De temporum ratione

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De temporum ratione (DTR) is a script that Beda Venerabilis wrote in Latin in 725 . In it he elaborates on the themes of his earlier work De temporibus . At the center of the work is the Easter cycle , a tabular listing of the Easter dates . Bede also collected all the information available to him at the time that could serve to shed light on this important topic of Christianity at that time .

Intention and structure

In his praefatio , Bede states that his confreres wanted a deeper analysis of the issues he had dealt with in his De temporibus , especially with regard to the calculation of the date of Easter. The extensive work that he then wrote is divided into 3 parts: mathematical and calendar theoretical techniques, the Easter cycle and the world chronicle . Ancient , scientific , Christian and church-historical thought processes intertwine in a special way.

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Beda, who hardly left his Jarrow monastery , apparently had a treasure trove of writings available in the monastery library. Around 1000 text uses or even quotations were identified, including almost half of Jerome quotations for the chronicle. The Bible played a central role in Beda's mind and he cited it over 200 times. Pliny the Elder and Macrobius are the main ancient authors used. He took over a lot from Isidore of Seville and also brought in the church fathers (including Augustine and Ambrosius of Milan ). In particular, he dealt with the "specialist literature" for calculating the date of Easter, which he partly cites and partly rejects bitterly ( Victorius of Aquitaine ). These computi , which migrated from Italy and Spain to Gaul, Ireland and England in the first centuries of Christianity, contained not only calendar tables and Easter cycles, but also calculation rules, astronomical and arithmetic comments. One such collection is the Sirmond Manuscript , a manuscript that was first edited by Jacques Sirmond . It contains much that was used by Bede, especially the writings of Dionysius Exiguus , which he especially discussed.

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Technical and calendar theoretical topics (Chapters 1 - 43)

In the first part of the DTR, Beda lays the foundations for later explanations with very extensive presentations.

  • Cape. 1–4: Ancient arithmetic methods, including the finger representation of the numbers ( finger alphabet ) (Chapter 1)
  • Cape. 5–16: Units of time from day to week to month for different peoples. In chapter 15 the month names of the angli , i.e. English
  • Cape. 17–29: The moon. The explanations in chapter 29 on the influence of the moon on the tides of the sea go far beyond what he could take from his ancient sources and were particularly appreciated
  • Cape. 30–41: Transition to the Easter cycle: Bissextus (= leap year), saltus lunae and others

The statements are quite factual and exact. As a child of his time and circumstances, it goes without saying for Beda to also go into the story of creation given in the Bible and to embellish it with quotations from the church fathers (Chapter 5). He also discusses the question of when the 1st day of the world was ( primus saeculi dies ) and comes to the conclusion that it was undoubtedly March 18th (Chapter 6).

The Easter cycle (chapters 44 - 65)

In this part of his work Bede orientates himself on the Easter table of Dionysius Exiguus. This comprised the years 532 to 626 and was based on the 19-year Alexandrian cycle (see also article Dionysius Exiguus ). The Argumenta de titulis pascalis Aegyptiorum of Dionysius is partly taken literally by Bede and only adapts the date. So in Chap. 58:

cyclus lunae si vis nosse ..., sume annos domini, utputa 725, et subtrahe semper duo, remanent 723. Hos partire per 19, remanent 1 = annus cyclus lunae

In Dionysius Exiguus (Argumentum VI): Si vis scire, quotus cyclus lunae est, ... sume annos domini, ut puta 525 ... Hos partire per 19, remanent 10

(To find the year of the lunar cycle, subtract the year of the Lord (725/525) subtract 2 and divide by 19. The remainder is the value you want)

Together with the DTR, an Easter table was published, which Beda had taken over from Dionysius Exiguus and expanded for the years 722-1063. The main columns are the current year, information about the position of the moon and - of course - the date of Easter Sunday.

But the theological background is just as important for Bede as the calculation of the Easter cycle. The central statement that Easter is to be celebrated on the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the spring equinox (chap. 59) is justified by a detailed Bible exegesis on Moses 2:12 ( Exodus ) (chap. 63) and quotations from the church father Augustine (Chapter 64). He also refers several times to the Council of Nicaea .

