of these examples is to arouse the audience’s curiosity and interest, which is why purely burlesque elements are not avoided. Here is a passage under the entry ''Adulterium'' (6,1): <br /> <br /> ''Vxor Gengulphi adultera cum ab eo argueretur et negaret, iussa est in purgacionem sceleris brachium in fontem frigidum mittere, quod uelut igne adustum retraxit, et mox ab ea se separauit. unde et cum ab adultero Gengulphus occisus miracula faceret, adultera ei detrahens dicebat: “Sic Gengulphus facit miracula sicut anus meus cantat.” unde et mox uellet nollet turpes sonos emisit, et extunc omni uita sua sextis feriis, quando uir eius occisus fuit.'' <br /> <br /> (“Gengulf’s wife was unfaithful, and when he accused her of this and she denied it, she was asked to put her arm in a cold spring to cleanse herself of this crime. She withdrew her arm, as if it had been burned by fire, and he immediately separated from her. But when Gengulf had been murdered by the adulterer and was performing miracles, the adulteress mocked him and said: “Gengulf performs miracles as well as my ass sings.” After that, she let out shameful sounds, whether she wanted to or not, and this happened every Friday after that, the day her husband had been murdered.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> 73 exempla from ''Copia exemplorum'' have been excerpted in the Vadstena manuscript in Uppsala University Library C 181, fols. 163r-168r.<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> * ANDERSSON-sCHMITT, M. 1990: see ''Copia exemplorum'', Edition, above.<br /> * BERGH, B. 1996: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * CARLSSON, G. 1949: “Mäster Mathias från Linköping. Ett bidrag till hans biografi,” ''Samlaren'', ny följd, 29.<br /> * FERM, O, 2021: “Magister Mathias Ouidi Lincopensis,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * KILSTRÖM, B. I. 1958: ''Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden'' (Bibliotheca theologiae practicae, 8), Uppsala.<br /> * KLOCKARS, B. 1971: ''Birgitta och hennes värld'' (Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Historiska serien, 16), Uppsala.<br /> * LIEDGREN, J. 1961: ''Magister Mathias’ svenska kungörelse om Birgittas första stora uppenbarelse: Ett förbisett dokument i Riksarkivet'' (Riksarkivets meddelanden, 1958), Stockholm.<br /> * MALM, M. 1997: “Uppenbarelse och poetik: Magister Mathias om effektiv framställning,” ''Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap'' 26:3/4, 61-80.<br /> * MALM, M. 2012: “The Soul of Poetry Redefined. Vacillations of Mimesis from Aristotle to Romanticism.” ''Tusculanum'' (Copenhagen).<br /> * MALM, M. 2021: “Magister Mathias on Literary Representation,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * PACETTI, D. 1961: “L’Expositio super Apocalypsim di Mattia di Svezia (c. 1281-1350) precipua fonte dottrinale di S. Bernardino da Siena,” ''Archivum Franciscanum historicum'' 54.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986: “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his Theological Context: A Preliminary Survey,” in M. Asztalos (ed.), ''The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages'' (Studia latina Stockholmiensia, 30), Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: see ''Alphabetum distinccionum'', Editions, above.<br /> * SAVICKI, S. 1936: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1959: ''Ecclesia Lincopensis: Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustaf Vasa'' (Stockholm Studies in History, 4), Stockholm.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1943: “Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” ''Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift'' 19, 301-322.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan'' (Samlingar och studier till Svenska Kyrkans historia, 9), Stockholm.<br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2005: “Från Paris till Linköping: akademiska bibelstudier och kyrklig bibelutläggning i medeltidens Europa belysta utifrån Magister Mathias Apokalyps-kommentar,” in K. O. U. Lejon (red.), ''Diocesis Lincopensis,'' 2: ''Medeltida internationella influenser'' (Linköpings stiftshistoriska sällskaps skriftserie, 2), Skellefteå, 141-167.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2021: “Magister Mathias of Linköping. Exegete and Theologian”, in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm, 676-741.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1162 2026-01-30T17:45:42Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anderz Piltz<br /> <br /> '''Mathias Ouidi''' (Mats Övidsson, Övedsson), usually called Magister Mathias, born ''c''.1300, dead probably in 1350 in Stockholm. Master of Arts, canon at the cathedral of Linköping (not later than 1333), Baccalarius of Theology, and rector of the parish church of Saint Giles (Egidius) in Söderköping (not later than 1343). According to tradition, he was also Master of Theology. A close friend and influential confessor of Saint Birgitta (see [[Sancta Birgitta]]) prior to her journey to Rome in 1349, Mathias was by far the most prolific and original of Swedish writers, let alone theologians, in the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> == Biography ==<br /> Information about Mathias is very sparse. His name cannot be traced in any university registers, but there is every reason to believe that he studied in the faculties of arts and theology at Paris. His earliest work, the ''Poetria'', is dedicated to archbishop Olof Björnsson, who was the incumbent of the see of Uppsala between 1318 and 1332. In 1333, Mathias is mentioned four times in documents from Linköping and its vicinity. In all probability, he was living in Sweden when Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of Birgitta, died on 12 February 1344; in ''Copia exemplorum'', Mathias refers to an event which took place in the parish of Tåby outside Söderköping in late July of that year (see further Piltz 1974, 31 ff.).<br /> <br /> In his theological works, Mathias is an inspired champion of orthodox Christianity. It is said that in his youth he was tempted by all the heresies in the world and thus suffered a serious religious crisis which, however, he overcame, and after which he was rewarded by God with an exceptional command of the Sacred Scriptures – a command that is amply demonstrated in his writings. Hence his interest in various heterodox tenets, which he attacks in the name of “true theology”, by which he means essentially the biblical texts in their original spiritual force, without too much academic glossing.<br /> <br /> Like his famous confessant, Mathias was convinced that the world was ageing and close to its end, since love had grown cold and lawlessness was reigning. He stressed the Franciscan principle that Christians should imitate God’s humility, displayed in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. <br /> <br /> Mathias was the close witness of Birgitta’s early mystical experiences and miracles, and he was convinced that she was the authentic voice of God to her contemporaries. As an expert theologian, he wrote an enthusiastic introduction (''Stupor et mirabilia'') to the first collection of her Revelations (see below). For unknown reasons, they parted ways around 1346: Birgitta prepared herself to go to Rome, Mathias planned to participate in a “crusade” undertaken by King Magnus Eriksson against the Russians (June-October 1348, autumn 1350-spring 1351); it cannot be established whether he actually took part or not. Birgitta was in Rome when she learned that Mathias had died in Sweden. <br /> <br /> According to tradition, Mathias was buried by the king himself in the Dominican conventual church “Helga Lösen” in the Old Town of Stockholm. He was famed for his saintliness, and miracles were attributed to his intercession. His tomb was destroyed during the Lutheran reformation in the sixteenth century. <br /> <br /> Mathias is one of the candidates as author of the Old Swedish works ''Paraphrase of the Pentateuch'' and ''Mirror of Kings''. But his main legacy comprises seven works in Latin. They all testify to his interest in rhetorics, profane as well as sacred, his scholarly ambitions as a theologian, and – at least as far as ''Homo conditus'' is concerned – his talent as a writer. <br /> <br /> Birgittine sources state that Mathias was the author of the prologue ''Stupor et mirabilia'' to the Revelations of St. Birgitta (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; Rev. VI, 75; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477, 601), furthermore of an excellent gloss on the whole Bible (Rev. I, 3 ''declaracio''; ''Acta et processus'', 78, 477), that he had an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures (Rev. V ''interrogacio'' 16, 36-37), and that he was a prolific writer (''Acta et processus'', 78, 477). A survey of Mathias’ writings is found in the Uppsala manuscript C 54 (fol. 60v), which originally belonged to the library of Vadstena Abbey: <br /> <br /> ''Hic liber Subscriptus ... dicitur Copia exemplorum, quem fecit magister Mathias Canonicus lyncopensis et collegit. Hic venerabilis vir M. fuit primus confessor matris nostre gloriose Sancte birgitte quia vita et religione valde erat preclarus et tempore suo magistrorum omnium summus. Qui plures libros fecit, scilicet Concordancias super totam bibliam quem'' [sic] ''habemus in Watzsteno in tribus voluminibus magne quantitatis. Item vnum librum qui dicitur Homo conditus. Item super apokalipsim. Item tractatum de modo loquendi et quamplures alios.'' <br /> <br /> (“This book which is written here below is called the ''Treasury of Examples'' and was written and compiled by Master Matthias, a Canon of Linköping. This venerable man M. was the first confessor of our glorious mother Birgitta, since he was particularly distinguished in piety and the most important Master of his time. He is the author of several books, namely, a ''Concordance'' over the whole Bible, which we have in Vadstena in three large volumes, further a book entitled ''Homo conditus'', one on the ''Book of Revelation'' and a treatise on the ''Art of Rhetoric'', and several others.”)<br /> <br /> === Works ===<br /> <br /> === Stupor et mirabilia ===<br /> This introduction to the first collection of the Birgittine corpus is an expert opinion on the authenticity and orthodoxy of the “heavenly revelations” that Birgitta Birgersdotter claimed to have received and had successively edited with the help of her confessors. It is written in a lofty and excited style. Mathias claims in antithetical sentences that what happened through Birgitta is more remarkable than the revelation that took place in the Old Testament through Moses, and in a way it even goes beyond the incarnation of Christ himself: “Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration” (25).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Stupor et mirabilia audita sunt in terra nostra. Mirabile siquidem'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) ab ipso factam ad verba eius ab ipso missa fatebuntur.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of standard pages: 12.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes''. Lübeck: Bartholomeus Ghotan [for Vadstena Abbey], 1492<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sancte Birgitte'' [ed. Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein], Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1500 <br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Reuelationes celestes preelecte sponse Christi beate Birgitte'' … Nuremberg: Federicus Peypus, sumptibus Joannis Kobergers, 1517<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes'' [ed. Olaus Magnus], 2 vols., Romae, in aedibus diuae Birgittae viduae: Franciscus Mediolanensis de Ferrariis, 1557 [vol. 1, p. 24]<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Romae: Stephanus Paulinus, sumptibus Iulij Burchionij, 1606<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: Ioannes Keerbergius, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Brigittae'' … ''nunc à Consalvo Dvranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae'' … Antverpiae: apud viduam et haeredem P. Belleri, 1611<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''a Consalvo Duranto a Sancto Angelo in Vado presbytero et sacrae theologiae professore notis illvstratae.'' Coloniae Agrippinae: ex off. Anthonii Boetzeri haeredum [typis Henricus Krafft], 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes sanctae Birgittae'' … ''á Consaluo Duranto episcopo Ferettrano notis illustratae'' … Tomvs I. Romae: Ludouicus Grignanus, 1628<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes Caelestes seraphicae matris sanctae Birgittae Suecae'' … Munich: Sebastianus Rauch, sumptibus Joannis Wagneri et Joannis Hermanni à Gelder, 1680<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelationes S. Birgittae e codice membraneo fol. 21 Bibliothecae Universitatis Lundensis (“Cod. Falkenberg”), Suecice et Britannice praefatus''. Facsimile ed. by Elias Wessén, 2 vols. (Corpus codicum Suecicorum medii aevi), Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1952–1956<br /> * Sancta Birgitta, ''Revelaciones''. ''Book I, with Magister Mathias’ Prologue'', ed. by Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 7:1), Uppsala [also Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm, and, extra series, Stockholm: Almqvist &amp; Wiksell International], 1977 [printed 1978], pp. 227-240<br /> <br /> ==== Electronic texts ====<br /> <br /> * ''St Birgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones, Book I'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://www.umilta.net/bk1.html&lt;/nowiki&gt; <br /> * ''Corpus Reuelacionum Sancte Birgitte'', &lt;nowiki&gt;http://62.20.57.210/ra/diplomatariet/CRB/index.htm&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) Sancta Birgitta, ''The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden'', vol. I: ''Liber Caelestis, Books I-III'', translated by Denis Searby, with introductions and notes by Bridget Morris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 [p. 47-52]<br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Das puch der Himlischen offenbarung der heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem kunigreich Sweden'' [ed. by Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1502 <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Brigitta''. Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus, 4 vols. (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg: Verlag von G. Joseph Manz, 1856 [“Vorrede … vom Magister Matthias aus Schweden,” vol. IV, 345-53] <br /> * (German) Sancta Birgitta, ''Leben und Offenbarungen der heiligen Birgitta.'' Neu bearbeitet, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Clarus. Aufs neue durchgesehen und verbessert von einem katholischen Priester (Sammlung der vorzüglichsten mystischen Schriften aller katholischen Völker, 10-13), Regensburg, 1888 [microfiche ed.: Wildberg: Belser Wiss. Dienst (Edition St. Walburg), 1994 – 11 microfiches, 29x]<br /> * (Polish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Skarby niebieskich taiemnic'', [Zamosc], 1698 <br /> * (Spanish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Celestiales Revelaciones de Santa Brígida, Princesa de Suecia'' …, 4 vols., Madrid: [Tipografia del Sagrado Corazón], 1901 <br /> * (Swedish) Sancta Birgitta, ''Himmelska uppenbarelser'', trans. by T. Lundén, 4 vols., Malmö: Allhem, 1957–1959; vol. 1, 57-60, contains a summary of and an excerpt from ''Stupor et mirabilia''<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUNDÉN, HJ. 1973: ''Den heliga Birgitta. Ormungens dotter som blev Kristi brud.'' Stockholm <br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Written in Sweden, ''terminus post quem'' is the death of Ulf Gudmarsson, which is referred to in the text.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is obvious, since the authenticity of the Birgittine revelations was initially questioned and accused of being of demonic origin, especially since they had been addressed to a woman without theological training. Mathias, who was the country's foremost theological expert, vouches for their divine origin and insists that they should be read as instructions from Heaven and taken seriously by all Christians.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> ''Stupor and mirabilia'' came to be considered the preface of Birgitta's ''Revelations'' and is included in all editions since Bartholomeus Gothan's editio princeps, printed in Lübeck in 1492.<br /> <br /> === ''Testa nucis'' ===<br /> This text is only preserved in a short fragment in the MS. C 521 (foll. 172v-173r), earlier pertaining to the monastery of Vadstena. It seems to convey traditional rhetorical doctrine. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> This tract is obviously identical with the ''Tractatus de modo loquendi'' mentioned in the same MS (see above).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Incipit Testa nucis. Rethorica est potencia considerandi vnumquodque contingens persuasibile'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''(…) vtrum in eo negocium expleri pot&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;u&gt;erit, et partes temporis, mensis, dies&lt;/nowiki&gt;'' (the fragment ends here).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> Number of pages: 6. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable]<br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The dedication of ''Poetria'' (see below) to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala indicates that ''Testa nucis'', to which several explicit references are made in ''Poetria'', was written in the early 1320s, during Mathias' studies at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, in a period when he was obviously intensely interested in literary theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The fragmentary character of the preserved text makes it impossible to have a more precise idea of its layout. The beginning of the fragment reproduces the main rules of classical rhetoric as the ability to persuade, in three areas: before a court of law, in a political assembly, and in ceremonial speeches (which should unite the audience around common values). An effective speech consists of five elements: inventory of arguments, outline, style, delivery, and memorization. The art of persuasion refers to obvious facts, or to confidence in the speaker's credibility, arouses emotions, provides examples, analogies, and probabilities, and discusses various types of mitigating or aggravating circumstances of an action.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The traditional scholastic style of definitions and distinctions of traditional rhetorical concepts is adopted.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Its principal source appears to be William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Rhetoric'', with occasional reminiscences from ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' and Cicero’s ''De inventione'' (Bergh 1996, 8 f.).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The aim is to convey traditional rhetorical theory.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 172v-173r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs' edition.<br /> <br /> === Poetria ===<br /> The ''Poetria'' is a treatise on poetry. It is partly written in hexameters in a rather abstruse style. It is not typical of the medieval tradition, which took a keen interest in technical matters such as tropes, figures of speech and other stylistic devices, but not in aesthetic theory. Mathias makes an effort to integrate Aristotelian theory into a treatise on poetry, a remarkable ambition in fourteenth-century Sweden. He uses examples from Avianus, Homer, Ovid, Persius and Virgil. The text is divided into three parts, ''representacio'' (visualization), ''tonus'' (intonation), and ''metrum'' (not on metrics but on the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Maria Ihesus Christus. Incipit Poetria domini magistri Mathie. Cum plurima nostratum studia ante mentis oculos pertractarem''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Eterni tecum mansuri solis ad ortum. Explicit Poetria magistri Mathie Lincopensis.''<br /> <br /> ===== Metre/rhythm =====<br /> The many metrical examples adduced are mostly hexametric. The treatise ends with a poem by Mattias himself, comprising 94 lines, which aims to illustrate various poetical tropes (mentioned in the margin) discussed in the previous theoretical part. <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 42 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Sawicki, S. 1936: “Poetria och Testa nucis av Magister Matthias Lincopensis,” ''Samlaren'', 109-152 [not reliable] <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996: ''Magister Mathias Lincopensis: Testa nucis and Poetria'', edited and translated by Birger Bergh (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:2), Stockholm <br /> <br /> Note that Bergh in his critical and exegetical remarks (pp. 17-27) corrects Sawicki on many points; Sawicki's edition should therefore be avoided as misrepresenting the original text in a number of passages.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Bergh, B. 1996 (see above, under Editions) <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * BERGH, B. 1996, and his ''Introduction'' should be consulted first of all, since he points out the very obscurity of this text and consequently the difficulties implied in interpreting it.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> ''Poetria'' is obviously written in close connexion to ''Testa nucis'' (to which several references are made; see above) in Paris around 1320, during Mathias' studies in the Faculty of Arts, when he seemed intensely interested in literary theory. It is dedicated to Archbishop Olaf Björnsson of Uppsala, who was the incumbent from 1318 to 1332. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> Mathias wanted to find an aesthetic theory for poetry. The main theme of this treatise on poetry is ''representatio'', which in this context means “visualizations”: ''representaciones tam certe et veraciter factas, ut non credatur res ficta esse'' (“so certain and plausible that the matter does not seem to have been made up”; 66). <br /> <br /> ''Vnde merito similitudinem habet poeta cum pictore. Sicut enim pictor peritus rem, que in se delectabilis non esset aspicere, propter conuenienciam in disposicione partium picture et colorum delectabiliter inuenitur representare, sic poeta perfectus delectat animam in faciendo rem secundum suas proprietates imaginari'' <br /> <br /> (“[T]he poet is rightly compared to the painter. For the skilful painter, by the harmonious arrangement of the different parts and colours of the picture, turns out to give an agreeable representation of something that would not in itself be agreeable to look at, and in the same way the perfect poet gives pleasure by making us imagine a thing in accordance to its characteristics”; 6-7). <br /> <br /> In this view it is the most important of three components of poetry, the other two being ''tonus'' (rhytm) and ''metrum'' (the order in which things are to be presented in a poem). The text ends with a didactic poem in hexameters which intend to illustrate the poetic figures, terms, and techniques discussed in the theoretical part of the text. <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The style is more personal than in ''Testa nucis'' (''sicut credo, reor attendendum, ut michi'' ''videtur'', etc). Mathias is fully aware of his own ability to judge and produce poetry, and also of his status as a pioneer in Sweden in literary theory. He speaks disparagingly of the creators of leonine verses of his time: ''aut leonina. Et hoc solum est, quod nostri metriste in versibus facere sciunt'';” or the kind called ‘leonine’. &quot;This is the only thing our poetasters are capable of in their verses” (79-80).<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> Mathias is dependent on Hermannus Alemannus’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics'', a particularly obscure rendering of the original text, due to intermediary (Syrian, Arabic) versions. He is not unaware of his pioneer achievement (Bergh 1996, 9 ff.). Maybe the mature theologian Mathias felt uneasy about these juvenile exercises, judging from later warnings about the allurement of philosophy.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> One can assume that the young Mathias, aware of his talent, wanted to gain a patron and benefactor in the (newly appointed?) Archbishop of Uppsala, and also, thereby, to gain a readership and intellectual reputation: <br /> <br /> ''vt luce vestri nominis et gracie quam ex se et sui actoris sciencia famosius rutilans duracionem in tempore cum lectorum frequencia optima nancisscatur''; <br /> <br /> “so that it will gleam with greater renown through the light of Your name and grace than through itself and the knowledge of its author, and thus procure long duration and a great number of readers” (4).<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The only extant manuscript is Uppsala University Library, C 521, fol. 169r-172r. The original text is reproduced in facsimile in the end of Berghs’ edition.<br /> <br /> === Alphabetum distinccionum ===<br /> Mathias' most comprehensive work is the ''Alphabetum distinccionum,'' a (selective) concordance to the biblical text combined with a kind of theological encyclopedia of so called ''distincciones'' between the different senses of Scripture, with special stress on the ''sensus moralis''. The entries are small tracts of theological character, useful for homiletical purposes. <br /> <br /> It is meant to be an encyclopaedia of the principal nouns, verbs, some few adverbs, and the most important proper names, along with some “natural things” (''res naturales'') mentioned in the Bible. It is in fact a systematic gloss on the Bible and comprises even terms not occurring in the Scriptures, such as ''Accidia, Actuosa deuocio, Condignum, Fomes (peccati), Scriptura sacra, Sinderesis, Syrena, Theologia, Trinitas''. The reader may combine interpretations of separate words and so construct various expositions as required. However, the result must never contradict faith or morals: (''sic'') ''vt veritas fidei seruetur ex vno et honestas morum non ledatur ex altero.''<br /> <br /> Today, the text only survives as fragments of two parchment codices, and in quoted extracts in other works. The volumes were dispersed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when they were confiscated by the secular authorities and reused for various account books and legal records (domböcker). The surviving leaves are scattered across eight institutions in five cities: Stockholm, Vadstena, Helsinki, Oslo, and London, most of them available digitally. <br /> <br /> By employing various methods and accounting for all pertinent evidence communicated by the extant witnesses, especially cross-references, roughly forty per cent of the original ''c''.4000 headwords can be identified (according to SUPPONEN, 2023). The headwords survive at least partly in 603 entries. The cross-references provide 821 otherwise unknown headwords. <br /> <br /> The book contributed to his reputation among the Birgittines that he knew the entire Bible inside out, “from Alpha to Omega”. It now exists only as fragments in the form of 326 preserved leaves of two manuscripts, apart from quotes in sermons by Vadstena brothers. It is an encyclopaedia of the most important nouns, verbs and proper names in the Vulgate. The concepts are explained, with descriptive applications and examples of the use of the word in question. A peculiarity is Mathias's strong interest in natural phenomena (''res naturales''), their definition and properties: the visible, material things are understood as references to the invisible. All of nature is a kind of allegorical rebus that illustrates spiritual truths and heavenly things, for those who have eyes with which to see it. <br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> Although this work is called ''Concordancie super totam bibliam'' in MS. C 54 of Uppsala University Library, the prologue, which is almost completely preserved, indicates the correct title: <br /> <br /> “''Distinguuntur ergo in hoc alphabeto textus et glose Biblie et naturales rerum, de quibus Scripture mencionem faciunt, proprietates per vocabula et sentencias figurales, misticas et historicas''” <br /> <br /> (“In this alphabetical register, the varied meanings of the texts of the Bible and the glosses are conveyed, as well as the natural phenomena that are mentioned in Scripture, [and] the properties that are demonstrated by their names, as well as their figurative, mystical and historical meanings”).<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The work is said to have filled three huge volumes in the Birgittine Abbey of Vadstena. Only 145 folios remain, scattered in different libraries (which makes them very difficult to read without modern technical devices). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: “Mathiæ canonici Lincopensis ''Alphabeti distinccionum'' sive ''Concordanciarum'' fragmenta selecta”, in ''Symbolae Septentrionales: Latin Studies Presented to Jan Öberg'', ed. M. Asztalos &amp; C. Gejrot, Stockholm, 137-171 [samples of the extant fragments]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was likely composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. According to the Birgittine ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl.) and ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, Mathias ''glossavit totam Bibliam excellenter'' ''et composuit multa volumina librorum'' (“wrote an excellent gloss on the whole Bible and was the author of many volumes”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to Mathias’ divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator Biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' is an alphabetically organised reference work that compiles materials from various preaching aids. It comprises a concordance for contextualising the themes and divisions of sermons, as well as devices for expanding upon sermons, such as distinctions, encyclopaedic descriptions, and biblical exempla. The text consists of two parts: the text proper and an interlinear reference apparatus, that provides commentaries on biblical verses in the text proper and citations of the verses and accompanying references in the apparatus. The headwords are described in their historical sense in the text proper, while the moral or allegorical readings are presented in the apparatus. The interlinear apparatus also contains cross-references to other entries. <br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias owes much to St. Bonaventure OFM; he also echoes John Duns Scotus OFM. Inspired by principles set up by pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, probably with Bartholomeus Anglicus (''c''.1250) as intermediary, Mathias refers, often in detail, to the facts, processes and events of nature as analogies of spiritual realities in the realm of grace. The book also conveys vitriolic criticism of the hierarchy and the religious orders (cf. Piltz 1986, 139 ff.; Piltz 1995, 137 ff.). SUPPONEN (pp.122-167) gives a thorough overview of the textual sources: the third concordance of St. Jacques, Glossa ordinaria, Bartholomeus Anglicus, etc.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The method applied in this concordance could best be demonstrated with a quotation from the entry ''Sensus Scripture'': <br /> <br /> ''Sensus hystoricus est, cum res quandoque secundum litteram vel facta vel dicta sit (vt saluacio filiorum Israel de Egypto), plano sermone refertur. Allegoria (Ysaie: egredietur virga de radice Iesse), cum verbis vel rebus misticis presencia Christi et Ecclesie sacramenta signantur (sanguis agni sanguinem Christi significat). Tropologia est moralis instructio (non diligamus verbo neque lingua) ad correccionem morum per aperta vel figurata verba (omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida). Anagoge, id est ”ad superiora ducens loqucio”, est que de premiis (beati mundo corde) futuris apertis vel misticis verbis (beati qui lauant stolas suas, etc.) disputat.''<br /> <br /> (“The meanings of Scripture: (...) historical meaning is expressed when something is stated to have been done or said (for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt) in clear words. Allegory (Isaiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”) when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the Church are signified (the blood of the lamb signifies the blood of Christ). Tropology is moral teaching (“Let us not love in word nor in tongue”) with the aim of improving our conduct through ordinary or figurative words (“Let your garments always be white”). Anagoge, that is, “speech that leads upward,” deals with rewards (“Blessed are the pure in heart”) in the future, presented in clear or mystical words (“Blessed are those who wash their robes.””)<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The primary purpose is obvious: to provide preachers with all the scholarly tools they need to compose a sermon which is orthodox, instructive, and with a strong moral appeal to conversion and a striving for a virtuous life. Mathias' personal background may have contributed with an existential incentive: he took a special interest in the symbolic potency of the visible world. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (V, int. 16:36-37) states that Mathias in his earlier life (in Paris?) had experienced the conflict between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He had overcome this temptation by not trusting his own senses and judgement too much. He was rewarded with an exceptional knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Mathias had been seriously attracted by the “second Averroism” which, while proclaiming the submission to the teachings of the Church, in reality professed a learned and more complicated form of incredulity, founded on the orthodox Aristotelian thesis that all knowledge must be based on sensual perception. This is precisely the argument of the Devil, Mathias contends in this commentary on the Apocalypse (12, 244-251), since he takes his subtle and sophistic reasons from the phenomena (''ex apparenciis'') in the visible world of the four elements: but with the help of grace the human mind is illuminated and can reach a spiritual understanding of corporal things in the visible world. Hence his interest in the natural and sensual phenomena: they are altogether symbols and vehicles of spiritual truths. What Mathias attacks, with strong anti-dialectical bias, is the separation of theology and exegesis. In connection with the greatest Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure, Mathias claims that theology should appeal to all human capacities and mentalities: its method (''modus tradendi'') is ''narrativus, preceptivus, excitativus, comminatorius, promissivus, precatorius, laudativus.'' The purpose of theology escapes the presumptuos, the unclean, the treacherous, the idle. All this explains why it is so obscure: it demands an intellectual and moral effort, in order not to become insipid. It aims at inclining our wills so that we want to be good, ''vt boni fiamus''. All these statements in the entry Sacra Scriptura are paraphrazes on the ''Breviloquium'' of Bonaventure.<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The ''Alphabetum'' has survived in fragments of two manuscripts, later reused for secondary purposes: ''MS Linköping'' (''MS L''), Stockholm, The National Archives, ''MPO, Fr 3'', and ''Östergötlands handlingar 1539:3:1'', second quarter of the fourteenth century, a bifolium; and ''MS Vadstena'' (''MS V''), written before 1381 in Linköping or Uppsala, and preserved in 88 fragments that comprise 163 leaves in total, in the Swedish National Archives, and seven other institutions (see above). It was in the possession of Birger Gregersson (Archbishop of Uppsala 1366-1383), who might have commissioned the copy. Quotations in sermons by the Vadstena preachers and frequent annotations in MS V demonstrate that the Birgittines used the book up to the early fifteenth century. <br /> <br /> SUPPONEN (pp. 83-92) has furthermore identified extracts of ''Alphabetum'' in Uppsala, UUB, C 391, foll. 129v-131r, copied by Styrkarus Thyrgilli (d. 1416), which comprises a part of the entries ''Misericordia'' and ''Iudicare, Iudicium'', but is missing in the MSS L and V. Another extract is found in UUB, C 3, a compendium from approximately 1447. Other traces of smaller excerpts from the fifteenth century have been discovered by other scholars. <br /> <br /> === Exposicio super Apocalipsim ===<br /> The most influential work of Mathias was, without comparison, Mathias' commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, expounding the biblical text from the beginning to chapter 15, verse 5. In the traditional scholastic style, Mathias explains the literal and, above all, the allegorical and moral sense of the sacred text.<br /> <br /> Mathias was more restrictive in identifying the agents of the Apocalypse with historical persons, events and periods than was Nicholas of Lyra or the writers in the Joachimite tradition. This Bible commentary follows the normal pattern for this genre, but it has a more personal tone through the constantly recurring polemic against contemporary theology, which, according to Mathias, has lost touch with exegesis and degenerated into an academic display where one constructs more and more theoretical problems around the biblical text, in order to escape its existential appeal. Mathias launches a vehement attack on the dialectic methods used in theology, i.e. the obsession with arguments for and against a given proposition, discussed not so much for its spiritual content as in order to discover its philosophical or logical implications, and thereby gain a reputation for shrewdness (''scire volunt ut sciantur'', a quote from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux). Mathias brands ''dyalectica'' as one of the Devil’s weapons to avert people from devotion and charity. Mathias here shows a strong anti-Aristotelian bias (perhaps all the more as Aristotle thought that metaphor and allegory are incompatible with “scientific” knowledge). In stark contrast to contemporary theology, Mathias directs his attention to the pre-scholastic methods of biblical exegesis, practised in monastic circles in the twelfth century, freely associating related words, detecting biblical analogies, and expounding the various senses of a given text; whatever is concluded must, however, be in perfect conformity with traditional morals. Thus, his interest remains the existential dimension of the Scriptures, explained according to rules set out once and for all by the four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great). Probably inspired by the Franciscan rigorists, he insists on a thorough reform of the Church. The commentary on the Apocalypse was the main doctrinal source of St. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444), who made a personal copy of it. Even Nicholas Cusanus, the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, acquired a copy of it and was impressed by Mathias as a spiritual writer (Piltz 1986, 143 ff.).<br /> <br /> ===== Manuscript tradition =====<br /> The complete list of the 21 manuscripts in Billing-Ottosson's edition, pp. 18-22. They can be distributed in two main categories, the “Bernardino” MSS, and the “independent” MSS. The copy (N, kept in the National Library of Naples, Cod VI.A.19), produced by S:t Bernardino of Siena sometime between 1425 and 1434 served as the original text of all the other “Bernardine” manuscripts. The “independent” manuscripts are independent of N and represent another tradition. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Beatus qui legit et qui audit verba prophecie huius et seruit ea, que in ea scripta sunt. Triplex gracia ad profectum in Scriptura Sacra requiri potest''  <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Et hoc est quod saluator insinuat Luce vicesimo primo de illo tempore loquens: Virtutes, inquit, celorum mouebuntur. Et tunc videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 428 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Billing-Ottosson, A.-M. 2003: ''Exposicio super Apocalypsim'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:3), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * PILTZ 1986: pp. 143-145<br /> * ULFGARD 2021: pp. 676-741<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> It was composed after Mathias’ return to Sweden in 1344. A passage in Birgitta's ''Revelations'' (I 3, decl., a collection compiled in Sweden 1344-1349) as well as in ''Acta and processus'', pp. 78, 477, and 601, states that ''Tempore quo magister Mathias, glosator biblie,'' ''glossabat super Apocalipsim, ait Dominus'' ... (“at the time when Magister Mathias, the glossator of the Bible, wrote a gloss on the Book of Revelation, the Lord said ...”). In the sixth book of the ''Revelations'' (VI 89), Christ himself testifies to his divine inspiration and calls him ''magister Mathias, glosator biblie''. <br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The commentary intended to give a literal as well as spiritual exposition of the sacred text, but it is much more restrained in identifying historical events and persons than Mathias’ predecessors in this genre, e.g. Joachim de Fiore (d. 1202), the most influential apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period, or Nicolas of Lyra (d. 1349), the foremost medieval exegete. Mathias deals with timeless truths, virtues and vices, as incarnate in history, past, present, and future. The picture of Christendom is sombre. The seven Churches in chapter two symbolize the virtues of active life, the seven seals in chapter five symbolize seven kinds of tribulations: the suffering of the just, the prosperity of the evil, the fight against the heretics, false brethren and hypocrites, the impunity of evil men, and sins committed by just man, making them fall by their own feebleness. The seven-fold corruption of the Church is represented by the seven trumpets. The corruption of the masses calls for punishment: it will be inflicted by the grasshoppers and the scorpions of chapter nine, i.e. by the evil princes of this earth. But Christ watches over his Church and will assist it, especially in making Sacred Scripture more transparent by the proclamation of his word, and by the good pastors of his Church; these, however, will be rare, and their effort will, for the most part, remain without effect. ''Valde ergo prope est interitus mundi'' (“The end of this world is imminent”, 10,88).<br /> <br /> Mathias insisted on a thorough reform of the Church, probably under the influence of the Franciscan rigorists. Such an influence explains his vehement accusations launched against the ignorance of the clergy, its worldly ambitions, the scandal of theology transformed into philosophy “with little sense and no affection” (''tantum scire faciunt, vt non afficiant''). The Roman Curia, where the origin of religion ought to be, was more rotten than any local church. One of the roots of this corruption was the transformation of theology into dialectical philosophy: ''experimento cotidie discimus videntes theologicam veritatem fere totam esse subuersam esse in philosophicam vanitatem'' (“From daily experience we see with our own eyes that theological truth has almost completely been transformed into philosophical vanity”; 12, 246). <br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> This exposition follows the models of the genre but is more personal in tone than what was usual. His strong condemnations of the dialectical methods in theology might have something to do with his early years in Paris. Did he, as a mature man having gone through a spiritual crisis, have reasons to look at his own interest in literal theory (and quotes of Averroes) with strong disapproval? A significant passage (13, 197-198) illustrates what may be the essence of his strong stance against contemporary philosophy, as it was practiced in Paris: the Averroists taught in the Aristotelian spirit that knowledge can only be based on the testimony of the senses. From this they had drawn conclusions contrary to essential Christian dogmas. One of Mathias’ main concerns was to show the opposite: <br /> <br /> ''Sicut nempe per sensibiles apparencias elementorum mundi astucia dyaboli raciones contra diuinam sapienciam confingit, sic econtra diuina veritas per sensibilia se defendit. Multas enim raciones nec minus probabiles sancti doctores ex sensibilibus adinuenerant, quam falsi mundi sapientes contra sanctam fiden adinuenerunt. Non enim pauciores nec minus probabiles raciones beatus doctor Augustinus adinuenit pro sancta Christi fide quam Auerroes et Porphyrius heretici contra sanctam fidem confinxerunt.''<br /> <br /> (“Just as the Devil's cunning has invented rational arguments from the appearances of the elements of this world against divine Wisdom, so divine Wisdom also defends itself with the help of these testimonies of the senses. The holy doctors of the Church have found no less credible arguments from what the senses can perceive than the false wise men of the world have found against the holy faith. The blessed teacher Augustine has found no fewer or less credible arguments for the holy faith of Christ than the heretics Averroes and Porphyry have invented against the holy faith.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The manuscripts of this text are scattered in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. There is reason to believe that Birgittine religious from Vadstena brought a copy to the convent al Paradiso in Florence, and all foreign manuscripts have been reproduced from a common hyparchetype there. St. Bernardino of Siena made a copy of the ''Exposicio'' for his own use, in 1413 at the latest, and he used as master copy in al Paradiso. Later on, he made a second copy with his own hand. Possibly, this is the original of a manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus and of other manuscripts in Germany. Bernardino used Mathias’ commentary as one of three principal sources for his famous sermons, and Cusanus wanted a personal copy of it after having heard Bernardino's impressive Lenten sermons in Padua in 1423. According to a notice in three MSS. in Munich, Bernardino was moved by the exceptional spiritual sweetness (''singularem dulcedinem spiritus'') of Mathias’ exposition. He is even reported to have sent two friars to Sweden in order to retrieve its final part, but they returned empty-handed. Cusanus warned that the copy was defective: ''exemplar fuit corruptum, sitis cauciores!'' He professed himself to be a great admirer of the Swedish master, whom he affirmed to be truly illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Even in the fifteenth century, Mathias’ treatment of the last book of the Bible was obviously perceived and appreciated as fresh, original and profound. <br /> <br /> As BILLING-OTTOSSON has shown in the list (pp. 18-35) of manuscripts preserved, the Uppsala manuscript C 126 is the one that is closest to the archetype and consequently offers the most reliable version of the text. All other manuscripts are dependent on a hyparchetype that has been lost.<br /> <br /> === Homo conditus ===<br /> For the benefit of parish priests in the diocese of Linköping, Mathias composed ''Homo conditus'' (named after its incipit), a handbook in narrative style, which avoids technical terminology and encompasses all of Christian doctrine, from Creation to the Last Judgement and Heaven and Hell, according to the general plan of Peter Lombard’s ''Sentences''. It is supplemented with detailed treatises on the apostolic Creed, the virtues and vices, the seven sacraments, the five senses, the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, the Ave Maria, and what should be hoped for and feared in the afterlife. A series of sermon introductions are added, conforming to the Gospel readings at Mass through the liturgical year in the Diocese of Linköping. Using this book, a priest could explain the whole of Catholic dogma in the course of one year (it goes without saying that it was meant to be translated into the vernacular by the preacher). Mathias’s concern about religious and philosophical heresies (residual paganism, superstitious practices, astrology, fatalism) is of great interest as one of the rare sources for medieval Nordic mentality. ''Homo conditus'' is written in a vital, spontaneous prose style, saturated with metaphors and biblical allusions.<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit/explicit =====<br /> Principal text: ''Homo conditus in omnibus bonis habundabat. Erat nempe perfectus in natura (...) cum nichil aliud iam poterunt nisi proprias penas cogitare, ne vacent amplius peccandi libertate.''<br /> <br /> Sermon introductions: ''Dominica prima Aduentus. Semper debet homo salutem suam operari (...) Castitas nempe, specialiter virginea, est celestis conuersacio. Require septimo capitulo, littera k, et de luxuria littera i.''<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 206 standard pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1984: ''Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum'' (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet. Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter, 9:1), Stockholm<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A. 1986: ''Vägen till Jerusalem: Valda texter ur Homo conditus i översättning och med kommentar'', Uppsala [partial translation]<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * Piltz, A.1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala<br /> * Piltz, A.1986b: pp. 146-149<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> A linguistic comparison with the other works ascribed to Mathias (Piltz, A.1974, pp. 47-52) proves that ''Homo conditus'' is written by him. The presence or absence of saints in the sermon draft ''de sanctis'' shows that the text fits into the liturgical situation in the diocese of Linköping during the period 1330-1350. It is therefore edited after Mathias’ return to Sweden (after a second period of studies in Paris 1333-1342/43) in 1344, when he was a canon in Linköping, and in 1343 he was provided with a rectorate in Söderköping in the same diocese.<br /> <br /> ==== Summary of contents ====<br /> The author himself has written a short summary of the whole book (Piltz, A. 1984, R:1-R:3):<br /> <br /> ''In hoc opusculo vndecim capitula sunt. Primum continet mala et dampna, que peccatum facit in natura racionali. Secundum est de fide, spe et karitate, quibus sanantur mala peccati. Tercium est de generali informacione fidei per breuem exposicionem simboli apostolici. Quartum disserit diuisim de articulis simboli cum septem sacramentis. Quintum habet generaliter de preceptis et preuaricacione eorum, virtutibus et viciis et donis Spiritus Sancti cum immissionibus dyaboli et beatitudinibus et miseriis et sensuum regimine. Sextum continet specialiter de decem preceptis et penis preuaricatorum. Septimum habet specialiter de septem viciis capitalibus et de virtutibus illis oppositis. Octauum continet de septem donis Spiritus Sancti et immissionibus dyaboli illis oppositis et beatitudinibus. Nonum de tribus partibus emendacionis peccatorum et triplici satisfaccione per elemosinam, ieiunium et oracionem, in qua oracio dominica et salutacio angelica exponuntur. Decimum de quinque per ordinem, que speranda sunt. Vndecimum de quinque per ordinem, que timenda sunt.''<br /> <br /> (“This work consists of eleven chapters. The first deals with the misfortunes and injuries which sin causes in the rational soul. The second deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the misfortune of sin is cured. The third contains a general review of the faith in the form of a brief explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. The fourth reviews the articles of faith in order, together with the seven sacraments. The fifth is a general survey of the commandments and the punishment of transgressors. The seventh is a special review of the seven capital vices and the virtues which are their opposites. The eighth contains the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the devilish inspirations which are their opposites, as well as the Beatitudes. The ninth focuses on the expiation for sin and the threefold expiation of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, including an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the Angel’s greeting. The tenth concerns the order of the five things in which we should hope. The eleventh deals in turn with the five things that we should fear.”)<br /> <br /> There is a detailed summary in Piltz 1974,14-28.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> The general outline is determined by the catechetical categories (the Creed, the common prayers, sins and vices, the sacraments) and corresponds in content to the traditional presentation in the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard, the obligatory basic text in theological studies from the twelfth century until the Protestant Reformation. <br /> <br /> Mathias’ interest in the art of oratory, which he documented in his youth through the tract ''Testa nucis'' (see above), must have been evident when he, as a preacher, addressed a congregation in their own language. ''Homo conditus'' is a compendium of Christian doctrine, written in Latin but meant to be translated into Swedish by the priest. It avoids theological jargon as much as possible. The address is directed at the individual listener and appeals to his own ability to reason: <br /> <br /> ''Omnia animalia creata sunt ad aliquam vtilitatem, vermes auibus in cibum, aues et pecora hominibus. Si ergo homo moreretur in corpore et anima, ad quem vtilitatem esset ipse creatus? Numquid creasset ipsum Deum racionalem ad nichil aliud nisi scire et intelligere et sufferre calamitates huius mundi et deinde mori sicut aliud brutum? Quis vel demens hoc credere posset? Nonne vides malos homines prosperari in hoc mundo, et bonos aduersitates et tribulaciones pati? Hoc numquam iustissimus Deus faceret, nisi bonis hominibus in alia vita meliora reseruaret. Crede ergo firmiter sacre fidei promittenti tibi aliam vitam. An non actor fidei Christus Iesus adeo fide dignus est, quod mentiri non potuit?'' (II:10-11).<br /> <br /> (“All living things are created for some use, worms for food for birds, birds and cattle for people. Now if man died body and soul, for what use was he created? Would God have created his reason for no other purpose than to know and realize and suffer the misfortunes of this world, and then die like another beast? Who is so mad as to believe such a thing? Do you not see that the wicked live well in this world and the good suffer adversity and hardship? God would never do so in his supreme justice, if he had not reserved something better for the good in another life. Therefore, believe firmly in the holy faith, which promises you another life. Or is not the author of faith Christ Jesus trustworthy enough to escape suspicion of lying?”)<br /> <br /> Christian faith must be expressed in concrete action, a theme that this guide constantly insists on. No one is so poor that he cannot do good to his neighbour through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: <br /> <br /> ''Est enim elemosina spiritualis, que fit de possessione anime, corporalis vero, que fit de possessione corporis. Si ergo velis elemosinam spiritualem facere, ora ad Deum pro omnibus, conpatere afflictis, instrue ignorantes, corrige errantes, dimitte in nomine Christi inimicicias. Frequenter enim nobis bona temporalia deficiunt nec sufficimus elemosinam facere, licet velimus. Numquam tamen nobis tantum deficit numquam tam pauperes sumus, quod non possimus orare non solum pro Christianis sed pro omni humano genere; pro iustis, vt Deus det eis perseueranciam in bono, pro peccatoribus, vt Deus concedat eis veram penitenciam, pro paganis et Iudeis, vt concedat eis veram Dei et Christi recognicionem.'' (IX:227-228).<br /> <br /> (“There is a spiritual almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the soul; there is a bodily almsgiving, when one gives away the property of the body. If you want to give a spiritual almsgiving, then pray to God for all, have compassion on the unfortunate, teach the ignorant, correct the erring, forgive the unkind deeds, in the name of Christ. Often temporal possessions fail us and we are unable to give alms, although we would like to. But we never suffer such a lack, we are never so poor that we cannot pray, not only for Christians, but for the whole human race: for the righteous, that God may give them perseverance in good, for sinners, that God may give them true repentance, for the Gentiles and the Jews, that He may make them recognize God and His Anointed.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> There is no general relationship of dependence between ''Homo conditus'' and any predecessor in the genre of sermon manuals, even if individual details may correspond to other authors. Rather, all of them seem to have sought to produce their own variations and to vary the given catechetical categories in new ways. See Piltz,1974, pp. 59-76.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> The purpose is to provide a practical and easily accessible handbook for the ordinary parish priest in the Diocese of Linköping in his task of delivering a sermon that is doctrinally sound, rhetorically effective, and refers to the biblical texts read in mass on Sundays and holidays, i.e. on the mandatory sermon days. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> The text is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts from the library of Vadstena Monastery, now in Uppsala University Library, there with the designations C 217 and C 387 (both written in the late fourteenth century century). The latter had previously been owned by the priest Johannes Johannis from Kalmar, who entered the monastery in 1404, when it was incorporated into the monastery library. There are a few quotes from ''Homo conditus'' in diverse sermon collections from Vadstena.<br /> <br /> === ''Copia exemplorum'' ===<br /> Perhaps as a supplement to ''Homo conditus'', Mathias compiled an alphabetical collection of anecdotes, ''Copia exemplorum'' (633 entries from ''Absolucio'' to ''Vxor'').<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> There is only one copy preserved of this text, Uppsala University Library, C 54, foll. 60v-110r. Fol. 60v has the following notice, written by a fifteenth-century hand: ''Hic liber subscriptus qui incipit absolucio multum etc. dicitur Copia exemplorum quem fecit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Istum librum collegit magister Mathias canonicus lincopensis pro exemplis habendis. Absolucio multum beneficium confert morituris, ualet eciam defunctis'' <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''frequenter maritus malus lucrifit per bonam uxorem, R. amor carnis. Explicit copia exemplorum propter simplices collecta.'' <br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 118 pages.<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> ''Copia exemplorum'' is edited in the form of a reproduction of the final rough drafts of an edition prepared by Lars Wåhlin in 1901:<br /> <br /> * Wåhlin, L. &amp; Andersson-Schmitt, M. 1990: ''Magister Mathias: Copia exemplorum.'' Herausgegeben von Lars Wåhlin†. Mit Einleitung und Indizes von Margarete Andersson-Schmitt (Studia seminarii Latini Upsaliensis, 2), Uppsala<br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan''. (Samlingar och studier till Svenska kyrkans historia. 9. Stockholm <br /> <br /> This doctoral dissertation is a thorough study of the book's genre and sources. In the Introduction (''Einführung'') of Wåhlin's edition there is an updated overview of the sources.<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> The text recounts an event that occurred in Tåby outside Söderköping in the Diocese of Linköping on July 24/25, 1344. It is obviously compilated in Linköping.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources and literary models ====<br /> Mathias is drawing mostly from French sources, above all the ''Alphabetum narracionum'' by Arnould of Liège OP (d. after 1310) and ''Miracula beate Marie virginis'' (Strömberg 1944, 36 ff., Andersson-Schmitt, ix-xvii).<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience, composition and style ====<br /> For obvious reasons, the presentation is considerably more vivid and lively in this compilation, which was made ''propter simplices'', for common people, than in any other of Mathias’ works, which were intended for a clerical readership. The purpose of these examples is to arouse the audience’s curiosity and interest, which is why purely burlesque elements are not avoided. Here is a passage under the entry ''Adulterium'' (6,1): <br /> <br /> ''Vxor Gengulphi adultera cum ab eo argueretur et negaret, iussa est in purgacionem sceleris brachium in fontem frigidum mittere, quod uelut igne adustum retraxit, et mox ab ea se separauit. unde et cum ab adultero Gengulphus occisus miracula faceret, adultera ei detrahens dicebat: “Sic Gengulphus facit miracula sicut anus meus cantat.” unde et mox uellet nollet turpes sonos emisit, et extunc omni uita sua sextis feriis, quando uir eius occisus fuit.'' <br /> <br /> (“Gengulf’s wife was unfaithful, and when he accused her of this and she denied it, she was asked to put her arm in a cold spring to cleanse herself of this crime. She withdrew her arm, as if it had been burned by fire, and he immediately separated from her. But when Gengulf had been murdered by the adulterer and was performing miracles, the adulteress mocked him and said: “Gengulf performs miracles as well as my ass sings.” After that, she let out shameful sounds, whether she wanted to or not, and this happened every Friday after that, the day her husband had been murdered.”)<br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> 73 exempla from ''Copia exemplorum'' have been excerpted in the Vadstena manuscript in Uppsala University Library C 181, fols. 163r-168r.<br /> <br /> ==== Bibliography ====<br /> <br /> * ANDERSSON-sCHMITT, M. 1990: see ''Copia exemplorum'', Edition, above.<br /> * BERGH, B. 1996: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * CARLSSON, G. 1949: “Mäster Mathias från Linköping. Ett bidrag till hans biografi,” ''Samlaren'', ny följd, 29.<br /> * FERM, O, 2021: “Magister Mathias Ouidi Lincopensis,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * KILSTRÖM, B. I. 1958: ''Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden'' (Bibliotheca theologiae practicae, 8), Uppsala.<br /> * KLOCKARS, B. 1971: ''Birgitta och hennes värld'' (Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Historiska serien, 16), Uppsala.<br /> * LIEDGREN, J. 1961: ''Magister Mathias’ svenska kungörelse om Birgittas första stora uppenbarelse: Ett förbisett dokument i Riksarkivet'' (Riksarkivets meddelanden, 1958), Stockholm.<br /> * MALM, M. 1997: “Uppenbarelse och poetik: Magister Mathias om effektiv framställning,” ''Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap'' 26:3/4, 61-80.<br /> * MALM, M. 2012: “The Soul of Poetry Redefined. Vacillations of Mimesis from Aristotle to Romanticism.” ''Tusculanum'' (Copenhagen).<br /> * MALM, M. 2021: “Magister Mathias on Literary Representation,” in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> * PACETTI, D. 1961: “L’Expositio super Apocalypsim di Mattia di Svezia (c. 1281-1350) precipua fonte dottrinale di S. Bernardino da Siena,” ''Archivum Franciscanum historicum'' 54.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1974: ''Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus'' (Studia latina Upsaliensia, 7), Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986a: ''Magister Mathias. Vägen till Jerusalem. Valda texter ur Homo conditus. Inledning, översättning och kommentar''. Uppsala.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1986: “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his Theological Context: A Preliminary Survey,” in M. Asztalos (ed.), ''The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages'' (Studia latina Stockholmiensia, 30), Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1995: see ''Alphabetum distinccionum'', Editions, above.<br /> * SAVICKI, S. 1936: see ''Poetria and Testa nucis'', Editions, above.<br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1959: ''Ecclesia Lincopensis: Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustaf Vasa'' (Stockholm Studies in History, 4), Stockholm.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1943: “Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” ''Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift'' 19, 301-322.<br /> * STRÖMBERG, B. 1944: ''Magister Mathias och fransk mendikantpredikan'' (Samlingar och studier till Svenska Kyrkans historia, 9), Stockholm.<br /> * SUPPONEN, S. 2023: ''Alphabetum distinccionum of Master Mathias of Linköping. Its Composition, use and literary context''. Helsinki.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2005: “Från Paris till Linköping: akademiska bibelstudier och kyrklig bibelutläggning i medeltidens Europa belysta utifrån Magister Mathias Apokalyps-kommentar,” in K. O. U. Lejon (red.), ''Diocesis Lincopensis,'' 2: ''Medeltida internationella influenser'' (Linköpings stiftshistoriska sällskaps skriftserie, 2), Skellefteå, 141-167.<br /> * ULFGARD, H. 2021: “Magister Mathias of Linköping. Exegete and Theologian”, in O. Ferm &amp; É. Monet (edd.), ''Swedish Students at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages I'' (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm, 676-741.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Mathias_Ouidi&diff=1161 2026-01-30T17:13:27Z

<p>Sthop9388: Created page with &quot;by Anderz Piltz&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>by Anderz Piltz</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1160 2026-01-30T13:40:05Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> [[Category:Article]]<br /> <br /> by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * ARNDT, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * PRÜMERS, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * WAITZ, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181)<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (Danish) STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1159 2026-01-30T13:37:03Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> [[Category:Article]]<br /> <br /> by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * ARNDT, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * PRÜMERS, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * WAITZ, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181)<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1158 2026-01-30T13:36:45Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * ARNDT, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * PRÜMERS, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * WAITZ, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181)<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1157 2026-01-30T13:36:12Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;nowiki&gt;[[Category:Article]]&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * ARNDT, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * PRÜMERS, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * WAITZ, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181)<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1156 2026-01-30T13:17:04Z

<p>Sthop9388: /* Editions */</p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * ARNDT, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * PRÜMERS, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568)<br /> * WAITZ, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181)<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript)<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1155 2026-01-30T13:15:28Z

