Brother philipp

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Brother Philipp (the Carthusian , also Philipp the Brother or Philipp von Seitz ) wrote a life of the Virgin Mary in the then Lower Styrian Charterhouse Seitz (today's Žiče, Slovenia ) at the beginning of the 14th century . Due to the surviving manuscripts and the further aftermath, his life with the Virgin Mary is the most widely handed down rhyming couple poetry of the Middle Ages .

Life

Philipp von Seitz lived in the second half of the 13th and first half of the 14th century. He gained importance in the German Medieval Studies due to his life of Mary , which he wrote around 1300 in the Kartause Seitz. Both his name and the place of his work are known to us through a self-mention in his epilogue . What brother Philipp did before and from where he came to Seitz is uncertain. Very often, due to the rhyme form of his Marian life, attempts were made to find a local assignment, but without delivering a convincing result. However, it is assumed with some certainty that he did not come to Seitz from Austria, but from the north (possibly Central German - Low German border area). According to Heinrich Rückert and Simone Buhr, the author's Styrian affiliation, which existed for at least part of his life, can also be clarified on the basis of the "unequivocally Austrian-tinged peculiarities in language use, style, construction [sic!] And rhyme".

As with most poets of the Middle Ages, Brother Philipp does not only know his origin, but also his date of birth. However, the charter of the General Chapter of the Carthusian Monastery of Mauerbach near Vienna lists a Dom (i) nus Philippus, monachus domus Vallis Omnium Sanctorium, qui habet Tricenarium (per totum ordinem) among the deceased from the years 1345/46 . Even if there is no certainty that the deceased is actually brother Philip, there are various indications that speak for such a claim. The above-mentioned monastery of Seitz was newly founded in 1316 and seven Seitz monks lived in it, which is why the probability is high that Brother Philip was among them. The word monachus also indicates that Brother Philip held a higher rank within the Charterhouse and was a priest, i.e. a chorister . The last part qui habet Tricenarium further testifies to excellent achievements and an advanced age, applicable to Brother Philipp.

Apart from the information about his person, which we receive through the life of Mary and the entry in the charter, his dedications to the Teutonic Order in the prologue and epilogue of his work are instructive. Accordingly, there must have been mutual relationships between the two orders and possibly also personal contacts. Brother Philipp particularly praises the merit of the Teutonic Order in the veneration of Mary and the spread of the Christian faith .

However, in contrast to the Teutonic Order, Brother Philipp did not seem to have any great influence on the further spread of his life as Mary , since in the further tradition the location of the epilogue was changed from ze seitz to nu seitz / saget . Accordingly, others were responsible for the widespread use and success of the life of Mary .

Philipps Life of Mary

The main source of the life of the Virgin Mary is the Vita beate virginis Marie et salvatoris rhythmica , which was created around 1230 in southern Germany , whereby Philipp dealt very freely with the vita . Many passages of text were simply left out by him, others added, especially with the predominantly apocryphal material from the canonical Gospels. In addition, Philipp put together the unrelated text passages in the Vita into a self-contained sequence of actions by coordinating them and creating transitions. He also uses flashbacks and flashbacks, which reinforce the coherent image of the text.

The Vita originally consisted of four books separated by prologues , but Brother Philipp only divided his life into two books. These comprise a total of 10,133 verses, which tell the story of the life and suffering of the Blessed Virgin Mary . What is also special is that this extensive German-language vita was written not only for the clergy , but also for the general lay audience . This is evidenced by the numerous manuscripts, fragments and later prints which make Philipp's life of the Virgin Mary the most widely passed down German-language rhyming couple poetry of the High Middle Ages.

content

The life of Mary begins with a short prologue, which introduces the work and also reveals the Carthusian intention . After this, the actual story begins with Mary's prehistory and the plot about Anna and Joachim , who receive the prophecy that they will become the parents of the future Mother of God. This is followed by Maria's birth and childhood, with Maria herself being presented as a 'child prodigy'.

