Commentaria – serie

This book examines the manuscripts and text of Lanfranc's commentary on St. Paul to reconsider Lanfranc's influence upon educated culture of the eleventh century. Lanfranc's assimilation of patristic sources and his adaptation of rhetorical methods to biblical exegesis demonstrate his personal theological development as well as expectations he established for his students. Specifically, the commentary indicates a monastic curriculum that was both creative, by combining classical methods and theological inquiry, and conservative, by restricting these methods to the precepts of Ciceronian rhetoric and condemning other masters' methods. Lanfranc's commentary contributes to a broader discussion of the methods under consideration in the schools of northern France in the eleventh century and the possible competition among masters and their conflicting curricula.

The Glossa Ordinaria on the Bible was the ubiquitous text of the Middle Ages. Compiled in twelfth-century France, this multi-volume work, containing the entire text of Scripture surrounded by a commentary drawn from patristic and medieval authors, is still extant in thousands of manuscripts, testifying to the centrality of the work for generations of medieval scholars. Although the Glossa has been the subject of modern study, it is surrounded by myth. This book, based on manuscript evidence, is the first to draw together the history of this monumental work, its authorship, content, layout, production and use. Raising new questions, and pointing the way to further research, it opens up the Glossa to all students of medieval religion and intellectual history.

In Illuminating Moses: A History of Reception, readers discover the roles of Moses from the Exodus to the Renaissance--law-giver, prophet, writer--and their impact on Jewish and Christian cultures as seen in the Hebrew Bible, Patristic writings, Catholic liturgy, Jewish philosophy and midrashim, Anglo-Saxon literature, Scholastics and Thomas Aquinas, Middle English literature, and the Renaissance.Contributors are Jane Beal, Robert D. Miller II, Tawny Holm, Christopher A. Hall, Luciana Cuppo-Csaki, Haim Kreisel, Rachel S. Mikva, Devorah Schoenfeld, Gernot Wieland, Deborah Goodwin, Franklin T. Harkins, Gail Ivy Berlin, and Brett Foster.

In Reading the Rabbis Eva De Visscher examines the Hebrew scholarship of Englishman Herbert of Bosham (c.1120-c.1194). Chiefly known as the loyal secretary and hagiographer of Archbishop Thomas Becket and enemy of Henry II, he appears here as an outstanding Hebraist whose linguistic proficiency and engagement with Rabbinic sources, including contemporary teachers, were unique for a northern-European Christian of his time. Two commentaries on the Psalms by Herbert form the focus of scrutiny. In demonstrating influence from Jewish and Christian texts such as Rashi, Hebrew-French glossaries, Hebrew-Latin Psalters, and Victorine scholarship, De Visscher situates Herbert within the context of an increased interest in the revision of Jerome's Latin Bible and literal exegesis, and a heightened Christian awareness of Jewish 'other-ness'.

The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources sets out to understand the ideology and spirituality of crusading by exploring the biblical imagery and exegetical interpretations which formed its philosophical basis. Medieval authors frequently drew upon scripture when seeking to justify, praise, or censure the deeds of crusading warriors on many frontiers. After all, as the fundamental written manifestation of God’s will for mankind, the Bible was the ultimate authority for contemporary writers when advancing their ideas and framing their world view. This volume explores a broad spectrum of biblically-derived themes surrounding crusading and, by doing so, seeks to better comprehend a thought world in which lethal violence could be deemed justifiable according to Christian theology.Contributors are: Jessalynn Bird, Adam M. Bishop, John D. Cotts, Sini Kangas, Thomas Lecaque, T. J. H. McCarthy, Nicholas Morton, Torben Kjersgaard Nielsen, Luigi Russo, Uri Shachar, Iris Shagrir, Kristin Skottki, Katherine Allen Smith, Thomas W. Smith, Carol Sweetenham, Miriam Rita Tessera, Jan Vandeburie, Julian J. T. Yolles, and Lydia Marie Walker.

In the Mirror of the Prodigal Son provides a comprehensive history of the function of the parable of the prodigal son in shaping religious identity in medieval and Reformation Europe. By investigating a wealth of primary sources, the book reveals the interaction between commentaries, sermons, religious plays, and images as a decisive factor in the increasing popularity of the prodigal son. Pietro Delcorno highlights the ingenious and multifaceted uses of the parable within pastoral activities and shows the pervasive presence of the Bible in medieval communication. The prodigal son narrative became the ideal story to convey a discourse about sin and penance, grace and salvation. In this way, the parable was established as the paradigmatic biography of any believer.