<p>Sthop9388: /* Editions */</p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * ARNDT, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568).<br /> * PRÜMERS, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568).<br /> * WAITZ, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181).<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181).<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript).<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181)<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Danici&diff=1154 2026-01-30T13:13:14Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2026 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> Annalistic historiography in medieval Denmark began at the arch-see of Lund in the late 1130s based on a set of Anglo-Norman annals closely related to the annals of Battle and the annals of Bury St. Edmunds. The compilers of both the [[Annales Colbazenses]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]] used this set of annals which must have been present at the arch-see until at least the second half of the thirteenth century. Annalistic writing thus came to Denmark as a fully-fledged historiographical genre. In her magisterial treatment of the early Danish annalistic writing A.K.G. KRISTENSEN (1969) confirmed the hypothesis of E. ARUP (1921–1923) that the Danish annals are compilations of written information, rather than yearly recordings of events. The chronological structure of the annals is defined by their historiographical genre and does not reflect the process of production. KRISTENSEN also adduced several no longer extant intermediaries in order to explain the relationships of the still extant sets of annals. However well-argued her reasoning, the exact nature of these intermediaries – whether clean copies, working copies or mere collections of material – remains conjectural and no attempt is made to deal with them in this article.<br /> <br /> From Lund the annalistic compilations spread to the rest of Denmark as well as Sweden, Iceland and possibly Northern Germany. Lund remained the centre of annalistic writing until the end of the thirteenth century when activities moved elsewhere, even if we cannot point to any particular new centre or centres.<br /> <br /> Three sets of annals are treated in separate entries in MNLL: [[Annales Colbazenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and [[Annales Ryenses]]. The rest are treated here, ordered partly chronologically, partly topographically. After the presentation of each set relevant literature is listed chronologically, in abbreviated form; the full alphabetical bibliography appears at the end of the article. With regard to manuscripts, only primary textual witnesses are listed.<br /> <br /> Annalistic material pertaining to Denmark is also found in Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]), [[Chronica Sialandie]] and Continuatio Chronice Sialandie, as well as the Collectanea Petri Olai ([[Petrus Olai]]). The Annales 826–1415 or Chronologia anonymi is here treated as a work by [[Paulus Helie]]. The Annales 916–1263 also known as Dano-Swedish Annals 916–1263 or Dominican Annals until 1254 is treated in the entry on the [[Annales Suecici]].<br /> <br /> The medieval Danish annals have been studied extensively, primarily with regard to determining the reliability of their factual information. They have only rarely been subjected to studies beyond their dependence on one another, or their political and ideological slant. For a recent study of nationalism as expressed in the Danish annals, see KNUDSEN 2000. <br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Colbazenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==Annales Valdemarii==<br /> Also called Annales Valdemariani, and Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1074 usque ad annum 1219.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno dominice incarnationis 1074 mortuus est Swen, filius Estrid ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ...1219. Edicta est expedicio super paganos ad Estoniam.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, National Archives, Indre forhold, C 8, Kong Valdemars Jordebog, fols. 58v–64r (ca. 1300). Facsimile:<br /> KROMAN 1962, 215–22.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * SRD 3, 259–65 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 176–81 <br /> * AD, 72–104 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 75–79<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Valdemarii are transmitted in a manuscript miscellany from ca. 1300, written in the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand. It contains, inter alia, copies of various cameralistic lists, which originate from the royal chancellery. The annals are written by a single hand which has also written several other pieces in the miscellany. The annals are connected with the annalistic tradition from Lund, but are believed to have been compiled by a clerk of the royal chancellery. They are mostly concerned with secular matters and lack any local affiliation. The many international references probably come from a source with connections to the annalistic tradition from Cologne.<br /> <br /> The first entry concerns the death of King Sven Estridsen, now believed to have occurred in 1076 but in the Danish medieval historiography always placed in 1074. The chronological sequence only really begins with the year 1130 and ends with the entry for 1219.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD 8–9; JØRGENSEN 1931, 8; ARUP 1921–1923, 378 f.; KROMAN 1936–1937; AXELSON 1956, 9; KROMAN 1962, XVI–XVII and XXVII–XXIX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 62 ff..<br /> <br /> ==Annales Visbyenses==<br /> Also called Annales 67–1287 and Annales Fratrum Minorum Wisbyenses ab anno 67 ad annum 1525.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domino 67. Prima persequcio Christianorum sub Nerone.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1287. Ericus rex interficitur in nocte sancte Cecilie.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, B 99, f. 50v–51r (s. XV ineunte). Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 229–32.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * LUDEWIG 1731, 212–17 <br /> * SRD 1, 251–56 <br /> * AD, 136–37 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 145–48<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The manuscript contains i.a. the calendar and obituary of the Franciscan convent in Visby on Gotland. The annals show no local affiliation to either Gotland or the convent. They are related to the Annales Essenbecenses and a common source for both must be assumed. An entry under 1231 about the arrival of the Dominicans in Roskilde on Zealand might indicate the place of origin of the original. The annalist was interested in ecclesiastical history, beginning his work with the first persecution of Christians under Nero and noting various events from church history throughout, even if he focused more and more on Danish history.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1882, 342–46; AD, 22; SJÖSTEDT 1952, 10 ff.; KROMAN 1962, XX, XXXI.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Slesuicenses==<br /> Also called Annales Sorani ad 1268.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domini 966 Dani ad &lt;fidem&gt; sunt conuersi per Poponem, qui chirotecam ferream ignitam illesus portauit inspectante rege Haraldo, qui conuersus est, et Poppo promotus in episcopum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1268. Eciam ædificauit castrum Ripis ..... Matthæus dapifer cum Danis corruerunt Estoniæ.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, Add. 120 4°, p. 113–24 &amp; 110–12 and a leaflet (Vedel, p. XVI).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * WAITZ 1887, 33 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 237 <br /> * AD, 132–35 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 98–105<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> There is no consensus regarding this mysterious set of annals that has been ascribed to both the Duchy of Slesvig and the Cistercian abbey of Sorø. Vedel copied the annals from a manuscript known as “The old roll from Soer” (Soer = Sorø) and this is the strongest argument in favour of KROMAN’s hypothesis that the original was written in this monastery. It hardly clinches the matter, however, since nothing is known about the date and origin of “the old roll”. ERSLEV 1892 raised the question of a reworking in the sixteenth century. Further research is needed. The annals show traces of much of the other known historiography: annals, king lists, [[Chronicon Roskildense]], [[Saxo Grammaticus]], and Vetus Chronica Sialandie. There is a lacuna 1216–1249.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 21–22; JØRGENSEN 1931, 11; KROMAN 1936–1937, 63; AXELSON 1956, 19; KROMAN 1962, XIX–XX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Nestvedienses==<br /> Two sets of annals originate from Næstved:<br /> <br /> ===1) Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores 1130–1228===<br /> Also called Calendarium Monasterii beati Petri Nestvediensis.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit===== <br /> Anno dominice incarnacionis millesimo centesimo. 1130. Kanutus occissus est, qui Rincstadis requiescit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> 1228. Bellum fuit inter Danos et Hulcenses apud Egidor.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, E don. Var. 52 2° (ca. 1265, containing i.a. the Calendarium of the Benedictine monastery in Næstved on Zealand), 2r. Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 223–26.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * SRD 4, 285–89 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 181–82 <br /> * AD, 72–106 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 80–81<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is based on a lost set of annals from Lund which was also the basis for the Annales Valdemarii and the Annales 916–1263 ([[Annales Suecici]]). It was obviously meant to be continued as the scribe prepared the manuscript for entries for the years 1229–1236. These are empty, however, and several of the years prior to 1228 have no entries either. The manuscript thus shows us the very earliest phase of annalistic writing: the setting up of a set of annals to be expanded and continued. Unfortunately, the enterprise was never continued. Most of the entries were used by the Annales Nestvedienses minores. Dating of events is frequently wrong, and no local affiliation is visible.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 10; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 63 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII &amp; XXIX–XXX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 45 ff.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Nestvedienses minores 821–1300 (1505)===<br /> Also called Anonymi Nestvediensis Chronologia Danica ab anno 821 ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 821. Haraldus factus est rex Danorum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo quinto uisus est sol totus sanguineus ipso die Francisci, statimque 3tia die reformatum est monasterium in Nestveth minorum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) SRD 1 (1772), 368 (J. LANGEBEK after a now lost copy by Arni Magnusson made from a no longer extant copy by Thomas Bartholin from a medieval parchment manuscript, E 39 in the University Library of Copenhagen, destroyed in the fire of 1728); 2) Uppsala UL DG XXV–XXIX, 2r (Stephanius, from E 39); 3) Copenhagen, Royal Library, Rostgaard 42 4°, 1–4 &amp; 13–17 (excerpts by Svaning from E 39); 4) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 1, (1731), 1404 <br /> * SRD 1 368–72 <br /> * SRS 3 (1876), 107 (ANNERSTEDT excerpts from MS 2) <br /> * MGH SS 29, 218–21 <br /> * AD, 71–128 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 82–88<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The E 39 was a historical miscellany, containing i.a. Adam of Bremen, the Chronicon Roskildense and the Annales Nestvedienses minores. The first part of the annals, until 1127, are dependent on the Chronicon Roskildense. From 1130, the Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores and the Annales Lundenses were used as sources. For the period 1213–1225, the annals include some obituary notes also found in the Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347. The annals become more independent from the middle of the thirteenth century and include local information on the monastery, as well as the town of Næstved belonging to it.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 19–20; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 321 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII–XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 127–32; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 169.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Sorani==<br /> Two sets of annals from the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand exist:<br /> ===1) Annales Sorani Vetustiores 1130–1300===<br /> Also called Anonymi Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1130 usque ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1130. Interfectus est sanctus Kanutus Ringstadis a Magno, filio Nicolai ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1300. Obiit Iohannes episcopus Roskildensis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) Uppsala UL, DG XXV–XXIX, fol. 141v (Stephanius, on the basis of the now lost manuscript, A 9, a miscellany made for the Royal Historiographer Niels Krag, containing i.a. a copy of the Annales Sorani Vetustiores made from the original manuscript, from the University Library in Copenhagen); 2) Copenhagen AM 907 4°, a copy made for Arni Magnusson from a no longer extant copy of the original made for the younger Thomas Bartholin, and possibly the basis for the edition in SRD (CHRISTENSEN 1981); 3) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea, presumably made from the original manuscript); and possibly: 4) SRD 4 (1776), in case it is not based on MS 2), but some other, no longer extant manuscript which has been the communis opinio so far.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * LUDEWIG 1731, 150 (based on a no longer extant copy of MS 1) <br /> * SRD 4, 225–30 (J. LANGEBEK &amp; P. F. SUHM, using MS 2 and LUDEWIG’s 1731 edition, but perhaps also a now lost copy of the original manuscript made for Arni Magnusson) <br /> * MGH SS 29, 176–81 <br /> * AD, 73 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 89–94 <br /> * CHRISTENSEN 1981, 172–75 (MS 2)<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals was part of a folio manuscript manuscript from Lund, presumably written in the twelfth century. It was present at the arch-see around 1200 but eventually wound up in Sorø. It has been suggested that the annals were written, or at least begun, while the manuscript was still in Lund. They might then have been continued and expanded after the manuscript was taken to Sorø at an unknown date (MALMROS 1982). This hypothesis is attractive, as it would explain why the annalist had access to so many other sets of annals which are not otherwise known to have circulated outside Lund. The loss of the original manuscript in the great fire, which destroyed the University Library and much of Copenhagen in 1728, makes it impossible to verify the hypothesis, however. The Annales Sorani vetustiores were an important intermediary between the annalistic writing at the arch-see and later sets of annals, e.g. the [[Annales Ryenses]].<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 17–18; KROMAN 1936–1937, 59 ff.; AXELSON 1956, 15; KROMAN 1962, XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 98 ff.; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 167–69; MALMROS 1982, 350–51.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347===<br /> Also called Annales Danici Sorani 1202–1347 and The Annals in the Justinus-manuscript.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1202. Obiit Kanutus, rex Danorum Sclauorumque ac totius Holsacie ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1347. Rex Waldemarus transiit Ierosolimis in peregrinatione, et fuit magna pluuia per totum annum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 450 2°, (s. XII, Justinus’ Epitome), fol. 130r. Facsimile: CCD 5, 227.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * SRD 5, 456–58 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 182–83 <br /> * AD, 142–43 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 95–97<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is entered on a page in the Justinus-manuscript bequeathed to the Cistercian monastery of Sorø in Archbishop Absalon’s will, but apparently on loan to [[Saxo Grammaticus]] at the time when the will was drawn up. The annals are heavily dependent on the Lundensian historiography. The entries are written by three hands: the first hand entered the entries for 1202–1231 sometime after the death of Valdemar II the Victorious in 1241, but probably not later than ca. 1265. The entries for 1231–1288 are written by a second hand in one go, probably at the turn of the century. The same hand (or a very similar third hand) then wrote the entries for 1291–1300. Finally, a third (or fourth) hand wrote the entries for 1308–1347. However, neither AD nor KROMAN 1980 discounts the possibility that the same scribe wrote all the entries, only at different times.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 24; ARUP 1921–1923, 374–76; AXELSON 1956, 15; CCD 5, XIX, XXX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Essenbecenses==<br /> Also called Chronologia rerum memorabilium ab anno 1020. usque ad annum 1323.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno ab incarnacione Domini 1020. Ordo Cluniacensis exordium sumpsit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1323. Hyems erat tam seua, ut homines maria equitauerunt.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Uppsala, University Library, DG 50 4° (s. XVI ineunte?), 20; MS 2: Uppsala, University Library, H 112 (Arild Huitfeldt, s. XVI), fol. 54r; MS 3: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 402 2°, (Bircherod, s. XVIII), 71; MS 4: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 561 2° (Lucoppidan, s. XVIII), 81. Facsimile: CCD 5, 357–65.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 3 (1743), 540 <br /> * SRD 2 (1773), 520–29 (J. LANGEBEK) <br /> * MGH SS 29 (1892), 221–28 (G. WAITZ) <br /> * AD, 144–48 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 274–83<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The MSS 2, 3 and 4 all descend from the same, no longer extant, manuscript made by Hans Svaning (ca. 1500–1584). MS 1 might descend from a medieval manuscript. MARSTRAND (1937) argued unsuccessfully that this set of annals was written on behalf of Archbishop Esger Juul (1310–1325). However, the annals are ascribed to the Benedictine monastery of Essenbæk south of Randers fjord in Jutland. J. LANGEBEK was the first to do so, in 1773. This ascription is made on the basis of just two entries (1151 and 1179) concerning the monastery, and two more concerning the nearby town of Randers. The Annales Essenbecenses is heavily dependent on the Lundensian annalistic writing, but relations to the extant sets of annals, or to the lost intermediaries adduced by KRISTENSEN 1969, remains to be worked out. The annalist noted political and meteorological events in Denmark, but also the founding of the great monastic orders and the conquests of Jerusalem, the founding of monasteries in Denmark and neighbouring countries, as well as some of the great church councils and the deaths of prominent ecclesiastics.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 25–26; ARUP 1921–1923, 377; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14 f.; SKOV 1937a + b; MARSTRAND 1937; idem 1938; AXELSON 1956, 19 f.; CCD 5, XXII &amp; XXXII; ILSØE 1963–1966, passim.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Ripenses==<br /> Also called Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Danorum ab anno 936. ad annum 1317.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Huius tempore Rollo, dux Danorum, regem Francie bellis compulit dare sibi Normanniam ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1324. In die beati Kanuti regis et martiris perlamentum fuit in Nykiøbing per regem Christopherum et Ericum, eius filium, ac per Esgerum, archiepiscopum Lundensem, et eius suffraganeos omnes.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 2455 4°, fol. 7–28 (Vedel, s. XVI2); MS 2: Copenhagen, Royal Library, Additamenta 120 4°, 129 (excerpts by Vedel); MS 3: Kalmar (Stephanius), now Stockholm, Royal Library, K 92, fol. 1r.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * AD, 149–56 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 254–67<br /> * SRD 2, 169–76 (excerpt 936–1317)<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Ripenses are a continuation of the [[Annales Ryenses]]. The first six folios of MS 1 are now missing but in all likelihood the beginning of this set of annals was as dependent on the Annales Ryenses as the rest. The annals are normally ascribed to the see of Ribe in Jutland, on the basis of their information on bishops Tyge (1273–1288) and Christiern (1288–1313), and the use of them in the Chronicon ecclesiae Ripensis. The latter part of the Annales Ripenses is related to the [[Chronica Sialandie]] and it must be assumed that both of them have used a common, no longer extant, source.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 26–27; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14; AXELSON 1956; CCD 5, XXI; SZOMLAISKI 1973; HØRBY 1975, 139–40.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Scanici==<br /> Also called Annales Danici ab anno 1316. ad annum 1389.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Christi 1316. Duces Waldemarus et Ericus a fratre suo Birgero rege Suecie captiuantur ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Deo laus in secula, qui dedit uictoriam inopitatam in manu femine, uidelicet reges in compedibus et nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, The Danish National Archives, Håndskriftsamlingen, IV. Danmark – Norges almindelige historie, D.3., (four leaves of paper, s. XV. ineunte). Facsimile: CCD 5, 213–14. <br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> <br /> * SRD 6, 531–35 <br /> * AD, 189–91 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 71–74<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is preserved in a nearly contemporary manuscript of four leaves of paper. The entries for 1316–1326 are compiled from unknown sources, while those for 1326–1366 are taken from the Chronica Archiepiscoporum Lundensium. There are only a few entries for the following period, until 1382, but from 1382 to 1389 the entries are relatively extensive and seem to be contemporary with events, if not necessarily written year for year.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 32; CCD 5, XVI &amp; XXVIII; ARUP 1921–1923, 366 f.<br /> <br /> ==Excerpts of medieval annals by early modern historians and antiquarians==<br /> A number of excerpts from various annals, formerly believed to have been made in the Middle Ages, are now recognized as being the work of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historians. The exact relationships of these excerpts to the extant medieval annals is exceedingly difficult to work out, due to the great fire in Copenhagen in 1728 in which the University Library perished and with it the collections of the historiographers as well as the medieval manuscripts. It is often quite impossible to know if a set of excerpts, containing textual variants to the transmitted text of a medieval set of annals, is a primary or secondary textual witness. The value of these excerpts for the medievalist is relatively small, even if they potentially are of great value for the study of Early Modern historiography and antiquarianism.<br /> <br /> Key figures among these historiographers were Hans Jensen Svaning (Johannes Johannis Svaningius, ca. 1500–1584), Anders Sørensen Vedel (Andreas Severinus Velleius, 1542–1616), Cornelius Hamsfort the younger (1546–1627) and Steffen Hansen Steffensen (Stephanus Iohannis Stephanius, 1599–1650).<br /> <br /> As an aid to the readers, it was decided to include a list of the post-medieval annalistic excerpts, detailing, as far as possible, their dates, the works excerpted and the editions. It was deemed unnecessary to list the manuscripts, but a bibliography for each is supplied.<br /> ====Annales 980–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Annales Ryenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and Annales Sorani vetustiores, possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * SRD 2, 433–38 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 234–37 <br /> * AD, 192 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 268–73<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXI–XXII.<br /> ====Annales 1095–1194====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Ryenses]] and [[Saxo Grammaticus]]; possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * SRD 3, 627–31 <br /> * AD, 195–96 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 307–9<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 8; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1259–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the excerpts of Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]) in the Collectanea Petri Olai (Copenhagen, AM 107 8°).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * LUDEWIG 1731, Reliquiæ Manuscriptorum IX <br /> * SRD 5, 614–15 <br /> * AD, 196 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 310–11<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 33–34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; ILSØE 1963–1966, 423–24; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1101–1313, 933–1263====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the Annales Ripenses.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * SRD 4, 22–26 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 228–30 <br /> * AD, 200 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 312–15<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35–36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 170.<br /> ====Annales 841–1006, 1246–1265====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Lundenses]] (by Vedel?).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * SRD 2, 17–18 <br /> * SRD 5, 570–71 <br /> * AD, 197 f. <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 316–18<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII–XXIV.<br /> ====Annales ad 1290====<br /> Sixteenth-century notes, primarily concerning the archbishops of Lund and the bishops of Roskilde, possibly compiled by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * SRD 5, 571<br /> * AD, 198 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 319<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1098–1325====<br /> Sixteenth-century compilation based mainly on [[Chronica Sialandie]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]]. Possibly a Vedel-product.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * SRD 4, 281–85 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 234–37 <br /> * AD, 199 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 320–22<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1275–1347====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Chronica Sialandie]], possibly by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> <br /> * SRD 6, 253–54 <br /> * AD, 202 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 323–24<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *AD = Annales Danici medii aevi, ed. E. Jørgensen, Copenhagen 1920.<br /> *ARUP, E. 1921–1923: [review of] “Annales Danivi Medii Ævi. Editionem nouam curauit Ellen Jørgensen. Kbhvn. 1920,” HistTD ser. 9, vol. 2, 362–80.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1956: Sverige i dansk annalistik 900–1400 (Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Hist. Ser. 3), Stockholm.<br /> *BOLIN, S. 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets årsskrift, N. F., Avd. 1, 27:3), Lund.<br /> *CCD 5 = KROMAN 1962<br /> *CHRISTENSEN, K. 1981: “Om den ny udgave af Danmarks middelalderlige annaler,” Fortid og Nutid 29, 163–75.<br /> *CLAUSEN, Svend 2021: &quot;Baserer de såkaldte Bartholinannaler sig på middelalderlige danske årbøger?&quot;, In: Fund og Forskning i Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger 60, p. 57-68.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1882: “Studier til Dronning Margrethes Historie,” HistTD ser. 5, vol. 3, 333–425.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1892: Kilderne til Danmarks Historie i Middelalderen (omtrent 1000–1450). Bibliografisk Oversigt, Copenhagen.<br /> *HELMS, H.J. 1940: Næstved St. Peders Kloster (Skovkloster), Næstved.<br /> *HØRBY, K. 1975: [review of] “Leif Szomlaiski: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi. Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences, Vol. 10. Odense University Press 1973.” HistTD ser. 13, vol. 2, 133–40.<br /> <br /> *ILSØE, H. 1963–66: “Håndskriftet H 112 og de danske historikere. En studie i overlevering” HistTD ser. 12, vol. 1, 399–437.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800, Copenhagen.<br /> *KNUDSEN, A.L. 2000: “Interessen for den danske fortid omkring 1300. En middelalderlig dansk nationalisme,” HistTD ser. 17, vol. 3, 1–34.<br /> *KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1936–1937: “Ueber die Herkunft der Handschrift des Liber Census Daniae,” APhS 11, 1–81.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1962: Scriptores rerum Danicarum, altera pars: Annales (CCD 5), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, udgivet ved Erik Kroman på Grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1772: SRD 1, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1773: SRD 2, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1774: SRD 3, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. &amp; SUHM, P.F. 1776: SRD 4, Copenhagen.<br /> *LUDEWIG, J. 1731: Scriptores rerum Danicarum XII ab anno 700 ad annum 1500 [...] (Reliquiae manuscriptorum omnis aevi diplomatum ac monumentorum, ineditorum adhuc 9), Francofurti et Lipsiae.<br /> *MALMROS, R. 1982: [review of] “Danmarks middelalderlige annaler udgivet ved Erik Kroman på grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver af Selskabet for udgivelse af kilder til dansk historie. København, 1980,” HistTD ser. 14, vol. 3, 348–51.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1937: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 250.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1938: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 1.<br /> *MGH SS 29 = WAITZ 1892<br /> *SJÖSTEDT, L. 1952: “Rydårboken och årboken 67–1287. Om förhållandet mellan två danska annaler,” Festskrift till Gottfrid Carlsson 18.12.1952, Lund<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937a: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 99.<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937b: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 305.<br /> *SRD 1 = LANGEBEK 1772<br /> *SRD 2 = LANGEBEK 1773<br /> *SRD 3 = LANGEBEK 1774<br /> *SRD 4 = LANGEBEK &amp; SUHM 1776<br /> *SRD 5 = SUHM 1783<br /> *SRD 6 = SUHM 1786<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1783: SRD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1786: SRD 6, Copenhagen.<br /> *SZOMLAISKI, L. 1973: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi (Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences 10), Odense.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,” Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 12, 11–39.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1892: MGH SS 29<br /> *WESTPHALEN, E.J. VON 1739–1745: Monumenta inedita rerum Germanicarum præcipue Cimbricarum, et Megapolensium, quibus varia antiquitatum, historiarum, legum juriumque Germaniæ, speciatim Holsatiæ et Megapoleos vicinarumque regionum argumenta illustrantur, supplentur et stabiliuntur / e codicibus manuscriptis, menbranis et chartis authenticis erui studuit notulasque adjecit et cum præfatione instruxit Ernestus Joachimus de Westphalen, 1–4, Lipsiæ.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Danici&diff=1153 2026-01-30T10:19:01Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2026 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> Annalistic historiography in medieval Denmark began at the arch-see of Lund in the late 1130s based on a set of Anglo-Norman annals closely related to the annals of Battle and the annals of Bury St. Edmunds. The compilers of both the [[Annales Colbazenses]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]] used this set of annals which must have been present at the arch-see until at least the second half of the thirteenth century. Annalistic writing thus came to Denmark as a fully-fledged historiographical genre. In her magisterial treatment of the early Danish annalistic writing A.K.G. KRISTENSEN (1969) confirmed the hypothesis of E. ARUP (1921–1923) that the Danish annals are compilations of written information, rather than yearly recordings of events. The chronological structure of the annals is defined by their historiographical genre and does not reflect the process of production. KRISTENSEN also adduced several no longer extant intermediaries in order to explain the relationships of the still extant sets of annals. However well-argued her reasoning, the exact nature of these intermediaries – whether clean copies, working copies or mere collections of material – remains conjectural and no attempt is made to deal with them in this article.<br /> <br /> From Lund the annalistic compilations spread to the rest of Denmark as well as Sweden, Iceland and possibly Northern Germany. Lund remained the centre of annalistic writing until the end of the thirteenth century when activities moved elsewhere, even if we cannot point to any particular new centre or centres.<br /> <br /> Three sets of annals are treated in separate entries in MNLL: [[Annales Colbazenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and [[Annales Ryenses]]. The rest are treated here, ordered partly chronologically, partly topographically. After the presentation of each set relevant literature is listed chronologically, in abbreviated form; the full alphabetical bibliography appears at the end of the article. With regard to manuscripts, only primary textual witnesses are listed.<br /> <br /> Annalistic material pertaining to Denmark is also found in Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]), [[Chronica Sialandie]] and Continuatio Chronice Sialandie, as well as the Collectanea Petri Olai ([[Petrus Olai]]). The Annales 826–1415 or Chronologia anonymi is here treated as a work by [[Paulus Helie]]. The Annales 916–1263 also known as Dano-Swedish Annals 916–1263 or Dominican Annals until 1254 is treated in the entry on the [[Annales Suecici]].<br /> <br /> The medieval Danish annals have been studied extensively, primarily with regard to determining the reliability of their factual information. They have only rarely been subjected to studies beyond their dependence on one another, or their political and ideological slant. For a recent study of nationalism as expressed in the Danish annals, see KNUDSEN 2000. <br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Colbazenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==Annales Valdemarii==<br /> Also called Annales Valdemariani, and Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1074 usque ad annum 1219.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno dominice incarnationis 1074 mortuus est Swen, filius Estrid ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ...1219. Edicta est expedicio super paganos ad Estoniam.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, National Archives, Indre forhold, C 8, Kong Valdemars Jordebog, fols. 58v–64r (ca. 1300). Facsimile:<br /> KROMAN 1962, 215–22.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 3, 259–65; MGH SS 29, 176–81; AD, 72–104; KROMAN 1980, 75–79.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Valdemarii are transmitted in a manuscript miscellany from ca. 1300, written in the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand. It contains, inter alia, copies of various cameralistic lists, which originate from the royal chancellery. The annals are written by a single hand which has also written several other pieces in the miscellany. The annals are connected with the annalistic tradition from Lund, but are believed to have been compiled by a clerk of the royal chancellery. They are mostly concerned with secular matters and lack any local affiliation. The many international references probably come from a source with connections to the annalistic tradition from Cologne.<br /> <br /> The first entry concerns the death of King Sven Estridsen, now believed to have occurred in 1076 but in the Danish medieval historiography always placed in 1074. The chronological sequence only really begins with the year 1130 and ends with the entry for 1219.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD 8–9; JØRGENSEN 1931, 8; ARUP 1921–1923, 378 f.; KROMAN 1936–1937; AXELSON 1956, 9; KROMAN 1962, XVI–XVII and XXVII–XXIX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 62 ff..<br /> <br /> ==Annales Visbyenses==<br /> Also called Annales 67–1287 and Annales Fratrum Minorum Wisbyenses ab anno 67 ad annum 1525.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domino 67. Prima persequcio Christianorum sub Nerone.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1287. Ericus rex interficitur in nocte sancte Cecilie.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, B 99, f. 50v–51r (s. XV ineunte). Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 229–32.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, 212–17; SRD 1, 251–56; AD, 136–37; KROMAN 1980, 145–48.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The manuscript contains i.a. the calendar and obituary of the Franciscan convent in Visby on Gotland. The annals show no local affiliation to either Gotland or the convent. They are related to the Annales Essenbecenses and a common source for both must be assumed. An entry under 1231 about the arrival of the Dominicans in Roskilde on Zealand might indicate the place of origin of the original. The annalist was interested in ecclesiastical history, beginning his work with the first persecution of Christians under Nero and noting various events from church history throughout, even if he focused more and more on Danish history.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1882, 342–46; AD, 22; SJÖSTEDT 1952, 10 ff.; KROMAN 1962, XX, XXXI.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Slesuicenses==<br /> Also called Annales Sorani ad 1268.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domini 966 Dani ad &lt;fidem&gt; sunt conuersi per Poponem, qui chirotecam ferream ignitam illesus portauit inspectante rege Haraldo, qui conuersus est, et Poppo promotus in episcopum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1268. Eciam ædificauit castrum Ripis ..... Matthæus dapifer cum Danis corruerunt Estoniæ.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, Add. 120 4°, p. 113–24 &amp; 110–12 and a leaflet (Vedel, p. XVI).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WAITZ 1887, 33; MGH SS 29, 237; AD, 132–35; KROMAN 1980, 98–105.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> There is no consensus regarding this mysterious set of annals that has been ascribed to both the Duchy of Slesvig and the Cistercian abbey of Sorø. Vedel copied the annals from a manuscript known as “The old roll from Soer” (Soer = Sorø) and this is the strongest argument in favour of KROMAN’s hypothesis that the original was written in this monastery. It hardly clinches the matter, however, since nothing is known about the date and origin of “the old roll”. ERSLEV 1892 raised the question of a reworking in the sixteenth century. Further research is needed. The annals show traces of much of the other known historiography: annals, king lists, [[Chronicon Roskildense]], [[Saxo Grammaticus]], and Vetus Chronica Sialandie. There is a lacuna 1216–1249.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 21–22; JØRGENSEN 1931, 11; KROMAN 1936–1937, 63; AXELSON 1956, 19; KROMAN 1962, XIX–XX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Nestvedienses==<br /> Two sets of annals originate from Næstved:<br /> <br /> ===1) Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores 1130–1228===<br /> Also called Calendarium Monasterii beati Petri Nestvediensis.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit===== <br /> Anno dominice incarnacionis millesimo centesimo. 1130. Kanutus occissus est, qui Rincstadis requiescit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> 1228. Bellum fuit inter Danos et Hulcenses apud Egidor.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, E don. Var. 52 2° (ca. 1265, containing i.a. the Calendarium of the Benedictine monastery in Næstved on Zealand), 2r. Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 223–26.<br /> <br /> =====Editions===== <br /> SRD 4, 285–89; MGH SS 29, 181–82, AD, 72–106; KROMAN 1980, 80–81.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is based on a lost set of annals from Lund which was also the basis for the Annales Valdemarii and the Annales 916–1263 ([[Annales Suecici]]). It was obviously meant to be continued as the scribe prepared the manuscript for entries for the years 1229–1236. These are empty, however, and several of the years prior to 1228 have no entries either. The manuscript thus shows us the very earliest phase of annalistic writing: the setting up of a set of annals to be expanded and continued. Unfortunately, the enterprise was never continued. Most of the entries were used by the Annales Nestvedienses minores. Dating of events is frequently wrong, and no local affiliation is visible.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 10; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 63 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII &amp; XXIX–XXX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 45 ff.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Nestvedienses minores 821–1300 (1505)===<br /> Also called Anonymi Nestvediensis Chronologia Danica ab anno 821 ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 821. Haraldus factus est rex Danorum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo quinto uisus est sol totus sanguineus ipso die Francisci, statimque 3tia die reformatum est monasterium in Nestveth minorum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) SRD 1 (1772), 368 (J. LANGEBEK after a now lost copy by Arni Magnusson made from a no longer extant copy by Thomas Bartholin from a medieval parchment manuscript, E 39 in the University Library of Copenhagen, destroyed in the fire of 1728); 2) Uppsala UL DG XXV–XXIX, 2r (Stephanius, from E 39); 3) Copenhagen, Royal Library, Rostgaard 42 4°, 1–4 &amp; 13–17 (excerpts by Svaning from E 39); 4) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 1, (1731), 1404; SRD 1 368–72; SRS 3 (1876), 107 (ANNERSTEDT excerpts from MS 2); MGH SS 29, 218–21; AD, 71–128; KROMAN 1980, 82–88.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The E 39 was a historical miscellany, containing i.a. Adam of Bremen, the Chronicon Roskildense and the Annales Nestvedienses minores. The first part of the annals, until 1127, are dependent on the Chronicon Roskildense. From 1130, the Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores and the Annales Lundenses were used as sources. For the period 1213–1225, the annals include some obituary notes also found in the Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347. The annals become more independent from the middle of the thirteenth century and include local information on the monastery, as well as the town of Næstved belonging to it.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 19–20; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 321 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII–XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 127–32; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 169.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Sorani==<br /> Two sets of annals from the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand exist:<br /> ===1) Annales Sorani Vetustiores 1130–1300===<br /> Also called Anonymi Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1130 usque ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1130. Interfectus est sanctus Kanutus Ringstadis a Magno, filio Nicolai ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1300. Obiit Iohannes episcopus Roskildensis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) Uppsala UL, DG XXV–XXIX, fol. 141v (Stephanius, on the basis of the now lost manuscript, A 9, a miscellany made for the Royal Historiographer Niels Krag, containing i.a. a copy of the Annales Sorani Vetustiores made from the original manuscript, from the University Library in Copenhagen); 2) Copenhagen AM 907 4°, a copy made for Arni Magnusson from a no longer extant copy of the original made for the younger Thomas Bartholin, and possibly the basis for the edition in SRD (CHRISTENSEN 1981); 3) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea, presumably made from the original manuscript); and possibly: 4) SRD 4 (1776), in case it is not based on MS 2), but some other, no longer extant manuscript which has been the communis opinio so far.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, 150 (based on a no longer extant copy of MS 1); SRD 4, 225–30 (J. LANGEBEK &amp; P. F. SUHM, using MS 2 and LUDEWIG’s 1731 edition, but perhaps also a now lost copy of the original manuscript made for Arni Magnusson); MGH SS 29, 176–81; AD, 73; KROMAN 1980, 89–94; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 172–75 (MS 2).<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals was part of a folio manuscript manuscript from Lund, presumably written in the twelfth century. It was present at the arch-see around 1200 but eventually wound up in Sorø. It has been suggested that the annals were written, or at least begun, while the manuscript was still in Lund. They might then have been continued and expanded after the manuscript was taken to Sorø at an unknown date (MALMROS 1982). This hypothesis is attractive, as it would explain why the annalist had access to so many other sets of annals which are not otherwise known to have circulated outside Lund. The loss of the original manuscript in the great fire, which destroyed the University Library and much of Copenhagen in 1728, makes it impossible to verify the hypothesis, however. The Annales Sorani vetustiores were an important intermediary between the annalistic writing at the arch-see and later sets of annals, e.g. the [[Annales Ryenses]].<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 17–18; KROMAN 1936–1937, 59 ff.; AXELSON 1956, 15; KROMAN 1962, XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 98 ff.; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 167–69; MALMROS 1982, 350–51.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347===<br /> Also called Annales Danici Sorani 1202–1347 and The Annals in the Justinus-manuscript.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1202. Obiit Kanutus, rex Danorum Sclauorumque ac totius Holsacie ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1347. Rex Waldemarus transiit Ierosolimis in peregrinatione, et fuit magna pluuia per totum annum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 450 2°, (s. XII, Justinus’ Epitome), fol. 130r. Facsimile: CCD 5, 227.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 5, 456–58; MGH SS 29, 182–83; AD, 142–43; KROMAN 1980, 95–97.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is entered on a page in the Justinus-manuscript bequeathed to the Cistercian monastery of Sorø in Archbishop Absalon’s will, but apparently on loan to [[Saxo Grammaticus]] at the time when the will was drawn up. The annals are heavily dependent on the Lundensian historiography. The entries are written by three hands: the first hand entered the entries for 1202–1231 sometime after the death of Valdemar II the Victorious in 1241, but probably not later than ca. 1265. The entries for 1231–1288 are written by a second hand in one go, probably at the turn of the century. The same hand (or a very similar third hand) then wrote the entries for 1291–1300. Finally, a third (or fourth) hand wrote the entries for 1308–1347. However, neither AD nor KROMAN 1980 discounts the possibility that the same scribe wrote all the entries, only at different times.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 24; ARUP 1921–1923, 374–76; AXELSON 1956, 15; CCD 5, XIX, XXX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Essenbecenses==<br /> Also called Chronologia rerum memorabilium ab anno 1020. usque ad annum 1323.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno ab incarnacione Domini 1020. Ordo Cluniacensis exordium sumpsit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1323. Hyems erat tam seua, ut homines maria equitauerunt.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Uppsala, University Library, DG 50 4° (s. XVI ineunte?), 20; MS 2: Uppsala, University Library, H 112 (Arild Huitfeldt, s. XVI), fol. 54r; MS 3: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 402 2°, (Bircherod, s. XVIII), 71; MS 4: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 561 2° (Lucoppidan, s. XVIII), 81. Facsimile: CCD 5, 357–65.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 3 (1743), 540; SRD 2 (1773), 520–29 (J. LANGEBEK); MGH SS 29 (1892), 221–28 (G. WAITZ); AD, 144–48; KROMAN 1980, 274–83.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The MSS 2, 3 and 4 all descend from the same, no longer extant, manuscript made by Hans Svaning (ca. 1500–1584). MS 1 might descend from a medieval manuscript. MARSTRAND (1937) argued unsuccessfully that this set of annals was written on behalf of Archbishop Esger Juul (1310–1325). However, the annals are ascribed to the Benedictine monastery of Essenbæk south of Randers fjord in Jutland. J. LANGEBEK was the first to do so, in 1773. This ascription is made on the basis of just two entries (1151 and 1179) concerning the monastery, and two more concerning the nearby town of Randers. The Annales Essenbecenses is heavily dependent on the Lundensian annalistic writing, but relations to the extant sets of annals, or to the lost intermediaries adduced by KRISTENSEN 1969, remains to be worked out. The annalist noted political and meteorological events in Denmark, but also the founding of the great monastic orders and the conquests of Jerusalem, the founding of monasteries in Denmark and neighbouring countries, as well as some of the great church councils and the deaths of prominent ecclesiastics.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 25–26; ARUP 1921–1923, 377; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14 f.; SKOV 1937a + b; MARSTRAND 1937; idem 1938; AXELSON 1956, 19 f.; CCD 5, XXII &amp; XXXII; ILSØE 1963–1966, passim.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Ripenses==<br /> Also called Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Danorum ab anno 936. ad annum 1317.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Huius tempore Rollo, dux Danorum, regem Francie bellis compulit dare sibi Normanniam ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1324. In die beati Kanuti regis et martiris perlamentum fuit in Nykiøbing per regem Christopherum et Ericum, eius filium, ac per Esgerum, archiepiscopum Lundensem, et eius suffraganeos omnes.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 2455 4°, fol. 7–28 (Vedel, s. XVI2); MS 2: Copenhagen, Royal Library, Additamenta 120 4°, 129 (excerpts by Vedel); MS 3: Kalmar (Stephanius), now Stockholm, Royal Library, K 92, fol. 1r.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> AD, 149–56; KROMAN 1980, 254–67; excerpt 936–1317: SRD 2, 169–76.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Ripenses are a continuation of the [[Annales Ryenses]]. The first six folios of MS 1 are now missing but in all likelihood the beginning of this set of annals was as dependent on the Annales Ryenses as the rest. The annals are normally ascribed to the see of Ribe in Jutland, on the basis of their information on bishops Tyge (1273–1288) and Christiern (1288–1313), and the use of them in the Chronicon ecclesiae Ripensis. The latter part of the Annales Ripenses is related to the [[Chronica Sialandie]] and it must be assumed that both of them have used a common, no longer extant, source.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 26–27; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14; AXELSON 1956; CCD 5, XXI; SZOMLAISKI 1973; HØRBY 1975, 139–40.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Scanici==<br /> Also called Annales Danici ab anno 1316. ad annum 1389.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Christi 1316. Duces Waldemarus et Ericus a fratre suo Birgero rege Suecie captiuantur ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Deo laus in secula, qui dedit uictoriam inopitatam in manu femine, uidelicet reges in compedibus et nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, The Danish National Archives, Håndskriftsamlingen, IV. Danmark – Norges almindelige historie, D.3., (four leaves of paper, s. XV. ineunte). Facsimile: CCD 5, 213–14. <br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 6, 531–35; AD, 189–91; KROMAN 1980, 71–74. <br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is preserved in a nearly contemporary manuscript of four leaves of paper. The entries for 1316–1326 are compiled from unknown sources, while those for 1326–1366 are taken from the Chronica Archiepiscoporum Lundensium. There are only a few entries for the following period, until 1382, but from 1382 to 1389 the entries are relatively extensive and seem to be contemporary with events, if not necessarily written year for year.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 32; CCD 5, XVI &amp; XXVIII; ARUP 1921–1923, 366 f.<br /> <br /> ==Excerpts of medieval annals by early modern historians and antiquarians==<br /> A number of excerpts from various annals, formerly believed to have been made in the Middle Ages, are now recognized as being the work of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historians. The exact relationships of these excerpts to the extant medieval annals is exceedingly difficult to work out, due to the great fire in Copenhagen in 1728 in which the University Library perished and with it the collections of the historiographers as well as the medieval manuscripts. It is often quite impossible to know if a set of excerpts, containing textual variants to the transmitted text of a medieval set of annals, is a primary or secondary textual witness. The value of these excerpts for the medievalist is relatively small, even if they potentially are of great value for the study of Early Modern historiography and antiquarianism.<br /> <br /> Key figures among these historiographers were Hans Jensen Svaning (Johannes Johannis Svaningius, ca. 1500–1584), Anders Sørensen Vedel (Andreas Severinus Velleius, 1542–1616), Cornelius Hamsfort the younger (1546–1627) and Steffen Hansen Steffensen (Stephanus Iohannis Stephanius, 1599–1650).<br /> <br /> As an aid to the readers, it was decided to include a list of the post-medieval annalistic excerpts, detailing, as far as possible, their dates, the works excerpted and the editions. It was deemed unnecessary to list the manuscripts, but a bibliography for each is supplied.<br /> ====Annales 980–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Annales Ryenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and Annales Sorani vetustiores, possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 2, 433–38; MGH SS 29, 234–37; AD, 192; KROMAN 1980, 268–73.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXI–XXII.<br /> ====Annales 1095–1194====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Ryenses]] and [[Saxo Grammaticus]]; possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 3, 627–31; AD, 195–96; KROMAN 1980, 307–9.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 8; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1259–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the excerpts of Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]) in the Collectanea Petri Olai (Copenhagen, AM 107 8°).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, Reliquiæ Manuscriptorum IX; SRD 5, 614–15; AD, 196; KROMAN 1980, 310–11.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 33–34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; ILSØE 1963–1966, 423–24; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1101–1313, 933–1263====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the Annales Ripenses.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 4, 22–26; MGH SS 29, 228–30; AD, 200; KROMAN 1980, 312–15.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35–36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 170.<br /> ====Annales 841–1006, 1246–1265====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Lundenses]] (by Vedel?).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 2, 17–18; SRD 5, 570–71; AD, 197 f.; KROMAN 1980, 316–18.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII–XXIV.<br /> ====Annales ad 1290====<br /> Sixteenth-century notes, primarily concerning the archbishops of Lund and the bishops of Roskilde, possibly compiled by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 5, 571; AD, 198; KROMAN 1980, 319.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1098–1325====<br /> Sixteenth-century compilation based mainly on [[Chronica Sialandie]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]]. Possibly a Vedel-product.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 4, 281–85; MGH SS 29, 234–37; AD, 199; KROMAN 1980, 320–22.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1275–1347====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Chronica Sialandie]], possibly by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 6, 253–54; AD, 202; KROMAN 1980, 323–24.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *AD = Annales Danici medii aevi, ed. E. Jørgensen, Copenhagen 1920.<br /> *ARUP, E. 1921–1923: [review of] “Annales Danivi Medii Ævi. Editionem nouam curauit Ellen Jørgensen. Kbhvn. 1920,” HistTD ser. 9, vol. 2, 362–80.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1956: Sverige i dansk annalistik 900–1400 (Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Hist. Ser. 3), Stockholm.<br /> *BOLIN, S. 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets årsskrift, N. F., Avd. 1, 27:3), Lund.<br /> *CCD 5 = KROMAN 1962<br /> *CHRISTENSEN, K. 1981: “Om den ny udgave af Danmarks middelalderlige annaler,” Fortid og Nutid 29, 163–75.<br /> *CLAUSEN, Svend 2021: &quot;Baserer de såkaldte Bartholinannaler sig på middelalderlige danske årbøger?&quot;, In: Fund og Forskning i Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger 60, p. 57-68.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1882: “Studier til Dronning Margrethes Historie,” HistTD ser. 5, vol. 3, 333–425.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1892: Kilderne til Danmarks Historie i Middelalderen (omtrent 1000–1450). Bibliografisk Oversigt, Copenhagen.<br /> *HELMS, H.J. 1940: Næstved St. Peders Kloster (Skovkloster), Næstved.<br /> *HØRBY, K. 1975: [review of] “Leif Szomlaiski: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi. Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences, Vol. 10. Odense University Press 1973.” HistTD ser. 13, vol. 2, 133–40.<br /> <br /> *ILSØE, H. 1963–66: “Håndskriftet H 112 og de danske historikere. En studie i overlevering” HistTD ser. 12, vol. 1, 399–437.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800, Copenhagen.<br /> *KNUDSEN, A.L. 2000: “Interessen for den danske fortid omkring 1300. En middelalderlig dansk nationalisme,” HistTD ser. 17, vol. 3, 1–34.<br /> *KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1936–1937: “Ueber die Herkunft der Handschrift des Liber Census Daniae,” APhS 11, 1–81.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1962: Scriptores rerum Danicarum, altera pars: Annales (CCD 5), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, udgivet ved Erik Kroman på Grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1772: SRD 1, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1773: SRD 2, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1774: SRD 3, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. &amp; SUHM, P.F. 1776: SRD 4, Copenhagen.<br /> *LUDEWIG, J. 1731: Scriptores rerum Danicarum XII ab anno 700 ad annum 1500 [...] (Reliquiae manuscriptorum omnis aevi diplomatum ac monumentorum, ineditorum adhuc 9), Francofurti et Lipsiae.<br /> *MALMROS, R. 1982: [review of] “Danmarks middelalderlige annaler udgivet ved Erik Kroman på grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver af Selskabet for udgivelse af kilder til dansk historie. København, 1980,” HistTD ser. 14, vol. 3, 348–51.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1937: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 250.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1938: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 1.<br /> *MGH SS 29 = WAITZ 1892<br /> *SJÖSTEDT, L. 1952: “Rydårboken och årboken 67–1287. Om förhållandet mellan två danska annaler,” Festskrift till Gottfrid Carlsson 18.12.1952, Lund<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937a: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 99.<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937b: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 305.<br /> *SRD 1 = LANGEBEK 1772<br /> *SRD 2 = LANGEBEK 1773<br /> *SRD 3 = LANGEBEK 1774<br /> *SRD 4 = LANGEBEK &amp; SUHM 1776<br /> *SRD 5 = SUHM 1783<br /> *SRD 6 = SUHM 1786<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1783: SRD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1786: SRD 6, Copenhagen.<br /> *SZOMLAISKI, L. 1973: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi (Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences 10), Odense.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,” Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 12, 11–39.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1892: MGH SS 29<br /> *WESTPHALEN, E.J. VON 1739–1745: Monumenta inedita rerum Germanicarum præcipue Cimbricarum, et Megapolensium, quibus varia antiquitatum, historiarum, legum juriumque Germaniæ, speciatim Holsatiæ et Megapoleos vicinarumque regionum argumenta illustrantur, supplentur et stabiliuntur / e codicibus manuscriptis, menbranis et chartis authenticis erui studuit notulasque adjecit et cum præfatione instruxit Ernestus Joachimus de Westphalen, 1–4, Lipsiæ.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1152 2026-01-30T10:11:30Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> Arndt, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568).<br /> <br /> Prümers, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568).<br /> <br /> Waitz, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181).<br /> <br /> Jørgensen, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181).<br /> <br /> KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript).<br /> <br /> KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181).<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1151 2026-01-30T10:09:49Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> <br /> Annales Colbazenses is the name currently used for the earliest extant set of annals from Denmark. The writing of the annals was begun at the cathedral in Lund sometime between AD 1137 and AD 1150. The annals cover the years from the Creation until AD 1568, but only the years AD 1130-1181 concern Danish history. The annals were still in Lund in AD 1177, but soon after they were taken to Pomerania by an unknown route (see below under section 8 on transmission and reception). At Colbaz, the annals were continued until AD 1568 – the first entry on Pomeranian affairs concerning the year AD 1183. <br /> <br /> <br />  - see also [[Annales Colbazenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> No original title is known. The annals are named after the Cistercian monastery Colbaz in present day Kołbacz (Poland). The name Annales Colbazenses has been used by scholars since the first edition from 1866 (ARNDT 1866, 710).<br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> Prima etas in exordio sui continet creacionem mundi. Primo enim die Deus in lucis nomine condidit angelos.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> The part concerning Danish history: 1181. Waldmarus, rex Dacie, obiit.<br /> <br /> The Pomeranian part: Anno 1568 6. Nouembris obiit ducissa Lunenburgensis, Barnimi senioris vxor, sepulta Stettini 12. Nouembris in aede scilicet diui Ottonis.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The Danish section takes up eleven pages in KROMAN’S edition (KROMAN 1980).<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> Arndt, W. 1866: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 19, 710-720 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568).<br /> <br /> Prümers, R. 1877: Pommersches Urkundenbuch I. Band 2. Abtheilung, 467-493 (Beginning with the Christian Era and continuing until AD 1568).<br /> <br /> Waitz, G. 1892: Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores 29, 174-176 (Only the Danish section: AD 1127-1181).<br /> <br /> Jørgensen, E. 1920: Annales Danici medii ævi, Copenhagen, 39-43 (From the Creation until AD 1181).<br /> <br /> KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen (Facsimile of the manuscript).<br /> <br /> KROMAN, E. 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, Copenhagen, 149–76 (From the Creation until AD 1181).<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> STEENBERG, J. 1965: Kilder til Danmarks historie i 12. århundrede. Fifth ed. Copenhagen, 16-17 (selections).<br /> <br /> ==== Date and place ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses were begun at the cathedral in Lund between AD 1137 and AD 1150. They were continued by several hands and remained in Lund until AD 1177. Shortly afterwards, however, they were taken to Pomerania and eventually ended up in the monastery in Colbaz. A continuation, made by several hands, eventually came to cover the years AD 1183-1568.<br /> <br /> ==== Composition and style ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is written in a terse and simple style, which is characteristic of Danish annalistic writing. Years are given as anno mundi from the Creation to the birth of Christ, and after that as years of the nativity. Dates are according to the Roman Calendar.<br /> <br /> ==== Sources ====<br /> An Anglo-Norman set of annals forms the basis for Annales Colbazenses (JØRGENSEN 1920, 5-6). No particular set of annals can be identified as the source, but similar sets of annals from Normandy and England have been found. This Anglo-Norman set of annals is itself a compilation. The part dealing with history from the Creation until the birth of Christ is based on Isidore of Seville’s Epitome in Etymologies 5, 39 or occasionally his Chronica Majora. No source for the information on the date and year of the birth and death of Christ has yet been found, but the piece following it comes from a compilation from Cologne, which eventually made its way to Dijon and Normandy as well. Here, more additions were made and eventually the compilation made its way to England and from thence to Denmark. In Lund, information from Necrologium Lundense and [[Chronicon Roskildense]] on events in the years AD 1130-1137 was added to the text of the Anglo-Norman annals (KRISTENSEN 1969, 36-43). Sources for the entries of the remaining years of the Danish part of Annales Colbazenses are harder to discover. It is highly likely, however, that they were literary, rather than oral tradition.<br /> <br /> ==== Purpose and audience ====<br /> Consensus among scholars is that Annales Colbazenses is connected with archbishop Eskil of Lund (r. AD 1137-1177). Its purpose is entirely conjectural. The composition and style make it unlikely that it was intended for a wide circulation among learned readers at home or abroad, but it might form a useful basis for the library of an ecclesiastical institution. This might explain why it ended up in a monasterial library in Pomerania. It could furnish the monks with a grounding in the history of Denmark in relation to universal history. <br /> <br /> ==== Medieval reception and transmission ====<br /> Annales Colbazenses is transmitted in only a single manuscript: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Abendländische Handschriften. Ms. theol. lat. fol. 149. (Rose 1905, 1007-1011). The manuscript was continuously updated and added to. At Colbaz, as mentioned above, additions were made until 1568, but parts of the original text were erased as well to make room for additions and corrections. This has made the manuscript difficult to read in some places and important bits of text are almost illegible. To make matters worse, PRÜMERS used acid on some of the difficult parts, and these are now impossible to read. Before the manuscript left Denmark, one or more copies were made, and these influenced many of the subsequent annals written in Lund (cf. [[Annales Lundenses]] and [[Annales Danici]]). As the starting point of annalistic writing in Denmark, Annales Colbazenses have been the subject of much research, very capably summed up by KRISTENSEN (KRISTENSEN 1969), who advanced our knowledge considerably. Her treatment remains the best analysis of annalistic writing in medieval Denmark.<br /> <br /> ===== Bibliography =====<br /> <br /> * BOLIN, S 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets Årsskrift Ny följd, Avd. 1. Bd. 27. Nr. 3). Lund, 133-140.<br /> * HEMMINGSEN, L. 1996: By Word of Mouth: The Origins of Danish Legendary History: Studies in European Learned and Popular Traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis, University of Copenhagen. (Available at The Royal Library, Copenhagen), Part III, section 1.5 &amp; Part V, section 2.1.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, A.D. 1871: Bidrag til Nordens Historie i Middelalderen, Copenhagen. 202-206.<br /> * JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800. Copenhagen, 5-7, 10.<br /> * KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> * KROMAN, E. 1962: CCD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> * ROSE, Valentin 1905: Verzeichniss der Lateinischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 2: Die Handschriften der Kurfürstlichen Bibliothek und der Kurfürstlichen Lande, 3. Abteilung (Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, Band 13), Berlin.<br /> * ROSENSTOCK, L.H. 1957: “Colbazårbogen” Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder 2. Copenhagen, 577-578.<br /> * SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältnisses zu schwedischen und deutschen Geschichtswerken kritisch untersucht. Hannover. 115-118. <br /> * WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,”. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde XII, 25sqq. <br /> * WEIBULL, L. 1909-1910: “Annalerne og Kalendariet fra Colbaz,” HistTD 8 R. II, 170-187.</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Danici&diff=1150 2026-01-30T09:59:16Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> Annalistic historiography in medieval Denmark began at the arch-see of Lund in the late 1130s based on a set of Anglo-Norman annals closely related to the annals of Battle and the annals of Bury St. Edmunds. The compilers of both the [[Annales Colbazenses]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]] used this set of annals which must have been present at the arch-see until at least the second half of the thirteenth century. Annalistic writing thus came to Denmark as a fully-fledged historiographical genre. In her magisterial treatment of the early Danish annalistic writing A.K.G. KRISTENSEN (1969) confirmed the hypothesis of E. ARUP (1921–1923) that the Danish annals are compilations of written information, rather than yearly recordings of events. The chronological structure of the annals is defined by their historiographical genre and does not reflect the process of production. KRISTENSEN also adduced several no longer extant intermediaries in order to explain the relationships of the still extant sets of annals. However well-argued her reasoning, the exact nature of these intermediaries – whether clean copies, working copies or mere collections of material – remains conjectural and no attempt is made to deal with them in this article.<br /> <br /> From Lund the annalistic compilations spread to the rest of Denmark as well as Sweden, Iceland and possibly Northern Germany. Lund remained the centre of annalistic writing until the end of the thirteenth century when activities moved elsewhere, even if we cannot point to any particular new centre or centres.<br /> <br /> Three sets of annals are treated in separate entries in MNLL: [[Annales Colbazenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and [[Annales Ryenses]]. The rest are treated here, ordered partly chronologically, partly topographically. After the presentation of each set relevant literature is listed chronologically, in abbreviated form; the full alphabetical bibliography appears at the end of the article. With regard to manuscripts, only primary textual witnesses are listed.<br /> <br /> Annalistic material pertaining to Denmark is also found in Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]), [[Chronica Sialandie]] and Continuatio Chronice Sialandie, as well as the Collectanea Petri Olai ([[Petrus Olai]]). The Annales 826–1415 or Chronologia anonymi is here treated as a work by [[Paulus Helie]]. The Annales 916–1263 also known as Dano-Swedish Annals 916–1263 or Dominican Annals until 1254 is treated in the entry on the [[Annales Suecici]].<br /> <br /> The medieval Danish annals have been studied extensively, primarily with regard to determining the reliability of their factual information. They have only rarely been subjected to studies beyond their dependence on one another, or their political and ideological slant. For a recent study of nationalism as expressed in the Danish annals, see KNUDSEN 2000. <br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Colbazenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Lundenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Ryenses]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Suecici]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Chronica Sialandie]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]<br /> <br /> ==Annales Valdemarii==<br /> Also called Annales Valdemariani, and Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1074 usque ad annum 1219.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno dominice incarnationis 1074 mortuus est Swen, filius Estrid ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ...1219. Edicta est expedicio super paganos ad Estoniam.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, National Archives, Indre forhold, C 8, Kong Valdemars Jordebog, fols. 58v–64r (ca. 1300). Facsimile:<br /> KROMAN 1962, 215–22.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 3, 259–65; MGH SS 29, 176–81; AD, 72–104; KROMAN 1980, 75–79.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Valdemarii are transmitted in a manuscript miscellany from ca. 1300, written in the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand. It contains, inter alia, copies of various cameralistic lists, which originate from the royal chancellery. The annals are written by a single hand which has also written several other pieces in the miscellany. The annals are connected with the annalistic tradition from Lund, but are believed to have been compiled by a clerk of the royal chancellery. They are mostly concerned with secular matters and lack any local affiliation. The many international references probably come from a source with connections to the annalistic tradition from Cologne.<br /> <br /> The first entry concerns the death of King Sven Estridsen, now believed to have occurred in 1076 but in the Danish medieval historiography always placed in 1074. The chronological sequence only really begins with the year 1130 and ends with the entry for 1219.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD 8–9; JØRGENSEN 1931, 8; ARUP 1921–1923, 378 f.; KROMAN 1936–1937; AXELSON 1956, 9; KROMAN 1962, XVI–XVII and XXVII–XXIX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 62 ff..<br /> <br /> ==Annales Visbyenses==<br /> Also called Annales 67–1287 and Annales Fratrum Minorum Wisbyenses ab anno 67 ad annum 1525.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domino 67. Prima persequcio Christianorum sub Nerone.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1287. Ericus rex interficitur in nocte sancte Cecilie.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, B 99, f. 50v–51r (s. XV ineunte). Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 229–32.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, 212–17; SRD 1, 251–56; AD, 136–37; KROMAN 1980, 145–48.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The manuscript contains i.a. the calendar and obituary of the Franciscan convent in Visby on Gotland. The annals show no local affiliation to either Gotland or the convent. They are related to the Annales Essenbecenses and a common source for both must be assumed. An entry under 1231 about the arrival of the Dominicans in Roskilde on Zealand might indicate the place of origin of the original. The annalist was interested in ecclesiastical history, beginning his work with the first persecution of Christians under Nero and noting various events from church history throughout, even if he focused more and more on Danish history.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1882, 342–46; AD, 22; SJÖSTEDT 1952, 10 ff.; KROMAN 1962, XX, XXXI.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Slesuicenses==<br /> Also called Annales Sorani ad 1268.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domini 966 Dani ad &lt;fidem&gt; sunt conuersi per Poponem, qui chirotecam ferream ignitam illesus portauit inspectante rege Haraldo, qui conuersus est, et Poppo promotus in episcopum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1268. Eciam ædificauit castrum Ripis ..... Matthæus dapifer cum Danis corruerunt Estoniæ.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, Add. 120 4°, p. 113–24 &amp; 110–12 and a leaflet (Vedel, p. XVI).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WAITZ 1887, 33; MGH SS 29, 237; AD, 132–35; KROMAN 1980, 98–105.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> There is no consensus regarding this mysterious set of annals that has been ascribed to both the Duchy of Slesvig and the Cistercian abbey of Sorø. Vedel copied the annals from a manuscript known as “The old roll from Soer” (Soer = Sorø) and this is the strongest argument in favour of KROMAN’s hypothesis that the original was written in this monastery. It hardly clinches the matter, however, since nothing is known about the date and origin of “the old roll”. ERSLEV 1892 raised the question of a reworking in the sixteenth century. Further research is needed. The annals show traces of much of the other known historiography: annals, king lists, [[Chronicon Roskildense]], [[Saxo Grammaticus]], and Vetus Chronica Sialandie. There is a lacuna 1216–1249.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 21–22; JØRGENSEN 1931, 11; KROMAN 1936–1937, 63; AXELSON 1956, 19; KROMAN 1962, XIX–XX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Nestvedienses==<br /> Two sets of annals originate from Næstved:<br /> <br /> ===1) Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores 1130–1228===<br /> Also called Calendarium Monasterii beati Petri Nestvediensis.