Petrus de Prussia

Petrus de Prussia or Peter von Preußen (real name Peter Elgast, flourished around 1483 ; born in Danzig ) was a Dominican and the first biographer of Albertus Magnus, who died in Cologne in 1280 .

Born in Danzig and therefore called de Prussia , Peter lived as a Dominican in Cologne . He was present at the opening of the tomb of Albertus Magnus on January 11, 1483. With the permission of Pope Sixtus IV , the body was to be reburied in a more representative tomb. The opening caused quite a stir, because not only was the garment with chasuble , stole , and manipula in good condition, but also the decay was not very advanced. A fragrance is said to have emanated from the grave, which impressed those present, and one of them is said to have regained his previously lost sense of smell. Other miraculous healings have been related to theElevation of the bones handed down.

With these impressions, Petrus de Prussia wrote the first comprehensive biography of Albertus Magnus, which appeared in Cologne in 1486/87. According to his own remarks, in addition to the works of Albertus himself, he mainly processed the writings of Thomas von Cantimpré and Ulrich von Strasbourg , who were both students of Albertus, as well as the literature of Dominican hagio and historiography with the works of Bernard Gui , Wilhelm by Tocco and Gerardus de Frachetto . Other authors not mentioned by Petrus were the Dominicans Jakob von Soest and Johann von Colmar , whose chronicle he consulted.

Peter von Prussia pursued three concerns with the biography. First and foremost was the desire to provide an orderly depiction of the life and deeds of Albertus Magnus freed from legends. In this context, he was able to prove that numerous legends about Albertus Magnus were originally connected with completely different people and came from the Speculum historiale des Vinzenz von Beauvais and the Bonum universale de apibus des Thomas von Cantimpré. In addition, he wanted to defend Albertus against the allegations made on the basis of his studies of nature to have practiced magic and sorcery. Ultimately, the biography should show the sanctity of Albertus and work towards his early canonization .

In order to be able to support a canonization, the biography would have to have been recognized by the competent chapter of the order of the Dominicans, the chapter of the order province of Teutonia . However, this was reserved for the biography, which a few years later - based on the work of Petrus de Prussia - was presented by Rudolf von Nijmegen , a friar from the Cologne Convention . This Legenda literalis beati Alberti Magni was received in 1488 by the vicar general of the Dominicans, Jakob von Basel, and approved after reading before the chapter. The work appeared in print in Cologne in 1490 on behalf of the chapter.

The vita from the hand of Petrus was reprinted in 1621 as part of a portrayal of Albertus' life, which was printed by Christoffel Plantijn in Antwerp . Mostly Petrus de Prussia is quoted after this edition, whose critical examination of the biographical material formed the basis for the study of Albertus up to the modern age. In 1980 Hugo Stehkämper described him as the "most complete and critical medieval Albert biographer".

expenditure

• Vita et legenda Alberti Magni. Johannes Guldenschaiff, Cologne 1486/87.
• B. Alberti doctoris Magni ex Ordine Praedicatorum episcopi Ratisponensis. De adhaerendo Deo libellus. Accedit eiusdem Alberti vita, Deo Adhaerentis exemplar. Plantinian printing house, Antwerp 1621 ( digitized version ).

literature

• Joachim Sighart : Albertus Magnus. His life and his science. Depicted according to the sources. Manz, Regensburg 1857, p. IX. 263 f. ( Google Book ).
• Ottokar Lorenz : Germany's historical sources in the Middle Ages since the middle of the thirteenth century. 3rd edition revised in connection with Arthur Goldmann. Volume 2. Wilhelm Hertz, Berlin 1887, p. 60 ( digitized version ).
• Paulus de Loe: De vita et scriptis b. Alberti Magni. In: Analecta Bollandiana. Société des Bollandistes. Volume 19, 1900, pp. 268-271 No. 49 ( digitized version ).
• Hugo Stehkämper (Ed.): Albertus Magnus. Exhibition on the 700th anniversary of death. Catalog volume. Historical Archive of the City of Cologne, Cologne 1980, p. 32 No. 4.
• Willehad Paul Eckert : Albert Legends. In: Albert Zimmermann (Ed.): Albert the Great. Its time, its work, its effect (= Miscellanea mediaevalia. Volume 14). De Gruyter, Berlin 1981, pp. 1–23, here: pp. 16–18.
• Jan Prelog: Petrus de Prussia, biographer (15th century) . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 6, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 1982 f.

Web links

• Repertory of historical sources of the German Middle Ages of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences

Remarks

1. ^ Hugo Stehkämper (Ed.): Albertus Magnus. Exhibition on the 700th anniversary of death. Catalog volume. Historical Archive of the City of Cologne, Cologne 1980, p. 32 No. 4.