Berengar of Poitiers

Berengar von Poitiers (* around 1120), Scholasticus, pupil and follower of Peter Abelard , was the author of a satirical pamphlet against Bernhard von Clairvaux after the Council of Sens (1141).

Life

Berengar was born into an unknown family around 1120, after his nickname he came from Poitiers . He probably grew up as an oblate in a Cistercian monastery , but then left the convent to study with Peter Abelard in Paris at the church of Saint-Hilaire after reaching adulthood, between around 1135 and 1140. Berengar's writings reflect that he was well trained in the artes liberales of the trivium , that is, in grammar , rhetoric and dialectic , and possessed a critical mind and a talent for writing.

Berengar attended the Council of Sens on May 25, 1141, which condemned Abelard's teachings as heretical, as a direct eyewitness. When Abelard's writings had been annihilated by the bishops of Franzia and in the autumn of 1141 the news of the papal condemnation of June 16 made the rounds in France, Berengar vehemently advocated his own in a pamphlet that he himself called Apologeticus , that is, defensive pamphlet Lehrers, denounced the dubiousness of the condemnation and the even more dubious circumstances of the same in the manner of the Goliards with caustic-satirical words. In particular, however, he aimed at the person behind this development, Bernhard von Clairvaux . After the Council of Sens, Berengar seems to have contacted Heloisa , the abbess of Paraklet , because the manuscript also contained Abelard's Confessio fidei , which was intended for Heloisa personally , as a longer quotation - certainly not by chance .

Even after that, Berengar remained a contentious man because he wrote other pamphlets, e.g. B. one against the Carthusian Order and another against the teachings of the canon Benedict of Marseille, which has not been preserved. Already during Berengar's lifetime, the Apologeticus triggered a storm of indignation and the immediate counter-reaction of the church camp. Berengar went to the Cevennes and asked Bishop Wilhelm von Mende (1109–1150) for help because of Bernhard's persecution . At this point, Berengar was evidently ostracized and his academic career ended. In the letter to Bishop Wilhelm he justified his earlier approach, but said that he was still very young and inexperienced, and that the writing against Bernhard was nothing more than a joke. However, he did not expressly revoke his criticism of Bernhard von Clairvaux .

Nothing is known about Berengar's further life and the circumstances surrounding his death.

plant

The title of the pamphlet is: Apologia Berengarii Pictavensis contra beatum Bernardum, Claraevallensem abbatem, et alios qui condemnaverunt Petrum Abelardum .

The letter was not the product of a momentary mood in Berengar, but was carefully prepared, perhaps even planned by a committee of Abelard supporters and only carried out by Berengar as instructed. At the beginning of his writing, Berengar accused Bernhard of being illiterate in the artes liberales and of having composed ambiguous songs in his youth. He called him the "high priest Caiaphas" and compared Abelard somewhat blasphemously with Christ. Then he described from his point of view the meeting of the clerical dignitaries on the eve of the Council of Sens. The prelates were nothing more than a disinterested, drunken bunch. Not only these, but also many other passages of the letter deserve attention, as they contain important information about the course of the condemnation of Peter Abelard, despite their subjectivity. Further details are best taken from the translation by U. Niggli.

Although Berengar himself spoke of the fact that his defenses made the rounds in France and Italy, only a few manuscripts have survived to our day, all of them copies from later centuries:

• MS Paris, Bibl. Nat. lat. 2923, ff. 43–45 (copy as from the 13th century, once owned by Petrarch , also contains Abelard's Soliloquium )
• MS Troyes Bibl. Mun. 802 (13th century)
• MS Bruges, City Library, 398, ff. 17r – 20v. (Excerpts, 14th century)
• MS Oxford, Bodleian, Add. C, 271, ff. 76r-81v. (once in Cambrai, also letters to the Bishop of Mende and the Carthusians , 14th century)
• MS Paris, Bibl. Nat. lat. 1896, ff. 185v – 189v. (14th Century)
• MS Orléans, Bibl. Mun., 78, f. 63ff. (also letter to the Bishop of Mende, 15th century)
• MS Notre-Dame, Indiana, Univ. mem. Library, 30, ff. 162v – 163v (15th century)

• A manuscript from Saint-Victor in Paris (GGG17) that is lost today is also said to have contained the script.

Quote

“In this emergency Abelard applied for asylum in order to clarify his case in Rome. He said: 'I am a son of the Roman Church. I don't want my cause to be tried like a heretic. I'm appealing to the chief. ' But Abbot Bernhard, in whose arm the crowd of the high clergy trusted, did not speak like the Roman governor, who put Paul in chains: 'You appealed to Caesar, you should go to Caesar', but 'You appeal to Caesar? You will not go to Caesar ! ' He reported the events to the Pope and immediately the condemnation judgment against Peter flew from the Roman See through the territory of the Gallic Church. Those absent were condemned, oh pain, without a hearing and for lack of evidence! What can I say? Or what should I not say, Bernhard? "

literature

• RM Thomson: The satirical works of Berengar of Poitiers. In: Mediaeval Studies. Volume 42, Toronto 1980, pp. 89ff.
• DE Luscombe: Berengar, defender of Peter Abelard. In: Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale- Volume 33, Louvain 1966, p. 319 ff.
• U. Niggli: Berengar of Poitiers. Defense of Abelard against Bernard of Clairvaux. In: U. Niggli: Abelard - work, life, effect. Freiburg 2003, p. 317ff. (with complete German translation).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Berengar of Poitiers. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 507-508.

Web links

• Berengar of Poitiers: Apologeticus ( online )

Footnotes

1. ↑ According to the title of the Paris manuscript: Apologia Berengarii Pictavensis .
2. ↑ Indicated in the first paragraph of his writing: Neque certo in incerto loquimur opinionis, sed testis est alumna tui, patria nostri sermonis.
3. ↑ According to D. Luscombe, the title Apologeticus comes from the later letter of Berengar of Poitiers to the Bishop of Mende, while the surviving manuscripts incorrectly reproduce the term Apologia .
4. ↑ "Defense speech of Berengar of Poitiers against Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, and others who have condemned Peter Abelard"
5. ^ U. Niggli: Berengar von Poitiers. Defense of Abelard against Bernard of Clairvaux. In: U. Niggli: Abelard - work, life, effect. Freiburg 2003, p. 317ff. (with complete German translation).