'Krippenidylle' from the Graz fragment of the life of the Virgin Mary of Philipp von Seitz

At the age of seven she was given to the temple, where she showed herself virtuously and was prepared for her future life. At the age of fifteen she is supposed to marry, after which God chooses Joseph as her future husband. This is followed by the Immaculate Conception , which is represented in the life of Mary as 'ear conception', and the wonderful birth of Jesus Christ. Then the holy family flees to Egypt to get to safety, as Herod wants to have the newly born 'king' murdered.

From this point on, the story of Mary's life turns into a story of Jesus. After seven years in Egypt, the holy family travels back to Jerusalem on the advice of an angel, where Jesus performs various miracles, such as walking on water, bringing the dead back to life and healing wounds. The different childhood depictions of Mary and Jesus are particularly interesting. While Mary is portrayed as the perfect saint, Philipp von Seitz allows Jesus to be a child. For example, he plays with other children and is sent to school by Maria.

At the age of twelve there is a turning point in the story, as Brother Philip complains that the evangelists did not write anything about the life of Jesus in the years between his twelfth and thirtieth birthday. This lament is followed by the growing up of the baby Jesus, the soliloquium with Mary, which can be interpreted as a biblical 'question-and-answer game', the baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan , the death of Joseph and new miracles. The following verses are dominated by the passion of Christ and the conflict of Mary in her roles as mother and saint.

After the ascension of Jesus, Mary is brought back to the center of the presentation and her chaste and virtuous life is emphasized. She looks after the disciples and continues to preach the doctrine of salvation. It is remarkable that she also works miracles and can heal the sick. The work ends with the Assumption of Mary and her coronation, only followed by an epilogue, which is given here in Middle High German form and translation.

Epilogue (v. 10066-10133)

Facsimile of the last page of Brother Philipp's life of Mary from Cod. Pal. germ. 394 of the Heidelberg University Library

Vrowe Mariâ, this is the end of
my life for me to send you.
[…]
Also I am now sending you ditz büechelîn
from dear vrouwen mîn
all common to kristenheit,
daz sî wizzen how daz pure
Marîen live sî.
[…]
Ouch ditz büechelîn I send
the brothers from the diutschen hûs ,
whom I have long been getting ûz,
wan sî like Marîen êrent
and the vowed Christes mêrent.
I also ask al and tuon daz kunt,
who ditz buoch ze handen,
whether sî vindent iht on the deme
daz of the truth againstzaeme
sî and the vow swache
and ouch valsche lêre do,
daz sî even daz abe scrape
and daz not have long been in ,
I turned differently not closer
than Marîen lop and êr.
[...]
all those who read at this buoche
, the gentleman I suoche,
daz sî wellent have staete
me by got an ir prayers
and ask Jêsum daz he welle
have mercy on me. I'm called
bruoder Philipp ,
unfortunately I don't know got.
In the order of Carthûs
I have the same büechelîn in the hûs
ze Seitz ditz:
sand Jôsep was der maner mîn
der Marîen huoter was,
diu Jêsus, gotes suns, recovered.
the same Jêsus müez give us
comfort through sîner muoter live.
Marîen live gêt hie ûz,
nu help us ir kint Jêsus. Amen!

Madam Maria, this is where my poem ends,
which I am sending you.
[…]
In addition, I am now sending this little book
from my dear lady
to all of Christianity
so that everyone knows what the pure
life of Mary was like .
[...]
I am also sending this little book to
the brothers of the Teutonic Order,
whom I had long chosen
because they venerate Mary very much
and spread the Christian faith.
In addition, I ask everyone,
who falls into their hands with this book,
if they find something in it
that contradicts the truth
and weakens the faith
or even gives false doctrine,
to erase it
and no longer carry it with them.
Because I want nothing else
than to express Maria's praise and honor.
[...] I ask for grace to
all who read this book
,
that they are faithful to
include me in their prayer through God,
and
I ask Jesus that he may have mercy on me.
I'm called brother Philip,
unfortunately God is unfathomable to me. I wrote this little book in the
Order of the Carthusians of
the House of Seitz
.
Saint Joseph was my admonisher,
he was also Mary's guardian,
who gave birth to Jesus, God's Son.
May the same Jesus give us comfort
through his mother's way of life.
The 'life of Mary' ends here,
so be our child Jesus. Amen!