World Chronicle and End of Time (chap. 66 - 71)

Like De temporibus, Beda closes this book on time with a world chronicle. However, it is a much more extensive representation. In the earlier work he was mainly based on Isidore of Seville, but here he largely uses the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea in Jerome's translation . In addition, he works as sources - in addition to the Bible, of course - Orosius , the Liber pontificalis , Rufinus of Aquileia , Flavius ​​Josephus and others.

In the introduction to the list of people and events sorted by year, Bede of Augustine takes on the division of time into 6 aetates from aetas I beginning with Adam to aetas VI beginning with aduentum domini saluatoris in carnem (= birth of Jesus Christ) . He documents this age up to his own present, the life and death of his abbot Ceolfrid . Beda also weaves theological statements into his historical work and thus gives it special meaning. The entire chronicle of the Carolingian and Ottonian times was under his dominant influence.

Continuation of action and tradition

With this work Beda laid the foundations for a clear fixation of Easter and ended the controversy of the previous centuries. The text was circulated in large parts of Europe. Charles W. Jones lists 245 complete manuscripts or parts. Initially the Easter cycle was in the foreground, later scientific sub-topics were excerpted and included in the ( Carolingian ) school operations.

The first printed edition appeared in 1529 by Johannes Sichard . Charles W. Jones edited chapters 1 - 65 in 1978 together with the chronicle edition by Theodor Mommsen . Faith Wallis created a richly commented translation into the English language. A translation into the German language is not available.

Text editions, translations and literature

  • Brigitte English: The artes liberales in the early Middle Ages (5th – 9th centuries), Stuttgart 1994
  • Anna-Dorothea V. den Brincken: Studies on the Latin world chronicle up to the age of Otto von Freising , Düsseldorf 1957
  • Nadja Germann: De Temporum Ratione , Leiden / Boston 2006
  • Charles W. Jones: Bedae: Opera de Temporibus , Cambridge-Massachusetts 1943
  • Charles W. Jones: Bedae Venerabilis Opera , Pars VI; Opera didascalica 2, Turnholt 1977
  • Charles W. Jones: Bedae Venerabilis Opera , Pars VI; Opera didascalica 3, Turnholt 1980
  • Bruno Krusch : Studies on Christian-Medieval Chronology , Berlin 1938
  • Theodor Mommsen : Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Chronica minora , Bedae chronica maiora ad a. 725 , Berlin 1898
  • Faith Wallis: Bede: The Reckoning of Time , Liverpool 1999

Single receipts

  1. ↑ this and the following information: Faith Wallis: Bede: The Reckoning of Time , Index of sources
  2. ^ Charles W. Jones: Bedae: Opera de Temporibus , Preface, p. 75
  3. ↑ Brigitte English: Die artes liberales in the early Middle Ages (5th – 9th centuries), p. 286 f.
  4. ^ Charles W. Jones: Bedae: Opera de Temporibus , Preface, p. 105 ff.
  5. ↑ Faith Wallis: Bede: The Reckoning of Time , p. 307 ff.
  6. ^ Faith Wallis: Bede: The Reckoning of Time , p. 333
  7. ↑ Bruno Krusch: Studies on Christian-Medieval Chronology , p. 59 ff.
  8. ^ Charles W. Jones: Bedae Venerabilis Opera , Pars VI; Opera didascalica 3, p. 549 ff.
  9. ↑ Anna-Dorothea V. den Brincken: Studies on the Latin World Chronicle , p. 112 f.
  10. ↑ Augustine: De Genesi contra Manichaeos , I, pp. 35–41
  11. ↑ Anna-Dorothea V. den Brincken: Studies on the Latin World Chronicle , p. 113 f.
  12. ↑ Brigitte English: Die artes liberales in the early Middle Ages (5th – 9th centuries), p. 280
  13. ^ Charles W. Jones: Bedae Venerabilis Opera , Pars VI; Opera didascalica 2, p. 241 ff.
  14. ^ Faith Wallis: Bede: The Reckoning of Time , S. LXXXV
  15. ↑ Nadja Germann: De Temporum Ratione , p. 46