Rabanus Maurus

Saint

Rabanus Maurus
Saint; Rabanus Maurus
	Rabanus Maurus (left) with Alcuin presents his work to Otgar of Mainz (right). Illustration from a Fulda manuscript,c. 830–840.
Archbishop of Mainz, Monk
Born	c.780; Mainz
Died	4 February 856; Winkel
Venerated in	Catholic Church
Feast	4 February
Influences	Alcuin

Rabanus Maurus Magnentius(c.780 – 4 February 856), also known asHrabanusorRhabanus,was aFrankish Benedictinemonk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who becamearchbishop of MainzinEast Francia.^[1]He was the author of the encyclopaediaDe rerum naturis("On the Natures of Things"). He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible. He was one of the most prominent teachers and writers of theCarolingianage,^[2]and was called "Praeceptor Germaniae", or "the teacher of Germany". In the most recent edition of the Roman Martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum,2004, pp. 133), his feast is given as 4 February and he is qualified as a Saint ('sanctus').

Life

Rabanus was born of noble parents inMainz.The date of his birth remains uncertain, but in 801 he was ordained a deacon atBenedictine Abbey of Fuldain Hesse, where he had been sent to school and had become a monk. At the insistence ofRatgar,his abbot, he went together withHaimo(laterof Halberstadt) to complete his studies atTours.There he studied underAlcuin,who in recognition of his diligence and purity gave him the surname of Maurus, after the favourite disciple ofBenedict,Saint Maurus.^[2]^[3]

Returning toFulda,in 803 he was entrusted with the principal charge of the abbey school,^[3]which under his direction became one of the most preeminent centers of scholarship and book production in Europe, and sent forth such pupils asWalafrid Strabo,Servatus Lupus of Ferrières,andOtfrid of Weissenburg.It was probably at this period that he compiled his excerpt from the grammar ofPriscian,^[2]a popular textbook during the Middle Ages. According toAlban Butler'sLives of the Saints,Rabanus ate no meat and drank no wine.

In 814 Rabanus was ordained a priest. Shortly afterwards, apparently on account of disagreement with Abbot Ratgar, he withdrew for a time from Fulda. This banishment was long thought to have occasioned a pilgrimage toPalestine,based on an allusion in his commentary onJoshua.^[2]However, the passage in question is taken fromOrigen'sHomilyxivIn Librum Jesu Nave.Hence, it was Origen, not Rabanus, who visited Palestine.^[4]Rabanus returned to Fulda in 817 on the election of a new abbot,Eigil,and at Eigil's death in 822, Rabanus himself became abbot.^[2]He handled this position efficiently and successfully, but in 842 he resigned so as to have greater leisure for study and prayer, retiring to the neighbouring monastery ofSt Petersberg.

In 847 Rabanus was constrained to return to public life when he was elected to succeedOtgarasArchbishop of Mainz.He died atWinkelon theRhinein 856.^[2]

Hymns

Rabanus composed a number of hymns, the most famous of which is theVeni Creator Spiritus.This is a hymn to theHoly Spiritoften sung atPentecostand at ordinations. It is known in English through many translations, includingCome, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire;Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest;andCreator Spirit, by whose aid.^[5]Veni Creator Spirituswas used byGustav Mahleras the first chorale of hiseighth symphony.

Another of Rabanus' hymns,Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels(Christe, sanctorum decus Angelorum), sung for the commemoration ofSaint Michael and All Angels,and to include thearchangels GabrielandRaphael,is found in English translation inThe Hymnal 1982(of theEpiscopal Church), and was harmonized byRalph Vaughan Williams.^[6]

Works

Rabanus' works, many of which as of 1911^[update]remained unpublished, comprise commentaries on scripture (GenesistoJudges,Ruth,Kings,Chronicles,Judith,Esther,Canticles,Proverbs,Wisdom,Sirach,Jeremiah,Lamentations,Ezekiel,Maccabees,Matthew,theEpistles of St Paul,includingHebrews); and various treatises relating to doctrinal and practical subjects, including more than one series ofhomilies.InDe institutione clericorumhe brought into prominence the views of Augustine and Gregory the Great as to the training which was requisite for a right discharge of the clerical function.^[2]^[7]One of his most popular and enduring works is a collection of poems centered on the cross, calledDe laudibus sanctae crucisorIn honorem sanctae crucis,a set of highly sophisticated poems that present the cross (and, in the last poem, Rabanus himself kneeling before it) in word and image, even in numbers.^[8]

