Thomas of Cantimpré

Thomas von Cantimpré , also Thomas Cantimpratensis , Thomas Brabantinus , or Thomas van Bellinghen (* 1201 in Bellinghem near Sint-Pieters-Leeuw ; † 1270 or 1272 ), was a theologian , Augustinian canon and Dominican , naturalist and encyclopedist of the 13th century .

At the age of five , Thomas, who was born in Belinghem, southwest of Brussels , was placed in a monastery in Liege on the basis of a vow made by his father . At the age of sixteen he became canon in the Augustinian Abbey of Cantimpré near Cambrai in 1217 . Around 1232, however, he switched to the Order of the Dominicans in Leuven . Soon afterwards he studied with Albertus Magnus in Cologne . From 1237 to 1240 he stayed at the Convent of St. Jacques in Paris. In 1241 he finished his Liber de natura rerum (the "book of natures of things"), on which he had been working since about 1225. In 1246 Thomas became subprior and lecturer in Leuven. Because the study of science in the Dominican order met growing resistance, Thomas devoted himself primarily to pastoral care in the last years of his life. His last and much-noticed book was the Bonum universale de apibus (completed between 1258 and 1263), in which he examines the relationship between superiors and subordinates using the example of the bee state.

Works

• Liber de natura rerum

For about 15 years, Thomas collected material for his Liber de natura rerum , a comprehensive encyclopedia of the natural history of the time for clergy, to which he included works by Aristotle , Pliny , Solinus , Ambrosius and Jakob von Vitry and an anonymous author whom he was an "experimenter" called, used as sources. It initially comprised 19, later 20 books (chapters) and was published in four vernacular translations.

• Bonum universale de apibus. Kreuzherrenkonvent, Marienfrede around 1460 ( digitized version )
• Bonum universale de proprietatibus apum. Johann Koelhoff the Elder Ä., Cologne around 1473 ( digitized version), Cologne around 1478–80 ( digitized version )
• Hagiographies:
  • about Johannes von Cantimpré
  • on the Beguine Mary of Oignies
  • about Christina the miraculous of St-Trond
  • about Margaret of Ypres
  • via Lutgard von Tongern , the patron saint of Flanders

literature

• Christian Hünemörder : Thomas von Cantimpré . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 8, LexMA-Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-89659-908-9 , Sp. 711-714.
• Christian Hünemörder: The meaning and working method of Thomas von Chantimpré and his contribution to the natural history of the Middle Ages. In: Medical History Journal 3, 1968, pp 345-357.
• Johannes Madey :  Thomas of Cantimpré. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 17, Bautz, Herzberg 2000, ISBN 3-88309-080-8 , Sp. 1367-1369.
• Gundolf Keil : Thomas von Cantimpré (Thomas van Bellingen). In: Werner E. Gerabek u. a. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of medical history. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , 1395 f.

Web links

• Literature by and about Thomas von Cantimpré in the catalog of the German National Library
• Article in the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Article in the Medieval Bestiary
• Dissertation on Thomas' von Cantimpré "Experimentator" in the "Liber de natura rerum" (PDF; 1.32 MB)
  • Summary of the aforementioned dissertation (PDF; 6 kB)
• On the bonum universalis : Meister Eckhart and his time - Arnold Kühl - Thomas Cantipratanus
• Bibliography: Archives de littérature du Moyen Âge (ARLIMA)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ P. Stahl: Thomas de Cantiprato, Das ›Buch von Naturen der Ding‹ by Peter Königschlachter. 1998.
2. ↑ Thomas Cantimpratensis: Liber de natura rerum. Edition princeps secundum codices manuscriptos. Concerned by Helmut Boese . Part 1: Text . Berlin / New York 1973.
3. ^ Bernhard Schnell : On the German-language reception of the natural history writings of Thomas von Cantimpré and Albertus Magnus: On the stone book of the Salzburg manuscript M III 3. In: Light of nature. Medicine in specialist literature and poetry. Festschrift for Gundolf Keil on his 60th birthday. (= Göppingen work on German studies. No. 585). Kümmerle, Göppingen 1994, ISBN 3-87452-829-4 , pp. 421-442.