Bernhard Pez

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bernhard Pez

Bernhard Pez (born February 22, 1683 as Mathias Leopold Pez in Ybbs , † March 27, 1735 in Melk ) was an Austrian Benedictine monk , historian, philologist and librarian. Together with his younger brother Hieronymus Pez , he introduced critical diplomacy, which originated from France, to historical studies and is thus one of the pioneers of the Enlightenment in science. He is also considered to be the discoverer of the early medieval Mondsee fragments .

Life

Bernhard Pez was born the son of an innkeeper and was the older brother of Hieronymus Pez, who would later become his research partner. First he attended the Jesuit grammar schools in Vienna and Krems . In 1699, at the age of 16, he entered the Benedictine Abbey of Melk and made his profession in 1700 . He received further training in the private school of the monastery and in 1704 was sent to Vienna to study theology, which he later completed as a baccalaureate . He was ordained a priest in 1708 and began his historical research. He was guided by the scientific approach of his French friars from the Abbey of Saint-Maur . This group of Benedictine historians around Luc d'Achery and Jean Mabillon , called Mauriner , was the first to critically review medieval documents on a scientific basis and are therefore considered the founders of diplomacy .

Bernhard Pez initially dealt with the history of the state of Tyrol and went on extensive library trips to the monasteries in Austria, the archbishopric of Salzburg , Bavaria and Swabia. In the years 1712-13 he took over the office of novice master of Melk Abbey and in 1713 he also became head of the monastery library , one of the most extensive in Austria. In the ranks of his Melk confreres he found helpers who supported him in his research: Philibert Hueber (1662–1725) and Anselm Schramb (1658–1720) as well as his brother Hieronymus Pez. In the course of this research he published the " Bibliotheca ascetica antiquo-nova " from 1713 , a catalog of all Benedictine authors, which appeared in 23 volumes by 1733. His work “ Epistolæ apologeticæ pro Ordine S. Benedicti ”, in which he defended his order in a controversy with the Jesuits and directed against their late medieval scholastic theology, also comes from this time .

In 1717 he went on a library trip to Bavaria. On the way there he also visited the Benedictine monastery Mondsee and happened to find some early medieval leaves in the Old Bavarian language there, which later turned out to be part of the Mondsee fragments . From 1721 he published the Thesaurus anecdotorum novissimus , a collection of sources on exegetical, dogmatic and liturgical treatises, the last volume of which also included sources on political history. In 1725 he published the " Homilies of Abbot Gottfried von Admont (1165) ", in two volumes and a philosophical treatise by Abbot Engelbert von Admont . In 1727/28 he went on another library trip this time to France, accompanied by Count Philipp Ludwig Wenzel von Sinzendorf , the Austrian envoy to the Congress of Soissons (see Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729) ). There he met scholars such as Edmond Martène , Augustin Calmet , Bernard de Montfaucon , François Le Texier and Ursin Durand , all of whom were also Benedictines. In 1731 he published the Vita et Relevationes of the mystic Agnes Blannbekins , the work was placed on the index Librorum Prohibitorum . At the end of his life he still planned to publish the monumental work " Bibliotheca Benedictina Generalis ", which however could only be completed by the Benedictines Oliver Legipont and Magnoald Ziegelbauer after his death . Likewise, he was no longer able to establish a scientific Benedictine academy in Melk Abbey.

Bernhard Pez is considered to be one of the most outstanding figures in Benedictine science in the Baroque period. His historical works influenced the historiographical tradition in the entire Catholic southern German area. In addition to the introduction of critical source studies, historical studies also owe him the salvation of numerous medieval primary sources. Throughout his life he was also in correspondence with the important scholars of his time, not only in the Catholic south of the German-speaking area, such as Karl Meichelbeck , but also with the greats in the Protestant north, such as the successor of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in Hanover, Johann von Eckart , as well as scholars in France and Italy.

The extensive correspondence received from the two Pez brothers is currently the subject of the FWF start project "Monastic Enlightenment and the Benedictine Scholarly Republic", which is institutionally anchored at the Institute for History and the Institute for Austrian Historical Research in Vienna and runs until 2014.

estate

Memorial plaque in Ybbs on the Danube

The extensive estate of the Pez brothers is preserved in eleven boxes and 58 manuscripts in the Abbey Archives and in the Abbey Library in Melk. Her work materials are in the estate: excerpts, notes, submissions from correspondents, catalogs and manuscript directories, house histories of various monasteries, transcripts from manuscripts, printing templates. The entire estate was digitized by employees of the FWF start project, reworked, imported into the freely accessible UNIDAM Internet database, indexed and commented on with bibliographical references.

