#hrabanus maurus

[cuties-in-codices]

pattern poems

in a copy of the "liber de laudibus sanctae crucis" by hrabanus maurus, central or southern france, early 11th century

source: Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 9

[medieval-elephants]

Feeling blue? 1000 years before the blue elephant emoji was added to phones, some Italian monks drew this elephant and friends in a manuscript for Abbot Theobald of Monte Cassino. Monte Cassino was an important monastery and home to St Benedict whose rule is the basis for the Benedictine Order of monks and nuns that still exists today.

This manuscript contains an abbreviation of Hrabanus Maurus's De Rerum Naturis (On the Natures of Things). Hrabanus Maurus (d. 856) was archbishop of Mainz. In addition to encyclodpedia-like works sucha as De Rerum Naturis, he wrote Biblical commentaries, grammars, teaching texts and poems with complex palindromes. He wrote so much that his surviving writings fill about 6 modern type-set volumes.

Materials: parchment, pigments, ink Contents: Hrabanus Maurus, De Rerum Naturis Date: 1022-1032 Now Archivio dell'Abbazia, Montecassino, MS 132 (image from a facsimile)

[eugaenia]

Let's just appreciate the way Lynda L. Coon in her "Dark Age Bodies: Gender and Monastic Practice in the Early Medieval West (2011)" wrote about Alcuin of York's passion for giving bird nicknames to his fellow friends and disciples at the Carolingian court.

Lynda L. Coon, Dark Age Bodies: Gender and Monastic Practice in the Early Medieval West, Philadelphia - Oxford 2011, p. 16

Like I'd never thought I'd read about Alcuin being the master of boy-birds, but here we are.

[writing-system]

Hrabanus Maurus The Invention of Languages 10th century

Source

[alephcinema]

the blue screen, cross-words and punctuation marks

-> notes (part.1) on ymagine denudari: éthique de l'image et métaphysique de l'abstraction chez maître eckhart (wackernagel)

forms of “extrinsic attributions”

as l. oeing-hanhoff asserts, the history of abstraction has not yet been written, as far as the middle ages are concerned.

semantic levels, from sacred to profane:

● verb-image

● human 'in the image' of the creator

● images 'dissimilar' from the exterior world

ektype/archetype = image-copy/model = 'imago'/'exemplar' = abbild/urbild

“to be generated 'in the image' of god, one must be de-generated from terrestrial filiation and 'un-imaged' from the images of all creatures” (p.34)

rejection from terrestrial filiation < renunciation of oneself < transformation 'in the same image' < divine filiation

'abstractive' function of the intellect, which 'detaches' (abstrahit) from the here and now, from the place and time / entbildung = detachment

1. inquantum (qua) = as = the exclusion of all that is foreign to the (redoubled) term

“the being of all things, as such, is measured by eternity, not by time. Because the intellect whose object is being, and that grasps being before any other thing, abstracts from the here and now, and thus from time” (p.38)

2. the idea of proximity (read: with the absolute), near-consubstantiality

● absolute being, “being is what desires all things” (avicenne)

● being formally inherent to things, “being is actuality” (saint thomas)

3. generator/generated (read: cgi)

● 'real' distinction in divine things, 'where the relation and the things are identical'

● distinction 'by relation and reason' in the things created

[jamesgraybooksellerworld]

De Laudib[us] sancte Crucis opus. 1503

De Laudib[us] sancte Crucis opus. 1503

469J   Rabanus Maurus. 784-856?  Magnencij Rabani Mauri De Laudib[us] sancte Crucis opus. erudcione versu prosaq[ue] mirificum. edited by Jacobus Wimpheling. Phorçheim. [Pforzheim : In ædibus Thom[ae] Anshelmi., 1503.     $24,000 Folio 31 x 21cm. signatures: Aa6 Bb4 a-k6; A, B6 C4. [Complete] Types 3:109R, 4:180G; 40 lines of transcribed verse + headline, 40 lines of commentary + headline, red…

[retentionalfinitude2]

“Severus of Androcca (Italy, d.c. 530). Arriving too late to administer the Last Rites, he brought the man back to life again, so he could then die properly.”

