Irimbert of Admont and his Scriptural Commentaries: Exegeting Salvation History in the Twelfth Century

Dissertation

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Shannon Marie Turner Li, M.A.

Graduate Program in History

The Ohio State University

2017

Dissertation Committee:

Alison I. Beach, PhD, Advisor

David Brakke, PhD

Kristina Sessa, PhD

Copyright by

Shannon Marie Turner Li

2017

Abstract

Through an examination of Irimbert of Admont’s (c. 1096-1176) scriptural commentaries, I argue that Irimbert makes use of traditional themes of scriptural interpretation while also engaging with contemporary developments in theology and spirituality. Irimbert of Admont and his writings have been understudied and generally mischaracterized in modern scholarship, yet a case study into his writings has much to offer in our understanding of theology and spirituality at the monastery of Admont and the wider context of the monastic Hirsau reform movement. The literary genre of exegesis itself offers a unique perspective into contemporary society and culture, and

Irimbert’s writings, which were written within a short span, make for an ideal case study.

Irimbert’s corpus of scriptural commentaries demonstrates strong themes of salvation history and the positive advancement of the Church, and he explores such themes in the unusual context of the historical books of the Old Testament, which were rarely studied by medieval exegetes. Irimbert thus utilizes biblical history to craft an interpretive scheme of salvation history that delicately combines traditional and contemporary exegetical, theological, and spiritual elements.

The twelfth-century library at Admont housed an impressive collection of traditional patristic writings alongside the most recent scholastic texts coming out of

Paris. Therefore, Irimbert did not work in intellectual isolation, and as such, his writings do not merely recycle traditional exegetical themes and practices. Rather, Irimbert subtly weaves contemporary theological and spiritual subject matter into his interpretive

i narratives of the scriptural text. Irimbert’s engagement with contemporary intellectual concerns speaks to a monastic community and reform network that was actively involved in the broader religious and cultural context of the twelfth century.

ii

To Mom and Dad

iii Acknowledgments

I am thankful to the following libraries and institutions for allowing me access to their resources during research trips: Stiftsbibliothek Admont, especially Prof. Dr. Johann

Tomaschek; Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML); and the Universities of

Bonn and Tübingen. I am grateful to the reproduction staff at HMML for their microfilm duplication services. My research could not have been completed without the generous financial support from The Ohio State University (OSU) Department of History, as well as the Heckman Stipend from HMML.

I would like to thank the many individuals at OSU who provided me with assistance and advice throughout the course of my graduate studies. I learned much from the reading and independent study courses with David Brakke and Kristina Sessa, and I am grateful for their counsel as my dissertation committee members. I am indebted to the guidance offered by my advisor, Alison Beach. During the summer of my first year in graduate school, I took a research trip to Germany that overlapped with Alison’s. Her spontaneous suggestion to take a trip to Austria and examine the wonderful manuscript collection at Admont fueled my interest in Irimbert, his writings, and his intellectual world. Her subsequent encouragement and insight into the topic were an essential contribution to the polished, final draft of this dissertation. I am thankful to have had an advisor who was both a mentor and a friend. And finally, graduate student life would be quite bleak without the friendship of fellow classmates, and I would especially like to thank Sam Sutherland for his companionship. Not only was he an invaluable source of

iv advice concerning grad-school matters, but our countless conversations about anime and our board-game nights were a much-needed diversion.

As the dedication to this work indicates, I am forever grateful to my parents,

Carolyn and Tony Turner. Their enthusiasm as history buffs and our numerous family vacations to historical sites inspired me to pursue historical studies. More importantly, their continuous love and support has kept me motivated through years of schooling.

Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Jimmy. We dated, became engaged, and got married over the course of my graduate studies, and I cannot imagine having gotten through these years without his love and encouragement. He is always a reliable source of practical advice, and this quality of his proved greatly beneficial during the final push. I hope to faithfully reciprocate that love and support.

v Vita

2008...... Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School

2012...... B.A. History, summa cum laude Emphasis in European History Wisconsin Lutheran College

2014...... M.A. History The Ohio State University

2012-present ...... Graduate Teaching Associate Department of History The Ohio State University

Fields of Study

Major Field: History

vi Table of Contents

Abstract ...... i

Dedication ...... iii

Acknowledgments ...... iv

Vita ...... vi

List of Tables ...... ix

Note on the Texts and Translations ...... x

Abbreviations ...... xi

Introduction ...... 1 Irimbert of Admont: The Life of a Monk-Exegete ...... 4 Admont and the Hirsau Reform ...... 13 Placing Irimbert in the Context of the Twelfth Century ...... 18

Chapter 1: Irimbert’s Approach to Scripture and Exegesis ...... 29 Introduction: Irimbert’s Commentaries ...... 29 Development of Medieval Exegesis ...... 32 Admont and the Scholastic World ...... 41 Irimbert, Admont, and the Importance of History ...... 49 Irimbert’s Exegetical Approach ...... 56 Irimbert and the Senses of Scripture ...... 60 The Literal Sense and Historical Understanding ...... 61 The Allegorical Sense ...... 74 The Moral Sense ...... 86 Conclusion ...... 94

Chapter 2: Irimbert and Salvation History ...... 96 Introduction: Irimbert’s Fundamental Theme ...... 96 Historical Context ...... 100 First Parents and Original Sin ...... 104 Mysteries of Christ ...... 107 The Dual Nature of Christ ...... 109 Christ’s Redemptive Work ...... 117 Role of the Holy Spirit ...... 126 Irimbert’s View of the Holy Spirit ...... 130 Pre-Incarnation Role ...... 132 Incarnation Role ...... 133 vii Post-Incarnation Role ...... 135 Preaching as a Contribution to the Economy of Salvation ...... 138 Preaching in the Hirsau Reform Circle ...... 143 Paul and his Legacy ...... 146 Preachers as Exemplars ...... 151 Conclusion ...... 153

Chapter 3: Irimbert’s Ordered and Unified Vision of History ...... 156 Introduction: The Twelfth-Century Struggle for Unity ...... 156 Positive Progression of the Church ...... 162 Unity in the Church ...... 168 Unity in Scripture ...... 178 Unity with the Synagogue and Jewish People ...... 184 Negative Images of Jews and the Synagogue ...... 194 Desire for Unity ...... 197 Conflict and Conversion ...... 203 Preaching as a Means of Conversion ...... 208 Mary’s Intercessory Role ...... 213 Conclusion ...... 220

Conclusion ...... 222

Bibliography ...... 231

viii List of Tables

1.1 Irimbert’s Exegetical Texts ...... 31

1.2 Hugh of St. Victor’s Texts at Admont ...... 47

2.1 Rupert of Deutz’s Designations of the Septiform Gifts ...... 128

ix Note on the Texts and Translations

Latin transcriptions in the footnotes reflect the conventions of style and punctuation used in available printed editions. I use my own conventions for transcriptions of texts that are not printed, and such transcriptions are taken from the final recensions of the commentaries (i.e. Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 16 and 17). The pagination for these manuscripts indicate the column on the page (i.e. ‘a’ for the left column and ‘b’ for the right column).

Translation of the Latin texts are my own unless otherwise indicated. I use the

Douay-Rhiems translation of the Bible, but when I refer to biblical books and names outside the context of direct quotes, I use modern conventions for spellings according to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible.

I use the Vulgate rendering of biblical books. Thus references to books 1 and 2

Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings are given as 1-4 Kings. Transcriptions of the Latin primary texts reflect the author’s rendering of the Vulgate text (or other texts), even when it differs from the standard edition.

x Abbreviations

CCCM Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis

CCSL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina

CSEL Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum

MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica

PL Patrologiae cursus completus: series latina, ed. J. P. Migne, 221 vols.,

Paris, 1841-1864

SC Sources Chrétiennes

xi Introduction

In July of 1151, a Benedictine monk named Irimbert sat down with a scribe and began to dictate the text of his interpretation of the second book of Kings in the Old

Testament.1 This work, which served as a type of devotional activity, provided Irimbert with a much-needed respite in the wake of his brief time as abbot of Seeon, the monastery in Bavaria where he had served from c. 1147-1151. This abbatial appointment, however, had not been to Irimbert’s liking. Indeed, in his prologue to the second book of

Kings, he described his time at Seeon as “useless” and “neglectful,” and he expressed the need for something to relieve the consequent disillusionment. Irimbert’s brother Godfrey, abbot of Admont (r. 1137-1165) in the medieval archdiocese of Salzburg in modern-day

Austria, was presumably aware of his sibling’s struggles at Seeon. Godfrey was also surely familiar with his brother’s exegetical and pastoral skills, as Irimbert had spent several years as the spiritual advisor to the nuns at Admont. Perhaps with this in mind,

Godfrey suggested that Irimbert occupy his time at Seeon by writing a short commentary on one of the books of Kings. Irimbert hesitated at first, questioning his ability to accomplish this task and wondered if he would be able to find time away from his

“useless occupation” as abbot at Seeon. But his desire for a distraction from what he considered to be a “persecution” was too great, and he did not think it was right “to dismiss [himself] uselessly.” Irimbert thus resigned his post at Seeon and relocated to

1 i.e. 2 Samuel, according to the modern naming system of the biblical books. The medieval Bible indicated 1 and 2 Samuel as books 1 and 2 Kings, meaning the modern 1 and 2 Kings were understood by medieval contemporaries as 3 and 4 Kings.

1 Admont’s sister monastery St. George in the Black Forest2 to begin composing a scriptural interpretation of the second book of Kings.3

After starting this project, Irimbert grew more confident in his skills, and he decided to go back to the first book of Kings and write a complete commentary on all four books. Thanks to assistance from Godfrey, who provided him with a scribe and the necessary writing supplies, Irimbert was able to make rapid progress.4 By 1142 he had returned to Admont, where he continued with books three and four of Kings.5 But a few months later, on 11 March, a devastating fire broke out at the monastery in the middle of the night during Matins. Several of the buildings belonging to the monks were destroyed, while the women’s community, which was enclosed and separate from the rest of the

2 On the relationship between Admont and St. George, see Johann Tomaschek, “St. Georgen und die Admonter Reform: die Beziehungen zwischen dem Schwarzwaldkloster und der steirischen Benediktinerabtei Admont im 12. Jahrhundert,” in 900 Jahre Stadt St. Georgen im Schwarzwald 1084-1984 (St. Georgen: Stadt St. Georgen, 1984), 34–44. 3 “…quod tanti temporis spacium neglegenter et inutiliter me transegisse recolebam, cogitavi, si possem, etsi non ex toto vel ex parte aliqua, exactae neglegentiae contegere maculam. Equidem cum in Sewensi monasterio inutiliter consisterem, preceptoris mei Admuntensis abbatis acceperam admonitionem, ut aliquidem commentariolum in librum Regum conscriberem. Quod ab eo dictum ualde abhorrui, tum quia tanto operi me sufficere non posse iudicavi, cum quia inutili detentus occupatione monasterii tale quid attemptare nec optui nec praesumpsi. Proinde invisibilis Pharaonis persecutionem subter fugiens et solitudinem silentii repetens, quam quia non bene tenueram, inutiliter me amisisse dolebam, cepi temptare si possem armatus incedere [1 Kings 17:39, loosely rendered in the first person, with Irimbert speaking of himself using the words of David].” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 167a). This account of the circumstances behind Irimbert beginning his commentary is in the prologue to the second book of Kings. For a printed edition of the prologue, see Johann Wilhelm Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” Frühmittelalterliche Studien 7 (1973): 316–19. 4 “Deinde accepto gusto non audaciae [2 Macc. 13:18] sed confidentiae eudnem librum Regum a capite repetere proposui…omne hoc opusculum in spacio sex mensium acceleravi, ipso meo preceptore, domino Admuntensi abbate notarios et membranas michi affatim prebente.” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 167b). Ibid., 318. 5 “Prima igitur et secundam partem huius operis in monasterio sancti Georii in Carinthia composui, tertiam vero partem in Admuntensi monasterio utcunque digessi…” Prologus in librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 525b). Irimbert writes in his prologue to the fourth book of Kings this brief account of where he wrote the different sections of the commentary. For a printed edition of the prologue, see Ibid., 320–21.

2 monastery, narrowly escaped the flames. Irimbert was at work on the second half of the fourth book of Kings when the fire broke out, and the resulting destruction significantly slowed his progress. Fortunately, he was able to incorporate into his commentary the sermons on portions of Kings that he had preached to the nuns years prior. The nuns had allegedly copied these sermons without his knowledge and kept them in their community.

It was thus a happy circumstance that the nuns of Admont were keen on collecting such devotional materials, and with these copied sermons at hand Irimbert was able to resume his exegetical task more efficiently.6 Irimbert finished his nearly 700-page commentary on the books of Kings in April of 1152.

* * *

Irimbert of Admont has received little scholarly attention, but an examination of his life and literary pursuits yields a number of important observations about the intellectual and spiritual world of the twelfth century. My study is the first comprehensive analysis of Irimbert’s full collection of scriptural commentaries. I present an intellectual

6 “Incendium enim monasterii Admuntensis in media Quadragesima heu intervenerat, quod me ab expositionis meae cursu aliquantulum retardaverat. Quoniam autem sorores Admuntenses capitula quedam ex eodem libro Regum ante annos aliquot a me audierant, que me nesciente ipse in membranis exceperant, per quod etiam studium meum valde provocaverant, iudicavi non equum esse devotionis earum scripta abicere sed potius, ut ab ipsis excepta fuerant, huic opusculo meo interserere eaque lectori vel curioso vel devoto his indiciis designare…” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 167b-168a). Ibid., 319. Monastic fires were a common topos in medieval literature, but contemporary records indicate that a fire did actually break out at Admont in 1152. Irimbert provides a more colorful description of the fire, including a discussion of the women’s community, in the middle of his commentary on the fourth book of Kings. See In librum regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 618(2)a-620b) [note the pagination error in the manuscript: the digression begins on the second page numbered as 618]; Irimbert’s account is reproduced in Bernard Pez, Bibliotheca Ascetica Antiquo-Nova, vol. 8 (Regensburg, 1725), 455–64; and Christina Lutter, Geschlecht & Wissen, Norm & Praxis, Lesen & Schreiben. Monastische Reformgemeinschaften im 12. Jahrhundert (Vienna: Oldenbourg, 2005), 222–25.

3 history of Irimbert’s writings that identifies history as his overarching theme, namely salvation history and the positive advancement of the Church – a theme that he explores in the unusual context of the historical books of the Old Testament, texts rarely studied by medieval exegetes. I argue that Irimbert did not work in intellectual isolation, severed from the flowering of ideas in Western Europe during the twelfth century, particularly new ideas about universal history, Christ, and the state of the Church. Therefore, his writings do not merely recycle traditional exegetical themes and practices. Rather,

Irimbert subtly weaves contemporary theological and spiritual subject matter into his interpretive narrative of the scriptural text. Irimbert’s engagement with contemporary intellectual concerns speaks to a monastic community and reform network that was actively involved in the broader religious and cultural context of the twelfth century.

Irimbert of Admont: The Life of a Monk-Exegete

The autobiographical vigntettes that Irimbert included in his commentaries provide a brief yet deeply personal look at the intellectual and spiritual life of a monk in the twelfth century. Beyond the information that Irimbert discloses in his writings, however, little is known about this monk-exegete. Details about Irimbert in other contemporary texts are rather sparse. The most informative biographical entry we have is in Admont’s chronicle, the Vita Gebehardi et successorum eius (Life of Gebhard and his

4 Successors),7 which records the founding of the monastery and its subsequent history.

The entry for Irimbert states that

By unanimous election, lord Irimbert, abbot of St. Michelsberg in Bamberg and also our professed, full brother of lord Abbot Godfrey, a man learned in holy Scripture to the highest degree, elected to the Admont abbacy and called forth by sent messengers, oversaw the monastic life here for five and a half years, and afterwards migrated from the world in good old age on the Nativity of the Lord, 26 December, called to Christ, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1176. Here he wrote a demanding and most brilliant work on the four books of Kings, and he likewise commented excellently on the book of Judges and Ruth.8

Compared to the entries of other Admont abbots, the note on Irimbert is rather brief, but additional information can be pieced together from other sources to create a slightly more fleshed-out picture of Irimbert’s life.9 Like the Vita Gebehardi, a letter that

Bishop Eberhard of Bamberg (r. 1146-1170) sent to Abbot Godfrey, thanking him for sending his own brother to serve as abbot of Michelsberg in Bamberg, asserts that the two were brothers.10 Irimbert himself, however, never referred to Godfrey as his brother.