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit===== <br /> Anno dominice incarnacionis millesimo centesimo. 1130. Kanutus occissus est, qui Rincstadis requiescit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> 1228. Bellum fuit inter Danos et Hulcenses apud Egidor.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, E don. Var. 52 2° (ca. 1265, containing i.a. the Calendarium of the Benedictine monastery in Næstved on Zealand), 2r. Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 223–26.<br /> <br /> =====Editions===== <br /> SRD 4, 285–89; MGH SS 29, 181–82, AD, 72–106; KROMAN 1980, 80–81.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is based on a lost set of annals from Lund which was also the basis for the Annales Valdemarii and the Annales 916–1263 ([[Annales Suecici]]). It was obviously meant to be continued as the scribe prepared the manuscript for entries for the years 1229–1236. These are empty, however, and several of the years prior to 1228 have no entries either. The manuscript thus shows us the very earliest phase of annalistic writing: the setting up of a set of annals to be expanded and continued. Unfortunately, the enterprise was never continued. Most of the entries were used by the Annales Nestvedienses minores. Dating of events is frequently wrong, and no local affiliation is visible.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 10; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 63 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII &amp; XXIX–XXX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 45 ff.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Nestvedienses minores 821–1300 (1505)===<br /> Also called Anonymi Nestvediensis Chronologia Danica ab anno 821 ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 821. Haraldus factus est rex Danorum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo quinto uisus est sol totus sanguineus ipso die Francisci, statimque 3tia die reformatum est monasterium in Nestveth minorum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) SRD 1 (1772), 368 (J. LANGEBEK after a now lost copy by Arni Magnusson made from a no longer extant copy by Thomas Bartholin from a medieval parchment manuscript, E 39 in the University Library of Copenhagen, destroyed in the fire of 1728); 2) Uppsala UL DG XXV–XXIX, 2r (Stephanius, from E 39); 3) Copenhagen, Royal Library, Rostgaard 42 4°, 1–4 &amp; 13–17 (excerpts by Svaning from E 39); 4) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 1, (1731), 1404; SRD 1 368–72; SRS 3 (1876), 107 (ANNERSTEDT excerpts from MS 2); MGH SS 29, 218–21; AD, 71–128; KROMAN 1980, 82–88.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The E 39 was a historical miscellany, containing i.a. Adam of Bremen, the Chronicon Roskildense and the Annales Nestvedienses minores. The first part of the annals, until 1127, are dependent on the Chronicon Roskildense. From 1130, the Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores and the Annales Lundenses were used as sources. For the period 1213–1225, the annals include some obituary notes also found in the Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347. The annals become more independent from the middle of the thirteenth century and include local information on the monastery, as well as the town of Næstved belonging to it.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 19–20; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 321 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII–XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 127–32; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 169.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Sorani==<br /> Two sets of annals from the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand exist:<br /> ===1) Annales Sorani Vetustiores 1130–1300===<br /> Also called Anonymi Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1130 usque ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1130. Interfectus est sanctus Kanutus Ringstadis a Magno, filio Nicolai ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1300. Obiit Iohannes episcopus Roskildensis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) Uppsala UL, DG XXV–XXIX, fol. 141v (Stephanius, on the basis of the now lost manuscript, A 9, a miscellany made for the Royal Historiographer Niels Krag, containing i.a. a copy of the Annales Sorani Vetustiores made from the original manuscript, from the University Library in Copenhagen); 2) Copenhagen AM 907 4°, a copy made for Arni Magnusson from a no longer extant copy of the original made for the younger Thomas Bartholin, and possibly the basis for the edition in SRD (CHRISTENSEN 1981); 3) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea, presumably made from the original manuscript); and possibly: 4) SRD 4 (1776), in case it is not based on MS 2), but some other, no longer extant manuscript which has been the communis opinio so far.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, 150 (based on a no longer extant copy of MS 1); SRD 4, 225–30 (J. LANGEBEK &amp; P. F. SUHM, using MS 2 and LUDEWIG’s 1731 edition, but perhaps also a now lost copy of the original manuscript made for Arni Magnusson); MGH SS 29, 176–81; AD, 73; KROMAN 1980, 89–94; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 172–75 (MS 2).<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals was part of a folio manuscript manuscript from Lund, presumably written in the twelfth century. It was present at the arch-see around 1200 but eventually wound up in Sorø. It has been suggested that the annals were written, or at least begun, while the manuscript was still in Lund. They might then have been continued and expanded after the manuscript was taken to Sorø at an unknown date (MALMROS 1982). This hypothesis is attractive, as it would explain why the annalist had access to so many other sets of annals which are not otherwise known to have circulated outside Lund. The loss of the original manuscript in the great fire, which destroyed the University Library and much of Copenhagen in 1728, makes it impossible to verify the hypothesis, however. The Annales Sorani vetustiores were an important intermediary between the annalistic writing at the arch-see and later sets of annals, e.g. the [[Annales Ryenses]].<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 17–18; KROMAN 1936–1937, 59 ff.; AXELSON 1956, 15; KROMAN 1962, XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 98 ff.; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 167–69; MALMROS 1982, 350–51.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347===<br /> Also called Annales Danici Sorani 1202–1347 and The Annals in the Justinus-manuscript.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1202. Obiit Kanutus, rex Danorum Sclauorumque ac totius Holsacie ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1347. Rex Waldemarus transiit Ierosolimis in peregrinatione, et fuit magna pluuia per totum annum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 450 2°, (s. XII, Justinus’ Epitome), fol. 130r. Facsimile: CCD 5, 227.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 5, 456–58; MGH SS 29, 182–83; AD, 142–43; KROMAN 1980, 95–97.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is entered on a page in the Justinus-manuscript bequeathed to the Cistercian monastery of Sorø in Archbishop Absalon’s will, but apparently on loan to [[Saxo Grammaticus]] at the time when the will was drawn up. The annals are heavily dependent on the Lundensian historiography. The entries are written by three hands: the first hand entered the entries for 1202–1231 sometime after the death of Valdemar II the Victorious in 1241, but probably not later than ca. 1265. The entries for 1231–1288 are written by a second hand in one go, probably at the turn of the century. The same hand (or a very similar third hand) then wrote the entries for 1291–1300. Finally, a third (or fourth) hand wrote the entries for 1308–1347. However, neither AD nor KROMAN 1980 discounts the possibility that the same scribe wrote all the entries, only at different times.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 24; ARUP 1921–1923, 374–76; AXELSON 1956, 15; CCD 5, XIX, XXX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Essenbecenses==<br /> Also called Chronologia rerum memorabilium ab anno 1020. usque ad annum 1323.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno ab incarnacione Domini 1020. Ordo Cluniacensis exordium sumpsit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1323. Hyems erat tam seua, ut homines maria equitauerunt.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Uppsala, University Library, DG 50 4° (s. XVI ineunte?), 20; MS 2: Uppsala, University Library, H 112 (Arild Huitfeldt, s. XVI), fol. 54r; MS 3: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 402 2°, (Bircherod, s. XVIII), 71; MS 4: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 561 2° (Lucoppidan, s. XVIII), 81. Facsimile: CCD 5, 357–65.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 3 (1743), 540; SRD 2 (1773), 520–29 (J. LANGEBEK); MGH SS 29 (1892), 221–28 (G. WAITZ); AD, 144–48; KROMAN 1980, 274–83.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The MSS 2, 3 and 4 all descend from the same, no longer extant, manuscript made by Hans Svaning (ca. 1500–1584). MS 1 might descend from a medieval manuscript. MARSTRAND (1937) argued unsuccessfully that this set of annals was written on behalf of Archbishop Esger Juul (1310–1325). However, the annals are ascribed to the Benedictine monastery of Essenbæk south of Randers fjord in Jutland. J. LANGEBEK was the first to do so, in 1773. This ascription is made on the basis of just two entries (1151 and 1179) concerning the monastery, and two more concerning the nearby town of Randers. The Annales Essenbecenses is heavily dependent on the Lundensian annalistic writing, but relations to the extant sets of annals, or to the lost intermediaries adduced by KRISTENSEN 1969, remains to be worked out. The annalist noted political and meteorological events in Denmark, but also the founding of the great monastic orders and the conquests of Jerusalem, the founding of monasteries in Denmark and neighbouring countries, as well as some of the great church councils and the deaths of prominent ecclesiastics.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 25–26; ARUP 1921–1923, 377; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14 f.; SKOV 1937a + b; MARSTRAND 1937; idem 1938; AXELSON 1956, 19 f.; CCD 5, XXII &amp; XXXII; ILSØE 1963–1966, passim.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Ripenses==<br /> Also called Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Danorum ab anno 936. ad annum 1317.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Huius tempore Rollo, dux Danorum, regem Francie bellis compulit dare sibi Normanniam ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1324. In die beati Kanuti regis et martiris perlamentum fuit in Nykiøbing per regem Christopherum et Ericum, eius filium, ac per Esgerum, archiepiscopum Lundensem, et eius suffraganeos omnes.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 2455 4°, fol. 7–28 (Vedel, s. XVI2); MS 2: Copenhagen, Royal Library, Additamenta 120 4°, 129 (excerpts by Vedel); MS 3: Kalmar (Stephanius), now Stockholm, Royal Library, K 92, fol. 1r.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> AD, 149–56; KROMAN 1980, 254–67; excerpt 936–1317: SRD 2, 169–76.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Ripenses are a continuation of the [[Annales Ryenses]]. The first six folios of MS 1 are now missing but in all likelihood the beginning of this set of annals was as dependent on the Annales Ryenses as the rest. The annals are normally ascribed to the see of Ribe in Jutland, on the basis of their information on bishops Tyge (1273–1288) and Christiern (1288–1313), and the use of them in the Chronicon ecclesiae Ripensis. The latter part of the Annales Ripenses is related to the [[Chronica Sialandie]] and it must be assumed that both of them have used a common, no longer extant, source.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 26–27; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14; AXELSON 1956; CCD 5, XXI; SZOMLAISKI 1973; HØRBY 1975, 139–40.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Scanici==<br /> Also called Annales Danici ab anno 1316. ad annum 1389.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Christi 1316. Duces Waldemarus et Ericus a fratre suo Birgero rege Suecie captiuantur ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Deo laus in secula, qui dedit uictoriam inopitatam in manu femine, uidelicet reges in compedibus et nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, The Danish National Archives, Håndskriftsamlingen, IV. Danmark – Norges almindelige historie, D.3., (four leaves of paper, s. XV. ineunte). Facsimile: CCD 5, 213–14. <br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 6, 531–35; AD, 189–91; KROMAN 1980, 71–74. <br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is preserved in a nearly contemporary manuscript of four leaves of paper. The entries for 1316–1326 are compiled from unknown sources, while those for 1326–1366 are taken from the Chronica Archiepiscoporum Lundensium. There are only a few entries for the following period, until 1382, but from 1382 to 1389 the entries are relatively extensive and seem to be contemporary with events, if not necessarily written year for year.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 32; CCD 5, XVI &amp; XXVIII; ARUP 1921–1923, 366 f.<br /> <br /> ==Excerpts of medieval annals by early modern historians and antiquarians==<br /> A number of excerpts from various annals, formerly believed to have been made in the Middle Ages, are now recognized as being the work of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historians. The exact relationships of these excerpts to the extant medieval annals is exceedingly difficult to work out, due to the great fire in Copenhagen in 1728 in which the University Library perished and with it the collections of the historiographers as well as the medieval manuscripts. It is often quite impossible to know if a set of excerpts, containing textual variants to the transmitted text of a medieval set of annals, is a primary or secondary textual witness. The value of these excerpts for the medievalist is relatively small, even if they potentially are of great value for the study of Early Modern historiography and antiquarianism.<br /> <br /> Key figures among these historiographers were Hans Jensen Svaning (Johannes Johannis Svaningius, ca. 1500–1584), Anders Sørensen Vedel (Andreas Severinus Velleius, 1542–1616), Cornelius Hamsfort the younger (1546–1627) and Steffen Hansen Steffensen (Stephanus Iohannis Stephanius, 1599–1650).<br /> <br /> As an aid to the readers, it was decided to include a list of the post-medieval annalistic excerpts, detailing, as far as possible, their dates, the works excerpted and the editions. It was deemed unnecessary to list the manuscripts, but a bibliography for each is supplied.<br /> ====Annales 980–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Annales Ryenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and Annales Sorani vetustiores, possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 2, 433–38; MGH SS 29, 234–37; AD, 192; KROMAN 1980, 268–73.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXI–XXII.<br /> ====Annales 1095–1194====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Ryenses]] and [[Saxo Grammaticus]]; possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 3, 627–31; AD, 195–96; KROMAN 1980, 307–9.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 8; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1259–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the excerpts of Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]) in the Collectanea Petri Olai (Copenhagen, AM 107 8°).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, Reliquiæ Manuscriptorum IX; SRD 5, 614–15; AD, 196; KROMAN 1980, 310–11.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 33–34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; ILSØE 1963–1966, 423–24; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1101–1313, 933–1263====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the Annales Ripenses.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 4, 22–26; MGH SS 29, 228–30; AD, 200; KROMAN 1980, 312–15.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35–36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 170.<br /> ====Annales 841–1006, 1246–1265====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Lundenses]] (by Vedel?).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 2, 17–18; SRD 5, 570–71; AD, 197 f.; KROMAN 1980, 316–18.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII–XXIV.<br /> ====Annales ad 1290====<br /> Sixteenth-century notes, primarily concerning the archbishops of Lund and the bishops of Roskilde, possibly compiled by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 5, 571; AD, 198; KROMAN 1980, 319.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1098–1325====<br /> Sixteenth-century compilation based mainly on [[Chronica Sialandie]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]]. Possibly a Vedel-product.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 4, 281–85; MGH SS 29, 234–37; AD, 199; KROMAN 1980, 320–22.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1275–1347====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Chronica Sialandie]], possibly by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 6, 253–54; AD, 202; KROMAN 1980, 323–24.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *AD = Annales Danici medii aevi, ed. E. Jørgensen, Copenhagen 1920.<br /> *ARUP, E. 1921–1923: [review of] “Annales Danivi Medii Ævi. Editionem nouam curauit Ellen Jørgensen. Kbhvn. 1920,” HistTD ser. 9, vol. 2, 362–80.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1956: Sverige i dansk annalistik 900–1400 (Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Hist. Ser. 3), Stockholm.<br /> *BOLIN, S. 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets årsskrift, N. F., Avd. 1, 27:3), Lund.<br /> *CCD 5 = KROMAN 1962<br /> *CHRISTENSEN, K. 1981: “Om den ny udgave af Danmarks middelalderlige annaler,” Fortid og Nutid 29, 163–75.<br /> *CLAUSEN, Svend 2021: &quot;Baserer de såkaldte Bartholinannaler sig på middelalderlige danske årbøger?&quot;, In: Fund og Forskning i Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger 60, p. 57-68.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1882: “Studier til Dronning Margrethes Historie,” HistTD ser. 5, vol. 3, 333–425.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1892: Kilderne til Danmarks Historie i Middelalderen (omtrent 1000–1450). Bibliografisk Oversigt, Copenhagen.<br /> *HELMS, H.J. 1940: Næstved St. Peders Kloster (Skovkloster), Næstved.<br /> *HØRBY, K. 1975: [review of] “Leif Szomlaiski: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi. Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences, Vol. 10. Odense University Press 1973.” HistTD ser. 13, vol. 2, 133–40.<br /> <br /> *ILSØE, H. 1963–66: “Håndskriftet H 112 og de danske historikere. En studie i overlevering” HistTD ser. 12, vol. 1, 399–437.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800, Copenhagen.<br /> *KNUDSEN, A.L. 2000: “Interessen for den danske fortid omkring 1300. En middelalderlig dansk nationalisme,” HistTD ser. 17, vol. 3, 1–34.<br /> *KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1936–1937: “Ueber die Herkunft der Handschrift des Liber Census Daniae,” APhS 11, 1–81.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1962: Scriptores rerum Danicarum, altera pars: Annales (CCD 5), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, udgivet ved Erik Kroman på Grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1772: SRD 1, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1773: SRD 2, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1774: SRD 3, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. &amp; SUHM, P.F. 1776: SRD 4, Copenhagen.<br /> *LUDEWIG, J. 1731: Scriptores rerum Danicarum XII ab anno 700 ad annum 1500 [...] (Reliquiae manuscriptorum omnis aevi diplomatum ac monumentorum, ineditorum adhuc 9), Francofurti et Lipsiae.<br /> *MALMROS, R. 1982: [review of] “Danmarks middelalderlige annaler udgivet ved Erik Kroman på grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver af Selskabet for udgivelse af kilder til dansk historie. København, 1980,” HistTD ser. 14, vol. 3, 348–51.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1937: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 250.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1938: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 1.<br /> *MGH SS 29 = WAITZ 1892<br /> *SJÖSTEDT, L. 1952: “Rydårboken och årboken 67–1287. Om förhållandet mellan två danska annaler,” Festskrift till Gottfrid Carlsson 18.12.1952, Lund<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937a: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 99.<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937b: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 305.<br /> *SRD 1 = LANGEBEK 1772<br /> *SRD 2 = LANGEBEK 1773<br /> *SRD 3 = LANGEBEK 1774<br /> *SRD 4 = LANGEBEK &amp; SUHM 1776<br /> *SRD 5 = SUHM 1783<br /> *SRD 6 = SUHM 1786<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1783: SRD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1786: SRD 6, Copenhagen.<br /> *SZOMLAISKI, L. 1973: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi (Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences 10), Odense.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,” Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 12, 11–39.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1892: MGH SS 29<br /> *WESTPHALEN, E.J. VON 1739–1745: Monumenta inedita rerum Germanicarum præcipue Cimbricarum, et Megapolensium, quibus varia antiquitatum, historiarum, legum juriumque Germaniæ, speciatim Holsatiæ et Megapoleos vicinarumque regionum argumenta illustrantur, supplentur et stabiliuntur / e codicibus manuscriptis, menbranis et chartis authenticis erui studuit notulasque adjecit et cum præfatione instruxit Ernestus Joachimus de Westphalen, 1–4, Lipsiæ.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Colbazenses&diff=1149 2026-01-30T09:57:58Z

<p>Sthop9388: Created page with &quot;by Anders Leegaard Knudsen&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Danici&diff=1148 2026-01-28T14:25:11Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Anders Leegaard Knudsen<br /> <br /> Annalistic historiography in medieval Denmark began at the arch-see of Lund in the late 1130s based on a set of Anglo-Norman annals closely related to the annals of Battle and the annals of Bury St. Edmunds. The compilers of both the [[Annales Colbazenses]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]] used this set of annals which must have been present at the arch-see until at least the second half of the thirteenth century. Annalistic writing thus came to Denmark as a fully-fledged historiographical genre. In her magisterial treatment of the early Danish annalistic writing A.K.G. KRISTENSEN (1969) confirmed the hypothesis of E. ARUP (1921–1923) that the Danish annals are compilations of written information, rather than yearly recordings of events. The chronological structure of the annals is defined by their historiographical genre and does not reflect the process of production. KRISTENSEN also adduced several no longer extant intermediaries in order to explain the relationships of the still extant sets of annals. However well-argued her reasoning, the exact nature of these intermediaries – whether clean copies, working copies or mere collections of material – remains conjectural and no attempt is made to deal with them in this article.<br /> <br /> From Lund the annalistic compilations spread to the rest of Denmark as well as Sweden, Iceland and possibly Northern Germany. Lund remained the centre of annalistic writing until the end of the thirteenth century when activities moved elsewhere, even if we cannot point to any particular new centre or centres.<br /> <br /> Three sets of annals are treated in separate entries in MNLL: [[Annales Colbazenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and [[Annales Ryenses]]. The rest are treated here, ordered partly chronologically, partly topographically. After the presentation of each set relevant literature is listed chronologically, in abbreviated form; the full alphabetical bibliography appears at the end of the article. With regard to manuscripts, only primary textual witnesses are listed.<br /> <br /> Annalistic material pertaining to Denmark is also found in Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]), [[Chronica Sialandie]] and Continuatio Chronice Sialandie, as well as the Collectanea Petri Olai ([[Petrus Olai]]). The Annales 826–1415 or Chronologia anonymi is here treated as a work by [[Paulus Helie]]. The Annales 916–1263 also known as Dano-Swedish Annals 916–1263 or Dominican Annals until 1254 is treated in the entry on the [[Annales Suecici]].<br /> <br /> The medieval Danish annals have been studied extensively, primarily with regard to determining the reliability of their factual information. They have only rarely been subjected to studies beyond their dependence on one another, or their political and ideological slant. For a recent study of nationalism as expressed in the Danish annals, see KNUDSEN 2000.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Valdemarii==<br /> Also called Annales Valdemariani, and Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1074 usque ad annum 1219.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno dominice incarnationis 1074 mortuus est Swen, filius Estrid ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ...1219. Edicta est expedicio super paganos ad Estoniam.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, National Archives, Indre forhold, C 8, Kong Valdemars Jordebog, fols. 58v–64r (ca. 1300). Facsimile:<br /> KROMAN 1962, 215–22.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 3, 259–65; MGH SS 29, 176–81; AD, 72–104; KROMAN 1980, 75–79.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Valdemarii are transmitted in a manuscript miscellany from ca. 1300, written in the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand. It contains, inter alia, copies of various cameralistic lists, which originate from the royal chancellery. The annals are written by a single hand which has also written several other pieces in the miscellany. The annals are connected with the annalistic tradition from Lund, but are believed to have been compiled by a clerk of the royal chancellery. They are mostly concerned with secular matters and lack any local affiliation. The many international references probably come from a source with connections to the annalistic tradition from Cologne.<br /> <br /> The first entry concerns the death of King Sven Estridsen, now believed to have occurred in 1076 but in the Danish medieval historiography always placed in 1074. The chronological sequence only really begins with the year 1130 and ends with the entry for 1219.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD 8–9; JØRGENSEN 1931, 8; ARUP 1921–1923, 378 f.; KROMAN 1936–1937; AXELSON 1956, 9; KROMAN 1962, XVI–XVII and XXVII–XXIX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 62 ff..<br /> <br /> ==Annales Visbyenses==<br /> Also called Annales 67–1287 and Annales Fratrum Minorum Wisbyenses ab anno 67 ad annum 1525.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domino 67. Prima persequcio Christianorum sub Nerone.<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1287. Ericus rex interficitur in nocte sancte Cecilie.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, B 99, f. 50v–51r (s. XV ineunte). Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 229–32.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, 212–17; SRD 1, 251–56; AD, 136–37; KROMAN 1980, 145–48.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The manuscript contains i.a. the calendar and obituary of the Franciscan convent in Visby on Gotland. The annals show no local affiliation to either Gotland or the convent. They are related to the Annales Essenbecenses and a common source for both must be assumed. An entry under 1231 about the arrival of the Dominicans in Roskilde on Zealand might indicate the place of origin of the original. The annalist was interested in ecclesiastical history, beginning his work with the first persecution of Christians under Nero and noting various events from church history throughout, even if he focused more and more on Danish history.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1882, 342–46; AD, 22; SJÖSTEDT 1952, 10 ff.; KROMAN 1962, XX, XXXI.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Slesuicenses==<br /> Also called Annales Sorani ad 1268.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Domini 966 Dani ad &lt;fidem&gt; sunt conuersi per Poponem, qui chirotecam ferream ignitam illesus portauit inspectante rege Haraldo, qui conuersus est, et Poppo promotus in episcopum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1268. Eciam ædificauit castrum Ripis ..... Matthæus dapifer cum Danis corruerunt Estoniæ.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, Add. 120 4°, p. 113–24 &amp; 110–12 and a leaflet (Vedel, p. XVI).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WAITZ 1887, 33; MGH SS 29, 237; AD, 132–35; KROMAN 1980, 98–105.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> There is no consensus regarding this mysterious set of annals that has been ascribed to both the Duchy of Slesvig and the Cistercian abbey of Sorø. Vedel copied the annals from a manuscript known as “The old roll from Soer” (Soer = Sorø) and this is the strongest argument in favour of KROMAN’s hypothesis that the original was written in this monastery. It hardly clinches the matter, however, since nothing is known about the date and origin of “the old roll”. ERSLEV 1892 raised the question of a reworking in the sixteenth century. Further research is needed. The annals show traces of much of the other known historiography: annals, king lists, [[Chronicon Roskildense]], [[Saxo Grammaticus]], and Vetus Chronica Sialandie. There is a lacuna 1216–1249.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 21–22; JØRGENSEN 1931, 11; KROMAN 1936–1937, 63; AXELSON 1956, 19; KROMAN 1962, XIX–XX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Nestvedienses==<br /> Two sets of annals originate from Næstved:<br /> <br /> ===1) Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores 1130–1228===<br /> Also called Calendarium Monasterii beati Petri Nestvediensis.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit===== <br /> Anno dominice incarnacionis millesimo centesimo. 1130. Kanutus occissus est, qui Rincstadis requiescit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> 1228. Bellum fuit inter Danos et Hulcenses apud Egidor.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, E don. Var. 52 2° (ca. 1265, containing i.a. the Calendarium of the Benedictine monastery in Næstved on Zealand), 2r. Facsimile: KROMAN 1962, 223–26.<br /> <br /> =====Editions===== <br /> SRD 4, 285–89; MGH SS 29, 181–82, AD, 72–106; KROMAN 1980, 80–81.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is based on a lost set of annals from Lund which was also the basis for the Annales Valdemarii and the Annales 916–1263 ([[Annales Suecici]]). It was obviously meant to be continued as the scribe prepared the manuscript for entries for the years 1229–1236. These are empty, however, and several of the years prior to 1228 have no entries either. The manuscript thus shows us the very earliest phase of annalistic writing: the setting up of a set of annals to be expanded and continued. Unfortunately, the enterprise was never continued. Most of the entries were used by the Annales Nestvedienses minores. Dating of events is frequently wrong, and no local affiliation is visible.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 10; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 63 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII &amp; XXIX–XXX; KRISTENSEN 1969, 45 ff.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Nestvedienses minores 821–1300 (1505)===<br /> Also called Anonymi Nestvediensis Chronologia Danica ab anno 821 ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 821. Haraldus factus est rex Danorum ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo quinto uisus est sol totus sanguineus ipso die Francisci, statimque 3tia die reformatum est monasterium in Nestveth minorum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) SRD 1 (1772), 368 (J. LANGEBEK after a now lost copy by Arni Magnusson made from a no longer extant copy by Thomas Bartholin from a medieval parchment manuscript, E 39 in the University Library of Copenhagen, destroyed in the fire of 1728); 2) Uppsala UL DG XXV–XXIX, 2r (Stephanius, from E 39); 3) Copenhagen, Royal Library, Rostgaard 42 4°, 1–4 &amp; 13–17 (excerpts by Svaning from E 39); 4) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea).<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 1, (1731), 1404; SRD 1 368–72; SRS 3 (1876), 107 (ANNERSTEDT excerpts from MS 2); MGH SS 29, 218–21; AD, 71–128; KROMAN 1980, 82–88.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The E 39 was a historical miscellany, containing i.a. Adam of Bremen, the Chronicon Roskildense and the Annales Nestvedienses minores. The first part of the annals, until 1127, are dependent on the Chronicon Roskildense. From 1130, the Annales Nestvedienses vetustiores and the Annales Lundenses were used as sources. For the period 1213–1225, the annals include some obituary notes also found in the Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347. The annals become more independent from the middle of the thirteenth century and include local information on the monastery, as well as the town of Næstved belonging to it.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 19–20; JØRGENSEN 1931, 10; HELMS 1940, 321 f.; AXELSON 1956, 10; KROMAN 1962, XVII–XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 127–32; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 169.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Sorani==<br /> Two sets of annals from the Cistercian abbey of Sorø in Zealand exist:<br /> ===1) Annales Sorani Vetustiores 1130–1300===<br /> Also called Anonymi Chronicon Danicum ab anno 1130 usque ad annum 1300.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1130. Interfectus est sanctus Kanutus Ringstadis a Magno, filio Nicolai ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1300. Obiit Iohannes episcopus Roskildensis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> 1) Uppsala UL, DG XXV–XXIX, fol. 141v (Stephanius, on the basis of the now lost manuscript, A 9, a miscellany made for the Royal Historiographer Niels Krag, containing i.a. a copy of the Annales Sorani Vetustiores made from the original manuscript, from the University Library in Copenhagen); 2) Copenhagen AM 907 4°, a copy made for Arni Magnusson from a no longer extant copy of the original made for the younger Thomas Bartholin, and possibly the basis for the edition in SRD (CHRISTENSEN 1981); 3) Copenhagen AM 107 8° (excerpts in Petri Olai Collectanea, presumably made from the original manuscript); and possibly: 4) SRD 4 (1776), in case it is not based on MS 2), but some other, no longer extant manuscript which has been the communis opinio so far.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, 150 (based on a no longer extant copy of MS 1); SRD 4, 225–30 (J. LANGEBEK &amp; P. F. SUHM, using MS 2 and LUDEWIG’s 1731 edition, but perhaps also a now lost copy of the original manuscript made for Arni Magnusson); MGH SS 29, 176–81; AD, 73; KROMAN 1980, 89–94; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 172–75 (MS 2).<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals was part of a folio manuscript manuscript from Lund, presumably written in the twelfth century. It was present at the arch-see around 1200 but eventually wound up in Sorø. It has been suggested that the annals were written, or at least begun, while the manuscript was still in Lund. They might then have been continued and expanded after the manuscript was taken to Sorø at an unknown date (MALMROS 1982). This hypothesis is attractive, as it would explain why the annalist had access to so many other sets of annals which are not otherwise known to have circulated outside Lund. The loss of the original manuscript in the great fire, which destroyed the University Library and much of Copenhagen in 1728, makes it impossible to verify the hypothesis, however. The Annales Sorani vetustiores were an important intermediary between the annalistic writing at the arch-see and later sets of annals, e.g. the [[Annales Ryenses]].<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 17–18; KROMAN 1936–1937, 59 ff.; AXELSON 1956, 15; KROMAN 1962, XVIII; KRISTENSEN 1969, 98 ff.; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 167–69; MALMROS 1982, 350–51.<br /> <br /> ===2) Annales Sorani recentiores 1202–1347===<br /> Also called Annales Danici Sorani 1202–1347 and The Annals in the Justinus-manuscript.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> 1202. Obiit Kanutus, rex Danorum Sclauorumque ac totius Holsacie ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1347. Rex Waldemarus transiit Ierosolimis in peregrinatione, et fuit magna pluuia per totum annum.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 450 2°, (s. XII, Justinus’ Epitome), fol. 130r. Facsimile: CCD 5, 227.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 5, 456–58; MGH SS 29, 182–83; AD, 142–43; KROMAN 1980, 95–97.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is entered on a page in the Justinus-manuscript bequeathed to the Cistercian monastery of Sorø in Archbishop Absalon’s will, but apparently on loan to [[Saxo Grammaticus]] at the time when the will was drawn up. The annals are heavily dependent on the Lundensian historiography. The entries are written by three hands: the first hand entered the entries for 1202–1231 sometime after the death of Valdemar II the Victorious in 1241, but probably not later than ca. 1265. The entries for 1231–1288 are written by a second hand in one go, probably at the turn of the century. The same hand (or a very similar third hand) then wrote the entries for 1291–1300. Finally, a third (or fourth) hand wrote the entries for 1308–1347. However, neither AD nor KROMAN 1980 discounts the possibility that the same scribe wrote all the entries, only at different times.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 24; ARUP 1921–1923, 374–76; AXELSON 1956, 15; CCD 5, XIX, XXX.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Essenbecenses==<br /> Also called Chronologia rerum memorabilium ab anno 1020. usque ad annum 1323.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno ab incarnacione Domini 1020. Ordo Cluniacensis exordium sumpsit ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1323. Hyems erat tam seua, ut homines maria equitauerunt.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Uppsala, University Library, DG 50 4° (s. XVI ineunte?), 20; MS 2: Uppsala, University Library, H 112 (Arild Huitfeldt, s. XVI), fol. 54r; MS 3: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 402 2°, (Bircherod, s. XVIII), 71; MS 4: Copenhagen, Royal Library, NKS 561 2° (Lucoppidan, s. XVIII), 81. Facsimile: CCD 5, 357–65.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> WESTPHALEN, Monumenta inedita 3 (1743), 540; SRD 2 (1773), 520–29 (J. LANGEBEK); MGH SS 29 (1892), 221–28 (G. WAITZ); AD, 144–48; KROMAN 1980, 274–83.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The MSS 2, 3 and 4 all descend from the same, no longer extant, manuscript made by Hans Svaning (ca. 1500–1584). MS 1 might descend from a medieval manuscript. MARSTRAND (1937) argued unsuccessfully that this set of annals was written on behalf of Archbishop Esger Juul (1310–1325). However, the annals are ascribed to the Benedictine monastery of Essenbæk south of Randers fjord in Jutland. J. LANGEBEK was the first to do so, in 1773. This ascription is made on the basis of just two entries (1151 and 1179) concerning the monastery, and two more concerning the nearby town of Randers. The Annales Essenbecenses is heavily dependent on the Lundensian annalistic writing, but relations to the extant sets of annals, or to the lost intermediaries adduced by KRISTENSEN 1969, remains to be worked out. The annalist noted political and meteorological events in Denmark, but also the founding of the great monastic orders and the conquests of Jerusalem, the founding of monasteries in Denmark and neighbouring countries, as well as some of the great church councils and the deaths of prominent ecclesiastics.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 25–26; ARUP 1921–1923, 377; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14 f.; SKOV 1937a + b; MARSTRAND 1937; idem 1938; AXELSON 1956, 19 f.; CCD 5, XXII &amp; XXXII; ILSØE 1963–1966, passim.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Ripenses==<br /> Also called Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Danorum ab anno 936. ad annum 1317.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Huius tempore Rollo, dux Danorum, regem Francie bellis compulit dare sibi Normanniam ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> 1324. In die beati Kanuti regis et martiris perlamentum fuit in Nykiøbing per regem Christopherum et Ericum, eius filium, ac per Esgerum, archiepiscopum Lundensem, et eius suffraganeos omnes.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscripts=====<br /> MS 1: Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 2455 4°, fol. 7–28 (Vedel, s. XVI2); MS 2: Copenhagen, Royal Library, Additamenta 120 4°, 129 (excerpts by Vedel); MS 3: Kalmar (Stephanius), now Stockholm, Royal Library, K 92, fol. 1r.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> AD, 149–56; KROMAN 1980, 254–67; excerpt 936–1317: SRD 2, 169–76.<br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> The Annales Ripenses are a continuation of the [[Annales Ryenses]]. The first six folios of MS 1 are now missing but in all likelihood the beginning of this set of annals was as dependent on the Annales Ryenses as the rest. The annals are normally ascribed to the see of Ribe in Jutland, on the basis of their information on bishops Tyge (1273–1288) and Christiern (1288–1313), and the use of them in the Chronicon ecclesiae Ripensis. The latter part of the Annales Ripenses is related to the [[Chronica Sialandie]] and it must be assumed that both of them have used a common, no longer extant, source.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 26–27; JØRGENSEN 1931, 14; AXELSON 1956; CCD 5, XXI; SZOMLAISKI 1973; HØRBY 1975, 139–40.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Scanici==<br /> Also called Annales Danici ab anno 1316. ad annum 1389.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Anno Christi 1316. Duces Waldemarus et Ericus a fratre suo Birgero rege Suecie captiuantur ...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> Deo laus in secula, qui dedit uictoriam inopitatam in manu femine, uidelicet reges in compedibus et nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis.<br /> <br /> =====Manuscript=====<br /> Copenhagen, The Danish National Archives, Håndskriftsamlingen, IV. Danmark – Norges almindelige historie, D.3., (four leaves of paper, s. XV. ineunte). Facsimile: CCD 5, 213–14. <br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> SRD 6, 531–35; AD, 189–91; KROMAN 1980, 71–74. <br /> <br /> ====Contents====<br /> This set of annals is preserved in a nearly contemporary manuscript of four leaves of paper. The entries for 1316–1326 are compiled from unknown sources, while those for 1326–1366 are taken from the Chronica Archiepiscoporum Lundensium. There are only a few entries for the following period, until 1382, but from 1382 to 1389 the entries are relatively extensive and seem to be contemporary with events, if not necessarily written year for year.<br /> <br /> =====Literature=====<br /> AD, 32; CCD 5, XVI &amp; XXVIII; ARUP 1921–1923, 366 f.<br /> <br /> ==Excerpts of medieval annals by early modern historians and antiquarians==<br /> A number of excerpts from various annals, formerly believed to have been made in the Middle Ages, are now recognized as being the work of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historians. The exact relationships of these excerpts to the extant medieval annals is exceedingly difficult to work out, due to the great fire in Copenhagen in 1728 in which the University Library perished and with it the collections of the historiographers as well as the medieval manuscripts. It is often quite impossible to know if a set of excerpts, containing textual variants to the transmitted text of a medieval set of annals, is a primary or secondary textual witness. The value of these excerpts for the medievalist is relatively small, even if they potentially are of great value for the study of Early Modern historiography and antiquarianism.<br /> <br /> Key figures among these historiographers were Hans Jensen Svaning (Johannes Johannis Svaningius, ca. 1500–1584), Anders Sørensen Vedel (Andreas Severinus Velleius, 1542–1616), Cornelius Hamsfort the younger (1546–1627) and Steffen Hansen Steffensen (Stephanus Iohannis Stephanius, 1599–1650).<br /> <br /> As an aid to the readers, it was decided to include a list of the post-medieval annalistic excerpts, detailing, as far as possible, their dates, the works excerpted and the editions. It was deemed unnecessary to list the manuscripts, but a bibliography for each is supplied.<br /> ====Annales 980–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Annales Ryenses]], [[Annales Lundenses]], and Annales Sorani vetustiores, possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 2, 433–38; MGH SS 29, 234–37; AD, 192; KROMAN 1980, 268–73.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXI–XXII.<br /> ====Annales 1095–1194====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Ryenses]] and [[Saxo Grammaticus]]; possibly made by Cornelius Hamsfort.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 3, 627–31; AD, 195–96; KROMAN 1980, 307–9.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 8; AD, 32–33; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1259–1286====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the excerpts of Chronica Jutensis ([[Compendium Saxonis &amp; Chronica Jutensis]]) in the Collectanea Petri Olai (Copenhagen, AM 107 8°).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> LUDEWIG 1731, Reliquiæ Manuscriptorum IX; SRD 5, 614–15; AD, 196; KROMAN 1980, 310–11.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> ERSLEV 1892, 9; AD, 33–34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; ILSØE 1963–1966, 423–24; CCD 5, XXIII.<br /> ====Annales 1101–1313, 933–1263====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the Annales Ripenses.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 4, 22–26; MGH SS 29, 228–30; AD, 200; KROMAN 1980, 312–15.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35–36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII; CHRISTENSEN 1981, 170.<br /> ====Annales 841–1006, 1246–1265====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of the [[Annales Lundenses]] (by Vedel?).<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 2, 17–18; SRD 5, 570–71; AD, 197 f.; KROMAN 1980, 316–18.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIII–XXIV.<br /> ====Annales ad 1290====<br /> Sixteenth-century notes, primarily concerning the archbishops of Lund and the bishops of Roskilde, possibly compiled by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 5, 571; AD, 198; KROMAN 1980, 319.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 34; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1098–1325====<br /> Sixteenth-century compilation based mainly on [[Chronica Sialandie]] and the [[Annales Lundenses]]. Possibly a Vedel-product.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 4, 281–85; MGH SS 29, 234–37; AD, 199; KROMAN 1980, 320–22.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 35; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> ====Annales 1275–1347====<br /> Sixteenth-century excerpts of [[Chronica Sialandie]], possibly by Vedel.<br /> <br /> ===== Editions =====<br /> SRD 6, 253–54; AD, 202; KROMAN 1980, 323–24.<br /> <br /> ===== Literature =====<br /> AD, 36; ARUP 1921–1923, 371; CCD 5, XXIV.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *AD = Annales Danici medii aevi, ed. E. Jørgensen, Copenhagen 1920.<br /> *ARUP, E. 1921–1923: [review of] “Annales Danivi Medii Ævi. Editionem nouam curauit Ellen Jørgensen. Kbhvn. 1920,” HistTD ser. 9, vol. 2, 362–80.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1956: Sverige i dansk annalistik 900–1400 (Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Hist. Ser. 3), Stockholm.<br /> *BOLIN, S. 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets årsskrift, N. F., Avd. 1, 27:3), Lund.<br /> *CCD 5 = KROMAN 1962<br /> *CHRISTENSEN, K. 1981: “Om den ny udgave af Danmarks middelalderlige annaler,” Fortid og Nutid 29, 163–75.<br /> *CLAUSEN, Svend 2021: &quot;Baserer de såkaldte Bartholinannaler sig på middelalderlige danske årbøger?&quot;, In: Fund og Forskning i Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger 60, p. 57-68.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1882: “Studier til Dronning Margrethes Historie,” HistTD ser. 5, vol. 3, 333–425.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1892: Kilderne til Danmarks Historie i Middelalderen (omtrent 1000–1450). Bibliografisk Oversigt, Copenhagen.<br /> *HELMS, H.J. 1940: Næstved St. Peders Kloster (Skovkloster), Næstved.<br /> *HØRBY, K. 1975: [review of] “Leif Szomlaiski: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi. Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences, Vol. 10. Odense University Press 1973.” HistTD ser. 13, vol. 2, 133–40.<br /> <br /> *ILSØE, H. 1963–66: “Håndskriftet H 112 og de danske historikere. En studie i overlevering” HistTD ser. 12, vol. 1, 399–437.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, E. 1931: Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark indtil Aar 1800, Copenhagen.<br /> *KNUDSEN, A.L. 2000: “Interessen for den danske fortid omkring 1300. En middelalderlig dansk nationalisme,” HistTD ser. 17, vol. 3, 1–34.<br /> *KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1936–1937: “Ueber die Herkunft der Handschrift des Liber Census Daniae,” APhS 11, 1–81.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1962: Scriptores rerum Danicarum, altera pars: Annales (CCD 5), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, udgivet ved Erik Kroman på Grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1772: SRD 1, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1773: SRD 2, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1774: SRD 3, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. &amp; SUHM, P.F. 1776: SRD 4, Copenhagen.<br /> *LUDEWIG, J. 1731: Scriptores rerum Danicarum XII ab anno 700 ad annum 1500 [...] (Reliquiae manuscriptorum omnis aevi diplomatum ac monumentorum, ineditorum adhuc 9), Francofurti et Lipsiae.<br /> *MALMROS, R. 1982: [review of] “Danmarks middelalderlige annaler udgivet ved Erik Kroman på grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver af Selskabet for udgivelse af kilder til dansk historie. København, 1980,” HistTD ser. 14, vol. 3, 348–51.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1937: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 250.<br /> *MARSTRAND, V. 1938: “Ærkebisp Esger Juuls Aarbog fra 1321–23,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 4, 1.<br /> *MGH SS 29 = WAITZ 1892<br /> *SJÖSTEDT, L. 1952: “Rydårboken och årboken 67–1287. Om förhållandet mellan två danska annaler,” Festskrift till Gottfrid Carlsson 18.12.1952, Lund<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937a: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 99.<br /> *SKOV, S. 1937b: “Essenbækaarbogen,” Jyske Samlinger 5, 3, 305.<br /> *SRD 1 = LANGEBEK 1772<br /> *SRD 2 = LANGEBEK 1773<br /> *SRD 3 = LANGEBEK 1774<br /> *SRD 4 = LANGEBEK &amp; SUHM 1776<br /> *SRD 5 = SUHM 1783<br /> *SRD 6 = SUHM 1786<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1783: SRD 5, Copenhagen.<br /> *SUHM , P.F. 1786: SRD 6, Copenhagen.<br /> *SZOMLAISKI, L. 1973: Yngre Sjællandske Krønike. Baggrund, tilblivelse og værdi (Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences 10), Odense.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1887: “Zur Kritik Dänischer Geschichtsquellen,” Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 12, 11–39.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1892: MGH SS 29<br /> *WESTPHALEN, E.J. VON 1739–1745: Monumenta inedita rerum Germanicarum præcipue Cimbricarum, et Megapolensium, quibus varia antiquitatum, historiarum, legum juriumque Germaniæ, speciatim Holsatiæ et Megapoleos vicinarumque regionum argumenta illustrantur, supplentur et stabiliuntur / e codicibus manuscriptis, menbranis et chartis authenticis erui studuit notulasque adjecit et cum præfatione instruxit Ernestus Joachimus de Westphalen, 1–4, Lipsiæ.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Medieval_Nordic_Literature_in_Latin_(MNLL)&diff=1146 2026-01-14T12:29:40Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>{{DISPLAYTITLE:Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL)}}<br /> {{DISPLAYTITLE:Wiki: Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL)}}Welcome to Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL) - an encyclopedia (wiki) which encompasses a range of Latin texts. These texts were written by authors who came from - or were connected to - the Nordic region during the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> From saints’ lives to chronicles and scholarly documents, medieval texts with Nordic origins reveal a vibrant intellectual culture beyond the Old Norse sagas. They reflect the Nordic region's integration into European intellectual and cultural life, with Latin serving as the language of scholarship and administration.  <br /> <br /> Browse entries by authors, anonymous works, saints, and genres to discover a lesser-known side of medieval Nordic history.<br /> <br /> [[File:CODICUM logo .png|alt=CODICUM|thumb|The content of &quot;Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin&quot; is being updated in 2025 as part of CODICUM, an ERC-funded research project (2025-2030). Photo: CODICUM]][[File:EU ERC logo.png|alt=ERC|thumb|This project is funded by the European Research Council, ERC. Photo: European Commission]][[File:Carmen gratulatorium.png|alt=Carmen gratulatorium|thumb|Medieval manuscripts offer glimpses into the intellectual and artistic life of the past. This one, for example, features a Latin gratulatory poem from medieval Scandinavia—''Carmen gratulatorium'', Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek C 233, 50v. Source: www.alvin-portal.org]]<br /> == About the MNLL encyclopedia (wiki) ==<br /> <br /> === Purpose ===<br /> The purpose of this wiki-website is to provide in-depth introductions to all known literary works written in Latin in the Nordic countries before the Reformation (ca 1530). <br /> <br /> We hope to document the breadth and importance of writings in Latin which have too often been treated as footnotes to the vernacular literatures. A recent survey essay on Nordic medieval Latin literature is L. B. Mortensen: Nordic Countries, in ''Latin Literatures of Medieval and Early Modern Times in Europe and Beyond. A Millennium Heritage'', edited by Francesco Stella et al., John Benjamins, 2024, pp. 221–34.<br /> <br /> * [[medieval:About|Read more about Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL)]]<br /> * [[Citation instructions|Read the citation instructions]]<br /> <br /> === Types of entries ===<br /> There are four types of entries: (1) named authors, (2) titles of anonymous works (3) saints, including legends, sermons, liturgical texts belonging to each Nordic saint (found under sanctus / sancta), (4) a few collective articles on genres such as Annales and Catalogi.<br /> <br /> === Founders and editors ===<br /> This site was founded by Stephan Borgehammar, Karsten Friis-Jensen (†), Lars Boje Mortensen and Åslaug Ommundsen.<br /> <br /> It is currently edited by Stephan Borgehammar, Lars Boje Mortensen, Åslaug Ommundsen and Steffen Hope.<br /> <br /> The site was first published in 2012 and went through a major update in 2025. Many articles are still in their 2012 version, but those with substantial 2025 updates contain an indication at the beginning of the entry. Updates are carried out as part of [https://www.codicum.eu/ the CODICUM project]. <br /> <br /> For a few texts where scholarship has greatly advanced since 2012 but in the entries are still awaiting a rewrite, we signal some key new bibliography. See [https://medieval.wiki.uib.no/Citation_instructions here] how to cite the handbook.<br /> <br /> ==Browse entries==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages&gt;Article&lt;/categorytree&gt;</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Arnfastus_Monachus&diff=1128 2026-01-06T01:44:50Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Steffen Hope<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Arnfastus Monachus''', Arnfast the Monk, is known from a single poem on the miracles related to St Knud king and martyr. The poem survives only in excerpts (see Summary of contents below). The poem is followed by the line ‘Arnfastus monachus hec composuit’ (Arnfast the monk composed this). The dating of the poem is uncertain (see Date and place below), but it was possibly composed in the mid-thirteenth century. Its content and purpose both suggest that Arnfast was a monk at the Abbey of St Knud in Odense.<br /> <br /> == Biography       ==<br /> Our only source to Arnfast’s historical existence is the line that attributes the poem to him. The title ‘monachus’ taken together with the subject of the poem – namely the veneration of St Knud – suggests that he was a Benedictine at the Church of St Knud. Given his use of several verse forms in the different sections of the poem, Arnfast was no doubt well educated in Latin poetry. As suggested by a reference in Annales Ripenses (see [[Annales Danici]]) (GERTZ 1912, 58; KROMAN 1980, 261), there is likely to have been kept a register of miracles at the Church of St Knud, either at the shrine or in the cathedral treasury (see De miraculis Sancti Kanuti regis et martyris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). Arnfast’s poem appears to be a versification of some of the miracles recorded here. Since Arnfast most likely worked from a register of miracles and therefore had access to the cathedral’s written records, it is possible – but not certain – that he might have been the cantor and/or the treasurer.               <br /> <br /> The question of when Arnfast lived and worked is inextricably linked to the discussion about the dating of the poem. Based on internal evidence, Gertz (1912, 59) suggests that the poem was written around 1250, while Hans Olrik (1893, 339-41) has used the same evidence to argue for a date in the mid-fifteenth century. For the details about this discussion, see Date and place below.<br /> <br /> == Work ==<br /> Excerpta quædam ex Arnfasti Monachi Poemate de miraculis S. Kanuti regis et martyris. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The current title is given by Gertz in his edition of the poem (GERTZ 1912, 58). Langebek (1774, 381) refers to the poem as ‘De miraculis S. Canuti Regis scripsisse quondam Arnfastum Monachum’ (On the miracles of St Knud the king, written by a certain Arnfast the monk). The manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. – then at Copenhagen University Library, now at the Royal Library – does not provide a title or headline for the text. (Additionally, in the index of Gertz’ ''Vitae Sanctorum Danorum'', Arnfast is described as ‘carmen de s. Canuti regis miraculis componit’, i.e. Arnfast who composed a song/poem on the miracles of St Knud the king. This description should not be understood as a title, however.) <br /> <br /> These postmedieval titles are descriptive scholarly constructions aimed to facilitate an easy way to reference and discuss the poem in question. It is possible that Arnfast’s poem did not originally have a title. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Fuit quidam puerulus''.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 4 printed pages in Gertz’ edition. 6 handwritten pages in Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. (For the number of lines in the poem, see Composition and style below.)<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen, 58-59 &amp; 163-66.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (Danish) OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968), 339-47. <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ 1908-12 (see Editions above). <br /> * OLRIK 1893-94 (see Translations above). <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> Since the poem only survives in a late and most likely excerpted copy, there is no codicological or palaeographical evidence to provide a timeframe for either Arnfast or the poem itself. Consequently, any arguments about the date of the poem can only be done through internal evidence. The ''terminus post quem'' is 1186/87, since the stanza on the healing of the woman from Jutland, stanza III, contains a reference to Bishop Simon of Odense (d. between 1183 and 1187) (OLRIK 1894, 339). Given the reference to this miracle story in the Annales Ripenses, where it is said that the story is recorded in the ‘book of St Knud’, Arnfast no doubt based his stanza on a miracle collection kept at Odense Cathedral. Consequently, Arnfast might have composed his poem a long time after the death of Bishop Simon.       <br /> <br /> The best starting point for suggesting a date for Arnfast’s poem is the devastating fire that ravaged Odense which is mentioned in stanza VI. Hans Olrik pointed out that since the stanza refers to this incident as ‘Nuper’, ‘recently’, it is likely that the poem is composed within a few years after the fire (OLRIK 1894, 340). Olrik noted that the surviving historical record provided two possible alternatives, namely the fire of 1247 when King Abel sacked Odense, and the fire of 1444 (OLRIK 1894, 340-41). Arguing that the poem would have specified that the fire was started by King Abel’s soldiers, Olrik favoured the second option and suggested that Arnfast composed the poem around 1450 (OLRIK 1894, 341). <br /> <br /> Martin Clarentius Gertz, on the other hand, argued that the fire in question was that of 1247. The basis for this argument is that the fire did not touch the ‘sanctuario’ in the Church of St Alban, which Gertz interpreted as Knud’s shrine (GERTZ 1912, 59). From this, Gertz argued that the shrine of St Knud had been kept at the Church of St Alban until it was translated to the new cathedral at the end of the thirteenth century. Gertz also suggested that the memory of Bishop Simon would not have resonated as strongly in the fifteenth century as it might have done in the mid-thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 59).   <br /> <br /> Neither scholar’s line of argumentation is particularly solid, and some important counterarguments must be mentioned here. The idea that Arnfast would have attributed the fire to King Abel is uncertain at best, as such an attribution might have been avoided for reasons of diplomacy and tact, seeing that Abel was, after all, a member of the royal family. Moreover, if the poem had been composed before the murder of King Erik Plovpenning in 1250, Abel might not have been as clear-cut an antagonist as modern commentators would expect. <br /> <br /> Gertz’s dating relies mainly on the translation of ‘sanctuario’ or ‘sanctuarium’ as ‘shrine’. However, an alternative translation is simply ‘sanctuary’ or ‘holiest of holies’. In this case, the word might refer to the choir of the church, as is how [[Ailnothus]] employs this term in chapter 28 of Gesta Swenomagni where Knud’s martyrdom takes place ‘ad orientem sanctuarii’, in the eastern part of the sanctuary (GERTZ 1912, 120). Since the last line of the poem is formulated as ‘Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur’, ‘whose body was buried there in the grave’, it seems that Arnfast attributes Knud’s protection of the Church of St Alban to the fact that this was where he was first buried after his martyrdom. Since Knud’s body had rested in a grave in St Alban’s, Knud was also protective of this holy space. Arnfast’s use of the word ‘tumulo’, ‘grave’, might mean that it is not the shrine but the first burial place that is importance for explaining Knud’s patronage of the Church of St Alban. This usage is also suggested when comparing with the first antiphon for Laudes in the office for St Knud, the Historia Kanuti. This antiphon concludes with the verses ‘miranda sunt post obitum / ad eius gesta tumulum’ (‘after his death, wonders were performed at his grave’) (HOPE 2017, LXXIII. Curiously, this word is also written out in a marginal comment to this antiphon in a copy of Breviarium Othoniense, now Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29, f.262). Finally, we must also note that Arnfastus himself uses the word ‘sacraria’ in stanza V when referring to the shrine of St Knud, although this might be due to scansion. Consequently, Gertz’s argument about Knud’s shrine being placed in the Church of St Alban in the mid-thirteenth century is far from certain.     <br /> <br /> Finally, Gertz’s suggestion that the memory of Bishop Simon would rather have been evoked in the thirteenth century than in the fifteenth century is possible. However, if Arnfast had used the now-lost miracle collection kept at the shrine of St Knud, the name of Simon might have been part of a familiar story often recounted to the monastic community at the feast of St Knud.            <br /> <br /> While we can never be entirely sure about the date of Arnfast’s poem, it is interesting to see its catalogue of miracles in light of the second anonymous Passio Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris (now known as Passio II), which is an adaptation of Ailnoth of Canterbury’s Gesta Swenomagni of uncertain date (GERTZ 1912, 536). Both the anonymous author and Arnfast refer to two of the same miracles, namely the healing of the woman from Jutland and the healing of Esbern. The anonymous author claims to have witnessed the healing of Esbern personally, and the lack of such a claim on Arnfast’s part led Gertz to suggest that the anonymous author wrote earlier than Arnfast but that both were active in the first half of the thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 537). That both the anonymous author and Arnfast included these miracles suggests that they both wrote in a time when the stories in question circulated actively, at least within the monastic community at the Church of St Knud, and it is therefore reasonable to follow Gertz’s suggestion that the two authors were relatively close in time. Since I have elsewhere argued that the anonymous Passio II was composed in the second quarter of the thirteenth century, in agreement with Gertz, I believe a mid-thirteenth-century date for Arnfast’s poem is the most likely (HOPE 2025, 24, 40). (However, see also BJERREGAARD 2025 for arguments about a later date.) <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> In its surviving form, the poem consists of six stanzas. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 recounts the healing of the boy or young man (‘puerulus’) Hesbernulus at the shrine of Saint Knud Rex in Odense cathedral. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is a general praise for the many miracles wrought at the shrine of the saint-king, and an exhortation that these miracles be recounted and not consigned to oblivion. <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 recounts how a high-born woman from Jutland, whose body was contracted, was healed at the cathedral of Odense. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 tells of a dispute between two of the Abbey of St Knud’s tenant farmers concerning a stolen horse. The thief swears his innocence and is punished by madness for his false oath. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 concerns the healing of a mute girl who was possessed by a demon. <br /> <br /> Stanza 6 reports how a fire ravaged the city of Odense, but the basilica of St Alban’s was saved due to St Knud’s intervention, since this church had been his original resting-place.      <br /> <br /> As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the surviving text-witness to the poem appears to be a transcription of a selection of excerpts from the original poem. The excerptor has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose (see Composition and style below). It is therefore likely that the original poem was longer, and that it contained several more stories.<br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> As has been noted by GERTZ (1912, 59), the poem in its surviving form is most likely the result of a later excerptor (see Medieval reception and transmission below). The poem is not written in one single metre, and the form of each individual stanza must therefore be analysed separately. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 is rendered in prose, possibly – as per Gertz’ suggestion – by a later editor or excerptor of the poem. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse typical of liturgical poetry. The stanza consists of 33 lines with the rhyming pattern aab. The first two lines of each rhyming section both have nine syllables with a paroxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the penultimate syllable. The third line has seven syllables with a proparoxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the antepenultimate syllable. The scheme of the stanza can be summarised accordingly: 9p+9p+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 10 lines. After the seventh and the tenth line is a line in prose. It is unclear whether these prose lines are part of the original poem. That the first prose line contains the spelling “Othensö” rather than, for example, “Othensia”, suggests that this line is written by a late-medieval editor. The rhyming pattern is: aaab + aab + aab. The syllable scheme is: 9p+9p+9p+7pp, 9p+9p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 36 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aaab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8p+8p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 21 lines. The eighth and ninth lines are lost. The rhyming pattern is: aab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 6: is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 16 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aa. The syllable scheme is: 13p+13p.<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> The miracle stories in stanzas 1, 3, 4, and 5 appear to have been part of the institutional historical memory at the Abbey of St Knud by the time Arnfastus versified them. This memory would have been maintained through oral as well as written accounts. It is possible that these stories were based on the now-lost collection of miracles kept at St Knud’s shrine (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). These stories might also have been informed by orally transmitted collective memory. For instance, the reference to Bishop Simon of Odense in stanza 3 was probably part of an institutional history that was transmitted orally by senior monks to the novices. The episcopacy of Simon had been a period of institutional expansion (JENSEN 2011), and we might imagine that Simon was a figure who served as an important reference point in the continuous maintenance of institutional identity at the Abbey of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The story in stanza 6 appears to have been based on Arnfastus’ own recollection of the events. <br /> <br /> The story of Hesbernulus, or Esbern, in stanza 1 is also recounted in the younger anonymous Passio Kanuti Regis et Martiris (see [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]), whose author claims to have been an eyewitness to the event. It is possible that Arnfastus knew of the anonymous Passio, but since this work was composed for an ecclesiastical community outside Odense (GERTZ 1912, 533-34; HOPE 2025, 28-30), it is more likely that Arnfastus drew on the now-lost miracle collection instead. <br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> Since stanza 2 emphasises the importance of commemoration, we can infer that the main purpose of Arnfastus’ poem was to commit the miracles of St Knud to institutional memory. Some of these stories were probably already recorded in the now-lost miracle collection, while the story of the fire appears to be a new addition to the saint-king’s catalogue of interventions on behalf of the living. In addition to the institutional context, we should also understand Arnfastus’ decision to versify these miracle accounts as an expression of his personal veneration of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The two main purposes of Arnfastus’ poem point to two main sets of audiences. From the institutional perspective, the intended audience was the rest of the Benedictine community at the Abbey of St Knud, and the poem served to remind the ministrants at St Knud’s shrine that their patron saint intervened on their behalf and deserved their praise and veneration. We should probably also expect that the poem was intended for the ears of other ecclesiastical communities in Odense. In particular, Arnfastus might have had in mind the clerics at the Church of St Alban, as the miracle in stanza 6 pertained to their house and served as a reminder that St Knud was also their patron on account of the historical connection between the church and Knud’s martyrdom. From an institutional perspective, we should perhaps also expect that the inclusion of a miracle that protected another institution could serve to remind the clerics of the Church of St Alban that they ranked below the cathedral in the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the diocese of Odense. The first set of audiences was, therefore, the wider ecclesiastical echelon of both the city and the diocese of Odense.