“Rumwold of Brackley (England, d.c. 650). Only three days old, at his baptism he suddenly spoke and delivered a sermon on the Holy Trinity and the need for virtuous living, then died.”

“Genesius of Arles (France, d. 303 or 308). A decapitated martyr, his body was buried in France but his head was transported ‘in the hands of angels’ to Spain, where he is invoked as a protection against dandruff.”

--Eliot Weinberger, Angels & Saints

Images: Grid poems by Hrabanus Maurus. Weinberger’s book explains how they were constructed and to be read.

[cruger2984]

A3! and its Saints: Summer Troupe

Like the old summer troupe, they decided to focus on comedy plays and give the audience the feeling that the summer has only begun after they have seen one of the refreshing summer troupe acts. Here is the Summer Troupe with their corresponding feast days!

June 6 - Misumi Ikaruga

St. Marcellin Champagnat: French priest who is known as the founder of the Marist Brothers of the Schools (Marist Brothers), a religious congregation of brothers in the Catholic Church devoted to Mary and dedicated to education. Born in the year of the storming of the Bastille, the start of the French Revolution. The religious, political, economic and social unrest of the times he lived influenced his priorities and life path. Beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1955 and canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1999, he is the patron saint of education, teachers and simplicity.

June 21 - Tenma Sumeragi

St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Italian confessor from the Jesuit order. Born into the noble Gonzaga clan in 1568, and in order to satisfy his father's ambitions, he was trained in the art of war and was obliged to attend royal banquets and military parades. Not with standing his father's furious opposition, Aloysius renounced his inheritance and join the Jesuits in Rome. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epidemic. Canonized on New Year's Eve in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII, he is the patron saint of the Christian youth, Jesuit scholastics, the blind, AIDS patients, AIDS care-givers.

July 8 - Yuki Rurikawa

St. Kilian: Irish missionary bishop and is known as the 'Apostle of Franconia', where he began his labors towards the end of the 7th century. There are several biographies of him. The oldest texts which refer to him are an 8th-century necrology at Würzburg and the notice by Hrabanus Maurus in his martyrology. He is usually portrayed wearing a bishop's mitre and holding a sword, which was the instrument of his martyrdom.

July 20 - Kumon Hyodo

St. Margaret of Antioch: She was a native of Antioch and the daughter of a pagan priest named Aedesius. Her mother having died soon after her birth, Margaret was nursed by a Christian woman from Antioch. Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, Margaret was disowned by her father, adopted by her nurse, and lived in the country keeping sheep with her foster mother.  Olybrius asked to marry her, but with the demand that she renounce Christianity. Upon her refusal, she was cruelly tortured, during which various miraculous incidents occurred. One of these involved being swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, from which she escaped alive when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards. Margaret is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, being listed as such in the Roman Martyrology, and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, in which she is the patron of women in childbirth, invoked against backache, and invoked for escape from devils.

August 1 - Kazunari Miyoshi

St. Alphonsus Liguori: Italian spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, theologian and bishop of Sant' Agata de Goti, who is known as the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer aka the Redemptorist order. His best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions. Canonized as a saint by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839, he is proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. He is the patron of confessors and moralists.

August 30 - Muku Sakisaka

St. Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán: Ecuadorian laywoman who was known for her charitable giving and strict devotion to Jesus Christ while becoming somewhat of a hermit dedicated to discerning his will. The death of her parents prompted her to relocate in order to work as a seamstress while doubling as a catechist and educator to some of her siblings who needed caring. But her devotion to God was strong and it led her to live amongst the Dominican religious in Peru where she spent time before her death. Beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992 and canonized sixteen years later by Pope Benedict XVI, her major shrine can be found in Nobol, Ecuador.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Wednesday, December 23rd, the 358th day of 2020. There are 8 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

814: Magnentius Hrabanus Maurus, who will become one of the most brilliant scholars of his era, is ordained a priest.

