Vitae patrum

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Vitae patrum , in the Middle Ages mostly Vitas patrum or Vitaspatrum , German The Old Fathers Life or Old Fathers Life , is one of the most important works of hagiographic literature that goes back to the early days of Christian monasticism in the 4th century. Strictly speaking, Vitae patrum is “not a title for a clearly delimited work, rather an umbrella term for a conglomerate without fixed corpus boundaries”.

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The work goes back to different, mainly Greek sources, e.g. B. the Historia Monachorum , and includes life descriptions, doctrinal conversations and sayings of the first Christian anchorites ( hermits ) and monks who lived in the 3rd – 5th centuries. Lived in the desert regions of Egypt and the Middle East in the 18th century; one of the most famous texts is the life of St. Anthony . The work also contains the lives of women who had converted as former sinners and led a life of penance, for example Maria Aegyptiaca . In the course of its dissemination, this compilation could be varied and expanded again and again beyond its basic inventory, later also through vitae from the western tradition (e.g. the vita of St. Martin of Tours ).

Impact history

The Vitae patrum was prescribed for reading as early as the 6th century in the Benedictine Rule ( Regula Benedicti 42,3) . In the Middle Ages she owned almost every monastery, as a textbook of asceticism ; their influence on the spiritual development of western monastic culture cannot be estimated at all. He becomes recognizable, for example, with regard to disputes about asceticism and mystical spirituality, in the vita of Heinrich Seuse . Seuse calls the work the "core of all perfection". Even his religious father, St. Dominic , was an ardent admirer of the Vitae patrum , which was then of outstanding importance for his order, especially with regard to the Vita apostolica . The dissemination of the Vitae patrum is documented far beyond the monastic area in countless collections of examples, sermons and treatises. Laypeople also owned them.

In terms of their shape, the Vitas / Vitae patrum were almost the prototype of a hagiographic collection; other works were created based on their model. The Vitas fratrum / Vitae fratrum , a collection of short vitae about the beginnings of the Dominican order , are the best known example.

In the 17th century the surviving texts were critically examined by the Jesuit Heribert Rosweyde (1569–1629), rearranged and published in Latin as a print edition in ten books. The work first appeared in Antwerp in 1615 and subsequently served as a basis for the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists .

But even in the Protestant area, despite the rejection of strict asceticism, the vitae patrum continued to apply. Luther had arranged for a "corrected" new edition, and a selection by the Pietist Gottfried Arnold was still used by Goethe and Herder for reading.

Countless representations in the visual arts can also be traced back to the texts of the Vitae patrum . Many details of such works of art cannot be understood without their literary source (e.g. in the Isenheim Altarpiece ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Williams-Krapp (see below: literature), p. 410
  2. ↑ See: Des Mystikers Heinrich Seuse O. Pr. German writings. Introduced, transferred and explained by v. Nikolaus Heller. FH Kerle, Heidelberg 1926, c. 35, pp. 95-103. In the notes on pp. 96–100, Heller also gives an insight into various old fathers vites and tenets.
  3. ↑ See ibid., P. 96, note 1; Williams-Krapp (see below: literature), p. 411
  4. ↑ According to Williams-Krapp (see below: literature), p. 410
  5. ↑ Gerard de Fracheto: Vitae fratrum Ordinis Praedicatorum necnon Cronica ordinis from anno MCCIII usque ad MCCLIV. Edited by Benedictus Maria Reichert. Lions 1896 (Monumenta Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum Historica I)
  6. ↑ See u. for web links: Heribert Rosweyde
  7. ↑ Georgios Fatouros :  ROSWEYDE, Heribert. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 15, Bautz, Herzberg 1999, ISBN 3-88309-077-8 , Sp. 1213-1214.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  8. ↑ According to Williams / Hoffmann (see below: literature), column 464

literature

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  • Heribert Rosweyde (Ed.): Vitae patrum. De vita et verbis seniorum libri X historiam eremeticam complectentes & c. Antwerp 1615 (2nd edition: Lyon 1617; 3rd increased edition: Antwerp 1628)
  • Heribert Rosweid: Lives of the Fathers. Or: doctrines and deeds of the most excellent saints from the early days of the religious order in the Catholic Church. A highly instructive book of edification for all Christian souls in and outside the monasteries. Also a useful side piece to any legend. Adapted from the Latin of the venerable father H. Rosweid in German by Michael Sintzel. With alphabetical name and subject registers, also applications for all Sunday and holiday gospels of the year. First and second volume in 2 volumes. Augsburg: Karl Kollmann'sche Buchhandlung 1840 (translation); Volume 1 (1840) in the Google book search, Volume 2 (1847) in the Google book search.
  • Rufinus Aquileiensis: Historia monachorum sive de vita sanctorum patrum. Tyrannius Rufinus. Edited by Eva Schulz grand piano. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1990 (Patristic Texts and Studies 34) ISBN 3-11-012040-2 ; in excerpts online ; English: Texts of the Historia monachorum in English

Secondary literature

  • Ulla Williams / Werner J. Hoffmann: Vitaspatrum (Vitae patrum) . In: VL² , 10, 449-466 (1999)
  • Werner Williams-Krapp: 'Nucleus totius perfectionis.' The old fathers' spirituality in the 'Vita' of Heinrich Seuse. In: Johannes Janota et al. (Ed.): Festschrift Walter Haug and Burghart Wachinger. 2 Vols. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1992, pp. 407-421
  • Konrad Kunze , Ulla Williams, Philipp Kaiser: Information and internal research. To the reception of the 'Vitaspatrum'. In: Norbert Richard Wolf (ed.): Knowledge-organizing and knowledge-imparting literature in the Middle Ages: Perspectives on its research (Colloquium December 5-7, 1985). Wiesbaden 1987 (= knowledge literature in the Middle Ages , 1), pp. 123–142.

Web links