<br /> <br /> The second set of audiences was St Knud himself, and also God. Since the poem served as an expression of personal devotion towards the patron saint of Odense cathedral, Arnfastus expected that the saint would recognise the veneration offered by the monk. The inclusion of God in the overview of intended audiences stems from the theological belief that by divine omnipotence, God would hear whatever was directed at the saints, as the saints were the ambassadors of the living in the court of God. <br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The only surviving record of Arnfastus’ poem is the manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. at the Royal Library in Copenhagen (ff.38r-40v). This is a transcription from the late seventeenth or the early eighteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 58). As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the version of the poem transmitted in this manuscript is likely recorded by an excerptor who has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose. The work of the excerptor suggests that Arnfastus’ poem was part of a living institutional memory at the cathedral of Odense, as it would have been preserved long enough for the excerptor to record his rendition of the poem. Even though the poem is likely to have been known and read at the cathedral of Odense – and possibly also at the Church of St Alban (see Purpose and audience above) – the transmission of the poem was most probably limited to the ecclesiastical milieux in Odense. <br /> <br /> It is possible that the miracle story concerning the fire in Odense might have been recorded in the now-lost miracle collection at the shrine of St Knud in Odense cathedral (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). <br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> <br /> * BJERREGAARD, M. M. 2025: “The younger passio of Cnut the Holy – Hagiography and Archaeology,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 35-52. <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen. <br /> * HOPE, S. 2017: Constructing institutional identity through the cult of royal saints, c.1050-c.1200, Odense.<br /> * HOPE, S. 2025: “The Younger Passio Kanuti – a reassessment of its historical context, its author, and its purpose,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 19-33.<br /> * JENSEN, E. L. 2011: “Simon - biskop”, in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. <br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek, Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol.<br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29. <br /> * LANGEBEK, J. 1772: Scriptores rerum danicarum medii aevi. 3, Copenhagen.<br /> * OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968).<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Ericus_Olai&diff=1127 2026-01-06T01:00:23Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Biörn Tjällén<br /> <br /> '''Ericus Olai''' or Erik Olofsson (d. 1486), Uppsala ecclesiastic, theologian and liturgical poet, was the first to write a Latin history of the Swedish realm from the birth of Christ to his own time (''c''.1471), the Chronica regni Gothorum. <br /> <br /> - see also [[Olavus Johannis Guto]] <br /> <br /> ==Biography==<br /> The date and the place of his birth are not known. However, his matriculation at the University of Rostock in the year 1447 as “Ericus Olaui de Upsalia” suggests that he was born in the later 1420s, and had his first education at the cathedral school of Uppsala. His grave slab (now lost) bore no indication of a noble birth. In 1452 Ericus passed his degree of magister artium in Rostock, and he possibly also obtained his Baccalaureate in Theology there a few years later. In his later years, in 1475, Ericus travelled to the University of Siena in Italy where he was made Master of Theology.<br /> <br /> The progression of Ericus’s ecclesiastical carrier can be assembled from charters pertaining to the Uppsala Cathedral. In 1456 he appears as prebendary, and in 1459 as a canon at the cathedral chapter. After 1472 Ericus obtained the dignity of scolasticus, and in 1479 he advanced to the deanery. At some point in the 1460s, during the hardships caused by Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson’s involvement in the political power struggles of the time, Ericus appears as a representative of the Uppsala chapter. His later years were devoted to teaching. From its first year in existence in 1477 and until 1485 Ericus taught theology at Uppsala University. As a theologian Ericus was not very original. He was not influenced by nominalist theological notions, but can be characterized as a conservative and as a Thomist (PILTZ 1977).<br /> <br /> After his death, Ericus acquired a reputation of sainthood. Instances of pilgrimage to Ericus (helge doktor Erik) – presumably to his grave in Uppsala – are known. Notions of his sanctity also appear in manuscripts or early prints of his works. It is attested that God performs miracles in recognition of Ericus’s merits (per cuius merita deus iugiter facit miracula), he is invoked (O pie Pater […] sancta tua conscientia) and he carries an epithet to this effect (beatus dominus Ericus).<br /> <br /> ==Works==<br /> Ericus was a prolific author. His known works cover areas of historical writing, liturgical poetry, biblical hermeneutics, and commentaries on Scripture and theological writings. His doctoral oration in Siena, Oracio de laudibus sanctissime theologie, is known to us only by name. At least five of his theological texts are however preserved through lecture notes taken by one of his students in Uppsala, [[Olavus Johannis Guto]] (ed. PILTZ 1977). Ericus commented on the New Testament (Matthew), Bonaventura’s Breviloquium, Hugh of St. Victor’s De tribus diebus, and on Peter of Blois’s De confessione. The commentaries on the Sunday Gospels and on Revelation preserved by this student are possibly also by his hand. In his most original contribution in the field of theology, the Regulae sacrae theologiae (ed. STEGMÜLLER 1953), Ericus puts forth a set of rules to apply in the interpretation of Scripture. In this text, he emphasizes ecclesiastical authority as the ultimate basis of the credibility of revelation. Ericus also wrote poetry. He composed a sacred song in Swedish, Een rikir man (A wealthy man; ed. princeps Uppsala ca. 1515). The Latin historia (a versified officium) in honour of the patron saints of Sweden, Festum patronorum regni Suecie (Iocundare mater ecclesia; ed. HELANDER 1989), is anonymously transmitted but probably his work.<br /> <br /> Ericus’s post-medieval fame is based on his Chronica regni Gothorum or Chronicle of the Realm of the Goths, the first Latin prose chronicle of Swedish history (ed. Heuman &amp; Öberg 1993. It provides an account of the history of the Swedish realm from the birth of Christ up to the early 1470s. <br /> <br /> ===Chronica regni Gothorum===<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Corpus Cristi misticum, quod est ecclesia, cuius ipse caput est principale,''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Sed in uanum laborauerunt, quotquot ad hanc iniquitatem extenderunt manus suas.'' <br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> 170 pages.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> * MESSENIUS, J. 1615: Historia Suecorum Gothorumque, Stockholm.<br /> * LOCCENIUS, J. 1654: Historia Suecorum Gothorumque, Stockholm.<br /> * FANT, J. 1828: &quot;Chronica Erici Olai&quot;, in SRS 2.<br /> * HEUMAN, E. &amp; ÖBERG, J 1993: Ericus Olai Chronica regni Gothorum. Textkritische Ausgabe, Stockholm.<br /> <br /> ====Translations====<br /> * (Swedish) SYLVIUS, J. 1678: The Swenskes och Göthers Historia, Stockholm. <br /> * (Swedish) BERGGREN, P.G. 1901: Svensk historia enligt samtida skildringar, ser. 2, Stockholm, 7-42 (extract: the Engelbrekt uprising).<br /> * (Swedish) AILI, H., FERM, O., GUSTAVSON, H. 1990: Röster från svensk medeltid, Stockholm, 304-21 (extracts from the prologue and the Engelbrekt uprising).<br /> <br /> ====Date and place====<br /> An allusion to the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471 at the end of the narrative marks that year as a terminus post quem for the last section of the Chronica. The more precise dates of origin and completion of the work, and the questions of its possible instigators and of the intended audience, remain debatable. FERM (1993) polemized with the traditional idea that King Karl Knutsson (r.1448-1457, 1464-1465, 1467-1470), supported by the Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson, ordered the Chronica to be written with European readers in mind, and with the consequent dating of its completion to the years 1467-1470. Instead, he argued that the Chronica was completed in the years 1471-1477, that the initiative came from the new archbishop, Jakob Ulfsson, and that the purpose of writing was to instruct the clergy of the Cathedral of Uppsala. ÖBERG (1995) argued for a protracted time of production of the text, begun in the 1450s and carried on until the years between the death of King Karl Knutsson 1470 and Ericus’s own journey to Siena in 1475. ÖBERG held that Ericus was inspired in this undertaking by the archbishop of his youth, Nicolaus Ragvaldi (d. 1448), and that he was intent on circulating his work to the learned public of Europe.<br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents====<br /> Ericus declares the organizing principle of his compendium of the history of the Swedish realm in the beginning of chapter 4, and then again in the beginning of chapter 6: <br /> <br /> &quot;Cronicam regni Gothorum&quot; vtcumque scripturus et, qui archipresules Vpsalensem metropolim rexerant cum regibus illic presidentibus, vel breui relatu dicturus exordium narrandi a Cristi […] natiuitate […] presumendum institui. <br /> <br /> This intended programme, to depict the history of the realm from the birth of Christ and according to the succession of kings and bishops exercising authority from Uppsala, follows the ecclesiological considerations put forth by Ericus in the beginning of his prologue. There, Ericus declares that God has instituted a twofold government, spiritual and temporal, and that he has chosen Uppsala as the locus for the exercise of authority of the royal and episcopal representatives (pontificalis auctoritas et regalis potestas) of this order in Sweden. This argument is not unique in medieval historical writing. It is likely that Ericus was inspired by Martin of Troppau’s Chronicon summorum pontificum imperatorumque whose historiographical schema of successive Roman popes and emperors could be repeated on the level of national history in the guise of archbishops and kings ruling from Uppsala. This programme, however, has been unevenly realized throughout the text. This is largely a consequence of Ericus’s dependence on historical writing representing an institutional stance different from his own: in his sources he has found more to retell concerning the kings than the archbishops, and all kings concerned have not resided in Uppsala. Ericus adhered to contemporary Gothicist views on history, according to which Sweden was the home of the ancient Goths. He provides remarks to this effect in his prologue and when discussing the kings of the earliest, mythical, time of the realm. <br /> <br /> ====Composition and style====<br /> As a Latin stylist Ericus has kept to the traditional late Medieval Latin and has not been influenced by the ideals of the Italian renaissance (ÖBERG 1995).<br /> <br /> ====Sources====<br /> Ericus compiled his narrative primarily from the Swedish vernacular tradition of chronicles that flourished in the later Middle Ages (such as the Erikskrönika, Karlskrönika, Prosaiska krönika, and the Historia Sancti Olai). He also made use of Latin annals and historical works such as the so-called Compendium Saxonis and the chronicle of Martin of Troppau, as well as hagiographical texts for Swedish saints. In addition to these narrative sources Ericus used historical documents, some of which are now lost. <br /> <br /> ====Purpose and audience====<br /> From Uppsala, Ericus witnessed the last four decades or so of the period that he covered in his narrative. The Chronica provides insights into attitudes and ideas circulating in the clerical milieu at the Uppsala Cathedral at the time of its composition. With his goal to single out the importance of Uppsala in the history of the realm and to focus on episcopal and royal authority alike, Ericus vindicated an ambitious self-image for the Uppsala Cathedral in its relation to the Swedish realm as a whole. Instances in the text (FERM 1993) also indicate that the clerics at his own cathedral were the audience primarily intended for the Chronica. With the dualist notion of societal authority and the insistence that kings and bishops are not to transgress the boundaries of their respective offices, Ericus catered for the needs of his contemporary cathedral chapter. Such a theme was relevant to an Uppsala chapter concerned with the interventionist policies of the kings into the affairs of ecclesiastical appointments throughout the century. And it was of acute importance in the 1460s through the involvement of Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson (towards whom Ericus is fairly critical) in temporal affairs. Also, in the 1460s, the conflicts within the Kalmar Union were particularly fierce. With his national history, stressing the existence of the Swedes as an ancient people (through Gothicism) with a long and unbroken line of kings (up until the time of Magnus Eriksson after which the realm was governed by unjust foreign rulers), Ericus affirmed the legitimacy of the Swedish claims of sovereignty towards the Danish rulers of the union. Through the composition of the Chronica, Ericus contributed to the political mobilization that occurred within leading circles of Sweden in the 1470s. At the same time, he sought to secure the role of his own ecclesiastical institution as the prime spiritual ward of the realm.<br /> <br /> ====Medieval reception and transmission====<br /> The Chronica has been preserved in only three medieval manuscript copies from the first decades of the sixteenth century (on which the modern critical edition is based): Uppsala, University Library, E3; Stockholm, Royal Library, codex Regius D 9, and Stockholm, National Archives, cod. E 8946 (Skokloster I 4° 48). The E 3 from 1528 is known to have been copied by a prebendary in Uppsala, Laurencius Laurencii. Nothing is known about the provenance, scribes or possible commissioners of the D9 from 1508 and E 8946 from 1517-19.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> Literature prior to 1951: see NYGREN 1951 below. <br /> * FERM, O. 1993: “När och för vem skrev Ericus Olai sin Chronica regni Gothorum,” in Lychnos, 151-67.<br /> * FERM, O. &amp; TJÄLLÉN, B. 2004: “Ericus Olai’s Chronica regni Gothorum,” in Scandinavian Journal of History 14, 79-90<br /> * GRÄNSTRÖM, C. 1969: Studier kring några av källorna till Ericus Olais verk Chronica regni Gothorum (unpublished licentiate thesis, University of Lund). <br /> * HELANDER, S. 1989: Ansgarskulten i Norden, Stockholm, 259-65.<br /> * HEUMAN, E. &amp; ÖBERG, J. (eds.) 1993: Chronica regni Gothorum, Stockholm.<br /> * Hohenthal, C. 2025: Textens ritualer och historieskrivningens gränser. En undersökning av fyra svenska historieverk från 1400- och 1500-talen, Uppsala.<br /> * HÄRDELIN, A. 2005: Världen som yta och fönster. Spiritualitet i medeltidens Sverige, Stockholm, 256-258.<br /> * JOHANNESSON, K. 1984: “Adam och hednatemplet i Uppsala,” in Adam av Bremen. Historien om Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar, Stockholm, 385-86, 389.<br /> * KÄLVEMARK, A.-S. (Ohlander) 1974: “Ericus Olai, Engelbrekt och Karl Knutsson,” in Personhistorisk Tidskrift, 44-50.<br /> * KUMLIEN, K. 1979: Historieskrivning och kungadöme i svensk medeltid, Stockholm.<br /> * LINDROTH, S. 1975: Svensk lärdomshistoria 1, Stockholm, 139-42, 164-66. <br /> * LÖNNROTH, E. 1961: “Ericus Olai som politiker” (1952), in Från svensk medeltid (1961), Stockholm, 127-42.<br /> * NYGREN, E. 1951: “Ericus Olai,” in Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon 14, Stockholm, 216-42. <br /> * NYGREN, E. 1957: “Cronica regni Gothorum,” in KLNM 2, Malmö, cols. 603-4. <br /> * NYRIN-HEUMAN, E. 1944: Källkritiska, textkritiska och språkliga studier till Ericus Olai: Chronica Gothorum, Lund.<br /> * ÖBERG, J. 1995: Ericus Olai. Chronica regni Gothorum II. Prolegomena und Indizes, Stockholm.<br /> * PILTZ, A. 1977: Studium Upsalense, Uppsala.<br /> * ROSÉN, J. 1956: “Till diskussionen om Ericus Olais källor,” in Archivistica et Mediaevistica E. Nygren oblata, Stockholm, 312-20. <br /> * SCHÜCK, H. 1976: Rikets brev och register, Stockholm, 40-59.<br /> * STEGMÜLLER, F. (ed.) 1953: Analecta upsaliensia, Uppsala.<br /> * TJÄLLÉN, B. 2007: Church and nation: the discourse on authority in Ericus Olai's Chronica regni Gothorum, Stockholm.<br /> * Tjällén, B. 2025: ”Vem läste Historia Sancti Olai och varför”, in Sankt Olav och grannfolken. En svensk rimkrönika om en norsk helgonkung, Uppsala, 101–141. <br /> * Tjällén B. 2026: “Praise of Creation and Praise of the Land: Hugh of St Victor, Ericus Olai, and the Chronica regni Gothorum”, in The Order of Saint Victor in Medieval Scandinavia, Turnhout.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Annales_Suecici&diff=1126 2026-01-05T14:56:13Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Stephan Borgehammar and Göte Paulsson<br /> <br /> The twelve extant series or sets of annals from Sweden may be divided into two groups, an older and a younger one, with a solitary set in between. The older group contains three sets completed in the period ca. 1265–1325, while the younger group contains eight sets compiled ca. 1420–1475. The Annales 1208–1434, previously regarded as belonging to the younger group, exists in an earlier form written at the beginning of the fifteenth century, and should thus be placed between the two groups. Annalistic material pertaining chiefly to Sweden is also found in the diaries of three convents, [[Diarium fratrum minorum Stockholmensium]], [[Diarium fratrum minorum Visbyensium]] and [[Diarium Vadstenense]]. The Annales 826–1415 or Chronologia anonymi is in this handbook treated as a work by [[Paulus Helie]].<br /> <br /> Four of the sets of annals exist in original manuscripts, i.e. manuscripts in which the process of compilation can be studied: Annales 916–1263, 1160–1336 and 266–1430, and the Chronica Visbyensis 815–1444. The others are copies of lost originals.<br /> <br /> Although the extant sets of annals are few and rather small, it would appear that not much of the medieval Swedish annalistic tradition has been lost. Quotations of annals in the Chronica regni Gothorum by [[Ericus Olai]] and in sixteenth-century works are often textually superior to the preserved annals, but seldom contain any additional factual information.<br /> <br /> The annalists are mainly based in Franciscan and Dominican convents but also in some of the cathedral chapters. With one modest exception (Nydala monastery in Småland), the Cistercians monasteries are not represented in the Swedish material (cf. [[Annales Danici]]).<br /> <br /> The most accurate and interesting information in a set of annals is usually found at the end of the text in question, where compilers record contemporary events. The Swedish sets are therefore presented here roughly in the order of their completion. After the presentation of each set relevant literature is adduced chronologically, in abbreviated form; the full alphabetical bibliography appears at the end of the article. <br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Annales Danici]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Diarium fratrum minorum Stockholmensium]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Diarium fratrum minorum Visbyensium]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Diarium Vadstenense]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Ericus Olai]]<br /> <br /> - see also [[Paulus Helie]]<br /> <br /> ==Annales 916–1263==<br /> Also called Chronologia vetus Sveo-Danica 916–1263, Chronologia vetus ab anno 816[!] ad annum 1263 and Annales Dano-Suecani 916–1263; the section 1130–1254 is in Danish literature sometimes called Dominican Annals until 1254.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini Dcccc°xvi°. Dani ad fidem conuersi per Poponem diaconum …''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''M°cclxiij. Magnus legifer mortuus. Magister ordinis absolutus frater Humbertus. Mcclxiiij … Mcccxv.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Uppsala, University Library, C 70, fols. 1r–2r. Facsimile: CCD 5, 69–72.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * BENZELIUS 1709, 14–17 <br /> * SRD 2, 166–68 <br /> * SRS 1:1, 47–50 <br /> * STEENSTRUP 1874–1876, 364–67 <br /> * MGH SS 29, 183–85; AD, 130–31 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 252–57 <br /> * KROMAN 1980, 12–15<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> Two hands have been at work on the manuscript: the older one has written the annals 1130–1254, which mostly record Danish events; the younger one (possibly two different hands) has entered annals for 1255–1263 as well as a significant number of complementary additions and also new material (28 entries) to the original text. Thus, the initial annal on the conversion of Denmark is an addition by the younger hand, which maintains interest in Denmark while paying increased attention to Swedish events. The older hand seems to have been a Danish Dominican, probably working in Lund or Roskilde; he draws on the annalistic tradition of Lund. The younger hand was most likely a Dominican in Skänninge, or Sigtuna, Sweden, who used Danish annals and information from calendars.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> BENZELIUS 1709, STEENSTRUP 1874–1876, JØRGENSEN 1920 (=AD), BOLIN 1931, KROMAN 1936, GALLÉN 1940, GALLÉN 1946, AXELSON 1955, AXELSON 1956, EINARSDÓTTIR 1965, KRISTENSEN 1969, PAULSSON 1974, KUMLIEN 1979.<br /> <br /> ==Annales 1208–1288==<br /> Also called Annales Sigtunenses/Sigtuna Annals (cf. Annales 266–1430 below), Skänninge Annals and Ängsö Annals. The name Annales Sigtunenses was introduced by C. Annerstedt, whose theory about the provenance of this set has since been abandoned.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''M°cc°viij°. Bellum fuit in Lenum. Swerkerus fugatus est …''<br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''M°cc°lxxx°viii°. Frater Geronimus minister fratrum minorum generalis electus est in papam … rapuit dominus Folko filius domini Algotj legiferi Osgotorum.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Ängsö castle, four endleaves in a fifteenth-century liturgical book; photocopies in Uppsala University Library, E 219 c.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * KLEMMING 1870 <br /> * SRS 3:1, 1–7 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 258–64<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The text is a copy from ca. 1300 with many errors. Ericus Olai has had a better version of the same series of annals at his disposal. The preserved copy ends in the middle of the annal for 1288, whereas Ericus Olai cites complete annals for 1288 and 1289. The original was composed in the 1290s, probably in Skänninge: the annals concerning Sweden are often the same as in the Annales 916–1263 (particularly in the period 1208–1238) and there is a similar concern with Dominican affairs. Sources include Jordanus de Saxonia’s Libellus de principiis ordinis praedicatorum, Gerardus de Fracheto’s Vitae fratrum ordinis praedicatorum, and Danish annals, in particular the Annales Ryenses (Saga age–1288).<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> ANNERSTEDT 1871 (= SRS 3:1), EK 1930, BOLIN 1931, GALLÉN 1940, GALLÉN 1952, SCHÜCK 1952, LUNDSTRÖM 1957, PAULSSON 1974, KUMLIEN 1979.<br /> <br /> ==Annales 1160–1320==<br /> Also called Annales 1160–1336 (but the entry 1336 was written in Vadstena and must be regarded as the first entry of the [[Diarium Vadstenense]]), Incerti scriptoris Sveci chronicon rerum Sveogothicarum ab anno 1160 ad annum 1320 gestarum and Uppsala Annals.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini M°C°lx°. Passus fuit Vpsalensium rex et martyr beatus Ericus xv kalendas junii …''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''M°CCC°xx° Decollatus fuit domicellus Magnus Birgeri regis filius. M°CCC°xxj. M°CCC°xxij.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Uppsala, University Library, C 92, fols. 4v–9r.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * CELSIUS 1705; SRD 4, 588–96 <br /> * SRS 1:1, 83–88 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 265–73<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The manuscript originally formed the first part of the &gt;Diarium Vadstenense (Uppsala, University Library, C 89), from which it was detached at some time before 1700. The detached pages contain a set of annals apparently composed at the cathedral of Uppsala. The chief part of the set, covering 1160–1307, is written by a single hand. Roughly contemporary hands have made some minor additions, including annals for 1314, 1317 and 1320. Another nine additions were made by a Vadstena friar in the first half of the fifteenth century, with entries for 1250, 1251, 1260 (two entries), 1266, 1275, 1290, 1297 and 1302. The entries 1160–1274 have little over and above what the earlier Dominican annals contain; there is more of interest 1275–1307, particularly as regards ecclesiastical matters. The focus in the latter period is on the Cathedral of Uppsala, and a continuation, written in Uppsala in the 1310s has existed but is now lost.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> CELSIUS 1705 (Notae, pp. 13–77), ANNERSTEDT 1871 (= SRS 3:1, pp. V–VI), NYGREN 1924, BOLIN 1931, ROSÉN 1956, PAULSSON 1974, KUMLIEN 1979, GEJROT 1988.<br /> <br /> ==Annales 1208–1434 (1398)==<br /> Scholarly studies have hitherto most frequently referred to the Old Swedish translation (late fifteenth century), called Annotata chronologica Arvidi Trolle.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini MCCCxvij capti fuerunt domini duces Ericus et Valdemarus.''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> MS B: ''Anno Domini M°CCClx &lt;ter&gt;tio venit dominus &lt;Albertus&gt;.''<br /> <br /> MS E: ''Item anno Domini M°CDxxxiiij … ipse Engilbertus vicebat in Swecia xxiiij castra.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscripts====<br /> B = Stockholm, Royal Library, (Holm.) B 55, fol. 160v; E = Stockholm, National Archives, Skoklostersaml. E 9047, fol. 9r.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 348–50 (the Old Swedish translation in SRS 1:1, 236–37)<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The set begins with annals for 1317, 1336, 1348 and 1350 (MS E adds 1365). Then follow, in chronological order, sixteen annals for 1208–1398. After this, MS B adds an annal for 1363(?), instead of which MS E has one for 1434. The text is related to that of Annales 916–1430 and Annales 1298–1473; its relation to the so-called Annales X has not been clarified.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> PAULSSON 1974.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Annales 266–1430==<br /> Also called Chronologia ab anno 266 ad annum 1430, Annales Sigtunenses, and The Younger Sigtuna Annals (cf. Annales 1208–1288 above). The connection with Sigtuna was made by Carl Gustav Nordin ca. 1800 but has long been abandoned, and a strong link with Strängnäs (the Dominican convent and the cathedral chapter) has been established.<br /> <br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno ab incarnacione Domini CClxvi crux Domini inuenta est.''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''M°CD°xxx. Obiit illustrissima principissa Philippa … in nocte epiphanie Domini … qui custodiat animam suam in eternum.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, (Holm.) B 17, fols. 113r–19r.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * SRS 1:1, 22–32 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 275–92<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The main hand wrote the annals for 266–1413 in the 1420s; a different hand added the last annal (1430) after 1442. There is a lacuna from 1200 to 1252. PAULSSON 1974 identifies a possible author: Nils Birgersson (Sparre av Hjulsta och Ängsö), deacon at the cathedral of Strängnäs ca. 1390–ca. 1420, dead 1426. The annals are based on numerous different sources which may be roughly described as follows: 266–530 is a separate introductory section with rather faulty information on certain Church Fathers; 1113–1200 is based on material similar to the older Swedish and Danish annals, but twelve entries 1166–1189 are chronologically misplaced (forty-six years too early on average); 1200 – 1252 is missing due to the fact that the folio containing these entries was lost already when the volume was bound; 1252–1289 has a source similar to Annales 1208–1288; 1290–1320 contains unique material; 1320–1330 is similar to Annales 1298–1473; the annals from 1330 onward are independent of other annals, and from ca. 1390 the compiler records contemporary events. On fol. 117r (266-1200) there are twelve interpolations chronologically misplaced (forty-six years too early on average). This anomaly has caused a prolonged and speculative discussion without a tenable answer.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> SCHÄFER 1872, EK 1930, BOLIN 1931, STADE 1939, PAULSSON 1974, AXELSON 1975–1976, KUMLIEN 1979.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Annales 916–1430==<br /> Also called Chronologia vetusta ab anno 880 ad annum 1430, and Chronologiska antekningar 826–1430 (the first year, which is very faint in the manuscript, was misread by the early editors), or Annals of the Greyfriars (on which name see further below).<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''dccccxvj. Dani ad fidem conuersi sunt per Poponem diaconum …''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Mcdxxx. Obiit illustrissima domina Philippa … Watzstenis et ibidem sepulta.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, (Holm.) D 4, fols. 200r–202r.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * SRS 1:1, 61–66 <br /> * EKDAHL 1832, 3-18 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 293–301<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The manuscript is a rather careless copy, probably executed in Vadstena in the early 1430s, not long after the composition of the original. Three sections may be discerned: 916–ca. 1290, based on Swedish annals of the older kind, in a revised redaction from the late fourteenth century; ca. 1290–ca. 1390, based on a source which has been called Annales X, a source also used by Annales 1298–1473 and perhaps by Annales 1208–1434 (1398), and composed no earlier than the end of the fourteenth century, perhaps as late as after 1430 (according to PAULSSON 1974 modifying an earlier “Annales Triplices” theory – Paulsson’s view was rejected by AXELSON 1975–76 but supported by KUMLIEN 1979, 44–45); and ca. 1390–1430, being eight annals composed by the original compiler in the 1420s. The name commonly used in modern times, Annals of the Greyfriars, is due to the fact that some twenty entries have clear parallels in the [[Diarium fratrum minorum Stockholmensium]]. The nature of the connection between these two documents, however, is not clear.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> ERSLEV 1881–82, SCHÄFER 1872, WESTMAN 1904, ANDERSSON 1928, BOLIN 1931, PAULSSON 1974, AXELSON 1975–76, KUMLIEN 1979.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Chronica Visby(c)ensis 815–1444==<br /> Also called Chronologia Svecica ex codice minoritarum Wisbyensium ab anno 815 ad annum 1412.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini Octingentesimo quinto decimo Dani cum Haraldo rege ipsorum ad fidem conuersi sunt.''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini Mcdxl quarto obijt notabilis vir et promotor conuentus dompnus Henricus van der Lippe … cuius anima in perpetua pace requiescat.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, (Holm.) B 99, pp. 43–49.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * LUDEWIG 1731, 176–93 (begins on pp. 175–76 with a few other annals from the same manuscript) <br /> * SRD 1, 256–66 (mixed with other annals from the same manuscript) <br /> * SRS 1:1, 39–47 (incomplete) <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 315–25<br /> * ODELMAN and MELEFORS 2008, 52-69 (with a Swedish translation)<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The manuscript is originally a necrological calendar from the Franciscan convent of Visby, to which obituary and annalistic texts of various kinds have been added. The Chronica Visbyensis is the longest addition of an annalistic character. It was composed in stages by one main hand, whose last entry is from 1412. A contemporary hand made additions for 1410 and 1412, while later hands have made additions for 1437 and 1444. The Chronica has two main sections. The first consists of annals 815–1344 and includes a list of the descendants of Sven Estridsen at the year 1202. The second section, on Nordic history 1360–1412, begins with an account of the murder of the Danish king Erik Klipping in 1286 and the ancestors of King Valdemar of Denmark. It has a more narrative character and is more properly a chronicle. From about 1390 the Chronica concentrates so much on Gotland that some would like to see here the beginning of a third distinct section. The sources are varied and cannot be determined with certainty; for some events the chronicler seems to have had original documents at his disposal.<br /> <br /> For other annalistic entries in the manuscript, a conspectus of its contents and more detailed information on the various editions, see [[Diarium fratrum minorum Visbyensium]].<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> SCHÄFER 1872, VON DER ROPP 1876, ERSLEV 1881–82, LINDSTRÖM 1892, ANDERSSON 1928, ENGSTRÖM 1929, NYGREN 1929, BOLIN 1931, THORDEMAN 1944, HÖGLUND 1953, AXELSON 1961, TORTZEN 1961, AXELSON 1963, BLOM 1972, PAULSSON 1974, KUMLIEN 1979, ODELMAN and MELEFORS 2008.<br /> <br /> ==Annales Karoli Andreae 1350–1446==<br /> Also called Caroli Andreæ monachi Vadstenensis chronologia brevis rerum Svethicarum 1389–1444, and Caroli Andreae chronologia rerum Svecicarum ab anno 1389 ad annum 1446.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Memoralia ad placitum. Anno ab incarnacione Domini MCDxlvj.''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''In claustro fueram ad V annum dum hec scripsi.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Uppsala, University Library, C 3, fol. 168r–v.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * BENZELIUS 1709, 98–100 <br /> * SRS 1:1, 230–31 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 351–53<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> Karolus Andreae was born in 1390, was ordained priest in 1415, served in the cathedral of Linköping until 1420, and then in Skänninge for a year, after which he became curate of Vist in 1422. In 1442 he became a friar of Vadstena Abbey, where he died in 1451. He wrote his annalistic notes in 1446/47. They concern institutions and persons known to himself and are not chronologically ordered .<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> BENZELIUS 1709, PAULSSON 1974.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Annales 1040–1448==<br /> Also called Incerti auctoris chronologia brevis rerum Svecicarum ab anno 1040 ad annum 1450, Erici Johannis, monachi Vastenensis, chronologia brevis 1040–1450, and Chronologia regum Sueciae.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini Mxl regnauit rex Olauus Skotkonungh in Swecia, qui paganus erat …''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''… et ipsi Daci, videlicet dominus Olauus Axelson miles cum complicibus suis … terram et ciuitatem [i.e. Visby] cum castro rapuerunt.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Uppsala, University Library, C 36, fol. 143v.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * BENZELIUS 1709, 100–101 <br /> * SRD 2, 552–553 <br /> * SRS 1:1, 88–89 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 354<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The five annals in this set (for 1040, 1363, 1396, 1440 and 1448) are all concerned with royal elections and events surrounding them. Brother Ericus Johannis in Vadstena was the owner of  codex C 36, but he is not the annalist.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> BENZELIUS 1709, PAULSSON 1974.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Annales 31–1463==<br /> Formerly published as Annotationes historicae ab anno 845 ad annum 1445 and Annales Holmienses 1457–1463. Also called Annales 845–1463.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini MCCCXC annus jubileus quem de novo instituit Urbanus VI …''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''… alii autem captivatorum rusticorum per intercessionem nobilium et regis misericordiam tormenta rotationis evaserunt.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript====<br /> Uppsala, University Library, E 146, pp. 339–51 and 352–58.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * SRS 3:1, 21–25 (Annotationes, incomplete) and 26–29 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 335–47<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> The manuscript is from 1706, apparently based on a sixteenth-century copy of the original. The work has two distinct parts, but the SRS edition does not divide them correctly. The first part contains annalistic entries which are very similar to those found in the Diarium fratrum minorum Stockholmensium; it seems in fact to be based on the latter, with additions taken from older annals. The entries are not arranged in chronological order. The compilation was written around 1350. The second part is a kind of chronicle for the years 1448–1463 (with inserted brief annals for 1129 and 1176, probably deriving from marginalia in the original). It is a contemporary record written from the horizon of Stockholm and from a point of view favourable to the Nordic Union.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> ANNERSTEDT 1871 (= SRS 3:1), ROSÉN 1940, LÖNNROTH 1933, LÖNNROTH 1934, HAGNELL 1941, ROSÉN 1946, WESTIN 1946, PAULSSON 1974, KUMLIEN 1979.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Martyrologium Strengnense (Annales 1407–1470)==<br /> Also called Martyrologia siue descriptio brevis omnium Martyrum singulis Anni diebus adscriptum Ecclesia olim Strengnensis (note dating from ca. 1600 on inside front cover of the manuscript), Diarium Strengnense (SRD), Strängnäsmartyrologiet (Paulsson).<br /> <br /> ====Manuscript==== <br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, (Holm.) A 28.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * SRD 4, 622 (based on a transcript in the unpublished seventeenth-century Diplomatarium of Örnhielm, vol. V, Royal Library, Stockholm) <br /> * PAULSSON 1975, 31–33.<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> This is not, strictly speaking, a set of annals but a liturgical book with scattered annalistic entries. The core of the manuscript is a martyrology – a copy of a thirteenth-century Dominican adaptation of the Martyrologium Usuardi – that was used at Strängnäs Cathedral from the latter part of the fourteenth century to at least 1541. The first six leaves contain a calendar, which functions as an index to the martyrology proper on fols. 7–124. In the course of time, entries about Swedish saints and about anniversaries of the deaths of (mainly) Strängnäs clerics were added to the martyrology. Similarly, the calendar at the beginning of the manuscript was supplied with notes about significant events, entered at the dates on which they occurred. Most of these calendar entries simply record the death of a benefactor or other significant person in the community, but a small number also record events of regional or national significance. Though only eleven in number, they have a place in the Swedish annalistic tradition.<br /> <br /> The annalistic entries by various annalists range chronologically from 1407 to 1470. The events they record are:  the devastating fire in Stockholm (1407), the death of Engelbrekt (two entries, 1436? and 1441), the election and coronation of king Christopher (three entries, 1441), the death of king Christopher (two entries, 1448), the death of queen Katarina Karlsdotter (1450), the campaign of king Karl Knutsson in Scania (1452, in verse), and the death of king Karl Knutsson (1470).<br /> <br /> The first entry about the death of Engelbrekt consists of two hexameter verses and the entry about Karl Knutsson’s campaign in Scania is an elegiac distich; the other entries are in prose.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> SCHMID 1932, CARLSSON 1959, PAULSSON 1975.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Annales 1298–1473==<br /> Also called Chronologia vetusta ab anno 1298 ad annum 1473.<br /> ====-====<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Anno Domini 1298. Facte sunt nuptiæ Birgeri regis.''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''1473. Apparuit quedam stella in nubibus non inter sydera sed erratica … Eodem etiam anno plures ciuitates, oppida et villæ cremate sunt.''<br /> <br /> ====Manuscripts====<br /> A = Stockholm, Royal Library, (Holm.) D 29 b, no. 9, fols. 3r–14r; B = Stockholm, Royal Library, (Holm.) D 1 (two loose leaves: a folded double leaf and an inserted single leaf).<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> <br /> * SRS 1:1, 92–99 <br /> * PAULSSON 1974, 302–14.<br /> <br /> ===Contents===<br /> Both manuscripts are copies from the mid-sixteenth century. MS A is complete but with many misreadings; MS B is more correct but contains only the period 1306–1322. There are some additional excerpts from this set of annals in cod. Holm. D 1, in the form of notes by Rasmus Ludvigsson; one such note concerns the year 1286, which suggests that the original set started before 1298. In the present form of the document it is possible to discern three sections: 1298–1390, which is similar to the same period in Annales 916–1430 (PAULSSON 1974 supposes common dependence on the so-called Annales X, AXELSON 1975–76 argues that Annales 1298–1473 is directly dependent on Annales 916–1430); 1391–1430, compiled from several sources, i.e. Diarium fratrum minorum Stockholmensium, a source similar to that of Annales 266–1430, and perhaps of Annales X; and 1434–1473, a group of unique annals with many indications of month and day. The original compilation must have been made soon after 1473. The struggle concerning the Nordic Union is described from the point of view of the archdiocese of Uppsala.<br /> <br /> ====Literature====<br /> SCHÄFER 1872, VON DER ROPP 1876, ROSÉN 1940, ROSÉN 1946, WESTIN 1946, PAULSSON 1974, AXELSON 1975–76.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Other annals==<br /> In addition to the above-mentioned sets of annals, single entries can of course be found here and there i manuscripts. T. SCHMID has brought attention to a small number of annals in the manuscript C 455 of Uppsala University Library and has edited three of them that concern the year 1513: the election of Hans Brask as bishop of Linköping; the election of pope Leo X; and the display of the tunica of Christ in Trier (SCHMID 1936, 99–100, with editions in the footnotes). C. LOVÉN has presented six annalistic entries from the Cistercian monastery in Nydala, Småland (1196, 1210, 1216, 1220, 1222 and 1236). The fragments have been known since 1600s but never considered in an annalistic context. In 1372, two district deans attested eight old charters concerning fishing rights for the monastery in Nydala. Annalistic entries have been added at the end of the documents to give information about the original issuers and relevant dates. The entries are: 1196 (death of the Swedish king Knut and his chancellor, Kol, bishop of Linköping), 1210 (on 7 July King Sverker was killed at the battle of Gestilren), 1216 (death of the Swedish king Erik, the second of this name), 1220 (on 9 August Bishop Karl of Linköping was killed in battle against the pagans as well as Karl, duke of Sweden), 1222 (Johan the king of Sweden died), 1236 (Bishop Bengt of Linköping died, Jarler was consecrated as archbishop of Uppsala, and Östra Aros was destroyed by fire for the first time). These entries belong to the same annalistic tradition as the annals 916-1263, 1208-1288 and 1160-1336, and show that the Cistercians kept historical records in the same way as other orders. The entry of 1196 also hands down the otherwise unknown information that Bishop Kol of Linköping was the king´s chancellor. C. LOVÉN 2012, 117-120 analyses the fragments based on the modern edition by C. GEJROT 1994.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *AD = Annales Danici medii aevi, ed. E. Jørgensen, Copenhagen 1920.<br /> *ANDERSSON, I. 1928: Källstudier till Sveriges historia 1230–1436. Inhemska berättande källor jämte Libellus Magnipolensis, Lund.<br /> *ANNERSTEDT, C. 1871: SRS 3:1, Stockholm.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1955: Sverige i utländsk annalistik 900–1400 med särskild hänsyn till de isländska annalerna, Stockholm.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1956: Sverige i dansk annalistik 900–1400 (Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Hist. ser. 3), Stockholm.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1958: “Unika annalnotiser,” Personhistorisk tidskrift 56, 145–48.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1961: “Källförhållandet mellan Visbykrönikan, Förbindelsedikten och Ericus Olai verk Chronica Gothorum,” HistTS 81, 1–34.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1963: “Förhållandet mellan Visbykrönikan och Ericus Olai verk Chronica Gothorum. Ett tillägg,” HistTS 83, 278–88.<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1975: “Svensk medeltidsannalistik,” Personhistorisk tidskrift 71, 141–51 (review of PAULSSON 1974).<br /> *AXELSON, S. 1975–76: “Studier i svensk medeltida annalistik. Kronologi och källproblem,” Kungliga Humanistiska Vetenskaps-samfundet i Uppsala, *Årsbok, Uppsala, 35–59 (Eng. summary pp. 59–61).<br /> *AXELSON,S. 1976: ”Visbykrönikan” cols. 162-164 in KLNM 20, Malmö.<br /> *BECKMAN, N. 1912: “Annalstudier,” Studier i Nordisk Filologi, vol. 3, no. 4 (12 pp.), Helsingfors.<br /> *BENZELIUS, E. Jr (ed. &amp; comm.) 1709: Monumenta historica vetera ecclesiae Sveogothicae, Uppsala.<br /> *BLOM, C. 1972: Förbindelsedikten och de medeltida rimkrönikorna. Studier kring omarbetningen av Erikskrönikan och tillkomsten av Förbindelsedikten samt dessa krönikedelars plats i den medeltida rimkröniketraditionen (Bibliotheca historica Lundensis 28), Lund.<br /> *BOLIN, S. 1931: Om Nordens äldsta historieforskning: Studier över dess metodik och källvärde (Lunds Universitets årsskrift, N.F., Avd. 1, 27:3), Lund.<br /> *CCD 5 = KROMAN 1962<br /> *CARLSSON, G. 1959: “Biskopssäte, domkyrka och kloster: Från äldsta tid till 1563,” in Strängnäs stads historia, ed. H. Jägerstad, Strängnäs, 449–546.<br /> *CELSIUS, O. Sr (ed. &amp; comm.) 1705: Incerti scriptoris Sueci Chronicon Rerum Sueo-Gothicarum ab A. Ch. MCLX ad MCCCXX gestarum, Uppsala.<br /> *EINARSDÓTTIR, 1965: “Sverige i islandsk annalistik 1190–1270,” Scandia 31, 331–44.<br /> *EK, S. 1930: “Annales Sigtunenses och våra historiska brudrovsvisor,” Samlaren, n.s. 11 (pr. 1931), Uppsala, 123–41.<br /> *EKDAHL, N. J. 1832: “Chronologiska Antekningar, rörande tilldragelserne i Sverige, Danmark och de tillgränsande Riken från år 826 till 1430,” Handlingar rörande Skandinaviens historia 17 (= Nya handlingar rörande Skandinaviens historia 7), Stockholm, 2–18.<br /> *ENGSTRÖM, S. 1929: “Landsförvisningen av de svenska oppositionsledarna 1362–63,” HistTS 49, 310–26.<br /> *ERSLEV, K. 1881–82: “Studier til Dronning Margrethes Historie,” HistTD, ser. 5, vol. 3, 333–425.<br /> *FANT, E.M. 1818: SRS 1:1<br /> *GALLÉN, J. 1940: “Dominikanerna och den medeltida annalistiken i Danmark och Sverige,” I–II, HistTF 25, 27–43 and 103–26.<br /> *GALLÉN, J. 1946: La province de Dacie de l’Ordre des Frères Prêcheurs, vol. I: Histoire générale jusqu’au grand schisme (Dissertationes historicae 12), Helsingfors.<br /> *GALLÉN, J. 1952: “A propos ‘Skänninge-annalerna’,” HistTS 72, 432–36 (response to A. Schück).<br /> *GEJROT, C. 1988: Diarium Vadstenense. The Memorial Book of Vadstena Abbey. A Critical Edition with an Introduction (Acta universitatis Stockholmiensis, Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 33), Stockholm.<br /> *GEJROT, C. 1994: Diplomata Novevallensia. The Nydala charters 1172-1280. A critical Edition with an Introduction, a Commentary and Indices, Stockholm.<br /> *GEJROT, C. 1996: Vadstenadiariet. Latinsk text med översättning och kommentar (Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. Handlingar, 19), Stockholm.<br /> *HAGNELL, K. 1941: Sturekrönikan 1452–1496. Studier över en rimkrönikas tillkomst och sanningsvärde, Lund.<br /> *HEUMAN, E. and ÖBERG, J. 1993: Ericus Olai, Chronica Regnum Gothorum. Textkritische Ausgabe, Stockholm.<br /> *HÖGLUND, T. 1953: “Visbyannalernas uppgift om Stockholms grundläggning. Ett inlägg i en källkritisk diskussion,” in Studier och handlingar rörande Stockholms historia, II, ed. N. Ahnlund, Uppsala &amp; Stockholm, 1–43.<br /> *KLEMMING, G.E. 1870: “Ängsö-chronologien. Anteckningar om tilldragelser under åren 1208–1288,” HistTS 7, 1–7 (Also publ. in Danske Samlinger for Historie, Topographi, Personal- og Literaturhistorie, ser. 1, vol. 5 (1869–70), 370–75).<br /> *KRISTENSEN, A.K.G. 1969: Danmarks ældste annalistik. Studier over lundensisk annalskrivning i 12. og 13. århundrede (Skrifter udgivet af det Historiske Institut ved Københavns Universitet 3), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. 1936–37: “Ueber die Herkunft der Handschrift des Liber Census Daniae,” APhS 11, 1–81.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1962: Scriptores rerum Danicarum, altera pars: Annales (CCD 5), Copenhagen.<br /> *KROMAN, E. (ed.) 1980: Danmarks middelalderlige annaler, udgivet ved Erik Kroman på grundlag af M. Cl. Gertz’, Marcus Lorenzens og Ellen Jørgensens udgaver, Copenhagen.<br /> *• KUMLIEN, K. 1979: Historieskrivning och kungadöme i svensk medeltid (Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Hist. ser. 20), Stockholm.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1772: SRD 1, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1773: SRD 2, Copenhagen.<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. &amp; SUHM, P.F. 1776: SRD 4, Copenhagen.<br /> *LINDSTRÖM, G. 1892: Anteckningar om Gotlands medeltid, vol. I. Stockholm (repr. Visby, 1978).<br /> *LILJEGREN, J.G. 1817: “Gamla Permebref” (Handlingar rörande Skandinaviens historia. Del 4), Stockholm, 3–19.<br /> *LOVÉN, C. 2012: Historieskrivningen vid Uppsala domkyrka under högmedeltiden. Handskriften UUB C 92 och dess källor (Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet Serie I. Svenska skrifter 96), Uppsala.<br /> *LUDEWIG, J. 1731: Reliquiae manuscriptorum omnis aevi diplomatum ac monumentorum, ineditorum adhuc, IX. Francofurti et Lipsiae.<br /> *LUNDSTRÖM, S. 1957: “Distraccio et scandalum dans les Annales Sigtunenses,” Archivum latinitatis medii aevi (Bulletin Du Cange) 27, 293–311.<br /> *LÖNNROTH, E. 1933: “Sturekrönikan 1452–1487,” Scandia 6, 173–92.<br /> *LÖNNROTH, E. 1934: Sverige och Kalmarunionen 1397–1457. Göteborg (new ed. Stockholm, 1969 (Studia historica Gothoburgensia 10)).<br /> *LÖNNROTH, E. 1941: “Medeltidskrönikornas värld. En politisk miljöstudie,” Göteborgs högskolas årsskrift, vol. 47, no. 18 (27 pp.), Göteborg (new ed. Stockholm, 1964 (Från svensk medeltid)).<br /> *MGH SS 29 = WAITZ 1892<br /> *NYGREN, E. 1924: “Vadstena klosters tänkebok och annalhandskriften C 92 i Uppsala universitetsbibliotek,” in Historiska studier tillägnade Ludvig Stavenow på sextioårsdagen den 12 oktober 1924, Stockholm, 59–66.<br /> *NYGREN, E. 1929: “Källstudier till Sveriges historia 1230–1436,” Scandia 2, Lund, 89–106 (review of I. Andersson).<br /> *NYRIN–HEUMAN, E. 1944: Källkritiska, textkritiska och språkliga studier till Ericus Olai: Chronica Gothorum, Lund.<br /> *ODELMAN, E. and MELEFORS, E. 2008: Visbyfranciskanernas bok. Handskriften B 99 i Kungliga biblioteket, Visby.<br /> *OLSEN, R.A. 1989: Ryd klosters Årbog, Århus.<br /> *OLSSON, H. 1944: Johannes Messenius’ Scondia Illustrata. Studier i verkets tillkomsthistoria och medeltidspartiets källförhållanden, Lund.<br /> *PAULSSON, G. (ed.) 1974: Annales Suecici medii aevi. Svensk medeltidsannalistik kommenterad och utgiven (Bibliotheca historica Lundensis 32), Lund.<br /> *PAULSSON, G. 1975: “Studier i ‘Strängnäsmartyrologiet’,” in Historia och samhälle: Studier tillägnade Jerker Rosén, Lund, 22–37.<br /> *VON DER ROPP, G. 1876: Zur deutsch-skandinavischen Geschichte des XV. Jahrhunderts, Leipzig.<br /> *ROSÉN, J. 1940: “Studier i Stockholms gråbrödraklosters diarium,” Vetenskaps-societetens i Lund årsbok, Lund, 101–31.<br /> *ROSÉN, J. 1946a: “Bevarade rester ur Magnus Ladulås’ och Birger Magnussons arkiv,” Vetenskaps-societetens i Lund årsbok, Lund, 5–16.<br /> *ROSÉN, J. 1946b: “Historieskrivaren Olaus Petri,” HistTS 66, 296–310 (review of G. T. Westin).<br /> *ROSÉN, J. 1956: “Till diskussionen om Ericus Olais källor,” Archivistica et mediævistica Ernesto Nygren oblata, ed. I. Andersson et al. (Samlingar och studier utgivna av Svenskt Arkivsamfund 1), Stockholm, 312–20<br /> *SCHMID, T. 1932: “Strängnäs stifts kalendarium under medeltiden,” Nordisk tidskrift för bok- och biblioteksväsen 19, 81–106.<br /> *SCHMID, T. 1936: “Smärre liturgiska bidrag, X. Nyfunna metriska texter från den svenska medeltidens slut. (Cod. Ups. C 455),” Nordisk tidskrift för bok- och biblioteksväsen 23, 96–108.<br /> *SCHÜCK, A. 1952: “Studier i ‘Skänninge-annalerna’,” HistTS 72, 36–48<br /> *SCHÄFER, D. 1872: Dänische Annalen und Chroniken von der Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts mit Berücksichtigung ihres Verhältniss zu Schwedischen und Deutschen Geschichtswerken, Hannover.<br /> *SRD 1 = LANGEBEK 1772<br /> *SRD 2 = LANGEBEK 1773<br /> *SRD 4 = LANGEBEK &amp; SUHM 1776<br /> *SRS 1:1 = FANT 1818<br /> *SRS 3:1 = ANNERSTEDT 1871<br /> *STADE, A. 1939: Bugge, “Smålands konung,” redivivus. Till frågan om Chronologia anonymis metodik, Uppsala.<br /> *STEENSTRUP, J. C. H. R. 1874–76: “Bemærkninger om nogle Haandskrifter i Upsala Bibliothek,” Danske Samlinger for Historie, Topographi, Personal- og Literaturhistorie, ser. 2, vol. 4. Copenhagen, 361–80.<br /> *THORDEMAN, B. 1944: Invasion på Gotland 1361. Dikt och verklighet, Stockholm.<br /> *TORTZEN, C. 1961: Gotland 1361, Copenhagen.<br /> *USINGER, R. A. 1861: Die Dänischen Annalen und Chroniken des Mittelalters kritisch untersucht, Hannover.<br /> *WAITZ, G. 1892: MGH SS 29, Hannover.<br /> *WESTIN, G.T. 1946: Historieskrivaren Olaus Petri. Svenska krönikans källor och krönikeförfattarens metod, Lund.<br /> *WESTIN, G.T. 1976: “Årböcker,” cols. 429–435 in KLNM 20, Malmö.<br /> *WESTMAN, K.G. 1904: Svenska rådets historia till år 1306, Uppsala.<br /> *YRWING, H. 1978: Gotlands medeltid, Visby.<br /> *ÖSTERBERG, E. 1975: “Medeltida årboksförfattare i teori och praktik. Några reflexioner kring ett forskningsläge,” Scandia 41, 154–76 (Eng. summary p. 177).<br /> *ÖBERG, J. 1995: Ericus Olai, Chronica Regnum Gothorum. Prolegomena und Indizes, Stockholm.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Medieval_Nordic_Literature_in_Latin_(MNLL)&diff=1124 2025-10-30T14:06:44Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>{{DISPLAYTITLE:Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL)}}<br /> {{DISPLAYTITLE:Wiki: Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL)}}Welcome to Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL) - an encyclopedia (wiki) which encompasses a range of Latin texts. These texts were written by authors who came from - or were connected to - the Nordic region during the Middle Ages.<br /> <br /> From saints’ lives to chronicles and scholarly documents, medieval texts with Nordic origins reveal a vibrant intellectual culture beyond the Old Norse sagas. They reflect the Nordic region's integration into European intellectual and cultural life, with Latin serving as the language of scholarship and administration.  <br /> <br /> Browse entries by authors, anonymous works, saints, and genres to discover a lesser-known side of medieval Nordic history.<br /> <br /> [[File:CODICUM logo .png|alt=CODICUM|thumb|The content of &quot;Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin&quot; is being updated in 2025 as part of CODICUM, an ERC-funded research project (2025-2030). Photo: CODICUM]][[File:EU ERC logo.png|alt=ERC|thumb|This project is funded by the European Research Council, ERC. Photo: European Commission]][[File:Carmen gratulatorium.png|alt=Carmen gratulatorium|thumb|Medieval manuscripts offer glimpses into the intellectual and artistic life of the past. This one, for example, features a Latin gratulatory poem from medieval Scandinavia—''Carmen gratulatorium'', Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek C 233, 50v. Source: www.alvin-portal.org]]<br /> == About the MNLL encyclopedia (wiki) ==<br /> <br /> === Purpose ===<br /> The purpose of this wiki-website is to provide in-depth introductions to all known literary works written in Latin in the Nordic countries before the Reformation (ca 1530). <br /> <br /> We hope to document the breadth and importance of writings in Latin which have too often been treated as footnotes to the vernacular literatures. A recent survey essay on Nordic medieval Latin literature is L. B. Mortensen: Nordic Countries, in ''Latin Literatures of Medieval and Early Modern Times in Europe and Beyond. A Millenium Heritage'', edited by Francesco Stella et al., John Benjamins, 2024, pp. 221–34.<br /> <br /> * [[medieval:About|Read more about Medieval Nordic Literature in Latin (MNLL)]]<br /> * [[Citation instructions|Read the citation instructions]]<br /> <br /> === Types of entries ===<br /> There are four types of entries: (1) named authors, (2) titles of anonymous works (3) saints, including legends, sermons, liturgical texts belonging to each Nordic saint (found under sanctus / sancta), (4) a few collective articles on genres such as Annales and Catalogi.<br /> <br /> === Founders and editors ===<br /> This site was founded by Stephan Borgehammar, Karsten Friis-Jensen (†), Lars Boje Mortensen and Åslaug Ommundsen.<br /> <br /> It is currently edited by Stephan Borgehammar, Lars Boje Mortensen, Åslaug Ommundsen and Steffen Hope.<br /> <br /> The site was first published in 2012 and went through a major update in 2025. Many articles are still in their 2012 version, but those with substantial 2025 updates contain an indication at the beginning of the entry. Updates are carried out as part of [https://www.codicum.eu/ the CODICUM project]. <br /> <br /> For a few texts where scholarship has greatly advanced since 2012 but in the entries are still awaiting a rewrite, we signal some key new bibliography. See [https://medieval.wiki.uib.no/Citation_instructions here] how to cite the handbook.<br /> <br /> ==Browse entries==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages&gt;Article&lt;/categorytree&gt;</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sanctus_Suithunus&diff=1123 2025-10-30T08:41:25Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> by Steffen Hope <br /> <br /> Swithun was bishop of Winchester in the mid-ninth century. Based on evidence from charters, Michael Lapidge has suggested that his episcopate covered the period 852-63 (LAPIDGE 2003, 4). As suggested by the celebration of Swithun’s ''dies natalis'', he died on July 2. On the orders of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester (r.963-84), his body was exhumed and translated to a more prominent place within cathedral on July 15, 971 (LAPIDGE 2003, 8). Swithun’s cult became widespread throughout England, and was one of the most important native cults in the Middle Ages. Within the Norse sphere, the cult of St Swithun was strongest in Norway, and the only known surviving text pertaining to Swithun that was composed specifically for a Nordic institution is a liturgical office used in Stavanger. <br /> <br /> The reason why Stavanger was a hub for the cult of St Swithun is most likely that when the city was established as an episcopal see sometime in the 1120s, the first bishop was Rainald (or Reinald) who might have come from Winchester (LAPIDGE 2003, 56-57). According to an inventory from 1517, Stavanger cathedral possessed one of St Swithun’s arms, and it is likely that this relic was brought by Rainald for the consecration of the cathedral. Consequently, Swithun was the patron saint of Stavanger diocese.  <br /> <br /> Our understanding of the cult of St Swithun in medieval Norway is fragmentary. Eldbjørg Haug has argued for an active cult prior to the twelfth century (HAUG 2009, 462-5; HAUG 2010, 270-1), but these arguments have been criticised by Knut Helle (HELLE 2008, 577; 2009, 691). (For an overview of this debate in English, see ALVESTAD 2021.) While it is not unthinkable that Swithun was known in parts of Norway early in the Christianisation period, there is no evidence to suggest that there was an active cult prior to the establishment of the Stavanger diocese.<br /> <br /> The ''dies natalis'' of St Swithun, July 2, was included in the number of feasts which were mentioned as particularly holy days in the law of the Gulathing province (PAC AND HOPE 2025, 215-16). This law code was revised and committed to writing in the 1160s, which demonstrates that the cult of St Swithun had attained a high status in the Gulathing province by the mid-twelfth century. The Gulathing law was valid for the parishes and communities along the western seaboard, and did not apply in every part of Norway. Consequently, we do not know the status of the cult of St Swithun outside of the Gulathing law province in the twelfth century. <br /> <br /> Based on sources from the thirteenth century, it seems that St Swithun was regarded as an important saint within the Norwegian church organisation. The inclusion of both the ''dies natalis'' (July 2) and the ''translatio'' (July 15) in Icelandic manuscripts that are believed to contain the Ordo Nidrosiensis – the liturgical repertoire for the entire Norwegian church province – suggests that Swithun was venerated throughout Norway in the course of the thirteenth century, at least by the clergy. A few other thirteenth-century documents further support the hypothesis that Swithun had some importance outside of Stavanger diocese. In 1280, King Eirik Magnusson (r.1280-99) was crowned on July 2 in the cathedral of Bergen (DN 1, 69). On July 14 of the same year, Bishop Thorfinn of Hamar issued a proclamation of indulgence for 40 days to those who visited or otherwise helped the recently burned cathedral church of St Swithun (DN 3, 249). <br /> <br /> In later medieval Norway, Swithun’s main feast appears to have been July 15 since his ''dies natalis'' was replaced by the feast of Visitatio Mariae after 1389 (DYBDAHL 2011b, 138; see also DYBDAHL 2011a). In Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519), Swithun is included in the litany, and the calendar includes his translation feast with the rank of semiduplex, the second highest liturgical rank. Breviarium Nidrosiense contains both a text for his translation, comprised of six lessons, and also the Historia de Sancti Suithuno, comprised of nine lessons, which is placed towards the end of the breviary along with other feasts that have been appended to the sanctorale, including the feast of [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]].<br /> <br /> == Historia de Sancto Suithuno ==<br /> The Historia is a complete office with antiphons, responsories and lessons that convey the story of St Swithun. The office has most likely been used in Stavanger cathedral (see Date and place below). As far as we know, the text of the office only survives in the printed Brevarium Nidrosiense, and no manuscripts containing the office have hitherto been identified. The breviary only contains the text of the office, while the musical notation is lost. <br /> <br /> At the time of its composition (see Date and place below), the office was performed at Swithun’s ''dies natalis'', July 2. There might have existed an office for the translation feast on July 15, and it is tempting to suggest that the translation of Swithun’s arm from Winchester to Stavanger might have been commemorated locally in Stavanger, either on July 15 or on a different day. No evidence for such a scenario exists, however. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The title Historia de Sancto Suithuno is used in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). Such titles are typical of liturgical offices in the Middle Ages. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Laetare plebs Wentoniae''. <br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Gloria magna tibi''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The surviving chants of the Historia comprise 150 lines of liturgical poetry. In Breviarium Nidrosiense (see Medieval reception and transmission below), there are also additional chants from the common of saints, as well as collects, chapters, and lessons. The lessons cover roughly 217 lines (some of these are not full lines). The collect for Matins – which is the only one written in full, and which appears to have been repeated at Lauds – is comprised of 13 lines. Taken together, the Historia runs across six pages in Breviarium Nidrosiense (pp.894-99; ccc.ij.-ccc.iv.). <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * DREVES, G. 1892: Analecta Hymnica medii aevii XIII, Leipzig, 235-37.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo, 143-45, 184-85.<br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 129-33. <br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo, 1342-48.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (English) LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 133-34. <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo, 184-85.<br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford, 129-33. <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> Due to the liturgical metre used in the chants (see Composition and style below), the office is likely composed in the second half of the twelfth century (LAPIDGE 2003, 129). It is unclear whether the office was composed in Stavanger, or whether it was commissioned from elsewhere – such as Winchester – by the bishop and/or cathedral clergy. Regardless of where it was composed, it was certainly intended for Stavanger, since the city is mentioned in the Magnificat antiphon (see Summary of contents below). <br /> <br /> It is uncertain whether the office was performed outside of Stavanger diocese prior to its inclusion in Breviarium Nidrosiense in 1519. Michael Lapidge has suggested that Swithun might have been included in the Nidaros liturgy already in the 1150s when Jon Birgerson, bishop of Stavanger (1135-52) became the first Norwegian archbishop (LAPIDGE 2003, 57). Jon died in 1157, and it is doubtful whether the extensive programme of textual production – which included both the revised law of the Gulathing province and the eventual completion of the Ordo Nidrosiensis – was initiated at such an early stage of the history of the archdiocese. While Swithun was most likely subject to some degree of veneration at the metropolitan see by the beginning of the thirteenth century, we should not expect the Stavanger office to have been in place this early. <br /> <br /> The placement of the Historia de Sancto Suithuno towards the end of the Breviarium Nidrosiense can be explained in two ways. One possible explanation is that with the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae on July 2 after 1389, the Historia was moved from its original position in the sanctorale to what is in practice an appendix of the breviary. Another explanation is that the office was included at a later stage in the editing process, and added to the sanctorale for unknown reasons – possibly out of respect for a saint who might not have been important in Trondheim, but who was the patron saint of a diocese. (A similar mechanism might explain the similar placement of the feast of Sanctus Kanutus Rex, who was not important in Trondheim – perhaps not even in Norway – but who had acquired a high status in the Kalmar Union by 1519.) This second explanation would entail that the office had not been performed in Trondheim before 1519. It is likely that the performance of the Historia was limited to Stavanger diocese for most of the Middle Ages. <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The office contains chants and readings for Vesper, Matins, and Lauds. The present summary follows the order in which the elements of the liturgical office are grouped together. This is done in order to provide a better sense of how the content of the office is received by its audience. <br /> <br /> Vesper is comprised of two antiphons, one chapter, one responsory, and one responsory. <br /> <br /> The first antiphon (Gloriose presul aue), the chapter, and the hymn (Iste confessor) are all from the commune sanctorum and describe the ideal confessor and bishop. The responsory, Signorum, is also performed after the ninth lesson (as indicated in the breviary) and will be described below. The Magnificat antiphon is a general praise for Swithun, but it also marks the connection between Winchester and Stavanger and might allude to the transfer of Swithun’s arm relic, as the chant begins with ‘rejoice citizens of Winchester, be glad people of Stavanger’ (Letare plebs Uentonie gaude gens Stauangrie’). <br /> <br /> Matins is comprised of a collect, an invitatory antiphon, nine antiphons, nine lessons, and nine responsories. <br /> <br /> The collect praises God for Swithun, who shines in miraculous signs. <br /> <br /> The invitatory antiphon is an exhortation to praise Swithun who is summoned to Heaven and pleasing to God. <br /> <br /> The three antiphons of the first nocturne praise his upbringing in the laws of God (Orthodoxis parentibus), his god-fearing ministry (Seruit deo in timore), and the many qualities that demonstrated his sanctity (Multis eum virtutibus). <br /> <br /> Lesson 1 is a summary of Swithun’s youth, which is dated to the reign of Ecgberht of Wessex (r.802-39). The lesson states that Ecgberht was the eighth Christian king after King Cynegils was converted by Saint Birinus, who, in turn, is called the apostle of the West Angles. Responsory 1 (Sanctus Suithunus) praises his upbringing and his future career as a priest. Part of the responsory reuses text from the first antiphon of Matins. <br /> <br /> Lesson 2 reflects on his childhood. Responsory 2 (Traditur ingenuis) praises his studies and his learning. <br /> <br /> Lesson 3 describes his early priesthood under Bishop Helmstan of Winchester, and his qualities as a man of the Church. Responsory 3 (Presul Uentonie) states that upon the death of the bishop, Swithun was elevated to this rank. <br /> <br /> The three antiphons of the second nocturne recount his time as a priest under Helmstan (Deum amans), and his pious life and his preaching (Honoris illum). The third antiphon (Ales diuini) is a reflection on how the soul of a saint travels to God’s mountain (Heaven) and is thereby strengthened. <br /> <br /> Lesson 4 describes how Swithun gained the king’s friendship. Responsory 4 (Ordine sublimis) is a general reflection on how those in higher orders are made more sublime through their merits, and the versicle demonstrates this with a reference to the miracle of a poor woman’s eggs that were restored through Swithun’s intercession.<br /> <br /> Lesson 5 describes how Swithun became bishop on the death of Helmstan. Responsory 5 (Pauperibus miseris) praises his care for the poor. <br /> <br /> Lesson 6 recounts that Swithun was supported by Æthelwulf, the king’s son and successor. Responsory 6 (Uiuendi metas) is a reflection on how those who life a virtuous life will be rewarded. <br /> <br /> The first two of the three antiphons of the third nocturne (Adesse cupit; Eterno regi paruit) reflect on the rewards of pious living. The third antiphon (Euoluto) repeats Swithun’s elevation to the rank of bishop, repeating some of the words from lesson 5. <br /> <br /> Lesson 7 recounts how Swithun restored churches and how he avoided pomp and luxury. Responsory 7 (Congeries gibbi) recounts a miracle story about a hunchback. <br /> <br /> Lesson 8 recounts how Swithun strove to follow Christian doctrine from his earliest years. Responsory 8 (Diues homo) refers to a miracle story concerning a man who met, and escaped from, monstrous women. <br /> <br /> Lesson 9 recounts the death of Swithun and contains a praise of his saintly conduct. Responsory 9 (Signorum) states that Swithun shone in many miraculous signs. This responsory is also sung at Vesper. <br /> <br /> Laudes is comprised of six antiphons, including the Benedictus antiphon. A rubric states that the collect for Laudes is the same as above (i.e., for Matins). <br /> <br /> The first five antiphons – which are the regular Laudes antiphons – are concerned with Swithun’s miracles and qualities. His virtues shone to Heaven (Presul Suithunus) and the earthly citizens mourn him (Surreptum). Swithun is placed in a humble tomb, yet the miracles demonstrate his sanctity and glory (Cum locus exiguum), and all sicknesses are cured there (Omnibus infirmis). The last regular antiphon (Laus tibi) is a general song of praise. The Benedictus antiphon (Letabunda) is a reflection on the happy occasion of Swithun’s feast. <br /> <br /> Second Vespers includes one regular antiphon and the Magnificat antiphon. The regular antiphon (Magne sator mundi) is song of praise for God who glorified Swithun. <br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> The collect and the lessons are all written in prose. For further details, see LAPIDGE 2003, 123, and GJERLØW 1979, 143).