Language and rhyme

The life of the Virgin of the Carthusian monastery received special attention due to its rhyme form, which was often referred to as 'impure'. Many tried to improve them, even during Brother Philipp's lifetime, as impure rhymes were considered a neglect in writing. In this case, however, it could also be interpreted as a historically significant tendency within the spiritual epic towards a prose form, whereby it cannot be denied that verse and rhyme still function as artistic means in the life of Mary . This can be recognized, for example, by the rhymed opening verses or the repetitions of individual rhymes to emphasize text passages. However, the rhyme only appears as an additional means to the form coined by psalms . As a linguistic device, Philipp also likes to use parataxes , especially when describing movement, and enjambements , which can also be seen as a slight approximation of prose. Three passages are particularly stylized in terms of language: the Lamentations of Mary (v. 7012ff), Mary's description of heavenly joys (v. 936ff) and her ascension (v. 9586ff). Another point in Brother Philip's handling of language is the high degree of emotionalization. The salvation event is brought closer to people through emotional energy. You can empathize, suffer, and pray with the holy family. Brother Philipp tries to explain the high ideology and the mysteries in an understandable way and to convey them in clear key statements. Perhaps for these reasons the text was used for lay pastoration.

Tradition and reception

After it has already been mentioned that the life of the Virgin Mary is the most widely transmitted poetry of the romantic couples from the Middle Ages, it is obvious that there must be a large number of manuscripts. In the 1989 author's lexicon , Kurt Gärtner wrote 102 different manuscripts and fragments in verse form, although this number has already been exceeded in the meantime. Furthermore, the life of the Virgin Mary was also often resolved in prose form, which is available in twenty-two or more versions.

The tradition closest to the author is in the Pommersfelden Castle Library and is referred to as Cod. 46. The manuscript was created shortly after 1300 and has a special position compared to the other manuscripts due to the extensive number of original verses. Furthermore, the manuscripts can be genealogically divided into an author-related group and a group of manuscripts further removed from the original text. Several manuscripts only pass on parts or small excerpts of the complete work, the most common being the Assumption of Mary (v. 9116-10065). Philip's life of the Virgin Mary was also often handed down together with world chronicles , such as that of Heinrich von München , which depicts world history on the basis of the history books of the Old Testament . Although the life of Mary was already successful as a single work, the tradition community with the world chronicles brought an additional increase in the spread.

A 'publishing-related' peculiarity of the work is also the already mentioned dedication to the German Knight Order, which, as the commissioner of copies, primarily contributed to the distribution of the work. This spread testifies to the lively interest of the people at the time in the life of Mary and is therefore not only interesting from a purely philological point of view, but also with regard to the history of mentality at that time.

Based on the manuscript census, which is available under the web links, a selection of important manuscripts should be listed here:

  • 1. Admont, Abbey Library (Cod. 797)
  • 15. = G Gotha, research library (Cod.Membr. II 37)
  • 19. = H Heidelberg, UB (Cpg 394)
  • 21. = J Jena, UB (Ms. Bos. 4 ° 8)
  • 59. = V1 Vienna, ÖNB (Cod. 2709)
  • 80. = A Alba Iulia, Batthyaneum (Cod. 263)

Related Links

literature

Primary text:

  • The life of Mary of Carthusian Philipp von Seitz translated from Middle High German to the line and commented on by Eduard Glauser. Basel, Schwabe Verlag, 2019. ISBN 978-3-7965-4075-2 .
  • Brother of Philip of Carthusian Life of Mary. Edited for the first time by Dr. Heinrich Rückert . Quedlinburg [ua]: Basse 1853. (= library of the entire German national literature. 34.)

