#hrabanus maurus

pattern poems

pages from a manuscript of hrabanus maurus' 9th c. liber de laudibus sanctae crucis, a series of poems glorifying the holy cross. this copy was produced in central or southern france, early 11th century

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

Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 9, f. 18v – Hrabanus Maurus, Liber de Laudibus Sanctae Crucis. 

Hrabanus Maurus The Invention of Languages 10th century

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'

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…

AN INCOMPLETE HISTORY OF MEDIAEVAL ART XLV

THE CARMINA FIGURATA OF HRABANUS MAURUS

After his teacher, Alcuin of York, Hrabanus Maurus was probably the most learned man in the Carolingian empire, and its most prolific author. His written works, including exegetical commentaries, theological studies, a natural science encyclopedia, treatises on grammar, sermons, a martyrology and a penatential, fill five volumes of the Patrologia Latina. He composed these texts while serving as the abbot of Fulda and, later, as the Archbishop of Mainz.

The Liber de Laudibus Sanctae Crucis, Hrabanus’ only poetic work, is a series of carmina figurata, or shaped poems, in praise of the cross. The block of text of each poem is overlaid with an image of the cross; the words contained within the cross form a second poem on the same theme. The correct placement of words that participate in two poems at the same time requires considerable ingenuity. Hrabanus complicates his task further by varying the form of the cross. The hybrid nature of the poems presumes a reader skilled in shifting back and forth between the reading of a text and then scanning of an image.

The carmina figurata are conspicuous displays of advanced Latin literacy. Hrabanus is not, however, showing off his linguistic skills, As an essential component of monastic life required for the performance of the Divine Office and for the reading of scripture, Latin literacy was a quasi-spiritual pursuit and the reform of the monasteries ordered by Charlemagne and instituted by Alcuin, placed Latin literacy–a subject never mentioned in the Rule of St Benedict–at the center of monastic life. The composition of carmina figurata therefore, is a conspicuous display not of individual accomplishment, but of monastic piety. This is neatly emblematized in the image of Hrabanus himself, shown as a suppliant at the foot of the cross, incorporated into the image of the cross. The monastic body is coextensive with Latinity, both of which praise the cross in equal measure.

Poem written by a Benedictine monk and archbishop Hrabanus Maurus, addressed to Abbot Grimold of St.Gall.

Then live, my strength, anchor of weary ships, Safe shore and land at last, thou, for my wreck, My honour, thou, and my abiding rest, My city safe for a bewildered heart. That though the plains and mountains and the sea Between us are, that which no earth can hold Still follows thee, and love’s own singing follows, Longing that all things may be well with thee. Christ who first gave thee for a friend to me, Christ keep thee well, where’er thou art, for me. Earth’s self shall go and the swift wheel of heaven Perish and pass, before our love shall cease. Do but remember me, as I do thee, And God, who brought us on this earth together, Bring us together to his house of heaven.