<br /> <br /> Most of the antiphons and responsories are written in syllable-counting rhymed verse, except the first Vesper antiphon. This style is typical of late twelfth-century liturgy, and consists of lines where the stress falls on either the penultimate or antepenultimate syllable, also known as paroxytone (p) or pro-paroxytone (pp) stress. <br /> <br /> In the following overview, the chants are presented in the order in which they appear in the liturgical office. <br /> <br /> The Magnificat antiphon consists of 8 lines of rhyming couplets. The lines are all in proparoxytone stress and each line contains 8 syllables, with the exception of the second line – ‘gaude gens Stauangrie’ – which has only 7 syllables. In both Analecta Hymnica (DREVES 1892, 235 and in the edition of Antiphonarium Nidrosiense GJERLØW (1979, 184) this line has been hyper-corrected by the addition another syllable to make the meter. The line therefore reads ‘gaude gens Stauangariae’ in DREVES 1892. This hyper-correction has been carried over into the edition by LAPIDGE (2003, 129). In Breviarium Nidrosiense, however, the line only consists of 7 syllables. In the edition of Breviarium Nidrosiense by SPERBER (2019, 1343), the line is correctly transcribed.   <br /> <br /> The invitatory antiphon is a rhyming couplet with two lines of 15 syllables in paroxytone stress. <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the first nocturne all consist of two rhyming couplets with the following scheme: 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp. The third antiphon is an exception, where the first line only contains seven syllables. <br /> <br /> The responsories for the first nocturne have the following schemes: 5p+8p+5p+9p+7p+7pp (MR1); 7p+10p+6p+8p+6pp+7pp (MR2); 6pp+10p+5p+9p+5p+7pp (MR3). <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the second nocturne have the following schemes: 8pp+8pp+8p+8pp (MA4); 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA5); 8pp+8p+8pp+8pp (MA6). They are all comprised of rhyming couplets.<br /> <br /> The responsories for the second nocturne have the following schemes: 6pp+9p+6p+8p+7pp+7pp (MR4); 7pp+9p+6p+9p+5p+7pp (MR5) (here with the proviso that ‘coepit’ in the third line is pronounced as two syllables); 5p+8p+9p+7pp+8p+6pp+7pp (MR6).          <br /> <br /> The antiphons for the third nocturne have the following schemes: 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA7); 8pp+8pp+8pp+8pp (MA8); 8p+8p+8pp+8pp (MA9). They are all comprised of rhyming couplets. <br /> <br /> The responsories for the third nocturne have the following scheme: 6p+10p+6p+9p+7pp+7pp (MR7); 6p+10p+6pp+8p+6p+7p (MR8); 7p+7pp+6p+9p+10p+6p+7pp+8p (MR9) (with the proviso that ‘coetibus’ in the second to last line is pronounced as two syllables).              <br /> <br /> The five first antiphons of Laudes have the following scheme: 5p+8p+5p+7pp (LA1); 9p+6p+6p+7p (LA2); 10p+6p+6p+7p (LA3); 6p+9p+6p+7pp (LA4); 8p+9p+7p+8p (LA5). <br /> <br /> The Benedictus antiphon has the following scheme: 6p+8p+7p+9p+6p+9p+6p+8p. <br /> <br /> The Magnificat antiphon for Second Vespers has the following scheme: 6p+8p+6p+7pp+5p+8p+6p+7p.<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> The liturgical texts are drawn from both the Vita Sancti Swithuni from the late eleventh century, and from the Miracula Sancti Swithuni. As suggested by Michael Lapidge (2003, 134), the office is likely to have been composed by someone with access to both texts, which in turn points to Winchester as its place of origin. This hypothesis also explains why the lessons are so focused on English history, which might not have been equally prioritised by a liturgical composer based in Stavanger.   <br /> <br /> Vita Sancti Swithuni provides the material for the antiphons of the first nocturne (chapter 1), the second nocturne (chapter 2), and the third nocturne (chapter 4). Lessons 1-3 are drawn from chapter 1-2 of Vita Sancti Swithuni, and the responsories recount miracle stories from chapters 1-6. Lessons 4-6 are taken from chapter 3-4 of Vita Sancti Swithuni, and the responsories are drawn from chapters 1-6. Lessons 7-9 are drawn from from chapters 7-8 of Vita Sancti Swithuni. Curiously, lesson 8 begins ‘Uixit autem’ rather than ‘Vixit igitur’, which might be a choice on the part of the liturgist. The responsories from the third nocturne are drawn from chapters 2-3 of Miracula Sancti Swithuni. <br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> The main purpose of the Historia de Sancto Suithuno was to honour St Swithun and to demonstrate that he was held in high regards by the cathedral clergy in Stavanger. Since any liturgical office is a communication between the performing clergy and the recipient saint – as well as the omniscient and omnipresent God – the office served to strengthen the bond between the patron saint and his flock. The office also had as its purpose to educate the cathedral clergy and other ecclesiastical or monastic audiences about the history and the qualities of St Swithun. In particular, it was important for the cathedral clergy to teach its own members about the institution’s patron saint, so that the clergy would venerate the saint in accordance with how his cult centre understood and imagined him, and so that they could ensure that the knowledge about Swithun’s history and qualities was passed on to later generations. The office was, in other words, one of the mechanisms by which the cathedral’s institutional identity was formulated and perpetuated across centuries. <br /> <br /> In addition to the main intended audiences – God, Swithun, and the cathedral clergy – the laity who was present at the cathedral during St Swithun’s feast would also have been an audience to the performance of the Historia. The laity had no active part in the liturgical performance, but we should expect that they would nonetheless understand something of what the office tried to communicate of the glory of the patron saint – if not in words, so at least in music. <br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The office was included in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519), and it is likely that the office was transmitted to the metropolitan see shortly before the content of the breviary was brought to Paris for printing, perhaps as early as 1515 (GJERLØW 1986, 70; KARLSEN AND HAREIDE 2019, 3). No known manuscript sources have survived, and it is therefore impossible to say whether the office was transmitted beyond the diocese of Stavanger before the sixteenth century. Since the Historia was probably composed in the second half of the twelfth century (see Date and place above), it is likely that the veneration of Swithun in the diocese of Bjørgvin – which, like Stavanger, belonged to the Gulathing law province – had begun before the composition of the Stavanger office. In the diocese of Bjørgvin, the feast(s) of St Swithun would most likely have been performed with liturgical material from the common of saints (''commune sanctorum''), and we should not expect that the cult of Swithun was strong enough in Bjørgvin diocese to warrant the importation of a proprium office.<br /> <br /> == Commemoratio de translatione Sancti Suithuni episcopi et confessoris ==<br /> This is a short office for the translation feast of St Swithun that is included in Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). As stated in the calendar of the breviary, Swithun’s translation had the rank of semiduplex, which meant that the office contained six lessons. In the Breviarium, the office contains only a few chants. These are mainly from the common of a confessor bishop, and only the incipits – the first words – are recorded (see Sources below). Most of the texts – including all the six lessons – are performed during the third nocturne.<br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The title Commemoratio de translatione Sancti Suithuni episcopi et confessoris is used in the Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). The title appears to be unique to the Breviarium. The use of the word “commemoratio” rather than “historia” might reflect the feast’s rank of semiduplex, as per the breviary’s calendar. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Confessor domini''.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Iste est, qui ante''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> The office covers one page and most of a column in Breviarium Nidrosiense. The chants are all indicated by their incipits. The collect runs across five and a half lines. Taken together, the lessons cover 66 lines. <br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo, 1078-79. <br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> No translations have yet been made. <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> The materials used for the Commemoratio are older than the Norwegian cult of St Swithun (see Summary of contents and Sources below), but it is possible that the materials were put in their current order in Norway. Three of the responsories and the Invitatory antiphon – all of which are from the common of saints – are also used for the feast of Swithun’s translation in a thirteenth-century Icelandic manuscript whose content is believed to reflect the Ordo Nidrosiensis (GJERLØW 1968, 367). The manuscript in question is [https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/en/AM04-0680-a/0#mode/2up AM 680 a 4to]. <br /> <br /> It is possible that the office on which the Commemoratio was used in Stavanger diocese from the earliest stages of the Norwegian cult of St Swithun, and that it was later brought to Trondheim. Since the first lesson mentions the exhumation of Swithun’s body, although briefly and as a past event, the office might have been performed on his ''dies translatio'' from the beginning. This supposition is supported by the evidence of AM 680 a 4to. <br /> <br /> The current shape of the office is probably a consequence of the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae after 1389, through which Swithun’s ''dies natalis'' was removed from the metropolitan sanctorale, and which appears to have diminished the status of Swithun’s cult in Trondheim. The Commemoratio is most likely based on an office of nine lessons, and has been reduced to six lessons to accommodate the translation feast’s rank of semiduplex. <br /> <br /> For the question of place, the issues presented here are important. While it seems overwhelmingly likely that the Commemoratio is based on an older office used in Stavanger, we do not know whether the shortened version is a product of the clergy at the Stavanger episcopal see or the metropolitan clergy in Trondheim. <br /> <br /> As for the date of the Commemoratio, its terminus post quem is 1389, since the edited office is a response to the institution of the feast of Visitatio Mariae. The impact of this change in Norway was probably not immediate, however. It is likely that Swithun’s cult was less diminished in Stavanger, and that the ''dies translatio'' was celebrated with a full office of nine lessons throughout the diocese. If we accept the hypothesis that the Commemoratio was given its surviving form in Trondheim, the relatively close contacts between the metropolitan see and the Papacy might have ensured that the liturgical changes were introduced more quickly here. We should therefore expect that the Commemoratio was composed or edited relatively shortly after 1389. <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The office contains four antiphons, three responsories, one collect (oratio), and six lessons. The chants are all from the ''commune sanctorum'', and feature in the common of a confessor bishop. They are only recorded by their incipits, and all provide descriptions of the ideal confessor and the just man of the books of the Old Testament (see more in Sources below). <br /> <br /> Lesson 1 recounts the story of a blind man who had lived five years in Rome and was healed by the intercession of Swithun. <br /> <br /> Lesson 2 recounts the healing of a man who was falsely accused of theft and blinded. <br /> <br /> Lesson 3 recounts the healing of Prior Byrhtferth’s blindness.<br /> <br /> Lesson 4 recounts the restoration of broken eggs. <br /> <br /> Lesson 5 recounts the healing of a boy who fell off a horse. <br /> <br /> Lesson 6 contains general praise of the many mute and blind people from all across England who were healed through the intercession of St Swithun.<br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> The chants of the Commemoratio are in prose, as is typical of the material from the ''commune sanctorum''. <br /> <br /> The lessons are mainly based on Lantfred’s ''Translatio et Miracula'' (see Sources below), and retain some of his stylistic traits (see LAPIDGE 2003, 224-32).<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> As mentioned above (see Summary of contents), the chants are all taken from the ''commune sanctorum'', presumably the common of a confessor saint. <br /> <br /> The collect is similar to one found in the Sarum missal (LAPIDGE 2003, 103). The Use of Sarum was the liturgical order of Southern England, i.e., the church province of Canterbury, to which Winchester belongs. It is likely that the collect belongs to the earliest material for St Swithun used in Norway, and that this was transmitted from Winchester together with the arm relic when Rainald became bishop of Stavanger. However, the collect itself is part of the ''commune sanctorum'' and can also be found in the liturgical offices of other saints, and we cannot discard the possibility that it has been brought to Norway from a different source. <br /> <br /> Four of the six lessons contain stories found in Translatio et Miracula Sancti Swithuni by Lantfred, the earliest hagiography about St Swithun. They are not taken verbatim from Lantfred, however. Lesson 1 is from chapter 16; lesson 2 is from chapter 26; lesson 3 is from chapter 28; and lesson 5 is from chapter 31 (see LAPIDGE 2003, 298, 310, 316, and 318 respectively). Lesson 4 is possibly taken from Vita Sancti Swithuni, which is from the eleventh century (LAPIDGE 2003, 636). Lesson 6 contains a passage that fits verbatim with the so-called Epitome Translationis et Miraculorum Sancti Swithuni, an abbreviation of Lantfred’s Translatio et Miracula dated to the late tenth century (LAPIDGE 2003, 570). The Epitome does not contain the other chapters from Lantfred that have been used for the lessons, and is therefore only the source of the sixth lesson.<br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> The main purposes of the Commemoratio are the same as those described for the Historia de Sancto Suithuno (see above), namely to provide material for the proper veneration of a saint whose place in the Norwegian cult of saints was well established, yet not of great importance outside of Stavanger diocese. <br /> <br /> Unlike the Historia de Sancto Suithuno, the Commemoratio in its surviving form was most likely not a product of the Stavanger cathedral clergy, but rather the result of editorial interventions by the Trondheim cathedral clergy. The purpose of the abbreviated office was to adapt the office to changes in the liturgical calendar. The intended audiences were the parishes of the church province who were expected to follow the liturgical order set down by the archbishop’s authority.<br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The Commemoratio office is only known through Breviarium Nidrosiense (1519). That the manuscript AM 680 a 4to contains some of the same chants for the feast of Swithun’s ''translatio'' suggests that the office has been transmitted throughout the Norwegian church province, either completely or in parts. The version found in Breviarium Nidrosiense is most likely an abbreviation of an older and longer office cycle (see Date and place above).<br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> <br /> * ALVESTAD, K. C. 2021: “Swithun in the North: A Winchester Saint in Norway,” in Early Medieval Winchester: Communities, Authority and Power in an Urban Space, c.800-c.1200, ed. R. Lavelle, S. Roffey, and K. Weikert, Oxford, 257-74.<br /> * DN = Dipolomatarium Norvegicum 1 – 3, Kristiania 1847 – 1855.<br /> * DREVES, G. 1892: Analecta Hymnica medii aevii XIII, Leipzig.<br /> * DYBDAHL, A. 2011: Primstaven i lys av helgenkulten, Trondheim. <br /> * DYBDAHL, A. 2011: A Group of Calendar Sticks from Trøndelag, Northern Norway and Greenland, Arv: Nordic yearbook of folklore 67, 129-49.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1968: Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae, Oslo. <br /> * GJERLØW, L.1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis ecclesiae, Oslo.<br /> * GJERLØW, L. 1986: “The Breviarium and the Missale Nidrosiense (1519),” in From Script to Book: A Symposium, ed. H. Bekker-Nielsen, M. Børch, and H. A. Sørensen, Odense, 50-77.<br /> * HAUG, E. 2009: “Fra Stavanger-kirkens Tidligste Historie,” Historisk Tidsskrift 88:3, 453-83.<br /> * HAUG, E. 2010: “Stavanger-privilegiet, Stavangers Romanske Domkirke og Klostersamfunnet på Utstein – Replikk til Knut Helle,” Historisk Tidsskrift 89:2, 263-71.<br /> * HELLE, K. 2008: “Stavanger By og Utstein Kloster,” Historisk Tidsskrift 87:4, 577-605.<br /> * HELLE, K. 2009: “Stavanger som By og Kirkelig Sentrum – svar til Eldbjørg Haug,” Historisk Tidsskrift 88:4, 685-97.<br /> * KARLSEN, E. AND HAREIDE, S. 2019: “The Nidaros Breviary (1519),” in Breviarium Nidrosiense, ed. I. SPERBER, Oslo, 3-9. <br /> * LAPIDGE, M. 2003: The Cult of St. Swithun, Oxford.<br /> * PAC, G. AND HOPE, S. 2025: “Saints and Legitimization of Bishoprics in Poland and Norway until c. 1200,” in Legitimation of the Elites in High Medieval Poland and Norway: Comparative Studies, ed. W. Jezierski, H. J. Orning, and G. Pac, Turnhout, 205-49.<br /> * SPERBER, I. 2019: Breviarium Nidrosiense, Oslo.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Arnfastus_Monachus&diff=1122 2025-10-29T12:00:37Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>by Steffen Hope<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Arnfastus Monachus''', Arnfast the Monk, is known from a single poem on the miracles related to St Knud king and martyr. The poem survives only in excerpts (see Summary of contents below). The poem is followed by the line ‘Arnfastus monachus hec composuit’ (Arnfast the monk composed this). The dating of the poem is uncertain (see Date and place below), but it was possibly composed in the mid-thirteenth century. Its content and purpose both suggest that Arnfast was a monk at the Abbey of St Knud in Odense.<br /> <br /> == Biography       ==<br /> Our only source to Arnfast’s historical existence is the line that attributes the poem to him. The title ‘monachus’ taken together with the subject of the poem – namely the veneration of St Knud – suggests that he was a Benedictine at the Church of St Knud. Given his use of several verse forms in the different sections of the poem, Arnfast was no doubt well educated in Latin poetry. As suggested by a reference in Annales Ripenses (see [[Annales Danici]]) (GERTZ 1912, 58; KROMAN 1980, 261), there is likely to have been kept a register of miracles at the Church of St Knud, either at the shrine or in the cathedral treasury (see De miraculis Sancti Kanuti regis et martyris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). Arnfast’s poem appears to be a versification of some of the miracles recorded here. Since Arnfast most likely worked from a register of miracles and therefore had access to the cathedral’s written records, it is possible – but not certain – that he might have been the cantor and/or the treasurer.               <br /> <br /> The question of when Arnfast lived and worked is inextricably linked to the discussion about the dating of the poem. Based on internal evidence, Gertz (1912, 59) suggests that the poem was written around 1250, while Hans Olrik (1893, 339-41) has used the same evidence to argue for a date in the mid-fifteenth century. For the details about this discussion, see Date and place below.<br /> <br /> == Work ==<br /> Excerpta quædam ex Arnfasti Monachi Poemate de miraculis S. Kanuti regis et martyris. <br /> <br /> ==== Title ====<br /> The current title is given by Gertz in his edition of the poem (GERTZ 1912, 58). Langebek (1774, 381) refers to the poem as ‘De miraculis S. Canuti Regis scripsisse quondam Arnfastum Monachum’ (On the miracles of St Knud the king, written by a certain Arnfast the monk). The manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. – then at Copenhagen University Library, now at the Royal Library – does not provide a title or headline for the text. (Additionally, in the index of Gertz’ ''Vitae Sanctorum Danorum'', Arnfast is described as ‘carmen de s. Canuti regis miraculis componit’, i.e. Arnfast who composed a song/poem on the miracles of St Knud the king. This description should not be understood as a title, however.) <br /> <br /> These postmedieval titles are descriptive scholarly constructions aimed to facilitate an easy way to reference and discuss the poem in question. It is possible that Arnfast’s poem did not originally have a title. <br /> <br /> ===== Incipit =====<br /> ''Fuit quidam puerulus''.<br /> <br /> ===== Explicit =====<br /> ''Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur''.<br /> <br /> ===== Size =====<br /> 4 printed pages in Gertz’ edition. 6 handwritten pages in Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. (For the number of lines in the poem, see Composition and style below.)<br /> <br /> ==== Editions ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen, 58-59 &amp; 163-66.<br /> <br /> ==== Translations ====<br /> <br /> * (Danish) OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968), 339-47. <br /> <br /> ==== Commentaries ====<br /> <br /> * GERTZ 1908-12 (see Editions above). <br /> * OLRIK 1893-94 (see Translations above). <br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> Since the poem only survives in a late and most likely excerpted copy, there is no codicological or palaeographical evidence to provide a timeframe for either Arnfast or the poem itself. Consequently, any arguments about the date of the poem can only be done through internal evidence. The ''terminus post quem'' is 1186/87, since the stanza on the healing of the woman from Jutland, stanza III, contains a reference to Bishop Simon of Odense (d. between 1183 and 1187) (OLRIK 1894, 339). Given the reference to this miracle story in the Annales Ripenses, where it is said that the story is recorded in the ‘book of St Knud’, Arnfast no doubt based his stanza on a miracle collection kept at Odense Cathedral. Consequently, Arnfast might have composed his poem a long time after the death of Bishop Simon.       <br /> <br /> The best starting point for suggesting a date for Arnfast’s poem is the devastating fire that ravaged Odense which is mentioned in stanza VI. Hans Olrik pointed out that since the stanza refers to this incident as ‘Nuper’, ‘recently’, it is likely that the poem is composed within a few years after the fire (OLRIK 1894, 340). Olrik noted that the surviving historical record provided two possible alternatives, namely the fire of 1247 when King Abel sacked Odense, and the fire of 1444 (OLRIK 1894, 340-41). Arguing that the poem would have specified that the fire was started by King Abel’s soldiers, Olrik favoured the second option and suggested that Arnfast composed the poem around 1450 (OLRIK 1894, 341). <br /> <br /> Martin Clarentius Gertz, on the other hand, argued that the fire in question was that of 1247. The basis for this argument is that the fire did not touch the ‘sanctuario’ in the Church of St Alban, which Gertz interpreted as Knud’s shrine (GERTZ 1912, 59). From this, Gertz argued that the shrine of St Knud had been kept at the Church of St Alban until it was translated to the new cathedral at the end of the thirteenth century. Gertz also suggested that the memory of Bishop Simon would not have resonated as strongly in the fifteenth century as it might have done in the mid-thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 59).   <br /> <br /> Neither scholar’s line of argumentation is particularly solid, and some important counterarguments must be mentioned here. The idea that Arnfast would have attributed the fire to King Abel is uncertain at best, as such an attribution might have been avoided for reasons of diplomacy and tact, seeing that Abel was, after all, a member of the royal family. Moreover, if the poem had been composed before the murder of King Erik Plovpenning in 1250, Abel might not have been as clear-cut an antagonist as modern commentators would expect. <br /> <br /> Gertz’s dating relies mainly on the translation of ‘sanctuario’ or ‘sanctuarium’ as ‘shrine’. However, an alternative translation is simply ‘sanctuary’ or ‘holiest of holies’. In this case, the word might refer to the choir of the church, as is how [[Ailnothus]] employs this term in chapter 28 of Gesta Swenomagni where Knud’s martyrdom takes place ‘ad orientem sanctuarii’, in the eastern part of the sanctuary (GERTZ 1912, 120). Since the last line of the poem is formulated as ‘Cuius corpus tumulo illic condebatur’, ‘whose body was buried there in the grave’, it seems that Arnfast attributes Knud’s protection of the Church of St Alban to the fact that this was where he was first buried after his martyrdom. Since Knud’s body had rested in a grave in St Alban’s, Knud was also protective of this holy space. Arnfast’s use of the word ‘tumulo’, ‘grave’, might mean that it is not the shrine but the first burial place that is importance for explaining Knud’s patronage of the Church of St Alban. This usage is also suggested when comparing with the first antiphon for Laudes in the office for St Knud, the Historia Kanuti. This antiphon concludes with the verses ‘miranda sunt post obitum / ad eius gesta tumulum’ (‘after his death, wonders were performed at his grave’) (HOPE 2017, LXXIII. Curiously, this word is also written out in a marginal comment to this antiphon in a copy of Breviarium Othoniense, now Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29, f.262). Finally, we must also note that Arnfastus himself uses the word ‘sacraria’ in stanza V when referring to the shrine of St Knud, although this might be due to scansion. Consequently, Gertz’s argument about Knud’s shrine being placed in the Church of St Alban in the mid-thirteenth century is far from certain.     <br /> <br /> Finally, Gertz’s suggestion that the memory of Bishop Simon would rather have been evoked in the thirteenth century than in the fifteenth century is possible. However, if Arnfast had used the now-lost miracle collection kept at the shrine of St Knud, the name of Simon might have been part of a familiar story often recounted to the monastic community at the feast of St Knud.            <br /> <br /> While we can never be entirely sure about the date of Arnfast’s poem, it is interesting to see its catalogue of miracles in light of the second anonymous Passio Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris (now known as Passio II), which is an adaptation of Ailnoth of Canterbury’s Gesta Swenomagni of uncertain date (GERTZ 1912, 536). Both the anonymous author and Arnfast refer to two of the same miracles, namely the healing of the woman from Jutland and the healing of Esbern. The anonymous author claims to have witnessed the healing of Esbern personally, and the lack of such a claim on Arnfast’s part led Gertz to suggest that the anonymous author wrote earlier than Arnfast but that both were active in the first half of the thirteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 537). That both the anonymous author and Arnfast included these miracles suggests that they both wrote in a time when the stories in question circulated actively, at least within the monastic community at the Church of St Knud, and it is therefore reasonable to follow Gertz’s suggestion that the two authors were relatively close in time. Since I have elsewhere argued that the anonymous Passio II was composed in the second quarter of the thirteenth century, in agreement with Gertz, I believe a mid-thirteenth-century date for Arnfast’s poem is the most likely (HOPE 2025, 24, 40). (However, see also BJERREGAARD 2025 for arguments about a later date.) <br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> In its surviving form, the poem consists of six stanzas. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 recounts the healing of the boy or young man (‘puerulus’) Hesbernulus at the shrine of Saint Knud Rex in Odense cathedral. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is a general praise for the many miracles wrought at the shrine of the saint-king, and an exhortation that these miracles be recounted and not consigned to oblivion. <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 recounts how a high-born woman from Jutland, whose body was contracted, was healed at the cathedral of Odense. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 tells of a dispute between two of the Abbey of St Knud’s tenant farmers concerning a stolen horse. The thief swears his innocence and is punished by madness for his false oath. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 concerns the healing of a mute girl who was possessed by a demon. <br /> <br /> Stanza 6 reports how a fire ravaged the city of Odense, but the basilica of St Alban’s was saved due to St Knud’s intervention, since this church had been his original resting-place.      <br /> <br /> As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the surviving text-witness to the poem appears to be a transcription of a selection of excerpts from the original poem. The excerptor has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose (see Composition and style below). It is therefore likely that the original poem was longer, and that it contained several more stories.<br /> <br /> === Composition and style ===<br /> As has been noted by GERTZ (1912, 59), the poem in its surviving form is most likely the result of a later excerptor (see Medieval reception and transmission below). The poem is not written in one single metre, and the form of each individual stanza must therefore be analysed separately. <br /> <br /> Stanza 1 is rendered in prose, possibly – as per Gertz’ suggestion – by a later editor or excerptor of the poem. <br /> <br /> Stanza 2 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse typical of liturgical poetry. The stanza consists of 33 lines with the rhyming pattern aab. The first two lines of each rhyming section both have nine syllables with a paroxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the penultimate syllable. The third line has seven syllables with a proparoxytone stress, which means that the stress falls on the antepenultimate syllable. The scheme of the stanza can be summarised accordingly: 9p+9p+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 3 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 10 lines. After the seventh and the tenth line is a line in prose. It is unclear whether these prose lines are part of the original poem. That the first prose line contains the spelling “Othensö” rather than, for example, “Othensia”, suggests that this line is written by a late-medieval editor. The rhyming pattern is: aaab + aab + aab. The syllable scheme is: 9p+9p+9p+7pp, 9p+9p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 4 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 36 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aaab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8p+8p+7pp. <br /> <br /> Stanza 5 is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 21 lines. The eighth and ninth lines are lost. The rhyming pattern is: aab. The syllable scheme is: 8p+8+7pp.  <br /> <br /> Stanza 6: is composed in syllable-counting rhymed verse, and consists of 16 lines. The rhyming pattern is: aa. The syllable scheme is: 13p+13p.<br /> <br /> === Sources ===<br /> The miracle stories in stanzas 1, 3, 4, and 5 appear to have been part of the institutional historical memory at the Abbey of St Knud by the time Arnfastus versified them. This memory would have been maintained through oral as well as written accounts. It is possible that these stories were based on the now-lost collection of miracles kept at St Knud’s shrine (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). These stories might also have been informed by orally transmitted collective memory. For instance, the reference to Bishop Simon of Odense in stanza 3 was probably part of an institutional history that was transmitted orally by senior monks to the novices. The episcopacy of Simon had been a period of institutional expansion (JENSEN 2011), and we might imagine that Simon was a figure who served as an important reference point in the continuous maintenance of institutional identity at the Abbey of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The story in stanza 6 appears to have been based on Arnfastus’ own recollection of the events. <br /> <br /> The story of Hesbernulus, or Esbern, in stanza 1 is also recounted in the younger anonymous Passio Kanuti Regis et Martiris (see [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]), whose author claims to have been an eyewitness to the event. It is possible that Arnfastus knew of the anonymous Passio, but since this work was composed for an ecclesiastical community outside Odense (GERTZ 1912, 533-34; HOPE 2025, 28-30), it is more likely that Arnfastus drew on the now-lost miracle collection instead. <br /> <br /> === Purpose and audience ===<br /> Since stanza 2 emphasises the importance of commemoration, we can infer that the main purpose of Arnfastus’ poem was to commit the miracles of St Knud to institutional memory. Some of these stories were probably already recorded in the now-lost miracle collection, while the story of the fire appears to be a new addition to the saint-king’s catalogue of interventions on behalf of the living. In addition to the institutional context, we should also understand Arnfastus’ decision to versify these miracle accounts as an expression of his personal veneration of St Knud. <br /> <br /> The two main purposes of Arnfastus’ poem point to two main sets of audiences. From the institutional perspective, the intended audience was the rest of the Benedictine community at the Abbey of St Knud, and the poem served to remind the ministrants at St Knud’s shrine that their patron saint intervened on their behalf and deserved their praise and veneration. We should probably also expect that the poem was intended for the ears of other ecclesiastical communities in Odense. In particular, Arnfastus might have had in mind the clerics at the Church of St Alban, as the miracle in stanza 6 pertained to their house and served as a reminder that St Knud was also their patron on account of the historical connection between the church and Knud’s martyrdom. From an institutional perspective, we should perhaps also expect that the inclusion of a miracle that protected another institution could serve to remind the clerics of the Church of St Alban that they ranked below the cathedral in the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the diocese of Odense. The first set of audiences was, therefore, the wider ecclesiastical echelon of both the city and the diocese of Odense.<br /> <br /> The second set of audiences was St Knud himself, and also God. Since the poem served as an expression of personal devotion towards the patron saint of Odense cathedral, Arnfastus expected that the saint would recognise the veneration offered by the monk. The inclusion of God in the overview of intended audiences stems from the theological belief that by divine omnipotence, God would hear whatever was directed at the saints, as the saints were the ambassadors of the living in the court of God. <br /> <br /> === Medieval reception and transmission ===<br /> The only surviving record of Arnfastus’ poem is the manuscript Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol. at the Royal Library in Copenhagen (ff.38r-40v). This is a transcription from the late seventeenth or the early eighteenth century (GERTZ 1912, 58). As argued by Gertz (1912, 59), the version of the poem transmitted in this manuscript is likely recorded by an excerptor who has also rendered some of the stanzas into prose. The work of the excerptor suggests that Arnfastus’ poem was part of a living institutional memory at the cathedral of Odense, as it would have been preserved long enough for the excerptor to record his rendition of the poem. Even though the poem is likely to have been known and read at the cathedral of Odense – and possibly also at the Church of St Alban (see Purpose and audience above) – the transmission of the poem was most probably limited to the ecclesiastical milieux in Odense. <br /> <br /> It is possible that the miracle story concerning the fire in Odense might have been recorded in the now-lost miracle collection at the shrine of St Knud in Odense cathedral (see Liber de Miraculis Sancti Kanuti Regis et Martiris in [[Sanctus Kanutus rex|Sanctus Kanutus Rex]]). <br /> <br /> == Bibliography ==<br /> <br /> * BJERREGAARD, M. M. 2025: “The younger passio of Cnut the Holy – Hagiography and Archaeology,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 35-52. <br /> * GERTZ, M. CL. 1908-1912: Vitæ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen. <br /> * HOPE, 2. 2017: Constructing institutional identity through the cult of royal saints, c.1050-c.1200, Odense. <br /> * HOPE, S. 2025: “The Younger Passio Kanuti – a reassessment of its historical context, its author, and its purpose,” in Royal Blood - The Passion of St Cnut, King and Martyr, Translation and perspectives, ed. M. M. Bjerregaard, K. Haase, and S. Hope, Odense, 19-33.<br /> * JENSEN, E. L. 2011: “Simon - biskop”, in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. <br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek, Additamenta Nr. 90 Fol.<br /> * Kongelige Bibliotek LN 29. <br /> * LANGEBEK, J. 1772: Scriptores rerum danicarum medii aevi. 3, Copenhagen.<br /> * OLRIK, H. 1893-94: Danske Helgeners Levned, Copenhagen. (Repr. Selskabet til Historiske Kildeskrifters Oversættelse, 1968).<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sanctus_Olavus&diff=1121 2025-10-29T11:58:25Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article was published in 2012 and does not reflect current research.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Lars Boje Mortensen (''Legenda''), Eyolf Østrem (''Officium'') and Åslaug Ommundsen (''Missa'')<br /> <br /> '''Sanctus Olavus''', The Norwegian royal martyr saint, Olaf Haraldsson (d. 1030), became the most renowned local saint in the Nordic countries, as is evident from the great number of church dedications, place names, pieces of art, and texts. Little is known of his cult in the eleventh century, but during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries his shrine in Trondheim was turned into a major site of pilgrimage and celebration. The Nidaros cathedral was constructed and a series of liturgical, musical and literary monuments were composed. His status as a national saint remained uncontested, but his cult also diffused outside of Norway and assumed other functions.<br /> <br /> Here the focus is on the Latin texts relating to Olaf. For recent surveys of the historical Olaf Haraldsson, the cult, art and musical history, and the Old Norse texts see SVAHNSTRÖM (ed.) 1981, KRÖTZL 1994, KRAG 1995, RUMAR (ed.) 1997, LIDÉN 1999, EKREM, MORTENSEN &amp; SKOVGAARD-PETERSEN (eds.) 2000, ØSTREM 2001, MUNDAL &amp; MORTENSEN 2003, RØTHE 2004.<br /> <br /> The first critical edition of all the versions of Olav's Latin legend was finished (as a dissertation) by JIROUSKOVA in 2011 (see bibliography) after the present article had been written. It therefore reflects the status of research before her mapping and analysis of all textual witnesses and her critical edition.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Legenda ==<br /> (BHL 6322-6326). For the present purpose the numerous versions of the legend are grouped under five headings, A-E, each referring to the text of the most important extant manuscript (see more information under ''editions'' and ''medieval transmission'' below). These letter codes will be used here as preliminary signposts for describing the surviving versions, not as an attempt at an exhaustive classification (the text published by STORM 1880 as ''Acta Sancti Olavi'' is not included here, because it is a secondary construct on the basis of a surviving vernacular version). The texts are usually easy to divide into a ''passio'' (or ''uita'') and a miracle part. The differences between the versions are most conspicuous in the narrative of the first part, the passio. A gives the fullest passio account (ca. 5 pp.), B a very short abbreviation (half a page), hence the reference in the scholarly literature (and below) to a long and a short ''passio'' (or ''vita''). In reality the “short” versions represent different extracts from what we suppose to be an original close to A. The second part, the miracles, is in general textually more stable between the versions, but the selection of miracles differs widely. The miracles will be counted according to the longest series as they appear in the major early manuscript (version A, Oxford, Corpus Christi College 209, from Fountains Abbey), namely 1-49. Only one miracle has been transmitted in Latin in the High Middle Ages (A, B, C) which is not present in this manuscript, the Miles Britannicus miracle, for practical purposes numbered here as 50. All these 50 miracles are posthumous, except no. 1, Olaf’s vision before the battle of Stiklestad, and no. 10, his trial for working on a Sunday. The additional late medieval miracles, performed by Olaf while still alive, are integrated into various late medieval versions of the Passio (D, E) and are not counted separately.<br /> *A ''Fountains Abbey'' (late twelfth cent.): long passio, miracles 1-49.<br /> *B ''Anchin'' (late twelfth cent.): short passio, miracles 1-9, 50, 10-21.<br /> *C ''Sweden'' (around 1200) rewritten passio (fragmentary transmission).<br /> *D ''Köln'' (ca. 1460) rewritten ''passio'' with more miracles.<br /> *E ''Ribe'' (ca. 1460-65) rewritten ''passio'' with more miracles.<br /> <br /> =====Title=====<br /> The legend is traditionally referred to as ''Passio Olaui'', but a more correct form authenticated by the Fountains abbey manuscript is ''Passio et miracula beati Olaui'' reflecting the clear division into two parts. In later medieval manuscripts other versions are entitled ''Legenda sancti Olaui'', ''De sancto Olavo rege Norwegie'' and sim. or are left without a title.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit/explicit=====<br /> A ''Regnante illustrissimo rege Olauo apud Norwegiam'' – ''libere quo uoluit suis pedibus ambulauit''.<br /> B ''Gloriosus rex Olauus ewangelice ueritatis sinceritate in Anglia comperta'' – ''Qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuit, et regnat Deus per omnia secula seculorum. amen''.<br /> C [mutilated at the beginning] ... ''Ecclesias et loca sancta oracionis'' – ''et regnat in secula seculorum. amen''.<br /> D ''Gloriosus martir Olauus norwegie rex per aliquorum sanctorum uirorum predicationem conuersus'' – ''multarum rerum ornata preciositate: in qua ipse requiescit testatur ecclesia''.<br /> E ''In Nederos munitissimo castro tocius Norvegie regni'' ¬– ''cui est omnis honor et gloria in secula seculorum''.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> A runs to ca. 40 pp., the others from around 5 to 15 pp. The various extracts for liturgical readings make up ca. 1 to 3 pp.<br /> <br /> =====Editions===== <br /> *Jacobus de Voragine, ''Legenda aurea'' [+ ''Historie plurimorum''.... CHECK], Köln 1483, 307a-308d. [version D including miracles 2,5,4].<br /> *''Breviarium Otthoniense'' (Odense), Lübeck 1483 &amp; 1497 (repr. in STORM 1880, 255-64) [short ''passio'', miracle 1].<br /> *''Historie plurimorum sanctorum nouiter et laboriose ex diuersis libris in unum collecte'', Louvain 1485, 101-103v (repr. in STORM 1880, 277-82) [version D including miracles 2,5,4]. <br /> *''Breviarium Lincopense'' (Linköping), Nürnberg 1493 (repr. in STORM 1880, 247-51) [short ''passio'', miracles 1,2,4].<br /> *''Breviarium Strengnense'', Stockholm 1495 (repr. in STORM 1880, 255-64) [short ''passio'', miracle 1].<br /> *''Breviarium Upsalense'' (Uppsala), Stockholm 1496 (repr. in STORM 1880, 255-64) [short ''passio'', miracle 1].<br /> *''Breviarium Scarense'' (Skara), Nürnberg 1498, f. CCLVII verso. (repr. in STORM 1880, 251-54) [long ''passio'', no miracles]<br /> *''Breviarium Aberdonense'' (Aberdeen), Edinburgh 1509/1510 (repr. in METCALFE 1881, 117-18) [short ''passio'', miracles 1,2,4].<br /> *''Breviarium Slesvicense'' (Sleswig), Paris 1512 (repr. in STORM 1880, 265-66) [short ''passio'', miracles 1,2,10,5].<br /> *''Breviarium Arosiense'' (Århus), Basel 1513 (repr. in STORM 1880, 255-64) [short ''passio'', miracle 1].<br /> *''Breviarium Roschildense'' (Roskilde), Paris 1517 (repr. in STORM 1880, 255-64) [short ''passio'', miracle 1].<br /> *''Breviarium Lundense'' (Lund), Paris 1517 (repr. in STORM 1880, 255-64) [short ''passio'', miracles 1-2].<br /> *''Breviarium Nidrosiense'' (Nidaros), Paris 1519, fols. qq II-rr IIII (repr. in TORFÆUS 1711, LANGEBEK 1773 &amp; STORM 1880, 229-45), [extended short ''passio'', miracles 1-3, 6-10, 19, 15, 20, 23, 4, 12, 14].<br /> *''Breviarium Arhusiense'', Århus 1519 (repr. in STORM 1880, 247-51) [short ''passio'', miracles 1,2,4].<br /> *''Officia propria ss. patronorum Regni Sueciæ'', Antwerpen 1616 (and several reprints) [short ''passio'', miracle 1].<br /> *TORFÆUS, T. 1711: ''Historia rerum Norvegicarum'', Copenhagen, vol. 3, 211-13 [reprint of the BN text].<br /> *''Acta Sanctorum'', Antwerpen 1731, Julii Tomus VII, 87-120: “De S. Olavo, rege et martyre, Nidrosiæ in Norvegia Commentarius Historicus”. [excerpts from medieval and early modern historiography with discussions; also includes brief quotations from a lost Utrecht manuscript. The pages 113-16 prints the text, subsequently lost, from the late medieval legendarium, ''Codex Bodecensis'', under the title “''Acta brevia auctore anonymo, ex passionali pergameno ms. cœnobii Bodecensis''”, which includes an A version of the ''passio'' with miracles 1,2,6,7,8,19,20,3,5. Additional material from BN is quoted via TORFÆUS 1711, 117-20.]<br /> *LANGEBEK, J. 1773: SRD 2, Copenhagen, 529-52: “''Legendæ aliquot de Sancto Olavo Rege Norvegiæ''” [edition of various fragments and transcriptions in Arne Magnusson’s collection, a reprint of the Low German translation and the BN text] <br /> *''Officia propria ss. patronorum Regni Poloniæ et Sueciæ'', Mechlen 1858 (repr. in STORM 1880, 264-65) [short ''passio'', miracle 1].<br /> *STORM, G. 1880: “Acta sancti Olavi regis et martyris,” in MHN, Kristiania 1880, 125-44 [an eclectic A text based mainly on BN and ''Acta sanctorum'', but ordered with the Old Norse homily as structural guideline].<br /> *• METCALFE, F. 1881: ''Passio et Miracula Beati Olaui, edited from a twelfth-century manuscript in the library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, with an introduction and notes by F. M.'', Oxford [first edition of the full A version, the Fountains abbey text].<br /> *• STORM, G. 1885: ''Om en Olavslegende fra Ribe'', (Christiania Vidensk.-Selsk. Forhandl. 3), Kristiania. [A partial first edition of E, the “Ribe”-legend, ca. 1460/65].<br /> *• MALIN 1920 [first edition of the ''Miles Britannicus''-miracle from a thirteenth-century fragment].<br /> *• ØSTREM 2000 [first edition of C, based on thirteenth-century breviary fragments, Stockholm, Riksarkivet, Fr. 596 &amp; 614 (together also called codex 97) – see also ØSTREM 2001]<br /> *• ØSTREM 2001 [appendix 2, pp. 263-280, ‘Lessons from ''Passio Olavi''’: the long ''passio'' (A) based on Storm 1880, the short ''passio'' (B) and miracles 1-11 based on the Anchin manuscript, all with copious additional readings from a number of liturgical manuscript fragments. Appendix 5, pp. 288-91 reprints the edition of the C version from Østrem 2000].<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> For medieval translations see Medieval transmission and reception.<br /> *SKARD, E. 1930: ''Passio Olavi. Lidingssoga og undergjerningane åt den heilage Olaf'', (Norrøne bokværk 46) Oslo (repr. 1970). [Norwegian, nynorsk, from STORM’s edition, with additions and transpositions].<br /> *LUDWIG 1994 ##-## [English, selections from METCALFE’s edition (version A)]<br /> *PHELPSTEAD, C. (ed.) 2001: ''A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Óláfr'', translated by D. Kunin, ed. with introduction and notes by C. Phelpstead (Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series, vol. 13), London [from METCALFE’s edition (version A)].<br /> *IVERSEN, G. (transl.) in LIDÉN 1999, 404-10 [Swedish, from STORM 1885 (version E)].<br /> *EKREM, I. 2000, 145-46 [Norwegian, bokmål, the short ''Passio'' from version B].<br /> *ØSTREM 2000, 192-97 [Norwegian, bokmål, from his own edition ''ibid''. (version C)].<br /> *ØSTREM 2001, ##-##. [English, from his own edition ''ibid''. (version C)].<br /> <br /> =====Commentaries=====<br /> *METCALFE 1881 [literary and historical footnotes for the entire text].<br /> *SKARD 1930.<br /> *KRAGGERUD 1993, 130-44.<br /> *PHELPSTEAD 2001, ##-##.<br /> <br /> ====Date and place==== <br /> There can be no doubt that the legend of St. Olaf went through a formative phase shortly after the establishment of the archbishopric in Trondheim in 1153, and in particular during the period when Eystein Erlendsson was in office (1161-1188). Our earliest extant manuscripts of both the legend and the chants and ''lectiones'' derived from it, stem from the end of the twelfth century, and a number of miracles date and place themselves in Trondheim after 1153 and some even explicitly during the reign of Eystein. This date also tallies well with a number of significant textual and musical compositions for the liturgy of St. Olaf (see below), and with the contemporary organisation of pilgrimage on a larger scale.<br /> <br /> Furthermore the historian [[Theodoricus Monachus]], who was a probably a canon at the cathedral in this very period and certainly a well-informed local who dedicated his work to Eystein sometime between the years 1177 and 1188, writes in ch. 20: <br /> <br /> ''Quomodo vero mox omnipotens Deus merita martyris sui Olavi declaraverit cæcis visum reddendo et multa commoda ægris mortalibus impendendo, et qualiter episcopus Grimkel – qui fuit filius fratris Sigwardi episcopi, quem Olavus filius Tryggva secum adduxerat de Anglia - post annum et quinque dies beatum corpus e terra levaverit et in loco decenter ornato reposuerit in Nidrosiensi metropoli, quo statim peracta pugna transvectum fuerat, quia hæc omnia a nonnullis memoriæ tradita sunt, nos notis immorari superfluum duximus''. <br /> <br /> (It has been related by several how almighty God soon made known the merits of his martyr Óláfr, by restoring sight to the blind and bestowing manifold comforts on the infirm; and how, after a year and five days. Bishop Grímkell (who was the nephew of bishop Sigeweard, whom Óláfr Tryggvason had brought with him from England) had Óláfr’s body exhumed and laid in a fitly adorned place in the metropolitan city of Nidaróss, where it had been conveyed immediately after the battle was finished. But because all these things have been recorded by several, I regard it as unnecessary to dwell on matters which are already known.) (transl. MCDOUGALL &amp; MCDOUGALL 1998, 32-33). <br /> <br /> Although this passage has given rise to a number of discussions (further references in MCDOUGALL &amp; MCDOUGALL 1998, 32-33) it is safe to infer that Theodoricus knew of writings (“''memoriæ tradita sunt''”) about some of Olaf’s posthumous miracles and about the translation of Olaf’s body to Trondheim – and that he expected his primary audience to know about such texts. All other traces of a translation text has disappeared, but the miracles must at least be some of those we know from the legend, or even simply identical to a certain group of them. ØSTREM 2001, 34-35, has questioned STORM’s hypothesis (1880, XXXIV) that Theodoricus is here speaking of a lost ''Translatio S. Olavi''. Others have extended his doubts (e.g. CHASE 2005, 12) with the resulting interpretation that Theodoricus’s testimony simply shows that the events were known. But although ØSTREM is correct in saying that we cannot take for granted that Theodoricus is referring to a liturgical text, we have to acknowledge that he is referring to specific writings existing at the cathedral in Trondheim. “''Memoriae tradere''” is standard classical and medieval Latin for putting into writing, and it would need other indicators and a lot of good will to make it refer to, for instance, (unwritten) skaldic verse. That Theodoricus is not talking vaguely of knowledge floating around in common memory is underlined by the phrase “a nonnullis”, i.e. writings by certain people. He may or may not have known who the authors were, but his entire point is to say that what you do not find in this book you will find in others (almost certainly, Latin books here at the cathedral). Leaving aside the question of the ''Translatio'', for the present purpose it is sufficient so far to establish that Theodoricus presumed that it would be straightforward for his readers/listeners around 1180 to find one or more written accounts of a number of Olaf’s posthumous healing miracles.<br /> <br /> STORM 1880 and SKARD 1932 were convinced that Theodoricus also knew the ''Passio'', i.e. the ''vita''-part of the legend more or less as we have it in its long version. Their textual arguments are not particularly strong and their view has since become muddled by a number of factors. First, METCALFE’s discovery of the fullest version (A) of the legend in 1881 with some of its additional miracles penned by Eystein led to an assumption that the entire legend came from his hand (and, consequently, must have been at least contemporary with Theodoricus, if not later). The stylistic investigation by SKARD 1932 allegedly proved unitary authorship by the archbishop – a position that has been accepted by most leading scholars since, for instance by HOLTSMARK 1937 and GUNNES 1996 although both believed that some sort of written account did exist before 1153 and was used by Eystein acting as redactor. The unitary style which SKARD had suggested, however, was difficult to uphold, both because what seemed to him stylistic idiosyncrasies are now known to be standard medievalisms, and because a number of other traits in the text point to more to a multilayered composition than unitary composition or redaction (cf. EKREM 2000 &amp; MORTENSEN 2000a, MORTENSEN &amp; MUNDAL 2003, and see Summary of contents below). A particularly intriguing passage in Theodoricus complicates matters further. He presents as his personal finding (and there is no reason to doubt this) that Olaf was baptized in Rouen: this can be learnt from the Norman chronicler, William of Jumièges (ca. 1070, book 5, ch. 11-12). The Passio takes this information for granted and it would therefore seem to postdate Theodoricus (for a full discussion of this see MORTENSEN 2000b). It has also been shown that the short vita (evidenced before ca. 1200 in the Douai manuscript, version B above) – by some scholars believed to have been a first version – is in fact an abbreviation of the long vita (ØSTREM 2001, 45 ff., MORTENSEN &amp; MUNDAL 2003, 366). Finally ANTONSSON 2004a has pointed to a convincing motif parallel (see Sources below) with the legend of Thomas Becket which gives a ''terminus post quem'' of 1173. All this certainly point to the 1170s and 1180s as the crucial period for the composition of the long vita. Instead of focusing on Eystein alone, it is probably safer to talk of a team effort by the senior clergy at the Trondheim cathedral (cf. Theodoricus’s share in discovering evidence for Olaf’s baptism, see also Composition and style below).<br /> <br /> While we can be certain that the ''Passio'' is a late twelfth-century Trondheim composition, and that the entire legend, including the miracles, must have been put together in a form like A at the same time and place, this does not preclude the possibility that a first series of miracles were taken down at an earlier stage, before Eystein, and probably also before 1153 (for the various groupings of miracles, see below Summary and Composition). There is a good amount of evidence for this. Theodoricus’s statement quoted above implies that he knew written accounts of a number of miracles (and of the translation), but not of a ''passio''. At the beginning of miracle 37 Archbishop Eystein writes: <br /> <br /> ''Perlectis his, que de uita et miraculis beati Olaui nobis antiquitas commendauit, congruum estimamus a nobis quoque, qui eius presentialiter nouis passim illustramur miraculis, que ipsi uidimus aut ueratium uirorum testimoniis uirtuose ad eius gloriam adeo facta probauimus, futuris generationibus memoranda litteris assignari''. <br /> <br /> (Having read all those accounts which antiquity has entrusted to us concerning the life and miracles of the blessed Óláfr, we deem it fitting that we, who have been personally enlightened by his widespread miracles in our own day, should also commit to the attention of future generations, in writing, those things which have been performed by miraculous powers, to his greater glory, as we have seen for ourselves or have learnt from the testimony of truthful men.) <br /> <br /> Eystein’s reference to ''antiquitas'' here is somewhat puzzling because it was clear to him that both the ''vita'' and most of the miracles were taken down after 1153. But he may think of the oldest core of miracles (see below Summary) at the beginning of the book which radiated “antiquity” – or he may have known for a fact that the collection of miracle reports had indeed been initiated before 1153.<br /> <br /> The strongest indication that a written tradition of old miracles was available before 1153 is the Old Norse stanzaic poem ''Geisli'' (Sunbeam) composed on commission by the poet Einar Skúlason for the festivities at the establishment of the archdiocese in 1153. In ''Geisli'' eight of the first nine miracles of the Latin collections are describes in a poetic rephrasing (cf. HOLTSMARK 1937, PHELPSTEAD 2001, XXXII &amp; CHASE 2005). Usually this is taken as evidence that the vernacular poet was drawing on Latin writing or stories told on the basis of a Latin text (EKREM 2000, PHELPSTEAD 2001, MORTENSEN &amp; MUNDAL 2003). It is correctly pointed out by CHASE (2005, 13) that we cannot be certain that the influence does not run the other way (as long as we do not possess a pre-1150 fragment containing Latin miracles), but probability, I think, speaks against it. It is a widely well-attested practice in the eleventh and twelfth centuries to take down miracle reports at the main shrine in Latin rather than in the vernacular, and in this case it is difficult to see how the Latin should have been extracted from a highly specialized poetic discourse. Some details of authentication have also been left out by the poet, such as the presence of votive gifts in the church stemming from miracle 4 and 5 (cf. ''Geisli'', stanzas 51-56 &amp; 35-36). As these miracle report seem to have served as an explanation of the votive gifts it would be more difficult to interpret the authentication as an addition to the Latin text than as something left out through poetic treatment. More analysis drawing on the entire miracle corpus in Latin and Old Norse is needed, but I am inclined to agree with the widely held view that a small collection of Latin miracle reports was already available in Trondheim before 1153 (cf. HOLTSMARK 1937, GUNNES 1996, 178-79, EKREM 2000, PHELPSTEAD 2001, XXXVIII) – although it is difficult to say when it was taken down. One possibility is the active period of building and “positioning” in the 1130s and 1140s, but at the present stage of research there is no clear indication that it could not be as old as around 1100.<br /> <br /> Apart from this possible group of pre-1153 core miracles (1-10) the remainder of the miracle collection as we know it in version A consists of various layers composed between 1153 and 1188 (death of Eystein who penned some of the last miracles) or ca. 1200 (latest palaeographical date of the Fountains Abbey manuscript.) The Summary below gives some additional internal evidence for this time frame.<br /> <br /> Version B is contemporary with A and strongly related to it (see Summary below). Version C in all probability stems from Sweden, perhaps from the diocese of Linköping where it could have been composed around 1200 (ØSTREM 2000 &amp; 2001).<br /> <br /> D and E are both late medieval texts (ca. 1460) composed outside of Norway, D is known through the legendary put together by Herman Greven in Köln 1460 – it is probably of German origin as it reflects the world of Hanseatic traders and was immediately translated into Low German. E is known through the work of Petrus Mathie in Ribe in southern Denmark (ca. 1460-1465), and is related to D in narrative and motifs.<br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents====<br /> '''Version A:'''<br /> ''Passio'': The long ''Passio'' begins by a lofty summary of the role of Olaf as the ruler who converted the cold North. It includes a number of biblical quotations where this deed is foreshadowed, and Olaf is hinted at – he is for instance the “boiling pot” (''olla'') mentioned by Jeremiah. The rest of the ''Passio'' is structured chronologically from the time he was baptized in Rouen. He was the perfect ruler, a ''rex justus'', who spread the word of God, uprooted paganism, and kept justice by his own humble example and by restraining the proud. But his efforts was not welcomed by everyone and due to rising pressure he went into exile in Russia to await a better time to carry through God’s plan. After a while he felt ready to return, also to suffer martyrdom if that was God’s will. His adversaries gathered to meet him, partly bribed by his enemy “a certain Canute” [the Great], partly through their own ambition and reluctance to accept Christianity. Olaf faced death bravely with his eyes fixed on eternal life and was struck down at Stiklestad [north of Trondheim] on Wednesday July 29, 1028 [according to this version].<br /> <br /> Miracles: In this version 49 miracles are collected which can be divided in four major series: 1-10, 11-21, 22-36, 37-49. For discussion of possible divisions see HOLTSMARK 1937, GUNNES 1996, 178-88, EKREM 2000, JØRGENSEN 2000, MUNDAL &amp; MORTENSEN 2003. The present division, and others that have been proposed, owes as much to the transmission of miracles in other versions as to an analysis of formalities, style and contents – a distinction that has not yet been systematically applied.<br /> In terms of content the first series stand out in several respects: it includes two miracles which happened in Olaf’s lifetime (1 &amp; 10, all other miracles are posthumous); three miracles (3-5) end with a reference to the votive gift which can be seen in the martyr’s church now (''hec ecclesia''). There are no references to archbishop or arch see. Number 10, which deals with Olaf’s self-inflicted punishment of his transgression against the rule of resting on a Sunday, is introduced by an editorial voice explaining that although this miracle comes last, it should really have been put first in terms of chronology. No. 2 narrates the “protomiracle”, the first healing worked by the saint on the day after his death. 3-5 and 9 report stories of miracles outside of Norway through prayers to Olaf, and 6-8 of healings of people who attended the memoria of the saint, i.a. the feast of 29 July. These miracles (with or without no. 10) are also usually grouped together because the Old Norse poem Geisli from 1153 (see above) reports all the miracles here except 8 and 10 and none from any subsequent series.<br /> <br /> The beginning of the next series, 11-21, is marked by the reference to the “archbishop and the brothers” at the end of 11 (... ''archiepiscopo et fratribus exposuit'') – the brothers no doubt referring to the regular canons of the Trondheim cahtedral. Miracle 19 is explicitly dated to the year when Olaf’s church in Trondheim received the ''pallium''. The majority of these miracles are healings, but two deal with escape from fire and one with a boy lost and found (!). The feast and shrine in Trondheim again dominate, but there are two miracles reported from the Norwegian community in Novgorod and two from the province of Telemark. No. 21 deals with the healing of an unnamed Norwegian king at Olaf’s local church in Stiklestad, but there is no textual break between 21 and 22, in fact 22 begins by saying “in the same year...”. The reason that scholars have put a caesura here is because the miracles 1-21 are transmitted together in a number of other manuscripts and vernacular texts. With one small exception (part of miracle 23 in the ''Breviarium Nidrosiense'' from 1519), miracles 22-49 are only known from version A – the Fountains abbey manuscript. The Anchin manuscript (see below version B) stops after miracle 21 and so does the ''Old Norse Homiliary'' version from ca. 1200. The vernacular ''Legendary saga of Olaf'' from the beginning of the thirteenth century also confines itself to the first 21 miracles, and a fragment from the thirteenth century with Old Norse adaptations of Olaf miracles contain pieces only within this range as well (cf. JØRGENSEN 2000).<br /> <br /> The third series, 22-36, is equally dominated by healings at the shrine (mostly in connection with the celebrations on 29 July). Occasional “distance” miracles are also reported where the person(s) favoured through a vow to Olaf present themselves in Trondheim to pay homage to the saint. An authenticating voice is often present – it is a “we” who receives gifts for the church or who have heard the story from so and so. In two miracles (26 &amp; 30) the “we” addresses themselves to a ''caritati uestre'', probably the archbishop. In no. 34 we are informed that a gift was sent “to us while we were in Bergen”; it is most natural to take this as ''pluralis maiestatis'', hence it is possible that the author here is archbishop Eystein, although it could be another senior official. Miracle 35 tells of an opening of the shrine (the miracle is the sweet fragrance) and is also interesting because it begins with a date “some time during the reign of King Eystein ...”; this means that this miracle must have been taken down after Eystein Haraldson’s death in 1157. Some miracles are dated relatively “the same year” or “next winter”. There is no explicit conclusion of this series, but the next one begins with a clear break.<br /> <br /> The fourth and last series, 37-49, is opened by the title “Tractatus Augustini Norewagensis episcopi etc” (for Eystein’s opening words about adding to the miracles, see above Date and Place). In miracle 37 Eystein tells vividly of a miraculously healed injury he suffered during inspection of the construction of the new basilica. It is not clear whether “''tractatus''” is the title for miracle 37 alone or for all the remaining ones, but as they have titles of their own the first alternative is preferable. His voice is not as explicit in other miracles, but can probably be discerned in 38, 39 (“we were held up by ecclesiastical business” ''ecclesiasticis detinebamur negociis'') and 44, as well as in 47 and 49 where the authorial voice suddenly addresses itself to ''fratres dilectissimi'', the canons of the chapter. This might lead to the conclusion that the entire last series is authored by Eystein, but in 42 we suddenly meet the ''caritas'' again as addressee as in 26 and 30. Most of the miracles are healings at the shrine – as in the other series. In 49 we get an interesting piece of information on the organisation of healings, namely the mention of a hospital for pilgrims.<br /> <br /> One preliminary conclusion to be drawn about version A is that neither Eystein or any other redactor were interested in smoothing over the seams between miracles or groups of miracles in this version – they were meant to stand with their pointers in different directions, perhaps also because they then kept an air of authenticity, but perhaps simply because they reflect an accepted way of accumulating reports with different authorial voices. These voices, in turn, all view things in a cathedral perspective, so the question of authorship can perhaps be resolved by pointing to a collective of senior officials at Olaf’s church.<br /> <br /> '''Version B'''<br /> ''Passio'': In this version the ''Passio'' has been telescoped into less than a page. Some scholars have viewed the A version as an elaborated B version whereas others think that B must be an abbreviation of A (see, with further references, EKREM 2000 &amp; ØSTREM 2001). The present author is of the opinion that the issue can be settled by internal textual arguments in favour of B being an abbreviation (argued in MORTENSEN &amp; MUNDAL 2003, 366).<br /> <br /> ''Miracula'': The B version includes, in that order, miracles 1-9, 50, 10-21 – no. 50 being the only one not in the A version. It deals with an English knight who (successfully) seeks help in Trondheim on Olaf’s feast day. There are no specificities about time nor does the authorial voice give itself away. Miracles 1,4,5,9 and 10 are missing some passages in comparison with version A, but in nos. 11-21 there are no editorial differences (cf. EKREM 2000, 124). After miracle 21 there is an epilogue formula which is similar to the one introducing miracle 26 in version A.<br /> <br /> '''Version C'''<br /> This alternative ''Passio'' was first identified and edited by ØSTREM 2000 &amp; 2001 in a fragment from the National Archives of Sweden (cod. 97). It consists of 9 lessons, of which 1, 4, and most of 5 have been lost. It follows the same basic structure as version A with a depiction of Olaf’s piety, just rule and protection of the poor, his conflict with his adversaries, his exile in Russia and his return to martyrdom. But it is nevertheless a completely different text which does not seem to draw directly on A. The plot and the rhetoric are similar, but other scriptural references and etymologies are employed (Stiklestad as ''locus pugionum uel sicariorum''). The most salient feature, in comparison with A and B, is the more important role allotted to King Canute as leader of Olaf’s enemies and instigator of evil.<br /> <br /> '''Version D'''<br /> This late medieval adaptation follows version A closely for about the first half of the text, but then introduces completely new elements such as Olaf’s rivalry with a pagan brother and the popular story of Olaf sailing through a mountain. Most striking is the description of Olaf’s martyrdom during which he is crucified. On the cross Olaf prays for merchants who call for his help on the dangerous seas.<br /> <br /> '''Version E'''<br /> The other late medieval legend adds a romantic novella about Olaf’s father Harald’s adventures during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella and makes the theme about the pagan brother into a main vehicle for the whole plot.<br /> <br /> ====Composition and style==== <br /> The only existing investigation of stylistic matters is that done by SKARD 1932 (the A version). Many of his individual observations are still valuable, but his main conclusion – that the A text has a unitary style attributable to Eystein as the sole author/redactor – has been challenged. OEHLER (1970, 63 n. 23) put his finger on the soft spots of SKARD’s procedure: (1) the examples are not drawn systematically from all the parts of the text whose unity he wants to demonstrate. (2) Most of the stylistic idiosyncracies SKARD finds are ordinary medievalisms. In spite of this – and indeed in spite of Eystein’s explicit statement at the beginning of miracle 37 that he wants to add to a text transmitted from antiquity – Eystein’s role as author of the whole legend (in version A) has remained uncontested in Norwegian scholarship until recently (e.g. SKARD 1930-1933, HOLTSMARK 1937, GUNNES 1996; the exception is BULL 1924). For fuller references to the debate and its present status see MORTENSEN 2000, 101-3, EKREM 2000, 138-39, PHELPSTEAD 2001, XXXVI-XXXIX, MORTENSEN &amp; MUNDAL 2003, 363-68.<br /> <br /> What is still wanting is a modern stylistic analysis (including probings into the prose rhythm) which characterizes the various parts of the work irrespective of the author issue. This cannot be offered here, but just to illustrate the diversity within the A version, consider the following three passages. The first is about the success of Olaf’s mission from the passio (ed. METCALFE 1881, 70), the next is from miracle 20 (ibid. 93) and the third from miracle 37 (ibid. 104) – one of the pieces certainly written by Eystein (in a few cases METCALFE’s text is adjusted; the translation is by P. Fisher [not yet published]):<br /> <br /> ''Plurimum profecit in breui, et innumerabilem Domino multitudinem adquisiuit. Confluebant ad baptisma certatim populi, et numerus credentium augebatur in dies. Effringebantur statue, succidebantur luci, euertebantur delubra, ordinabantur sacerdotes, et fabricabantur ecclesie. Offerebant donaria populi cum deuocione et alacritate. Erubescebant ydolorum cultores, confundebantur qui confidebant in scultili, et in multis illius regionis partibus infidelium depressa multitudine mutire non audens omnis iniquitas opilabat os suum''. <br /> <br /> (In a short time he made excellent progress, procuring a countless host for the Lord. In eager droves they flocked to be baptized, and the number of believers swelled daily. The effigies were shattered, the groves hewn down and the shrines overthrown. Priests were ordained, churches built. The people brought votive offerings piously and promptly. Those who worshipped idols blushed with shame, those who relied firmly on a graven image were thrown into confusion, and in many areas of that region the crowd of unbelievers were quelled, with the result that, not daring to mutter a sound, all iniquity stopped her mouth.)