Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz

Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz (13th century) was a learned abbot of the Cistercian order .

Life

Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz was a conventual of the Cistercian monastery Heiligenkreuz and confessor of the Cistercian sisters of St. Nicholas in Vienna . It is documented for Heiligenkreuz in 1265, 1267, 1284 and 1285. In 1285 he became abbot of Marienberg Monastery in what is now Burgenland , but had to resign in 1289. He may have been in the Welehrad Cisterce in East Moravia for some time . In 1293 he visited the grave of the Reklusin Wilbirg in Sankt Florian , after which he returned to Heiligenkreuz. Gutolf is mentioned in the "Vita Wilbirgis".

He possibly received his education in the monastery school of St. Florian. He himself mentions trips to Germany, Italy and France. However, there is no evidence that he attended university. Even so, Gutolf's education was well above average. He had excellent knowledge , especially in the area of trivium, and wrote writings on Latin grammar and jurisprudence as well as hagiographical and historiographical works.

Literary activity

grammar

Most of Gutolf's works have only survived in a few manuscripts . His most widespread work is a Latin grammar that was known by different titles: Deflorationes ex diversi grammaticorum summis , Summa grammatica or Regule gramatice . It was originally written for the Cistercian Sisters of St. Nicholas in Vienna, but it was widely distributed. Gutolf assumes that the nuns have little talent and tries to make everything as simple as possible. The work is geared towards practical school use, theoretical treatises are missing. After an introduction to the Septem artes and especially to the grammar, he deals with the linguistic units, the parts of speech, syntax, figures and tropes. At the end he goes into metrics and meter. He takes the examples partly from the usual school reading, partly he bases himself on his own knowledge of the Auctores, the Bible, the church fathers, order founders and medieval authors. Priscian , Donatus , Aimericus , Petrus Helie and Alexander de Villa Dei served as models for his work . He must have thought of something else himself, for example when he discusses the cases “ad Austriam, de Austria, in Austria”. As an example for an ambiguous formulation he brings the sentence: audio Australes vicisse Ungarios . It is unclear here whether the Austrians defeated the Hungarians or vice versa. Elsewhere he used the example sentence : populus Wiennensis, id est, populus Wienne . In the appendix, Gutolf offers a vocabulary with rare grammatical expressions, which develops into a real dictionary. Often he also gives German explanations. It takes into account scientific objects, but also everyday things such as the kitchen and children's games. Gutolf processed two chapters of his grammar into a didactic poem ( Opus de cognoscendi accentibus ). Perhaps it was intended for the students of the Heiligenkreuz monastery school, in any case the reader is addressed as puer five times .

Style

Gutolf's Summa prosayci dictaminis was also used for teaching . This is intended to serve as an example of a work by the ars dictandi . The Summa prosayci dictaminis is divided into three independent parts. The first part ( Incipit summa dictaminis prosayci ) begins with introductions to the letter style, the metrics and the rhythm of prose . Then the five parts of the letter are dealt with according to the rationes dictandi of Alberich von Montecassino : Salutatio, Captatio benevolentie, Narratio, Petitio, Conclusio. The conclusion is an example of how to write a letter. The second part ( De priuilegiis componendis ) defines the term Privilegium , provides practical instructions for writing a document and deals with different types of documents. The third part ( De dictandis priuilegiis summa ) deals first with the etymology of the words prosaycum dictamen and epistola , then the five parts of the letter are mentioned again and finally the salutation is dealt with in detail. For the first two parts it could be shown that Gutolf relied on different templates, some of which he reproduced verbatim, some in analogy.

Religious, theological and canonical writings

Gutolf was also known as a preacher and speaker and wrote didactic poems in hexameters that were impeccable for his time . In the Translacio sancte Deliciane he described the transfer of the relics of one of the 11,000 virgins from Prague to Vienna. This includes a song of praise to Vienna. Gutolf is the author of a Vita S. Bernardi (edited by Theophil Heimb ), which he often quotes in the grammar, and a Tractatus de ordine iudiciario , this represents an introduction to the Roman canonical process . Other works are a Vita of the holy Agnes ( Dyalogus Agnetis ) and a sermon on Holy Scholastica ( Sermo de S. Scolastica ).

Historiography

Gutolf also wrote the Historia annorum 1264-1279 . From the outside, it is an annals because it is organized by years. In reality it is a self-contained work in which Gutolf deals with the last years of King Ottokar II and his end. He wants to show that the failures and death of Ottokar were announced by a comet in 1264. Gutolf was on Ottokar's side and did not have a very high opinion of Rudolf von Habsburg .

Gutolf letters?

Gabriel Silagi put the thesis up for discussion that the Epistolae duorum amantiu , which Ewald Könsgen edited in 1974 and which have so far been seen in connection with Abelard and Heloise , come from Gutolf. In this case, says Silagi, Gudolf would also have written the partner's letters. He therefore suggests the designation "Gutolf letters".

literature

• Winfried Stelzer : Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author's Lexicon II, Berlin / New York 1980, pp. 338–342.
• Claudia Ebert: The Translatio Sanctae Delicianae by Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz - text analysis, German translation and interpretation . Diploma thesis at the Faculty of History and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna , 2012.
• Documents of the Cistercian monastery Heiligenkreuz im Wiener Walde I (Fontes rerum Austriacarum II / 11). Vienna 1859. Reprint Graz 1970, 239 (No. 262), 244 (No. 269).
• Winfried Glöckl: The monk Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz and his works. Studies and communications of the Benedictine order and its branches. NF6, the full episode Volume 37, 1916.
• Alphons Lhotsky : Source studies on the medieval history of Austria (= communications from the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Supplementary volume 19). Graz / Cologne 1963.
• Anton Emanuel Schönbach : About Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz (session reports of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Philosophical-historical class II / 40). Vienna 1904.
• Winfried Stelzer: Scholarly law in Austria. From the beginnings to the early 14th century (= messages from the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Supplementary volume 26). Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1982.
• Hermann Watzl : The Summa dictaminis prosayci of Codex 220 Sancrucensis, a previously unknown opus by Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz. In: Yearbook for regional studies of Lower Austria. New episode 39, 1971–73 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
• Helmut Engelbrecht : History of the Austrian educational system I. From the beginnings to the time of humanism. Vienna 1982.
• Fritz Peter Knapp: The literature of the late Middle Ages in Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol from 1273 to 1439 II. The literature at the time of the Habsburg dukes from Rudolf IV to Albrecht V 1358–1439 (= history of literature in Austria from the beginning to the present. II / 2). Graz 2004.
• Alphons Lhotsky: Studia Neuburgensia. In: Historiography, Source Studies, History of Science (Articles and Lectures 3). Vienna 1972.
• Alphons Lhotsky: Outline of a history of the cultivation of science in old Lower Austria. Middle Ages (research on regional studies of Lower Austria 17). Vienna 1964.
• Gabriel Silagi: MeeToo in Heiligenkreuz. Wilbirg - or Heloise ?, in: Archiv für Kulturgeschichte , 102nd year, 2020, no. 1, pp. 5–20.

Web links

• Gutolfus de Sancta Cruce in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"
• Entry on Gutolf von Heiligenkreuz in the database of the state's memory for the history of the state of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )