Engelbert of Admont

Engelbert von Admont (* around 1250 in Volkersdorf, municipality of Purgstall near Eggersdorf in Styria ; † May 10 or 12, 1331 in Admont , Styria) was abbot of Admont from 1297 to 1327 .

Life

Engelbert von Admont is considered to be one of the most universal spirits of medieval Austria and in any case the most versatile scholar in the history of Admont Abbey. The “Austrian Albertus Magnus ” acquired the foundations for this unusually broad horizon of his learning and his wealth of knowledge in a solid education from 1271 to 1285, first in Prague, among others, from Mistr Bohumil and then especially in Padua . Here he made himself especially familiar with Aristotelian thinking and was then able to use the writings of the Greek philosopher for his own work. This aspect of reception and the history of science has also repeatedly attracted attention in research.

He headed the Admont Abbey as abbot from 1297 to 1327. His memory has always been held in high honor in the house: Sometimes he has even been tacitly counted among the group of saints or at least the blessed , and for centuries a member of the monastery has carried him his name. Among contemporaries, however, he was not without controversy, and in his convent there were even supposed to have been voices that - perhaps precisely because of his pronounced penchant for scholarship - described him as unsuitable for the office of head of the monastery.

The scientific work of Engelbert von Admont, which consists of more than 40 large and small treatises, includes both philosophical and theological treatises , with which this abbot proves to be probably the most fruitful Benedictine author of his time in Central Europe. Within the first-mentioned group, he himself differentiates between works of natural philosophy and moral philosophy, whereby among the latter, especially his extensive state-theoretical writings have found great interest in research. Musicology owes him the only music theory treatise of the Middle Ages that was written in Austria, and as a theologian Engelbert is increasingly recognized for his importance as a thoroughly independent scholastic thinker.

Engelbert gives advice to students in a letter to Magister Ulrich in Vienna. First, he recommends going in order. One should not proceed in leaps and bounds, but listen to the books in the order of tradition and scientific theories. Second, one should only ever focus on one degree. One should neither insert another degree nor deal with several fields of knowledge at the same time. Thirdly, one should persevere in the study that has begun until the end of the work that has begun. Engelbert's letter contains a list of his works. In this way he wants to make sure that no one else ascribes one of these works to himself. If Ulrich does not yet have one of these works, Engelbert is happy to send it to him. Engelbert's letter is unique for its time and gives interesting insights into his career and intellectual life.

However, Abbot Engelbert not only occupies a special place in the intellectual history of the monastery as a philosopher and theologian, but can also be associated with two of the greatest works of art that have ever existed in Admont: During his studies in Padua he was allowed to do that magnificent one Missale , which can be counted among the outstanding book artistic achievements of its time and is now in the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon . As abbot of Admont, he then procured the wonderful statue of Mary that has become the “Admont Madonna” par excellence; Like the Missal, it was sold in 1936 and is now in the Alte Galerie in Graz .

plant

Engelbert wrote numerous treatises on dogmatic-theological, natural-philosophical, music-methodological and state-political content.

Exemplary:

• De regimine principum (around 1300)
• Speculum virtutum (around 1310)
• De ortu et fini Romani Imperii (around 1312)

literature

• Johann Friedrich von Schulte :  Engelbert von Admont . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 128 f.
• Sabine Krüger :  Engelbert von Admont. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 509 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Engelbert von Admont. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1509-1510.
• Helmut Engelbrecht : History of the Austrian educational system I. From the beginnings to the time of humanism. Vienna 1982.
• Pia Ernstbrunner: The music treatise of Engelbert von Admont (approx. 1250-1331). Schneider, Tutzing 1998, ISBN 3-7952-0933-1 (also: Vienna, University, dissertation, 1995).
• Karl Ubl : Engelbert von Admont. A scholar caught between Aristotelianism and Christian tradition. Oldenbourg, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-7029-0449-2 (also: Heidelberg, Universität, Dissertation, 1999/2000).
• Werner Ogris : Art. Engelbert von Admont. In: Albrecht Cordes , Heiner Lück , Dieter Werkmüller , Ruth Schmidt-Wiegand (eds.): Concise dictionary on German legal history . 2nd, completely revised and enlarged edition. Volume I, Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2008, Sp. 1327-1328.

Web links

• Literature by and about Engelbert von Admont in the catalog of the German National Library
• Engelbertus abbas Admontensis in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"
• Entry on Engelbert von Admont in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry II	Abbot of Admont Abbey 1297–1327	Eckard von Lauterbeck