<br /> <br /> ''Waringus quidam in Ruscia seruum emerat, bone indolis iuuenem, set mutum. Qui cum nichil de se ipse profiteri posset, cuius gentis esset ignorabatur. Ars tamen, qua erat instructus, inter waringos eum conuersatum fuisse prodebat: nam arma, quibus illi soli utuntur, fabricare nouerat. Hic, cum diu ex uenditione diuersa probasset dominia, ad mercatorem postmodum deuenit, qui ei pietatis intuitu iugum laxauit seruile''. <br /> <br /> (A certain Varangian had bought a slave in Russia, a young man of fine natural qualities, but dumb. Consequently he could make no declaration about himself and therefore people were ignorant of his race. However, the craftsmanship he was versed in showed that he had lived among the Varangians, for he knew how to forge the kind of armour that they alone wore. When he had passed by sale from one master to another, he eventually came into the hands of a merchant, who on compassionate grounds loosed him from the yoke of slavery).<br /> <br /> ''Ego itaque Augustinus per uoluntatem dei in ecclesia beati martiris Olaui episcopalem ad tempus sollicitudinem gerens, cum a magistro, qui operariis ecclesie preest, pro quibusdam in opere disponendis super muri fastigium euocarer, pons, in quo lapides trahebantur, multitudinis, que nos sequebatur, molem non ferens confractus cecidit. Peccatis autem exigentibus ut uite et iniuncte sollicitudinis cautior redderer, ceteris ponti et machinis adherentibus solus in precipicium feror''. <br /> <br /> (And so, when I, Eystein, was at that time, by God’s wish, bearing the responsibility of archbishop in the church of the blessed martyr Olaf, I was called out to the top of the wall by the foreman in charge of those labouring on the church, so that I might settle certain details of the work; but the gangplank along which the stone was being hauled could not bear the weight of all the people following us up, so that it shattered and collapsed. With my sins demanding that I should make myself be rather careful of my life and the responsibility imposed on me, while the rest were clinging to the gangplank and scaffolding I alone fell headlong.)<br /> <br /> The first sample is effectively built by one perfect (''profecit'') followed by a number of emphatically foregrounded imperfects depicting the movement of conversion (''confluebant, effringebantur'' etc.) which, in spite of the lack of concreteness, conjures up images of the process. The language is steeped in biblical phrases referring to conversion and paganism: ''numerus credentium augebatur'' could echo Act. 5.14 ''magis autem augebatur credentium in Domino multitudo virorum ac mulierum'', the effigies and the groves no doubt come out of Josias’s uprooting of idolatry in 4. Reg. 23.14 ''et contrivit statuas et succidit lucos''. The pun on ''confundo'' and ''confido'' is from Is. 42.17 ''confundantur confusione qui confidunt in sculptili'', and finally the recherché phrase about iniquity brought to silence is borrowed from Ps. 106.42: ''et omnis iniquitas oppilabat os suum''.<br /> <br /> The second example shows a straightforward novelistic miracle account, paratactic and without any biblical or poetic embellishment. The only exertion in that direction, it seems, is the modest hyperbaton at the end of the quotation, ''iugum laxauit seruile''. This paratactic style is typical of many of the shorter miracles – a sort of ''reportatio'' or protocol matter-of-fact style. The third example, in contrast, is extremely hypotactic with a very substantial postponement of the main element ''pons .... cecidit''. The opening absolute ablative of the second clause, ''peccatis exigentibus'', is a twelfth-century favourite in explaining setbacks for the good cause, frequently used in crusading historiography whenever the Christian army loses to the infidel.<br /> <br /> ====Sources====<br /> The literary and hagiographical background of the Legend – and here the long ''Passio'' (version A) is the most relevant object of study – has not been investigated systematically. It is almost certain that one motif (of the cold North heated by the ''calor fidei'') is borrowed from Ælnoth’s legend of [[Sanctus Kanutus rex]] (cf. SKÅNLAND 1956) and influences from Hugh of St Victor’s ''De sacramentis'' has also been traced in the way Olaf is described as ''rex justus'' (GUNNES 1996, 213-14). In general it has been assumed that the author of ''Passio Olaui'' used English hagiographical models for describing a martyr king (cf. HOFFMANN 1975, PHELPSTEAD 2001, XLIII); most pertinent here are probably the widespread Abbo’s ''Life of Edmund'' (d. 869, Passio written 985-987) and perhaps the anonymous ''Life of Edward Martyr'' (d. 978, ''Passio'' written ca. 1100), but no striking verbal parallels have so far been demonstrated. The Legend(s) of Thomas Becket (d. 1170) has also been drawn into the picture on account of strong similarities in the motif of premeditated flight and exile as a necessary preparation of martyrdom (ANTONSSON 2004a).<br /> <br /> ====Purpose and audience====<br /> The ''Passio'' (version A) was composed during the archbishopric of Eystein, probably around 1180, and should be seen as part of the textual and liturgical initiatives to which also Theodoricus’ History and the Office and Sequences of Olaf belong. The ''Passio'' provided the the textual backbone for the new liturgy. Most of the miracles were also taken down at the shrine in this same period which was characterized by building activity and organization of pilgrimage on a larger scale. A miracle protocol served a double purpose of divine and human bookkeeping – Olaf’s miraculous deeds had to be inscribed into the book of God as well as to document his powers for pilgrims. It would seem that a protocol had existed in an early version before 1153, but it is certain that it was kept assiduously during the reign of Eystein. After that it does not seem to have been updated anymore. Version B is an example of a contemporary condensed text with basically the same purpose as A; many other such extracts and condensations were made (see below transmission) mainly for liturgical purposes. In addition we possess in C an alternative ''vita'', probably made for a specific Swedish liturgy; again many such variants may have existed.<br /> <br /> The particular circumstances around versions D and E have not been studied, but they were hardly written for a Norwegian audience, but rather for Northern German and Danish merchant communities around 1460.<br /> <br /> ====Medieval reception and transmission==== <br /> As is already clear from the above the Legend of St Olaf became a very wide spread text in the Nordic Middle Ages. Many brief versions for liturgical readings surface in the early printed breviaria from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and northern Germany and thus reflect a steady manuscript transmission from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. Of these liturgical codices a considerable number of pertinent fragments have been identified (see especially ØSTREM 2001) which corroborates a spread through the Nordic dioceses already from the early thirteenth century. The Latin text – again in various versions – were also translated into Old Norse (ca. 1200, ''Gamal norsk homiliebok'', ed. G. Indrebø, Oslo 1931), Old Swedish (fourteenth cent., ed. ##) and Low German (Lübeck 1492 (1499, 1505): ''Passionael efte Dat Levent der Hyllighen'') and it played an important role for part of the Saga literature on King Olaf in the thirteenth century. It is thus a testimony to the dramatic library history of the Nordic Reformations that the important manuscript textual witnesses to the full legend – as typically copied in legendaries – survive only in foreign codices, namely English (A) and French (B). A large number of similar texts must have been around locally, especially in Norway. The main manuscripts for versions A-E are:<br /> *(A) Oxford, Corpus Christi College 209, fols. 57r-90r; Fountains Abbey (Cistercian), Yorkshire, last quarter of the twelfth century. Version A: long passio, miracles 1-49, unique witness to miracles 22-49.<br /> Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson C 440, fols. 187v-194r; English, probably Cistercian from Yorkshire, second quarter of the thirteenth century. Version A: long passio, miracles 1-11, 50 (some now lost due to mutilation).<br /> Dresden, Sächsisches Landesbibliothek cod. A 182, fols. 172-177; ''Liber Laurentii Odonis'', Sweden (Linköping?), ca. 1400. Version A: long passio, miracles 1-5 #.<br /> *(B) Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, 295, fols. 94r-108v; Anchin (Benedictine), Northern France, last quarter of the twelfth century. Version B: short passio, miracles 1-9, 50, 10-21.<br /> Wiener-Neustadt, Neukloster XII. D 21, ##; Bordesholm (Augustinian canons), Holstein, 1512. Version B: short passio, miracles 1-10, 50, 13-14 #].<br /> *(C) Stockholm, National Archives, Fr. 596/614 (cod. 97#); Swedish, second half of the thirteenth century. Unique (fragmentary) witness to version C.<br /> *(D) Berlin, Staatsbibliothek - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Theol. lat. fol. 706, ff. 168r-169v [Köln 1460, by Hermann Greven. Version D].<br /> *(E) Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Collection, AM #### [Ribe 1460-1465, by Petrus Mathe. Version E].<br /> <br /> == Officium ==<br /> The most important part of a saint’s liturgy such as St. Olaf’s, in addition to the legend, is the approximately 35 chants that were sung during the canonical hours: Vespers, Matins and Lauds. As was customary, they are closely linked to the legend. The antiphons of Vespers are general invocations, but most of the chants for Matins are taken straight from the legend text, with only slight adaptations. The antiphons for Lauds are short summaries of some of the miracles.<br /> <br /> The printed ''Breviarium Nidrosiense'' (1519) also contains a few chants that stem from the oldest layer of liturgical celebration of St Olaf, the office in the ''Leofric Collectar'' from ca. 1060. This office was probably compiled by Grimkell, Olaf’s own missionary bishop and the one who canonized Olaf in 1031 (see BIRKELI 1980, JOHNSEN 1975, and ØSTREM 2001). The melodies of the chants consistently employ a small set of fixed, standardized formulae, and they have been described by one scholar as “rather dull and uninspired” (HUGHES 1993, 409). <br /> <br /> =====Metre/rhythm=====<br /> Most of the chant texts in the office of St. Olaf are in prose, and not in the style of the rhymed office with metrical and rhymed texts, which was the dominating style for this kind of saint’s office from the eleventh century onwards. Only the hymns, the antiphon for the Magnificat Adest dies letitie, and some of the early antiphons which go back to the ''Leofric collectar'' are in verse. The hymns are all trochaic septenarii (3 x [8p + 7pp]), except the asclepiadic ''O quam glorifica'' (4 x [6 + 5p]). ''Adest dies letitie'' is in iambic dimeters (8pp), and the early antiphons are in hexameters or elegiac couplets.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> A full liturgical office such as the feast of St. Olaf consists of six antiphons, a responsory, and a hymn for Vespers; the same for Lauds; ten antiphons, nine responsories, and a hymn for Matins; and one antiphon for ''Magnificat'' at the second Vespers, a total of ca. 35 chants. In addition to this come short chapter lessons, prayers, versicles, etc. at each of the hours.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> *''Breviarium Nidrosiense'', Paris 1519 (Facsimile edition by Børsums forlag, Oslo 1964).<br /> *• STORM, G. 1880: ''Monumenta historica Norvegiae'', 229–282, Christiania [Oslo].<br /> *REISS, G. 1912: ''Musiken ved den middelalderlige Olavsdyrkelse i Norden'' (Videnskabsselskabets skrifter, II. Hist.-Filos. Klasse, 1911 no. 5), Christiania [Oslo].<br /> *DESWICK, E.S. &amp; FRERE, W.H. 1914-1921: ''The Leofric Collectar'', London.<br /> *• ØSTREM, E. 2001: ''The Office of St Olaf. A Study in Chant Transmission'', Uppsala.<br /> <br /> ====Date and place====<br /> As with the Legend, which is the textual point of departure for the Office, there is no reason to assume that the Office should have been written anywhere but in Trondheim, and it is equally probable that it stems from the concerted effort of senior clerics during the reign of Eystein or shortly thereafter. The earliest manuscripts (or fragments) that contain the Office can be dated to the decades around 1200. The ''terminus post quem'' is more difficult to determine. Several manuscripts have been preserved which lack a proper St. Olaf’s office, but where Olaf’s name is mentioned in the collect prayer for the saints who were previously celebrated on that day (e.g. “''Presta quesumus omnipotens deus ut sicut populus christianus martyrum tuorum felicis simplicii faustini beatricis atque olaui temporali sollemnitate congaudet''”, from S-Skam Br 250). All the sources of this type are from the middle or the end of the twelfth century, and none of them is younger than the oldest source with the complete Office. This may be taken as an indication that no office existed when these older books were produced, i.e. roughly the third quarter of the twelfth century. All in all this strengthens the hypothesis that the Office was composed during Eystein Erlendsson’s episcopacy (1161-1188), either by him or under his supervision. If the above argument about Theodoricus is accepted (see Legend), this means that the Office in its known form can hardly have been in place before 1180.<br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents====<br /> The antiphons of Vespers, which begin the Office, are all invocations of the kind: ''Sancte martyr domini Olave, pro nobis quesumus apud deum intercede'' (Holy martyr of the Lord, Olaf, we beg you to intercede for us before God) (first antiphon of Vespers). <br /> <br /> The nine antiphons of Matins are all taken from the beginning of the Legend. The first two antiphons briefly summarize the first section of the ''Passio'' which can be described as the “cosmic view” of the state of affairs at the time of Olaf – how God looked upon the people of the North and in his mercy “founded his city in the eagle’s quarters” (''in lateribus aquilonis fundavit civitatem suam'') during Olaf’s reign. The rest of the antiphons together with the first responsory contain, sentence by sentence, the entire text of the following section of the ''Passio'' (from “''Hic evangelice veritatis''” to the passage ending “''ad agnitionem et reverentiam sui creatoris reduxit''”, which in the last antiphon is changed to “''ad veri dei culturam revocabat''”). In this text passage, the perspective is narrowed down, beginning with Olaf’s baptism, then enumerating his deeds as a Christian ruler: although he was a pagan, he was benign and honest at heart, always meditating on heavenly things, even when he was involved in the affairs of the kingdom, and, not being content with his own salvation, he desired to convert his subjects also.<br /> <br /> The purpose of responsories in the office was originally to function as commentaries to the lessons that preceded them, often in such a way that taken together they would tell the whole story of the saint. In the Office of St. Olaf, however, this is hardly the case. The texts for the responsories show no attempt to present a continuous narrative, as in the antiphons. Rather, they are compilations of passages from different places in the ''Passio'', in some cases combined with foreign material. The selections seem to have been made so as to present a condensed version of the main contents of the ''Passio'' text, where each chant text presents a separate theme. The first three responsories, which were sung during the first Nocturn, are a ''characterization'' of the king and his good nature – a pious ruler who despised all earthly glory (R1), who was filled with burning fervour in the face of resistance (R2), and who courageously faced danger, even in the prospect of death (R3). The responsories of the second Nocturn recount his acts and the fruits they bore: how he wandered among the people like an apostle (R4), turning them away from their heathen gods and baptizing them (R5), until eventually the word took root and churches were built everywhere (R6). The third Nocturn presents Olaf’s passio in three glimpses: how he met his enemies (R7), how he saw Jesus in a dream (R8), and how he could finally “exchange his earthly kingdom for the heavenly” (R9).<br /> <br /> The antiphons of Lauds are taken in their entirety from the legend; they are very condensed summaries of five of the miracles. The antiphon for the Magnificat in the second Vespers again returns to the “cosmic perspective” of the introduction: ''Hodie preciosus martyr olavus ab inimicis veritatis occisus'' (Today Olaf was slain by enemies of truth).<br /> <br /> The hymns (or hymn) that run(s) through the Office as it is preserved in the ''Breviarium Nidrosiense'' follow(s) more or less the same pattern as the antiphons: a short version of the most important parts of the legend, followed by a few miracles.<br /> <br /> ====Literary and musical models====<br /> A common way of compiling new offices was to adapt chants from already existing offices. This is the case also for the chants on the Office of St Olaf, where ca. half of the antiphons have known models of this kind (owing to the lack of a comprehensive reference material for Responsories in medieval offices, these have not been studied with any consistency). The gospel antiphons for Vespers, Lauds, and Second Vespers, and the antiphon for the Invitatory of Matins, are based upon corresponding antiphons in the early-twelfth-century Office of St. Augustine; the rest of the chants for Vespers can be found in various offices for St. Martin of Tours, which suggests that they all stem from a single St. Martin’s Office, even though no such office is known today; and several of the remaining antiphons in the office have models in the office of St. Vincentius. R9'' Rex inclytus'' is based upon a text found in the ''commune sanctorum'' of York and Durham. The same text is used in offices for several other martyrs, e.g. Dionysius (cf. BERGSAGEL 1976).<br /> <br /> In most of these chants, the borrowing also extends to the chant texts, ranging from the Vespers antiphons, where the entire text except the name of the saint have been taken over, through the incorporation of an incipit or a key-phrase, as in the chants taken from the Office of St. Augustine, to antiphons where only the melody has been used.<br /> <br /> The sources from which the chants have been taken are not insignificant: the Augustine reform movement was a driving force in the early period of the Archbishopric of Nidaros; Eystein himself introduced the feast of St. Augustine in Nidaros and latinized his name “Augustinus”. Likewise, St. Martin had attributes like “apostle of France”, “proto-bishop”, patron saint of monasticism and of the Merovingian kingdom, all of which are close to the position that Olaf had (or was attempted to be given) in the early Norwegian church. <br /> <br /> For the remaining chants, no direct sources have been found. These chants are all written in a highly formulaic musical language, where each melody consists of a series of repetitions of small melodic cells, completely in conformance with the style of the late twelfth century. Some attention seems to have been given to the syntactical structure of the texts in the ordering of the melodic cells, which may be an indication that they were indeed assembled in Nidaros, but there may also have been models which have not yet been disclosed. <br /> <br /> ====Medieval reception and transmission====<br /> The Office of St. Olaf was used for the celebration of the feast of St. Olaf (29 July) in the Nordic countries and throughout the period from the early thirteenth century up to the Reformation. St. Olaf was celebrated with a feast of one of the highest ranks throughout most of the Nordic countries (''summum, totum duplex or duplex''; the exception is Uppsala, where, mainly for ecclesio-political reasons, it only had the rank of ''novem lectiones''). Every church in the region can therefore be assumed to have had at least one copy of the Office in their liturgical books. This probably makes it the most widely spread text in this handbook.<br /> <br /> During the first decades of the sixteenth century the Scandinavian liturgies were revised and codified in printed breviaries. These contain the legend and the chant texts, but they are all without musical notation. Thus, for the music and for the transmission prior to 1500 we have to rely on parchment fragments, mainly from liturgical books, which were used as wrappers around account books in the growing administrations of the sixteenth century, and which have been collected in the National Archives. Due to differences in archival praxis, the extant collections from the Danish area (including Norway and Iceland) are rather small, whereas in the National Archives of Sweden (Riksarkivet) there are ca. 20 000 such fragments, mainly bifolia from liturgical books (see BRUNIUS 1993 &amp; 2005 (ed.), ABUKHANFUSA 2004, OMMUNDSEN 2006). This gives a total of a little more than 100 fragments from the Scandinavian countries that contain parts or all of the Office, with a great predominance of Swedish material.<br /> <br /> The transmission is remarkably stable in this material as a whole. A few variants, probably connected to specific dioceses, are discernible, e.g. a few texts from the dioceses of Linköping in Sweden have a special responsory for Vespers (''Sancte Olave Christi martyr''), and a proper hymn, ''O quam glorifica lux hodierna'', seems to have been used only in Västerås, also in Sweden. The extant material from Norway is too small to draw any conclusions concerning local practices.<br /> <br /> In addition to the office based on ''Passio Olavi'', there is evidence of a second office, based on a different legend (see ØSTREM 2000). Even this office can be dated to ca. 1200 or earlier. Of the three textual witnesses to this legend, one has the different legend text, combined with chants from the office based on ''Passio Olavi'', one has the legend text from ''Passio Olavi'' combined with chants based on the different legend, and the third has a legend that switches from ''Passio Olavi'' to the other legend after the sixth lesson.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Missa ==<br /> =====Title===== <br /> ''Missa in natalicio beati Olavi regis et martyris'' (constructed on the basis of the rubric of the Nidaros ordinal), or ''Missa in solennitate sancti Olavi regis et mar''tyris'' (on basis of the rubric of Missale Nidrosiense). The mass could also be referred to with the incipit from the ''Oratio collecta'' in the first part of the mass; “''Deus regum corona” (the Red Book of Darley, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 422), or “''Deus qui es regum omnium corona''” (''Missale Nidrosiense'') (GJERLØW 1968, 124). <br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> ''*REISS, G. 1912: ''Musiken ved den middelalderlige Olavsdyrkelse i Norden'', Kristiania, 104-5 (reprint of the text in'' Missale Nidrosiense''. No musical notation apart from Alleluia with verse printed on p. 67).<br /> *EGGEN, E. 1922: Nyfunnen Olavsmusikk, Serprent or Norsk aarbok (presentation of the liturgical elements with dubious musical notation for the chants).<br /> *GJERLØW, L 1968, ''Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae'', Oslo, 372-73 (edition of the entries in the Nidaros ordinal. Incipits only).<br /> Most of the chants for St. Olaf’s mass can be found in editions of the ''Missale'' or ''Graduale Romanum'', like ''Graduale Romanum'' (Solesmes 1974) or Graduale Triplex (Solesmes 1979) in the liturgy for the commons (''Communia sanctorum elementa'').<br /> <br /> ====Date and place====<br /> St. Olaf’s mass was probably celebrated already from the mid eleventh century, both in Norway and England. The earliest testimony is the Red Book of Darley, from the early 1060s. One may suspect that the person responsible for putting these liturgical elements together in a mass was Olaf’s English bishop Grimkell (d. 1047), who seems to have been active in propagating the cult of Olaf immediately after his death in 1030 (see for instance ØSTREM 2001, 28-33).<br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents====<br /> The mass contains few elements proper to the saint. Still, it is carefully assembled to fit the celebration of a martyr king. The text “''Posuisti domine super caput eius coronam de lapide pretioso''” (Ps. 20, 4: ''thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head'') is sung twice, first as the gradual between the two readings, then as the offertory. The liturgical elements are as follows:<br /> <br /> Introitus: ''Gaudeamus omnes in Domino''. Ps. ''Misericordias domini'' [Ps. 88]. Coll. ''Deus qui es regnum omnium corona''. Ep. ''Justum deduxit'' [Sap. 10, 10-14]. Gr. ''Posuisti domine''. V. ''Desiderium. Alleluia. Sancte Olave qui in celis vel Alleluia. Letabitur iustus''. Seq. Lux illuxit. Ev. ''Si quis vult post me venire'' [Matth. 16, 24-28]. Offert. ''Posuisti domine''. Secr. ''Inscrutabilem secreti tui''. Com. ''Magna est gloria''. Postcom. ''Vitalis hostie verbi carofacti''. <br /> <br /> ''The ''Missale Nidrosiense'' gives an alternative to the psalm verse for the introit (Domine in virtute, Ps. 20) and an alternative to the Postcommunion;'' Agni celestis.<br /> <br /> ====Sources====<br /> The sources for St. Olaf’s mass are the common elements for the saints, mainly the martyrs. The introit ''Gaudeamus'' omnes is in the Graduale Romanum also used for Agatha, Benedict, Mary (the Annunciation and the Assumption) and All saints. The gradual Posuisti with the verse ''Desiderium'' is from the ''Commune martyrum'' in the Graduale Romanum. So is the ''Alleluia'' with the verse ''Letabitur''. The ''Alleluia'' with verse ''Sancte Olave qui in celis letaris'' is in ''Missale Nidrosiense'' found in the ''Commune unius confessoris'' (''Sancte N. qui in celis letaris''). The offertorium ''Posuisti'' also belongs to the ''Commune martyrum'', while the communion ''Magna est gloria'' is in the ''Commune apostolorum''.<br /> <br /> ====Purpose and audience====<br /> The rubric in ''Missale Nidrosiense'' reads ''In solennitate sancti Olavi Regis et martyris'', referring to the feast celebrated on St. Olaf’s ''nativitas'' 29 July. The mass was also celebrated at the date of the'' translatio'', 3 August. In addition there was a service every Wednesday, possibly limited to Lent (''omni quarta feria'', see sequence ''Predicasti dei care'' below) (GJERLØW 1968, 127).<br /> <br /> ====Medieval reception and transmission====<br /> St. Olaf’s mass was celebrated in the Nordic countries and, as it seems, parts of England, and possibly also in other places in Northern Europe. The mass remained virtually unchanged for five hundred years, from its earliest transmitted appearence in the English service book from the early 1060’s to the printed Missale Nidrosiense (1519). The most important textual witnesses are:<br /> <br /> *Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 422 [a Sherbourne service book known as “The Red book of Darley”, penned in the early 1060s; Olaf is on fol. 162]. <br /> *Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 241 b I. <br /> *Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 98 8º II.<br /> *Oslo, National Archives, Lat. fragm. 932 [thirteenth century; ''Alleluia'' with verse and a few lines of the sequence ''Lux illuxit''].<br /> *Reykjavík, Thodminjasafn Íslands, No. 3411 v. [the introit with verse, ''Alleluia'' with verse and first part of the sequence ''Lux illuxit''].<br /> <br /> '''Printed books:'''<br /> *''Graduale Suecanum'', Lübeck ca. 1490.<br /> *''Missale Lincopense'', ##<br /> *''Missale Nidrosiense'', Copenhagen 1519 (without notation).<br /> For a survey of the British material on St. Olaf, see DICKINS 1940; for the early Swedish texts, see SCHMID 1945.<br /> <br /> ====Sequentiae====<br /> Four sequences for St. Olaf are transmitted. The most important and the earliest sequence is ''Lux illuxit'', from the late twelfth century. The remaining sequences, ''Predicasti dei care, Postquam calix babylonis and Veneremur sanctum istum'' are later and were probably never as widely spread. The latter is only known from Sweden and Finland.<br /> <br /> ===''A. Lux illuxit''===<br /> <br /> =====Incipit/explicit=====<br /> ''Lux illuxit letabunda, lux illustris lux iocunda''.../...''tua salvet dextera. Amen''.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> Eight strophes.<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> *BYSTRØM, O. 1903: ''Ur medeltidens kyrkosång i Sverige'', Norge och Finland, II, Stockholm.<br /> *• REISS, G. 1912, 12-44. Ugivere: ''Analecta Hymnica'' 42, 302.<br /> *• EGGEN, E. 1968, I, 213-21.<br /> <br /> =====Recordings=====<br /> Sølvguttene (dir. T. Grythe): ''Kormusikk fra Norge i Middelalder og Renessanse, samt fra vår tid''.<br /> Choeur Gregorien de Paris, ''Lux illuxit laetabunda'', 1989.<br /> Schola Sanctae Sunnivae: ''Rex Olavus'', 2000. <br /> Schola Canto Gregoriano Sola: ''Aquas plenas'', 2001.<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> *(Norwegian, nynorsk) EGGEN, E. in undated newspaper article. <br /> *(Norwegian, nynorsk) STØYLEN, B. 1923, in ''Norsk Salmebok'' 1985, no. 741 (adjusted to the melody of ''Predicasti dei care'').<br /> *(Norwegian, nynorsk) FOSS, R. 1938, 95-98 &amp; FOSS, R. 1949, 111-15.<br /> *(Norwegian, bokmål) REISS 1912, 14 (n. 4). <br /> *(English) LITTLEWOOD, A. 2001 (CD-leaflets, Scholae Sanctae Sunnivae, Schola Canto Gregoriano Sola) [English].<br /> *(Norwegian, bokmål) KRAGGERUD 2002, 106-8.<br /> <br /> ====Date and place==== <br /> ''Lux illuxit'' was composed between ca. 1150 and 1215. The ''terminus ante quem'' applied by REISS, namely the presence of the sequence’s incipit on a manuscript fragment in the National Archives dated ca. 1200, should be disregarded since the fragment in the hand of the scribe generally referred to as the “St. Olaf scribe”, should be dated closer to 1300 (see GJERLØW 1968, 35-36). The earliest manuscript fragment with evidence of ''Lux illuxit'' is a sequentiary from the first half of the thirteenth century (Oslo, National Archives, Lat. fragm. 418). <br /> <br /> ''Lux illuxit'' is a testimony to the “transitional style” often connected with the period 1050-1150 (and beyond) and characterized by a variation in the structure and metre of the verses combined with a certain use of rhythm and rhyme. This transitional style, however, existed alongside the rhymed sequence of the late style (KRUCKENBERG 1997, 145). A few passages in the sequence seems to owe their wording to the ''Passio Olavi'' (or the office “In regali fastigio” based on the ''Passio''), which could indicate a date after ca. 1180 (see Legend above).<br /> <br /> The sequence was in all probability composed by a Norwegian, as can be inferred by the reference to St. Olaf as “our special protector” (''tutor noster specialis'') (REISS 1912, 17). REISS presents Eirik Ivarsson (archbishop 1188-1206) as a likely candidate for the composer. VANDVIK points out that there are four possible composers, who had their education from St. Victor, namely the archbishops Eystein, Eirik and Tore (archbishop 1206-1214) or Tore, bishop of Hamar (1189-1196) (VANDVIK 1941). Both Eystein and Eirik were committed to the moulding of a uniform Nidaros rite. It would be natural to see the sequence in connection to the other activity in Nidaros during the second half of the twelfth century. <br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents==== <br /> The strophes 1-3 encourage the people to sing and celebrate on the feast day of St. Olaf. The strophes 4-7 tell of Olaf as a king who longs for eternal life, and is devoted to Christ, suffering many troubles to save his people and accepting hatred, punishments and exile with an unwavering mind. The night before the battle he had a vision, and got a foretaste of what he loved, which he finally won through his illustrious martyrdom. The final strophe is directed to Olaf, asking for his protection.<br /> <br /> ====Composition and style====<br /> ''Lux illuxit'' has eight strophes. The melody changes from strophe to strophe in the typical manner of the sequence, with the two versicles or hemi-strophes in each strophe sharing the same melodic line. The only exception is the first strophe, which has two different melodies for each versicle. While the strophes 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are predominantly trochaic (although not equal in structure), the third and sixth strophes are dactylic. The structure is as follows (sung twice in each strophe): <br /> <br /> 1. 8p + 8p + 7pp<br /> <br /> 2. 7pp + 7pp + 7pp<br /> <br /> 3. 6pp + 6pp + 6pp + 6pp<br /> <br /> 4. 8p + 8p + 7pp<br /> <br /> 5. 8p + 8p + 8p + 8p + 7pp<br /> <br /> 6. 6pp + 6pp + 6pp + 6pp + 6pp<br /> <br /> 7. 8p + 8p + 8p + 7pp<br /> <br /> 8. 8p + 8p + 8p + 8p + 7pp<br /> <br /> The sequence is rhymed in different patterns. For verse 1, 2 and 4 the rhyme is aabccb, v. 3 has aaaa, v. 5, 6 and 8 have aaaabaaaab, and v. 7 aaabcccb. The use of rhythm and rhyme gained increasing popularity in the history of the sequence, culminating in what is called the late style, or “second epoch” sequences, connected with the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris, and its cantor Adam of St. Victor (d. 1146) (regarding the recent identification of Adam of St. Victor as Adam Precentor, d. 1146, as opposed to another twelfth century figure d. 1192, see, for instance, FASSLER 1993, 206-7). In the case of ''Lux illuxit'', however, given the lack of uniformity of structure between the strophes, one may see it as a sequence of the transitional style rather than the late style (for the transitional style, see KRUCKENBERG 1997). <br /> <br /> The composer is fond of alliteration, anaphor, and other repetitions: “''lux'' il''luxit'' letabunda, ''lux'' illustris, ''lux'' iocunda, ''lux'' digna preconio.” Str. 3a: “''Insignis'' martiris ''insignis'' gloria, ''dulcis'' est gaudii ''dulcis'' materia.” The repetition in versicle 3a is with seemingly similar words, but as they are different cases, they actually form the rhetorical figure ''polyptoton'', with ''insignis'' first in the genitive case, then in nominative. ''Dulcis'' comes first in nominative, then in the genitive case. At the same time the words ''martiris/materia'' and ''gloria/gaudii'' form chiastic alliterations. Other examples of polyptoton are found in the following versicles: Str. 3b: “''celesti'' iubilo tange ''celestia'',” Str. 6b: “''felix felicia'' migrans ad gaudia,” Str. 7b: “Quod amabat ''pregustavit, pregustatum plus optavit, plus optatum'' vendicavit illustri martirio.” The composer evidently strove for repetition more than variation. A similar joy in word-repetion is found in the sequence ''Lux iocunda'' (most likely by Adam of St. Victor, FASSLER 1993, 272), a sequence which was possibly an inspiration for our composer: Str. 1a: “''Lux'' iocunda, ''lux'' insignis.” Str. 1b:”''Corda'' replet linquas didat ad ''concordes'' nos invitat ''cordis'' lingue modulos.” Str. 8b: “''Nil'' iocundum ''nil'' amenum ''nil'' salubre ''nil'' serenum ''nichil'' dulce ''nichil'' plenum”. It is also tempting to compare with the last part of the final verse of the night office in St. Olaf’s office “''In regali fastigio''”, where a similar fondness for repetition and polyptoton is evident: “''regem rex'' videt in decore suo et in salutari ''regis'' magna gloria ''regis''.” <br /> <br /> The melody builds a climax towards the centre of the sequence, as so often in the sequences. As in the text there are also melodic quotations of Parisian/Victorine sequences, see below.<br /> <br /> ====Sources and literary models====<br /> Even though ''Lux illuxit'' is not a late style sequence, the text seems inspired by sequences by Adam of St Victor, particularly the Easter sequence ''Lux illuxit dominica (“Lux illuxit Dominica, lux insignis lux unica, lux lucis et laetitiae, lux immortalis gloriae”''), the sequence for Pentecost ''Lux iocunda, lux insignis'', and possibly also the sequence for St. Vincentius: ''Triumphalis lux illuxit''. The rhymes “''triumphalis, specialis, malis” as used in v. 8 in Lux illuxit letabunda is found in Adam of St. Victor’s sequence for the relics of St. Victor, Ex radice caritatis, and similarly “spiritalis, specialis, malis''” in Adam’s sequence ''Virgo mater Salvatoris'' (REISS 1912, 16). The link to the sequence for Thomas Becket ''Gaude Sion et letare'' also mentioned by REISS suggested on the basis of the expression ''felicio commercio'' seems less important, as ''Lux illuxit'' here follows more closely the final verse of the night office in St. Olaf’s office “''In regali fastigio'”: Felici commercio pro celesti regnum commutans terrenum''; As we compare with our sequence v. 2b, we see that also the choice of the verb is the same as in the night office: ''Pro eternis brevia commutavit gaudia felici commercio''. It is therefore more likely that the Passio or the Office is the source of this particular choice of words. Also in verse 4a – ''rex Olavus constitutus in regni fastigio'' – we can sense a link to the Passio and the Office: ''In regali fastigio constitutus spiritu pauper erat rex Olavus'' (from the first responsory of the night office). The ''regali fastigio'' is altered to regni fastigio, presumably to fit the verse better.<br /> <br /> The melody of the first strophe of ''Lux illuxit'' appears to be a quotation of the transitional sequence ''Letabundus exultet'' (EGGEN 1968, 219). The second strophe goes on to quote what is regarded as the melodic cornerstone of the Victorine sequences, namely ''Laudes crucis''. The strophes five and eight are also founded on melodic lines from ''Laudes crucis'', as well as the first part of strophe four. These quotations may very well be an expansion of the textual associations to ''Lux iocunda'' (see above), since ''Lux iocunda'' was set to the melody of ''Laudes crucis'', at least in the Abbey of St. Victor (FASSLER 1993, 179).<br /> <br /> ====Purpose and audience==== <br /> ''Lux illuxit'' was made to be sung in St. Olaf’s mass on 29 July. It was also sung for the octave, and for the translation (3 Aug).<br /> <br /> ====Medieval reception and transmission==== <br /> The sequence ''Lux illuxit'' was probably quite widely spread. In Norway and the other areas belonging to the Trondheim archsee it would have been “everywhere”, and it also spread to Sweden and Finland, and probably Denmark, and perhaps other areas in the Northern parts of Europe. In the Norwegian National Archives four fragments are found with the sequence ''Lux illuxit''. In the Swedish National Archives as many as 38 fragments exist containing the sequence (according to information from G. Björkvall). Apart from these the sequence or parts of it is transmitted in the following manuscripts:<br /> *Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 98 8° II, fols. 5-8.<br /> *Oslo, National Archives, Lat. fragm. 418 [str. 8], thirteenth century.<br /> *Oslo, National Archives, Lat. fragm. 932 [str. 4-5], thirteenth century.<br /> *Oslo, National Archives, Lat. fragm. 1030 [incipit only], thirteenth century.<br /> *Oslo, National Archives, Lat. fragm. 986 [str. 1-6], fifteenth century.<br /> *Reykjavik, Thodminjasafn Íslands, No. 3411 [str. 1-2], fourteenth-fifteenth century<br /> *Skara, Stifts- och Landsbibliotek, musik handskrift 1; paper codex written in Sweden ca. 1550 (Lux illuxit on fol. 245)]<br /> *Stockholm, Royal Library, Brocm. 196; “Brocman’s Antiphonarium”, paper codex, sixteenth century (Lux illuxit on fols. 18-19).<br /> *Uppsala, University Library, C 513; paper codex written in Sweden (Vesterås) ca. 1500 (Lux illuxit on fol. 74-76).<br /> <br /> ====Printed books:====<br /> ''Graduale Suecanum'', Lübeck ca. 1490, only copy, in Stockholm, Royal Library.<br /> <br /> ''Missale Nidrosiense'', Copenhagen 1519 (without musical notation).<br /> <br /> ''Missale Uppsalense'' ##<br /> <br /> ''Missale Hafniense'' ##<br /> <br /> ''Missale Aboense'' ##<br /> <br /> ===B. Postquam calix Babylonis===<br /> =====Incipit/explicit=====<br /> ''Postquam calix Babylonis''.../...cunctis et a sordibus. Amen.<br /> =====Size=====<br /> Five strophes<br /> <br /> =====Editions=====<br /> *• REISS, G. 1912, 57-66. [REISS interpreted ''Predicasti dei care as the last part of Postquam calix Babylonis'' in a more original version of the sequence, preceding the one in ''Missale Nidrosiense''].<br /> *''Analecta Hymnica'' 55, 272.<br /> *• EGGEN, E. 1968, 222-27. [EGGEN saw ''Postquam calix Babylonis'' as a later rewriting of ''Predicasti'', where the first verse has been replaced by three new verses. They are edited as two sequences, one composed on the basis of the other].<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> *(Norwegian, bokmål) DAAE 1879, 115.<br /> *(Norwegian, nynorsk) EGGEN, E. in undated newspaper article.<br /> *(Norwegian, nynorsk) FOSS 1949, 115-17.<br /> *(Norwegian, bokmål) KRAGGERUD 2002, 110-15.<br /> <br /> ====Date and place==== <br /> REISS (1912, 64) suggests that the first three verses of ''Postquam calix Babylonis'' are the product of a fourteenth century composer, while the versicle ''Predicasti dei care'' and the two last verses are from the late twelfth or the thirteenth century. <br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents==== <br /> The first strophe contrasts the chalice of Babylon spewing out snake’s poison with the pot (''olla'') of the North boiling with the oil (oleo) of devotion thanks to Olaf. The second strophe compares the rescue of Noah and his ark to Olaf and that of the Norwegian people: “The bird brings the flower of the olive (''olive''), and Noah finds rest on the mountains of Armania. With Olaf comes a weak breeze of wonderful scent and the key to heaven finds the shores of Norway.” The third strophe elaborates on the name of Olaf resembling the name of ointment (''oleum''), and his name as the oil effused from the sting of his passion. The two last strophes are the same as those of the sequence ''Predicasti dei care'' (see below).<br /> <br /> ====Composition and style====<br /> The sequence ''Postquam calix Babylonis'' has five verses as transmitted in the ''Missale Nidrosiense'', the two final verses corresponding to those of ''Predicasti dei care''. The three first verses share the same stylistic approach, and was probably written at the same time, while the two last verses are of an earlier date. ''Postquam calix'' begins with the image of Babylon without the usual introduction encouraging people to sing and celebrate a particular feast, which is so common in sequences.<br /> <br /> The metre is trochaic, of the kind characteristic of the late style (8p + 8p +7pp). The third verse line of the third strophe, however, ends somewhat abruptly (8p + 8p + 4p) in both versicles. The rhyme of the three first strophes is consistently following a pattern of aabaab, while the two last strophes have aabccb.<br /> <br /> The theme of the sequence is spinning around the name of Olaf, playing with similar sounding words like ''olla'', the boiling pot, oleum, the oil of devotion, oliva, the “flower” bringing the news of salvation. In this way it further unfolds the “likeness”-approach to Olaf’s name already mentioned in the ''Passio'' (''olla'', see above) and known from a number of other saints’ lives (e.g. [[Sanctus Kanutus rex]]). According to the third strophe King Olaf bears the name of ointment, and his name is the oil effused through the sting of his passion. The style of this sequence has not impressed many modern scholars. According to REISS “the bombastic expressions and somewhat far-fetched metaphors in the first three verses appear a little strange” (REISS 1912, 59, here quoted in English translation from EGGEN), a view supported by EGGEN (1968 I, 225). By GJERLØW the first three verses are described as a “turgid effort with a tiresome wordplay” (GJERLØW 1988, 10). KRAGGERUD has spoken out in defence of the sequence, claiming that it displays a rather refined use of biblical references: Babylon is presented as the golden chalice in Jeremiah (51, 7) leading the world astray with its poison (Apoc. 18, 23), here described as the snake’s poison (''fel draconis'') of the enemies of God referred to in the Deuteronomy (32,33). The vision of the boiling pot from Jeremiah (1, 13) is also found in the initial parts of the Legend, along with the references to the North, also from Jeremiah (50, 3). Olaf is then identified with Noah from the Old Testament in strophe 2, and with Christ (“the anointed”) from the New Testament in strophe 3, who effused blood and water through the wound from the spear at his passion (John. 19, 34) (KRAGGERUD 2002, 108-115).<br /> <br /> ====Sources and literary models====<br /> The composition is charged with biblical allusions. It also seems to continue along the path of ''Passio Olavi'' in its reference to Jeremiah and the vision of the boiling pot, along with the new role of the North. The source for the two final verses seems to be an older sequence, now beginning imperfectly ''Predicasti dei care'' (see below).<br /> <br /> ====Purpose and audience==== <br /> As ''Postquam calix'' has adopted the two final strophes of ''Predicasti dei care'' containing the reference to “every Wednesday” (''omni quarta feria''), it seems that the sequence was intended to be sung at the weekly celebration of St. Olaf at Wednesdays (which was the weekday he suffered his martyrdom), possibly restricted to Lent (GJERLØW 1968, 127). KRAGGERUD (2002, 109) suggests that the sequence probably was primarily adressed to a more theologically learned audience than the average pilgrim, since the contents is not immediately accessible.<br /> <br /> ====Medieval reception and transmission==== <br /> *• ''Missale Nidrosiense'', København 1519. <br /> *Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 670 e 4° [apparently copied from Missale Nidrosiense, corrected by Arne Magnusson, cf. REISS 1912, 57-58].<br /> <br /> ===C. ''Predicasti dei care''===<br /> =====Incipit/explicit=====<br /> Incipit lost (v. 1b: ''Predicasti dei care''...)/...''iunge celi civibus. Amen''.<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> The sequence originally had three strophes, of which two and a half are preserved. In his edition REISS (1912, 62-63) has kept the two final strophes as strophe four and five, assuming that the two initial verses are missing. GJERLØW, however, has pointed out that one hemistrophe (and probably not more) is lost due to the loss of the three lower lines of the manuscript fragment (GJERLØW 1988, unpublished, 9-10).<br /> <br /> =====Editions===== <br /> *• REISS, G. 1912, 57-66.<br /> *• EGGEN, E. 1968 I, 222-27.<br /> *''Norsk Salmebok'' 1985, no. 741 [presents the music, with the translated lyrics of Lux illuxit.]<br /> <br /> =====Recordings=====<br /> Sølvguttene (dir. T. Grythe): ''Kormusikk fra Norge i Middelalder og Renessanse, samt fra vår tid''.<br /> <br /> Schola Sanctae Sunnivae: ''Rex Olavus'', 2000.<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> *(Norwegian, nynorsk) EGGEN, E. in undated newspaper article. <br /> *(English) LITTLEWOOD, A. 2001 (CD-leaflets, Scholae Sanctae Sunnivae, Schola Canto Gregoriano Sola).<br /> *(Norwegian, bokmål) KRAGGERUD 2002, 115-16.<br /> <br /> ====Date and place====<br /> REISS (1912, 64) suggests that the preserved versicle ''Predicasti dei care'' and the two following verses are from the late twelfth or the thirteenth century.<br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents==== <br /> The preserved last half of the first strophe reads “You, God’s beloved, announced the age of salvation, the age which is the age of mercy.” The second strophe refers to the celebration every Wednesday (''omni quarta feria'') “in worship of the memory of your agony and blessed passion.” The final strophe is a prayer to Christ’s martyr to cleanse us from sins with his prayer, and unite us with the citizens of heaven.<br /> <br /> ====Composition and style====<br /> The three strophes have the characteristics of the late style sequence, with consistent rhythm and rhyme. The metre is trochaic (8p + 8p +7pp). The rhyme is following the pattern aabccb. As a sequence it is a relatively short one – they usually contain a larger number of strophes. The style of this sequence has enjoyed a better reputation than that of ''Postquam calix''. REISS (1912, 64) finds it reasonable to assume that the verses were composed in the “classical” time of sequence composition, i.e. the late twelfth or the thirteenth century and according to EGGEN, this is a worthy counterpart to ''Lux illuxit'' (EGGEN in undated newspaper article). <br /> <br /> As pointed out by REISS (1912, 64) the melody is taken from the late style sequence ''Hodierne lux diei'' from the late eleventh century, a sequence which became popular throughout northern Europe in the twelfth century (see FASSLER 1993, 333). Strophe 1 in ''Predicasti'' corresponds with strophe 1 in ''Hodierne''. The following strophes share melody with strophe 3 and 5 respectively in ''Hodierne''.<br /> <br /> ====Sources and literary models====<br /> The “''assistentes tue laudi''” in strophe two of Predicasti gives an association to the Office of the Holy Blood (''Susceptio sanguinis''), where the verse of the responsory at matins reads “''assistentes ergo tue laudi''” (who minister to your praise) (ATTINGER &amp; HAUG 2004, 36). <br /> <br /> ====Purpose and audience==== <br /> The reference to “every Wednesday” (''omni quarta feria'') indicates that the sequence was intended to be sung at the weekly celebration of St Olaf at Wednesdays (which was the weekday he suffered his martyrdom), possibly restricted to Lent (GJERLØW 1968, 127).<br /> <br /> ====Medieval reception and transmission==== <br /> The two last strophes are also transmitted in the ''Missale Nidrosiense'' (1519) as the last strophes of ''Postquam calix Babylonis''. Only one manuscript fragment survives for the earlier sequence:<br /> Oslo, National Archives, Lat. fragm. 986 [str. 1-6], fifteenth century.<br /> <br /> ===D. ''Veneremur sanctum istum''===<br /> =====Incipit/explicit=====<br /> ''Veneremur sanctum istum''.../... ''tua salvet dextera'' (the explicit is the same as for the sequence ''Lux illuxit'' (see A. above).<br /> =====Size=====<br /> Four original strophes with the two final strophes of Lux illuxit added, forming a total of six strophes. <br /> <br /> =====Edition(s)===== <br /> *MALIN, A. 1922, 18.<br /> *KRAGGERUD 2001, 67-69.<br /> <br /> =====Translations=====<br /> (Norwegian, bokmål) KRAGGERUD 2002, 117-18.<br /> <br /> ====Date and place==== <br /> The structure of the strophes and the melody are those of Veneremur crucis lignum, a sequence generally believed to originate in Sweden (ref. Eggen? Gjerløw? Nid?)#. It may therefore be reasonable also to connect ''Veneremur sanctum istum'' to Sweden.<br /> <br /> ====Summary of contents==== <br /> The sequence opens with an encouragement to worship the saint. The second strophe presents Olaf as God’s holy man, to whom his sinful servants run weeping. The third and fourth strophes ask for governance and mercy for those who visit his holy altar. The sequence ends with two strophes quoted from ''Lux illuxit'', with a prayer for Olaf’s protection from the dangers of this world.<br /> <br /> ====Composition and style====<br /> The metre is trochaic, in the form so common for sequences during and after the 12th century; 8p + 8p + 7pp. <br /> <br /> ====Sources and literary models====<br /> The incipit of the sequence gives associations to the sequence for the cross ''Veneremur crucis lignum''. The melody and structure are the same, and the Olaf’s sequence is likely modelled on the sequence for the cross. The two final strophes are direct quotations of the final strophes in the most famous Olaf’s sequence ''Lux illuxit''. <br /> <br /> ====Purpose and audience==== <br /> The contents of ''Veneremur sanctum istum'' point more directly to the practice of pilgrimage than the other sequences for St. Olaf. <br /> Medieval reception and transmission <br /> Veneremur sanctum istum is transmitted through one Finnish and one Swedish fragment. It is not known from Norwegian manuscripts, but it could very well have been in use also in Norway and Trondheim. It was first made known by MALINIEMI in his edition of Sequences in Finnish fragments (1922). ''Veneremur sanctum istum'' is found with notation in a fragment of a 15th century gradual from Åbo diocese (and now part of the ''fragmenta membranea'' collection in Helsinki University Library). The Swedish fragment comes from a fourteenth century gradual also containing sequences for Erik and Helena of Skövde: Stockholm, National Archives, Fr. 1748.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Bibliography == <br /> *ABUKHANFUSA K. 2004: ''Mutilated Books. Wondrous leaves from Swedish bibliographical history'', Stockholm.<br /> *ANTONSSON, H. 2004a: ‘Exile, Sanctity, and Some Scandinavian Rulers of the Late Viking Age’, pp. 95-108 in ''Exile in the Middle Ages'' (ed. E. v. Houts et al.), Turnhout.<br /> *ANTONSSON, H. 2004b: ‘Some Observations on Martyrdom in Post-Conversion Scandinavia’, ''Saga-Book'' 28, 70-95.<br /> *ATTINGER, G &amp; HAUG, A (eds.) 2004: ''The Nidaros Office of the Holy Blood. Liturgical Music in Medieval Norway'' (Senter for middelalderstudier, skrifter nr. 16), Trondheim.<br /> *BAGGE, S. 2001: ''Da boken kom til Norge'' (1000–1537) (Norsk idéhistorie, bd. I), Oslo.<br /> *BECKER, P. J. &amp; BRANDIS, T. 1985: ''Die theologischen lateinischen Handschriften in Folio der Staatsbibliothek preussischer Kulturbesitz Berlin, Teil 2 - Ms. theol. lat. fol. 598-737'', Wiesbaden 1985.<br /> *BERGSAGEL, J. 1976: ‘Liturgical relations between England and Scandinavia: as seen in selected musical fragments from the 12th and 13th centuries’, ''Nordisk Kollokvium IV for Latinsk liturgiforskning''. ##<br /> *BIRKELI, F. 1980: ‘Biskop Grimkell og Hellig-Olaf’, ''Tidsskrift for teologi og kirke'' 51, 109–130, 207–23.<br /> *BULL, E. 1924: [review of MALIN 1920] [norsk] ''Historisk Tidsskrift'' 27, 5.r., 5.b., 310-312.<br /> *BLOM, G. A. 1981: ‘St. Olaf in norwegischer Geschichte, Königsheiliger in vielen Gestalten’ pp. 27-36 in ''St. Olaf, seine Zeit und sein Kult'' (ed. G. Svahnström), Visby.<br /> *BRUNIUS, J. 1993: ‘Medeltida böcker i fragment. En översikt över pergamentsomslagen i Riksarkivet’, ''Nordisk tidskrift för bok- och biblioteksväsen'' 80, 3–33.<br /> *BRUNIUS, J. (ed.) 2005: Medieval book fragments in Sweden. An international seminar in Stockholm 13-16 november 2003 (Kungl. Vitterhets historie och antikvitets akademien 58), Stockholm.<br /> *CHASE, M. 2005: Einarr Skúlason’s Geisli. A Critical Edition, Toronto.<br /> *DAAE, L. 1879: ''Norges Helgener'', Christania [Oslo].<br /> *DÅVØY, L. 2002: ''Den latinske og den norrøne Olavslegenden. Tekstversjoner og oversettelsespraksis''. Institutt for klassisk, russisk og religionsvitenskap. Bergen [unpublished master thesis].<br /> *DICKINS, B. 1940: ‘The Cult of Saint Olave in the British Isles’, ''Saga-Book of the Viking Society for Northern Research'' 12, 2, 53-80.<br /> *DUGGAN, A. J. 2004: ‘The English Exile of Archbishop Eystein of Nidaros (1180-83)’, pp. 109-130 in ''Exile in the Middle Ages'' (eds. E. v. Houts et al.), Turnhout.<br /> *EDWARDS, O. T. 1990: Matins, Lauds and Vespers for St. David's Day, Cambridge.<br /> *EGGEN, E 19--: ‘Tvo lovsongar (sekvensar) fyr den heilage kong Olaf frá 12. árhundrad’, undated newspaper clipping from Torleiv Hannaas’s collection ##.<br /> *EGGEN, E 1922: ''Nyfunnen Olavsmusikk'', Serprent or Norsk aarbok.<br /> *EGGEN, E. 1968: ''The Sequences of the Archbishopric of Nidarós'', 2 vols. (Bibliotheca Arnamagneana 21-22), København.<br /> *EKREM, I., MORTENSEN, L.B. &amp; SKOVGAARD-PETERSEN, K. (eds.) 2000: ''Olavslegenden og den latinske historieskrivning i 1100-tallets Norge'', København.<br /> *EKREM, I. 2000: ‘Om ''Passio Olavis'' tilblivelse og eventuelle forbindelse med ''Historia Norwegie''’, pp. 109-156 in ''Olavslegenden'' (ed. Ekrem, Mortensen, Skovgaard-Petersen).<br /> *FASSLER, M. 1993: ''Gothic song. Victorine Sequences and Augustinian Reform in twelfth-century Paris'', Cambridge. <br /> *FOSS, R. 1938: ''Latinske hymnor og sekvensar'' (Bokverk frå millomalderen 7), Oslo.<br /> *FOSS, R. 1949: ''Sekvensane i Missale Nidrosiense'' (Bokverk frå millomalderen 8) Oslo.<br /> *GJERLØW, L 1968: ''Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae'', Oslo. [On the St Olaf liturgy, see pp. 124-128].<br /> *GJERLØW, L 1988: ‘The Sequences. Status quo 1988 – RA’, [unpublished, available at Riksarkivet, Oslo].<br /> *GJERLØW, L. 1967: ‘Olaf den Hellige. Liturgi’, ''KLNM'' 12, 561-567.<br /> *GJERLØW, L. 1968: Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae, Oslo.<br /> *GJERLØW, L. 1979: Antiphonarium Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae, Oslo.<br /> *''Graduale Romanum'', Solesmes 1974. <br /> *''Graduale Triplex'', Solesmes 1979.<br /> *GUNNES, E. 1973: ‘Om hvordan Passio Olavi ble til’, ''Maal og minne'': 1-11.<br /> *GUNNES, E. 1996: ''Erkebiskop Eystein, Statsmann og kirkebygger'', Oslo.<br /> *HALKIN, F. 1934: ‘Legendarii Bodecensis menses duo in codice Paderbornensi’, ''Analecta Bollandiana'' 52 (1934) 321-33.<br /> *HELANDER, S. 1957: Ordinarius Lincopensis och dess liturgiska förebilder, Lund.<br /> *HOFFMANN, E. 1975: ''Die heiligen Könige bei den Angelsachsen und den skandinavischen Völkern. Königsheiliger und Königshaus'', Neumünster.<br /> *HOFFMANN, E. 1994: ‘Politische Heilige in Skandinavien und die Entwicklung der drei nordischen Reiche und Völker’, pp. 277-324 in ''Politik und Heiligenverehrung im Hochmittelalter'' (ed. J. Petersohn), Sigmaringen.<br /> *HOLTSMARK, A. 1937: ‘Sankt Olavs liv og mirakler’, ''Festskrift til Francis Bull'', Oslo, 121-133 [reprinted pp. 15-24 in A. Holtsmark, ''Studier i norrøn digtning'', Oslo 1956].<br /> *HOLTSMARK, A. 1967: ‘Olavslegenden’, ''KLNM'' 12, 584-588.<br /> *HUGHES, A. 1993: ‘The Monarch as the object of liturgical veneration’, A. Duggan (ed.): ''Kings and Kingship in Medieval Europe'', London.<br /> *IVERSEN, G. 2000: ‘Transforming a Viking into a Saint. The Divine Office of St. Olaf’, pp. 401–419 in ''The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages. Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography'' (eds. M. E. Fassler &amp; R. A. Baltzer), Oxford.<br /> *JIROUSKOVA, L. 2010: ‘Textual Evidence for the Transmission of the Passio Olavi Prior to 1200 and its Later Literary Transformations‘, pp. 219-239 in: Saints and Their Lives on the Periphery: Veneration of Saints in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe (c. 1000-1200), (eds. Antonsson &amp; Garipzanov), Turnhout.<br /> *JIROUSKOVA, L. 2011: Der heilige Wikinger Olav Haraldsson und sein hagiographisches Dossier: Text und Kontext der Passio Olavi (mit kritischer Edition) [unpublished Habilitation, Freiburg - to be published by Brill].<br /> *JOHNSEN, A. O. 1975: ‘Om misjonsbiskopen Grimkellus’, [norsk] ''Historisk Tidskrift'' 1975, 22-34.<br /> *JØRGENSEN, J. G. 2000: ‘Passio Olavi og Snorre’, pp. 157-69 in Olavslegenden (eds. Ekrem, Mortensen &amp; Skovgaard-Petersen), København.<br /> *KRAG, C. 1995: ''Vikingtid og rikssamling, 800-1300'' (Aschehougs Norgeshistorie, bd. 2), Oslo. <br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 1993: ''Et pensum i middelalderlatin'. II: Kommentarer'', Oslo.<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 1995: ‘Middelaldernøtter’, ''Klassisk Forum'' 1995:2, 79-87 [textual criticism to the ''Legend'' &amp; ''Lux Illuxit''].<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 2001: ‘Middelaldernøtter. Nuces Nidrosienses – en pilegrimssang for Olaf i nytt lys’, ''Klassisk Forum'' 2001:2, 67-69 [textual criticism to Sequences].<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 2002: ‘Olavssekvensene - den kjente og de glemte’, ''Middelalderforum'' 2, 1. hefte, 103-18.<br /> *KRÖTZL, C. 1994: ''Pilger, Mirakel und Alltag. Formen des Verhaltens im skandinavischen Mittelalter'' (12.-15. Jahrhundert), Helsinki.<br /> *KRUCKENBERG-GOLDENSTEIN, L. 1997: The Sequence from 1050-1150: Study of a Genre in Change, Iowa.<br /> *LIDÉN, A. 1999: ''Olaf den helige i medeltida bildkonsten. Legendmotiv och attribut'', Stockholm.<br /> *LOUIS-JENSEN, J. 1970: ‘“Syvende og ottende brudstykke”. Fragment av AM 325 IV a 4to’, ''Opuscula'', Vol. IV (Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana, Vol. 30), København.<br /> *LUDWIG, E. S. 1994: ''A statistical comparison of word order in the Latin &quot;Passio et miracula beati Olavi&quot; and the Old Norse &quot;Jarteina ins helga Olafs''&quot;, Dissertation, Los Angeles, UCLA.<br /> *LUNDE, K. 1994: ''Katalog over Sankt Olavs mirakler'', Oslo [unpublished master’s thesis].<br /> *MALIN, A. 1920: ''Zur Überlieferung der lateinischen Olavuslegende'' (Annales Academicæ Scientiarum Fennicæ, B 11), Helsinki.<br /> *MALIN(IEMI), A. 1922: Zwölf lateinische Sequenzen as den mittelalterlichen Quellen Finlands, Helsinki.<br /> *MCDOUGALL, D. &amp; MCDOUGALL, I. 1998: ''Theodoricus Monachus, Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium. An Account of the Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings''. Translated and annotated by D. and I. McDougall, with an introduction by P. Foote, London.<br /> *MELNIKOVA, E. A. 1997: ‘The cult of St. Olaf in Novgorod’ in ''Sagas and the Norwegian Experience, Sagaene og Noreg''. Preprints, 10th International Saga Conference, Trondheim 3.-9. august 1997 (eds. J. R. Hagland et al.), Trondheim.<br /> *MOBERG, C.-A. &amp; NILSSON, A.-M. 1947-1991: ''Die liturgischen Hymnen in Schweden''. Vols. 1–2, Copenhagen – Uppsala.<br /> *MORETUS, H. 1908: ‘De magno legendario Bodecensi’, ''Analecta Bollandiana'' 27, 257-358.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L. B. 2000a: ‘Olaf den Helliges mirakler i det 12. årh.: Streng tekstkontrol eller fri fabuleren?’ pp. 89-107 in ''Olavslegenden'' (eds. Ekrem, Mortensen, Skovgaard-Petersen), København.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L. B. 2000b: ‘The Anchin Manuscript of Passio Olaui (Douai 295), William of Jumièges, and Theodoricus Monachus. New Evidence for Intellectual Relations between Norway and France in the 12th Century’, ''Symbolae Osloenses'' 75: 165-89.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L. B. 2000c: ‘The Nordic Archbishoprics as Literary Centres around 1200’, pp. 133–157 in ''Archbishop Absalon of Lund and His World'' (eds. K. Friis-Jensen &amp; I. Skovgaard-Petersen), Roskilde.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L. B. 2002: ‘Recent Research in the Legend of Saint Olaf’, pp. 1011-18 in ''Lateinische Biographie von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart. Scripturus vitam. Festgabe für Walter Berschin zum 65. Geburtstag'' (ed. D. Walz), Heidelberg.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L. B. &amp; MUNDAL, E. 2003: ‘Erkebispesetet i Nidaros – arnestad og verkstad for olavslitteraturen’, Ecclesia Nidrosiensis 1153-1537. ''Søkelys på Nidaroskirkens og Nidarosprovinsens historie'', ed. S. Imsen. Trondheim, 353-84.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L.B. 2006: ‘Sanctified Beginnings and Mythopoietic Moments. The First Wave of Writing on the Past in Norway, Denmark, and Hungary, ca 1000-1230’, pp. 247-73 in ''The Making of Christian Myths in the Periphery of Latin Christendom'' (c. 1000-1300) (ed. L. B. Mortensen) Copenhagen.<br /> *''Norges musikkhistorie 1, Oslo: Aschehoug 2001, p. ?# (reproduction, partial transcription, CD-recording)''.<br /> *''Norsk Salmebok'', Oslo 1985.<br /> *NYBERG, T. 1997: ‘Olavskulten i Danmark under medeltiden’, pp. ## in ''Helgonet i Nidaros. Olavskult och kristnande i Norden'' (ed. L. Runar), Stockholm.<br /> *OMMUNDSEN, Å. (ed.) 2006: ''The Beginnings of Nordic Scribal Culture, ca 1050-1300; Report from a Workshop on Parchment Fragments, Bergen 28-30 October 2005'', Bergen.<br /> *PHELPSTEAD, C. 2000: ‘In Honour of St. Óláfr: The Miracle Stories in Snorri Sturluson's ''Óláfs saga helga’, Saga-Book'' 25, 292-306.<br /> *PHELPSTEAD, C. (ed.) 2001: ''A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Óláfr'', translated by Devra Kunin, ed. with introduction and notes by C. P. (Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series vol. XIII), London.<br /> *PHILIPPART, G. 1977: ''Les Légendiers Latins Et Autres Manuscrits Hagiographiques''. (Typologie Des Sources Du Moyen Âge Occidental, Fasc. 24-25), Turnhout.<br /> *REISS, G. 1912: ''Musiken ved den middelalderlige Olavsdyrkelsen i Norden'' (Videnskapsselskapets Skrifter. II. Hist.-Filos. Klasse. 1911. No. 5) Kristiania [Oslo].<br /> *RUMAR, L. (ed.) 1997: ''Helgonet i Nidaros. Olavskult och kristnande i Norden'', Stockholm<br /> *RØTHE, G. 2000: ‘Olavs fødsel og dåp i sagalitteraturen’, pp. 170-185 in ''Olavslegenden'' (eds. Ekrem, Mortensen, Skovgaard-Petersen).<br /> *RØTHE, G. 2004: ''Helt, konge og helgen: den hagiografiske tradisjon om Olaf den hellige i Den legendariske saga, Heimskringla og Flateyjarbók'' (Acta humaniora no. 201), Oslo.<br /> *SANDAAKER, O. 1991: ‘Miraklet på Pezina-vollane’, ''Collegium Medievale'' 4, 85-97.<br /> *SCHMID, T. 1945: ''Liber Ecclesiae Vallentunensis'' 54, Stockholm.<br /> *SKARD, E. 1932: ''Sprache und Stil der Passio Olavi'' (Avhandlinger utgitt av Det norske videnskaps-akademi i Oslo. II, Hist.-filos. klasse, 1932 no. 1), Oslo.<br /> *SKARD, E. 1930-33: ‘Merknader til Passio Olavi’, [norsk] ''Historisk Tidsskrift'' 29, 5. r., 18.b, 365-70.<br /> *SKÅNLAND, V. 1956: ‘Calor fidei’, ''Symbolae Osloenses'' 32, 86-104.<br /> *STORM, G. 1891: ‘De ældste kirkelige optegnelser om St. Olaf’, ''Theologisk Tidsskrift for den Evangelisk-Lutherske Kirke i Norge'', 3. r. 3. b., 153-62.<br /> *STORM, G. 1893: ''Otte brudstykker af den ældste saga om Olaf den hellige''.<br /> *SVAHNSTRÖM, G. (ed.) 1981: ''St. Olaf. Seine Zeit und sein Kult'' (Acta Visbyensia VI), Visby.<br /> *VANDVIK, E 1941: ‘Lux illuxit letabunda’, ''Symbolae Osloenses'' 21, Oslo.<br /> *ØSTREM, E. 1998: ‘The Early Liturgy of St. Olaf’, pp. 43-58 in ''Gregorian Chant and Medieval Music. Proceedings from The Nordic Festival and Conference of Gregorian Chant Trondheim, St. Olaf's Wake 1997'' (eds. A. Dybdahl, O. K. Ledang &amp; N. H. Petersen), Trondheim.<br /> *ØSTREM, E. 2000: ‘Om en nyoppdaget Olavslegende’, pp. 186-224 in ''Olavslegenden'' (ed. Ekrem, Mortensen, Skovgaard-Petersen).<br /> *ØSTREM, E. 2001: ''The Office of Saint Olaf. A Study in Chant Transmission'', Uppsala 2001.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Theodoricus_Monachus&diff=1120 2025-10-29T11:57:58Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article was published in 2012 and does not reflect current research.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Lars Boje Mortensen<br /> <br /> '''Theodoricus''' (i.e. Þórir, Tore, also latinized as Theodericus, Theodricus, and Therrichus, KRAGGERUD 2000, 265-68 &amp; SYRETT 2002, 88) is known as the author of a brief history of Norway, Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium, dedicated to Archbishop Eystein Erlendsson of Nidaros (1161-1188). From the text it can be inferred that Theodoricus was a Norwegian, that he was familiar with Trondheim and Bergen, that he had studied in northern France (with good evidence for St. Victor, Paris, see Sources), and that he wrote after 1177.<br /> <br /> ==Biography==<br /> His epithet monachus cannot be traced further back than incipits and explicits of seventeenth-century manuscripts. In the heading to the dedication he only describes himself as a humble sinner (Theodricus humilis peccator). If he was a monk, the Benedictine abbey of Nidarholm would head the list of possible home institutions, not least because the author in ch. 31 delves into particulars when narrating its foundation around 1100: “...Sigvard Ullstreng who later founded the famous monastery in honour of St. Benedict and the most precious and invincible martyr in Christ Laurentius on a small island close to the archiepiscopal city of Nidaros.” But given the scarcity of local people going to France for a higher education, it is highly probable that the author is identical with one of two Norwegian ecclesiastics mentioned in the oldest existing obituary of St. Victor: “item obiit Theodoricus Hamarensis episcopus noster canonicus”, and “item obiit domnus Theodoricus Norvegiensis archiepiscopus frater noster”, i.e. he was either Tore, bishop of Hamar (1189/90-1196) or Tore, archbishop of Nidaros (1206-1214). If either of these identifications is accepted we have to question his traditional status as monk: a move from regular canon (and “frater” would here mean the same) to bishop or archbishop makes perfect sense, whereas any intermediate status as monk would be more irregular, though not excluded. The identification with one of these two is furthermore supported by strong evidence that Theodoricus was a high-ranking cleric in Trondheim engaged in the 1170s and 1180s in the formulation of official views, e.g. on the baptism of St. Olav (MORTENSEN 2000b). Furthermore, we know that the later Archbishop Tore had been a canon in Oslo and that a house for regular canons had been established by archbishop Eystein in Nidaros by 1183 at the latest. This community, Elgeseter, acted as cathedral chapter and would be the obvious home for a Victorine. Finally, “monachus” was not a common medieval Latin epithet for authors (but used at least twice in Old Norse); it is easier to imagine post-Reform scholars applying the distinction to any medieval member of a religious house, or perhaps even to accept it as a local medieval habit of calling regular canons “monks” as one contemporary source does. (cf. DAAE 1895, JOHNSEN 1939, 84-94 &amp; BAGGE 1989, 114-15 with no definite conclusions but full references; FOOTE 1998, IX-X is in favour of Theodoricus’s status as a monk, MORTENSEN 2000a opposes those arguments).<br /> <br /> Taken together, the evidence points to a member of the Norwegian elite, who became a learned Victorine canon working closely with Archbishop Eystein (who was also a Victorine) after having returned from Paris; he was perhaps engaged in the founding of Elgeseter, the organisation of the cathedral chapter etc., and a key player in the forging of local literary and ideological traditions, of which the Historia is one result.<br /> <br /> ==Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium==<br /> The History of the old Norwegian kings is in size as well as style a fairly modest narrative covering Norwegian history from the accession of Harald Hårfagre (“Finehair”) (852 according to Theodoricus, but probably between ca. 860 and 880) to the death of Sigurd Jorsalfar (“Crusader”) in 1130.<br /> ====Title====<br /> The title is only known from 17th century copies (see below), but may have been the same in the medieval exemplar<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> Domino et patri suo, viro reverendissimo Augustino...<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> ... quod quia hactenus non contigit, me malui quam neminem.<br /> =====Size=====<br /> 35 pages.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> *KIRCHMANN, B.C. 1684: Commentarii historici duo hactenus inediti, alter de regibus vetustis Norvagicis, alter de profectione Danorum in terram sanctam, circa annum MCLXXXV susceptam, eodem tempore ab incerto autore conscriptus, cura olim et opera viri clarissimi Johannis Kirchmanni, Lubec., nunc primum editi ab hujus nepote Bernh. Casp. Kirchmanno J.U.D, Amsterdam.<br /> *SUHM, P.F. 1783: “Theodorici monachi Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium,” in SRD 5, Copenhagen, 311-41. <br /> *• STORM, G. 1880: “Theodrici monachi Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium,” in MHN, Kristiania [Oslo], 1-68.<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. forthc.: Theodoricus. Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium (with transl. by P. Fisher), Copenhagen.<br /> <br /> ====Translations====<br /> *(Norwegian, bokmål) SALVESEN, A. 1969: Norges historie. Theodricus Munk: Historien om de gamle norske kongene. Historien om danenes ferd til Jerusalem, Oslo. [With brief notes.] <br /> *(Norwegian, nynorsk) SKARD, E. 1932: Soga um dei gamle norske kongane, Oslo.<br /> *(English) MCDOUGALL, D. &amp; MCDOUGALL, I. 1998: Theodoricus Monachus, Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium. An Account of the Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings. Translated and annotated by D. and I. McDougall, with an introduction by P. Foote, London.<br /> *(English, chapters 4-14) ANDERSSON 2003 (see Bibliography below), 151-58.<br /> *(English) FISHER, in KRAGGERUD forthcoming (see Editions above).<br /> <br /> ====Commentaries====<br /> *(Norwegian on ch. 19) KRAGGERUD, E. 1993: Et pensum i middelalderlatin. II: Kommentarer, Oslo, 124-30.<br /> *MCDOUGALL &amp; MCDOUGALL 1998 (see Translations above).<br /> <br /> ===Date and place===<br /> In his narrative Theodoricus deliberately left out the most recent 50 years of history, full of civil strife as they were (ch. 34). But there is one specific reference to contemporary history, namely in ch. 31 where we are told that the wretched tyrant Eystein (Møyla, d. 1177) took Nidaros. This event took place in late 1176, but 1177 is usually given as terminus post quem because scholars have had difficulties imagining such harsh words about Eystein if he was still alive. Without dispute the terminus ante quem is 1188, when the dedicatee died. Attempts to date the work more precisely have not been successful; e.g. placing it before or during the archbishop’s English exile between 1180 and 1183 occasioned by differences between the clergy and King Sverre (1177-1202). The writing of the history hardly required more than a couple of years, but Theodoricus, of course, need not have worked continuously on the history. It is likely that he researched the work in Norway (interviews) as well as in France (library studies) (see Sources) and it is probable that he finished it in Norway where its audience was (see Purpose).