When he mentioned Godfrey’s advice to start writing a commentary, for example, he

7 MGH SS 11, pp. 33-49. The text is preserved in Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 475. This vita is a later version of an earlier text by the same author, which contains only a biography of Gebhard without a subsequent history of the monastery. See MGH SS 11, pp. 25-28; Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 497. 8 “unanimi deindi electione domnus Irimbertus abbas Sancti Michahelis in Babenberch, noster autem professus, germanus domni Gotfridi abbatis, vir in sacra scriptura adprime eruditus, aetate pene decrepitus, electus in Admuntensem abbatem et missis nunciis evocatus, per quinquennium et dimidium annum in sancta conversatione loco prefuit, ac postea in nativitate Domini 7. Kalend. Ianuarii, Christo vocante, in senectute bona migravit a seculo, anno incarnationis Domini 1177. Scripsit hic in libros Regum quattuor opus arduum ac luculentissimum, similiter in librum Iudicum et Ruth egregie commentatus est.” MGH SS 11, p. 48. 9 The most thorough biography on Irimbert remains Johann Braun’s article (Braun, “Irimbert von Admont.”), which he developed from his dissertation on both Irimbert and Godfrey; see Johann Wilhelm Braun, “Die Überlieferung der Schriften Gottfrieds und Irimberts von Admont mit einem Lebensabriß Iimberts” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Giessen, 1967). Braun’s study supercedes the older and unreliable article by Gregor Fuchs, “Abt Irimbert von Admont,” Mittheilungen des historischen Verians für Steiermark 10 (1861): 194–206. 10 Die Admonter Briefsammlung, letter 29. MGH, Briefe d. dt. Kaiserzeit, 6, pp. 64-65.

5 referred to him as “my teacher, the abbot of Admont.”11 Given this connection to

Godfrey, we can identify the names of their parents, who are both named in Admont’s necrology.12 Their mother’s name, listed on 4 October, was Hazacha,13 and their father, listed on 6 January, was also named Irimbert.14 No source gives Irimbert’s year of birth, but the monk-exegete himself offers some clues. He indicates in the prologue for his commentary on 2 Kings that by the time he had begun the work, he had been in the monastic profession for 40 years. Furthermore, Irimbert states that he entered this monastic life “from an early age,” suggesting that he was a child oblate and was likely dedicated to Admont by his parents between the age of seven and fifteen. Thus, Irimbert was probably born between c. 1096 and 1104.15

Regardless of Irimbert’s precise age upon entering Admont, it was in this monastic setting that he received his education,16 which, along with his later pastoral

11 “preceptoris mei admuntensis abbatis.” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 167a). Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 318. Perhaps Irimbert felt it would be too informal to refer to the abbot as his brother. 12 A monastic necrology is a liturgical text that lists the death dates of community members or laypersons affiliated with the monastery. These individuals would be remembered in prayer on their anniversaries. 13 “Hazacha l. mat. patris ni G(otfridi) abbis.” MGH Necr. 2, p. 304. 14 “IRMINBERTUS m. pat. patris ni G(otfridi) abbis.” MGH Necr. 2, p. 288. 15 “Ego igitur, qui quadraginta annorum spacium in heremo exegisse debueram, quoniam quidem ab ineunte aetate monasticae professionis iugum susceperam…” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 167a). Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 318. Braun estimates that Irimbert was around seven at the time of his oblation and was thus born around 1104. See Ibid., 273–75. For this age estimate, however, Braun cites an outdated text: Johann Nepomuk Seidl, Die Gott-Verlobung von Kindern in Mönchs- und Nonnen-Klöstern oder De pueris oblatis: eine kirchenrechts-geschichtliche Untersuchung (Munich: Lentner, 1872). According to more recent studies on medieval oblation practices, the maximum age was around ten to fifteen. See esp. John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon Books, 1988), 234; Mayke de Jong, In Samuel’s Image: Child Oblation in Early Medieval West (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 44–45, 71, 294– 95. 16 Irimbert humbly indicates that he only received an education in the monastery, rather than in schools. “Non enim habebam consuetudinem [1 Kings 17:39, loosely rendered in the first person, with Irimbert speaking of himself using the words of David] quippe qui non in scolis sed in monasterio omnem ab 6 activity, laid the groundwork for his exegetical efforts. For a certain period of time, as noted above, Irimbert had served as the spiritual advisor to the nuns of Admont, an appointment that involved the primary task of preaching.17 It was through this activity that he honed his skills in scriptural interpretation, and the nuns were wont to copy down his homilies, secretly, for their own devotional use. Thanks in part to their efforts,

Irimbert’s homilies on parts of Kings, as well as other portions of the Old and New

Testaments are preserved in Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 682 and 651. The nuns also copied his first more comprehensive interpretations of the concluding chapters of the book of Judges (ch. 19-21; i.e. historia de concubina – Story of the Concubine) and the entire book of Ruth,18 and they collated his sermons on select portions of the Song of

Songs.19 In his account of the fire, Irimbert notes the nuns’ intellectual acumen and ability to oversee their own spiritual care:

infantia exegeram aetatem.” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 167a). Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 318. Irimbert further states that he is “scientia et sermone inperitus.” Prologus in librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 327a). Ibid., 319. 17 On the history of Admont’s female community, see Jakob Wichner, “Das ehemalige Nonnenkloster O.S.B. zu Admont,” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktiner-Ordens und seiner Zweige 2 (1881): 75–86, 288–319. See also Ingrid Roitner, “Das Admonter Frauenkloster um zwölften Jahrhundert: ein Musterkloster des Ordo Hirsaugiensis,” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 15 (2005): 199–289; Alison I. Beach, “Voices from a Distant Land: Fragments of a Twelfth-Century Nuns’ Letter Collection,” Speculum 77 (2002): 34–54. 18 “Ante annos autem aliquot, quia Historiam de Concubina, quae duodecim partes est secta; Nec non Historiam Ruth sororibus Admuntensibus disserueram, duae ex ipsis studii sui impenderunt diligentiam ad conservandam interpretationis meae memoriam.” Prologus in librum Iudicum, 1 (Bernard Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus: Seu Veterum Monumentorum, Praecipue Ecclesiasticorum, Ex Germanicis Potissimum Bibliothecis Adornata Collectio Recentissima, vol. 4, part 1 (Augsburg, 1723), 132d). The rubricator of the final version of these texts provides the names of the two women who copied the manuscripts: “Explanation huius hystorie descripta Regilinde.” Admont MS 17, p. 393b; “Explanatio huius hystorie descripta a sorore Irmingarte.” Admont MS 17, 420b. For a brief discussion of this rubrication, see Alison I. Beach, Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in Twelfth-Century Bavaria (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 86–87. The manuscript traditions of these texts is discussed further at the beginning of Chapter One. 19 Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 530. For more on the compositional collaboration between Irimbert and the nuns of Admont, see Beach, Women as Scribes, 65–103; Alison I. Beach, “Claustration and Collaboration 7 They hold daily chapter among themselves, with the magistra or her representative supervising. And on feast days, when the abbot cannot come to them, there are persons appointed among them to give the sermon. Indeed, they are very learned and extraordinarily trained in the knowledge of holy Scripture.20

Their erudition is something that Irimbert no doubt witnessed firsthand as their spiritual guide. And Irimbert suggests that it was largely due to his pastoral work with the nuns – which, given his admiration of their intelligence, we can surmise promoted lively discussion on spiritual matters – that he was encouraged to pursue further exegetical work, stating that “they greatly inspired my zeal.”21

But Irimbert’s time of productive collaboration with the nuns was interrupted when he was appointed abbot of Seeon around 1147. While the circumstances behind this appointment are unknown, Johann Braun and Johann Tomaschek surmise that, since

Admont was a center of reform in the region, Irimbert was likely charged with the task of

between the Sexes in the Twelfth-Century Scriptorium,” in Monks and Nuns, Saints and Outcasts: Religion in Medieval Society, ed. Sharon A. Farmer, Barbara H. Rosenwein, and Lester K. Little (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000), 57–75. For a discussion on the nun’s complex interaction with manuscripts in the context of the liturgy, see Stefanie Seeberg, Die Illustrationen im Admonter Nonnenbrevier von 1180, Marienkrönung und Nonnen-frömmigkeit – Die Rolle der Brevierillustration in der Entwicklung von Bildthemen im 12. Jahrhundert (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2002); Stefanie Seeberg, “Illustrations in the Manuscripts of the Admont Nuns from the Second Half of the Twelfth Century: Reflections on Their Function,” in Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, ed. Alison I. Beach, Medieval Church Studies 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 99–121. For an analysis of what the nun’s engagement with knowledge says about the connection between literacy and gender, see Lutter, Geschlecht & Wissen; Christina Lutter, “Christ’s Educated Brides: Literacy, Spirituality, and Gender in Twelfth-Century Admont,” in Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, ed. Alison I. Beach, Medieval Church Studies 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 191–213; Christina Lutter, “Ways of Knowing and Meanings of Literacy in Twelfth-Century Admont,” in Strategies of Writing. Studies on Text and Trust in the Middle Ages. Papers from Trust in Writing in the Middle Ages, ed. P. Schulte, M. Moster, and I. van Renswoude, Utrech Studies in Medieval Literacy 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002), 255–76. 20 “Capitulum suum inter se cottidie habent, Magistra vel eius Vicaria praesidente. Et in festis diebus, cum Abbas ad eas non poterit venire, sunt inter eas personae ad verbum exhortationis faciendum dispositae. Valde quippe sunt litteratae, et in scientia sacrae scripturae mirabiliter exercitatae.” In librum regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 619b). Pez, Bibliotheca Ascetica Antiquo-Nova, 8:460. 21 “…per quod etiam studium meum valde provocaverant…” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 168a). Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 319.

8 reforming the customs at Seeon.22 This appointment, which lasted approximately four years, seemed pointless to Irimbert, although he remains frustratingly vague on the particulars. Tomaschek suggests that the monks of Seeon were resistant to reform.23 A papal mandate sent to the monks of Seeon in 1155 seems to indicate that Irimbert’s successor, in fact, struggled to implement reform.24 If Irimbert indeed had an assignment to reform Seeon, he may well have encountered similar problems, which would certainly have made his time there seem inutilis. Indeed, introduction of reform could cause quite a stir in a monastic community. Such a struggle also took place with the introduction of the

Hirsau reform at the monastery of Petershausen in Constance.25

This challenging appointment, however, was the impetus behind the short but intense period of exegetical writing that followed. In the span of about three years,

Irimbert composed scriptural commentaries on the Old Testament books of Kings,

Joshua, and Judges, numbering at just over one thousand pages in the manuscripts.26 It is

22 Ibid., 277; Johann Tomaschek, “Der Aufenthalt des Bibelkommentators, Nonnenseelsorgers und monastischen Theologen Irimbert von Admont im Benediktinerinnenkloster St. Georgen am Längsee,” in 100 Jahre Stift St. Georgen am Längsee. Festschrift, ed. J. Sacherer (St. Georgen am Längsee: Bildungshaus Stift St. Georgen, 2003), 207. Admont and the Hirsau reform is discussed further below. 23 Tomaschek, “Der Aufenthalt des Bibelkommentators,” 207. 24 Peter Johanek, “Ein Mandat Papst Hadrian IV für die Mönche von Seeon und die Ordensreform in der Kirchen-province Salzburg,” Studien und Mitteilungen aus dem Benediktinerorden und seinen Zweigen 83 (1972): 162–75. In response to this finding, Braun cautions Johanek for making unwarranted character judgments that contradict Irimbert’s own self-representation. See Johann Wilhelm Braun, “Einige Bemerkungen zur Beurteilung der ‘Admonter Reform’ sowie der Äbte Gottfried und Irimbert von Admont in der neuen Literatur,” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 87 (1976): 431–34, esp. 433-434. 25 Alison I. Beach, The Trauma of Monastic Reform: Community and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Germany (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). 26 Admont housed the only copies of Irimbert’s texts, and they were not disseminated outside of the monastery during the medieval period. Two manuscripts containing his writings, however, were sold by Admont during the early twentieth century: Vorau, Chorherrenstiftsbibliothek, MS 193, and Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, MS 2807.

9 unclear why Irimbert went from Seeon to St. George instead of back to his home monastery of Admont, but it is possible that the community at St. George, particularly the nuns, personally invited him, knowing of his erudition and wishing to benefit from his teaching.27 In was in this new location, then, in July of 1151, that he had begun an interpretation of the second book of Kings, not originally intending to cover all four books.28 But by October he had finished interpreting both the second and first books of

Kings. Sometime later he returned to Admont, where he picked up with book three around January of 1152 and finished book four in April.29 Irimbert was indebted to the nuns of both monasteries, who played a large role in seeing this exegetical task to completion.

In the very great difficulty of this work, I was restored by the generosity of these same sisters, since they assigned for me two sisters freed from all other occupation, who continuously and diligently transcribed what they had been able to take down on tablets from my recitation. Hence if anything existed in this little work that could please some faithful, it ought to be attributed to the prayers and merits of the sisters.30

27 Tomaschek, “Der Aufenthalt des Bibelkommentators,” 212. 28 “Secundum ergo librum Regum arripui, quia nec de principio nec de fine tanti operis tunc temporis aliquid deliberavi.” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 167a-b). Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 318. 29 “Secundam enim partem libri Regum, quae michi prima fuit, in octava sancti Iohannis baptistae inchoavi, quam in festo sancti Bartholomei consummavi. Primam partem in festo sancti Augustini incepi, quam in festo sancti Remigii explicavi. Tertium librum post Epiphaniam domini inchoavi, quam in vespera Cathedrae sancti Petri consummavi. Quartum denique librum in ipsa Cathedra sancti Petri incepi, quem VIII. Idus Aprilis perexplicavi.” Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 167b). Ibid., 318–19. “Primam igitur et secundam partem huius operis in monasterio sancti Georii in Carinthia composui, tertiam vero partem in Admuntensi monasterio utcunque digessi, quartamque deo opitulante et sororum confisus oratione nunc attemptare proposui.” Prologus in librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 525b). Ibid., 320. For a table laying out the chronology and locations of composition, see Ibid., 283. 30 “Tanta autem in huius operis difficultate earundem sororum utrimque recreatus sum liberalitate, ut duas michi sorores ab omni occupatione liberas deputarent, quae continue ac diligenter transscriberent, quae a me dicta in tabulis excipi potuissent. Proinde si quid in hoc opusculo fuerit, quod alicui fidelium placere potuerit, orationibus et meritis sororum asscribendum noverit.” Prologus in librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 525b, 526a). Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 320.

10 A few months later, Irimbert pressed on with the book of Joshua, splitting the text into three books, completing the explication between September and November 1152.31

Irimbert’s final large-scale commentary was an interpretation of the book of Judges, which he wrote in two parts. As mentioned above, he had already given sermons on books 19-21 to the nuns of Admont, and he also notes that he had attempted a further exposition of the text while at St. George.32 He began the second part of Judges on 1 July

1153, but he gives no start date for the first part of Judges.33 Presumably, it was composed sometime between November 1152 (after he finished Joshua) and before the second part of Judges. He also does not provide an end date, but given the rate at which he wrote the other commentaries, he most likely finished Judges by the end of the year.34

Irimbert certainly wrote at an astonishing space, but such speed is not beyond reason, given his earlier exegetical task of preaching sermons to the Admont nuns, and some of those homilies covered the same material that he would later incorporate into his full- length commentaries.35 The interpretive themes and strategies were already in his head potentially years before he began writing them down.

31 “…explanationem libri Iosue tercio die ante festum sancti Michahelis arripui, quam in tribus libellis distinxi…” Prologus in librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 3b). Ibid., 322. 32 “…fretus confidentia divini auxilii, huius quoque libri explanationem attemptare disposui positus in Carinthia in Ecclesia B. Georgii…” Prologus in librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:132c. 33 “Et nos ergo in hac solemni die, quae est octava eiusdem Sancti Joannis Baptistae…huic secundo libello operis nostri in explanationem libri Judicum fundamentum ponimus…” Prologus in librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:313d, 314d). 34 Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 286. 35 Ibid., 288.

