Barlaam and Josaphat

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St. Josaphat announces his departure. Greek manuscript from the 13th century

Barlaam and Josaphat is a Byzantine novel that was probably written around 1000. The novel consists of a frame story about the Indian prince Josaphat, who is converted to Christianity by the hermit Barlaam based on parables.

content

The frame story is about a pagan king ruling India named Abenner, who at the birth of his son Josaphat is prophesied that he will convert to Christianity. In the hope of being able to anticipate this providence, Abenner has a palace built and his son locked in it so that he is not confronted with the suffering of this world. Nevertheless, while riding a horse, Josaphat comes into contact with the suffering of the people when he is met by a sick man, an old man and a blind man. Josaphat realizes the transience of man and begins to question his living conditions. At the same time, the hermit Barlaam receives a divine inspiration to convey the Christian faith to Josaphat and thus to give him answers to his questions. Later Josaphat receives Barlaam, disguised as a merchant, who converts the prince to Christianity through instructive parables. When the pagan king Abenner found out about this, he tried to dissuade his son from Christianity with worldly pleasures, but he did not succeed. Instead of succumbing to temptations, Jehoshaphat begins to convert people in his immediate environment. When Abenner realizes that he cannot dissuade his son from Christianity, he gives him half of his kingdom. In his part of the empire Josaphat supports the poor and needy, divides his wealth among the population and teaches the Christian faith. Finally, in view of the great success of his son in his part of the empire, Abenner converts to Christianity. He leaves Jehoshaphat his part of the kingdom and spends the rest of his life as an ascetic in the desert, where he dies. After the death of his father, Josaphat hands over the royal crown, moves himself into the desert and lives there with Barlaam until he dies.

Lore

The novel has a long tradition and goes back to very different sources. The legend of Buddha can be seen as the origin of the novel , which in turn was received and revised by Manichaeism , Islam and Christianity. The oldest fully preserved version of the text is Arabic and probably originated in the 8th century; probably this goes back to a Middle Persian text. By translating this text into Georgian , Christian elements were introduced into the plot for the first time, which were expanded in the Greek-Byzantine version. While the parabolic corpus has undergone massive changes in some cases , the framework of the Arab, Georgian and Byzantine Barlaams has changed little.

The Arabic version: Kitāb Bilawhar wa Būḏāsf

The Arabic version was created between 750 and 900 in the Ishmaelite circles. Two fragmentary manuscripts (17th – 19th centuries) and a stone print (1888/1889) with the complete text have come down to us from this environment. The Arabic text served as a template for the Georgian version. The plot of the Kitāb Bilawhar wa Būḏāsf is similar to the later version, but the parabola corpus is much more extensive (32 parables). The parabolas are lined up next to each other, so they are not separated by detailed interpretations. Rather, one parabola serves to explain the following, etc.

The Georgian version

The Balavariani is the oldest Christian version and was created between the 9th and 10th centuries. It is contained in a single manuscript and is considered a direct successor to the Arabic version. The parabolic corpus was adapted to the Christian faith; the parables that contradicted the Christian faith were removed from the corpus. In the Georgian area the Balavariani was received as a novel of edification, whereas the following Greek version has a greater dogmatic depth.

The Greek version

The constitutional date of the Greek version can be narrowed down to the years around the middle of the 10th century to around 1000. Clues for this are provided by quotations from which the constitution date can be reconstructed. In the novel, eclogues from the homilies of John Chrysostom were quoted, but they were only published in a text collection in the 10th century by Theodoros Daphnopates († approx. 961/963). In addition, I. Grossmann noted that some of the items were taken from the Menologion of Metaphrastes , which is why the date should be around 1000 AD. There has been much speculation in the past about the authorship of the Greek Barlaam novel. Due to various church quotes from Johannes Damaskenos, it was assumed in research for a long time that he would also be considered as the author. But through the work of R. Volk, the authorship of Euthymios Hagioreites († 1028) is very likely. Thus the assumption Johannes Damaskenos wrote the novel has been suppressed. However, the authorship is still not fully verifiable. The parabolic corpus of this version contains very few of the original parables, but has been enriched with biblical quotations. The parables were deliberately adapted to the New Testament . The dogmatic content of the entire work is based on a specially Byzantine interpretation of the Christian faith.