Secondary literature:

  • Buhr , Simone: "Poetry goes to school". Representations of everyday school life in selected German-language texts from the Middle Ages. Graz, Univ., Dipl.-Arb. 2010.
  • Gardener , Kurt: Brother Philipp. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2., completely redesigned. Ed. By Kurt Ruh, Gundolf Keil, Werner Schröder [among others]. 7. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter 1989, Sp. 588-597. ISBN 978-3-11-022248-7 .
  • Gärtner , Kurt: Philipps 'Marienleben' and the 'Weltchronik' Heinrichs von Munich. In: Wolfram Studies. 8. Ed. Werner Schröder. Berlin: Erich Schmidt 1984, pp. 199-218. ISBN 978-3-503-02225-0 .
  • Gärtner , Kurt: To the new edition of brother Philipps 'Marienleben' (ATB). In: Edition reports on medieval German literature. Contributions to the Bamberg conference 'Methods and Problems of Editing Medieval German Texts' 26. – 29. July 1991. Ed. Anton Schwob among colleagues. v. Rolf Bergmann, Kurt Gärtner, Volker Mertens [among others]. Gröppingen: Kümmerle 1994. (= Litterae. Gröppinger contributions to text history. 117.) pp. 33–42. ISBN 978-3-87452-857-3 .
  • Hofmeister , Wernfried: Styrian literature of the Middle Ages. Philipp v. Seitz: Marienleben. URL: http://www-gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at/stlitma/ [13. November 2014]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Note: See marked passage in the epilogue, chapter 2.1.1.
  2. ↑ Buhr, Simone: "Poetry makes school". Representations of everyday school life in selected German-language texts from the Middle Ages. Graz, Univ., Dipl.-Arb. 2010, p. 84. In the following as: Buhr, Schule.
  3. ^ Gardener, Kurt: Brother Philipp. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2., completely redesigned. Ed. By Kurt Ruh, Gundolf Keil, Werner Schröder [among others]. 7. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter 1989, Sp. 588. In the following as: Gärtner, author lexicon.
  4. ↑ See ibid., Col. 588f.
  5. ↑ See Buhr, Schule, p. 84; See Gärtner, author's lexicon, Sp. 593f.
  6. ↑ See Gärtner, Kurt: On the new edition of Brother Philipps 'Marienleben' (ATB). In: Edition reports on medieval German literature. Contributions to the Bamberg conference 'Methods and Problems of Editing Medieval German Texts' 26.-29. July 1991. Ed. Anton Schwob among colleagues. v. Rolf Bergmann, Kurt Gärtner, Volker Mertens [among others]. Gröppingen: Kümmerle 1994, pp. 33-42. (= Litterae. Gröppinger Contributions to Text History. 117.) P. 33. In the following as: Gärtner, new edition; See Hofmeister, Wernfried: Styrian literature of the Middle Ages. Philipp v. Seitz: Marienleben. URL: http://www-gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at/stlitma/ [13. November 2014]. Furthermore as: Hofmeister, Styrian Literature.
  7. ↑ See Gärtner, author's lexicon, Sp. 595.
  8. ↑ See ibid., Col. 589-592.
  9. ↑ Cf. Gärtner, Kurt: Philipps 'Marienleben' and the 'Weltchronik' Heinrichs von München. In: Wolfram Studies. 8. Ed. Werner Schröder. Berlin: Erich Schmidt 1984, p. 203.
  10. ↑ See Hofmeister, Steirische Literatur.
  11. ↑ See Gärtner, new edition, p. 34.
personal data
SURNAME Brother philipp
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Philipp von Seitz; Brother Philip, the Carthusian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION high medieval author
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH around 1345