Works

  • Bibliotheca ascetica antiquo-nova , 12 volumes, 1713–33.
  • Bernardi Pezii Epistolae apologeticae pro ordine sancti Benedicti , Campodunum (Kempten), 1715
  • Thesaurus anecdotorum novissimus , 6 volumes, 1721–29
  • Codex Diplomatico-Historico-Epistolaris; Quo Diplomata, Chartae, Epistolae, Fragmenta Opusculorum, Epitaphia, & alia id genus vetera monumenta Pontificum Rome. Archiepiscoporum, Episcoporum, Abbatum, Imperatorum, Regum, Marchionum, Ducum, Comitum, aliorumqúe Illustrium Virorum a Seculo Christi Quinti usque ad Decimum ferè Sextum continentur, totiusq́ue pene Europae historia illustratur; Prodeunt Nunc Omnia Primum Tum Iunctim Cum Reliquis… Tum Etiam Separatim Ex Diversarum Bibliothecarum MSS. Codd. Et Archivorum Membranis (Pars I - III), with Philibert Hueber; Veith: Augsburg, Graz 1729
  • Bernardi Pezii Benedictini et Bibliothecarii Mellicensis De Etymo Nominis Habspurgici, Et Origine Domus Habspurgico-Austriacae Dd… Philippum Ludovicum Comitem de Sinzendorf… Epistola . - Viennae et Vienna: apud Petr. Conrad Monath Monath, Peter Conrad, Norimbergae; Nuremberg 1731 ( digitized version )
  • The learned correspondence of the Pez brothers . Text, regesta, comments. (Source editions of the Institute for Austrian Historical Research, Vol. 2/1). Volume 1: 1709-1715. ed. v. Thomas Wallnig, Thomas Stockinger. Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-205-78303-9 , (digitized: [1] ). Volume 2: 1716-1718. ed. v. Thomas Stockinger, Thomas Wallnig, Patrick Fiska, Ines Peper, Manuela Mayer with the assistance of Claudia Sojer. Vienna 2015 (digitized: Vol. 2/1 , Vol. 2/2 )

literature

  • Patrick Fiska: The Austrian pencils as a pacemaker in Austrian historical research , in: Ordensnachrichten 48 (2009), pp. 78–91.
  • Christine Glassner: Let us renew the memory of deserving men so that the grandchildren may also be encouraged to do their work. Aspects of the legacy of the Pez brothers in Melk, in: Studies and communications on the history of the Benedictine order and its branches 121 (2010), pp. 229–248.
  • Christine Glassner: Directory of the letters received in the estate of the Melk historians Bernhard and Hieronymus Pez , in: Studies and communications on the history of the Benedictine order and its branches 110 (1999), pp. 195–243.
  • Eduard Katschthaler: About Bernhard Pez and his legacy , in: Annual report of the kk Obergymnasium zu Melk 39 (1889), pp. 3–106.
  • Thomas Stockinger: monastery librarian and scholar. Buying, exchanging and lending books in the correspondence of Bernhard Pez OSB (1683–1735) , in: Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 45 (2012), pp. 195–226.
  • Franz von Krones :  Pez, Bernhard . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, pp. 569-575.
  • Walter Troxler:  PEZ, Bernhard (Leopold). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 399-402.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Thomas Wallnig: Inn and Scholarship. Studies on the origin and educational path of Bernhard Pez OSB before 1709 (publications by the Institute for Austrian Historical Research 48, Vienna 2007), ISBN 978-3-7029-0547-7 .
  • Thomas Wallnig – Thomas Stockinger – Ines Peper – Patrick Fiska (ed.): European cultures of history around 1700 between scholarship, politics and denomination (Berlin – Boston 2012), ISBN 978-3-11-025918-6 , (digitized version: European history cultures ) .
  • Constantin von Wurzbach : Pez, Bernhard . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 22nd part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1870, pp. 145–149 ( digitized version ).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pez, Bernhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pez, Leopold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Benedictine monk, historian, philologist and librarian
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1683
PLACE OF BIRTH Ybbs on the Danube
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1735
Place of death Melk