The Codex Amiatinus and its Sister Bibles examines the full Bibles (Bibles containing every scriptural text that producers deemed canonical) made at the northern English monastery of WearmouthJarrow under Abbot Ceolfrith (d. 716) and the Venerable Bede (d. 735), and the religious, cultural, and intellectual circumstances of their production. The key manuscript witness of this monasterys Bible-making enterprise is the Codex Amiatinus, a massive illustrated volume sent toward Rome in June 716, as a gift to St. Peter. Amiatinus is the oldest extant, largely intact Latin full Bible. Its survival is the critical reason that Ceolfriths WearmouthJarrow has long been recognized as a pivotal center in the evolution of the design, structure, and contents of medieval biblical codices.See inside the book.

In Illuminating Jesus in the Middle Ages, editor Jane Beal and other scholars analyse the reception history of images and ideas about Jesus in medieval cultures (6th–15th c.). They consider representations of Jesus in the liturgy of the medieval church, Psalters and psalm commentaries, bestiaries, the Glossa ordinaria, and Middle English vitae Christi as well as among the English, the Irish, and Europeans, adherents to the cult of the Holy Name, participants in the Feast of Corpus Christi, and medieval contemplatives, including Bede, Theophylact of Ochrid, Saint Francis, Gertrude the Great, Dante, Julian of Norwich, and medieval English and European visionaries, among others.Contributors are Jane Beal, George Hardin Brown, Aaron Canty, Tomás Ó Cathasaigh, Thomas Cattoi, Andrew Galloway, Julia Bolton Holloway, Michael Kuczynski, Rob Lutton, Vittorio Montemaggi, Paul Patterson, Linda Stone, Lesley Sullivan Marcantonio, Larry Swain, Donna Trembinski, Nancy van Deusen, and Barbara Zimbalist.

This book offers a new and inclusive approach to Western exegesis up to 1100. For too long, modern scholars have examined Jewish and Christian exegesis apart from each other. This is not surprising, given how religious, social, and linguistic borders separated Jews and Christians. But they worked to a great extent on the same texts. Christians were keenly aware that they relied on translation. The contributions to this volume reveal how both sides worked on parallel tracks, posing similar questions and employing more or less the same techniques, and in some rare instances, interdependently.

In the 14th century, hypotheses about a lying God, deceived Christ, and the changeability of the past circulated. At the new University of Vienna, three German masters attempted in their lectures on the Old Testament to counter them. Their commentaries are the longest, the most influential, and perhaps even the most inspiring commentaries on the Bible written at Vienna.This book offers a glimpse into their most unusual ideas, apocalyptic expectations, heretics, toads, and devils; assessments of Amalric of Bena, Moshe Taku, and Petrarch; and, last, but not least, the search for an immovable truth that fills their pages.

This book delivers the first substantial study of the preaching of the Third Crusade (1187-92). It assembles c.200 sermon texts and c.100 manuscripts, to understand the explosive dynamic of mobilization in the Latin West. Dealing with the essential fact that a genre called ‘crusade sermon’ did not exist, it develops methodological devices for identifying sermons relevant for the crusading purpose. The book contests thus the modern historiography, which has placed too much trust in the few chronicle reports. However, its fruitful blending of crusading, preaching, exegesis, manuscript studies, and intellectual history has much to offer beyond crusade studies.

This work explores the ambivalent and often troublesome relationship that Jews and Christians had in the Middle Ages, focusing specifically on scriptural exegesis. While the shared scriptural tradition of Jews and Christians could lead to mutual understanding and rapprochement, it also inspired sharp polemic on the “right” interpretation of those same Scriptures. Even the exact text of those shared Scriptures was hard to agree on. The essays in this volume show that the meaning of Scripture is not self-evident; it is created within a faith community. The result was a lively discussion on the meaning of Scripture between Jews and Christians. Sharp polemic and cross-fertilization occurred simultaneously. The essays in this volume will add new details and perspectives to the rich tradition of scholarship on this topic, and, in some cases, will even challenge its parameters.Contributors are Deeana Copeland Klepper, Robert A. Harris, Franklin T. Harkins, Görge Hasselhoff, Johannes Heil, Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, Christopher Ocker, Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, Devorah Schoenfeld, Boyd Taylor Coolman, and Frans van Liere.