Peter the deacon

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Montecassino Monastery

Petrus Diaconus OSB (also called Bibliothecarius and in other languages Peter Diaconus , Peter the Deacon , Pietro Diacono , Pierre le Diacre ; * 1107 or 1110 in Rome ; † after 1159 in the monastery of Monte Cassino ) was a deacon (not the Lateranese, but the Cassinese Church), ecclesiastical biographer , general writer and librarian of the Montecassino Monastery.

Life

His father, Aegidius, from the family of the Counts of Tusculum , gave five-year-old Peter to the Monte Cassino monastery as an oblate around 1115 . He received his training from Guido , who continued the Chronicle of Leo Marsicanus (also Ostiensis) until 1127.

Atina

In 1127/28 Peter had to leave the monastery as a follower and supporter of the forced abdication of Oderisius II (abbot from 1123 to 1126) and retire as a monk first to the neighboring Abbey of Atina and later to the daughter monastery of San Giovanni Incarico . In 1130 Seniorectus (abbot from 1127 to 1137) brought him back to Monte Cassino and made him librarian and archivist of the monastery.

Pope Innocent II (left person) on a contemporary mosaic in the Roman church of Santa Maria in Trastevere

In 1137 Petrus Diaconus had his most popular appearance. Emperor Lothar III. had also come to Montecassino on his Italian journey and wanted to clarify and settle the allegations of Pope Innocent II against the management of the Benedictine monastery in a dispute . As one of the main defenders of the newly elected abbot Reinald (February – September 1137), Peter represented the interests of Montecassino in a religious disputation so skillfully that Lothar then wanted to bind him to himself as secretary and chaplain . Wibald (abbot from September to November 1137) considered Peter's return to the monastery necessary.

Temporal and political environment

The main activity of Petrus Diaconus fell in the final phase of the investiture controversy with a strengthened papacy and a weakened German empire. The Roman Pope led political disputes with the Benedictine monasteries of Cluny (France) and Montecassino (southern Italy). Montecassino was also caught in the tension between the Norman rule ( Rogers ) in Sicily and southern Italy and the German Emperor Lothar III, who was looking for a compromise.

plant

In Monte Cassino, Peter became librarian and administrator of the archives, of which he compiled a register. In addition to the continuation of the monastery chronicle of Monte Cassino ( Chronicon Casinense ) originally written by Leo Marsicanus ( Leo from Ostia ) and continued by Guido until 1127 for the years until 1138, he wrote several historical works: De viris illustribus Casinensibus , De ortu et obitu iustorum Casinensium , De Locis sanctis , Disciplina Casinensis , Rhythmus de novissimis diebus . His works are listed in the Patrologia Latina (CLXXIII, 763–1144).

rating

In retrospect, Petrus Diaconus is regarded as a highly educated literary person with a strong interest in antiquity for the Middle Ages. His main aim in times of decline was to maintain the splendor of his own monastery.

Ferdinand Chalandon and John Julius Norwich consider him the worse historian and writer than the superior Leo of Ostia . “His… works have a strong political impetus, and are partly forged or embellished”. Peter forged the Passion of Saint Placidus under the pseudonym Gordian (see Gordian Knot ) . "He is a vain writer who occasionally does not take the truth very seriously, but is entertaining."

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f see literature Daniel Schwenzer: Petrus Diaconus in the Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon
  2. ↑ a b c see literature NA Weber: Petrus Diaconus . In The Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)
personal data
SURNAME Peter the deacon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Librarian and archivist of Montecassino
DATE OF BIRTH 1107 or 1110
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH after 1159
Place of death Monte Cassino Monastery