Ludolf of Saxony

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Illustration of the author in a later manuscript of Ludolf von Sachsens Vita Christi .

Ludolf of Saxony (* around 1300 in Northern Germany; † April 10, 1377 or 1378 in Strasbourg , also Ludolf the Carthusian ) was a monk and late medieval author of edification.

Life

Ludolf von Sachsen entered the Dominican order as a young man around 1315/20 , in which he obtained the degree of master's degree in theology. In 1340 he left the Dominicans and moved to the Charterhouse of Strasbourg. 1343–1348 he was prior of the Koblenz Charterhouse, but voluntarily resigned this office and moved to Mainz as a simple monk . He later went back to Strasbourg, where he probably died in 1378.

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Nothing is known about the context in which his works came about and the order in which they were written, since, according to the understanding of the time, the author should step back completely behind his work. In addition to a few shorter writings, two main works by Ludolf have survived. On the one hand, he wrote, probably during his first time in Strasbourg (1340–43), the Ennaratio in Psalmos , a commentary on the psalms. It has been preserved in several manuscripts and was first printed in 1491.

Much more powerful, however, is the Gospel harmony Vita Jesu Christi e quatuor Evangeliis et scriptoribus orthodoxis concinnata (English: The Jeben Jesu Christi, compiled from the four Gospels and the orthodox writers), in short Vita Christi . This is one of the most widely read edification books of the late Middle Ages. It consists of two parts with a total of 181 chapters. In this reflection on the life of Jesus Christ , Ludolf connects the four New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles with one another, but also includes sentences from important church teachers such as Origen , Ambrosius of Milan , Augustine , Pope Gregory the Great , Hrabanus Maurus or Bernhard von Clairvaux . He adorns the story, especially the Passion, with some scenes that do not appear in the biblical and apocryphal sources.

The individual chapters consist of a presentation of a certain section of Christian salvation history, an interpretation or application (in which ecclesiastical conditions of the 14th century are also criticized), and a concluding prayer. In this way the symbolic and pictorial is connected with the concrete and realistic. The reader is supposed to "experience" the work of Christ as if it were happening in his presence. By following Christ in this way, the believer should come to fellowship with him and thus to salvation.

The Vita Christi was probably created between 1348 and 1368 in Mainz; the autograph was burned in 1870. Even during Ludolf's lifetime, the Vita Christi was known beyond the order. It was already available in most monastery libraries in the early 15th century. The work has been preserved in many manuscripts and prints, but often only one of the two parts or as an excerpt. In addition to the first prints from 1472 (Paris and Cologne) there are 28 further incunabula and a total of over 60 prints by 1870.

Translations into French, Dutch, Catalan, Castilian, Portuguese and Italian have been made since the 15th century. The Portuguese translation was created by Cistercian monks back in the 1440s and was the first ever printed book in Portuguese in 1495. There is no complete German or English translation, but there are several partial translations. One of the earliest is a translation of the chapters on the Passion into Alemannic dialect. The translations were aimed more at laypeople and the Latin prints for the monasteries. Therefore, they are often richly illuminated, which is hardly the case with these.

All in all, it can be said that the effect of the writing was immense throughout Western Europe until the early modern period. Internal church reform efforts such as the Melk reform of the Benedictine order can also be traced back to the Vita Christi. In the Spanish-speaking area, especially Theresa von Avila and Ignatius von Loyola carried on the thoughts of the Vita Christi. Ignatius probably read the Castilian translation in 1521 while recovering from a war wound, which contributed to his conversion. Above all, his retreats , both in theological positions and z. B. in the imagery, strongly influenced by the Vita Christi.

The so-called Bonaventura-Ludolphiaanse Leven van Jezus was founded in the Netherlands around 1400 . This is a compilation of the Vita Christi and the Meditationes vitae Christi , a pseudo Bonaventure script. It is written for laypeople and the focus is even more than the Vita Christi on the meditative visualization of the life of Jesus. This writing achieved widespread use in the Dutch as well as in Lower and Central Germany and had a great influence on the devotio moderna . The most important work of this religious movement, Thomas von Kempen's Imitation of Christ , was previously thought to be a work by Ludolf.

Some works of fine art also refer to the Vita Christi. Certain scenes of the Passion are only depicted in pictures, sculptures, etc. after they became known through the widespread distribution of the Vita Christi, especially in the northern Alpine region.

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personal data
SURNAME Ludolf of Saxony
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ludolf the Carthusian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Monk and writer of edification
DATE OF BIRTH around 1300
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1377 or 1378
Place of death Strasbourg