Aldhelm from Sherborne

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Depiction of St. Aldhelms at Salisbury Cathedral
Aldhelm is believed to be the founder of St Laurence in Bradford-On-Avon.
Plastic Aldhelms at the Church of St Aldhelm , Malmesbury
Depiction of St. Aldhelms on a window of Malmesbury Abbey

Aldhelm von Sherborne / Malmesbury ( Ealdhelm, Ældhelm, Adelelmus, Althelmus, Adelme ; * around 639, † 25 May 709 or 710 in Doulting near Malmesbury) was abbot of Malmesbury from 675/680 to 709/710 and from 705 to 709 / 710 first bishop of Sherborne . He was the first Anglo-Saxon scholar to have extensive Latin texts preserved. He is considered a saint .

Life

Origin and education

Aldhelm was born in Wessex, England, perhaps Brockenborough, around 640. He came from the nobility, possibly from the Anglo-Saxon royal family of Wessex , to which he was closely related. It is controversial whether his father named Centa is identical to King Centwine .

Aldhelm's early years are only uncertainly passed down. He is said to have lived as a hermit in Wiltshire for a while. Around 660 he became a monk at Malmesbury Abbey . There he was raised by the Irishman Maildubh (Maeldulph). Malmesbury is referred to in old documents as Maildulfsburgh and Ealdhelmsbyrig, which leaves it unclear whether the current name goes back to Maildubh or Aldhelm.

From 670 he studied in the Benedictine school of Canterbury under the care of Archbishop Theodore of Tarsus and Abbot Hadrian and acquired a high level of knowledge in many areas of knowledge. He was ordained priest around 674.

Dept

After William of Malmesbury , Aldhelm left Canterbury in 675 to take up the post of abbot at Malmesbury Abbey. Aldhelm's oldest document as abbot dates back to 680, which indicates that he was studying in Canterbury up to this time. A 10-year education could also better explain his high level of education. As abbot, Aldhelm increased the ownership of the monastery and had the churches of SS Peter and Paul and St. Mary's built. Around this time he wrote a letter (Ep. IV) to King Geraint of Dumnonia , in which he asked him to change from the Irish-Scottish to the Roman-Catholic church order. In the Easter dispute he finally enforced the Roman date in Devon and Cornwall . Around 685 he introduced the Regula Benedicti in Malmesbury . He founded the daughter monasteries Frome (Somerset) and Bradford-on-Avon .

In 688 Aldhelm and the subregulus (under king) Baldred (fl. 681–693) exchanged lands north of the River Avon . Baldred gave Stercanlei (Startley Farm in Great Somerford, Wiltshire ) and areas at Cnebbanburg against an area at Braydon, Wilts. At the invitation of Pope Sergius I (687-701) he traveled to Rome in 690/694 and brought with him a papal letter of protection for his monastery regarding exemption from episcopal jurisdiction and free election of abbots. The document received, however, dates from the 12th century and is a forgery.

Around the year 700, Aldhelm had the first church organ in England installed. Legend has it that he was such a tireless speaker that his staff took root and threw leaves during a sermon. In 705 he attended the Brentford Synod.

Abbot and Bishop

When Hedda , Bishop of Wessex , died around 705/706 his diocese was divided. Daniel became bishop of Winchester , Aldhelm became bishop of the newly founded diocese of Sherborne, but retained his abbot status. His diocese included parts of Wiltshire and Devonshire as well as Somerset and Dorset . The church in Sherborne (not preserved), St Martin's Church in Wareham and St Laurence in Bradford-on-Avon were probably built during Aldhelm's episcopate. Beda reported that Aldhelm was “eagerly” heading his diocese, but no further details are known.

Aldhelm died on May 25, 709/710 in Doulting and was buried in St. Michael's Church in Malmesbury Abbey. The successor as bishop came to Forthhere.

Adoration

Numerous miracles, even during his lifetime, were attributed to him. King Æthelwulf of Wessex built a silver shrine for Aldhelm's bones in Malmesbury in 857. In 1078 the relics were reburied again. In 1080 he was canonized. Aldhelm has been worshiped in Malmesbury since the 10th century. William of Malmesbury († around 1143) and Faricius of Abingdon († 1117) wrote vitae about Aldhelm's life. Also Jacobus de Voragine dedicated in 1270 Aldhelm a chapter in his Golden Legend , a popular medieval collection of lives of saints.

The Catholic and Anglican Churches celebrate Aldhelm's Memorial Day on May 25th. London also commemorates the transfer of the bones on May 5th. Iconographically , Aldhelm is depicted as a bishop in a library as a monk playing the harp and with sprouting ash leaves on the bishop's staff. He is considered the patron saint of Malmesbury, Sherborne, St Aldhelm's Chapel , musicians and composers. Numerous churches are still consecrated to St. Aldhelm today.