Later spread

Already in the Middle Ages the novel was widely used in a Latin translation. Vincent de Beauvais interwoven history in his Speculum historiale . From that Latin translation flowed initially three French arrangements in verse, by the Anglo- Norman Trouvère Chardry in the 13th century, by Gui von Cambrai and by Herbert, as well as some prose translations and an arrangement by Girard (Paris 1642).

In the 14th century, the Italian Storia de San Barlaam emerged from a northern French or Provencal original . Are also transmitted from the Latin Juan de Arze Solorzanos Historia de Barlaam y Josaphat (Madrid 1608), one in 1470 wrote Bohemian machining (Prague 1593) and a Polish verse of Kulizewski (Krakow 1688). Antonio de Borgio translated the book into the Tagalog language in the Philippines (Manila 1712).

German arrangements were made by Otto II , Bishop of Freising, in the so-called Laubacher Barlaam , and in the 13th century Rudolf von Ems in his verse novel Barlaam and Josaphat . He wrote it in express opposition "to the lies and deceit of the worldly aventures" and to glorify the victory of Christianity. The Middle High German work, created by Rudolf von Ems around 1225, has been passed down fairly widely. The poet formulates using his Latin model: “ze latîne errihte / through got and through alsolhe site, / daz diu liute bezzern mite. / I have also dared to the same ”(Rudolf von Ems 130-133). He wanted to give people a guide to their improvement ("vorbilde in guoter lêre" Rudolf von Ems 140) and work for his memoria (Rudolf von Ems 160). Rudolf shows his audience that the theme of the “Contemptus mundi” is to be connected with the probation of a Christian prince in the world. According to the scientific status of his time, he describes "leprosy" or leprosy as a disease caused by a disproportion (dyscrasia) of the body fluids .

A second German adaptation by an unknown author is only known in fragments; a third is from a 13th-century bishop Otto. An Icelandic Barlaams saga (around 1250) and the Swedish folk book Barlaam och Josaphat (15th century) flowed from the German .

Count Schweikhard von Helfenstein (1539–1599) translated the work into the German language of his time under the title Historia of the life of the two H. Beichtiger Barlaam hermits and Iosaphat the son of the king in India, full of faith and moral teaching Printed posthumously in 1603.

A Hebrew translation from Arabic was obtained around 1200 by Abraham ben Samuel ibn Chasdai .

Barlaam and Josaphat as saints

Barlaam and Josaphat are Christian saints . Cardinal Baronius included Josaphat in the Martyrologium Romanum in 1590 .

iconography

Book illumination

The Barlaam and Josaphat iconography begins with the illustrations in the Greek versions. Of the approximately 140 manuscripts that have survived, the oldest dating from 1057, five codices with picture cycles have survived, two of the manuscripts are parts of the same copy, but kept in different libraries. Except for the late Paris Codex from the 14th century, mostly the framework story and a few parables (sower, king with monks, death horn, four boxes, bird catcher, unicorn, three friends, king of the year, devout king, rich youth, roebuck, prince) shown. The Latin version is also preserved in three illuminated manuscripts from the 15th century. Individual Russian and Arabic versions are also provided with illustrations. An early print by Günther Zainer , Augsburg, published around 1476 , with 64 woodcuts, some of which summarize several scenes, is based on an anonymous German prose version , which were used again in 1480 by Anton Sorg, also in Augsburg. The only manuscript of the earliest Middle High German adaptation by Otto II von Freising (around 1200) contains only one title illustration (end of the 14th century).