11 This flurry of exegetical activity appears to have died down after 1153. There are no records indicating what occupied Irimbert’s time after he finished his commentaries and the year 1160. It was in that year that Irimbert received a new appointment, this time to serve as abbot of Michelsberg in Bamberg. The negotiation surrounding this appointment is well-documented in a letter collection that perserves the communication between the monks of Admont and other individuals in the region.36 Bishop Eberhard II of Bamberg, along with others, wrote to Abbot Godfrey in April or May 1160, requesting that Irimbert be sent to Micheslberg to serve as abbot. At the same time, however,

Archbishop Eberhard I of Salzburg (r. 1147-1164) and Bishop Conrad I of Passau (c.

1148-1164) sent letters to Godfrey asking that he send Irimbert to serve as abbot at

Kremsmünster. The appeal for Bamberg won, and Irimbert went on to serve as the abbot of Michelsberg for the next twelve years.37 In the only preserved letter written by

Irimbert himself, he wrote warmly to the monks of Admont that he felt welcome at his new community.38 Beyond this letter, however, his activities while at Michelsberg, as was the case for his time as abbot of Admont, are unknown. After the death of Godfrey’s successor, Abbot Liutold (r. 1165-1171), a schism erupted within the monastery over the abbacy, with two camps entering into a twelve-week long struggle. The eventual choice for Irimbert perhaps neutralized the contention over the other two candidates, due to his

36 Die Admonter Briefsammlung, letters 17-24, 28-35. MGH, Briefe d. dt. Kaiserzeit, 6, pp. 54-73. 37 For a discussion of this abbatial appointment and these letters, see Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 292– 311. Ralf Stammberger suggests a connection between the politics of this appointment and the doctrinal debate involving Gerhoh of Reichersberg. See Ralf M. W. Stammberger, “The Works of Hugh of St. Victor at Admont: A Glance at the Intellectual Landscape in the XIIth Century,” in Schrift, Schreiber, Schenker: Studien zur Abtei Sankt Viktor in Paris und den Viktorinern, ed. Rainer Berndt (Berlin: Akademie Verlag GmbH, 2005), 256–61. 38 Die Admonter Briefsammlung, letter 33. MGH, Briefe d. dt. Kaiserzeit, 6, pp. 68-70.

12 close relationship with a former abbot.39 The chronicler of the Vita Gebehardi writes only that Irimbert “oversaw the monastic life” during his time as abbot.40 Irimbert died while still serving as abbot on 26 December 1176.

Admont and the Hirsau Reform

During Irimbert’s lifetime, the monastery of Admont underwent a significant transformation.41 The monastery was founded in 1074 by Archbishop Gebhard of

Salzburg (r. 1060-1088), who was actively engaged in the Investiture controversy, siding with Pope Gregory VII (c. 1015-1085) against the German emperor Henry IV (1050-

1106).42 In keeping with this struggle for church reform, then, Gebhard ensured that

Admont would remain free from secular control and he established it as a proprietary monastery, which placed its care and administration ultimately under his jurisdiction.43

Because Admont was an episcopal monastery, he and his successors would have sole authority over it and would have the right of investiture in the appointment of its abbots.

Abbot Wolfhold (r. 1115-1137) was the last of these abbots installed by the bishops of

Salzburg. Wolfhold came to Admont from the monastery of St. George in the Black

39 MGH SS 11, pp. 47-48. 40 “…in sancta conversatione loco prefuit…” MGH SS 11, p. 48 41 The most thorough history on Admont remains Jakob Wichner, Geschichte des Benediktiner-Stiftes Admont: von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Jahre 1177, 4 vols. (Graz: Dereins-Buchdruckerei, 1874). 42 On the history of investiture, see Uta-Renate Blumenthal, The Investiture Controversy: Church and Monarchy from the Ninth to the Twelfth Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988). 43 On the history of proprietary monasteries (and churches), see Susan Wood, The Proprietary Church in the Medieval West (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). For twelfth-century developments, see esp. pp. 830-850.

13 Forest, which was affiliated with the monastery of Hirsau and its monastic reform movement. Wolfhold thus brought to Admont a strong sense of Hirsau reform ideology, and the monastery’s adoption of the reform sparked a period of great prosperity and patronage, and Admont flourished in the twelfth century as a spiritual and intellectual center.44

Hirsau had become a center of reform during the abbacy of William of Hirsau (r.

1069-1091), who was a strong papal supporter in the Investiture controversy, and he actively campaigned for monastic freedom from secular authority.45 He admired the strict monastic observance at Cluny and its adherence to the purity of the Rule of St. Benedict, and he adopted the monastery’s customs to create his own customary for Hirsau, the

Constitutiones Hirsaugienses.46 Under William’s leadership, what became known as the

44 On the history of Admont’s foundation, see Walter Steinböck, “Die Gründung des benediktinischen Reformklosters Admont. Ein Beitrag zur neunhundertjährigen Geschichte seines Bestehens,” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 84 (1973): 52–81. On the monastery’s reception of the Hirsau reform, see Ulrich Faust, “Admonts Rezeption der Hirsauer Reform. Benediktinische Spiritualität des 12. Jahrhunderts,” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 124 (2013): 127–40; Tomaschek, “St. Georgen und die Admonter Reform,” 35–39. It is possible, however, that Admont may have come into contact with the Hirsau reform prior to Wolfhold’s arrival, perhaps as early as 1091. Klaus Arnold, “Admont und die monastische Reform des 12. Jahrhunderts,” Zeitschrift der Saviigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung 58 (1972): 354. Others argue that prior to Wolfhold Admont may have actually been associated more with the Gorze reform, which spread to Germany in the late eleventh century. See Kassius Hallinger, Gorze-Kluny. Studien zu den monastischen Lebensformen und Gegensätzen im Hochmittelalter, Studia Anselmiana, Philosophica, Theologica 22–25 (Rome: Herder, 1950), 384–90; Helmut J. Mezler-Andelberg, “Admont und die Klosterreform zu Beginn des 12. Jahrhunderts,” Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereines für Steiermark 47 (1956): 33. For a discussion of Admont’s role as a prominent center for reform in the twelfth century, see Arnold, “Admont und die monastische Reform des 12. Jahrhunderts.” 45 Franz Josef Worstbrock, “Wilhelm von Hirsau,” Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexicon 10 (1999): 1100–1110. On William’s vigorous support for reform, see Phylis Jestice, Wayward Monks and the Religious Revolution of the Eleventh Century (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 210–17, 251– 52. William’s contemporary biography was composed by a certain Haimo; see Vita Willihelmi abbatis Hirsaugiensis, MGH SS 12, pp. 209-225. 46 William of Hirsau, Willehelmi abbatis Constitutiones Hirsaugienses, ed. Pius Engelbert O.S.B., 2 vols., Corpus Consuetudinum Monasticarum 15 (Siegburg: Schmitt, 2010). The Admont library contains two twelfth-century copies of this text: Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 497 and 518.

14 Hirsau reform spread rapidly throughout southern Germany.47 Hirsau liturgical customs were not quite as elaborate or complex as those observed by Cluniac monasteries, and affiliated monasteries were free to adapt Hirsau liturgy to their own practice.48 The

Hirsau reform’s institutional structure was looser than that of Cluny, and rather than having a single abbot oversee all subordinating houses, the individual affiliated monasteries were bound together by ties of friendship.49 The Hirsau reform movement also discouraged the practice of child oblation, while encouraging the participation of laymen in the religious life of the monastic community. William’s tireless campaign of supporting the cause of reform involved preaching to men and women alike, and by this example, many monasteries affiliated with the Hirsau reform housed both men and women, with the abbot overseeing both communities, and a magistra appointed as the head of the female community.50

47 The classic study on Hirsau and its reform movement is Hermann Jakobs, Die Hirsauer. Ihre Ausbreitung und Rechtsstellung im Zeitalter des Investiturstreites, Kölner historische Abhandlungen 4 (Cologne: Böhlau, 1961). See also Klaus Schreiner, ed., Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991, 2 vols., Forschungen und Berichte der Archäologie des Mittelalters in Baden-Württemberg 10 (Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991); Klaus Schreiner, “Hirsau und die Hirsauer Reform. Lebens- und Verfassungsformen einer Reformbewegung,” in Die Reformverbände und Kongregationen der Benediktiner im Deutschen Sprachraum, ed. Ulrich Faust and Franz Quarthal, Germania Benedictina 1 (St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1999), 89–124; Hallinger, Gorze-Kluny, 428–42. 48 For a discussion on the transmission of the Hirsau reform by means of the liturgy and its negotiation with pre-existing communities, see Felix Heinzer, Klosterreform und mittelalterliche Buchkultur im deutschen Südwesten (Leiden: Brill, 2008), esp. 85-408. 49 On this sense of brotherhood connecting Hirsau reform monasteries, see Joachim Wollasch, “Spuren Hirsauer Verbrüderungen,” in Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991, ed. Klaus Schreiner, vol. 2 (Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991), 173–93. 50 On female communities in the Hirsau reform, see Urban Küsters, “Formen und Modelle religiöser Frauengemeinschaften im Umkreis der Hirsauer Reform des 11. und 12. Jahrhunderts,” in Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991, ed. Klaus Schreiner, vol. 2 (Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991), 195– 220; Julie Hotchin, “Female Religious Life and the Cura Monialium in Hirsau Monasticism, 1080-1150,” in Listen Daughter: The Speculum Virginum and the Formation of Religious Women in the Middle Ages, ed. Constant J. Mews (New York: Basingstoke, 2001), 59–83; Hedwig Röcklein, “Frauen im Umkreis der Benediktinischen Reformen des 10. bis 12. Jahrhunderts. Gorze, Cluny, Hirsau, St. Blasien und Siegburg,” in Female vita religiosa between Late Antiquity and the High Middle Ages, ed. Gert Melville and Anne 15 The monastery of Hirsau had been tremendously successful in its implementation of reform, either through founding new monasteries or reforming existing communities.

After William of Hirsau died, several of these reformed monasteries took the lead in continuing the reform’s momentum, including Admont, St. George, Schaffhausen,

Prüfening, and Michelsberg in Bamberg.51 As was common among Hirsau monasteries,

Abbot Wilhelm founded an affiliated women’s community (pre 1120) at Admont.

Wolfhold ensured that the reform efforts would continue after him by selecting Godfrey, another monk from St. George, to serve as his successor.52 As a reflection of Wolfhold’s success at bringing reform, Godfrey’s appointment was confirmed by a free vote among the monks of Admont, rather than through installation by the bishop.

Perhaps Godfrey’s greatest contribution to Admont’s prosperity was his expansion of the library’s book collection. Indeed, reforms such as that initiated by

Hirsau were often accompanied by an intensification of scholarly activity, and studies have revealed rapid expansion of cathedral and monastic manuscript collections in

Germany with both traditional and contemporary texts.53 Admont houses the largest

Müller, Vita Regularis. Ordnungen und Deutungen religiosen Legens im Mittelalter 47 (Zürich: LIT- Verlag, 2011), 275–328, esp. 292-296. 51 For more on the expansion of the Hirsau reform, see Jakobs, Die Hirsauer, 35–78. 52 For the most thorough biography on Godfrey, see Ulrich Faust, “Gottfried von Admont: ein monastischer Autor des 12. Jahrhunderts,” Studien und Mittailungen des Benediktinerordens 75 (1964): 271–395. 53 See esp. Raymund Kottje, “Klosterbibliotheken und monastische Kultur in der zweiten Hälfte des 11. Jahrhunderts,” Zeitschrift für Kircheneschichte 80 (1969): 145–62. For demonstrations of this phenomenon in Germany, see Heinzer, Klosterreform und mittelalterliche Buchkultur im deutschen Südwesten; Constant J. Mews, “Scholastic Theology in a Monastic Milieu in the Twelfth Century: The Case of Admont,” in Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, ed. Alison I. Beach, Medieval Church Studies 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 217–39; Constant J. Mews, “Monastic Educational Culture Revisited: The Witness of Zwiefalten and the Hirsau Reform,” in Medieval Monastic Education, ed. George Ferzoco and Carolyn Muessig (London: Leicester University Press, 2000), 182–96.

16 collection of surviving twelfth-century manuscripts among Bavarian libraries, numbering at approximately 203, more than twice the size of the second largest surviving collection of 66 manuscripts preserved at Schäftlarn.54 An indication of the significance of

Godfrey’s contribution is the fact that a now-lost note in Admont MS 589 stated that the abbot felt it necessary in 1152 to create an updated list of the library holdings.55 This book-list is regretfully no longer extant, and the earliest catalogues we have are the two lists compiled by Admont’s fourteenth-century librarian, Peter of Arbon. Peter put together a brief list in 1376 and then a longer one in 1380, both reflecting a large collection of books of Scripture, patristic texts, and medieval theological texts, saints’ lives, and histories.56 In the nineteenth century, Admont’s librarian Jakob Wichner attempted to recreate the library’s twelfth-century holdings by matching the surviving manuscripts against Peter’s lists.57 Although Wichner’s catalogue does not account for certain factors, such as certain books being out on loan to other communities at the time of Peter’s compilation, it nevertheless provides a good starting point for understanding the scope and character of Admont’s intellectual culture.58

Placing Irimbert in the Context of the Twelfth Century

54 For a more complete illustration, see Alison Beach, Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in Twelfth-Century Bavaria (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 78. 55 Gerlinde Möser-Mersky, ed., Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge Österreichs, 3: Steiermark (Graz- Vienna-Cologne: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1961), 10. 56 For a critical edition of the catalogues, see Ibid., 15–63. 57 Jakob Wichner, Catalogus Codicum Manu Scriptorum Admontensis (Admont, 1888). The microfilm of this catalogue is listed under Catalog of Manuscripts in Stift Admont, Austria (Ann Arbor, 1982). 58 For a reconstruction specifically on the Admont nuns’ library holdings, for instance, see Beach, Women as Scribes, 79–84.

17 The impressive growth of Admont’s library speaks to a strong network of literary exchange in the region, and there was certainly much to keep up with on an intellectual level at this time.59 The Hirsau reform movement was only one part of a much larger phenomenon in the transformation of Western Europe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a time that was marked by a flowering of intellectual and cultural activity.60

The High Middle Ages were a time of rapid change and innovation. The long twelfth century witnessed such transformations as the growth of towns and markets, the rise of universities, the recovery of ancient philosophy and law, and the reformation of the

Church and religious life. The dynamic changes in society and thought thus resulted in a heightened awareness of history and of how the present age fit into the broader scheme.

As Amos Funkenstein notes, “The twelfth century’s fondness for new and richer

59 On the nature of the monastic network of book exchange in the region, see Mews, “Scholastic Theology in a Monastic Milieu,” 230–33. 60 Historians have long recognized the “long twelfth century” as a period of marked change that had both positive and negative effects on society and its institiutions, prompting characterizations of it being a time of ‘renaissance,’ ‘renewal,’ ‘reformation,’ ‘revolution,’ and ‘crisis.’ The classic study on the period is Charles Homer Haskins, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1955). More recent overviews of the period have offered a corrective of and expansion to Haskins’ approach. See John D Cotts, Europe’s Long Twelfth Century: Order, Anxiety, and Adaptation, 1095-1229 (Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013); R. I Moore, The First European Revolution, C. 970-1215 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000); R. N Swanson, The Twelfth-Century Renaissance (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999); Giles Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); Robert L Benson and Giles Constable, eds., Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982). Although historians have tended to focus their examination into these developments on the geographic regions of France and England, the German-speaking area of Western Europe was by no means a marginal participant in the long twelfth century. For an introduction to this understudied topic of Germany’s role in twelfth-century developments, see Rodney Thompson, “The Place of Germany in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance: Books, Scriptoria and Libraries,” in Turning Over a New Leaf: Change and Development in the Medieval Manuscript, ed. Erik Kwakkel et al. (Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2012), 127–40; Rodney Thompson, “The Place of Germany in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance,” in Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, ed. Alison I. Beach, Medieval Church Studies 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 19–42.

18 periodizations…reflected the urge to interpret the complexity of recent history and to express the sense of new achievements in the light of historical retrospection.”61

One medium through which twelfth-century thinkers such as Irimbert grappled with the question of historical progression and their place in it was scriptural exegesis.