<br /> ===Summary of contents===<br /> After a prologue (see Sources and Purpose) and a list of the 34 chapter headings, the narrative opens with Harald “Finehair”’s unification of Norway, an event Theodoricus dates, with some reservation, to 852 (ch. 1, cf. SKÅNLAND 1966). In chapters 1-6 Theodoricus deals briefly with pre-Christian kings from Harald to Håkon Jarl (ca. 865-995). One chapter (3) is a digression on the discovery of Iceland, and three chapters (4-6) are devoted to the struggles between Håkon Jarl and the sons of the wicked Gunnhild (widow after Erik Bloodaxe).<br /> <br /> Chapters 7-14 are dominated by Olaf Tryggvason (995-1000), traditionally seen as the missionary king of Iceland and Norway, who died at the legendary battle of Svoldr. He is described as zealous in the Christian cause from the very beginning of his insurrection against the ungodly Håkon, and in a long digression Theodoricus compares him to the Roman emperor Jovian who also refused to lead an army of pagans (for the treatment of Olaf Tryggvason see BAGGE forthcoming). The reign of the earls Erik and Sven (1000-1015) is mentioned very briefly.<br /> <br /> Olaf Haraldsson (1015-1030), the later saint, is introduced already in chapter 13 (conflicting opinions on his baptism); but he is at the centre of the narrative in chapters 15-20. The king is depicted as divinely guided all the way from his accession, through his ousting by Knud the Great of Denmark, his Russian exile, to his attempt at regaining power at the battle of Stiklestad where he suffered his saintly death. The story elicits several substantial digressions: on the gorge Charybdis (near the Orkney islands!), on the ever decreasing size of human beings, and – occasioned by Theodoricus’s uncertainty about the date of Olaf’s death – on the age of the world.<br /> <br /> After mentioning the brief interlude of Danish domination, Theodoricus tells in chapters 21-28 about the reigns of Magnus Olafsson (“the Good”, 1035-1047) and his uncle Harald “Hardruler” (1046-1066). Both these close relatives of St. Olaf (son and half-brother) are judged positively by Theodoricus, and their peaceful division of the kingdom reminds the author of a similar deal between Charlemagne and his brother (Carloman). <br /> <br /> The adventurous viking life of Harald contrasts with that of his son Olaf Kyrre (1066-1093), about whose long peaceful reign Theodoricus has little to say except to single it out as the happiest ever in Norwegian history (ch. 29). There is more about Olaf Kyrre’s son Magnus “Bareleg” (1093-1103) and his sons, Eystein Magnusson (1103-1123), and Sigurd “Crusader” (1103-1130). We hear of Magnus’s attempt to conquer Ireland (ch. 31) and of Sigurd’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem (1108-1111) (ch. 33). Eystein is praised as a lover of peace and as a great builder, qualities which earn him a comparison with Augustus (ch. 32). The final chapter laments the violent and confused times following the death of Sigurd. With a quotation from Lucan Theodoricus compares the Norwegian civil wars with that of Pompey and Caesar. He rounds off with concluding remarks on his work (see Sources and Purpose).<br /> ===Composition and style===<br /> The Historia belongs to the common type of medieval national history which is structured around the succession of rulers and their reigns (KERSKEN 1995, 403-7 &amp; 432-34). Furthermore, it evolves around the Christianization of Norway and its main hero, St. Olaf (cf. BAGGE 1989, MORTENSEN &amp; MUNDAL 2003, 368-71). He occupies the centre of the narrative and a significant cluster of digressions are embedded in his story. These, and other digressions, deal with matters such as geography, chronology, philosophy, Roman history, political morality, Christianity etc. Digressions of this sort are not uncommon in medieval historians, but Theodoricus’s proportioning of digression and narrative is extraordinary: more than one third of the work provides learned backdrop for the history proper (DAMSGAARD OLSEN 1965, BAGGE 1989, see Purpose and Literary models). Another noticeable feature is his abstention from geographical and mythical introductions (cf. [[Historia Norwegie]], &gt;Saxo Grammaticus etc.)<br /> <br /> Theodoricus’s style has often been characterized as simple, but no thorough investigations have been carried out. In fact it seems to be at least two-layered. Moreover, he had a clear sense of variatio sermonis as appears if one for instance lists some of his phrases for “died” (cf. HANSSEN 1945, 177): “diem obiit” (2), “vitam finivit” (14), “occubuit” (19), “obiit” (29), “ex hac luce subtractus est” (33), “hominem exuit” (34). At his simplest Theodoricus sounds entirely annalistic (ch. 4): <br /> <br /> Hocon nutricius Halstani, filius Haraldi, regnavit annis viginti quinque. Hic fuit aspectu pulcher, viribus corporis robustus, animi virtute præstans, omni populo gratissimus. Hic regnavit in pace annis decem et novem. (Håkon [the Good, ca. 945-960], protegé of Athelstan and son of Harald, ruled for 25 years. He was handsome, strong, courageous, and popular. He ruled in peace for 19 years.)<br /> <br /> The recurrent hic and regnavit as well as the stereotyped phrases about Håkon’s qualities indicate the level of the language and perhaps the nature of Theodoricus’s source (here probably the Catalogus). However, there is no reason to think that he was unable to change the style if he wanted to. The simple narrative sometimes displays a little more art (ch. 32):<br /> <br /> Onustis itaque navibus plurima præda rex Magnus in Norwagiam revertitur. Paucis deinde interpositis annis iterum classem parat, solita mentis inquietudine Hyberniam repetiit spe subjiciendi sibi totam insulam. Cumque sibi partem aliquam insulæ subjugasset, sperans ex facili reliquam posse subjici, incautius exercitum ducere coepit, eodem modo deceptus, quo et avus ejus Haraldus in Anglia. Hybernienses vero collecta omni multitudine, parati pro patria mori, reditum ad naves intercipiunt, hostes strenue invadunt, regem Magnum prosternunt. Pars exercitus cum illo occubuit, ceteri utcunque ad naves remeant. (His ships loaded with rich booty, King Magnus [Barefoot, 1093-1103] now returned to Norway. A few years later he prepared his fleet again, and in his usual restless state of mind set out for Ireland hoping to conquer the entire island. When he had brought part of the island under his sway, he hoped that the rest could easily be conquered, and he proceeded rather carelessly with his army, being trapped just like his grandfather Harald [Hard-ruler, 1046-1066] had been in England. The Irish gathered a large crowd, and ready as they were to die for their country, they cut off the retreat to the ships, attacked the enemy energetically, and killed King Magnus. Part of the army fell with him, the rest somehow made it back to the ships.)<br /> <br /> Although not ornate in any way, this paragraph brings out a larger section of the Latin vocabulary and syntax. The clauses are introduced with variation: an instrumental ablative (onustis ... navibus), an absolute ablative (paucis ... interpositis), and a temporal cum-clause with the ordinary pluperfect subjunctive. The development from plans to disastrous action is also reflected in the language. Magnus’s character and state of mind (solita mentis inquietudine, and sperans) contrasts with the swift sequence of historical present tenses (intercipiunt, invadunt, prosternunt).<br /> <br /> However, in the prologue and the digressions we often encounter a more elaborate style than in the narrative. Some digressions closely follow the sources and thus vary in style, but if we want to consider the highest point of Theodoricus’s Latin prose, we should look at the central chapters concerned with St. Olaf, e.g. at the end of ch. 20 where we are told what happened after the king’s death. <br /> <br /> Quomodo vero mox omnipotens Deus merita martyris sui Olavi declaraverit cæcis visum reddendo et multa commoda ægris mortalibus impendendo, et qualiter episcopus Grimkel – qui fuit filius fratris Sigwardi episcopi, quem Olavus filius Tryggva secum adduxerat de Anglia – post annum et quinque dies beatum corpus e terra levaverit et in loco decenter ornato reposuerit in Nidrosiensi metropoli, quo statim peracta pugna transvectum fuerat, quia haec omnia a nonnullis memoriæ tradita sunt, nos notis immorari superfluum duximus. (Soon Almighty God manifested the merits of his martyr Olav by giving sight to the blind and dispensing much good to frail mortals. After a year and five days bishop Grimkel, son of the brother of bishop Sigward whom Olaf Tryggvason had brought with him from England, exhumed the holy body and laid it to rest in a properly furnished place in the capital Nidaros where it had been brought immediately after the battle. But I am not going to dwell on these well-known matters since they have been handed down to posterity by several people.) <br /> <br /> This is – in the Latin – a respectable period. In addition to the tension created by the piling up of dependent clauses, only to be resolved by the final duximus, one is struck by the epic phrase ægris mortalibus, “frail mortals”. The passage also illustrates the standard rhetorical procedure of praeteritio – explaining at length what one is not going to talk about. Whether Theodoricus also sometimes uses prose rhythm has not yet been systematically investigated. He was not alien to rhetorical devices and poetic allusions, but he seems to have reserved them mostly for St. Olaf.<br /> <br /> Generally it can be said that Theodoricus did not strive for stylistic unity, nor was he guided by one or more models. The echoes of Sallust and other historians are not pervasive, and he probably saw his own work as being in the same mixed style as e.g. the lively narrative of Lombard history by Paul the Deacon (cf. MORTENSEN 1993).<br /> ===Sources and literary models===<br /> Despite GUÐNASON 1977 and ANDERSSON 1985 there are no serious reasons for disbelieving Thedoricus’s claim (ch. 1 and 34) that his work is the first of its kind and that he relied on oral sources (ch. 34 non visa sed audita retractans, cf. MORTENSEN, 2000a). He probably did most of his research by interviews, with the Icelanders whose poems he mentions, as well as with Norwegians (for his of Icelandic knowledge and of skaldic poetry see HALVORSEN 1958, RÖHN 1996, MUNDAL 2000), and like most historical pioneers he must have worked hard to establish a chronology (chs. 1 and 20 &amp; ELLEHØJ 1965). <br /> <br /> As regards the narrative, two minor exceptions to oral sources have been noted. In chapter 20 Theodoricus refers to a written list of Norwegian kings:<br /> <br /> Eidem vero Kanuto et filio ejus Sueinoni et Haconi nepoti ejus asscribuntur anni quinque in catalogo regum Norwagiensium. (But the list of Norwegian kings assigns a reign of five years to this Knud [the Great], his son Sven and his nephew Håkon.)<br /> <br /> It is probably the same list Theodoricus has in mind in the prologue when he notes the absence of a reliable royal genealogy before Harald Finehair, and ELLEHØJ 1965 has convincingly argued that the Catalogus ([[Catalogi regum Norwagiensium]]) furnished Theodoricus with a skeleton of number of regnal years plus brief information about family and death. In chapter 43 (quoted below, see Composition and style) Theodoricus refers to a written source on the whereabouts of St. Olaf’s holy body. This has been taken to mean a lost Translatio sancti Olavi (STORM 1880), although Theodoricus’s wording does not warrant a single specific work, let alone a title (&gt;Sanctus Olavus, Passio Olavi).<br /> <br /> Theodoricus had no major Nordic historiographical sources or models, be they Latin or vernacular. He was aware of Old Norse as a written language, but his only reference to it entails an anachronism (ch. 16 where Olaf Haraldsson is credited with putting laws into writing in the mother tongue (patria lingua), i.e. almost a century before written Old Norse is attested). The literary models Theodoricus turned to were foreign and Latin. He names and quotes quite a number of historical works, among which we find the medieval classics by Jerome, Isidore, Bede, and Paul the Deacon as well as three more recent works: William of Jumièges’s Historia Normannorum (written from ca. 1050 to 1070), Sigebert of Gembloux’s Chronica (written from 1082 to 1111), and Hugh of St. Victor’s Chronica (ca. 1130). The model he chose was primarily the Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon (ca. 790) to whom Theodoricus i.a. appeals as a pattern for lengthy digressions (MORTENSEN 1993).<br /> <br /> The Latin historians are all put to use in the digressions rather than in the narrative. For that Theodericus found little of Norwegian relevance, though he does report with some pride his discovery of a reference to the baptism of Olaf Haraldsson in the Norman history of William of Jumièges (ch. 13: sed et ego legi in Historia Normannorum...). His excerpts are evidently gathered in a library in northern France, and several details, including his reverence for Hugh of St. Victor, as well as circumstantial evidence points firmly to St. Victor in Paris (JOHNSEN 1939 &amp; MORTENSEN 2000b). Theodoricus used various other Latin sources, church fathers, classical authors (especially Lucan), medieval Biblical scholars etc. This learning has been investigated by STORM 1880, JOHNSEN 1939, MORTENSEN 1993 &amp; 2000b, RÖHN 1996, MCDOUGALL &amp; MCDOUGALL 1998, KARLSEN &amp; VATSEND 2003 but the subject is far from exhausted.<br /> ===Purpose and audience===<br /> The author’s express purpose – which can hardly be questioned – is to provide the Norwegians with a national history, such as exist for other nations. However, this should not be taken in the sense that he is looking for an international audience. The work was destined for the cathedral library of Nidaros, and his off-hand and mostly unexplained references to Norwegian matters made sense only for a local audience. A case in point is the above-quoted reference to what people already know about the translation of Olaf’s body.<br /> <br /> A clerical learning and perspective loom large in the digressions. Theodoricus is obviously interested in moral and even theological lessons of history. He also hints at a parallelism between Norway and the Roman Empire. Formulating these common medieval frameworks was probably the easy and natural part for a man of Theodoricus’s background. His history was intended to have exemplary value, but it must not be forgotten that he did a serious piece of historical research with all the difficulties accompanying a pioneer. And when he chose to cut the history short – leaving out the period where he had most to tell – the results were not voluminous. The digressions should also be viewed in that light: they added weight, scope, and meaning to a rather thin story (cf. BAGGE 1989, MORTENSEN &amp; MUNDAL 2003, MORTENSEN 1993 &amp; 2005).<br /> ===Medieval reception and transmission===<br /> No medieval codex with the Historia survives, but one must have been in place in the cathedral library of Nidaros. The lost medieval exemplar of the existing copies seems to have had some connection with the Danish Victorine milieu (it included a text by &gt;Wilhelmus of Æbelholt, and the &gt;Historia de profectione Danorum in Hierosolymam, cf. LEHMANN 1937, 70 &amp; SKOVGAARD-PETERSEN 2002). The Historia was no doubt a rare text, to be found only in a few Scandinavian libraries; nor do we have any direct references to the work from the Middle Ages. But Theodoricus‘s efforts were not lost on his contemporaries, as has been established by painstaking research in contemporary texts (AÐALBJARNASON 1937, ELLEHØJ 1965, ULSET 1983, ANDERSSON 1985 &amp; 2003). The socalled Ágrip, an Old Norse chronicle slightly later than Theodoricus, relied heavily on the Historia, and through Ágrip much of the material lived on in the great kings’ sagas of the thirteenth century.<br /> <br /> Around 1620 J. Kirchmann found a parchment codex in the Council library of Lübeck. Its main text was Josephus’s Bellum Judaicum, but at the end were added some minor historical treatises, i.a. the Historia. The text is now known entirely through various seventeenth-century copies and the editio princeps published by Kirchmann’s grandson B.C. Kirchmann (SKOVGAARD-PETERSEN 2002):<br /> <br /> *Kirch = B.C. Kirchmann’s edition, Amsterdam 1684 (see Editions)<br /> *L = Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, lat. f. 356. [J. Kirchmann’s autograph fair copy, not known to STORM 1880 (cf. LEHMANN 1939, 120-22)].<br /> *A = Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 98 fol. [A copy in Arni Magnusson’s possession, probably copied or obtained from B.C. Kirchmann. SUHM‘s edition is based on this manuscript].<br /> *S = Uppsala, University Library, De la Gardie 32. [J. Stephanius’s copy of one of J. Kirchmann’s copies, probably a lost one]. <br /> *M = Copenhagen, Royal Library, Thott 1541 4°. [B.C. Kirchmann‘s inherited working copy; not known to STORM 1880].<br /> *B = Copenhagen, Royal Library, Kall 600. [J. Kirchmann’s draft notes and indices to the text].<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *AÐALBJARNASON, B. 1937: Om de norske kongers sagaer (Skrifter utgitt av det norske Videnskabs-akademi i Oslo, II. Hist-filos. klasse), Oslo. <br /> *ANDERSSON, T.M. 1979: “Ari’s konunga œvi and the Earliest Accounts of Hákon jarl’s Death,” (Bibliotheca Arnamagnaeana 33, Opuscula 6), 1-17.<br /> *ANDERSSON, T.M. 1985: “Kings’ Sagas (Konungasögur),” in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature. A Critical Guide, ed. C.J. Clover &amp; J. Lindow, Ithaca &amp; London, 197-238.<br /> *ANDERSSON, T.M. 2003: Oddr Snorrason, The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, translated from the Icelandic with Introduction and Notes by T.M.A., Ithaca &amp; London.<br /> *• BAGGE, S. 1989 “Theodericus Monachus – Clerical Historiography in Twelfth-century Norway,” Scandinavian Journal of History 14, 113-33.<br /> *BAGGE, S. 2006.: “The Making of a Missionary King – The Medieval Accounts of Olav Tryggvason and the Conversion of Norway‚” Journal of English and Germanic Philology 105, 2006.<br /> *BAGGE, S. 2005: “Teodorico monachus e la storiografia agostiniana nella Norvegia del XII secolo,” in Santitá e società civile nel medioevo. Esperienze storiche della santità agostiniana, ed. M.A. Teodori, M. Ruffine, Tolentino, 191-97<br /> *BEYSCHLAG, S. 1950: Konungasögur. Untersuchungen zur Königssaga bis Snorri, die älteren Übersichtswerke samt Ynglingasaga (Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana 8), Copenhagen.<br /> *DAAE, L. 1895: “Om Historieskriveren “Theodricus Monachus” og om Biskop Tore af Hamar,” HistTN vol. 3, ser. 3, 397-411.<br /> *DAMSGAARD OLSEN, T. 1965: “Kongekrøniker og kongesagaer,” in Norrøn fortællekunst. Kapitler af den norsk-islandske middelalderlitteraturs historie, ed. H. Bekker-Nielsen, T.D. Olsen &amp; O. Widding, Copenhagen, 42-71.<br /> *• ELLEHØJ, S. 1965: Studier over den ældste norrøne historieskrivning (Bibliotheca arnamagnæana 26), Copenhagen.<br /> *FOOTE, P. 1998: “Introduction” in MCDOUGALL &amp; MCDOUGALL 1998, I-XXXI.<br /> *GUÐNASON, B. 1977: “Theodoricus og íslenskir sagnaritarar,” Sjötíu ritger ðir helgaðar Jakobi Benediktssyni, vol. I, Reykjavík, 107-20.<br /> *HALVORSEN, E.F. 1958: “Theodoricus Monachus and the Icelanders,” in Þriðji víkingafundur. Third Viking Congress, Reykjavík 1956, ed. K. Eldjárn (Árbok hins íslenzka fornleifafélags. Fylgirit 1958), 142-55.<br /> *HANSSEN, J.S.T. 1945: “Observations on Theodericus Monachus and his History of the Old Norwegian Kings, from the End of the XII. Sec.,” Symbolae Osloenses 24, 164-80.<br /> *HANSSEN, J.S.T. 1949: “Theodericus Monachus and European Literature,” Symbolae Osloenses 27, 70-127.<br /> *HOLTSMARK, A. 1961: “Historia de antiquitate regum Norvagiensium,” in KLNM 6, 583-85.<br /> *JOCHENS, J. 2001: [Review of] “Theodoricus Monachus. Historia de antiquitate regum norwagensium. Tr. &amp; annot. by David and Ian McDougall, with an introduction by Peter Foote (London 1998),” Journal of English and Germanic Philology 100, 1, 81-83.<br /> *• JOHNSEN, A.O. 1939: Om Theodericus og hans historie de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium (Avhandlinger utgitt av Det Norske Videnskabs-Akademi i Oslo II. Hist.-Filos. Klasse. No.3), Oslo<br /> *JOHNSEN, A.O. 1943-1946: “Om St. Victorklostret og nordmennene. En skisse,” HistTN 33, 405-32.<br /> *JOHNSEN, A.O. 1951: “Les relations intellectuelles entre la France et la Norvège (1150-1214),” Le Moyen Âge 57, 247-68.<br /> *KARLSEN, E. &amp; VATSEND, K. 2003: “On Theodoricus Monachus’ Use of Late Classical Authors,” Collegium Medievale 16, 239-64.<br /> *• KERSKEN, N. 1995: Geschichtsschreibung im Europa der «nationes». Nationalgeschichtliche Gesamtdarstellungen im Mittelalter, Cologne.<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 1995: “Middelaldernøtter,” Klassisk Forum 1995:2, 79-87.<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 1998: “Theodoricus Scrutinized,” Collegium Medievale 11, 119-26. [Review of MCDOUGALL 1998]<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 1996: “Mot mer organisert nøttesanking?” Klassisk Forum 1996:2, 44-49.<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 2000: “Theoderiks tekst etter Storm,” in Olavslegenden og den latinske historieskrivning i 1100-tallets Norge, ed. I. Ekrem, L.B. Mortensen, K. Skovgaard-Petersen), Copenhagen, 263-80.<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 2002: “Monumenta anno MMII. Latinske kildeskrifter til norsk middelalder i ny dragt,” Klassisk Forum 2002:2, 87-89.<br /> *KRAGGERUD, E. 2003: “Theodoricus Monachus i ny utgave,” Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi. Årbok 2001, Oslo, 307-15,<br /> *KOHT, H. 1914: “Norsk historieskrivning under kong Sverre, serskilt Sverres-soga,” Edda 2, 67-102.<br /> *LANGE, G. 1989: Die Anfänge der isländisch-norwegischen Geschichtsschreibung (Studia Islandica 47), Reykjavík.<br /> *LEHMANN, P. 1939, 69-75 &amp; 120-22.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L.B. 1993: “Det 12. århundredes renæssance i Norge: Teoderik Munk og Romerriget,” in Antikken i norsk litteratur, ed. Ø. Andersen &amp; A. Aarseth, Bergen, 17-35<br /> *MORTENSEN, L.B. 2000a. [Review of] “Theodoricus Monachus. Historia de antiquitate regum norwagensium. Tr. &amp; annot. by David and Ian McDougall, with an introduction by Peter Foote (London 1998),” Maal og Minne 2000, 101-4.<br /> *• MORTENSEN, L.B. 2000b: “The Anchin Manuscript of Passio Olaui (Douai 295), William of Jumièges, and Theodoricus Monachus. New Evidence for Intellectual Relations between Norway and France in the 12th Century,” Symbolae Osloenses 75, 165-89.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L.B. 2005: “Sanctified Beginnings and Mythopoietic Moments. The first wave of writing on the past in Norway, Denmark, and Hungary, ca 1000-1230,” in The Making of Christian Myths in the Periphery of Latin Christendom (ca 1000-1300), ed. L.B. Mortensen, Copenhagen, 247-73.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L.B. &amp; MUNDAL, E. 2003: “Erkebispesetet i Nidaros – arnestad og verkstad for olavslitteraturen” in Ecclesia Nidrosiensis 1153-1537. Søkelys på Nidaroskirkens og Nidarosprovinsens historie, ed. S. Imsen, Trondheim, 353-84.<br /> *MUNDAL, E. 2000: “Den latinspråklega historieskrivinga og den norrøne tradisjonen: ulike teknikkar og ulike krav,” in Olavslegenden og den latinske historieskrivning i 1100-tallets Norge, eds. I. Ekrem, L.B. Mortensen and K. Skovgaard-Petersen, Copenhagen, 9-25.<br /> *MURRAY, J. PH. 1771: “Abhandlung von dem ältesten Norwegischen Geschichtsschreiber dem Mönche Theodrich,” Deutsche Schriften von der Königlichen Societät der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 1, 267-300.<br /> *RÖHN, H. 1996: “Skaldenstrophe und norröne Geschichtsschreibung. Zum Ursprung einer historiographischen Verfahrensweise,” in Arbeiten zur Skandinavistik. XII. Arbeitstagung der deutschsprachigen Skandinavistik 16.-23. September 1995 in Greifswald, ed. W. Baumgärtner and H. Fix, Vienna, 210-20.<br /> *SKÅNLAND, V. 1966: “The year of Harald Fairhair‘s access to the throne,” Symbolae Osloenses 41, 125-28.<br /> *SKARD, E. 1935: “Kirchliche Olavustradition bei Theodoricus Monachus,” Symbolae Osloenses 14, 119-25.<br /> *SKARD, E. 1940-1942: [Review of LEHMANN 1936-1939 &amp; JOHNSEN 1939], HistTN 32, 267-77.<br /> *SKARD, E. 1957: “Eine Lucanreminiscenz bei Theodoricus monachus,” Symbolae Osloenses 33, 156-57.<br /> *SKOVGAARD-PETERSEN, K. 2002: “Et håndskriftfund i Lübeck ca. 1620. Om den spinkle overlevering af to norske nationalklenodier,” Fund og Forskning 41, 107-27.<br /> *• STORM, G. 1880: [Introduction to edition (see above).] in MHN, Kristiania [Oslo], I-XIV. <br /> *SYRETT, M. 2002: The Roman-alphabet inscriptions of medieval Trondheim, vols. I-II, Trondheim.<br /> *ULSET, T. 1983: Det genetiske forholdet mellom Ágrip, Historia Norwegiæ og Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagensium, Oslo.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sancta_Sunniva&diff=1119 2025-10-29T11:57:41Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article was published in 2012 and does not reflect current research.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Lars Boje Mortensen (Legenda) &amp; Åslaug Ommundsen (Officium)<br /> <br /> Sancta Sunniva (et sancti in Selio): Sunniva was, we are told, a pious and beautiful Irish princess of the mid-tenth century, who fled across the sea with a number of loyal attendants. She landed in pagan Norway where she and her followers met their martyrdom on the island of Selja. Their beneficent bones were said to have been unearthed during the reign of the first Christian king, Olaf Tryggvason, in 996. Her followers thus became known as the men from Selja, and 8 July was subsequently celebrated as their feast, the “Seljumanna messa”. Selja as a place of pilgrimage is first mentioned by Adam of Bremen (ca. 1070, Book IV, schol. 145), who vaguely links it to some of the 11,000 virgins (from the legend of Ursula). Sunniva was translated to Bergen in 1170 and from there her cult spread to a number of places in the Nordic countries during the later Middle Ages (GJERLØW 1970 &amp; HOMMEDAL 1997). A legend (1) and an office (2) has been transmitted.<br /> [[File: 270px-StSunniva.jpg|thumb|Sancta Sunniva at the University Museum of Bergen. Photo: Nina Aldin Thune. Source: Wikimedia Commons.]]<br /> ==(1) Legenda==<br /> ====Title====<br /> The title varies somewhat in the textual tradition, sometimes mentioning Sunniva, sometimes the sancti in Selio, or both. BORGEHAMMAR (1997a, 284) prints the eclectic title: ''In festo sancte Suniue uirginis et martyris sociorumque eius.''<br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> ''Vt posteritati sue fidelis reliquit antiquitas...''<br /> <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''... cui est honor et gloria in secula seculorum.''<br /> <br /> =====Size=====<br /> 5 pages.<br /> <br /> ====Editions====<br /> * Breviarium Scarense, Nürnberg 1498, fol. CCLVII verso.<br /> * Breviarium Nidrosiense, Paris 1519, fols. OO.V recto-OO.VIII recto<br /> * Langebek, SRD 3, 3f. &amp; IV, 15-20 (CHECK)<br /> * STORM 1880, XXXXI-XXXXIV &amp; 145-52.<br /> * MALINIEMI 1957, 148-51.<br /> * • BORGEHAMMAR 1997a. (further comments and suggestions on this edition in KRAGGERUD 1997).<br /> <br /> ====Translations====<br /> (Norwegian, bokmål) SKÅNLAND, V. 1970: “Legenden om de hellige på Selja,” in Bjørgvin Bispestol. Byen og Bispedømmet, ed. P. Juvkam, Bergen, 7-10 (from STORM’s edition).<br /> (Norwegian, bokmål) TOSTERUD DANIELSEN, B. 1997: “Legenden om Sunniva,” in RINDAL 1997, Oslo, 270-92 (from BORGEHAMMAR’s edition).<br /> ===Date and place=== <br /> The legend ends by stating that Sunniva’s bones were found on Selja in the year 996 and that, after a long time, Bishop Pål (Paulus) of Bergen had the bones transferred to that city in the year 1170. Pål is characterized as ''venerabilis memorie'' – he died in 1194. The original text, however, could either have ended with the dating of the event of 996, or, alternatively, the words venerabilis memorie could have been supplied later (cf. STORM 1880, XXXXI-XXXXII &amp; BORGEHAMMAR 1997a, 274). There is general agreement that the legend as we know it must have been composed in Bergen at the time of the translation, i.e. just around 1170. A dating in the 1190s would also create the difficulty that the legend was certainly used by Oddr Snorrasson ([[Oddr monachus]]) in his biography of Olaf Tryggvason, which was composed in Iceland between ca. 1190 and 1200 (cf. below, Medieval reception). The fame of the cult of Sunniva in Bergen is furthermore evidenced by &gt;Historia de profectione Danorum written between ca. 1195 and 1200 (ch. 11, GERTZ, 475): ''Hec est civitas [Bergensis] … reliquiis sanctarum uirginum adornata (ibi sancta Sunnif toto corpore in ecclesia cathedrali exaltata quiescit)'', (The town of Bergen is enriched with relics of holy virgins (St. Sunniva rests there, her whole body elevated in the cathedral church)). The use of cursus in the text also points to a twelfth-century date (see Composition and Style below)<br /> <br /> ===Summary of contents=== <br /> The text is divided into nine lectiones. Sunniva is said to be an Irish king’s daughter, living at the time of Emperor Otto I [i.e. between 936 and 973]; she possessed remarkable piety (1) but her fame and beauty attracted a local chieftain who wanted her at any cost (2). Faced with his carnal desires she saw no other way out than setting out to sea with a band of followers, placing all hope in God’s hands (3). After a first landing in Norway (4) they finally managed to reach the islands of Selja and Kin where they were hunted down by the heathen King Håkon [Jarl, the Wicked, ca. 975-995] (5-6), but anticipated their fate by praying to God to cover them with rocks inside their caves (6). After the death of Håkon, the reign of the first Christian king, Olaf Tryggvason (995-1000), begins. Simultaneously a group of merchants sail past Selja, observe a shaft of light beaming towards the sky, and, finding that it comes from a fragrant human skull (7), bring it to the king (8). He looks into the matter. The miracle is confirmed and more holy bones are found on the island. Olaf decides to build a church at which wonders are worked to this very day. A final paragraph tells of the translation of Sunniva’s body to Bergen in 1170 (see above, Date and Place) (9).<br /> <br /> In our transmission there is no record of miracles, but is likely to have existed at Selja before the translation of the body to Bergen (and perhaps extended there). First there is the hint in lectio 9 that signs and wonders happened at the shrine (signa et uirtutes operatur Deus per merita sanctorum suorum us que in presentem diem), secondly the Office (see below) contains a hymn recounting six of Sunniva’s posthumous miracles (cf. BORGEHAMMAR 1997b, 138). This is likely to have been based on an ordinary prose register.<br /> ===Composition and style=== <br /> The Legend is written in disciplined, though at times rather elaborate, twelfth-century Latin idiom. BORGEHAMMAR (1997a, 274-75) has investigated prose rhythm patterns and found a significant preponderance of cursus velox (e.g. lectio secunda: ''… nephário devastábat''), but with a certain use of planus (e.g. lectio prima: ''regénda suscépit'') and tardus (e.g. lectio tertia: ''… íter arrípuit''). This means that our author followed the twelfth-century French and English trend of favouring the velox and was not quite familiar with the late twelfth-century papal fashion of dropping the tardus completely.<br /> <br /> An example of the writer’s rhetorical art could be taken from lectio secunda, where the heroine ponders her choice between marriage and exile:<br /> <br /> ''Illa uero diuino amore succensa, non illecta blanditiis nec minis perterrita, considerans etiam periculum diuitiarum labentium – quod, qui transeuntia amplectitur, eo ipse ad decursum ducitur, quo decurrentibus implicatur– magis elegit exilium quam uiro sacrilego copulari.'' (But she was kindled by divine love and was not seduced by flattering or frightened by threats. She also contemplated the danger of sliding riches – the fact that those who embrace the fleeting are drawn as much down the slope as they are entangled in things rushing downwards – and chose exile rather than uniting with an impious man.)<br /> <br /> The contrast between divine and earthly love is stylistically elaborated by parallelism and chiasmus (''divino amore succensa, non illecta blanditiis nec minis perterrita''), the proverbial insertion achieves a high degree of alliteration, and the period is effectively ended by a cursus velox. In general, biblical and theological expressions are not quoted, but incorporated into the style with ease and moderation (e.g. the opening of lectio secunda).<br /> <br /> ===Sources===<br /> There are no direct references to other texts in the Legend, and apart from obvious biblical allusions no other verbal loans have so far been pointed out.<br /> <br /> It is reasonable to assume that a precursor of the existing Bergen Legend had existed in Selja at the monastery before 1170; the Legend we possess, then, might be a stylistic rewriting and an updating of the old one (where the monastery would probably have been mentioned) (cf. BORGEHAMMAR 1997b, 140).<br /> <br /> The motifs and the plot of the Sunniva story bear some striking similarities with both the Ursula- and the Modwenna-legend, both known in tenth- and eleventh-century texts from England, France or Germany (cf. YOUNG 1930-1933, JOHNSEN 1968, REKDAL 1997, BORGEHAMMAR 1997b; for the Modwenna tradition see now THACKER &amp; SHARPE 2002, 402). The motif of a chaste princess entrusting herself to the ocean in pursuit of the pious life was no doubt widespread; the Ursula and Modwenna legends may have inspired the myth of Sunniva, but a clear textual link has not been established.<br /> ===Purpose and audience===<br /> In the form we know the Legend it is firmly connected to the translation of Sunniva’s body to Bergen in 1170. It must have been written for liturgical purposes there (together with an entire officium, see below), and to confirm the belief of the local audience in her sacred pedigree. A possible earlier written version of the legend, perhaps with a miracle register attached and with more emphasis on the men of Selja and the holy place itself, could have been in place at the monastery in Selja for similar purposes.<br /> ===Medieval reception and transmission===<br /> Olaf Tryggvason’s key role in the legend soon found its way into historical writing since it was already put to use in Iceland by Oddr Snorrason ([[Oddr monachus]]) in his Latin biography of Olaf Tryggvason (written ca. 1190-1200); it is now known only in an Old Norse translation, but the passage is significantly close to the Latin legend as we know it. The episode was repeated and developed in later Old Norse sagas of Olaf (the relevant texts are conveniently collected and translated into Norwegian in RINDAL 1997, 293-328). It is interesting to note that it did not find its way into the contemporary historiography represented by [[Historia Norwegie]] (ca. 1160-1175), [[Theodoricus Monachus]] (ca. 1180) or Ágrip (ca. 1190), perhaps an indication that the connection with Olaf Tryggvason might have been forged late, perhaps in Bergen around 1170.<br /> <br /> The spread of the cult of Sunniva in the Nordic countries generated various versions of her office and legend (often abbreviated to suit a lesser degree of celebration), i.e. the two early printed texts from 1498 and 1519 (see above, Editions). In addition, the most complete text, now printed by BORGEHAMMAR 1997a, draws on two manuscripts:<br /> <br /> Stockholm, Royal Library, A 56 (Sweden, copied by Nicolaus Jacobi Byrkop, ca 1500), fols. 17v-19v.<br /> <br /> Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 670 k in 4° (copied by Arni Magnusson ca. 1700 from a large medieval parchment manuscript, a legendarium without offices of Icelandic provenance, perhaps from the fourteenth century, cf. BORGEHAMMAR 1997a, 271).<br /> <br /> ==(2) Officium==<br /> The office for St. Sunniva and the Selja saints is a so-called rhymed office only transmitted as text, without music, in ''Breviarium Nidrosiense''. The contents correspond roughly with the legend, but in addition six antiphons at lauds contain descriptions of miracles by the saints at Selja or in other places, after an invocation of Sunniva. <br /> ====Title==== <br /> The title for the feast is normally the short ''[Festum] Sanctorum in Selio'' as in ''Breviarium Nidrosiense'', or the longer version in ''Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae'': ''Natalicium sanctorum in Selio quiescentium'' (but the Nidaros ordo does not include a proper office/historia). The specific title of an office can be given from the incipit of the first antiphon (here ''Gaude felix Hybernia''), or the responsory after the first reading at matins (here ''Manum virgo'').<br /> =====Incipit===== <br /> ''Gaude felix Hybernia...'' <br /> =====Explicit=====<br /> ''... cessat erroris cecitas.''<br /> =====Size=====<br /> Apart from the nocturnal lectiones (see (1) Legenda), this office consists of thirty-five separate chants, divided between antiphons, responsories and hymns. The first vesper has six antiphons along with a responsory and a hymn, matins has ten antiphons and nine responsories, of which one is the responsory from the first vesper. Lauds has seven antiphons and a hymn. <br /> ====Editions====<br /> STORM 1880, XXXXI-XXXXIV, 147-52 &amp; 283-89.<br /> AH vol. 13, no. 90, p. 233 ff. (ed. Dreves et al. 1886-1922). <br /> AH vol. 12, nos. 436-37 for the hymns. <br /> ====Translations====<br /> The nocturnal lessons are translated (see (1) Legenda), but the office chants are not.<br /> ===Date and place===<br /> The earliest testimony for the office of the Sancti in Selio is the ''Breviarium Nidrosiense'' from 1519, but it is believed to be considerably older. No proper office for the Sancti in Selio is mentioned in the ''Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae'' from the first decades of the thirteenth century (ed. GJERLØW 1968), but as the office was probably primarily written for use in Bergen, this may not be conclusive evidence of a later origin.<br /> <br /> GJERLØW (1970, 119) suggests that the rhymed office may have been written for the translation from Selja to Bergen, 7 September 1170. It is probably not older than 1170, since the account of the translation ends the nocturnal lessons. Sunniva is also called bergensium patrona, which calls for a date at the time of, or after, the translation. There are however some arguments against the translation being the occation for the composition of the office, and pointing towards a date later than 1170. First, the lyrics do not refer to a translation, which would be natural if they were written for this occasion. On the contrary, the first vesper invites us to celebrate the saints’ celestial wedding, i.e. their natalicium (8 July). Second, there is the matter of style. There are three surviving Norwegian offices: the Office for St. Olaf ([[Sanctus Olavus]], (2) Officium), written some time before 1188, the Office of the Holy Blood ([[Susceptio sanguinis domini]]), presumably from 1165, and finally the Office for St. Sunniva and the saints of Selja. The two offices from the late twelfth century are not rhymed, although a few of the chants appear in verse. This is consistent with the notion that the rhymed offices flourished mainly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in the Nordic countries (KLNM 14, “Rimofficium”). It is reasonable to assume that the Sunniva office is a thirteenth-century product.<br /> <br /> ===Summary of contents===<br /> The office recaptures the legend in metrical form, and in addition describes six miracles.<br /> The first antiphon at the first vesper invites Ireland to rejoice in the glory of their queen, who gave up her wordly kingdom and put her faith in God’s will as patron saint of Norway (''patrona Norvegie''). Then Sunniva is called upon to come to our aid and praised as ''princeps'' and ''bergensium patrona''. The fifth antiphon states the cause of the celebration: the saints’ spiritual wedding which on this day is celebrated in heaven. The antiphons at matins are relatively general in content, but touch upon certain aspects of the passion, like the “viper’s brood” (''viperarum genimina'') who hated God’s saints, how the saints were buried under the mountain, and how the head was revealed underneath a stream of light. The responsories are far more specific and tell the story more or less coherently and chronologically, although independently of the lessons. The first responsory tells of Sunniva, who dismissed kingdom, wealth and marriage, and preferred exile to her home town. In the second she and her followers reach Selja, and are tried by cold, heat, thirst and hunger. The third responsory is repeated from the first vespers and is in praise of Sunniva’s firmness and courage. The second nocturn begins with an appeal to Sunniva (this time ''huius sacri palacii patrona'') to come to our aid. The next chants deal with the attacks from the farmers; they thought the saints were “wolves in sheeps’ clothing”. In the seventh responsory King Håkon comes to disturb the flock of virgins (''turbare turbam virginum''), driven by his desires (''libidines''), but he is fooled. The saints flee to the mountain, and the virgin and her followers are buried underneath it. Thus Sunniva wins the laurel of victory.<br /> <br /> The antiphons for lauds present material not transmitted in other sources, namely descriptions of miracles at Selja, six in total. The first is about a boy falling from his mother’s arms over a wall, appearing to be dead. He is given back to his mother by the saints at Selja, alive. In the second antiphon a blind girl recovers her sight after spending the night in Sunniva’s church. A man falling from a tower is saved by the saints, who use a whirlwind to lift him up again. A paralysed woman visits the saints and returns home cured. Sunniva is then called upon in a shipwreck, and in the final description a woman falls from a bridge and asks the saints for help. The final antiphon is in gratitude to God who sent the saints from Ireland, so that our faith could grow and our blindness disappear.<br /> <br /> ===Composition and style===<br /> The office is based on five different metres, of which the iambic metres are predominant. There is only one chant with a purely dactylic metre, namely the invitatorium of the matins (6pp + 6pp). Three antiphons and three responsories have a combination of trochaic and dactylic feet, (4p + 6pp). The rest of the chants are iambic, like the iambic metre of the antiphons of the first vesper (8pp + 8pp + 7p) The two hymns, four antiphons and two responsories use the iambic dimeter (8pp). The patterns of rhyme are also differentiated. For instance the five first antiphons all use the same metre, but have three different patterns of rhyme (aabaab, abcabc, aabccb).<br /> <br /> The texts of the antiphons seem to relate to each other in a kind of circular pattern. The opening antiphon (first vesper) points to Ireland, as does the last antiphon of the office (at lauds). The cycle of antiphons in matins shows the same circular motion; the opening invitatory finds its response in the last antiphon, with an invitation to rejoice. The next chant connects thematically to the second last chant, regarding plants bearing fruit. The antiphon about the “viper’s brood” is contrasted with the life of the orthodox saints, and that about the saints leaving this earth is contrasted with the discovery of the scull. The central antiphon contains the foundation of the celebration, namely the saints crushed under the mountain but still rejoicing in heaven above it.<br /> ===Sources and literary models===<br /> The texts for the office are mainly based on the Legend (1), and a lost record of the miracles of Sunniva and the Selja saints. The hymn ''Eterna Christi munera'' borrows its incipit (and perhaps melody?) from the hymn in the ''commune sanctorum'' for the ''natalicium plurimorum martyrum'' (prescribed in the Nidaros ordinal for the feast of the Selja saints). Whether or not there are direct or indirect influences from other rhymed offices is a question that remains uninvestigated.<br /> <br /> ===Purpose and audience===<br /> The contents suggest that the Sunniva office was written for the celebration of the ''natalicium'' of Sunniva and the Selja saints, 8 July. The office was probably written primarily for use in Bergen, and later inserted in the official Nidaros rite. (The mention of a breviary for the whole year “after the Bergen rite” (''secundum modum bergis'') among Aslak Bolt’s books in an inventory of 1429 may indicate a certain degree of independence, for instance, regarding the Sunniva-celebrations, DN 5, 586.) When the office started to be used outside Bergen is not known, since no sources older than the printed Breviarium Nidrosiense are preserved, and the Nidaros ordinal from the early thirteenth century does not mention a proper office for Sunniva and the Selja saints.<br /> <br /> ===Medieval reception and transmission=== <br /> The feast, and possibly the office, for Sunniva and the Selja saints probably spread from Bergen throughout the Nidaros see, including Iceland, from the thirteenth century onwards. The saints of Selja were also honoured in Skara with three lessons on 11 July (GJERLØW 1970, 120) and in Åbo with nine lessons (MALINIEMI 1957, 148-51). The cathedral of Uppsala had a relic from the saints of Selja, de sanctis in celio [sic] (DS 3839), but their feast is not included in the liturgy.<br /> <br /> No manuscript fragments have so far been unearthed, and the office is only transmitted in the printed Breviarium Nidrosiense, Paris 1519, fols. OO.V recto-OO.VIII recto.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography== <br /> * AH, ed. C. Blume, G. Dreves, H.M. Bannister, 55 vols., Leipzig 1886-1922 (vols. 12 and 13).<br /> * BING, J. 1924: “Sunnivalegenden,” Historisk Tidsskrift, 5. rekke, 5.<br /> * BORGEHAMMAR, S. 1997a: “Den latinska Sunnivalegenden. En edition,” in RINDAL 1997, 270-92. <br /> * BORGEHAMMAR, S. 1997b: “Sunnivalegenden och den benediktinska reformen i England,” in RINDAL 1997, 123-59.<br /> * DAAE, L. 1879: Norges Helgener, Christiania.<br /> * DAMSGAARD OLSEN, T. 1969: “Sunniva,” Bibliotheca Sanctorum 12, 69-74.<br /> * DN <br /> * DS <br /> * GJERLØW, L., 1968: Ordo Nidrosiensis Ecclesiae, Oslo, 364-65.<br /> * GJERLØW, L., 1970: “Seljumannamessa,” KLNM 15, 118-21.<br /> * HOMMEDAL, A.T. 1997: “Dei heilage frå Selja. Vurdering av kulten rundt St. Sunniva og Seljumennene og Selja si rolle som pilegrimsmål i mellomalderen,” in RINDAL 1997, 183-99.<br /> * JOHNSEN, A. O. 1968: “Når slo Sunniva-kulten igjennom?,” in Bjørgvin Bispestol. Frå Selja til Bjørgvin, ed. P. Juvkam, Bergen, 40-62.<br /> * KRAGGERUD, E. 1997: “Sunniva rediviva” [review of RINDAL 1997], Klassisk Forum 1997, 2, 116-27.<br /> * MALINIEMI, A. (ed.) 1957: Zur Kenntnis des Breviarium Aboense. Cod. Holm. A 56, Helsinki.<br /> * REKDAL, J. E. 1997: “Legenden om Sunniva og Seljemenneskene,” in RINDAL 1997, 102-22.<br /> * REKDAL, J. E., 1998: “Parallels between the Norwegian Legend of St Sunniva and Irish Voyage Tales,” Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age, ed. H.B. Clarke, M.N. Mhaonaigh, R. Ó. Floinn.<br /> * RINDAL, M. (ed.) 1997: Selja – heilag stad i 1000 år, Oslo.<br /> * MUNDAL, E. 1997: “Legender, helgenkult og misjonsstrategi i kristningstida,” in RINDAL 1997, 77-101.<br /> * SCHMID, T. 1932: “Norska helgon i svenska cistercienserkloster, Smärre liturgiska bidrag III:” NTBB 19. <br /> * STORM, G. 1880: MHN, Kristiania.<br /> * THACKER, A. &amp; SHARPE, R. 2002: Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West, Oxford.<br /> * YOUNG, J. 1930-1933: “Legenden om den hellige Sunniva,” Historisk Tidsskrift, 5. rekke, 8<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Thorirus_Andreae&diff=1118 2025-10-29T11:47:42Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Roger Andersson<br /> <br /> Thorirus Andreae (d. 1418), priest brother at the Birgittine abbey of Vadstena, Sweden, 1392–1418; important preacher and zealous worker for the spreading of the Birgittine Order.<br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Diarium Vadstenense]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Johannes Borquardi]] <br /> <br /> ==Biography==<br /> On 4 August 1392, Thorirus Andreae entered Vadstena Abbey as one of the thirteen priest brothers (DV 71). No documents provide further information about his life throughout the following decade. In his own sermon collection (Uppsala University Library, C 259), the sermons seem to have been taken down in the same order as they were delivered. Since the manuscript is dated, his activity as a preacher can be studied for the years 1393¬–1400. We find him preaching about six to eleven times per year, quite in accordance with the regulations (see &gt;Sermones Birgittini). We also know that he was responsible for the Memorial Book ([[Diarium Vadstenense]]) during different periods from 1392 on (GEJROT 1988, 18, 24–29, NYBERG 1976). Thorirus traveled abroad no less than three times on errands for the abbey. Between 1402 and 1405, he visited Rome and the future daughter house, Paradiso, in Florence (HÖJER 1905, 128 ff., 153). Already in the following year (1406), he left again for Paradiso with the commission to work for the diffusion of the Order (DV 143). He returned in 1408 (DV 166). His third journey, which was also to be his last, had the reform council in Constance as its destination. He left Vadstena in 1414 (DV 236). By means of letters he reported home about events at the synod and received further instructions from his confessor at Vadstena (cf. LOSMAN 1970, 35ff.). On his way home in 1418, he died from complications caused by an inflammation in his right foot (DV 288; SD 2023, 2528). During his time in Constance, Thorirus bought or made copies of quite a number of books, mostly theological texts and works useful for preaching (LOSMAN 1970, 39–49; FREDRIKSSON 1997, 37).<br /> <br /> ==Works==<br /> Thorirus himself compiled and wrote out a collection of sermons both de tempore and de sanctis (C 259, see above). The number of sermons amounts to more than 50. Some of them are copied from collections written by different foreign preachers, whereas others remain unidentified. His handwriting also occurs in a set of sermons in Uppsala, University Library, C 392 (fols. 384r–423v); it is also recorded in the huge copy-book of the abbey, Stockholm, National Archives A 20, and is described in STÅHL 2003 (47ff.). Thorirus often expands his sermons by means of quotations from the Revelations of St. Birgitta. His method of transforming a model sermon into a personal product may be studied in his sermon for the eighth Sunday after Trinity (ANDERSSON 2001, 53f., 84f.). The main part of the sermon (expositio) is copied from Jacobus de Voragine’s sermon for this day, but Thorirus adds an introduction (exordium) in which he speaks in the first person. Hereafter, he expounds the Gospel of the day verse by verse, partly using the Gloss of Nicolaus de Lyra (cf. ANDERSSON &amp; BORGEHAMMAR 1997, 228ff.) before turning to his main source. A sermon on the biblical account of the wedding in Cana is studied briefly by HÄRDELIN (1998, 357ff.; although he treats it as an anonymous sermon) and HEDLUND (2000, 140) makes a few remarks about his method of ending his sermons. Apparently his sermons influenced other preachers of the abbey. On two occasions the famous preacher [[Johannes Borquardi]] makes references to his sermons, and some of them are copied in other Vadstena manuscripts. One sermon by Thorirus is part of the vast corpus of Vadstena sermons for the different feast days of St Birgitta studied in BERGMAN 2024 ''passim''. The sermon is transcribed on pp. 321–329.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2001: De birgittinska ordensprästerna som traditionsförmedlare och folkfostrare. En studie i svensk medeltidspredikan på den 8:e söndagen efter Trefaldighet (Runica et Mediævalia), Stockholm.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. &amp; BORGEHAMMAR, S. 1997: “The Preaching of the Birgittine Friars at Vadstena Abbey (ca 1380–1515),” Revue Mabillon, n.s. 8 (t. 69), 209–36. <br /> *BERGMAN, E. 2024:  Constructing Saint Birgitta. Birgittine Preaching and the Cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey, 1397–c. 1510 (Lund University. Centre for Theology and Religious Studies), Lund.<br /> *DV = Vadstenadiariet. Latinsk text med översättning och kommentar (Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. Handlingar del 19), ed. C. Gejrot, Stockholm 1996.<br /> *FREDRIKSSON, A. 1997: Vadstena klosters bibliotek: en analys av förvärv och bestånd (Vadstenabrödernas predikan. Meddelanden 3), Uppsala. <br /> *GEJROT, C. (ed.) 1988: Diarium Vadstenense. The Memorial Book of Vadstena Abbey. A Critical Edition with an Introduction (Acta universitatis Stockholmiensis. Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 33), Stockholm. <br /> *HEDLUND, M. 2000: “Quod nobis concedat eller: Hur man slutar en predikan,” in Språkets speglingar. Festskrift till Birger Bergh, ed. A. Jönsson &amp; A. Piltz, Lund, 137–45.<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1998: Kult, kultur och kontemplation. Studier i medeltida svenskt kyrkoliv (Opuscula selecta 2), Skellefteå. <br /> *HÖJER, T. 1905: Studier i Vadstena klosters och birgittinordens historia intill midten af 1400-talet, Uppsala.<br /> *LOSMAN, B. 1970: Norden och reformkoncilierna 1408–1449 (Studia historica Gothoburgensia 11), Göteborg. <br /> *NYBERG, T. 1976: “Das sogenannte Vadstena-Diarium, libellulus [sic] des Tore Andersson,” Grundwissenschaften und Geschichte. Festschrift für Peter Acht (Münchener Historische Studien. Abteilung Geschichtischen Hilfswissenschaften 15), München, 218–34.<br /> *SD = Svenskt diplomatarium från och med 1401 (ed. C. Silfverstolpe &amp; K.H. Karlsson), vols. I–IV, Stockholm 1875–1904. <br /> *STÅHL, P. 2003: “Vadstena klosters stora kopiebok. En presentation av handskriften A 20 i Riksarkivet,” Kyrka, helgon och vanliga döda (Årsbok för Riksarkivet och Landsarkiven), Stockholm, 35–64.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Sanctus_Wilhelmus_Abbas&diff=1117 2025-10-29T11:47:13Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Jonas Wellendorf<br /> <br /> Wilhelm (c. 1125–1203) grew up in Paris. He came to Denmark around 1165 to reform the Augustinian community on Eskilsø in Roskilde Fjord. “Danger from the sea” (''DD'' I.iii.51) prompted the relocation of the house to Paraclitus/Æbelholt (7 km west of Hillerød) about ten years later, where it became known as Sancti Thome de Paraclito, ‘St. Thomas of the Paraclete’. Over time, Æbelholt grew to become the largest Augustinian house in Scandinavia. <br /> <br /> Documentary sources, the earliest dated 1208–14 (''DD'' I.iv.152), confirm that Wilhelm was considered a saint, albeit locally, soon after his death, and that the faithful visited his relics, leaving offerings (''oblationes''). In 1218, Pope Honorius III charged a committee consisting of Archbishop Anders Sunesen of Lund, Bishop Peder Jakobsen of Roskilde, and the abbot of Herrisvad with conducting an inquiry into the veracity of the reports of Wilhelm’s miracles. As a result, Wilhelm was canonized by the same pope in 1224 (''DD'' I.v.141). In 1238, Wilhelm’s earthly remains were moved (translated) to the new stone church at Æbelholt. Wilhelm’s feast day was June 16. <br /> <br /> Wilhelm ‘tilhørte … uden tvivl samtidens europæiske intellektuelle elite’ (‘doubtlessly belonged to the European intellectual elite of his time’) (KRAMER 2013, 19). In addition to being a prolific letter writer, composing not only for himself but also on behalf of others, he wrote a short ''Tractatus de revelatione capitis et corporis beate Genouefe'' (''BHL'' 3346) ‘Treatise on the Uncovering of the Head and Body of the Blessed Geneviève’ and a ''Genealogia regum danorum'' ‘Genealogy of the Kings of the Danes’. While much scholarly attention has been given to his letters, Wilhelm’s other writings and his Vita have not received much research since GERTZ published what are still the standard editions of these texts in ''Vita Sanctorum Danorum'' (''Vita'' and ''Tractatus'', 1908–1912, 300–68 and 378–82) and ''Scriptores minores Historiæ Danicæ medii ævi'' (''Genealogia'', 1917–18, 176–85).<br /> <br /> == Sancti Willelmi Abbatis vita et miracula (BHL 8908) ==<br /> <br /> ===== Title =====<br /> GERTZ printed the work under the title ''Sancti Willelmi Abbatis vita et miracula'' (The Life and Miracles of St. Wilhelm the Abbot). In manuscripts, the title is given as ''Vita sancti Guillermi abbatis de Datia''.<br /> <br /> =====Incipit=====<br /> “''Beatus Willelmus, ex nobili ortus prosapia,…''”<br /> <br /> =====Explicit===== <br /> “…''a mortuis reuocatum meritis sancti Willelmi confessa est.''”<br /> <br /> =====Size===== <br /> 69 pp. in GERTZ’s edition.<br /> <br /> ====Editions==== <br /> *LAURENTIUS SURIUS, ''De probatis sanctorum historiis'', vol. 2, 1571, 576–85 (April 6): ''Vita S. VVilelmi abbatis Roschildensis in Dania, ab eius quidem discipulo conscripta, sed per F. Laurentium Surium aliquot locis in compendium redactam plerunque etiam phrasi mutata.'' [abbreviated and reworded]. Reprinted in 1578, 1618, and in 1875 as ''Historie seu vitae'' sanctorum, vol. 4, 218–244.<br /> *PAPEBROCH, ''Acta Sanctorum mensis Aprilis'' I, 625–643 [following ms V]. Antwerpiæ 1675.<br /> *SUHM/LANGEBEK, ''Scriptores rerum danicarum'' V, 458–495 [the text is copied from ''Acta Sanctorum'' but is inferior]. Hauniæ 1783.<br /> *GERTZ, ''Vitae sanctorum danorum'' pp. 300–369.<br /> <br /> ====Translation====<br /> *(Danish) OLRIK, “Abbed Vilhelms levned” in ''Danske helgeners levned'' II (1893–4, 179–286). Translated from the edition of LANGEBEK/SUHM, but with some emendations by GERTZ.<br /> *(English) VAN BAAK, “The Life and Miracles of Blessed William of Æbelholt”, in ''Life at Saint Victor'' (2021, 353–420).<br /> <br /> ====Commentaries==== <br /> OLRIK’s translation is accompanied by footnotes focusing on cultural and historical matters and providing the source of biblical quotations and references, but no full commentary exists. VAN BAAK and OLRIK also indicate biblical quotations.<br /> <br /> === Date and place ===<br /> The text is anonymous and contains no formal introduction or conclusion indicating who wrote it, when it was written, and why. Therefore, determining the date and place of composition is bound to remain somewhat speculative. Internal evidence suggests that it was written after the dedication to St. Thomas of a new stone church at the abbey in 1210 (mentioned in ch. 39) and before Wilhelm’s canonization in 1224, which is not mentioned in the Vita.<br /> <br /> The text appears to have been written at Æbelholt. While the account of Wilhelm’s life is narrated by an omniscient narrator, an authorial “we” appears occasionally in the latter part of the text. The first instance is in a collective expression of sorrow by the brethren of Æbelholt at the death of Wilhelm: &lt;blockquote&gt;O quantus erat luctus omnium, quanta precipue lamenta discipulorum! qui festi nostri conuersi sunt in luctum et sabbata nostra in lamentationem, licet gaudendum nobis esset, quod, quem doctorem habuimus in terris, intercessorem haberemus in celis, si uis doloris rationem admitteret … (ed. GERTZ 1908–12, 341)<br /> <br /> O how great was the grief of all, how great especially the laments of the disciples! Our feasts were turned to mourning, and our Sabbath into lamentation. If only the power of sorrow allowed for reason, we would have rejoiced that the one whom we had as a teacher on earth, we now have as an intercessor in Heaven.  &lt;/blockquote&gt;On other occasions, “we” seems to indicate a single individual, where there is a clear distinction between “we”, the writer, and the brethren at Æbelholt in general, as in ch. 38:&lt;blockquote&gt;Ventrem, sicut uidimus, adeo inflatum habuit tumoris magnitudine, ut uix trium ulnarum cingulo cingeretur. Fratribus ad refectionem euntibus illa accepta licentia ad sepulcrum uiri dei lacrimis et orationibus insistebat (GERTZ 1908–12, 350).<br /> <br /> [Her] womb, as we saw, was so swollen from a tumor that it could scarcely be encircled by a belt three ells long. While the brethren went to eat, she, having received permission, stood by the grave of the man of God, weeping and praying.&lt;/blockquote&gt;A verb in the first person indicating an authorial voice is also used on at least one occasion (ch. 49, p. 356).<br /> <br /> === Summary of contents ===<br /> The text opens with a description of Wilhelm’s childhood and youth. He was raised by his uncle, the Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St-Germain-des-Prés, and developed a liking for studies early in life. Eventually, Wilhelm’s uncle ensured that he received a prebend among the secular canons at the Church of Ste-Geneviève in Paris. However, the other canons grew envious of Wilhelm’s pious way life, fearing that he might transform the church into a community of regular canons, which would result in their loss of freedom. On one occasion, they even tried to lure him away from Ste-Geneviève by making him swear a to enter a monastery, though the attempt failed and Wilhelm remained at Ste-Geneviève.<br /> <br /> Wilhelm’s fellow secular canons also caused controversies in other ways. Once, when Pope Eugenius III visited the Church of Geneviève accompanied by King Louis VII, a disagreement between the local canons and the pope's servants turned physical, and the canons struck the papal servants with sticks. When Louis VII attempted to intervene, he too was struck by heavy blows. In the aftermath of this scandalous fight, the Rule of Augustine was introduced at Ste-Geneviève, and the secular canons were replaced by regular canons from St-Victor. Wilhelm remained at Ste-Geneviève, assumed the habit of a regular canon, and thrived in his new life.<br /> <br /> One night, God appeared to him in a dream in the shape of a young man, telling him that he would travel to an island where he would suffer many temptations and tribulations. Eventually, however, he reassured Wilhelm, “You will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43).”<br /> <br /> A significant event during this period occurred when a false rumor emerged stating that the head of St. Geneviève, the main relic of the church, had been stolen. This prompted the king to summon the archbishop of Sens, along with all bishops, abbots, and priors of the archbishopric, to Paris to inspect the shrine. It turned out that the head was, in fact, in its proper place.<br /> <br /> In 1161, Bishop Absalon of Roskilde wrote to the abbot of Ste-Geneviève, requesting that he send Wilhelm, whom Absalon had met while studying in Paris, along with three brothers to Eskilsø to reform the community of regular canons there. When Wilhelm arrived at Eskilsø, there were only six local canons, and two of them left when Absalon appointed Wilhelm as abbot. After some time, the three French canons obtained permission to return home, and Wilhelm also requested leave, but the bishop convinced him to stay. The Vita now reports a series of unsuccessful attacks by the devil on Wilhelm, who faced various plots on his life by the local canons due to the strict discipline he had introduced at Eskilsø. Later, he moved the abbey to Paraclitus (Æbelholt).<br /> <br /> A brief section detailing five miraculous healings attributed to Wilhelm while he was still alive follows, along with one incident in which a workhorse, through Wilhelm’s intercession, became able to amble. Wilhelm himself was also healed through the intercession of St. Geneviève.<br /> <br /> The Vita now describes his death at the (probably much exaggerated) age of 98 years on Easter morning in 1202, 40 years after he had arrived in Denmark. He was buried in front of the altar of St. Thomas on Easter Monday. Accounts of 29 posthumous miracles follow. The first seven (ch. 32–36) involve water in which a relic of Wilhelm (a tooth) has been dipped and take place in the immediate surroundings of Æbelholt. From ch. 37 onwards, most miracles occur at Wilhelm’s grave in Æbelholt. All postmortem miracles are healings, with the exception of miracle 37 (visions of lit candles descending over the church convince the Bishop of Roskilde of Wilhelm’s sanctity) and miracle 54 (a man’s falcon is recovered).<br /> <br /> ===Composition and Style===<br /> The vita can be divided into four parts: 1) childhood and youth in Paris, chap. 1–9, 2) Life as abbot in Denmark, chap. 10–24, 3) Death, chap. 25–30, and 4) Miracles, chap. 31–63. The three latter parts are very much in tune with what one would expect of the life of a confessor, whereas the first has been characterised as a ‘chronique scandaleuse’ about the church of Ste-Geneviève (GAD p. 175). The posthumous miracles are primarily arranged thematically, even though there seems to be a chronological progress as well. The author of the vita must have been a competent and ambitious writer, and the vita et miracula of Wilhelm is the longest of the medieval Danish saints’ lives. The language of the text has been characterized as ‘plain and natural’ in the main (GERTZ P. 292), even though some sections are held in a markedly higher register than others. No thorough stylistic analysis has been carried out, but a great number of unmarked biblical citations show that the author was well versed in the Scripture. The author quotes a distich from Ovid’s ''Remedia amoris'' as well.<br /> <br /> ===Sources===<br /> The text does not refer to any written sources, and it seems likely that the information provided by the author about Wilhelm’s life is derived from oral accounts circulating at the abbey, ultimately tracing back to Wilhelm himself. The places of origin of most of the beneficiaries of the miracles are mentioned, and many of them are also named. This indicates that the author had access to a written record of the miracles performed by the saint at the shrine. However, at the opening of the miracle section, the author makes no mention of such a record and only refers to what he has heard and seen: ''Veniamus ad miracula, que uel audiuimus uel uidimus in civitate dei nostri, id est Paraclito, ubi requiescit gloriosus confessor dei Willelmus'' ‘Let us turn to the miracles which we either heard about or saw in the city of our God, that is Paraclitus, where the glorious confessor of God Wilhelm rests.’ (p. 344).<br /> <br /> Section 2 on Wilhelm’s life in Denmark is somewhat light on specifics. In Section 1, where the factual information provided in Wilhelm’s Vita can be checked against other sources, the Vita has, in many cases, been found to be inaccurate. One example is the events surrounding the supposed disappearance of the relics of St. Geneviève. Wilhelm wrote a short Tractatus about this, but a comparison between Wilhelm’s own exposition of the events and the presentation in the Vita reveals a number of factual differences, showing that the hagiographer is unlikely to have used the Tractatus as his main source.<br /> <br /> GERTZ attributed this to Wilhelm’s faulty memory in old age (1908–12, 291), while HEEBØLL-HOLM argues that at least some of the inaccuracies can be traced to authorial efforts “not to offend the French” (2016, 216).<br /> <br /> The Life of Wilhelm provides several dates, but scholars have rejected most of them, except for the day of his death, April 6. According to his Vita, Wilhelm was born in 1105; however, scholars believe he was born around 1127. The Vita states that Absalon called him to Denmark in 1161, while scholars suggest this occurred around 1165. Finally, the Vita indicates that he died in 1202, but scholars argue that his death actually occurred in 1203. The arguments for these re-datings are presented by OLRIK (pp. 215 &amp; 243–4) and have generally been accepted, reappearing in later scholarly literature (e.g., DAMSHOLT 2001).<br /> <br /> ===Literary Models===<br /> In general, the Vita follows the typical model of a confessor’s life. This is most clearly illustrated in the section describing his death, where several parallels can be found. A canon experiences a vision and is led to a locus amœnus, where he sees an impressive marble house. Inside, there is an empty golden throne decorated with precious stones. This place has been reserved for Wilhelm after his death (cf. e.g. ''Guðmundar saga''). Seven years before his death, he was informed in a vision that he had only seven days left to live (cf. e.g., ''Vita Fursei''). His death during Easter is partly and explicitly staged as a reenactment of the last days of Christ: On Maundy Thursday, Wilhelm holds a last supper with his disciples, and afterward, he intends to wash their feet. On Good Friday, he suffers great pain, and finally, on Resurrection Day, while the responsory about the ointment of the Lord is sung, Wilhelm receives his last anointing and dies. At that moment, one of Wilhelm's disciples sees a person clad in white ascend to heaven at a great distance, &quot;just like the ascension of the Lord is represented in paintings&quot; ''sicut in picturis solet fieri, in quibus domini ascensio memoratur'' (p. 342).<br /> <br /> ===Purpose and Audience===<br /> The general assumption is that the Vita was composed in the context of the efforts to have Wilhelm canonized. OLRIK (1893-94, 170) suggests that the aim of the Vita was to serve the pope as a testimony of Wilhelm’s sanctity. GERTZ (1908–12, 289–90) proposes that the Vita was written after the papal commission to examine Wilhelm’s sanctity was given in 1218, but finds it unlikely that the Vita was sent to Rome in connection with the preparations for Wilhelm’s canonization. Instead, he suggests that it was written for the edification of the local community. HEEBØLL-HOLM (2016, 217–18), who also believes that the Vita was written before Wilhelm’s canonization, finds it too parochial to have been part of the official canonization efforts. He instead suggests that it contains an abbreviated version for local use at Æbelholt of the materials sent to the pope by the committee. <br /> <br /> While the argument for a date before the official papal confirmation of Wilhelm’s sanctity is strong, there is no need to assume that the entire account of Wilhelm’s life and miracles was composed in one sitting. As the cult of Wilhelm became established at his shrine, records of his miracles were likely maintained at Æbelholt and updated as new miracles occurred or were reported (see MORTENSEN 2000, 98–106 for a discussion of how this might have happened in the case of St. Olav). It is plausible that accounts of new miracles were added to the official record of Wilhelm’s life in chunks. With this dynamic model in mind, the creation of Wilhelm’s Life and Miracles can be envisioned as an ongoing institutional project. At a certain point (likely before Wilhelm’s official canonization), a copy of this work-in-progress was probably sent to the Abbey of Saint Geneviève, Wilhelm’s ''alma mater'', in Paris. Manuscripts G and later V may then be descendants of this copy. Back at Æbelholt, new miracles may have continued to occur occasionally, and the miracle about the healed cow in Uppsala C 447 could be one of those. <br /> <br /> Even with such a dynamic model in mind, it seems likely that the preserved collection of miracles has been shaped by some editorial intervention, as similar miracles in many cases are clustered together (ch. 14–16 thus contain accounts of healings of three mute or deaf people, ch. 50–52 of four people healed from sacred fire), and the two final miracles (ch. 62–63) are resuscitations of dead boys. Two chapters, ch. 40 and 60, relate the healing of a woman from Copenhagen named Olava, and they may be different versions of the “same” miracle, although Olava is blind in the first and crippled in the latter<br /> <br /> ===Medieval Reception and Transmission===<br /> Two manuscripts are known, labeled G and V by GERTZ. While GERTZ’s edition uses G as its base text, earlier editions relied on V. In the introduction to the edition of Wilhelm’s Vita in ''AASS'' a third manuscript kept at the Abbey of Groenendael, near Brussels, is mentioned, but this manuscript has not been identified. Manuscript G, [https://portail.biblissima.fr/fr/ark:/43093/mdata3860af0a7c15bdf33377c1dbe1b87e39b2b758f0 Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève MS 558], is dated to the middle of the thirteenth century. Wilhelm’s Vita is found on fol. 151va–186ra. The manuscript, which mainly contains saints’ lives and passions, also includes Wilhelm’s treatise on the uncovering of the head and body of St. Geneviève, found on fol. 110vb–113ra. GERTZ considers manuscript V, [https://portail.biblissima.fr/fr/ark:/43093/mdata7519bd348119548c2e7c5c69536adf8829020b58 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Lat. 14652] (fifteenth century), to be a copy of G, and thus assigns it little independent text-critical value. It belonged to the Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris. Wilhelm’s Vita is found on fol. 242r–261r. <br /> <br /> No medieval Danish manuscripts of the Vita are preserved, and the main evidence for its circulation in Denmark is found in liturgical books that contain text related to the Vita. The six lessons in ''Breviarium Ottoniense'' (1482) reproduce text from the introduction of the Vita (ch. 1–2) of the life of St. Wilhelm, while the manuscript Copenhagen AM 670b 4° (beginning of the eighteenth century) contains excerpts from the section of the Vita which tells of the death of the saint (ch. 25–28). GERTZ printed readings from these two texts in the critical apparatus of his edition of the Vita.