Only four of the manuscripts in the verse novel by Rudolf von Ems are decorated with books. The manuscript with a rich cycle of pictures from the workshop of Diebold Lauber (1469), which is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Ms. Ludwig XV 9), stands out from this group . It contains 138 colored pen drawings; in the case of three other manuscripts based on Rudolf von Ems one can only rudimentarily speak of picture decorations.

Kremser fresco cycle

Recently a complete cycle of wall painting was discovered in the fresco hall of the so-called Gozzoburg in Krems an der Donau (Austria). The Barlaam cycle is - if the dates hold from the art and building-historical side - next to the Iwein fresco cycles in Schloss Rodenegg and in Schmalkalden (both from the first half of the 13th century) probably the only secular monumental painting of the 13th century. The pictorial program was implemented relatively closely to the literary templates, although a strong text replacement and independent interaction with the text templates in the other medium is quite normal for the implementation of literary content in wall paintings. A clear intention of the client is connected with the visual representation of this religious literature in a representative room. The aim of poetry, in addition to proclaiming the victory of Christianity, was the ethical formation of people.

The literary contents realized in the medium of the visual arts with their figurative representation are far removed from the conventional visualization of simultaneous religious contents. The wall paintings in Krems represent a significant innovation in the traditional, well-known pictorial repertoire.

Remarks

  1. ↑ For further literature on the Indian influences in Barlaam and Josaphat see Volk, Schriften Vol. VI.1, pp. 23–24.
  2. ↑ Kitāb Bilawhar wa Būḏāsf (Ed. Gimaret).
  3. ↑ Balavariani (Ed. Lang)
  4. ↑ see Volk, Schriften Vol. VI 1, p. 100f.
  5. ↑ The Greek version was first edited by Jean-François Boissonade in his Anecdota (vol. 4) and translated into German by Felix Liebrecht (Münster 1847). In 2006, Robert Volk took care of today's authoritative edition of the full Greek text
  6. ↑ Grossmann, IK: Rez. To: Volk, R .: The writings of John of Damskos VI: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam er Joasaph (spuria). In: JÖB 62 (2012), pp. 335–338; Grossmann, IK: The dependence of the Vita of Barlaam and Ioasaph on the Menologion of Symeon Metaphrastes. JÖB 59 (2009) 87-94.
  7. ^ Bernhard D. Haage: Medicine and Poetry (Middle Ages). In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , pp. 929-932; here: p. 931.
  8. ^ Biographical website on Schweikhard von Helfenstein
  9. ↑ Martyrologium Romanum 27 Novembris Apud Indos, Persis finitimos, sanctorum Barlaam et Josaphat, quorum actus mirandos sanctus Joannes Damascenus conscripsit.

Versions, editions, translations

Arabic version

  • Kitāb Bilawhar wa Būḏāsf. Édité par D. Gimaret [Research publiées under the direction of the Institute of Lettres Orientales de Beyrouth. Nouvelle série A6]. Beirut 1972.
    • French translation: Daniel Gimaret: Le livre de Bilawhar et Būḏāsf selon la version arabe ismaélienne. [HEIOH 3]. Geneva / Paris 1971.

Georgian version

  • English translation: David Marshall Lang: The Balavariani (Barlaam and Josaphat). A tale from the Christian East translated from the Old Georgian by David Marshall Lang, introduction by IV Abuladze [UNESCO collection of representated works. Series of the translations from the literatures of the union of Soviet Socialist Republics]. Berkeley / Los Angeles 1966.