While an examination of exegetical texts often reveals contemporary trends and concerns, the history of Scripture and exegesis was not a topic pursued seriously by scholars of the

Middle Ages until Beryl Smalley published her landmark study The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages in 1941.62 Smalley’s study of medieval biblical interpretation provides a concise overview of the development of exegesis over a wide expanse of time, and her examination is grounded in the history and development of institutions and religious movements. Smalley’s substantial body of work revolutionized the study of the medieval

Bible, and she demonstrated the richness of biblical and exegetical texts and how they can facilitate a more nuanced understanding of contemporary society.63 As she rightly states, “the history of interpretation can be used as a mirror for social and cultural changes.”64

Despite Admont’s impressive collection of twelfth-century manuscripts, these texts have only recently come under closer examination. The monastic community clearly

61 Amos Funkenstein, “Periodization and Self-Understanding in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times,” Medievalia et Humanistica 5 (1974): 11. 62 For the most recent edition, see Beryl Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1984). 63 For an overview of Smalley’s impact on the study of the medieval Bible, see R. W. Southern, “Beryl Smalley and the Place of the Bible in Medieval Studies, 1927-1984,” in The Bible in the Medieval World: Essays in Memory of Beryl Smalley, ed. Katherine Walsh and Diana Wood (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1985), 1–16. 64 Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, xxix.

19 saw intellectualism as a valued part of its spiritual environment, and its members made their own literary contributions. Irimbert was Admont’s most prolific twelfth-century author, yet, as noted above, his work has received little attention.65 While great progress has been made in analyzing the paleographical and codicological character of the manuscripts containing Irimbert’s writings,66 the content of his texts have not been thoroughly analyzed. My study of Irimbert’s scriptural commentaries, then, contributes to a few interrelated areas. By presenting the first analysis of Irimbert’s full corpus of scriptural commentaries, I address certain misconceptions about Irimbert’s work and fill a critical gap in the understudied area of Hirsau spirituality. More broadly, I demonstrate how exegetical texts can enhance our understanding of religious thought and culture in a medieval monastic community.

65 More attention has been given to Godfrey’s writings, yet this focus is based on an unresolved matter, that is, the authorship of the Admont sermon corpus. The majority of these sermons are preseved in large- format manuscripts: Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 58, 62, 63, 73, and 455. The manuscripts contain no attribution, but due to Godrey’s historical prominence, Bernard Pez, an Austrian Benedictine librarian and historian, printed these sermons in 1725 under Godfrey’s name. Migne reprinted the edition and retained the attribution (PL 174, cols. 21-1210). Some modern scholars have studied these sermons without questioning Godfrey’s authorship. See Faust, “Gottfried von Admont”; Braun, “Die Überlieferung der Schriften”; Johannes Beumer, “Der mariologische Gehalt der Predigten Gottfrieds von Admont,” Scholastik 35 (1960): 43–49. More recently, Alf Härdelin has pointed out the anonymous nature of these sermons, and both Fritz Knapp and Stephan Borgehammar have noted the stylistic similarities between the sermons and Irimbert’s commentaries. Borgehammar also suggests that the author could even be the nuns of Admont. See Alf Härdelin, “God’s Visiting: A Basic Theme in the Homilies Ascribed to Godfrey of Admont,” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 27 (1992): 24; Fritz Peter Knapp, Die Literatur des Früh- und Hochmittelalters in den Bistümern Passau, Salzburg, Brixen und Trient von den Anfängen bis zum Jahre 1273, Geshichte der Literatur Österreichs von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart 1 (Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1994), 74–79; Stephan Borgehammar, “Who Wrote the Admont Sermon Corpus – Gottfried the Abbot, His Brother Irimbert, or the Nuns?,” in De L’homélie Au Sermon: Histoire de La Predication Médiévale, ed. Jacqueline Hamesse and Xavier Hermand (Louvain-la-Neuve: Institut d’Études Médiévales de l’Université Catholique de Louvain, 1993), 47–51. Ulrich Faust, however, is not convinced by this questioning of Godfrey’s authorship, though he provides no concrete evidence to support his doubt. See Faust, “Admonts Rezeption der Hirsauer Reform,” 136–37. 66 Beach, Women as Scribes, 65–103; Braun, “Die Überlieferung der Schriften,” 8–20, 80–118.

20 Irimbert’s texts have certainly suffered a degree of mischaracterization by the few scholars who have looked at his writings. Johann Braun asserts that one of the reasons that Irimbert was able to produce his full-length commentaries so quickly was because his exegesis is largely unoriginal. Irimbert’s ideas and overall plan lack creativity, and he merely repeats traditional interpretive themes. Braun does, however, concede that there are two interesting passages out of Irimbert’s entire corpus. The one being his digression in 4 Kings 14 on the fire and the Admont nuns, as well as a digression on Daniel 7 inserted in his commentary on 2 Kings 15.67 Fritz Knapp follows Braun’s assessment. He concludes that Irimbert’s works – along with the Admont sermon corpus – hardly warrant a place of note in the history of theology or literature, although he does note their importance in the development of the Benedictine order and education history.68

Despite Braun’s and Knapp’s dismissal of the need to study Irimbert’s writings closely, two other scholars have nevertheless briefly examined the content of some of his texts, though no one has presented a study of his entire corpus. Johann Tomaschek offers a brief analysis of Irimbert’s commentary on the book of Judges, specifically chapters 19-

21. Tomaschek concludes that Irimbert’s theology is purely traditional and monastic rather than modern and scholastic.69 The only scholar thus far to have suggested more nuance in Irimbert’s writing is Alison Beach, who gives a close reading of Irimbert’s

67 Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 281. I discuss Irimbert’s interpretation of Daniel 7 in Chapter Three. 68 Knapp, Die Literatur, 79. 69 Tomaschek, “Der Aufenthalt des Bibelkommentators,” 204–6, 214.

21 commentary on Ruth, discussing his exegetical approach and primary themes.70 By placing his text in the broader intellectual environment of the twelfth century, she hints at the idea that Irimbert is perhaps somewhat familiar with contemporary developments.

Unlike Braun, Knapp, and Tomaschek, I argue that Irimbert is not entirely traditional in his exegetical approach. While he certainly makes use of conventional themes from the interpretive tradition, concluding that his writing is thus unoriginal is an oversimplification. For instance, the particular arrangement and emphasis of such traditional themes reflect the exegetes’s own perspective and understanding of the material, as well as what he felt was the most important message to be gleaned from the text. Indeed, Gilbert Dahan and Thomas O’Loughlin point out that exegetes are more than just compilers, and they each present their own unique interpretation and theological understanding.71 Irimbert’s writing is certainly not just a recycling of patristic and early medieval material. As I will discuss further in Chapter One, because of his choice of Old

Testament texts, there was not much material available for Irimbert to recycle. Exegesis lends itself to multiple avenues of interpretation, and Irimbert re-imagines traditional interpretive themes to present a dramatic and orderly unfolding of salvation history. This

70 Alison I. Beach, “The Multiform Grace of the Holy Spirit: Salvation History and the Book of Ruth at Twelfth-Century Admont,” in Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, ed. Alison I. Beach, Medieval Church Studies 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 125–37. 71 Gilbert Dahan, “Genres, Forms and Various Methods in Christian Exegesis of the Middle Ages,” in Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), ed. Magne Saebø, et al., vol. 1.2 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 218; Thomas O’Loughlin, “Tradition and Exegesis in the Eighth Century: The Use of Patristic Sources in Early Medieval Scriptural Commentaries,” in The Scriptures and Early Medieval Ireland, ed. Thomas O’Loughlin (Turnhout: Brepols, 1999), 218. For a study on medieval commentators’ adaptation (as opposed to compilation) of patristic exegesis, see Jonathan Black, “De Civitate Dei and the Commentaries of Gregory the Great, Isidore, Bede, and Hrabanus Maurus on the Book of Samuel,” Augustinian Studies 15 (1984): 114–27.

22 approach is not unlike that employed by Rupert of Deutz (c. 1075-1129), who was himself more explicit in his effort to discover interpretations that went beyond the

Fathers.72 My study thus expands on Beach’s observations regarding Irimbert’s place in the wider intellectual context, and I demonstrate through an examination of his commentaries that Irimbert aligns with both traditional and contemporary themes and concerns in his engagement with the scriptural material.

Irimbert accomplishes this task of interweaving old and new interpretive schemes within the setting of the Old Testament. Irimbert has not been given enough credit for his unique perspective on Old Testament exegesis. Tomaschek rightly points out that

Irimbert produced the first comprehensive commentary on all four books of Kings.73

Combined with his comprehensive commentaries on the books of Joshua and Judges, as well as a collection of sermons that treat all of the book of Ruth and parts of the Song of

Songs, Irimbert demonstrates a clear interest in biblical history, particularly its spiritual application to salvation history. This interest is perhaps a reflection of the spirituality at

Admont or even the Hirsau reform more broadly speaking.

The of lack of scholarly attention to Irimbert’s writing points to a larger gap in the history of Hirsau reform spirituality. The significance of the reform movement’s involvement in the political and social realms of the eleventh and twelfth centuries has been studied extensively.74 This political and social dimension, however, has

72 John Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), 71–72. 73 Tomaschek, “Der Aufenthalt des Bibelkommentators,” 209. 74 Especially demonstrated in Jakobs, Die Hirsauer. See also the collection of articles in Schreiner, Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991.

23 overshadowed other facets of the reform movement, particularly its theology and spirituality. While there have been a few studies that touch on aspects of spirituality within the Hirsau reform circle and at Admont more specifically, more can be done.

Klaus Schreiner, for instance, attempts a broad look at Hirsau spirituality, but his focus is more about the reform’s spiritual conception of the monastic way of life, rather than on theology, such as its spiritual conception of Christ, the Church, salvation, etc. As such, he uses as his primary sources materials like monastic chronicles, Constitutiones, and

William’s vita rather than devotional and liturgical texts.75

Other scholars have worked more closely with devotional material, and their observations can help piece together at least a rough image of Admont or Hirsau spirituality that may or may not be uniquely distinctive. More broadly, Felix Heinzer’s work touches on an aspect of Hirsau spirituality regarding the transmission of liturgical texts, though his focus is more on the nature of the spread of reform. As for Admont spirituality, Johannes Beumer has observed a prominent mariological theme in the

Admont sermon corpus, and the author’s presentation of certain controversial topics is generally in accord with contemporary thought, but with a notably greater emphasis on

Mary’s role in the advancement of salvation history. Alf Härdelin has also examined the sermon collection, and identifies the primary underlying structures: salvation history and the outer/inner aspect of monastic life.76 More recently, Ulrich Faust concludes from his

75 Klaus Schreiner, “Hirsau und die Hirsauer Reform. Spiritualität, Lebensform und Sozialprofil einer benediktinischen Erneuerungsbewegung im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert,” in Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991, ed. Klaus Schreiner, vol. 2 (Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991), 59–204. 76 Härdelin, “God’s Visiting.”

24 brief discussion of the Admont sermon collection that there is nothing noteworthy about the spirituality present in the sermons.77 Faust thus demonstrates a dismissive attitude similar to that of Braun and Knapp toward the content of Irimbert’s commentaries, though Faust at least mentions in passing a certain degree of influence from both traditional and contemporary sources on the sermons and commentaries. Alison Beach,

Stefanie Seeberg, and Christina Lutter, however, have certainly demonstrated that there was a special kind of spirituality held at least among the female community at Admont, which clearly revolved around their interaction with the manuscripts.78 Furthermore,

Beach’s study on Irimbert’s Ruth commentary indicates a spirituality held by Irimbert and likely the entire community that emphasizes the significance of salvation history.

Generally speaking, then, there appears to be a recurring theme of salvation history observed by these disparate studies, and it is certainly a prominent theme across

Irimbert’s full corpus. Thus, regarding the question of Admont (or Hirsau) spirituality, another step forward is by conducting a case study on one individual’s body of work.

Irimbert and his sermons and commentaries make for an ideal candidate. The texts were written within a short span, so there are not necessarily issues of Irimbert’s viewpoints changing drastically. And the literary genre of exegesis itself offers a unique perspective into contemporary society and culture;79 a perspective that is under-utilized by scholars.

77 Faust, “Admonts Rezeption der Hirsauer Reform,” 135–39. 78 Beach, Women as Scribes; Beach, “Claustration and Collaboration”; Seeberg, Die Illustrationen; Seeberg, “Illustrations in the Manuscripts”; Lutter, Geschlecht & Wissen; Lutter, “Christ’s Educated Brides: Literacy, Spirituality, and Gender in Twelfth-Century Admont.” 79 For an explanation and treatment of exegesis as a ‘literary genre,’ see E. Ann Matter, The Voice of My Beloved: The “Song of Songs” in Western Medieval Christianity (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990).

25 Despite Beryl Smalley’s groundbreaking work, exegesis is still an area not often explored by historians.80 This neglect of exegetical source material is largely due to the nature of the subject matter, which assumes substantial background knowledge to understand subtle references and allusions. And despite a wealth of medieval manuscripts containing scriptural commentaries, most such texts remain unpublished, not to mention untranslated from the original Latin. Irimbert’s commentaries, for instance, have not been reproduced in critical editions. A selection of Irimbert’s texts was published in the early eighteenth century by the Austrian Benedictine librarian and historian Bernard Pez. He undertook a project to study and publish several manuscripts from Austrian, Bavarian, and Swabian monasteries. He published Irimbert’s writings on the Song of Songs,81

Judges, Judges 19-21 (separately), and Ruth.82 Irimbert’s commentary on Joshua and his lengthy 700-page commentary on Kings remain unpublished and accessible only at the

Admont library itself or on microfilm from the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

(HMML) in Minnesota. My study, therefore, provides the first transcriptions and translations of substantial portions of Irimbert’s interpretation of Joshua and Kings.

Despite the difficulties inherent in exegetical documents, they still present an invaluable source for understanding intellectual, spiritual, and cultural developments in history.

80 On this observation, see Mayke de Jong, “Old Law and New-Found Power: Hrabanus Maurus and the Old Testament,” in Centres of Learning: Learning and Location in Pre-Modern Europe and the Near East, ed. Jan Willem Drijvers and A. A MacDonald (Leiden: Brill, 1995), 163; O’Loughlin, “Tradition and Exegesis in the Eighth Century,” 218. 81 Bernard Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus: Seu Veterum Monumentorum, Praecipue Ecclesiasticorum, Ex Germanicis Potissimum Bibliothecis Adornata Collectio Recentissima, vol. 2, part 1 (Augsburg, 1721), 369–424. 82 Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:127–474.

26 In response to these misconceptions and gaps in our understanding of Irimbert,

Admont and Hirsau spirituality, and of exegetical texts more generally, I argue that

Irimbert makes use of traditional themes of scriptural interpretation while also engaging with contemporary developments in theology and spirituality. Irimbert’s unusual selection of the historical books of the Old Testament for his full-length commentaries reflects the general interest in history at Admont, as evidenced in the library’s growing collection of historical texts in the twelfth century. This interest corresponds with the wider phenomenon of fascination with world history in western Europe. In the midst of rapid changes, contemporaries felt a need to understand their place in the context of historical progression, and Irimbert shares this desire, particularly as it concerned the progression of salvation history. Irimbert’s exegesis is notably Christocentric, and he anchors Christ and his redemptive work quite literally within the historical context of Old

Testament Scripture. Allegory and history are thus strongly intertwined, and together these senses narrate the dramatic unfolding of salvation history, a theme that permeates

Irimbert’s commentaries. Irimbert’s presentation of the history of salvation is colored with traditional and contemporary understandings of Christ’s nature, the role of the Holy

Spirit, and the importance of preaching in the economy of salvation. Irimbert also presents an orderly and unified picture of salvation history, which reflects the general desire to make sense out of the rapid transformations taking place in the Church and religious society. While some were resistant to institutional and spiritual innovation, there was a growing tide of positive assessment of diversity. The twelfth-century zeal for organization and classification facilitated a way for seeing unity within diversity, and

Irimbert likewise utilizes the theme of unity to connect seemingly disparate elements 27 within the framework of salvation history. The Church is positively advancing along the path of God’s salvific plan by means of its unity with Christ and its internal unity among diverse churches and orders. Scripture itself is unified between the Old and New

Testaments, which is emblematic of the fulfillment of Christ’s redemptive work. And the

Church eventually achieves unity with the Synagogue and the Jewish people, which is the essential final element of salvation history.

