Johannes Moschos

Johannes Moschos also Johannes Moschus (Greek: Ιωάννης Μόσχος, or Latinized : Iohannes Moschus, * 540 or 550 in Damascus or Cilicia ; † around 620 in Rome ) was a Byzantine monk and writer .

Towards the end of the 6th century Johannes Moschos traveled as a wandering monk with his companion Sophronius in the eastern Mediterranean ( Syria , Palestine , Sinai , Egypt ). He spent a long time on the Sinai and in Alexandria . After Jerusalem was conquered by the Persians in 603 , he went on one last long journey to Rome , where he died.

Johannes collected his own travel experiences and extraordinary events that he had learned from other people on his travels in the " Leimón " ( Latin " Pratum spirituale "). The stories were meant to serve as edifying examples of Christian virtue. The work, written in Greek, was very popular in the Middle Ages and has been translated into Latin several times. In 1423, Ambrogio Traversari from Florence made a complete translation.

Today, the stories of Johannes Moschos in their Latin translation serve as starting reading in Latin lessons in schools .

literature

• Adolf Jülicher : Ioannes 53 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IX, 2, Stuttgart 1916, Sp. 1810.
• Iohannes Moschus: Stories from a world in upheaval (= Clara. Short Latin texts. Issue 13). Modifications made by Gian Andrea Caduff. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-525-71712-1 .
• Erich Trapp :  Johannes Moschos. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 3, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-035-2 , Sp. 491-492.

Web links

• Literature by and about Johannes Moschos in the catalog of the German National Library
• Text of the " Leimón " in the Patrologia_Graeca , Vol. 87, pp. 2852–3112