New Readings of Heinrich Suso's Horologium Sapientiae
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
New Readings of Heinrich Suso’s Horologium sapientiae Jon Øygarden Flæten Dissertation submitted for the degree of philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, 2013 © Jon Øygarden Flæten, 2013 Series of dissertations submitted to the Faculty of Theology,University of Oslo No. 46 ISSN 1502-010X All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. Cover: Inger Sandved Anfinsen. Printed in Norway: AIT Oslo AS, 2013. Produced in co-operation with Akademika publishing. The thesis is produced by Akademika publishing merely in connection with the thesis defence. Kindly direct all inquiries regarding the thesis to the copyright holder or the unit which grants the doctorate. Akademika publishing is owned by The University Foundation for Student Life (SiO) 1 Acknowledgements This work has been made possible by a scholarship from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo. I am grateful to the factuly for this opportunity and for additional funding, which has enabled me to participate on various conferences. Professor Tarald Rasmussen has been my supervisor for several years, and I am deeply grateful for steady guidance, encouragement and for many inspiring con- versations, as well as fruitful cooperation on various projects. Among many good colleauges at the faculty I especially want to thank Eivor Oftestad, Kristin B. Aavitsland, Sivert Angel, Bjørn Ole Hovda, Helge Årsheim, Halvard Johannesen, and Vemund Blomkvist. I also want to express my thanks to the Theological Library for their services, and to Professor Dag Thorkildsen. This study is dedicated to my parents, Helga Øygarden and Ole Jacob Flæten. Oslo, April 2013 Jon Ø. Flæten 2 3 Contents Contents ......................................................................................................... 3 Introduction .................................................................................................... 6 Chapter One: The Tribulations of the Elect ................................................. 31 I. A ‘Sum’ of Devotion ......................................................................... 32 The Fruits of Tribulation ........................................................... 38 Tribulation and Consolation: “A fullness of graces” ................ 41 The Patience of the Elect ........................................................... 46 God’s Elect ................................................................................ 50 Electi Against the World ........................................................... 56 A World Falling Apart .............................................................. 57 Tribulatio and Moral Criticism .................................................. 60 Querulositas: Tribulation and the ‘Crisis of Theology’ ............ 63 Tribulatio and the Weakness of Devotion ................................. 69 II. Tribulatio and the Passion of Christ ................................................. 74 Passion Narratives in the Horologium ....................................... 76 Tribulation and the Passion of Christ ........................................ 80 The Presence of Christ: Tribulatio and Mysticism .................... 84 III. Tribulations and the Last Things ..................................................... 91 Tribulation, Insufficiency, and Indulgence ............................... 96 The Angry Judge I ................................................................... 105 Chapter Two: Eucharist Devotion ............................................................. 111 “The Lord’s body is present in some special way” ............................. 113 A Solid Foundation: Faith and Devotion ............................................ 117 Faith, Against Science ............................................................. 124 4 Faith, Against Visions ............................................................. 128 Eucharist Preparation .......................................................................... 132 Confession as Preparation ....................................................... 132 Self-Abasement: Preparedness as Attitude .............................. 135 Modes and Frequency ......................................................................... 137 Spiritualiter and sacramentaliter ............................................ 137 A Question of Frequency ........................................................ 140 The Fruits of the Sacrament ................................................................ 144 The Truth of the Sacrament: Eucharist Mysticism I ............... 145 The Bridal Couch: Eucharist Mysticism II .............................. 153 “Dry Bread and Tasteless Food” ............................................. 156 Communion out of Habit ......................................................... 160 The ‘Hidden Effect’ ................................................................. 162 Fear of the Sacrament. A Late Medieval Problem .............................. 167 All Are Unworthy .................................................................... 175 A Prayer to the Sacrament / Summary ................................................ 178 Chapter Three: Death and the Afterlife ..................................................... 183 Visions of the Afterlife in Horologium sapientiae.............................. 185 A Vision of Hell (Horologium I, 10) ....................................... 187 Hell and the ‘Infernalization’ of Purgatory ............................. 192 The Angry Judge II .................................................................. 194 What is Unprepared Death? ................................................................ 197 Scientia utilissima .................................................................... 199 Mors indisposita ...................................................................... 201 The Problem of Deathbed Penitence ....................................... 208 Solitary Death .......................................................................... 213 Death and the Afterlife ............................................................ 217 What is Death Preparation? ................................................................. 221 Penitence, Conversion, and Asceticism .................................. 226 5 The Good Death .................................................................................. 230 When the Hour Comes. Rudiments of an Ars moriendi .......... 232 Mysticism, Death and the Profile of the Horologium sapientiae ........ 238 A Vision of Heaven (Horologium I, 11) ................................. 244 Unio mystica ............................................................................ 248 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 254 Abbreviations ............................................................................................. 259 Bibliography .............................................................................................. 260 6 Introduction This study is about a late medieval bestseller and a forgotten classic. Heinrich Suso’s Horologium sapientiae was one of the most widely read devotional books in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.1 The Horologium has survived in a large number of manuscripts, in Latin as well as in translations to all the major vernacu- lar languages of Europe. Suso’s expressive imagery, his religious ‘love language,’ and his intense visions of the suffering Christ and of the afterlife, were omnipres- ent in the religious culture of late medieval Europe. The work inspired many later authorities on spiritual life, from Ludolph of Saxony and Nicolaus of Cusa to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit movement.2 The Horologium was especially popular in the Low Countries and religious milieus such as the Devotio moderna were clearly under susonian influence.3 Horologium sapientiae is an intense work of religious fiction. It is written by a man of unique literary talent and religious fervor. The Horologium is the product of a religious culture that that was under pressure, a culture pervaded by eschatological anticipation and religious anxiety. However, the work is also an example of how this culture produced new and innovative forms of popular theol- ogy that provided relief to pious minds. This study will argue that Suso’s ap- proaches may be seen as a pioneering effort of late medieval ‘theology of piety.’ This concept, developed by German scholars, enables appreciative and accurate analysis of certain types of theological literature from the later medieval period that does not easily answer to categories such as ‘scholastic’ or ‘mystical’ or ‘monastic’ theology. ————— 1 I prefer the ‘hybrid’ and partly latinized form Heinrich Suso. Other much used forms are Heinrich Seuse, common in German scholarship, or the anglicized form Henry Suso. 2 See Künzle (1977), pp. 285-89. 3 See Künzle (1977), 285-6 with references; Breuer (1984); See also Werner J. Hoffman’s contribution in Blumrich / Kaiser (1994), pp. 202-54. 7 In this study, Suso’s strategies of ‘pressure relief’ will be explored with spe- cific attention to three main themes that are central in the Horologium: the ideal of sustaining suffering and hardships, tribulatio (Chapter One); Suso’s teaching on Eucharist devotion (Chapter Two); and his thoughts and instructions concerning death, death preparation and the afterlife