Greek version

  • The writings of John of Damascus. Vol. VI.1: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Joasaph (spuria). Introduction by Robert Volk (Patristic Texts and Studies 61). De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-019462-3 . - (Introduction to the text-critical edition)
  • The writings of John of Damascus. Vol. VI.2: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Joasaph (spuria). Obtained from Robert Volk (Patristic Texts and Studies 60). De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018134-7 . (online) - (text-critical edition)
    • German translation: The legend of Barlaam and Josaphat, attributed to Saint John of Damascus. Translated from the Greek by Ludwig Burchard . Theatiner Verlag, Munich 1924.
    • English translation: Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John Damascene (?) . In: The online medieval & classical library of the University of Berkeley.
    • Italian translations:
      • Silvia Ronchey , Paolo Cesaretti : Vita bizantina di Barlaam e Joasaf . Rusconi, Milan 1980.
      • Silvia Ronchey, Paolo Cesaretti: Storia di Barlaam e Ioasaf. La vita bizantina del Buddha. Einaudi, Torino 2012 (revised version of the 1980 edition taking into account the 2009 critical edition; abstract in the Opac of the Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale )

See also

literature

Overview representations in manuals

  • Toni Bräm: Le roman de Barlaam et Josaphat. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-271-05195-9 , pp. 63-83
  • Wolfgang Stammler: Barlaam and Josaphat. In: Reallexikon zur deutschen Kunstgeschichte 1, 1937, Sp. 1452–1457.
  • Christine Stöllinger-Löser: Barlaam and Josaphat. In: Author's Lexicon . Volume 11, de Gruyter, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-11-016832-4 , Sp. 215-219
  • Constanza Cordoni: Barlaam and Josaphat in the European literature of the Middle Ages. Presentation of the fabric traditions - bibliography - studies. de Gruyter, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-11-034189-8 .

Investigations

  • Willem J. Aerts : Some thoughts on the language and time of the writing of the Greek novel "Barlaam and Ioasaph". In: Odilo Engels, Peter Schreiner (Ed.): The encounter of the West with the East. Congress files of the 4th symposium of the Medievalist Association in Cologne in 1991 on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the death of Empress Theophanu. Sigmaringen 1993, pp. 357-364.
  • Gertrud Blaschitz: "Barlaam and Josaphat" as a template for wall paintings in the Gozzoburg Krems. (PDF; 4.61 MB) (No longer available online.) In: Medium Aevum Quotidianum, Vol. 57. 2008, pp. 28–48 , formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 31, 2008 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at
  • Vera Johanterwage: Buddha in Bergen: the old Norse "Barlaams ok Josaphats saga" , Heidelberg, Universitätsverlag Winter, ISBN 978-3-8253-6743-5
  • Wassilios Klein: The legend of Barlaam and Ioasaph as a program writing by the monk Agapios Landos. Kovac, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-86064-646-X (Theos; Vol. 18)
  • Sirarpie The Nersessian : L'Illustration du roman de Barlaam et Joasaph. Paris 1936.
  • Norbert H. Ott: Notes on the Barlaam iconography of Rudolf von Ems "Barlaam and Josaphat" in Malibu and the tradition of images of the Barlaam material. In: Odilo Engels, Peter Schreiner (Ed.): The encounter of the West with the East. Congress files of the 4th symposium of the Medievalist Association in Cologne in 1991 on the occasion of the 1000th year of the death of Empress Theophanu. Sigmaringen 1993, pp. 365-385, here p. 366.
  • Rudolf von Ems: Barlaam and Josaphat, Hagenau, Atelier des Diebolt Lauber, 1469. In: Anton von Leuw, Joachim M. Plotzek: The handwriting of the Ludwig Collection 4. Cologne 1965, pp. 256–266.
  • Lieselotte E. Saurma-Jeltsch: Late forms of medieval book production. Illuminated manuscripts from the Diebold Laubers workshop in Hagenau 2. Wiesbaden 2001, pp. 85–88.
  • Jürgen Tubach: The image of the ideal Christian: asceticism in the Barlaam novel. In: Language, Myths, Mythicisms. Part 3. Halle (Saale) 2004, pp. 759–782.
  • Sophia G. Vashalomidze: Georgia, cultural threshold between Asia and Europe using the example of the Barlaam legend. In: Sophia G. Vashalomidze, Lutz Greisiger (ed.): The Christian Orient and its environment. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-447-05608-3 , pp. 273-286.

Web links

Commons : Barlaam and Josaphat  - collection of images, videos and audio files