Dionysius the Carthusian

Dionysius the Carthusian , also called Dionysius Carthusianus , Dionysius van Leuven , Dionysius van Rijkel , Dionysius Rijckel , Dionysius Carthusius or Dionysius von Roermond (* 1402 or 1403 in Rijkel ; † March 12, 1471 in Roermond ) was a philosopher , theologian , and mystic Scholastics of the late Middle Ages.

Dionysius the Carthusian. Print by Anton Woensam , published in 1532 in Enchiridion Sacerdotum by the Carthusian Prior Peter Blomevenna of Cologne

Life

Dionysius van Rijkel came from the noble family of the nobles von Leewis or Leewen. Since he was not able to join the Carthusian monastery at the age of 18 , he enrolled at the University of Cologne , studied the Holy Scriptures and theology and received his doctorate in theology at the age of 21. He then entered the Bethlehem Mariae Charterhouse in Roermond. In 1423 he also began writing. With 187 volumes, he became the most fertile German theologian of the late Middle Ages. With his writings on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus , he exerted great influence on other theologians of the Middle Ages, such as Johannes Justus von Landsberg . Josef Stierli describes him as the greatest German theologian of the Middle Ages, alongside Albertus Magnus . From 1466 to 1469 he was prior of the Charterhouse of 's-Hertogenbosch and accompanied Nikolaus von Kues on his visitation trip through the Netherlands. Dom Dionysius died on March 12, 1471 in Roermond.

Works

Because of his visionary writings and his ascetic way of life , the Church calls him "Doctor Ecstaticus". Dionysius is considered to be the author of 187 writings; his rich work is a final highlight and at the same time a summary of late medieval philosophy and theology. There are already first echoes of modern thinking (church reformation ideas, etc.). Some works are:

• De vanitate mundi
• De quatuor hominum novissimis
• Dialogon de fide catholica
• De vitiis et virtutibus
• De contemplatione
• De venustate mundi et pulchritudine Dei

expenditure

• Gerardus de Vliederhoven. Dionysius Cartusianus. Stella clericorum cum commento. Testamenta duodecim patriarcharum. Speculum futurorum temporum. Geert Groote (oral). Ludolphus Suchensis (nd.). (Theological collective manuscript) MS-B-112 . West Germany (northern Rhineland; Marienfrede, Kreuzherrenkonvent ?; Borken / Westphalia?) 15th century, 2nd – 3rd century. Quarter ( digitized version ).
• Liber de statu mundi. Dionysius Cartusianus. Ars moriendi. (Composite manuscript) MS-B-197 . Düsseldorf, Kreuzherrenkonvent (?), [Around 1450 - 1460] ( digitized version ).
• Opera omnia. Ed. favente Pontifice Maximo Leone XIII . 42 volumes. Typis Cartusiae de Pratis, Monstrolii 1896–1935 ( digital copies at the Internet Archive ; Vita: Vol. 1, pp. XXIII – XLVIII ).

literature

• Rosario Assunto: The Theory of Beauty in the Middle Ages. DuMont, Cologne 1963.
• Hans-Günter Gruber : Christian understanding of marriage in the 15th century. A moral historical investigation into the marriage doctrine of Dionysius the Carthusian (= Studies on the History of Catholic Moral Theology. Vol. 29). Regensburg 1989, ISBN 3-7917-1199-7 .
• Samuel Martin German:  Dionysius the Carthusian (Rickel) . In: Realencyklopadie for Protestant Theology and Church (RE). 3. Edition. Volume 4, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1898, pp. 698-701.
• Ferdinand Holböck : Look to the pierced . Stein am Rhein (Christiana) 1990, ISBN 3-7171-0924-3 , pp. 177-180.
• Stefan Podlech: Discretio. On the hermeneutics of religious experience in Dionysius the Carthusian (= Analecta Cartusiana. Vol. 194). Salzburg 2002.
• Karl Richstätter: The veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the German Middle Ages . Pustet, Regensburg 1924, pp. 149–152
• Josef Stierli: Cor Salvatoris . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1954, pp. 113–115.
• Jacob Cornelis van Slee :  Dionysius the Karthauser . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, pp. 246-248.

Web links

Commons : Dionysius the Carthusian  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Dionysius the Carthusian in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Dionysius the Carthusian  in the German Digital Library
• Entry in Alcuin, Regensburg Infothek der Scholastik, ed. Rolf Schönberger.