1193: Death of Thorlac Thorhallssohn, founder of Iceland’s first monastery.

1528: Two hundred citizens of Basel assemble and present a petition, drawn up by the reformer Oecolampadius, for the suppression of the mass.

1531: Heinrich Bullinger accepts the pulpit of Zurich, vacated by the death of Zwingli in battle.

1652: Death of John Cotton, an eminent minister in colonial Massachusetts and “father of New England Congregationalism.”

1873: Women of Hillsboro, Ohio, march to the places that serve liquor in town and by appeals and prayer shut most of them down. Within fifty days, saloons in two hundred and fifty Ohio cities will also be shut down.

Death of Sarah Grimké at West Newton, Massachusetts. She had been a sturdy opponent of slavery.

1897: Peru passes a law empowering Alcades (mayors) of provincial councils to solemnize marriages, thus enabling non-Catholics to wed.

1925: Edith Warner’s remains are laid to rest. She had been a missionary for thirty-three years in Niger and explored areas never before seen by a white person.

[duardius]

R-printer

illustration: facsimile of R-type from de universo by hrabanus maurus, printed by adolf rusch, strasburg, 1465? [victor scholderer, ‘Adolf Rusch and the Earliest Roman Types’, The Library, vol. s4-XX, 1939, fig. 1]. i have added the pink screen over the R. the image is from pdf—i believe the original was collotype: there is a copy of the book in london & i should replace the illustration with a photo from the book, when it is again convenient to visit libraries.

the printers’ term «roman» came into the trade via france: «… the name probably originated from the fact that the first roman used in France, that of the Sorbonne press of 1470, was copied from the fount of Schweynheym and Pannartz [first shown in cicero, Epistolae ad familiares] used in Rome from 1467.» [a.f. johnson, Type Designs, grafton & co., london, 1959, p37]. however, the london bibliographers described this face as only almost-roman: there was much controversy as to what exactly constituted pure roman as differentiated from the archetype, humanistic script; the lower-case was not yet brought fully into conformity with the capitals—i.e. not uniformly serifed & bracketed. stanley morison in ‘EarlyHumanistic Script and the First Roman Type’ [The Library, vol. s4-XXIV, 1943, p2] gives thorough argument as to why this face of schweynheym and pannartz should receive the accolade—in any event, the fount of schweynheym & pannartz engendered the term.  there was, however, one «roman» a little earlier: «It has hitherto been accepted that the earliest known roman type is a fount of about 103 mm. [20 lines*] used at Strasburg by an anonymous printer long known only as the R-printer, from the peculiar form of that majuscule in the fount in question [1st illustration], until he was identified beyond all reasonable doubt by Dziatzko as Adolf Rusch, the son-in-law of Mentelin [johannes mentelin, first printer of strasburg]. In all probability the R, which only needs the addition of a short cross-stroke to pass muster as the monogram AR, was intended as a sort of signature of his own initials. None of the books in the R-type contain a colophon or date of any kind, nor has any one been able to discover constant variants in the use of the fount, so that our chief means of arriving at the approximate time of their completion are manuscript entries by rubricators or owners in particular copies.» [op. cit., scholderer, p43].  harry cater’s take: «The first typeface to be fully Roman is, i think, the one that the R-Printer was using in Strasburg by 1467. It has classical capitals of rather a rough kind and the characters of the lower case have been given serifs to match them and are widened and rounded so that their curves are consistent with those of the capitals. Apart from the curious R it makes a legible fount not without symmetry and harmony.  I quote the date 1467 as the latest by which the R-Printer’s Roman fount was in use, the date accepted by Dr. Scholderer. It is four or five years earlier than any other of the kind in Germany and more fully developed than its immediate successors. Its existence at so early a time cannot be fully explained even by its cutter being in touch with Italian printers, whose designs had not then reached such a pitch or romanization.» [A View of Early Typography, at the clarendon press, oxford, 1969, p47].  that rusch was progenitor of early italian cuts of roman, now known as venetian, is an interesting hypothesis: «We also know that Rusch, in addition to being a printer, bookseller, and paper-dealer, was something  of a humanist and that his travels took him into Italy at least once. Could it have been that Rusch, on the occasion of a visit to Venice, talked over with John and Vindelin [johann & wendelin de speier, german printers who cut the first roman at venice] the project of a press catering mainly for the new learning, instructed them in its management, pointed out to them the kind of letter most likely to attract scholarly readers, and arranged to supply them with skilled labour from home for a start?» [op. cit., scholderer, p46].