Among the others may be mentioned theDe universo libri xxii., sive etymologiarum opus,a kind of dictionary or encyclopedia, heavily dependent uponIsidore of Seville'sEtymologies,designed as a help towards thetypological,historical and mystical interpretation of Scripture, theDe sacris ordinibus,theDe disciplina ecclesiasticaand theMartyrologium.All of them are characterized by erudition (he knew even someGreekandHebrew).^[2]He also published an annotated version ofDe re militarito improve Frankish warfare.^[1]

In the annals of German philology a special interest attaches to theGlossaria Latino-Theodisca.A commentary,Super Porphyrium,printed byCousinin 1836 among theOuvrages inédits d'Abélard,and assigned both by that editor and by Haurau to Hrabantis Maurus, is now generally believed to have been the work of a disciple.^[2]

In 2006 Germans marked the 1150th anniversary of his death, especially in Mainz and in Fulda. Highlights of the celebrations included the display of Codex Vaticanus Reginensis latinus 124, an extremely rare loan by the Vatican to Mainz of a spectacular manuscript containingDe laudibus sanctae crucis.The anniversary also saw the publication of no fewer than three book-length studies of Maurus and his work.^[9]

Marcomannic runes

A runic Alpha bet recorded in a treatise calledDe Inventione Litterarumhas been ascribed to Rabanus. It consisted of a mixture ofElder FutharkwithAnglo-Saxon runesand is preserved in 8th and 9th-century manuscripts mainly from the southern part of theCarolingian Empire(Alemannia,Bavaria). The manuscript text attributes the runes to theMarcomanni, quos nos Nordmannos vocamus(and hence traditionally, the Alpha bet is called "Marcomannic runes" ) but it has no connection with theMarcomanni,and rather is an attempt of Carolingian scholars to represent all letters of the Latin Alpha bet with runic equivalents.

Wilhelm Grimmdiscussed these runes in 1821.^[10]

Bibliography

The first nominally complete edition of the works of Hrabanus Maurus was that ofGeorges Colvener(Cologne, 6 vols. fol., 1627). TheOpera omniaform vols. cvii–cxii ofMigne'sPatrologiae cursus completus(1852). TheDe universois the subject ofCompendium der Naturwissenschaften an der Schule zu Fulda im IX. Jahrhundert(Berlin, 1880).

Recent critical editions and translations are available of some of his works:

De sermonum proprietate sive Opus de universo,ed. and tr. by Priscilla Throop,Hrabanus Maurus: De Universo: the peculiar properties of words and their mystical significance,2 vols. Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2009.
Expositio in Matthaeum,edited by B. Löfstedt, 2 vols.Corpus Christianorum,continuatio medievalis 174-174A. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000.
In honorem sanctae crucis,edited by M. Perrin, 2 vols. Corpus Christianorum, continuatio medievalis 100-100A. Turnhout: Brepols, 1997.
De magicis artibus,partial English translation inEuropean Magic and Witchcraft: a reader,tr. Martha Rampton, 2018, pp. 143-145
Martyrologium. Liber de computo,edited byJ. McCullohand W. Stevens, Corpus Christianorum, continuatio mediaevalis 44. Turnhout: Brepols, 1997.
Hrabanus Maurus: De institutione clericorum; Studien und Edition,Freiburger Beitraege zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte 7. Frankfurt am Main: 1996. An edition (with German translation?) of theDe Institutione Clericorumis listed as "in preparation" by Brepols. An English translation by Owen M. Phelan,On the Formation of Clergy,was published byCatholic University of America Press,2023.

