The Abbot Trithemius (1462-1516): The Renaissance of Monastic Humanism. Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 24.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Schutzumschlag verschmutzt und mit Flecken, au�rdem leichte Randl�ren, Bleistiftanmerkungen auf Vorsatz, innen gut und sauber / dust jacket soiled and with stains, also slight edge wear, pencil annotations on endpapers, otherwise good condition and clean inside. - Living on the threshold of the Reformation, the abbot Trithemius (1462-1516) spoke up for the endois- tered way of life at a moment when it was experiendng an unprecedented dedine of prestige. It was his avowed aim to help restore the monastic �golden age�. In his Sponheim monastery, where he was elected abbot in 1483, Trithemius carried out an extensive program of Benedictine reform which laid much stress on learning as an aid to piety. He collected one of the most magnificent libraries of Europe, and undertook an ambitious writing career of his own which embraced three main fields: monastic and mystical theology, history, and magic. Because Trithemius placed a high premium on the study of ancient languages his doister became a focal point for the German humanist movement, causing one admirer to refer to Sponheim as �an Hebraic or Greek academy� and another to compare it to the library and museum of the Ptolemies in Hellenistic Alexandria. But not all was well with Trithemius at Sponheim. Quite apart from one issue which was disturbing his peace, that fomented by his magical interests, Trithemius was meeting with stiff resistance from his monks in his zealous efforts to put his theory of Christian learning into concrete practice. The abbot�s dispute with his monks finally erupted into a complete break, causing him to change his domicile in 1506 to the more restful surroundings of a cloister in Wurzburg. Pointing up the indebtedness of the humanist ideal of learned and eloquent piety to the educational curriculum of monastery walls, Trithemius boldly and presistently espoused the belief that the Christian rebirth of ancient studies, far from throwing the value of monasticism into doubt as its critics were claiming, can most effectively be brought to fruition in a monastic setting. / TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Preface Abbreviations of collected works PART A TRITHEMIUS� WORLDLY PILGRIMAGE AND HIS LOVE OF LEARNING I, The Sponheim period (1482-1506) A. The pre-Sponheim years (1462-82) 1. The miraculous dream of the two tablets 2. The miraculous snowstorm and Trithemius� advent into Sponheim B. The fulfilment of the dream (1482-1505) 1. The bibliophile 2. The author 3. The visitors G. The Cologne and Berlin interlude (1505-06) II. The Wurzburg period (1506-16) A. Trithemius� resignation from Sponheim and assumption of the W�rzburg abbacy 1. The persisting resentment 2. The indignation of Trithemius� disciples 3. The struggle for adjustment B. The resumption of Trithemius� literary program 1. The catalogues of his writings 2. The princely patrons a. Trithemius and Joachim of Brandenburg b. Trithemius and the Emperor Maximilian C. Trithemius� death and interment PART B TRITHEMIUS� SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL PILGRIMAGE III. The Sponheim period and the doctrine of monastic erudition. A. Vera philosophia Christianorum: the accord between love and knowledge B. Trithemius� campaign to renovate the ancient ideal of vera eruditio monastica 1. A tenth century prototype: Diethmar of Hirsau 2. The �immoderate� love of books 3. Scriptural study and the summa philosophia monachorum: the tension between studium and curiositas a. The Exhortationes ad monachos (1486) b. The Institutio vitae sacerdotalis (1486) and the instruction of Nicolaus de Merneck c. The De regimine claustralium ( = Commentarius in s. Benedicti regulam) (1486) d. The Liber penthicus and the De viris illustribus ordinis s. Benedicti (1492-93). The De laude scriptorum manualium (1492) 1) The background: the invention of printing 2) The text f. The De laudibus s. Annae (1494) 4. True erudition and the shift to negative theology: the Bursfeld orations (1490-1500) C. Trithemius as a monastic humanist 1. The clash between rhetoric and philosophy and its resolution a. Res vs. verbum b. In praise of Christian eloquence 2. The wider limits of Christian erudition: the De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis (ca. 1492-94) and the explanatory letter to Albert Morderer a. The dedication to Johannes de Dalberg b. The defense of pagan letters 3. Trithemius as a biblical humanist: the Quaestiones in Evangelium Johannis and Libellus de quaestionibus psalterii (1496) 4. Trithemius as a patriotic humanist: recovery of the Germanic past (ca. 1490-1505) a. Francia orientalis, land of the Trojan migrants b. Trithemius and Celtis c. Trithemius and Wimpheling 1) The dedication of the Catalogus illustrium virorum Germaniae (1491-95) 2) The quarrel D. The tense equilibrium between piety and learning as reflected in Trithemius� correspondence from �exile� (1505) IV. The transfer of Trithemius� campaign on behalf of monastic erudition to W�rzburg (1506-16) A. The coming of the �golden age�: samples from the first year of Trithemius� epistolary call to learning (1506-07) B. The equivocal nature of the human intellect: the Liber octo quaestionum and Oratio ad derum Bambergensem (1508) C. The role of historical recollection 1. The sacred function of the memory as upheld in the autobiographical Nepiachus (1507) 2. Trithemius as historian in theory and practice a. The obstacles of historical writing b. The theory of historical writing: the prefaces to the Annales Hirsaugienses (1511,1514) c. The practice of historical writing 1) History and patriotism: the compendia of Frankish history from its origins (1514) 2) History and learned piety: the biographies of Maximus and Rabanus Maurus (1515-16) D. The aftermath of the Trithemius-Wimpheling controversy: the Epistolae obscurorum virorum (1515-17) Conclusion: The Trithemian legacy of monastic humanism on the threshold of the Reformation Bibliography Index of names Index of subjects. ISBN 9789004064683