Irimbert thus utilizes the concept of history to craft an interpretive scheme of salvation history that delicately combines traditional and contemporary exegetical, theological, and spiritual elements. His brief but productive foray into scriptural exegesis is arguably a reflection of the broader spirit of reform. Irimbert’s participation in the intellectual culture of the twelfth century further legitimizes John Van Engen’s rejection of the narrative of a Benedictine ‘crisis.’83 Admont and its community of authors speaks to a blossoming of Benedictine spirituality. And Irimbert certainly embodies Giles

Constable’s observation that the texts from this period of reformation “give an idea of the continuities and changes in the spirituality of the age.”84 Thus, to echo Beryl Smalley,

Irimbert’s commentaries serve as a ‘mirror’ for the twelfth-century institutional reforms and the related transformations in theology and spirituality.

83 John Van Engen, “The ‘Crisis of Cenobitism’ Reconsidered: Benedictine Monasticism in the Years 1050-1150,” Speculum 61 (1986): 269–304. 84 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 259.

28 Chapter 1

Irimbert’s Approach to Scripture and Exegesis

Introduction: Irimbert’s Commentaries

Irimbert of Admont approached Scripture with a humble and unpretentious attitude, and he firmly believed that his modest effort was an important and worthwhile spiritual exercise that was a benefit to his community. For instance, in the prologue to the third book of Kings, Irimbert defends himself against critics who might accuse him, or perhaps have already accused him, of foolishness and over-confidence in taking on the enormous task of explicating the book(s) of Kings. He does this by allegorizing himself as the figure of Ruth, explaining that Boaz supported her efforts in the field by telling the other reapers to refrain from impeding her progress (Ruth 2:15-16).85

Therefore, Christ himself – he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth [Rev. 3:7] – speaks, I say, to his reapers, the holy apostles or distinguished expositors of holy Scripture: If anyone – having been inflamed by my soul in faith and love, forsaking earthly things and desiring heavenly things – wishes to reap, that is, to collect the words of eternal life in the field of holy Scripture with eager meditation, do not to hinder the enthusiasm of any wise man [who] will be faithfully and humbly associated with you…86

85 “Insipientiae vel temeritatis arguendum me a quibusdam esse non dubito, quod opus egregium et nimis arduum in explanationem libri Regum, disertissimis et eloquentissimis viris pertimescendum, ipse scientia et sermone inperitus vel adtemptare audeo. Sed hanc insipientiae notam ipsa quoque mea parvitas valde pertimesceret, nisi humilitati meae spei confidentiam illa Booz benignitas suggereret, qua pro sua Ruth, tunc quidem peregrina et paupercula…Booz enim, qui in fortitudine dicitur, Christus intelligitur…Cuius nimirum ager sancta scriptura accipitur…Ruth quae festinas uel deficiens dicitur sancta ecclesia uel quelibet fidelis anima intelligitur…Messores Christi sancti apostoli accipiuntur…Messores etiam sunt expositores illi egregii, qui messem illam fertilem veteris ac novi testamenti acuta falce sui colligentes ingenii, habundantia suavitatis suae horrea et apothecas repleverunt sui domini” Prologus in librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 327a-b; Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 319). 86 “Dicit ergo Christus, qui habet clavem David, qui claudit et nemo aperit, qui aperit et nemo claudit [Rev. 3:7], dicit, inquit ipse suis messoribus, sanctis apostolis vel egregiis sanctae scripturae expositoribus: Si quelibet anima in fide et dilectione mea defectu terrenorum et affectu aeternorum succensa vobiscum, 29

Allegorically speaking, Boaz is the type of Christ, who encourages Ruth, that is faithful souls, to reap in his field of holy Scripture. The reapers represent the holy apostles and distinguished expositors, and they are ordered not to hinder those who also wish to gather in the field of Scripture. Like Ruth, Irimbert is working in the same field of Scripture as the other reapers or expositors. And using the humility topos, Irimbert points out that even though he might not be counted among the more “distinguished” expositors, his enthusiasm for scriptural study is supported by Christ himself, just as Boaz supported

Ruth. He thus feels justified in continuing his efforts in explicating the third book of

Kings.

In further defense of his work, Irimbert quotes the great Augustine himself:

For the blessed Augustine, that excellent teacher and greatest of expositors, says: And, therefore, it is useful if many men, differing in style but not in faith, write many books even on the same topics, in order that the subject itself may reach as many people as possible, to some in one way, to others in a different way.87

Irimbert is thus indicating that he is merely presenting another way of understanding

Scripture; offering an interpretation that he feels is in a “style” that will “reach as many people as possible” within his own community at Admont and that will resonate with his fellow brothers and sisters more clearly than the interpretations of other expositors.

voluerit metere, scilicet in agro sanctae scripturae verba aeternae vitae studiosa meditatione colligere, non erit vestrum cuiusquam fideliter et humiliter sapientis studium prohibere…” Prologus in librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 327b; Ibid., 320). 87 “Dicit enim beatus Augustinus, doctor ille eximius et expositorum maximus: Utile est plures libros a pluribus fieri diverso stilo non diversa fide etiam de questionibus eisdem, ut ad plurimos res ipsa perveniat, ad alios sic, ad alios autem sic.” Prologus in librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 526a; Ibid., 320–321). Irimbert is quoting Augustine’s De trinitate, 1.iii.5. CCSL 50, p. 33. The translation is taken from Augustine, The Trinity, trans. Stephen McKenna, Fathers of the Church 45 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1963), 8–9.

30 Irimbert’s motivitation for writing a commentary on the books of Kings no doubt underlay his early exegetical work when he preached to the nuns on the scriptural texts like Ruth, Judges 19-21, and the Song of Songs, as well as during his continued work on full-lenth commentaries on Joshua and the rest of Judges.

The following list shows Irimbert’s exegetical texts in rough chronological order of composition, including their corresponding dates for early recensions and final recensions, most of which were contained in two of the monastery’s collection of deluxe manuscripts (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 16 and 17).88

Table 1.1 Irimbert’s Exegetical Texts

Text Manuscripts Date In Canticum 1) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 682, fol. 92v-11r, 1) before 1147 Canticorum89 160r-164v 2) Vorau, Chorherrenstiftsbibliothek MS 193, 2) before 1147 fol. 186r-214v 3) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 530, 53 pp. 3) c. 1160-1165 In librum Ruth 1) Vorau, Chorherrenstiftsbibliothek, MS 193, 1) before 1147 fol. 186r-214v 2) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 650, fol. 1v-55r 2) c. 1145-1176 3) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 682, fol. 1v-29v 3) c. 1145-1176 4) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 17, pp. 416-433 4) c. 1172-1176 Historia de 1) Vorau, Chorherrenstiftsbibliothek, MS 193, 1) before 1147 Concubina fol. 157f-185r (Judges 19-21) 2) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 650, fol. 26r-55r 2) c. 1145-1176 3) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 682, fol. 30r-59v 3) c. 1145-1176 4) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 17, pp. 389-415 4) c. 1172-1176

88 This list is adapted from Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 270–71. For a detailed discussion of the manuscript traditions of these texts, see Braun, “Die Überlieferung der Schriften,” 8–20, 80–118. 89 Specifically Song of Songs 1:1-2, 7; 5:1-3; 7:1-6; 8:6-11.

31 In librum 1) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 651, fol. 150r- 1) before 1147 Regum 185v 2) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 682, fol. 69r-90r 2) before 1147 3) Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, MS 2807, 3) 1151 227 pp. 4) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 16, 685 pp. 4) c. 1172-1176 In librum Iosue 1) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 17, pp. 224-415 1) c. 1172-1176 In librum 1) Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 17, pp. 1-223 1) c. 1172-1176 Iudicum

Development of Medieval Exegesis

Irimbert’s use of the humility topos in his prologues speaks to an awareness that his own exegetical efforts were strongly underpinned by a scriptural commentary tradition with a long and rich history. The Bible permeated nearly every aspect of life in the Middle Ages, and it was certainly the most studied text. Its early interpretation took inspiration from Hellenistic rhetorical practice, as employed by Jewish scholars of the

Hebrew Bible or Septuagint, particularly Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – 40 CE).90

Drawing from this tradition, theologian Origen of Alexandria (c. 185-254) presented an interpretive approach that had a strong impact on the practice of exegesis in the Middle

Ages, particularly as received through Gregory the Great (c. 540-604).91 In principle,

90 For more information on early Christian sources of interpretive methods, see Elizabeth A. Clark, Reading Renunciation: Asceticism and Scripture in Early Christianity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), 61–69. See also the relevant chapters in Magne Sæbø et al., eds., Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300) (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996). 91 On Origen’s reception in the medieval West, see Henri de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis: The Four Senses of Scripture, trans. Mark Sebanc and E. M. Macierowski (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), I.150-224. But while both Origen’s hermeneutical method and his commentaries themselves were influential among Late Antique and medieval exegetes, his beneficiaries were certainly cautious in their attributions, since Origen was declared a heretic in the centuries following his death concerning his doctrines on the relationship between Christ and God the Father, the pre-existence of souls, and the resurrection. See Ibid., I.176-177, 198-211. On the details surrounding early criticisms of 32 Origen approached the interpretation of Scripture with a three-part scheme. He compared

Scripture to the composition of man, comprised of body, soul, and spirit. The corporeal sense relates to the history of the text, the physical sense to the moral meaning, and the spiritual to the allegorical. In practice, Origen often implied a four-part scheme to interpretation, adding a fourth anagogical sense. The origins of this fourfold scheme is more clearly found in Augustine of Hippo (354-430), and then popularized by Gregory the Great.92 Augustine also emphasized the idea that Scripture’s complexity lends itself to a number of different interpretations. As he states in his influential text on the philosophy of biblical study, De doctrina christiana (On Christian Doctrine), “Could God have built into the divine eloquence a more generous or bountiful gift than the possibility of understanding the same words in several ways, all of them deriving confirmation from other no less divinely inspired passages?”93

Medieval exegetes thus inherited a meaningful and clearly articulated philosophy of scriptural interpretation, as well as two schemes for approaching that task. These interpretive formulas were employed in varying degrees of clarity or arbitrariness at any given time, even by the same author. Traditionally, each sense had its own prerogative.

The literal or historical typically referred to the actual historical event or person being related in the biblical narrative, the context of which the exegete would paraphrase for clarity. The literal interpretation could also provide a grammatical analysis of the ‘letter’

Origen’s thought, see Elizabeth A Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992). 92 de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis, I.123-150. 93 Augustine, Saint Augustine. On Christian Teaching, trans. R. P. H. Green (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), III.27.38, pp. 169, 171. For a critical edition of the text, see CCSL 32, p. 100.

33 of the text. The moral or tropological sense revealed how the reader was to live and what actions were to be imitated or avoided. The allegorical or typological sense connected the events of the Old Testament with those in the New Testament as they related especially to Christ and the Church. As such, certain Old Testament people could be seen as ‘types’ or ‘figures’ of Christ. Finally, the fourth anagogical sense revealed the future events of the Church with respect to the end times and the awaited heavenly kingdom. While the anagogical sense was at times treated as a distinct interpretive category, it was at other times subsumed in the allegorical sense.

Medieval exegetes also invariably made use of two different sequences in their interpretive schemes. One pattern placed the moral or tropological sense before the allegorical, while the other gave precedence to the allegorical sense. The former pattern tended to correspond to the threefold scheme of interpretation, while the latter accompanied the fourfold scheme.94 Ultimately, however, there were two senses: the literal and the spiritual.95 The allegorical, moral, and anagogical elements of Scripture’s spirit (or mystery) were all hidden within the letter. The exegete’s primary task was thus to remove the ‘veil’ of the letter to reveal the spirit.96

Medieval exegesis was thus a complex practice, and modern scholars have to grapple with additional complications regarding the issue of terminology. Some scholars, following the example set by Jean Daniélou, see a distinction between the terms

94 On the various formulas and patterns in medieval exegesis, see esp. de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis, I.82- 115. 95 Ibid., I.225, II.24-25. 96 Such was a common Pauline trope for understanding the goal of scriptural hermeneutics, drawing from 2 Cor. 3:12-18.

34 ‘allegory’ and ‘typology.’ Allegory is seen to hold, at best, a tenuous grasp on the real connection between the comparisons, whereas typology is more faithful to the historical reality between the two Testaments.97 This assessment leads to the assumption that allegory is less successful (or ‘worse’) than typology at nonliteral interpretation. Yet De

Lubac prefers the term ‘allegory’ over ‘typology,’ arguing that the latter does not adequately capture the spirit or intention of the scriptural allegorical tradition.98 Medieval authors, however, did not show the same concern for terminological precision. Exegetes invariably used the terms typus, figura, similitude for the senses allegoria, mysticus, and spiritus.99 The same medieval disregard for terminology also presents itself in the names for the exegetical genre itself. Whereas modern scholars generally refer to such interpretive texts as ‘commentaries’ or works of ‘exegesis,’ medieval authors (or their scribes/copyists) varied in their titles, using such terms as ennarationes, glosule, tractatus, expositio, commentum, explanatio, etc.100

The study of medieval exegesis, particularly in the twelfth century, is further complicated by urbanization and the rise of schools outside of the monastery. As noted above, the High Middle Ages were a time of heightened intellectual activity, and such

97 On Daniélou’s studies on this topic, see esp. Jean Daniélou, Sacramentum Futuri; Études Sur Les Origines de La Typologie Biblique (Paris: Beauchesne, 1950); Jean Daniélou, Essai sur le mystère de l’histoire (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1953). 98 de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis, I.259. For the historiography of the allegory/typology distinction, as well as an assessment of the question as it relates to Origen, see Peter Martens, “Revisiting the Allegory/Typology Distinction: The Case of Origen,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 16 (2008): 283– 317. 99 Frans Van Liere, An Introduction to the Medieval Bible (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 119. 100 Nikolaus M. Häring, “Commentary and Hermeneutics,” in Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, ed. Robert L Benson and Giles Constable (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982), 174–80.

35 rapid changes have had the tendency to make ‘traditional’ ideas appear starkly opposed to the ‘new.’ Constant Mews has shown, however, that such a strict dichotomy falls apart upon closer examination of monastic library holdings, such as those at Admont, which houses a wide selection of both traditional and contemporary texts.101 Mews’ research into this phenomenon offers a corrective to previous scholarly emphasis on the idea of distinct monastic and scholastic theologies in the twelfth century. It was Jean Leclercq who first identified two primary theological cultures: one belonging to the monasteries, and the other to the urban communities.102 While he does concede that there exist variations even among a single cultural milieu – one could speak of monastic ‘theologies’

– he imagines a clear distinction between a general monastic theological culture and its scholastic neighbor. Leclercq characterizes monastic theology as holding a distinctive contemplative bent. While some may have made attempts at systematization, the ultimate goal was to aid in divine meditation rather than to pursue reason and order for its own sake as an intellectual exercise or to spark debate. Monastic theology was also deeply steeped in tradition, such that monks more so than scholastics instinctually held a certain degree of humility and deference. Leclercq also points to the focus on pastoral concerns coming from the urban schools, noting that while there were also pastoral activities in monasteries, monks were more engaged with personal spiritual development than with

101 Mews, “Scholastic Theology in a Monastic Milieu.” 102 Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture, trans. Catharine Misrahi (New York: Fordham University Press, 1982), 191–235; Jean Leclercq, “The Renewal of Theology,” in Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, ed. Robert L Benson and Giles Constable (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982), 68–87.

36 educating the laity. Other marks of contrast between monastic and scholastic theology pertain to audience, subject matter, source materials and modes of expression.

Gilbert Dahan also distinguishes different genres of exegesis, divided among the monasteries, schools, universities.103 Like Leclercq, he notes the meditative objective of monastic exegesis, and as such, monastic commentaries tended to be rather lengthy; each biblical verse was meticulously explored to uncover all spiritual significations. This exploration also gave way to many and varied digressions within the text. Monastic exegesis was also distinctly tropological, connected particularly to the monk’s introspective character development, both as an individual and as a member of a monastic community. By contrast, exegesis in the schools was more structured than in monasteries, and the exegetes tended to treat each sense as a discrete unit in their commentaries. Long running commentaries from the monastic tradition were exchanged for more concise

‘glosses’ and ‘notes.’ The authoritative sources were expanded beyond the Latin Fathers, and exegetes of the schools consulted Greek Fathers and Jewish authorities. More attention was also given to textual criticism, the liberal arts, and the theory of scriptural interpretation. Dahan further contrasts the monastic and school genres with the university genre that took shape during the thirteenth century. University scholars expanded the scientific pursuits of the twelfth-century schoolmasters and created a distinction between

103 Gilbert Dahan, L’exégèse chrétienne de la Bible en Occident médiéval, XIIe-XIVe siècle (Paris: Cerf, 1999), 75–120; Dahan, “Genres, Forms and Various Methods,” 200–216. Ulrich Köpf also sees monastic and scholastic theologies as being strongly institutionally divided: Ulrich Köpf, “The Institutional Framework of Christian Exegesis in the Middle Ages,” in Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), ed. Magne Sæbø et al. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 148–79.

