Dialogus miraculorum

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The beginning of the Dialogus miraculorum with a portrait of the author in the initial . Manuscript Düsseldorf, University and State Library, Ms. C 27, fol. 1r (mid-14th century)

In Latin wrote Dialogus miraculorum ( dialogue about the miracle , full title Dialogus magnus visionum ac miraculorum ) is a work of Heisterbacher Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heister Bach (1180 - after 1240), in which at Koenigswinter nearby monastery Novice Master and Prior was. The work, written between 1219 and 1223, is written in the form of a dialogue between monk and novice . It consists of twelve books arranged according to spiritual topics, which contain a total of 746 stories.

Written from the perspective of a member of the most influential order of his time, the Dialogus is an extremely important source on the cultural and moral history of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, especially on belief in devils and demons as well as on the ideological internal view of the persecution of heretics and the crusades in many European countries.

Overview of the contents of the twelve books

Book no. Latin title German translation of the title Number of chapters Volume and Page Issue Strange
Prologus prolog I, 1
Book I. De conversione From entering the monastery 43 I, 5
Book II De contritione From repentance 35 I, 55
Book III De confessione From confession 53 I, 110
Book IV De tentatione From temptation 103 I, 171
Book V De daemonibus Of demons 56 I, 274
Book VI De simplicitate From the simplicity 37 I, 340
Book VII De sancte Maria From St. Mary 59 II, 1
Book VIII De diversis visionibus Of various visions 97 II, 80
Book IX De corpore Christi Of the body of Christ 67 II, 165
Book X De miraculis Of miracles 72 II, 217
Book XI De morientibus Of the dying 65 II, 266
Book XII De premio mortuorum From the wages for the dead 59 II, 315

Manuscripts and prints as well as their abbreviations (according to Strange)

For the edition Caesarii Heisterbacensis monachi Ordinis Cisterciensis Dialogus Miraculorum edited by Joseph Strange , the following codices and prints were used (including the abbreviations used in the Strange edition):

  • A Düsseldorf Codex
  • B Bonn Codex (1434)
  • C Cologne Codex (around 1440)
  • D Düsseldorf Codex, Altenberg Monastery
  • E [Library Gymnasium Koblenz]
  • F [Aachen Library]
  • K Editio Koelhoffiana (1481)
  • P editio princeps (ca.1475)
  • R Editiones recentiores (3 pieces):
  • a) Cologne 1591
  • b) Cologne 1599
  • c) Antwerp 1605

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 2 vol., Cologne, Brussels 1851, for which an index exists: Index in Caesarii Heisterbacensis Dialogum , Koblenz 1857
  2. ↑ The manuscript from the possession of the former Cistercian abbey is now in the possession of the University and State Library in Düsseldorf; Signed: Ms. C 27.

German translations

Total translation

  • Caesarius von Heisterbach: Dialogus Miraculorum; Dialogue on the Miracles, ed. v. Nikolaus Nösges, Horst Schneider. 5 vols. Turnhout: Brepols, 2009

Partial translations (selection)

Partial translations are from Johannes Hartlieb , Alexander Kaufmann , Ernst Müller-Holm , Otto Hellinghaus and others:

  • Johann Hartlieb's translation of the Dialogus miraculorum by Caesarius von Heisterbach, based on the only London manuscript , ed. by Karl Drescher, Berlin 1929 (German texts from the Middle Ages 33)
  • Alexander Kaufmann: Wonderful and memorable stories from the works of Caesarius von Heisterbach , selected, translated and explained by Alexander Kaufmann, 2 parts (Annalen des Historisches Verein für den Niederrhein 47, 53), Cologne 1888, 1891
  • Caesarius von Heisterbach. German by Ernst Müller-Holm. Berlin: Karl Schnabel Verlag 1910 (Lost Masters of Literature III.)
  • Otto Hellinghaus: One hundred exquisite, wonderful and strange stories by the Cistercian Caesarius von Heisterbach († around 1240), Aachen: Deutschherren Verlag, 1925

Web links