Williram von Ebersberg

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Williram von Ebersberg (* before 1010 ; † January 3, 1085 ) was a monk, scholar and abbot in the Bavarian Benedictine monastery of Ebersberg . To find a well-known theologically educated Bible translator in German before Luther , one has to go back to Williram.

origin

Williram, who came from a noble family in the Middle Rhine region, was related to the Archbishop of Cologne Heribert (999-1021), the Würzburg Bishop Heinrich I (995-1018) and the Eichstätter Bishops Heribert (1022-1042) and Gezemann (1042). Williram received spiritual training and became a monk in the Fulda monastery around 1020 , then in the 1040s a teacher in the Bamberg monastery Michelsberg , among others under Bishop Suidger, the later Pope Clement II (1046-1047). Williram belonged to the court circle of Emperor Heinrich III. (1039-1056). It is believed that he had aspirations for a high spiritual-political office. When he was appointed abbot in the insignificant Benedictine monastery of Ebersberg in 1048 , it must have been a disappointment. Williram stayed there until his death (1048-1085); the death of the ruler probably prevented a further career in the imperial service.

First page of the Hoheliedparaphrase from BSB Munich, cgm 10, f. 10r (2nd half of the 11th century)

life and work

Williram has been recognized for his literary work since his time in Bamberg. In Ebersberg Monastery, which he promoted economically and culturally as best he could (monastery property, business books , scriptorium , monastery buildings), the scholar wrote his main work in 1060/1065, a paraphrase ( Expositio ) of King Solomon's Song , which he gave to King Henry IV. Dedicated. The hymn paraphrase, the content of which is based on the explanations of Haimo von Auxerre (middle of the 9th century), comments on the centrally arranged (Latin) Bible text following the tradition of the opus geminum in the left column in rhymed Latin verses ( Leonine hexameters ) and offers in in another column an Old High German translation together with a prose interpretation in German-Latin mixed language. The layout ( mise en page ) of the various parts of the text - in three columns and two font sizes - was very progressive for the time , making Williram an important witness to the book and text culture of the Middle Ages. At the same time, it shows that the Song of Songs paraphrase as a whole, despite its German-language part, could only emerge against the background of Latin literary character .

The paraphrase of Williram is represented in full or in excerpts in over 42 medieval manuscripts , from the 11th to the 16th century (!), And thus the best surviving German-language work of the early Middle Ages.

In addition, Williram's smaller Latin poems have survived, as well as an adaptation of the life of Bishop Aurelius von Riditio , written in 1071 . Williram made the latter at the request of Abbot Wilhelm von Hirsau (1069–1091). He also probably wrote a monastery chronicle, the Chronicon Eberpergense .

See also

Monastery Literature , Old High German literature , Leiden Willeram

Works

  • The earliest record of Williram's Commentary on the Song of Songs. Edition. Translation. Glossary, edited by Rudolf Schützeichel and Birgit Meineke. Göttingen 2001.
  • Williram von Ebersberg: › Expositio in cantica canticorum ‹ and the ›Commentarium in Cantica Canticorum‹ Haimos von Auxerre , edited and translated by Henrike Lähnemann and Michael Rupp, Berlin 2004.
  • Henrike Lähnemann: Rhyming prose and mixed language with Williram von Ebersberg. With an annotated edition and translation of his 'Aurelius-Vita', in: German texts from the Salier period - new beginnings and continuities in the 11th century , ed. by Stephan Müller and Jens Schneider, Munich 2010 (Mittelalter Studien 20), pp. 205–237 Open access pre-print

literature

  • Graeme Dunphy: Williram von Ebersberg . In: Graeme Dunphy (ed.): Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle . tape 1 . Brill, Leiden / Boston 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-18464-0 , pp. 1516 (English).
  • Kurt Gärtner: Williram von Ebersberg , in: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author's Lexicon , Volume 10, 2nd Edition Berlin, New York 1999, Column 1156–1170
  • Wolfgang Haubrichs: The beginnings. Attempts at vernacular writing in the early Middle Ages (approx. 700-1050 / 60 (= history of German literature from the beginnings to the beginning of modern times , ed. By Joachim Heinzle (ed.), Vol., 1, 1). Max Niemeywer Verlag , 2nd ed. Tübingen 1995, p. 183; 226-229.
  • Henrike Lähnemann / Michael Rupp: On the physicality of a 'belted body of text'. The ›Expositio in Cantica Canticorum‹ Willirams von Ebersberg in its tradition, in: Text and text in Latin and vernacular tradition of the Middle Ages (Wolfram-Studien 19), Berlin 2006, ed. by Eckart Conrad Lutz, pp. 95–116 Open Access pre-print
  • Henrike Lähnemann: Concordia persanctae dilectionis. Friendship as a literary model in the Aurelius vita of Williram von Ebersberg, in: Oxford German Studies , Vol. 36, No. 2 (2007), pp. 184–194 Open access pre-print
  • Henrike Lähnemann: Rhyming prose and mixed language with Williram von Ebersberg. With an annotated edition and translation of his 'Aurelius-Vita', in: German texts from the Salier period - new beginnings and continuities in the 11th century , ed. by Stephan Müller and Jens Schneider, Munich 2010 (Mittelalter Studien 20), pp. 205–237 Open access pre-print
  • Johannes Madey:  Williram von Ebersberg. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 17, Bautz, Herzberg 2000, ISBN 3-88309-080-8 , Sp. 1560-1561.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Eckhard Meineke, Judith Schwerdt: Introduction to Old High German , (= UTB; Volume 2167), Paderborn-Munich-Vienna-Zurich 2001, pages 162–165
  • Edmund von Oefele:  Williram . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, p. 290.
  • Johannes Staub: Williram von Ebersberg , in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, Volume 9, Column 216f.

Web links

Commons : Williram von Ebersberg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BSB Cgm 10 , one of the two codexes written during Williram's lifetime in Ebersberg, is digitized online
personal data
SURNAME Williram von Ebersberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Benedictine abbot, Bible translator
DATE OF BIRTH around 1015
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 1085
Place of death Ebersberg Monastery