37 biblical study and theological study. Their intensified analysis of theology resulted in rigidly structured lessons on doctrine and a more pronounced scientific approach.

While both Leclercq and Dahan pay heed to nuances in their distinctions, their presentation still tends to place these intellectual and spiritual cultures in opposition.

Other scholars, especially in more recent studies, are increasingly demonstrating the strong overlap between these general monastic and scholastic ‘cultures.’As Constant

Mews argues, Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153), Lecercq’s primary example of a monastic theologian, can hardly be taken as normative. While the Cistercian monk may have argued strongly against the new schools and intellectual developments, particularly opposing Peter Abelard (1079-1142), other monastic-oriented theologians like Anselm of

Bec (c. 1033-1109) and Hugh of St. Victor (c. 1096-1141) freely used scholastic methodology.104 And even though monastic scholars such as Rupert of Deutz and Gerhoh of Reichersberg (1093-1169) disliked certain scholastics from France, modern studies have shown that rather than being entirely conservative, these monks were quite original and innovative.105 The theological labels of ‘monastic’ and ‘scholastic’ are thus too narrow, and they fail to capture the intellectual spirit of twelfth-century monasteries and their scholars.106

104 Mews, “Monastic Educational Culture Revisited,” 182–83. 105 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz; Peter Classen, Gerhoch von Reichersberg: eine Biographie mit einem Anhang über die Quellen, ihre handschriftliche Überlieferung und ihre Chronologie (Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1960). 106 John Van Engen, noting the lack of an adequate term to classify Rupert of Deutz’s thought, suggests the term ‘figural thought’ to better capture the monk’s frequent use of figural imagery in his exegesis. Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 72, fn 63. He also notes in general the inadequacy of the term ‘monastic theology.’ See Ibid., 367-68. And as Van Engen notes in a more recent analysis of Rupert’s exegesis, “we should no longer, even unawares, work from categories to persons but from persons and their works to larger and, perhaps, new cultural categories.” John Van Engen, “Wrestling with the Word: Rupert’s Quest for 38 Closer inspection of contemporary monastic library holdings has done much to shed light on the convergence of the two milieux, particularly in the southern German- speaking region. Albert Hauck deeply influenced decades of historical opinion with his conclusion that medieval Germany’s interaction with theological developments lagged behind areas like France.107 Peter Classen challenges this assumption, arguing that one has to examine the surviving manuscripts in person, rather than simply work from possibly inaccurate library catalogues.108 He took as a case study the reception of early scholastic texts in medieval Bavaria and Austria, where he found a rich selection of texts from Peter Abelard, scholars from St. Victor, Gilbert of Poitiers (c. 1085-1154) and his

Exegetical Understanding,” in Rupert von Deutz - ein Denker zwischen den Zeiten? Internationales Symposion der Erzbischöflichen Diözesan- und Dombibliothek Köln und des Instituts für Christliche Philosophie der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, (20. bis 22. September 2007), ed. Heinz Finger (Köln: Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, 2009), 188. Further using the example of Rupert, Jay Diehl also cautions against a strict separation between educational institutions, pointing instead to one broad intellectual culture. See Jay Diehl, “Masters and Schools at St Laurent: Rupert of Deutz and the Scholastic Culture of a Liégeois Monastery,” in Medieval Liege at the Crossroads of Europe: Monastic Society and Culture 1000-1300, ed. Steven Vanderputten, Tjamke Snijders, and Jay Diehl, Medieval Church Studies 37 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017), 151–82; Jay Diehl, “The Grace of Learning: Visions, Education and Rupert of Deutz’s View of Twelfth-Century Intellectual Culture,” Journal of Medieval History 39 (2013): 20–47, esp. 36-37. More nuance and connection between the ‘theologies’ is also suggested by Thomas F. Head, “‘Monastic’ and ‘Scholastic’ Theology: A Change of Paradigm?,” in Paradigms in Medieval Thought Applications in Medieval Disciplines: A Symposium, ed. Nancy Van Deusen and Alvin E Ford (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990), 127–41. 107 Albert Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. 4 (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1913), 470. 108 Peter Classen, “Zur Geschichte der Frühscholastik in Österreich und Bayern,” Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 67 (1959): 252. For more information on the challenges associated with studying medieval monastic library holdings and the transmission of manuscripts, see Christoph Egger, “Die Verbreitung der Werke Ruperts von Deutz in Süddeutschland und sein Leser- und Interessentenkreis,” in Rupert von Deutz - ein Denker zwischen den Zeiten? Internationales Symposion der Erzbischöflichen Diözesan- und Dombibliothek Köln und des Instituts für Christliche Philosophie der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, (20. bis 22. September 2007), ed. Heinz Finger (Köln: Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, 2009), 15–32; Christoph Egger, “Basilisken und ägyptische Frösche. Alte und neue Theologie im bayerisch-österreichischen Raum im 12. Jahrhundert,” Archa Verbi 1 (2004): 143–62; Christoph Egger, “Scholar’s Suitcase: Books and the Transfer of Knowledge in Twelfth- Century Europe,” in The Church and the Book: Papers Read at the 2000 Summer Meeting and the 2001 Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society, ed. R. N Swanson, Studies in Church History 38 (Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell & Brewer, 2004), 87–97, esp. 89-92.

39 ‘school,’ and Peter Lombard (c. 1096-1160). Classen ultimately concluded that the findings were not surprising, given the strong reform movement in the region. It was to be expected that such communities would welcome modern ideas to fuel their spiritual fervor.109

Christoph Egger has followed Classen’s lead, digging further into monastic library holdings in southern Germany and Austria.110 He has examined in particular the reasons why or how scholastic texts found their way in those regions, seemingly so remote from the intellectual center of Paris. Egger notes that a number of twelfth-century bishops studied in the French schools, and they afterwards remained heavily involved in intellectual activity during their bishoprics in Germany. For instance, Archbishop

Eberhard I of Salzburg (r. 1147-1164) had been a Benedictine monk at Prüfening and then student in France, and as bishop he distributed a number of scholastic texts throughout the diocese. As Egger states, “Eberhard’s interest in books shows the concern to keep abreast of contemporary developments in theology, and so integrate the Austrian dioceses and religious houses into the emerging mainstream of scholastic ideas. To achieve this, books were the ideal medium.”111 More recently, Egger has discovered new

109 Classen, “Frühscholastik in Österreich und Bayern,” 270–71. 110 Egger, “Basilisken und ägyptische Frösche”; Egger, “Scholar’s Suitcase”; Christoph Egger, “Viktorinische Exegese in Süddeutschland und Österreich im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert,” in Bibel und Exegese in der Abtei Saint-Victor zu Paris. Form und Funktion eines Grundtextes im europäischen Rahmen, ed. Rainer Berndt (Münster: Aschendorff, 2009), 539–55. 111 Egger, “Scholar’s Suitcase,” 97.

40 manuscript traditions for texts from Laon and Peter Abelard, further demonstrating the rich collection of scholastic texts among monastic communities in the region.112

Constant Mews has pointed out the prevalence of scholastic texts existing within the Hirsau reform community. He has examined the list of about one hundred surviving twelfth-century manuscripts belonging to Zwiefalten (f. 1089), which was affiliated with

Hirsau.113 This list includes patristic texts of Augustine, Jerome, Gregory, etc. existing right alongside texts by Hugh of St. Victor, Gilbert of Poitiers, and students from Laon.

In some cases, both monastic and scholastic texts are included within the same codex.

Clearly, then, monasteries in southern Germany and Austria do not demonstrate a sharp divide between what Leclercq considered to be two distinct cultures. Indeed, as Mews states:

Many monks asked questions about the meaning and correct implementation of the way of life to which they were committed. Some were interested in new reflection about the meaning of Christian doctrine, whether such ideas came from within a monastic environment or from outside its confines…the vitality of monastic culture in the first half of the twelfth century was characterized by a keen desire both to study the legacy of the past and to search out new solutions to the questions which troubled them.114

Admont and the Scholastic World

Indeed, Irimbert composed his commentaries and sermons in an intellectual milieu that truly reflects this rich and dynamic world of the twelfth century that was

112 Christoph Egger, “Neue Überlieferungen theologischer Texte der Frühscholastik in österreichischen Bibliotheken,” Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 122 (2014): 99–106. 113 Mews, “Monastic Educational Culture Revisited.” 114 Ibid., 195.

41 caught in a period of continuity and change. As noted in the introduction, Admont houses just over 200 surviving twelfth-century manuscripts, and as was evidently standard for

Hirsau reform communities, several of these manuscripts contain scholastic texts. For example, Admont holds a copy of Abelard’s Theologia ‘Summi boni’, alongside other discussions of the Trinity, like commentaries on Boethius’s Opuscula sacra and Thierry of Chartres’ Commentum Helye cuiusdam magistri gallicani super Boetium de trinitate.115 This combination of texts, similar to a manuscript at the Cistercian abbey of

Heilsbronn (Erlangen, Universitätsbibliothek MS 182), suggests an awareness within the monastic community of contemporary Trinitarian debates.116 Another manuscript from

Admont contains the sentence collection Principium et causa omnium deus from Laon, as well as Abelard’s sentences, here given the title Sententie Petri Baiolardi.117 This text contains a number of passages considered controversial at the time, and a twelfth-century reader, who was clearly aware of the contention surrounding Abelard, wrote cave

(beware!) beside the problematic sections.118 Indeed, Admont’s twelfth-century library collection demonstrates both an awareness of controversial writings as well as sympathy for both sides of the aisle, as it contains a copy of Gerhoh’s text About the Novelties of

115 Formerly Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 382. The manuscript was sold in 1936 to James Lyell due to financial pressures at the abbey, and it is now housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Bodlein Lyell 49, fols. 101-128v). For a critical edition of the text, see CCCM 13. For more on these texts and manuscripts, see Nikolaus M. Häring, “A Third Manuscript of Peter Abelard’s Theologia Summi Boni (MS Oxford, Bodl. Lyell 49),” Mediaeval Studies 18 (1956): 215–24; Nikolaus M. Häring, Commentaries on Boethius by Thierry of Chartres and His School, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies: Studies and Texts 20 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1971). 116 Mews, “Scholastic Theology in a Monastic Milieu,” 225. 117 Also sold by the abbey in the 1930s, this manuscript (formerly Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 729) is now at Princeton University (MS Garrett 169). Abelard’s text is in fols. 83r-151v. 118 Mews, “Scholastic Theology in a Monastic Milieu,” 226.

42 the Day (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 434) that fiercely spoke against contemporary theological ideas, as well as a poem called Plange planctu nimio (Admont,

Stiftsbibliothek MS 701) that laments Abelard’s condemnation.

Among other manuscripts that show Admont keeping abreast of contemporary thought are some of the earliest versions of Gratian’s Decretum (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek

MSS 23 and 43). Also among the collection are relatively recent works by Peter Damian

(c. 1007-1072), Bernold of Constance (c. 1054-1100), and Ivo of Chartes (c. 1040-

1115).119 Admont was also one of the beneficiaries of Archbishop Eberhard’s distribution of scholastic texts, receiving Peter Lombard’s commentaries on the Psalms and Pauline epistles (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 36 and 52). Another new development originating in the schools of France during the twelfth century was what became known as the Glossa Ordinaria. The aim of this project was to surround the scriptural text of the entire Bible with interlinear and marginal interpretations drawn mostly from patristic and early medieval commentators. The compilation of the full text was a collaborative effort that took place over the course of the twelfth century, but the earliest books of the Glossa

Ordinaria originated from the lectures given by Anselm (d. 1117), master of the school at

Laon.120 Admont obtained a few of these glossed books of Scripture that came directly

119 For more detail on these manuscripts and the texts contained in them, see Ibid., 228, fn. 37. 120 There is no critical edition of the full Glossa Ordinaria, but some scholars have made editions of individual books. See Mary Dove, ed., Glossa Ordinaria Pars 22 In Canticum Canticorum, CCCM 170 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997); Alexander Andrée, ed., Gilbertus Universalis: Glossa Ordinaria in Lamentationes Ieremie Prophete, Prothemata et Liber 1 (Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell International, 2005). While it is not a critical edition representative of all manuscripts and recensions of the Gloss, Karlfried Froehlich and Margaret Gibson have edited a facsimile reprint of a late fifteenth-century version of the text by Adolf Rusch (c. 1435-1489). See Karlfried Froehlich and Margaret T. Gibson, eds., Biblia Latina Cum Glossa Ordinaria: Facsimile Reprint of the Editio Princeps Adolph Rusch of Strassburg 1480/81 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1992). For more on the Glossa Ordinaria and its place in the history of exegesis, see Lesley Smith, The Glossa Ordinaria: The Making of a Medieval Bible Commentary (Leiden; 43 from Parisian workshops (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 426, 508, 568, 347, 415, 537,

418, 284).121 The overwhelming presence of these texts thus clearly demonstrates that

Admont was a “centre for the influx of French book production.”122

Particularly relevant for the present study is the fact that Admont holds a substantial collection of texts from Hugh of St. Victor, whose works and approach to

Scripture influenced Irimbert’s own writings. Hugh was an Augustinian canon from the community of St. Victor in Paris, and he became one of the famed Parisian ‘masters’ that drew in students from all over Europe.123 His teaching appealed to a broad range of interests, as he emphasized both the importance of reading and interpreting Scripture as well as applying the techniques acquired from the secular liberal arts toward the sacred

Boston: Brill, 2009); Margaret T. Gibson, “The Place of the ‘Glossa Ordinaria’ in Medieval Exegesis,” in Ad Litteram: Authoritative Texts and Their Medieval Readers, ed. M.D. Jordan and K. Emery (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 5–27; Margaret T. Gibson, “The Twelfth-Century Glossed Bible,” Studia Patristica 23 (1989): 232–44. 121 Some of these manuscripts no longer belong to the monastic library, and the latter six in this list are discussed in Stammberger, “The Works of Hugh of St. Victor at Admont,” 236–38. 122 Ibid., 242. 123 Despite the popularity of Hugh’s works, little is known about the author himself. See esp. Paul Rorem, Hugh of St. Victor (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009); Dominique Poirel, Hugues de Saint-Victor (Paris: Cerf, 1998); L. Jerome Taylor, The Origin and Early Life of Hugh St. Victor: An Evaluation of the Tradition (Notre Dame, Ind.: Mediaeval Institute, University of Notre Dame, 1957). He was born sometime between 1096 and 1100 in the diocese of Halberstadt in medieval Saxony and was originally named Hermann, son of Count Contrad of Blankenburg. (On the contention surrounding Hugh’s origin, see Joachim Ehlers, Hugo von St. Viktor: Studien zum Geschichtsdenken und zur Geschichtsschreibung des 12. Jahrhunderts (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1973), 27–35.) He received an education at the Augustinian house of St. Pancras and, against his parents’ wishes, he became a novice in the regular community. At the onset of Emperor Henry V’s war against Saxon nobles around 1115, Hugh fled to Paris with his uncle archdeacon Hugh of Halberstadt. With a mutual desire for the regular life, the pair entered the recently founded Abbey of St. Victor and became canons of the Augustinian community. St. Victor, founded between 1115 and 118 by William of Champeaux, soon became renowned for the school’s educational opportunities, and the institution was no doubt partially responsible for making Paris a major intellectual center in the medieval west. Hugh was a prolific writer, and after his death in 1141, Abbot Gilduin of St. Victor assembled into four codices copies of most of Hugh’s works. For a reconstruction of Hugh’s authentic works, see Franklin T. Harkins, “Secundus Augustinus: Hugh of St. Victor on Liberal Arts Study and Salvation,” Augustinian Studies 37 (2006): 219–46; Roger Baron, “Rapports entre saint Augustin et Hugues de Saint-Victor. Trois opuscules de Hughes de Saint-Victor,” Revue des études augustiniennes 5 (1959): 391–429.