<br /> <br /> Additionally, six lessons from ''Breviarium Slesvicense'' (1514) and six lessons from ''Breviarium Lundense'' (1517) appear to be loosely based on the text of the Vita, covering his entire life. ''Diurnale Roschildense'' (1511) and ''Breviarium Roschildense'' (1517) contain a complete office with a text that is only loosely (if at all) based on the Vita. In ''Missale Hafniense'' from 1510, a short sequence of four stanzas on Wilhelm is preserved. Sections of these books are all printed by GERTZ (1908–12, 370–7). In addition to these textual witnesses, ''Breviarium Lundense'', [https://www.alvin-portal.org/alvin/view.jsf?aq=%5B%5B%7B%22A_FQ%22%3A%22C-samlingen+447%22%7D%5D%5D&amp;c=1&amp;aqe=%5B%5D&amp;af=%5B%5D&amp;searchType=EXTENDED&amp;query=C-samlingen+447&amp;pid=alvin-record%3A200609&amp;dswid=6977#alvin-record%3A200609 MS Uppsala, Universitetsbiblioteket, C 447] (1474; 1477?), contains on fol. 230r, a short miracle tale, not elsewhere attested, in which prayers to Wilhelm result in the healing of the broken leg of a cow (BHL 8908d) (ed. GERTZ 1908–12, 449).<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *DAMSHOLT, N.: ‘Abbot William of Æbelholt: A Foreigner in Denmark’ pp. 4–19 in ''Medieval Spirituality in Scandinavia and Europe: A Collection of Essays in Honour of Tore Nyberg'' (ed. L. Bisgaard et al.), Odense 2001.<br /> *GAD, T.: ''Legenden i dansk middelalder'', København 1961.<br /> *GERTZ, M. Cl.: ''Vitae sanctorum danorum'', København 1908–1912.<br /> *GERTZ, M. Cl.: ''Scriptores minores Historiæ Danicæ medii Ævi'', København 1917–18.<br /> *HEEBØLL-HOLM, T. K.: ‘Why was William of Æbelholt Canonized? The Two Lives of Saint William’, pp. 211–34 in ''Historical and Intellectual Culture in the Long Twelfth Century: The Scandinavian Connection'' (eds. M. Münster-Swendsen, T. K. Heebøll-Holm, and S. Sønnesyn), Toronto 2016.<br /> *KRAMER, F. E.: ‘Klostrets historie’‚ pp. 13–29 in ''Æbelholt Klosters Brevbog''. København, 2013.<br /> *MORTENSEN, L. B.: ‘Olav den Helliges mirakler i det 12. årh.: Streng tekstkontrol eller fri fabulern?’ pp. 89–107 in ''Olavslegenden og den latinske historieskrivning i 1100-tallets Norge'' (ed. I. Ekrem, L. B. Mortensen, and K. Skovgaard-Petersen), København 2000.<br /> *OLRIK, H.: ''Danske helgeners levned'', København 1893–1894.<br /> *VAN BAAK, N. ‘“The Life and Miracles of Blessed William of Æbelholt”, pp. 353–420 in ''Life at Saint Victor: The'' Liber Ordinis, ''the'' Life of William of Æbelholt ''and a Selection of Works by Hugh, Richard, and Odo of Saint Victor, and Other Authors'' (eds. F. van Liere and J. Mousseau), Turnhout 2021.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=S%C3%A6mundr_inn_fr%C3%B3%C3%B0i_Sigf%C3%BAsson&diff=1116 2025-10-29T11:46:53Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Jonas Wellendorf<br /> <br /> '''Sæmundr fróði''', ‘the Learned’ (Sæmundus multiscius) is widely regarded as the founder of the Icelandic historiographical tradition and an early pillar of the Icelandic Church. Although many works are attributed to him in medieval sources, and post-medieval scholarship has increased this count, none of the texts he may have written appear to have survived..<br /> <br /> ===Biography===<br /> Sæmundr fróði Sigfússon (1056–1133) stands at the very beginning of the Icelandic literary tradition and is celebrates for his extensive learning. Brief mentions of Sæmundr and his activities can be found in various vernacular Icelandic texts from the Middle Ages. The first comprehensive treatment of Sæmundr was written by ÁRNI MAGNÚSSON who compiled the scattered medieval references in his ''Vita Sæmundi multiscii'' (1787, rpt. 1930). <br /> <br /> The years of Sæmundr’s birth and death are recorded in the Icelandic ''Annales regii'' (also known as ''Konungsannáll'') (ed. STORM 1888, 108 and 113) and in some of the other annals edited by Storm. The only medieval account focusing on Sæmundr and his activities has the character of a legend. This is the so-called ''Sæmundar þáttr'' ‘the tale of Sæmundr’ which is transmitted as part of ''Jóns saga helga'' (L-recension) ‘The saga of St. Jón’ (eds. SIGURGEIR STEINGRÍMSSON, ÓLAFUR HALLDÓRSSON, and FOOTE 2003, 339–43). According to the tale, Sæmundr studied abroad, and no news of his whereabouts reached Iceland for many years. The future St. Jón of Hólar managed to track down Sæmundr, who had been studying ''ókunnig frœði'' ‘the unknown [i.e., occult] sciences’ with an unnamed master so intensively that he had forgotten everything he had learned while growing up, including his own baptismal name. Jón helped Sæmundr remember what he had forgotten, and together they fled from Sæmundr’s master, who attempted to track him down using magical means. Sæmundr, however, outwitted his master, and the latter, realizing that he had been outsmarted by his student, gave up the pursuits. Sæmundr and Jón returned safely to Iceland. A partial analogue to the account of Sæmundr’s escape has been identified in William of Malmesbury’s ''Gesta regum anglorum'' (eds. and transl. MYNORS et al. 1998–1999, II, 277–284) which narrates the escape of Gerbert of Aurillac (the future Pope Silvester II) from a Saracen astrologer in Spain.<br /> <br /> While the text of ''Sæmundar þáttr'' may date to the thirteenth century (see SIGURGEIR STEINGRÍMSSON et al. 2003, cclxix), Sæmundr’s homecoming was evidently considered an important event much earlier. Ari fróði ‘the Learned’ Þorgilsson found it worth mentioning in his pioneering and succinct history of Iceland and its institutions, ''Íslendingabók'' ‘Book of Icelanders’ (ca. 1122–33), writing that during the lawspeakership of Sighvatr Surtsson (i.e. 1076–1083), Sæmundr ''kom … sunnan af Frakklandi hingat til lands ok lét síðan vígjask til prests'' (ed. JAKOB BENEDIKTSSON 1986, 20–21) ‘arrived hither in the country from Frakkland in the south and underwent clerical ordination’. Sæmundr’s return from abroad is also recorded in the Icelandic annals. According to the ''Annales regii'', Sæmundr ''kom ór skóla'' ‘returned from school’ in 1076 (ed. STORM 1888, 110), while other annals date his return one or two years later and add that his return happened ''með áeggjan Jóns Ǫgmundarsonar er síðan varð biskup á Hólum'' (''Lögmannsannáll'' and ''Oddaverjaannáll'', ed. STORM 1888, 251 and 472) ‘thanks to the encouragement of Jón Ǫgmundarson who later became bishop at Hólar’. <br /> <br /> The identification of ‘Frakkland’, from which Sæmundr, according to Ari, returned, is unknown. In later sources and modern Icelandic “Frakkland” generally translates as ‘France’, but it seems more likely that Franconia or the Rhineland are the correct identifications (see FOOTE 1984, 114–118, BOOTH 2008, and HELGI SKÚLI KJARTANSSON 2008). Once back in Iceland, Sæmundr quickly gained a position of prominence. His reputation for learning is evident in ''Íslendingabók'' where Ari notes in his introductory remarks that he showed a draft of his text to the two bishops who commissioned the work and to Sæmundr for approval, and that he made revisions based on their suggestions (ed. JAKOB BENEDIKTSSON 1986, 3). Ari also credits Sæmundr with playing a central role in the passing of the first tithing law in Iceland (''Íslendingabók'', ed. JAKOB BENEDIKTSSON 1986, 22). Aditiondally, Sæmundr is said to have advised the Icelandic bishops Ketill Þorsteinsson and Þorlákr Rúnólfsson when they created what eventually became ''Kristinna laga þáttr'' ‘the section on Christian Laws’ in the Icelandic Grey Goose laws (''Grágás'', ed. FINSEN 1852, 36), probably in 1123. Sæmundr is also said to have built a church at his farm Oddi and to have had it dedicated to St. Nicholas (''Þorláks saga B'', ed. ÁSDÍS EGILSDÓTTIR 2002, 212). His farm Oddi in became an important seat of learning in early Iceland, and his descendants, the Oddaverjar, continued to play a significant role in Icelandic history. Most famously, the historiographer and mythographer Snorri Sturluson was raised at Oddi by Jón Loptsson, the grandson of Sæmundr. The idea that Snorri acquired his extensive historiographical, mythological, and poetological knowledge at Oddi appeals to many scholars.<br /> <br /> ===Works===<br /> <br /> Scholars generally agree that Sæmundr 1) wrote in Latin and 2) composed a rather short work of history of the Norwegian kings from Haraldr hárfagri (Finehair) to Magnús góði (the Good) (†1047). The main facts on which these assumptions are based are listed below.<br /> <br /> * 1) Sæmundr is believed to have written in Latin because he is not mentioned in sources listing early vernacular texts. Thus, the so-called ''First Grammatical Treatise'' (from the second half of the 12th century) provides an overview of the types of vernacular writings that existed at the time the treatise was composed. There, mention is made of ''þau hin spaklegu frœði er Ari Þorgilsson hefir á bœkr sett af skynsamlegu viti'' (ed. HREINN BENEDIKTSSON 1972, 208; see also p. 246) ‘the sagacious ''frœði'' that Ari Þorgilsson has committed to books out of his wise understanding’. Although ''frœði'' means ‘learning’, it should be understood here as ‘historical learning’. No mention is made of writings by Sæmundr, which one would expect if he had written in the vernacular. Similarly, the prologue to ''Óláfs saga ins helga in sérstaka'' ‘The Separate Saga of St. Óláfr’ opens by stating that Ari ''ritaði fyrstr manna hér á landi at norrœnu máli frœði, bæði forna ok nýja'' (ed. BJARNI AÐALBJARNARSON 1945, 419) ‘was the first of men in this country to write ''frœði'', both old and new, in the Norse language.’ Had Sæmundr written in the vernacular, one would again expect him to have been mentioned at this point. Hence, scholars hold that Sæmundr wrote in Latin.<br /> <br /> * 2) Attempting to gain a sense of the kind of work Sæmundr wrote, scholars have pointed to the many preserved writings that refer to Sæmundr as their source. However, these references are often phrased in such a way that it is unclear whether a written or oral source is meant. For example, the Icelandic ''Konungsannáll'' in the entry dealing with 1047 states: ''Svá segir Sæmundr prestr hinn fróði at á þessu ári váru svá mikil frost at vargar runnu á ísi milli Noregs ok Danmarkar'' (ed. STORM 1888, 108) ‘Priest Sæmundr the learned says thus, that in this year there were such great frosts that wolves ran on the ice between Norway and Denmark’. At least in one case, it is certain that a written work is meant: In Oddr Snorrason’s ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' (the saga of Óláfr Tryggvason) it is related how King Óláfr in the second year of his reign, calls an assembly at Dragseidet, Western Norway, and gives good laws. In one of the two manuscripts containing this passage, the text continues: ''Svá hefir Sæmundr ritat um Óláf konung í sinni bók'' (ed. ÓLAFUR HALLDÓRSSON 2006, 232) ‘Thus, Sæmundr wrote about King Óláfr in his book’; the second manuscript, however, refers to Sæmundr as a source in more vague terms: ''Ok slíks sama segir Sæmundr frá Óláfi konungi at…'' (ed. Ólafur Halldórsson 2006, 232) ‘And Sæmundr says the exact same thing about king Óláfr, that …’ . BJARNI AÐALBJARNARSON (1937, 33–35) argued that this reference to Sæmundr was not part of Oddr’s original text. However, since Oddr originally composed his saga about Óláfr Tryggvason in Latin and the saga is only preserved in the vernacular, it cannot be known for certain whether Oddr actually included a reference to Sæmundr, and if so, whether it referred to a written or oral account, or whether his text was perhaps ambiguous at this point (e.g., ''Sæmundus refert…?''). <br /> <br /> A hint regarding the possible scope of Sæmundr’s work is provided by the anonymous genealogical poem ''Nóregs konungatal'' ‘The Enumeration of the Kings of Norway’, composed in honor of Jón Loptsson, Sæmundr’s grandson (ca. 1190), and preserved in Flateyjarbók (1387–1394). The poem enumerates the kings of Norway, beginning with Haraldr hárfagri ‘Finehair’ and his father Halfdán svarti ‘the Black’, and ending with King Sverrir. In the concluding stanzas (sts 66–75), significant emphasis is placed on the fact that Jón Loptsson’s mother was the daughter of King Magnús berfœttr (Barelegs). The poem therefore praises Jón by detailing all his royal ancestors and presenting him as a royal figure. Each king is accorded a few stanzas. After the section on Magnús the Good (†1047), almost halfway through the poem, the poet states that he has now recounted the lives of ten kings from Haraldr hárfagri ''sem Sæmundr'' ''sagði inn fróði'' (st. 36, ed. GADE 2009, 784) ‘as Sæmundr the learned said’. At this point, the poet highlights a clear break in the genealogy of kings, announcing that he will now turn to the branch of the royal family ''es enn lifir'' (st. 37, ed. GADE 2009, 785) ‘which is still alive’ (Magnús died without an heir, and his successor Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-ruler’ traced his ancestry back to Haraldr through a different line). In the following part of the poem (up to st. 65), the poet continues the enumeration of rulers, but now frequently refers to what he has heard or been told in some other manner (st. 43 ''frák'' ‘I heard, st. 45 ''þats þá sagt'' ‘it is then said’ and ''þat hefk heyrt'' ‘I have heard that’'','' st. 55 ''þat veit hverr'' ‘everyone knows’'','' and st. 56 ''frák'' ‘I heard’ (ed. GADE 2009, 789, 790, 795, and 796). Even if such references are conventional, their general absence in the first part of the poem (where there is only one such reference (st. 16 ''þá hefk heyrt'' (ed. GADE 2009, 772) ‘then I have heard’) might support the argument that the poet used a single source regarding the lives of the first ten kings, which would have been Sæmundr’s (now lost) work on the Norwegian kings. In providing the length of each king’s rule, Sæmundr might have laid the chronological foundation for the entire history of the early rulers of Norway in his lost work. HERMANNSSON (1932, 35) argues that there would have been no need to insert the reference to Sæmundr in ''Nóregs konungatal'' st. 36 if his work had continued beyond the reign of Magnús góði. <br /> <br /> However, not all scholars agree: NORTH (2022) and SVERRIR TÓMASSON (2008) both attach greater credence to what Sæmundr, according to late medieval vernacular sources, ‘said’ and suggest that he wrote a universal history, beginning with Creation, rather than a work of local history. This work would have been either in Latin (NORTH 2022) or in the vernacular (SVERRIR TÓMASSON 2008). <br /> <br /> ===Medieval Reception and Transmission===<br /> Sæmundr’s reputation grew to such proportions that his name became associated with many texts considered old and important. For instance, the scribe who penned ''Nóregs konungatal'' in Flateyjarbók attributed this poem to Sæmundr. Most famously, the poetic Edda has also been attributed to him. Although this attribution had been rejected already by Árni Magnússon in his biography of Sæmundr, editions of the poetic Edda continued to be titled ''Sæmundar Edda'' ‘the Edda of Sæmundr’ until the early twentieth century (see e.g., FINNUR JÓNSSON, ed. 1926).<br /> <br /> While Sæmundr’s work is lost, a rich legendary tradition revolving around him has been preserved. In the folk tradition, Sæmundr acquired a reputation as a powerful magician, and legends tell of his dealings with the devil, to whom he promised his soul in exchange for obtaining the seat at Oddi. In the end, Sæmundr managed to cheat the devil of his reward. Although this legendary tradition is recorded in post-medieval times, part of its roots lies in the account of how Jón Ǫgmundarson helped Sæmundr escape from his master as described in ''Sæmundar þáttr'' (mentioned above). The legendary tradition has been studied by JÓN HNEFILL AÐALSTEINSSON (1994), GUNNELL (1998), and most recently by BRYAN (2021, 117–139). <br /> <br /> ===Bibliography===<br /> * ARNI MAGNÚSSON 1787: ‘Vita Sæmundi multiscii vulgo froda’ pp. i–xxviii in Edda rhythmica seu antiquior, vulgo Sæmundina dicta. Hafniae.<br /> * ANDERSON, T. M. 1985: ‘Kings’ Sagas (Konungasögur)’ pp. 197–238 in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide (eds. C. L. Clover &amp; J. Lindow). Ithaca. <br /> * ÁSDÍS EGILSDÓTTIR, ed., 2002: ''Biskupa sögir'' II. Íslenzk fornrit 16. Reykjavík. <br /> * BJARNI AÐALBJARNARSON 1937: ''Om de norske kongers sagaer''. Oslo. <br /> * BJARNI AÐALBJARNARSON, ed., 1945: ''Heimskringla'' II. Íslenzk fornrit 27. Reykjavík. <br /> * BOOTH, E. 2008: ‘Sæmundur: “Uppi í Þýzkalandi”?’, pp 61–84 in ''Í garði Sæmundar fróða'' (eds. GUNNAR HARÐARSON &amp; SVERRIR TÓMASSON). Reykjavík. <br /> * BRYAN, E. S. 2021: ''Icelandic Folklore and the Cultural Memory of Religious Change''. Leeds. <br /> * ELLEHØJ, S. 1965: Studier over den ældste norrøne historieskrivning. Bibliotheca arnamagnæana 26. København.<br /> * FOOTE, P. 1984: ‘Aachen, Lund, Hólar’, pp. 101–120 in Aurvandilstá: Norse Studies (eds. M. Barnes et al.). Odense [first published in 1975].<br /> * FOOTE, P. 2003: Jóns saga hólabyskups ens helga. Editiones Arnamagnæanæ A14. København.<br /> * GADE, K. E., ed., 2009: ‘Anonymous: Nóregs konungatal’, pp 761–806 in ''Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300''. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout.<br /> * GUNNELL, T. 1998: ‘The return of Sæmundur: Origins and analogues’ pp. 87–111 in Þjóðlíf ok þjóðtrú: Ritgerðir helgaðir Jóni Hnefli Aðalsteinsyni (eds. Jón Jónsson et al.). [Reykjavík].<br /> * HELGI SKÚLI KJARTÁNSSON, 2008. Þegar Frakkland var í Þýskalandi: Athugun á breytilegri notkun heitanna “Frakkland” ok “Frakkar” í fornmálstextum’, pp 85–114. In ''Í garði Sæmundar fróða'' (eds. GUNNAR HARÐARSON &amp; SVERRIR TÓMASSON). Reykjavík.<br /> * HERMANNSSON, Halldór 1932: ''Sæmund Sigfússon and the Oddaverjar''. Islandica 22. Ithaca.<br /> * HREINN BENEDIKTSSON, ed., 1972: ''The First Grammatical Treatise.'' Reykjavík.<br /> * JAKOB BENEDIKTSSON, ed., 1986: ''Íslendingabók - Landnámabók''. Íslenzk fornrit 1. Reykavík.<br /> * JÓN HNEFILL AÐALSTEINSSON 1994: ‘Sæmundr fróði: A medieval master of magic’, Arv 50, 117–132.<br /> * MYNORS, R. A. B. et al., eds., 1998–1999: ''Gesta Regum Anglorum: The Deeds of the English Kings.'' Oxford.<br /> * NORTH, R. 2022: ‘Resident Stranger: Sæmundr in the Ashkenaz’ pp 146–165 in ''Strangers at the Gate! Multidisciplinary Explorations of Communities, Borders, and Othering in Medieval Western Europe'' (ed. S. C. THOMSON). Leiden.<br /> * ÓLAFUR HALLDÓRSSON, ed. 2006: ''Færeyinga saga - Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar eptir Odd munk Snorrason''. Íslenzk fornrit 25. Reykjavík.<br /> * SIGURGEIR STEINGRÍMSSON et al., eds., ''Biskupa sögur'' I, Íslenzk fornrit 15. Reykjavík.<br /> * STORM, G., ed., 1888: ''Islandske annaler indtil 1578''. Christiania.<br /> * SVERRIR TÓMASSON 2005: ‘Sæmundr Sigfússon (hinn fróði)’ pp. 77–79 in Reallexicon der Germanischen Altertumskunde vol. 26, Berlin [includes substantial bibliograpy].<br /> * SVERRIR TÓMASSON 2008: ‘Hvað skrifaði Sæmundur fróði? Konunga ævi eða veraldarsögu?’, pp 47–60. In ''Í garði Sæmundar fróða'' (eds. GUNNAR HARÐARSON &amp; SVERRIR TÓMASSON). Reykjavík.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Olavus_Johannis_Guto&diff=1115 2025-10-29T11:46:36Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.]<br /> <br /> <br /> by Roger Andersson<br /> <br /> Olavus Johannis Guto (d. 1516), priest brother at the Birgittine abbey of Vadstena, Sweden, 1506–1516; composer of sermons.<br /> <br /> Olavus Johannis originated from Gotland (DV 979). In 1486 at the earliest, he obtained the degree baccalaureus in arte at the newly founded University of Uppsala. He is then said to have become prebendary at the cathedral of Uppsala (PILTZ 1977), but this is questioned by SCHÜCK (1959, 459 n. 24). At the time of his entry into Vadstena Abbey on 2 August 1506, he is called magister artium (DV 979). On 16 May 1511, Olavus Johannis was sent out together with two colleagues to reform the Polish daughter house, Triumphus Marie (DV 1012). They returned after slightly more than two years, without having achieved much for the Order owing to disagreement (DV 1021). In April 1515, another costly trip to Poland was undertaken (DV 1033). According to the account given by his companion upon returning to Sweden, Olavus Johannis died in the Polish house on 28 March 1516 (DV 1039). <br /> <br /> - see also [[Ericus Olai]] <br /> <br /> - see also [[Petrus Olai]] <br /> <br /> ==Works==<br /> Olavus Johannis copied, and in all probability also composed, a collection of sermones de tempore et de sanctis (Uppsala University Library, C 361, fols. 1r–152v). In addition, he presumably copied a collection of sermons composed by Peregrinus de Oppeln (C 385, fols. 324r–384v) and three theological tracts (C 385, fols. 385r–466r). At the time of his entry into Vadstena Abbey, he brought with him a number of manuscripts containing lecture notes taken down at the University of Uppsala, many of which are edited in PILTZ 1977 (137–313). The lectures had been given by [[Ericus Olai]], Petrus Johannis Galle and [[Petrus Olai]] among others. The method in philosophy and theology traceable in these texts, and thus mediated by Olavus Johannis to Vadstena Abbey, is discussed in PILTZ 1977 (50–63). Even in his sermons, his background at the university is evident. He dwells more on abstract philosophical subjects than on the usual moral and catechetical religious instruction, and does not hesitate to quote ecclesiastical authorities such as Petrus Lombardus and Thomas Aquinas. One sermon by Olavus is part of the vast corpus of Vadstena sermons for the different feast days of St Birgitta studied in BERGMAN 2024 ''passim''. <br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *BERGMAN, E. 2024: Constructing Saint Birgitta. Birgittine Preaching and the Cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey, 1397–c. 1510 (Lund University. Centre for Theology and Religious Studies), Lund.<br /> *DV = Vadstenadiariet. Latinsk text med översättning och kommentar (Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. Handlingar del 19), ed. C. Gejrot, Stockholm 1996.<br /> *PILTZ, A. (ed.) 1977: Studium Upsalense. Specimens of the Oldest Lecture Notes Taken in the Mediaeval University of Uppsala (Acta universitatis Upsaliensis. Skrifter rörande Uppsala universitet. C. Organisation och historia 36), Uppsala.<br /> *SCHÜCK, H. 1959: Ecclesia Lincopensis. Studier om Linköpingskyrkan under medeltiden och Gustav Vasa (Acta universitatis Stockholmiensis. Stockholm Studies in History 4), Stockholm.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Nicolaus_Ragvaldi_(the_younger)&diff=1114 2025-10-29T11:46:21Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.] <br /> <br /> by Maria Berggren and Erik Bergman <br /> <br /> <br /> '''Nicolaus Ragvaldi''' (d. 1 July 1514), brother at the Birgittine abbey of Vadstena, Sweden, 1476–1514, confessor general at Vadstena 1501–1506 and 1511–1512, at Mariendal in Reval (Tallinn), 1506–1508; translator, and one of the most prominent Swedish composers of sermons in this period.<br /> <br /> A marginal note in one of the manuscripts known to have been written by Nicolaus indicates that he was born around 1445 (cf. MALIN 1926, 140 f.). On various evidence the conclusion has been drawn that he came from Östergötland, the Swedish province in which the abbey of Vadstena is situated (cf. BENGTSSON 1947, 10 f.). The main source of information concerning Nicolaus’s biography, however, is the memorial book of Vadstena Abbey, [[Diarium Vadstenense]] (DV; cf. ANDERSSON 2001, 213–15). <br /> <br /> In all probability, Nicolaus was already a learned man when he entered Vadstena Abbey, as he was immediately ordained a priest brother on 29 September 1476 (cf. BENGTSSON 1947, 11). 25 years later he was elected confessor general. In the entry mentioning the event in the Diarium Vadstenense, he is described as a very devout and conscientious person (DV 953: ... in bona concordia et tranquillitate electus est in confessorem generalem venerabilis vir frater Nicolaus Rawaldi magne devocionis et circumspeccionis.) On 28 April 1506 Nicolaus left Vadstena together with Karolus Benedicti to visit the Order’s abbeys in Gdansk and Reval, whence inquiries for help with reformatory work had been sent to Vadstena (cf. a letter edited in SRS I, 225–26, in which a brother informs the mother abbey in Vadstena about the unsatisfactory state of things in the abbey of Gdansk and applies for assistance). Nicolaus continued to be confessor general during his absence, until in a letter which arrived at Vadstena on 1 August 1506, in which he resigned from the post. On 24 June 1508, he returned to Vadstena from the monastery of Mariendal in Reval together with Karolus Benedicti, as, owing to the state of war between Sweden and Denmark, it was impossible to continue to Gdansk as had been planned. Johannes Matthei resigned from the post as confessor general on 22 February 1511, and a few days later Nicolaus was once again unanimously elected confessor general – this was the third time he had held the office. On 3 November 1512 he resigned from the post once more, to be succeeded by Johannes Matthei. Nicolaus Ragvaldi died on 1 July 1514.<br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Diarium Vadstenense]]<br /> <br /> ==Works==<br /> Nicolaus wrote an account in the vernacular about the enshrining of the relics of St. Birgitta’s daughter, [[Sancta Katherina]], in 1489 (ed. FRITZ 2004a). Above all, however, he is famous as a Swedish translator. He produced a translation, or rather a revised, interpreting version of the Latin office used by the Birgittine sisters, Cantus sororum, under the Swedish title Jungfru Marie örtagård (ed. GEETE 1895, cf. HÄRDELIN 1998a). Nicolaus also translated Joshua and the Book of Judges (ed. KLEMMING 1853, 1–66; 67–141). Furthermore, he translated a series of legends of saints in the so-called Linköpingslegendariet, the legendary of Linköping (ed. RIETZ 1843, STEPHENS 1858). (Matters of attribution concerning Joshua and the Book of Judges as well as Linköpingslegendariet are discussed by BENGTSSON 1947, passim.)<br /> <br /> Hitherto, Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s Latin works have attracted less attention than his Swedish translations. Nicolaus, however, seems to have been one of the most productive of all the Vadstena friars when it came to composing sermons. At the University Library of Uppsala, three collections of Sermones de sanctis (C 302, fols. 22r–553v; C 303, fols. 4r–312r; C 362, fols. 6r–273r), two collections of Sermones de tempore (C 304, fols. 14r–186v; 260r–270v; C 348, fols. 4r–47r; 52r–249v), one of Sermones de tempore hiemali (C 327, fols. 22r–265v), and a collection of Collationes ad sorores (C 304, fols. 187r–259v) have been preserved (cf. ANDERSSON-SCHMITT, HALLBERG &amp; HEDLUND 4, 1991, 9–18; 18–23; 23–30; 202–11; 324–28; 405–10). In all, this makes 220 sermons; many of them of considerable length. Only some of his sermons have hitherto been edited: sermons on [[Sanctus Henricus]] (MALIN 1942, 300–64; concerning matters of attribution, as far as the sermons are concerned, cf. idem 1926, 139–45), and the eleven Collationes ad sorores (BERGGREN 2009, 71-218).<br /> <br /> Other works by Nicolaus include a short account in Latin hexameters about the enshrining of the relics of St Katarina (ed. FRITZ 2004b), and a few records in the Diarium Vadstenense taken down by him (cf. DV, p. 22).<br /> <br /> ===Composition and style===<br /> The majority of Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s sermons were intended to be preached to the congregation that gathered in the abbey church, laymen, as well as friars and nuns. In one of the collections, however, Nicolaus addresses himself to a more limited audience, i.e. in the so-called Collationes ad sorores, where, in the capacity of confessor general, he speaks to the sisters. (The collection is probably to be dated to the years 1501–1505, Nicolaus’s first period as confessor general at Vadstena. The Collationes contain general exhortations to stricter observance of the Rule and other regulations of the Order, but also more specific references to actual incidents in the abbey. (See CLAESON 2014, CLAESON, 2016, CLAESON 2018, and HÄRDELIN 1993, 82 ff.) <br /> <br /> Content analyses of the sermons directed at the community of sisters, have been conducted by Erik Bergman (formerly Claeson); see CLAESON 2014, CLAESON 2016, and CLAESON 2019. The 2014 study includes Swedish translations of six of the Collationes. It examines the ideal image of the nun, primarily as presented in the Regula Salvatoris and the Additiones, as well as the extent to which this ideal was observed, as reflected in the sermons. In the 2016 paper, Claeson identifies three themes in the rite of consecration and shows how they are manifested in the Collationes: female role models, spiritual marriage, and the Passion of Christ. The 2018 article (CLAESON 2018, 60–68) primarily compares sermons from the Vadstena monastery delivered to various audience groups. Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s Collationes ad sorores are presented here as examples of sermons intended for the community of sisters.<br /> <br /> The ad populum sermons as well as the Collationes ad sorores were preached in Swedish, though his manuscripts are written in Latin (single Swedish glosses may occur) – this was the normal procedure.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus’s sermons have the structure of the so-called thematic sermon: after the thema (usually a quotation from the Bible) follows an exordium, an introductory part, which, as a rule, ends with an Ave Maria, quite in accordance with the Vadstena practice. The thema is repeated and a few prefatory words lead up to the divisio thematis or partitio, which indicates the number of parts of the following expositio, the actual development of the theme. The main parts in turn may be subdivided. The expositio always ends with a short prayer.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus makes frequent use of auctoritates to develop his sermons. His way of citing Saint Birgitta — granting her an authority comparable to that of the canonical Scriptures — is typical of the interpretive tradition cultivated at Vadstena (ANDERSSON 2019, 175-6). St. Augustine, Chrysostom and Gregory the Great are among the most frequently quoted doctors of the Church, but Nicolaus also cites a wide range of medieval authors, for example, Bernard of Clairvaux, Anselm of Canterbury, Bonaventure, Hugh of St Victor, and Thomas Aquinas. Classical authors sometimes occur, such as Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca.<br /> <br /> He often uses exempla - examples or cautionary tales — to illustrate an argument — particularly at the end of the exordium and the expositio. Vitae patrum is often quoted. Other frequent sources of exempla are Caesarius of Heisterbach’s popular collections Dialogus miraculorum and Libri miraculorum, and Thomas of Cantimpré’s Bonum universale de apibus.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus’s text sometimes gives the impression of being rather a skeleton outline, to be filled out at the moment of oral delivery. Often he just indicates that a certain sentence or line of argument is to be continued by adding an et cetera. Sometimes he reminds himself that he must develop a certain thought or give further examples of a phenomenon by expressions like 'Addantur que deseruiunt proposito' and 'Addantur occurrentia'.<br /> <br /> The Latin of Nicolaus’s sermons is generally plain and lucid in character. The sentences tend to be short and their structure simple. Anacolutha occur, not least where he quotes or summarizes another source. <br /> <br /> His style is characterized by a rather frequent use of figurative language – his images are often taken from nature. The elaborated sun simile in the opening of one of the sermons on [[Sanctus Henricus]] may serve as an example of this phenomenon as well as of the style in general (MALIN 1942, 300): <br /> <br /> Videmus enim quamlibet rem naturaliter continue, in quantum potest, moueri ac tendere ad suum principium et veram originem seu locum proprium. In hunc finem lapis petit deorsum terram, ignis sursum speram ignis, et flos solem. Sicut igitur in aduentu patris puer ridet et letatur quasi de formali principio suo, sic omnia animancia adueniente sole ridere dicuntur et gaudere transumptiue, quia vegetabilia, arbores, flores et plante, omnia se extendunt, florent et sursum eleuant se, et soli quasi formali principio se inclinant. Quod maxime &lt;fit&gt; in solsequio, quod sole oriente se aperit et versus solem vertit, sed occidente iterum se claudit, et a poetis ideo sponsa solis vocatur, quia habet se ad modum fortiter amancium, qui non gaudent nisi in presencia amati, et, amato amisso, dolent vehementer, aut si ipsum contigerit ab eis offendi. Sic anima, sponsa Christi magis dilecta, que eciam singularem bonitatis sue influenciam ab eo accepit, debet solum in eo letari, nec in alio quiescere terreno, ipsum toto corde diligere, nec vmquam mentis oculum ab eo auertere. <br /> <br /> (For we behold how by nature everything, continuously and according to its ability, moves and strives towards its beginning and true origin or its proper place. For this reason the stone strives down to the ground, the fire up towards the globe of fire and the flower towards the sun. As when at the father’s arrival, the child smiles and rejoices at his natural origin, so to speak, in a similar manner all living creatures are metaphorically said to smile and rejoice at the arrival of the sun, for all plants, trees, flowers and herbs come out, bloom and rise, and they turn towards the sun as to their natural origin. This is particularly true of the heliotrope which opens and turns towards the sun at dawn, but closes at sunset. Therefore the poets call it “bride of the sun”, because it behaves like people who are deeply in love and do not rejoice except in the presence of the beloved, and when he or she is gone or if the beloved is hurt by them, they suffer severely. Likewise the soul, who is Christ’s precious bride and receives her goodness from him, ought to rejoice in him only, and not to repose in anything worldly, to love him with all her heart and never turn the eye of her mind away from him.<br /> <br /> ===Sources and literary models===<br /> In some of his sermons Nicolaus Ragvaldi depends on, and even quotes long passages from, continental collections of model sermons by authors such as Jacobus de Voragine, Jordanus of Quedlinburg and Conradus of Brundelsheim, and also from the anonymous Thesaurus novus and Parati sermones. In a few cases Nicolaus’s revision is very slight, implying little more than the addition of a few exempla and an Ave Maria at the end of the exordium. <br /> <br /> Nicolaus Ragvaldi appears to have been relatively independent in comparison with his fellow brothers at Vadstena. He generally does not imitate his predecessors or contemporaries within the monastery. On the contrary, Nicolaus stands out as one of the more gifted and forceful sermon writers among the Vadstena friars. These qualities have only recently begun to receive scholarly attention, in ways that will hopefully inspire further research.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *ANDERSSON, E., GEJROT, C., JONES, E.A., and ÅKESTAM, M., (eds.), 2016: Continuity and Change. Papers from the Birgitta Conference at Dartington 2015. Stockholm: Kungl. Vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademien.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2001: De birgittinska ordensprästerna som traditionsförmedlare och folkfostrare (Runica et Mediaevalia. Scripta minora 4), Stockholm.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2019: ”Birgitta and Her Revelations in the Sermons of the Vadstena Brothers”. In: OEN, M., 2019, 159–185.<br /> *ANDERSSON-SCHMITT, M., HALLBERG, H. &amp; HEDLUND, M. 1988–1995: Mittelalterliche Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Uppsala. Katalog Über die C-Sammlung 1–8 (Acta Bibliothecae R. Universitatis Upsaliensis 26:1–8), Stockholm.<br /> *BENGTSSON, A. 1947: Nils Ragvaldi, Domareboken och Linköpingslegendariet (Lundastudier i nordisk språkvetenskap 4), Diss. Lund.<br /> *BERGGREN, M. (ed.), 2009: Homiletica Vadstenensia: ad religiosos et sacerdotes. Turnhout. <br /> *BERGMAN, E., 2024: Constructing Saint Birgitta: Birgittine preaching and the cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey, 1397-c. 1510 (The Joint Faculty of Humanities and Theology, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University). Diss. Lund.<br /> *BORGEHAMMAR, S. (ed.), 2018: Predikan - i tid och otid (Årsbok för svenskt gudstjänstliv, 93). Lund.<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2014: ”Låt inte vår vilja ske utan Jesu Kristi”. En undersökning av generalkonfessor Nicolaus Ragvaldis predikningar till systrarna i Vadstena kloster 1501–1506.” Master’s Thesis, Lund University, cf. &lt;nowiki&gt;http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4252307&lt;/nowiki&gt; [2024-08-01].<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2016, ”Imitatio Christi. Spiritual Marriage, Female Role Models and the Passion of Christ in Fifteenth-Century Vadstena Abbey”. In: ANDERSSON, E., GEJROT, C., JONES, E.A., and ÅKESTAM, M., 2016, 144-159.<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2018. ”Allt efter vars och ens fattningsgåvor!” Predikningar till präster, ordenssystrar och lekfolk från Vadstena klosters bibliotek”. In BORGEHAMMAR, S. 2018, 47-84. Cf. https://journals.lub.lu.se/sgl/article/download/18832/17045/45938 (2025-08-01).<br /> *DV = GEJROT, C. (ed.) 1988: Diarium Vadstenense. The Memorial Book of Vadstena Abbey. A Critical Edition with an Introduction (Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 33), Diss. Stockholm.<br /> *FRITZ, B. (ed.) 2004a: “Nils Ragvaldssons berättelse om Sankta Katarinas skrinläggning. Fornsvensk text med översättning och kommentar,” in FRITZ &amp; ELFVING 2004, 30–61<br /> *FRITZ, B. (ed.) 2004b: “Nils Ragvaldssons hyllningsdikt till Sankta Katarina. Latinsk text med översättning och kommentar,” in FRITZ &amp; ELFVING 2004, 62–66<br /> *FRITZ, B. &amp; ELFVING, L. (eds.) 2004: Den stora kyrkofesten för Sankta Katarina i Vadstena år 1489. Samtida texter med översättning och kommentar (Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. Handlingar 27), Stockholm. <br /> *GEETE, R., (ed.), 1895: Jungfru Marie örtagård (SFSS 30), Stockholm.<br /> *HALLQVIST, K. 2018: ”Den fullkomnade människan”. In: BORGEHAMMAR, S. 2018, 15–46. Cf. https://journals.lub.lu.se/sgl/article/view/18831/17044 (2025-08-06)<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1993: “Predikan för alla stånd,” Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift, 79–89.<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1998a: “Heder och hugnad. Generalkonfessorn Nicolaus Ragvaldis liturgiska hermeneutik. En studie av Jungfru Marie Örtagård,“ in HÄRDELIN 1998b, 294–316.<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1998b: Kult, kultur och kontemplation, Skellefteå.<br /> *KLEMMING, G.E. (ed.) 1848–1853: Svenska medeltidens bibelarbeten 1–2 (SFSS 7, 1–2), Stockholm. <br /> *MALIN, A. 1926: “Studier i Vadstena klosters bibliotek,” NTBB 13, 129–53.<br /> *MALIN, A. 1942: De S. Henrico episcopo et martyre. Die mittelalterliche Literatur Über den Apostel Finnlands II. Legenda nova. Sermones.<br /> *OEN, M.  (ed.), 2019: A Companion to Birgitta of Sweden and Her Legacy in the Later Middle Ages, Leiden.<br /> *RIETZ, J.E. 1842–1844: Scriptores Suecici medii aevi 1–3, Lund.<br /> *STEPHENS, G. (ed.) 1847–1874: Ett fornsvenskt legendarium (SFSS 7), Stockholm.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Nicolaus_Ragvaldi_(the_younger)&diff=1113 2025-10-29T11:46:10Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.] <br /> <br /> by Maria Berggren and Erik Bergman <br /> <br /> <br /> '''Nicolaus Ragvaldi''' (d. 1 July 1514), brother at the Birgittine abbey of Vadstena, Sweden, 1476–1514, confessor general at Vadstena 1501–1506 and 1511–1512, at Mariendal in Reval (Tallinn), 1506–1508; translator, and one of the most prominent Swedish composers of sermons in this period.<br /> <br /> A marginal note in one of the manuscripts known to have been written by Nicolaus indicates that he was born around 1445 (cf. MALIN 1926, 140 f.). On various evidence the conclusion has been drawn that he came from Östergötland, the Swedish province in which the abbey of Vadstena is situated (cf. BENGTSSON 1947, 10 f.). The main source of information concerning Nicolaus’s biography, however, is the memorial book of Vadstena Abbey, [[Diarium Vadstenense]] (DV; cf. ANDERSSON 2001, 213–15). <br /> <br /> In all probability, Nicolaus was already a learned man when he entered Vadstena Abbey, as he was immediately ordained a priest brother on 29 September 1476 (cf. BENGTSSON 1947, 11). 25 years later he was elected confessor general. In the entry mentioning the event in the Diarium Vadstenense, he is described as a very devout and conscientious person (DV 953: ... in bona concordia et tranquillitate electus est in confessorem generalem venerabilis vir frater Nicolaus Rawaldi magne devocionis et circumspeccionis.) On 28 April 1506 Nicolaus left Vadstena together with Karolus Benedicti to visit the Order’s abbeys in Gdansk and Reval, whence inquiries for help with reformatory work had been sent to Vadstena (cf. a letter edited in SRS I, 225–26, in which a brother informs the mother abbey in Vadstena about the unsatisfactory state of things in the abbey of Gdansk and applies for assistance). Nicolaus continued to be confessor general during his absence, until in a letter which arrived at Vadstena on 1 August 1506, in which he resigned from the post. On 24 June 1508, he returned to Vadstena from the monastery of Mariendal in Reval together with Karolus Benedicti, as, owing to the state of war between Sweden and Denmark, it was impossible to continue to Gdansk as had been planned. Johannes Matthei resigned from the post as confessor general on 22 February 1511, and a few days later Nicolaus was once again unanimously elected confessor general – this was the third time he had held the office. On 3 November 1512 he resigned from the post once more, to be succeeded by Johannes Matthei. Nicolaus Ragvaldi died on 1 July 1514.<br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Diarium Vadstenense]]<br /> <br /> ==Works==<br /> Nicolaus wrote an account in the vernacular about the enshrining of the relics of St. Birgitta’s daughter, [[Sancta Katherina]], in 1489 (ed. FRITZ 2004a). Above all, however, he is famous as a Swedish translator. He produced a translation, or rather a revised, interpreting version of the Latin office used by the Birgittine sisters, Cantus sororum, under the Swedish title Jungfru Marie örtagård (ed. GEETE 1895, cf. HÄRDELIN 1998a). Nicolaus also translated Joshua and the Book of Judges (ed. KLEMMING 1853, 1–66; 67–141). Furthermore, he translated a series of legends of saints in the so-called Linköpingslegendariet, the legendary of Linköping (ed. RIETZ 1843, STEPHENS 1858). (Matters of attribution concerning Joshua and the Book of Judges as well as Linköpingslegendariet are discussed by BENGTSSON 1947, passim.)<br /> <br /> Hitherto, Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s Latin works have attracted less attention than his Swedish translations. Nicolaus, however, seems to have been one of the most productive of all the Vadstena friars when it came to composing sermons. At the University Library of Uppsala, three collections of Sermones de sanctis (C 302, fols. 22r–553v; C 303, fols. 4r–312r; C 362, fols. 6r–273r), two collections of Sermones de tempore (C 304, fols. 14r–186v; 260r–270v; C 348, fols. 4r–47r; 52r–249v), one of Sermones de tempore hiemali (C 327, fols. 22r–265v), and a collection of Collationes ad sorores (C 304, fols. 187r–259v) have been preserved (cf. ANDERSSON-SCHMITT, HALLBERG &amp; HEDLUND 4, 1991, 9–18; 18–23; 23–30; 202–11; 324–28; 405–10). In all, this makes 220 sermons; many of them of considerable length. Only some of his sermons have hitherto been edited: sermons on [[Sanctus Henricus]] (MALIN 1942, 300–64; concerning matters of attribution, as far as the sermons are concerned, cf. idem 1926, 139–45), and the eleven Collationes ad sorores (BERGGREN 2009, 71-218).<br /> <br /> Other works by Nicolaus include a short account in Latin hexameters about the enshrining of the relics of St Katarina (ed. FRITZ 2004b), and a few records in the Diarium Vadstenense taken down by him (cf. DV, p. 22).<br /> <br /> ===Composition and style===<br /> The majority of Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s sermons were intended to be preached to the congregation that gathered in the abbey church, laymen, as well as friars and nuns. In one of the collections, however, Nicolaus addresses himself to a more limited audience, i.e. in the so-called Collationes ad sorores, where, in the capacity of confessor general, he speaks to the sisters. (The collection is probably to be dated to the years 1501–1505, Nicolaus’s first period as confessor general at Vadstena. The Collationes contain general exhortations to stricter observance of the Rule and other regulations of the Order, but also more specific references to actual incidents in the abbey. (See CLAESON 2014, CLAESON, 2016, CLAESON 2018, and HÄRDELIN 1993, 82 ff.) <br /> <br /> Content analyses of the sermons directed at the community of sisters, have been conducted by Erik Bergman (formerly Claeson); see CLAESON 2014, CLAESON 2016, and CLAESON 2019. The 2014 study includes Swedish translations of six of the Collationes. It examines the ideal image of the nun, primarily as presented in the Regula Salvatoris and the Additiones, as well as the extent to which this ideal was observed, as reflected in the sermons. In the 2016 paper, Claeson identifies three themes in the rite of consecration and shows how they are manifested in the Collationes: female role models, spiritual marriage, and the Passion of Christ. The 2018 article (CLAESON 2018, 60–68) primarily compares sermons from the Vadstena monastery delivered to various audience groups. Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s Collationes ad sorores are presented here as examples of sermons intended for the community of sisters.<br /> <br /> The ad populum sermons as well as the Collationes ad sorores were preached in Swedish, though his manuscripts are written in Latin (single Swedish glosses may occur) – this was the normal procedure.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus’s sermons have the structure of the so-called thematic sermon: after the thema (usually a quotation from the Bible) follows an exordium, an introductory part, which, as a rule, ends with an Ave Maria, quite in accordance with the Vadstena practice. The thema is repeated and a few prefatory words lead up to the divisio thematis or partitio, which indicates the number of parts of the following expositio, the actual development of the theme. The main parts in turn may be subdivided. The expositio always ends with a short prayer.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus makes frequent use of auctoritates to develop his sermons. His way of citing Saint Birgitta — granting her an authority comparable to that of the canonical Scriptures — is typical of the interpretive tradition cultivated at Vadstena (ANDERSSON 2019, 175-6). St. Augustine, Chrysostom and Gregory the Great are among the most frequently quoted doctors of the Church, but Nicolaus also cites a wide range of medieval authors, for example, Bernard of Clairvaux, Anselm of Canterbury, Bonaventure, Hugh of St Victor, and Thomas Aquinas. Classical authors sometimes occur, such as Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca.<br /> <br /> He often uses exempla - examples or cautionary tales — to illustrate an argument — particularly at the end of the exordium and the expositio. Vitae patrum is often quoted. Other frequent sources of exempla are Caesarius of Heisterbach’s popular collections Dialogus miraculorum and Libri miraculorum, and Thomas of Cantimpré’s Bonum universale de apibus.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus’s text sometimes gives the impression of being rather a skeleton outline, to be filled out at the moment of oral delivery. Often he just indicates that a certain sentence or line of argument is to be continued by adding an et cetera. Sometimes he reminds himself that he must develop a certain thought or give further examples of a phenomenon by expressions like 'Addantur que deseruiunt proposito' and 'Addantur occurrentia'.<br /> <br /> The Latin of Nicolaus’s sermons is generally plain and lucid in character. The sentences tend to be short and their structure simple. Anacolutha occur, not least where he quotes or summarizes another source. <br /> <br /> His style is characterized by a rather frequent use of figurative language – his images are often taken from nature. The elaborated sun simile in the opening of one of the sermons on [[Sanctus Henricus]] may serve as an example of this phenomenon as well as of the style in general (MALIN 1942, 300): <br /> <br /> Videmus enim quamlibet rem naturaliter continue, in quantum potest, moueri ac tendere ad suum principium et veram originem seu locum proprium. In hunc finem lapis petit deorsum terram, ignis sursum speram ignis, et flos solem. Sicut igitur in aduentu patris puer ridet et letatur quasi de formali principio suo, sic omnia animancia adueniente sole ridere dicuntur et gaudere transumptiue, quia vegetabilia, arbores, flores et plante, omnia se extendunt, florent et sursum eleuant se, et soli quasi formali principio se inclinant. Quod maxime &lt;fit&gt; in solsequio, quod sole oriente se aperit et versus solem vertit, sed occidente iterum se claudit, et a poetis ideo sponsa solis vocatur, quia habet se ad modum fortiter amancium, qui non gaudent nisi in presencia amati, et, amato amisso, dolent vehementer, aut si ipsum contigerit ab eis offendi. Sic anima, sponsa Christi magis dilecta, que eciam singularem bonitatis sue influenciam ab eo accepit, debet solum in eo letari, nec in alio quiescere terreno, ipsum toto corde diligere, nec vmquam mentis oculum ab eo auertere. <br /> <br /> (For we behold how by nature everything, continuously and according to its ability, moves and strives towards its beginning and true origin or its proper place. For this reason the stone strives down to the ground, the fire up towards the globe of fire and the flower towards the sun. As when at the father’s arrival, the child smiles and rejoices at his natural origin, so to speak, in a similar manner all living creatures are metaphorically said to smile and rejoice at the arrival of the sun, for all plants, trees, flowers and herbs come out, bloom and rise, and they turn towards the sun as to their natural origin. This is particularly true of the heliotrope which opens and turns towards the sun at dawn, but closes at sunset. Therefore the poets call it “bride of the sun”, because it behaves like people who are deeply in love and do not rejoice except in the presence of the beloved, and when he or she is gone or if the beloved is hurt by them, they suffer severely. Likewise the soul, who is Christ’s precious bride and receives her goodness from him, ought to rejoice in him only, and not to repose in anything worldly, to love him with all her heart and never turn the eye of her mind away from him.<br /> <br /> ===Sources and literary models===<br /> In some of his sermons Nicolaus Ragvaldi depends on, and even quotes long passages from, continental collections of model sermons by authors such as Jacobus de Voragine, Jordanus of Quedlinburg and Conradus of Brundelsheim, and also from the anonymous Thesaurus novus and Parati sermones. In a few cases Nicolaus’s revision is very slight, implying little more than the addition of a few exempla and an Ave Maria at the end of the exordium. <br /> <br /> Nicolaus Ragvaldi appears to have been relatively independent in comparison with his fellow brothers at Vadstena. He generally does not imitate his predecessors or contemporaries within the monastery. On the contrary, Nicolaus stands out as one of the more gifted and forceful sermon writers among the Vadstena friars. These qualities have only recently begun to receive scholarly attention, in ways that will hopefully inspire further research.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *ANDERSSON, E., GEJROT, C., JONES, E.A., and ÅKESTAM, M., (eds.), 2016: Continuity and Change. Papers from the Birgitta Conference at Dartington 2015. Stockholm: Kungl. Vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademien.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2001: De birgittinska ordensprästerna som traditionsförmedlare och folkfostrare (Runica et Mediaevalia. Scripta minora 4), Stockholm.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2019: ”Birgitta and Her Revelations in the Sermons of the Vadstena Brothers”. In: OEN, M., 2019, 159–185.<br /> *ANDERSSON-SCHMITT, M., HALLBERG, H. &amp; HEDLUND, M. 1988–1995: Mittelalterliche Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Uppsala. Katalog Über die C-Sammlung 1–8 (Acta Bibliothecae R. Universitatis Upsaliensis 26:1–8), Stockholm.<br /> *BENGTSSON, A. 1947: Nils Ragvaldi, Domareboken och Linköpingslegendariet (Lundastudier i nordisk språkvetenskap 4), Diss. Lund.<br /> *BERGGREN, M. (ed.), 2009: Homiletica Vadstenensia: ad religiosos et sacerdotes. Turnhout. <br /> *BERGMAN, E., 2024: Constructing Saint Birgitta: Birgittine preaching and the cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey, 1397-c. 1510 (The Joint Faculty of Humanities and Theology, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University). Diss. Lund.<br /> *BORGEHAMMAR, S. (ed.), 2018: Predikan - i tid och otid (Årsbok för svenskt gudstjänstliv, 93). Lund.<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2014: ”Låt inte vår vilja ske utan Jesu Kristi”. En undersökning av generalkonfessor Nicolaus Ragvaldis predikningar till systrarna i Vadstena kloster 1501–1506.” Master’s Thesis, Lund University, cf. &lt;nowiki&gt;http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4252307&lt;/nowiki&gt; [2024-08-01].<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2016, ”Imitatio Christi. Spiritual Marriage, Female Role Models and the Passion of Christ in Fifteenth-Century Vadstena Abbey”. In: ANDERSSON, E., GEJROT, C., JONES, E.A., and ÅKESTAM, M., 2016, 144-159.<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2018. ”Allt efter vars och ens fattningsgåvor!” Predikningar till präster, ordenssystrar och lekfolk från Vadstena klosters bibliotek”. In BORGEHAMMAR, S. 2018, 47-84. Cf. https://journals.lub.lu.se/sgl/article/download/18832/17045/45938 (2025-08-01).<br /> *DV = GEJROT, C. (ed.) 1988: Diarium Vadstenense. The Memorial Book of Vadstena Abbey. A Critical Edition with an Introduction (Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 33), Diss. Stockholm.<br /> *FRITZ, B. (ed.) 2004a: “Nils Ragvaldssons berättelse om Sankta Katarinas skrinläggning. Fornsvensk text med översättning och kommentar,” in FRITZ &amp; ELFVING 2004, 30–61<br /> *FRITZ, B. (ed.) 2004b: “Nils Ragvaldssons hyllningsdikt till Sankta Katarina. Latinsk text med översättning och kommentar,” in FRITZ &amp; ELFVING 2004, 62–66<br /> *FRITZ, B. &amp; ELFVING, L. (eds.) 2004: Den stora kyrkofesten för Sankta Katarina i Vadstena år 1489. Samtida texter med översättning och kommentar (Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. Handlingar 27), Stockholm. <br /> *GEETE, R., (ed.), 1895: Jungfru Marie örtagård (SFSS 30), Stockholm.<br /> *HALLQVIST, K. 2018: ”Den fullkomnade människan”. In: BORGEHAMMAR, S. 2018, 15–46. Cf. https://journals.lub.lu.se/sgl/article/view/18831/17044 (2025-08-06)<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1993: “Predikan för alla stånd,” Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift, 79–89.<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1998a: “Heder och hugnad. Generalkonfessorn Nicolaus Ragvaldis liturgiska hermeneutik. En studie av Jungfru Marie Örtagård,“ in HÄRDELIN 1998b, 294–316.<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1998b: Kult, kultur och kontemplation, Skellefteå.<br /> *KLEMMING, G.E. (ed.) 1848–1853: Svenska medeltidens bibelarbeten 1–2 (SFSS 7, 1–2), Stockholm. <br /> *MALIN, A. 1926: “Studier i Vadstena klosters bibliotek,” NTBB 13, 129–53.<br /> *MALIN, A. 1942: De S. Henrico episcopo et martyre. Die mittelalterliche Literatur Über den Apostel Finnlands II. Legenda nova. Sermones.<br /> *OEN, M.  (ed.), 2019: A Companion to Birgitta of Sweden and Her Legacy in the Later Middle Ages, Leiden.<br /> *RIETZ, J.E. 1842–1844: Scriptores Suecici medii aevi 1–3, Lund.<br /> *STEPHENS, G. (ed.) 1847–1874: Ett fornsvenskt legendarium (SFSS 7), Stockholm.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

Sthop9388 http://medieval.wiki.uib.no/index.php?title=Nicolaus_Ragvaldi_(the_younger)&diff=1112 2025-10-29T11:46:00Z

<p>Sthop9388: </p> <hr /> <div>[This article has been updated/rewritten in 2025 to incorporate current research. Please adjust citation accordingly.] <br /> <br /> by Maria Berggren and Erik Bergman <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''Nicolaus Ragvaldi''' (d. 1 July 1514), brother at the Birgittine abbey of Vadstena, Sweden, 1476–1514, confessor general at Vadstena 1501–1506 and 1511–1512, at Mariendal in Reval (Tallinn), 1506–1508; translator, and one of the most prominent Swedish composers of sermons in this period.<br /> <br /> A marginal note in one of the manuscripts known to have been written by Nicolaus indicates that he was born around 1445 (cf. MALIN 1926, 140 f.). On various evidence the conclusion has been drawn that he came from Östergötland, the Swedish province in which the abbey of Vadstena is situated (cf. BENGTSSON 1947, 10 f.). The main source of information concerning Nicolaus’s biography, however, is the memorial book of Vadstena Abbey, [[Diarium Vadstenense]] (DV; cf. ANDERSSON 2001, 213–15). <br /> <br /> In all probability, Nicolaus was already a learned man when he entered Vadstena Abbey, as he was immediately ordained a priest brother on 29 September 1476 (cf. BENGTSSON 1947, 11). 25 years later he was elected confessor general. In the entry mentioning the event in the Diarium Vadstenense, he is described as a very devout and conscientious person (DV 953: ... in bona concordia et tranquillitate electus est in confessorem generalem venerabilis vir frater Nicolaus Rawaldi magne devocionis et circumspeccionis.) On 28 April 1506 Nicolaus left Vadstena together with Karolus Benedicti to visit the Order’s abbeys in Gdansk and Reval, whence inquiries for help with reformatory work had been sent to Vadstena (cf. a letter edited in SRS I, 225–26, in which a brother informs the mother abbey in Vadstena about the unsatisfactory state of things in the abbey of Gdansk and applies for assistance). Nicolaus continued to be confessor general during his absence, until in a letter which arrived at Vadstena on 1 August 1506, in which he resigned from the post. On 24 June 1508, he returned to Vadstena from the monastery of Mariendal in Reval together with Karolus Benedicti, as, owing to the state of war between Sweden and Denmark, it was impossible to continue to Gdansk as had been planned. Johannes Matthei resigned from the post as confessor general on 22 February 1511, and a few days later Nicolaus was once again unanimously elected confessor general – this was the third time he had held the office. On 3 November 1512 he resigned from the post once more, to be succeeded by Johannes Matthei. Nicolaus Ragvaldi died on 1 July 1514.<br /> <br /> <br /> - see also [[Diarium Vadstenense]]<br /> <br /> ==Works==<br /> Nicolaus wrote an account in the vernacular about the enshrining of the relics of St. Birgitta’s daughter, [[Sancta Katherina]], in 1489 (ed. FRITZ 2004a). Above all, however, he is famous as a Swedish translator. He produced a translation, or rather a revised, interpreting version of the Latin office used by the Birgittine sisters, Cantus sororum, under the Swedish title Jungfru Marie örtagård (ed. GEETE 1895, cf. HÄRDELIN 1998a). Nicolaus also translated Joshua and the Book of Judges (ed. KLEMMING 1853, 1–66; 67–141). Furthermore, he translated a series of legends of saints in the so-called Linköpingslegendariet, the legendary of Linköping (ed. RIETZ 1843, STEPHENS 1858). (Matters of attribution concerning Joshua and the Book of Judges as well as Linköpingslegendariet are discussed by BENGTSSON 1947, passim.)<br /> <br /> Hitherto, Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s Latin works have attracted less attention than his Swedish translations. Nicolaus, however, seems to have been one of the most productive of all the Vadstena friars when it came to composing sermons. At the University Library of Uppsala, three collections of Sermones de sanctis (C 302, fols. 22r–553v; C 303, fols. 4r–312r; C 362, fols. 6r–273r), two collections of Sermones de tempore (C 304, fols. 14r–186v; 260r–270v; C 348, fols. 4r–47r; 52r–249v), one of Sermones de tempore hiemali (C 327, fols. 22r–265v), and a collection of Collationes ad sorores (C 304, fols. 187r–259v) have been preserved (cf. ANDERSSON-SCHMITT, HALLBERG &amp; HEDLUND 4, 1991, 9–18; 18–23; 23–30; 202–11; 324–28; 405–10). In all, this makes 220 sermons; many of them of considerable length. Only some of his sermons have hitherto been edited: sermons on [[Sanctus Henricus]] (MALIN 1942, 300–64; concerning matters of attribution, as far as the sermons are concerned, cf. idem 1926, 139–45), and the eleven Collationes ad sorores (BERGGREN 2009, 71-218).<br /> <br /> Other works by Nicolaus include a short account in Latin hexameters about the enshrining of the relics of St Katarina (ed. FRITZ 2004b), and a few records in the Diarium Vadstenense taken down by him (cf. DV, p. 22).<br /> <br /> ===Composition and style===<br /> The majority of Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s sermons were intended to be preached to the congregation that gathered in the abbey church, laymen, as well as friars and nuns. In one of the collections, however, Nicolaus addresses himself to a more limited audience, i.e. in the so-called Collationes ad sorores, where, in the capacity of confessor general, he speaks to the sisters. (The collection is probably to be dated to the years 1501–1505, Nicolaus’s first period as confessor general at Vadstena. The Collationes contain general exhortations to stricter observance of the Rule and other regulations of the Order, but also more specific references to actual incidents in the abbey. (See CLAESON 2014, CLAESON, 2016, CLAESON 2018, and HÄRDELIN 1993, 82 ff.) <br /> <br /> Content analyses of the sermons directed at the community of sisters, have been conducted by Erik Bergman (formerly Claeson); see CLAESON 2014, CLAESON 2016, and CLAESON 2019. The 2014 study includes Swedish translations of six of the Collationes. It examines the ideal image of the nun, primarily as presented in the Regula Salvatoris and the Additiones, as well as the extent to which this ideal was observed, as reflected in the sermons. In the 2016 paper, Claeson identifies three themes in the rite of consecration and shows how they are manifested in the Collationes: female role models, spiritual marriage, and the Passion of Christ. The 2018 article (CLAESON 2018, 60–68) primarily compares sermons from the Vadstena monastery delivered to various audience groups. Nicolaus Ragvaldi’s Collationes ad sorores are presented here as examples of sermons intended for the community of sisters.<br /> <br /> The ad populum sermons as well as the Collationes ad sorores were preached in Swedish, though his manuscripts are written in Latin (single Swedish glosses may occur) – this was the normal procedure.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus’s sermons have the structure of the so-called thematic sermon: after the thema (usually a quotation from the Bible) follows an exordium, an introductory part, which, as a rule, ends with an Ave Maria, quite in accordance with the Vadstena practice. The thema is repeated and a few prefatory words lead up to the divisio thematis or partitio, which indicates the number of parts of the following expositio, the actual development of the theme. The main parts in turn may be subdivided. The expositio always ends with a short prayer.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus makes frequent use of auctoritates to develop his sermons. His way of citing Saint Birgitta — granting her an authority comparable to that of the canonical Scriptures — is typical of the interpretive tradition cultivated at Vadstena (ANDERSSON 2019, 175-6). St. Augustine, Chrysostom and Gregory the Great are among the most frequently quoted doctors of the Church, but Nicolaus also cites a wide range of medieval authors, for example, Bernard of Clairvaux, Anselm of Canterbury, Bonaventure, Hugh of St Victor, and Thomas Aquinas. Classical authors sometimes occur, such as Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca.<br /> <br /> He often uses exempla - examples or cautionary tales — to illustrate an argument — particularly at the end of the exordium and the expositio. Vitae patrum is often quoted. Other frequent sources of exempla are Caesarius of Heisterbach’s popular collections Dialogus miraculorum and Libri miraculorum, and Thomas of Cantimpré’s Bonum universale de apibus.<br /> <br /> Nicolaus’s text sometimes gives the impression of being rather a skeleton outline, to be filled out at the moment of oral delivery. Often he just indicates that a certain sentence or line of argument is to be continued by adding an et cetera. Sometimes he reminds himself that he must develop a certain thought or give further examples of a phenomenon by expressions like 'Addantur que deseruiunt proposito' and 'Addantur occurrentia'.<br /> <br /> The Latin of Nicolaus’s sermons is generally plain and lucid in character. The sentences tend to be short and their structure simple. Anacolutha occur, not least where he quotes or summarizes another source. <br /> <br /> His style is characterized by a rather frequent use of figurative language – his images are often taken from nature. The elaborated sun simile in the opening of one of the sermons on [[Sanctus Henricus]] may serve as an example of this phenomenon as well as of the style in general (MALIN 1942, 300): <br /> <br /> Videmus enim quamlibet rem naturaliter continue, in quantum potest, moueri ac tendere ad suum principium et veram originem seu locum proprium. In hunc finem lapis petit deorsum terram, ignis sursum speram ignis, et flos solem. Sicut igitur in aduentu patris puer ridet et letatur quasi de formali principio suo, sic omnia animancia adueniente sole ridere dicuntur et gaudere transumptiue, quia vegetabilia, arbores, flores et plante, omnia se extendunt, florent et sursum eleuant se, et soli quasi formali principio se inclinant. Quod maxime &lt;fit&gt; in solsequio, quod sole oriente se aperit et versus solem vertit, sed occidente iterum se claudit, et a poetis ideo sponsa solis vocatur, quia habet se ad modum fortiter amancium, qui non gaudent nisi in presencia amati, et, amato amisso, dolent vehementer, aut si ipsum contigerit ab eis offendi. Sic anima, sponsa Christi magis dilecta, que eciam singularem bonitatis sue influenciam ab eo accepit, debet solum in eo letari, nec in alio quiescere terreno, ipsum toto corde diligere, nec vmquam mentis oculum ab eo auertere. <br /> <br /> (For we behold how by nature everything, continuously and according to its ability, moves and strives towards its beginning and true origin or its proper place. For this reason the stone strives down to the ground, the fire up towards the globe of fire and the flower towards the sun. As when at the father’s arrival, the child smiles and rejoices at his natural origin, so to speak, in a similar manner all living creatures are metaphorically said to smile and rejoice at the arrival of the sun, for all plants, trees, flowers and herbs come out, bloom and rise, and they turn towards the sun as to their natural origin. This is particularly true of the heliotrope which opens and turns towards the sun at dawn, but closes at sunset. Therefore the poets call it “bride of the sun”, because it behaves like people who are deeply in love and do not rejoice except in the presence of the beloved, and when he or she is gone or if the beloved is hurt by them, they suffer severely. Likewise the soul, who is Christ’s precious bride and receives her goodness from him, ought to rejoice in him only, and not to repose in anything worldly, to love him with all her heart and never turn the eye of her mind away from him.<br /> <br /> ===Sources and literary models===<br /> In some of his sermons Nicolaus Ragvaldi depends on, and even quotes long passages from, continental collections of model sermons by authors such as Jacobus de Voragine, Jordanus of Quedlinburg and Conradus of Brundelsheim, and also from the anonymous Thesaurus novus and Parati sermones. In a few cases Nicolaus’s revision is very slight, implying little more than the addition of a few exempla and an Ave Maria at the end of the exordium. <br /> <br /> Nicolaus Ragvaldi appears to have been relatively independent in comparison with his fellow brothers at Vadstena. He generally does not imitate his predecessors or contemporaries within the monastery. On the contrary, Nicolaus stands out as one of the more gifted and forceful sermon writers among the Vadstena friars. These qualities have only recently begun to receive scholarly attention, in ways that will hopefully inspire further research.<br /> <br /> ==Bibliography==<br /> *ANDERSSON, E., GEJROT, C., JONES, E.A., and ÅKESTAM, M., (eds.), 2016: Continuity and Change. Papers from the Birgitta Conference at Dartington 2015. Stockholm: Kungl. Vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademien.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2001: De birgittinska ordensprästerna som traditionsförmedlare och folkfostrare (Runica et Mediaevalia. Scripta minora 4), Stockholm.<br /> *ANDERSSON, R. 2019: ”Birgitta and Her Revelations in the Sermons of the Vadstena Brothers”. In: OEN, M., 2019, 159–185.<br /> *ANDERSSON-SCHMITT, M., HALLBERG, H. &amp; HEDLUND, M. 1988–1995: Mittelalterliche Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Uppsala. Katalog Über die C-Sammlung 1–8 (Acta Bibliothecae R. Universitatis Upsaliensis 26:1–8), Stockholm.<br /> *BENGTSSON, A. 1947: Nils Ragvaldi, Domareboken och Linköpingslegendariet (Lundastudier i nordisk språkvetenskap 4), Diss. Lund.<br /> *BERGGREN, M. (ed.), 2009: Homiletica Vadstenensia: ad religiosos et sacerdotes. Turnhout. <br /> *BERGMAN, E., 2024: Constructing Saint Birgitta: Birgittine preaching and the cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey, 1397-c. 1510 (The Joint Faculty of Humanities and Theology, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University). Diss. Lund.<br /> *BORGEHAMMAR, S. (ed.), 2018: Predikan - i tid och otid (Årsbok för svenskt gudstjänstliv, 93). Lund.<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2014: ”Låt inte vår vilja ske utan Jesu Kristi”. En undersökning av generalkonfessor Nicolaus Ragvaldis predikningar till systrarna i Vadstena kloster 1501–1506.” Master’s Thesis, Lund University, cf. &lt;nowiki&gt;http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4252307&lt;/nowiki&gt; [2024-08-01].<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2016, ”Imitatio Christi. Spiritual Marriage, Female Role Models and the Passion of Christ in Fifteenth-Century Vadstena Abbey”. In: ANDERSSON, E., GEJROT, C., JONES, E.A., and ÅKESTAM, M., 2016, 144-159.<br /> *CLAESON, E., 2018. ”Allt efter vars och ens fattningsgåvor!” Predikningar till präster, ordenssystrar och lekfolk från Vadstena klosters bibliotek”. In BORGEHAMMAR, S. 2018, 47-84. Cf. https://journals.lub.lu.se/sgl/article/download/18832/17045/45938 (2025-08-01).<br /> *DV = GEJROT, C. (ed.) 1988: Diarium Vadstenense. The Memorial Book of Vadstena Abbey. A Critical Edition with an Introduction (Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 33), Diss. Stockholm.<br /> *FRITZ, B. (ed.) 2004a: “Nils Ragvaldssons berättelse om Sankta Katarinas skrinläggning. Fornsvensk text med översättning och kommentar,” in FRITZ &amp; ELFVING 2004, 30–61<br /> *FRITZ, B. (ed.) 2004b: “Nils Ragvaldssons hyllningsdikt till Sankta Katarina. Latinsk text med översättning och kommentar,” in FRITZ &amp; ELFVING 2004, 62–66<br /> *FRITZ, B. &amp; ELFVING, L. (eds.) 2004: Den stora kyrkofesten för Sankta Katarina i Vadstena år 1489. Samtida texter med översättning och kommentar (Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. Handlingar 27), Stockholm. <br /> *GEETE, R., (ed.), 1895: Jungfru Marie örtagård (SFSS 30), Stockholm.<br /> *HALLQVIST, K. 2018: ”Den fullkomnade människan”. In: BORGEHAMMAR, S. 2018, 15–46. Cf. https://journals.lub.lu.se/sgl/article/view/18831/17044 (2025-08-06)<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1993: “Predikan för alla stånd,” Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift, 79–89.<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1998a: “Heder och hugnad. Generalkonfessorn Nicolaus Ragvaldis liturgiska hermeneutik. En studie av Jungfru Marie Örtagård,“ in HÄRDELIN 1998b, 294–316.<br /> *HÄRDELIN, A. 1998b: Kult, kultur och kontemplation, Skellefteå.<br /> *KLEMMING, G.E. (ed.) 1848–1853: Svenska medeltidens bibelarbeten 1–2 (SFSS 7, 1–2), Stockholm. <br /> *MALIN, A. 1926: “Studier i Vadstena klosters bibliotek,” NTBB 13, 129–53.<br /> *MALIN, A. 1942: De S. Henrico episcopo et martyre. Die mittelalterliche Literatur Über den Apostel Finnlands II. Legenda nova. Sermones.<br /> *OEN, M.  (ed.), 2019: A Companion to Birgitta of Sweden and Her Legacy in the Later Middle Ages, Leiden.<br /> *RIETZ, J.E. 1842–1844: Scriptores Suecici medii aevi 1–3, Lund.<br /> *STEPHENS, G. (ed.) 1847–1874: Ett fornsvenskt legendarium (SFSS 7), Stockholm.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Article]]</div>

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