German publications on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of his death:

Hans-Jürgen Kotzur, ed.,Rabanus Maurus: Auf den Spuren eines karolingischen Gelehrten.Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2006.ISBN 3-8053-3613-6.120 pages, 85 illustrations, including Maurus's cross poems and their transcriptions and partial translations.
Stephanie Haarländer,Rabanus Maurus zum Kennenlernen: Ein Lesebuch mit einer Einführung in sein Leben und Werk.Publikationen Bistum Mainz. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgeselschaft, 2006.ISBN 978-3-934450-24-0.184 pages, many illustrations. Collection of texts by Maurus translated into German, with extensive introduction to Maurus's life and work.
Franz J. Felten, ed.,Hrabanus Maurus: Gelehrter, Abt von Fulda und Erzbischof von Mainz.Mainz: Publikationen Bistum Mainz, 2006.ISBN 978-3-934450-26-4.196 pages, 4 illustrations. Collection of historical essays.

References

^^a ^bHanson, Victor Davis (18 December 2007).Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power.Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0-307-42518-8.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Hrabanus Maurus Magnentius".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 842.
^^a ^b"Rabanus Maurus", Hymnary
^Throop,Hrabanus Maurus: De Universo,vol. 1, p. x
^The Hymnal 1940 Companion,New York: The Church Pension Fund (1949)
^No. 282 inThe Hymnal 1982,Church Publishing Incorporated, New York.
^Newly edited by Detlev Zimpel, see bibliography.
^A new publication, occasioned by the 1150th anniversary of his death and the display in Mainz of the famous Vatican manuscriptReginensis latinus 124,contains many full-color illustrations of some of the poems, as well as textual and visual explanations. Hans-Jürgen Kotzur,Rabanus Maurus: Auf den Spuren eines karolingischen Gelehrten.Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2006. Images of these poems (copied from the Vatican manuscript) can also be found atthis site.
^ Aaij, Michel (May 2009)."Continental Business: Rabanus Maurus, the Preaceptor Germaniae, on the 1150th Anniversary of his Death".The Heroic Age(12).ISSN 1526-1867.Retrieved30 April2010.
^Grimm, William(1821), "18",Ueber deutsche Runen[Concerning German runes] (in German), pp. 149–159.

Sources

Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)."Blessed Maurus Magnentius Rabanus".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Migne, Jacques Paul(orig. 1852),Opera Omnia.Patrologia Latinawith analytical indexes.

External links

Works by or aboutRabanus MaurusatWikisource
Veni Creator Spiritus(with phonetic pronunciation)
Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,Ann Blyth
Pope Benedict XVI, "Rabanus Maurus", General Audience June 3, 2009
Literature by and about Rabanus Maurusin theGerman National Librarycatalogue
Works by and about Rabanus Maurusin theDeutsche Digitale Bibliothek(German Digital Library)
"Hrabanus Maurus".Repertorium "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages" (Geschichtsquellen des deutschen Mittelalters).

Preceded by Odgar	Archbishop of Mainz 848–856	Succeeded by Charles

[:0-1] Hanson, Victor Davis (18 December 2007).Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power.Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0-307-42518-8.

[EB1911-2] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Hrabanus Maurus Magnentius".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 842.

[hymnary-3] "Rabanus Maurus", Hymnary

[4] Throop,Hrabanus Maurus: De Universo,vol. 1, p. x

[5] The Hymnal 1940 Companion,New York: The Church Pension Fund (1949)

[6] No. 282 inThe Hymnal 1982,Church Publishing Incorporated, New York.

[7] Newly edited by Detlev Zimpel, see bibliography.

[8] A new publication, occasioned by the 1150th anniversary of his death and the display in Mainz of the famous Vatican manuscriptReginensis latinus 124,contains many full-color illustrations of some of the poems, as well as textual and visual explanations. Hans-Jürgen Kotzur,Rabanus Maurus: Auf den Spuren eines karolingischen Gelehrten.Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2006. Images of these poems (copied from the Vatican manuscript) can also be found atthis site.

[9] Aaij, Michel (May 2009)."Continental Business: Rabanus Maurus, the Preaceptor Germaniae, on the 1150th Anniversary of his Death".The Heroic Age(12).ISSN 1526-1867.Retrieved30 April2010.

[10] Grimm, William(1821), "18",Ueber deutsche Runen[Concerning German runes] (in German), pp. 149–159.

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