44 goal of more fully understanding God.124 Such an approach was strongly reminiscent of

Augustine’s educational scheme set out in his De doctrina christiana, and the similarities with the patristic Father led contemporaries to refer to Hugh as “a second Augustine”

(secundus Augustinus).125 Hugh provides an extensive theory of scriptural exegesis in his

Discascalicon de studio legendi (Didascalicon on the Study of Reading). His goal in this text was to emphasize proper order in reading, which would result in the restoration of the soul. The first part of the text deals with reading secular texts and studying the liberal arts, while the second part discusses the proper reading of Scripture.126 Hugh also discusses exegetical methodology in De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris (On Sacred

Scripture and Its Authors). This text, essentially serving as a prologue to Scripture, is a

124 See esp. Jean Châtillon, “De Guillaume de Champeaux à Thomas Gallus: Chronique d’hoistoire littéraire et doctrinale de l’école de Saint-Victor,” Revue du moyen âge latin 8 (1952): 139–62; Helmut G. Walther, “St. Victor und die Schulen in Paris vor der Entstehung der Universität,” in Schule und Schüler im Mittelalter: Beiträge zur europäischen Bildungsgeschichte des 9. bis 15. Jahrhunderts, ed. Martin Kintzinger, Sönke Lorenz, and Michael Walter (Cologne: Böhlau, 1996), 53–74. 125 On the similarities between the two theologians, see Franklin T. Harkins, “Secundus Augustinus: Hugh of St. Victor on Liberal Arts Study and Salvation,” Augustinian Studies 37 (2006): 219–46; Dominique Poirel, “‘Alter Augustinus - Der Zweite Augustinus’: Hugh von Sankt Viktor Und Die Väter Der Kirche,” in Väter der Kirche: Ekklesiales Denken von den Anfängen bis in die Neuzeit: Festgabe für Hermann Josef Sieben, SJ, zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Johannes Arnold, Rainer Berndt, and Ralf M. W. Stammberger (Munich: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2004), 643–68; Grover A. Zinn, “The Influence of Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana upon the Writings of Hugh of St. Victor,” in Reading and Wisdom: The De Doctrina Christiana of Augustine in the Middle Ages, ed. Edward D. English (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995), 48–60; Roger Baron, “Rapports entre saint Augustin et Hugues de Saint-Victor. Trois opuscules de Hughes de Saint-Victor,” Revue des études augustiniennes 5 (1959): 391–429. 126 I will refer to this text by its more well-known name of simply Didascalicon. For a critical edition, see Hugh of St. Victor, Didascalicon de studio legendi: a Critical Text, ed. Charles Henry Buttimer (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Press, 1939). For the most recent introduction to and translation of the text, see Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, eds., Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, Victorine Texts in Translation 3 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012), 63–201. For a thorough discussion of the text, see Ivan Illich, In the Vineyard of the Text: A Commentary to Hugh’s Didascalicon (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993). On the general exegetical method advanced by Hugh and the Victorines, see Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, 85–195.

45 systematic handbook for students aiming to interpret the Bible.127 Throughout his pedagogical program, Hugh emphasizes the study of history, and he puts the method in practice with his Notulae (Notes), which provides an outline of the literal interpretation of the Pentateuch and the books of Judges and Kings.128 But while Hugh is often praised for reviving the study of history and the literal sense of Scripture and emphasizing its importance, it should not be forgotten that he viewed history as foundational to something more: allegory (and morality). Thus in his text On the Sacraments of the

Christian Faith (De sacramentis christianae fidei), Hugh provides a thorough allegorical interpretation of Scripture.129 He insists that an allegorical reading reveals the theology of

Christ, and in this text – which can really be considered the first theological summa of the medieval period130 – Hugh walks through the biblical narrative to reveal the sacraments or mysteries131 that took place both before Christ (book one) and after (book two).

127 PL 175, cols. 9-28. An introduction and translation of De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris is provided in Harkins and Van Liere, Interpretation of Scripture: Theory, 205–30. For an examination of the text, see Grover A. Zinn, “Hugh of St. Victor’s ‘De Scripturis et Scriptoribus Sacris’ as an ‘Accessus’ Treatise for the Study of the Bible,” Traditio 52 (1997): 111–34. 128 Jan Wolter Marius Van Zweiten, “The Place and Significance of Literal Exegesis in Hugh of St. Victor: An Analysis of His Notes on the Pentateuch, the Book of Judges, and the Four Books of Kings” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Amsterdam, 1992). 129 For a critical edition of the text, see Hugh of St. Victor, De sacramentis Christiane fidei, ed. Rainer Berndt, Corpus Victorinum, Textus historicii 1 (Münster: Aschendorff, 2008). For a translation of the text, see Hugh of St. Victor, On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (de Sacramentis), trans. Roy J. Deferrari (Cambridge, MA: Mediaeval Academy of America, 1951). An introduction to the text and a translation of the prologues is also included in Harkins and Van Liere, Interpretation of Scripture: Theory, 255–68. 130 R. W Southern, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, vol. 2 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), 57. 131 Sacramentum here is a broad term that refers to anything that signifies something sacred, making ‘mystery’ a valid synonym (and the texts itself could be translated On the Mysteries of the Christian Faith). See Boyd Taylor Coolman and Dale M Coulter, eds., Trinity and Creation, Victorine Texts in Translation 1 (Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 2011), 163–64, fn. 29.

46 Perhaps owing to his ability to combine liberal arts study with the contemplative focus of the regular life, Hugh’s texts, as well as those of his successors at St. Victor, found a large audience among monasteries. As Grover Zinn points out, “The works of

Hugh of St. Victor reflect the Victorine climate: open to the currents of intellectual life stirring in the Parisian schools yet maintaining the steadfast fidelity to the ancient traditions of lectio divina and monastic spirituality,”132 and such an approach would have appealed to reform-oriented communities. Therefore, Victorine texts were especially widely distributed among monasteries throughout the southern German and Austrian region during the High Middles Ages, and Admont’s library contains the largest number of Hugh’s texts in the region, with six of the nine manuscripts containing his writings dating to the twelfth century.133 The twelfth-century texts belonging to Hugh at Admont are as follows:134

Table 1.2 Hugh of St. Victor’s Texts at Admont

Manuscript Text(s) MS 292, 1r-1404 In hierarchiam coelestem MS 324, 1r-89r; 90r- Homiliae in Ecclesiasten; De tribus 107r diebus MS 399 1va-98rb De sacramentis I

132 Grover A. Zinn, “Historia fundamentum est: The Role of History in the Contemplative Life According to Hugh of St. Victor,” in Contemporary Reflections on the Medieval Christian Tradition; Essays in Honor of Ray C. Petry, ed. Ray C. Petry and George H. Shriver (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1974), 137. 133 Egger, “Viktorinische Exegese in Süddeutschland und Österreich im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert.” For more information on the distribution of Hugh’s work in particular, see Rudolf Goy, Die Überlieferung der Werke Hugos von St. Viktor: ein Beitrag zur Kommunikationsgeschichte des Mittelalters (Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 1976). See also the table in Ralf M. W. Stammberger, “Diligens Scrutator Sacri Eloquii: An Introduction to Scriptural Exegesis by Hugh of St Victor Preserved at Admont Library (MS 672),” in Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, ed. Alison I. Beach, Medieval Church Studies 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 245–50. 134 This list is adapted from Stammberger, “Diligens Scrutator Sacri Eloquii,” 245.

47 MS 446 Miscellanea MS 506 1ra-124ra De sacramentis II MS 672, 1v-79r; De archa; Libellus de formatione 79r-101r; 101r-117r arche; Diligens scrutator

This collection once again demonstrates that Admont was an intellectual center in this region during the twelfth century, responsible for much of the transmission and reception of the newest writings coming out of France.135 The monastic community clearly held Hugh in high regard, as the library holds one of only two known manuscripts to contain an author-portrait of the Victorine scholar.136 Admont certainly prioritized building a library that would be suitable for a reform-oriented community in the midst of a twelfth-century renaissance, and Ralf Stammberger suggests that it was Irimbert himself who may have overseen the copying of the Diligens Scrutator137 – an early version of what was to become chapters 14, 15, and 18 in De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris – considering his demonstrated interest in exegesis.138

135 Stammberger demonstrated this notion in particular with Hugh of St. Victor’s texts. Stammberger, “The Works of Hugh of St. Victor at Admont.” For a more specific discussion on the manuscript tradition of the Diligens Scrutator, see Stammberger, “Diligens Scrutator Sacri Eloquii.” 136 Admont MS 672, fol. 1v. Stammberger, “Diligens Scrutator Sacri Eloquii,” 268. He notes that the other manuscript containing an author-portrait of Hugh is Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud misc. 409, fol. 3v. 137 A translation of which can be found in Harkins and Van Liere, Interpretation of Scripture: Theory, 231– 48. The standard Latin text from De scripturis is in PL 175, cols. 20-23, 25-28. A Latin transcription of Admont’s copy of the text can be found in Stammberger, “Diligens Scrutator Sacri Eloquii,” 272–83. 138 Stammberger, “Diligens Scrutator Sacri Eloquii,” 268.

48 Irimbert, Admont, and the Importance of History

Whether or not Irimbert himself saw to the production of these texts at Admont,

Hugh and his writings certainly influenced Irimbert’s approach to scriptural interpretation. For instance, one need only look at which scriptural books Irimbert chose for his more thorough exegetical endeavors to see that his was not exactly a standard approach to hermeneutics. Prior to his more concerted exegetical efforts, Irimbert had given sermons to the nuns of Admont on a variety of scriptural passages, particularly the

Gospel texts, as well as selections from Old Testament books like Kings, Psalms, Daniel, and Isaiah.139 But for his full-length commentaries, Irimbert worked exclusively with Old

Testament texts, specifically the historical books. Irimbert’s preoccupation with the Old

Testament historical books is clearly evident before he began working on Kings, with the

Admont nuns producing an extensive manuscript transmission in compiling his sermons on the entire book of Ruth and chapters 19-21 of Judges (Historia de concubine), along with the compilation of his sermons on the non-historical Song of Songs. But aside from the Song of Songs, the Old Testament books that Irimbert focused on for interpretation were not standard choices.

Throughout the early and High Middle Ages, the most popular Old Testament books to study were the Song of Songs, Psalms, and Genesis (or more specifically, the

Hexameron). Even when New Testament books are added to the equation, in the twelfth century the Song of Songs, Psalms, and Genesis remained the most popular texts, along

139 Though mostly unattributed, it is likely Irimbert’s sermons that are preserved in Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 651 and 682.

49 with Romans.140 With respect to the vast commentary tradition focusing on the Song of

Songs, then, Irimbert did not deviate from the norm, although his particular approach was somewhat different, as will be discussed below. But noticeably absent from the more frequently interpreted books of Scripture are those traditionally numbered among the

‘historical’ books. These historiographos make up one of four divisions of the Old

Testament books in the Septuagint, and thus also the Vulgate. The books in this categeory are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Tobit, Judith, and

Maccabees.141

Not many of these historical books had been given full commentaries before Bede

(c. 672-735) and the Caroligian exegetes.142 In fact, the Old Testament books in general were largely neglected. The few exceptions would be a commentary on Psalms by

Augustine143 – and further taken up by Cassiodorus (c. 485-585)144 – the Hexameron by

140 Karlfried Froehlich, “Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament in the High Middle Ages,” in Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), ed. Magne Saebø, et al., vol. 1.2 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 499; Van Liere, An Introduction to the Medieval Bible, 161. 141 The other three divisions of Old Testament Scripture in this tradition are the Pentateuch, Wisdom and Psalms, and Prophets. Harkins and Van Liere, Interpretation of Scripture: Theory, 197, fn. 301. 142 Claudio Leonardi, “Aspects of Old Testament Interpretation in the Church from the Seventh to the Tenth Century,” in Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), ed. Magne Saebø, et al., vol. 1.2 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 180–95; de Jong, “Old Law and New-Found Power,” 170. 143 CCSL 38-40. Admont’s twelfth-century library collection contained most, if not all, of his Psalms commentary (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 49, 50, 51). 144 CCSL 97-98.

50 Ambrose (c. 340-397)145, and Morals on Job by Gregory the Great.146 As regards full commentaries on the historical books, there existed an interpretation of 1 Kings (up through 26:13) originally attributed to Gregory the Great, but the text did not have wide readership and survives in only one manuscript from the twelfth century.147 Bede took up the task of filling in this gap of full biblical commentaries with his interpretations of

Genesis, Exodus, Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and

Habakkuk, along with others on the New Testament.148 Carolingian exegetes also worked toward more fully explicating Old Testament Scripture, such as Claudius of Turin (d.c.

827), who wrote commentaries on the Octateuch (excluding Deuteronomy) and Kings.149

Rabanus Maurus (c. 780-856) explicitly set out to treat more systematically and comprehensively every book of the Bible, incorporating (and summarizing) the Fathers

145 CSEL 32/1, pp. 3-261. For a translation, see Ambrose of Milan, “Hexameron,” in Saint Ambrose: Hexameron, Paradise, and Cain and Abel, trans. John J. Savage, Fathers of the Church 42 (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1961). Admont’s twelfth-century library held a copy of this text (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 259). 146 CCSL 143 (3 vols.). For a translation, see Gregory the Great, Moral Reflections on the Book of Job, trans. Brian Kerns, Cistercian Studies Series 249, 257, 258, 259 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2014-2017). Admont’s twelfth-century library held several manuscripts of the text (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 262, 279, 293, 476, and 477). 147 For the text, see CCSL 144. On the reassessment of the authorship of this text, see Adalbert de Vogüé, “L’auteur du Commentaire des Rois attribué à Grégoire: un moine de Cava?,” Revue Bénédictine 106 (1996): 319–31; F. Clark, “Authorship of the Commentary ‘In 1 Regum’: Implications of A. de Vogüé’s Discovery,” Revue Bénédictine 108 (1998): 61–79. 148 CCSL 118-121 (8 vols.). Of these Old Testament commentaries, Admont’s twelfth-century library collection held Tobit and Proverbs (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 348 and 357). 149 His commentary on Genesis is printed in PL 50, cols. 893-1048, and his commentary on Kings is printed in PL 104, cols. 623-834 and PL 50, cols. 1047-1208. His short commentary on Ruth is published in I. M Douglas, “The Commentary on the Book of Ruth by Claudius of Turin,” Sacris Erudiri 22 (1974): 295– 320. For a French translation of the Ruth commentary, see Rabanus Maurus and Claudius of Turin, Deux commentaires sur le livre de Ruth, trans. George Colveneere, I. M Douglas, and Pierre Monat, Sources chrétiennes 533 (Paris: Cerf, 2009), 164–83. Claudius’ commentaries on Exodus and Numbers are no longer extant, and his commentaries on Leviticus, Joshua, and Judges remain unpublished, with the first preserved in Reims 123 and the latter two in Paris lat. 2391. The prefaces to these texts are published in MGH Ep. 4, pp. 590-613.

51 throughout and filling the gaps where necessary.150 Angelomus of Luxeuil (d.c. 895), another Carolingian commentator, composed interpretations on the books of Genesis,

Kings, and the Song of Songs.151 In their treatment of scriptural exegesis as a kind of summa, Claudio Leonardi observes, “the Carolingian school believed…that it had to prepare a full and comprehensive (verse by verse) exegetical corpus, at the same time paying respect to, and summarizing the Tradition.”152 By Irimbert’s time, then, the commentary tradition of Old Testament books had certainly expanded, but it was by no means substantial, especially in the case of historical books.

The nature of Bible copying practices during much of the medieval period dictated which books of Scripture were more frequently interpreted. The Bible was rarely copied into a single volume, or pandect. Rather, the ‘Bible’ was generally conceived as a multi-volume text; a collection of writings instead of a single work, and not every library had a complete ‘set.’ The volumes containing the Gospels, Psalms, Pentateuch, Prophets, and Pauline Epistles were the most widely available, and the large number of commentaries on these texts reflects that tendency. The social and spiritual environment of the medieval period also dictated which books received more attention. For instance, the Song of Songs was cherished during the Middle Ages as a rich allegory on the love

150 His commentaries on several books of the Old and New Testaments are printed in PL 107-109. For a French translation of his commentary on Ruth, see Rabanus Maurus and Claudius of Turin, Deux commentaires sur le livre de Ruth, 32–153. Admont’s tweflth-century library held his text on Kings (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 176). 151 PL 115, cols. 106-628. 152 Leonardi, “Aspects of Old Testament Interpretation in the Church from the Seventh to the Tenth Century,” 191.