* bibliographers’ measure.

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day - 4 February - Saint Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856)

Saint of the Day – 4 February – Saint Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856)

Saint of the Day – 4 February – Saint Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856) Archbishop, Monk, Abbot,Theologian, Poet, Writer, Teacher, Encyclopedist – also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus and “The Teacher of Germany”– born in 776 at Mainz, Germany and died on 4 February 856 at Winkel, Germany of natural cause.   In the most recent edition of the Roman Martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, pp. 133), his…

[u-mspcoll]

Puzzling out Hrabanus Maurus' Encyclopedia: A Manuscript Tale

When searching for manuscripts of Hrabanus Maurus' medieval encyclopedia De rerum naturis (On the Natures of Things) in the database Digital Scriptorium, I came across a leaf fragment held at Columbia University Library (Plimpton MS 128 ) which, in terms of its handwriting and style of illumination, was clearly connected to a leaf fragment held at the University of Michigan Library (Mich. Ms. f. 14). Read more!

[albannikolaiherbst]

Entrettung: Die Brüste der Béart XXXIII (erste Fortsetzung des Entwurfs). Die Brüste der Béart, 53.

Entrettung: Die Brüste der Béart XXXIII (erste Fortsetzung des Entwurfs). Die Brüste der Béart, 53.

(…)

Ein letzter Speichelfaden bebt allein aus daß-wir-Leib-mal-waren nach und ein Marienarm, der uns nicht hält,

da wir als ‘rein’ die Göttin zu entkräften und ziehn sie mit uns aus der Welt, der es an ihr, nicht uns gebrach,

und legen Dir, Béart, aus unsers Ave Himmeslehr in Erdensprach das brave Joch der zweiten Eva um den Hals,

der schon als eines Mannes Teil, Béart, gefallnen Frau und ach für…

[signorformica]

De rerum naturis. Hrabanus Maurus. Süddeutschland ~ 1425 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.  Bibliothèque Infernale on FB

[lutfiarifin]

Sekte Punix

Karya Jorge Luis Borges

Mereka yang menulis tentang sekte Punix yang berasal dari Heliopolis dan ditemukan saat pemugaran situs keagamaan selepas kematian sang reformator agung, Amenophis IV, kebanyakan mengutip dari naskah karangan Herodotus, Tacitus dan monumen-monumen di Mesir, namun mereka abai, atau memang sengaja mengabaikan, bahwa sebutan Punix itu sendiri tidak pernah disebutkan sebelum Hrabanus Maurus dan di dalam sumber tertua sekalipun (sebut saja saturnales karya Flavius Josephus) hanya membahas tentang Masyarakat Adat atau Masyarakat Tersembunyi. Gregorovius pernah mengamati, di dalam pertemuan rahasia para pemuka agama di Ferrara, mereka yang menyebut-nyebut istilah Punix sangat sulit ditemukan dalam percakapan; di Jenewa aku sempat berkenalan dengan para pengrajin yang tidak mengerti ketika aku menanyakan apakah mereka bagian dari golongan Punix, tapi langsung mengakui bahwa mereka adalah anggota golongan Tersembunyi. Kalau tidak salah, kesamaan yang mereka miliki seperti kebenaran yang dipercayai para penganut Buddha; sebutan untuk golongan mereka yang telah dikenal di dunia tidak sama dengan nama yang mereka sendiri sematkan untuk kelompok mereka.

