Egbert of Liege

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Egbert von Lüttich (* around 972, † after around 1023) was a spiritual teacher at the cathedral school in Liège . He wrote the collection of sayings and stories Fecunda ratis ("The fully loaded ship").

The work, created around 1023 as the sum of a long teaching activity by the author, a collection of materials for teaching the trivium , i.e. the linguistic subjects grammar, logic and rhetoric, contains, in addition to borrowings from ancient authors, from the Bible and from Christian literature, numerous wisdoms, anecdotes and Stories from the vernacular which, according to his dedication letter, Egbert was the first to translate and record into Latin.

The work presents itself as a “ship” for a journey through life. Accordingly, it is divided into a longer "foredeck" ( prora : 1768 verses, all Latin hexameters ) and a shorter "stern" ( puppis : 605 hexameters). Like a slender bow, the prora begins with independent individual verses , which, due to their shortness , are often difficult to understand. This is followed by double verses and multi-line texts with a colorful mixture of fables and quarrels , rules of life and admonitions. A burlesque is about the entry of the hero Walterus into the monastery. How far through the slightly earlier Waltharius - epic was encouraged, is controversial.

In the second book, on the “stern” intended for the helmsman, biblical material as well as stories and interpretations by the church fathers predominate . Here you can find an oral wolf child story that Egbert interprets in a Christian way; it is partly considered the oldest evidence of the Little Red Riding Hood motif.

Egbert's work has only survived in a single medieval manuscript, Codex 196 in the Cologne Cathedral Library . Apparently designed to compete with older fable books, especially that of Avianus , the book was unable to assert itself because of its clumsy language and lack of conciseness. On the other hand, it testifies to a "thoroughly sympathetic, humane teacher personality" (W. Maaz). It is used both as a source for medieval teaching practice and as a treasure trove for folk medieval stories.

Text output

  • Ernst Voigt (Ed.): Egberts von Lüttich Fecunda ratis . Hall 1889 ( digitized )

literature

  • W. Maaz: Article Egbert von Lüttich , in: Lexikon des Mittelalters , Vol. 6. Artemis, Munich and Zurich 1986, Sp. 1602 f.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Egbert of Liege
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ecbertus leodiensis; Egbert de Liège
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Secular clergyman, teacher at the Liège cathedral school, author of the Fecunda ratis collection
DATE OF BIRTH at 972
DATE OF DEATH around 1023