Works

Aldhelm is considered the oldest Anglo-Saxon-Latin poet of importance. He made Malmesbury a center of classical education and ecclesiastical learning alongside Canterbury. Much of his Latin prose has survived, but nothing remains of his Old English work . His Latin scripts show extensive classical education, but are written in a bloated style with inserted Greek idioms.

prose

His preference to string together synonymous phrases to form extraordinarily long sentences, the use of ancient terms and Graecisms had a style-forming effect on Bonifatius , Æthelwald (Bishop of Winchester 963-984) and Byrhtferth († around 1020).

  • De laude virginitatis (In Praise of Virginity) is a treatise on examples of male and female chastity dedicated to Abbess Hildelith von Barking Abbey .
  • De metris et enigmatibus ac pedum regulis also Epistula ad Acircium (letters to Aldfrith): The textbook on Roman metrics contains a section on the symbolism of the number seven, as well as 100 puzzles in hexameters of great cultural and historical value. They are partly based on the Bern puzzles .
  • Epistolae (letters) to the bishops Leuthhere of Winchester and Hadrian of Canterbury , King Geraint of Dumnonia, Heahfrith, Cellanus, Pope Sergius I and to his students Wihtfrith and Æthelwald.

poetry

Aldhelm's diction was picked up by numerous Anglo-Saxon poets and also influenced Bonifatius, Beda Venerabilis , Alkuin , Wulfstan Cantor (fl. 996) and his pupil Æthelwald.

  • Carmen de virginitate (hymns of praise for virginity) follows the prose work very closely and praises the virginal abstinence of men and women following the example of Mary in about 3000 hexameters .
    • De octo principalibus vitiis (The eight deadly sins): describes the struggle of virtues against sins
  • Carmen rhythmicum describes a journey through Cornwall and Devon.
  • Carmina ecclesiastica contains verses for church and altar inscriptions. Aldhelm's tituli were widespread and found numerous imitators.
  • Enigmata , 100 puzzles in hexameters contained in the Epistula ad Acircium . The riddle verses are in the tradition of the Symposius and exerted a great influence on Bonifatius , Tatwine and Eusebius (= Hwætberht, Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow) as well as the anonymous poets of Old English rædels (riddles).

Lost Works

After Wilhelm von Malmesbury , Aldhelm sang his own songs in Old English on the harp, which were still popular in the time of Alfred the Great , around 200 years later.

swell

literature

Works

  • Work edition: Rudolf Ehwald (Ed.): Auctores antiquissimi 15: Aldhelmi Opera. Berlin 1913 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
  • Scott Gwara (ed.), Aldhelmi Malmesbiriensis Prosa de virginitate: cum glosa latina atque anglosaxonica , 2 vols, Corpus Christianorum, Serie Latina, 124, 124a (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001).
  • Michael Lapidge, James L. Rosier: Aldhelm: The Poetic Works . Boydell & Brewer, 1984. ISBN 0-85991-146-2 .
  • Michael Lapidge, Michael Herren: Aldhelm: The Prose Works . DS Brewer, 1979, ISBN 0-85991-041-5 .
  • James Hall Pittman: The Riddles of Aldhelm . Yale University Press, 1925.

Secondary literature

Web links

Commons : Aldhelm  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Michael Lapidge: Aldhelm . In: Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford et al. a. 2001, ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1 , pp. 25-27.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Aldhelm (Anglo-Saxon: Ealdhelm). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 97-98.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  3. ^ Susan E. Kelly: Charters of Malmesbury Abbey . Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0197263174 , p. 6.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Saint Aldhelm of Sherborne in saints.sqpn.com (English)
  5. ↑ a b St. Aldhelm in The Catholic Encyclopedia
  6. ↑ Charter S71
  7. ↑ Susan E. Kelly: Charters of Malmesbury Abbey , Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-726317-4 , p. 96; see: Charter S1170
  8. ^ A b William Hunt:  Aldhelm . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 1:  Abbadie - Anne. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885, pp. 245 - 247 (English ,, (partly outdated state of research)).
  9. ↑ a b Beda: HE 5,18
  10. ^ William Hunt:  Faricius . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 18:  Esdaile - Finan. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1889, pp. 204 - 205 (English ,, (partly outdated state of research)).
  11. ↑ St. Aldhelm In: Jacobus de Voragine : Legenda aurea
  12. ↑ Aldhelm von Sherborne in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
  13. ↑ Aldhelm 3 in Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE)
predecessor Office successor
- Bishop of Sherborne
705–709 / 710 		Forthhere
personal data
SURNAME Aldhelm from Sherborne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aldhelm of Malmesbury; Ealdhelm; Ældhelm; Adelelmus; Althelmus; Adelme
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Abbot of Malmesbury, Bishop of Sherborne
DATE OF BIRTH at 639
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 709 or 710
Place of death Doulting