Miklosich, dalam sebuah lembaran yang sangat terkenal, pernah membandingkan sektarian Punix dengan para gipsi. Di Cile dan Hungaria berdiam banyak gipsi dan ada juga sektarian; meskipun secara geografis saling berjauhan, setidaknya mereka memiliki sedikit kesamaan. Para gipsi adalah pedagang, pandai besi, pandai tembaga, dan peramal; para sektarian biasanya sukses sebagai tenaga lepas. Para gipsi menunjukkan ciri fisik dan bahasa tertentu, atau biasa bercakap, menggunakan bahasa yang asing; sedangkan para sektarian tersamarkan di antara kerumunan manusia dan terbukti bahwa mereka tidak pernah mengalami persekusi. Para gipsi tampak atraktif dan menjadi inspirasi untuk puisi-puisi yang buruk; sedangkan balada, lukisan murahan dan dansa foxtrot menyembunyikan keberadaan para sektarian… Martin Buber mengatakan kalau orang yahudi itu pada dasarnya menyedihkan; tidak semua sektarian seperti itu dan sebagian malah menyayangkan kemalangan yang dialami orang-orang yahudi; orang-orang ini dan stigma buruk yang dipercayai cukup untuk menyangkal kesalahan umum (itulah yang dibela mati-matian oleh Urmann) yang memandang Punix sebagai nenek moyang bangsa Israel. Untuk perkara ini, kurang lebih orang-orang beralasan: Urmann adalah seorang yang sensitif; Urmann adalah seorang Yahudi; Urmann sering terlibat kontak dengan para sektarian di geto (perkampungan yahudi) di kota Praha; afinitas yang dirasakan Urmann membuktikan kebenaran soal fakta tersebut. Dengan sepenuh ketulusan, aku tidak bisa menyetujui diktum seperti ini. Bahwa sektarian yang tinggal di lingkungan yahudi akan menyerupai Yahudi tidak membuktikan apa pun; kenyataan yang tidak terbantahkan itu, seperti teori ketakterhinggaan Shakespeare karya Hazlitt, mereka menyerupai semua manusia di dunia. Mereka adalah segalanya untuk seluruh manusia, seperti keduabelas rasul; beberapa hari yang lalu, Dr. Juan Francisco Amaro, dari Pasyandù, memuji keahlian mereka yang membaur dengan cara-cara Kreol.

Aku pernah mengatakan bahwa sekte tersebut tercatat tidak pernah mengalami persekusi. Ini betul, tetapi karena tidak ada satu pun kelompok manusia yang anggota sektenya menyadari hal ini, benar jika dikatakan tidak ada persekusi atau kekerasan yang mereka alami dan perbuat. Di dalam perang dunia oleh bangsa barat dan peperangan yang jauh yang terjadi di Asia mereka telah menumpahkan darah karena hasrat duniawi semata, di bawah panji-panji musuh; hal ini membuat mereka sulit teridentifikasi sebagai warga negara mana pun di dunia.

Tanpa satu pun buku keramat sebagaimana kitab suci bagi bangsa Israel, tanpa memori yang lazim, tanpa memori lainnya berupa bahasa persatuan, mereka menyebar di sepenjuru bumi, berbeda warna dan corak, satu-satunya hal yang tunggal – yaitu ketersembunyiannya – menyatukan mereka dan akan menyatukan mereka hingga akhir masa. Pernah sekali waktu, sebagai tambahan tentang kelompok Tersembunyi, mereka memiliki sosok legenda (dan mungkin merupakan sejenis mitos kosmogonik), tapi orang-orang Punix yang beriman dangkal telah melupakannya dan kini hanya mempertahankan tradisi hukuman yang samar. Terkait persoalan hukum, pakta atau hak-hak istimewa, karena setiap versi berbeda-beda dan sulit bagi kita untuk menengok keputusan Tuhan yang menjamin kekekalan garis keturunan anggota mereka, dari generasi ke generasi, mereka akan melakukan upacara. Aku pernah memeriksa catatan dari para petualang, aku pernah berbicara dengan para pemuka adat dan para teolog ; dan aku berani menjamin bahwa perayaan upacara adalah satu-satunya praktek keagamaan yang dirayakan para sektarian. Upacara itu menegaskan keberadaan kelompok Tersembunyi. Kelompok ini, seperti yang telah aku sebutkan, disebarkan dari generasi ke generasi, tapi anggota mereka yang taat lebih senang jika para ibu tidak mengajarkannya kepada anak-anak mereka, begitu juga dengan para pendeta; baiat ke dalam sekte ini adalah tugas dari individu paling rendah. Seorang budak, pengidap kusta atau gembel yang mengabdi sebagai guru spiritual. Bahkan seorang anak pun bisa mendoktrin ajaran ini kepada orang lain. Tindakan ini sendiri sebenarnya tampak sepele, berlangsung sesaat dan tidak memerlukan penjelasan lebih lanjut. Perlengkapan yang sering mereka pakai dalam upacara keagamaan adalah gabus, lilin atau getah arab. (dalam liturgi mereka, disebutkan penggunaan lumpur; ini juga sering kali digunakan.) Tidak ada kuil khusus yang dipakai untuk perayaan pemujaan ini, tapi beberapa puing, sebuah ruang bawah tanah atau koridor pintu masuk dianggap sebagai lokasi yang tepat. Kelompok Tersembunyi itu keramat tapi selalu terlihat konyol; penyelenggaraan kegiatan mereka dilakukan diam-diam dan mereka mahir untuk tidak membicarakannya. Tidak ada kata-kata yang patut untuk menamakan kelompok itu, tapi itu dimengerti bahwa semua kata-kata menamainya atau, sebaliknya, mau tak mau menyinggunya, dan demikian, dalam sebuah percakapan aku mengatakan tentang sesuatu atau hal-hal yang lain dan senyum yang tersanar atau perasaan tidak nyaman pun muncul, karena mereka menyadari aku telah menyinggung sedikit soal kelompok Tersembunyi. Dalam literatur Jerman ada beberapa puisi yang ditulis oleh para sektarian yang menjadikan laut atau senja sebagai subjek; subjek ini adalah simbol bagi kelompok Tersembunyi, aku sering mendengar kelompok itu melantunkannya berkali-kali. Orbis terrarum est speculum Ludi mengutip sebait peribahasa palsu yang direkam oleh Du Cange dalam glosariumnya. Ada sejenis horor keramat yang mencegah beberapa penganut setia untuk melakukan upacara sederhana ini; penganut yang lain memandang mereka sebelah mata, tapi mereka lebih menganggap hina diri mereka sendiri. Bagaimanapun, pujian terbesar diberikan kepada mereka yang berhati-hati dalam meninggalkan adat istiadatnya dan mencapai kontak langsung dengan tuhan; para sektarian ini, dalam mengekspresikan hubungan ketuhanannya, melakukannya dengan gambaran yang diambil dari liturgi dan pernah dituliskan oleh santo Yohanes Salib sebagai berikut:

Semoga Tujuh Cakrawala mengetahui bahwa Tuhan

Selezat gabus dan lumpur.

 Aku pernah mengunjungi tiga benua bersilaturahmi dengan banyak penganut Punix ; awalnya aku sadar kelompok Tersembunyi terlihat banal bagi mereka, memalukan, cabul dan amat sangat … (apa pun hal yang lebih aneh lagi). Mereka tidak terima bahwa orang tua mereka pernah bersujud pada tipuan semacam itu. Yang terasa ganjil adalah kelompok Tersembunyi tidak musnah sejak dulu kala; terlepas dari semesta yang berubah-ubah, terlepas dari perang dan eksodus besar-besaran, kelompok itu dengan mengagumkan mencapai tingkat keimanan yang paripurna. Orang-orang belum juga ragu untuk menegaskan bahwa sekarang kelompok tersebut berasal dari dorongan naluriah.

Diterjemahkan oleh Lutfi Arifin