52 between Christ and the Church or soul, whereas today’s spiritual environment dwells on the text very little.153

These circumstances, then, make it even more noteworthy that Irimbert selected the books of Joshua, Judges (and Ruth), and Kings for his commentaries.154 These biblical texts were rarely given full exegetical treatment and the biblical books themselves were not as widely available as other volumes of Scripture. The apparent interest in Hugh of St. Victor at Admont may offer a suggestion as to why Irimbert was drawn to these books. As Rainer Berndt observes, “a characteristic feature of Hugh’s exegesis consists of the fact that he imputed central importance to the Old Testament: besides commentaries on Old Testament texts, he chose the Old Testament as a point of departure for systematic considerations,” such as in his theological summa De sacramentis.155 Hugh’s Old Testament focus thus likely influenced and inspired Irimbert.

Due to his interest in history, as will be discussed further below, Hugh especially recommended the study of the historical books of Scripture. Hugh presumably noticed the lack of attention given to the historiographos, and in his Didascalicon he emphasizes the importance of the historical study of Scripture. In response to the assertion that the historical narratives offer nothing useful and are unworthy of study, Hugh retorts:

153 Frans Van Liere, “Biblical Exegesis through the Twelfth Century,” in The Practice of the Bible in the Middle Ages, ed. Susan Boynton and Diane J. Reilly (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011), 157– 58. 154 I include Ruth in this list, because even though Irimbert did not interpret the text during his three years of concerted exegetical occupation, this ‘commentary’ is still the only compilation of his sermons that covers the entire text, indicating a certain preoccupation with this biblical book compared to the texts he selected for his other sermons. 155 Rainer Berndt, “The School of St. Victor in Paris,” in Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), ed. Magne Sæbø et al. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 473.

53 There are, in fact, many things in the Scriptures that seem to offer nothing worth seeking, but if you read them in light of the surrounding passages and begin to weigh them in their larger literary context, you will see that they are as indispensable as they are suitable. Some things should be learned for their own sakes, but other things, although for their own sakes they do not seem worthy of our effort, nevertheless should by no means be carelessly passed over because without them we cannot have a clear and simple understanding of the former. Learn all things, and subsequently you will see that nothing is superfluous.156

Hugh follows this statement with a recommended reading list for the study of history in the Bible. The most pertinent texts were Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Kings, and

Chronicles, along with the Gospels and book of Acts in the New Testament. Thus for

Hugh, the historical books of Scripture were the “foundation and beginning of sacred learning…from which the truth of allegory is extracted like honey from a honeycomb.”157

Irimbert was likely following this program of study in his choice of books to interpret, knowing that the seemingly ‘useless’ and ‘superfluous’ biblical narratives were in fact

‘indispensable’ in uncovering the sacred mysteries. It should be pointed out that the

Admont library does not have a surviving copy of the Didascalicon, but this omission does not preclude the possibility that Irimbert may have read the text at a different monastery or that Admont may have later loaned out a copy of their own that was not returned. As previously mentioned, Admont was the center of a vibrant monastic network of intellectual and textual transmission, so Irimbert certainly could have been exposed to

156 Hugh of St. Victor, “Didascalicon on the Study of Reading,” in Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, ed. Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, trans. Franklin T. Harkins, Victorine Texts in Translation 3 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012), VI.3, pp. 165–6. 157 Ibid., VI.3, 166. Hugh is alluding to a common topos comparing the honeycomb of the literal sense of scripture to the honey of the spiritual sense. Irimbert uses this image in his interpretation of the Song of Songs 5:1. See Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1721, 2, part 1:399b–402a. For more on the use of this image in the Middle Ages, see de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis, II.162-177.

54 a wider selection of scholastic ideas and texts beyond what is now reflected in the library holdings. Hugh’s Didascalicon was one of his more popular works, and given Admont’s large collection of his works, it is unlikely that the community would have neglected to copy this text.

To be sure, Admont evidently shared Hugh’s interest in historical study. Johann

Tomaschek’s study of the twelfth-century library holdings demonstrates the community’s keen interest in historical writings.158 Abbot Godfrey actively promoted the acquisition of historical texts. For instance, he wrote to an Admont monk currently at Tegernsee, asking for the works of Josephus (c. 37-100).159 Whether it was done at the request of Godfrey or not, Admont also acquired the standard histories of the Christian Church, such as

Eusebius’ (c. 260-340) Historia ecclesiastica, Bede’s Historia ecclesiastica gentis

Anglorum, and Otto of Freising’s (c. 1114-1158) Chronica. Admont also produced its own historical texts during the twelfth century, such as a book of Annals,160 two vitae of the monastery’s founder Gebhard,161 and the Chronicon mundi.162

158 Johann Tomaschek, “Geschichtsbewusstsein und monastische Reform. Das geistige Profil des Stiftes Admont im 12. Jahrhundert im Spiegel seiner historiographischen Handschriften,” in CODE(x): Festgabe zum 65. Geburtstag von Alois Haidinger, ed. Alois Haidinger, Martin Haltrich, and Maria Stieglecker (Purkersdorf: Verlag Brüder Hollinek, 2010), 158–67. 159 The letter is printed in PL 174, cols. 1209-1212. 160 Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 501. MGH SS 9, pp. 569-693. 161 Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 497 and 475. MGH SS 11, pp. 25-28, 33-49. 162 Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 15.

55 Irimbert’s Exegetical Approach

Irimbert’s approach to scriptural exegesis offered a framework in which he could meditate on the historical significance of his selected Old Testament texts. Regarding the form that Irimbert’s exegesis took, it will be useful to refer to Gilbert Dahan’s typology.163 Irimbert’s work takes the form of the running (or anthological) commentary, which was the most basic and common form of medieval exegesis. The writing in this form is continuous (as opposed to the gloss format), and it is typically composed of both fragments from the patristic Fathers (and early medieval exegetes) and the author’s own commentary, with both elements being linked rather than juxtaposed and set off from each other. The length of a running commentary varies, but the structure itself usually follows the biblical text verse by verse (whether as a whole or a fragment). In essence, the author using this commentary form is both a compiler and an interpreter.

As noted above, Irimbert’s exegetical endeavors ultimately stemmed from his time as spiritual advisor and preacher to the nuns of Admont. His early exegetical corpus, then, took the form of homilies. Preaching in the Middle Ages, a topic that has received increased attention over recent years, has its own complicated typology.164 Whereas a sermon discusses a certain theme that may or may not be based on a scriptural reference, a homily “is a systematic exposition of a pericope (a liturgically designated passage of

163 Dahan, L’exégèse chrétienne de la Bible, 121–59; Dahan, “Genres, Forms and Various Methods,” 216– 26. 164 See esp. Beverly Mayne Kienzle, ed., The Sermon (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000); Carolyn Muessig, ed., Medieval Monastic Preaching (Leiden: Brill, 1998); Carolyn Muessig, ed., Preacher, Sermon and Audience in the Middle Ages (Leiden: Brill, 2002). On the difficulties of making a typology for preaching, see Beverly Mayne Kienzle, “Introduction,” in The Sermon, ed. Beverly Mayne Kienzle (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000), 143–74.

56 Scripture, usually from a Gospel or Epistle) that proceeds according to a pattern of lectio continua, commenting on a given passage verse by verse or phrase by phrase.”165 The homilies that Irimbert preached on select portions of Kings underwent minimal changes when they were incorporated in his full commentary, lending further credence to the idea that homilies can rightly be viewed as a form of exegesis.166

A recurring exegetical method in Irimbert’s commentaries is what can be called

‘analysis by concordance.’167 In the monastic tradition of lectio divina, or divine reading, the reader slowly ‘ruminates’ on the texts, and such a process encouraged the discovery of verbal or thematic analogy (or dissimilarity). Thus the meaning of a verse, or the individual words in that verse, could be more fully understood by explaining it with other parts of Scripture. As Jean Leclercq puts it, “verbal echoes so excite the memory that a mere allusion will spontaneously evoke whole quotations and, in turn, a scriptural phrase will suggest quite naturally allusions elsewhere in the sacred books. Each word is like a hook, so to speak; it catches hold of one or several others which become linked together and make up the fabric of the exposé.”168 And especially in the monastic context, where

165 Thomas Nelson Hall, “The Early Medieval Sermon,” in The Sermon, ed. Beverly Mayne Kienzle (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000), 205. 166 For more on the connection between preaching and exegesis, see Louis-Jacques Bataillon, “De la lectio à la praedicatio: commentaires bibliques et sermons au XIIIe siècle,” Revue des sciences philosophiques et théologiques 70 (1986): 559–75. 167 Dahan, L’exégèse chrétienne de la Bible, 350–58; Dahan, “Genres, Forms and Various Methods,” 235– 36. Dahan draws from the discussion on meditative reading in Leclercq, The Love of Learning, 72–77. 168 Leclercq, The Love of Learning, 73–74. The lectio divina thus lent itself to exegetical compositions as an expression of this understanding attained through diligent meditatio. Exegesis required a holistic view of scripture, such that verbal ‘hooks’ naturally connected all the canonical books together. For an examination of this method in practice, see Grover A. Zinn, “Texts within Texts: The Song of Songs in the Exegesis of Gregory the Great and Hugh of St. Victor,” Studia Patristica 25 (1993): 209–15. For a more thorough study on the medieval practice of lectio divina, see Duncan Robertson, Lectio Divina: The Medieval Experience of Reading (Collegeville, NM: Liturgical Press, 2011).

57 commentaries tended to be rather long and unrestrained, such “free association of ideas” resulted in multiple digressions.169

Irimbert certainly colors his commentaries with references to other biblical verses scattered throughout the text, and he sometimes also delves into long digressions. He does this, for instance, in his explication of 3 Kings 3. In the biblical narrative, Solomon had just established his kingdom in Jerusalem, and then the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked the king what he wished to receive (v. 5). Irimbert explains that dreams imitate this present life, either revealing prosperity or adversity.170 The verbal cue of

‘dreams’ in the Kings text leads him to discuss Genesis 40 at length, which relates the story of Joseph interpreting the dreams of the two eunuchs or servants of the Pharaoh while imprisoned in Egypt. The chief butler told of a dream in which he pressed grapes from three branches into a cup and presented the cup to the Pharaoh (vv. 9-11). The chief baker told of a dream in which he was carrying three baskets of meal on his head, and the birds ate from the uppermost basket (vv. 16-17).

Just as Joseph saw a positive meaning for the chief butler’s dream (vv. 12-13), so too does Irimbert. The chief butler is the type of those who wish to restore their thirst in

Christ’s redemption by laboring for the cup of his Passion, and the faithful will be successful in preserving joy in perfect servitude to God.171 Drawing from Joseph’s

169 Dahan, “Genres, Forms and Various Methods,” 201. 170 “Somnio enim omnis haec uita praesens assimilatur, siue prosperis esseratur siue aduersis atteratur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 354b). 171 “Prepositus pincernarum typum gerit eorum, qui ut sitim redemptoris sui reficiant calicem passionis eius permanibus semper habere laborant…quia fidelis quisque perfecte deo seruiens in sola tantum spe aeternae remunerationis gaudia continet.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 355a, b).

58 negative interpretation of the chief baker’s dream (vv. 18-19), Irimbert sees him as a representation of those who continuously stoke the flames of carnal desire. The three baskets on his head were the vices of arrogance, avarice, and extravagance, with the latter being at the top, from which the evil spirits circling the air satisfy themselves.172 Thus

Joseph designates holy Scripture itself, interpreting dreams of either contempt for or love of the world. And just as the fate that Joseph prophesied came about three days later – with the chief butler being redeemed and the chief baker being executed – so too will

Christ on the designated day judge all humanity.173 When Irimbert ends the digression and returns to the text of Kings, he explains that Solomon here is a type for the faithful people, to whom God offers liberty.174 And Solomon’s request for understanding and wisdom reflects the faithful peoples’ request for a spirit of intelligence.175 Thus the digression on dreams and their interpretation served to demonstrate Scripture’s prophecy of the perseverance of the faithful in their contempt of the world.

172 “Magister pistorum formam gerit eorum, qui cordis sui clibanum continuis succendunt flammis terrenorum et carnalium desidiorum…Tria canistra, sunt superbia auaricia et luxuria…Canistrum excelsius est luxuriae fluxus, qui profundius et latius occupat omne humanum genus…maligni spiritus qui in hoc aere instar auium circumferuntur, luxuriosorum hominum cogitationibus uerbis et factis auide exsaciantur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 356a). 173 “Proinde sermo sanctae scripture qui per ioseph designator, utrisque et mundi contemptoribus et mundi uel carnis amatoribus somniorum suorum effectum interpretatur…In hoc die tercio rex christus natale suum celebrabit, cum in forma hominis sedens in throno iudicis laborem omnem suae humanitatis recensebit, quo uel mundi contemptores benigne remunerabit, uel mundi et carnis amatores iuste condempnabit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 356b). 174 “Postula quod uis, ut dem tibi. Quasi dicat deus populo fideli. Quia artibtrii libertatem tibi dedi libertatem quoque postulandi tuae permitto uoluntati, tu postula quod uolueris, ut dem tibi quod postulaueris, quia sine me nichil agere poteris.” In librum Regem, 3 (Admont 16, p. 357a). 175 “Dabis ergo seruo tuo cor docibile per spiritum intelligentiae…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 357b-358a).

59 Irimbert and the Senses of Scripture

Regarding Irimbert’s treatment of the interpretive senses, in theory he sees both the three-fold and four-fold schemes playing out in Scripture. For example, in his discussion of 3 Kings 10:22, which relates Solomon’s navy, accompanied by the navy of

Hiram (King of Tyre), setting out every three years to retrieve various treasures, Irimbert interprets the two navies as fleets of the apostles, and the preachers and expositors respectively. The sea on which they set sail is holy Scripture, in whose depths lie infinite treasures of allegory and morality. The three years also signify the three senses of the letter, allegory, and morality.176 Alternatively, in his explication of Joshua 22, in which

Joshua is sending home the various tribes with riches, Irimbert interprets the variety of raiment they were given (v. 8) as the variety of intelligence found in Scripture, namely of the letter, allegory, morality, and anagogy.177 Yet sometimes Irimbert refers to both schemes. He discusses the meaning of 2 Kings 20:16-21, when a woman tells Joab (the captain of King David’s army) a proverb that goes: They that inquire, let them inquire in

Abela. The woman addressed Joab three times before she spoke the proverb, and Irimbert interprets this as referring to instruction in letter, allegory, and morality as the path to wisdom, specifically in understanding the ‘proverb’ of the Old Testament.178 After Joab

176 “Classis regis est praedicatio sanctorum apostolorum, classis hiram sunt praedicatores et expositors gentium. Per mare profunditas sanctae scripturae figuratur…quia in sanctae scripturae profunditatibus infinitus allegoriarum et moralitatum latet thesaurus…anni tres typum gerunt litterae allegoriae et moralitatis…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 434b). 177 “Multiplex etiam uestis est intelligentia sanctae scripturae salutaris et sublimis, que mirabiliter multiplicatur, dum at litteram ad allegoriam ad moralitatem ad anagogen dilatatur.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, p. 166a-b). 178 “Tercio mulier sapiens sermonem suum ad ioab repetit, quia tribus modis sapientia alummnum suum ad litteram et allegoriam et ad moralitatem instruit.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont 16, p. 301a-b).

60 responded to the woman, she spoke a fourth time, thereby indicating for Irimbert the fourth sense of anagogy.179 Irimbert thus sees both sets of three and four senses at work in Scripture, often corresponding with the explicit numbers or sequences in the biblical text.

In practice, however, Irimbert tends toward the threefold scheme, and for the remainder of the chapter, I will discuss the general characteristics of these three senses as they appear in Irimbert’s exegetical corpus. It should be noted, however, that in the course of his explication, rarely does Irimbert state clearly when he is providing an allegorical interpretation, a moral interpretation, etc. He generally runs through his commentary without making distinctions of the senses. If the anagogical sense is present, it is so well integrated into the allegorical to make it virtually indistinguishable.

Ultimately, then, Irimbert’s approach is more a matter of the simple letter-spirit distinction, and his primary concern was the spiritual meaning of Scripture, so he rarely dwelt on the letter as it pertained to textual-biblical criticism or grammar.

The Literal Sense and Historical Understanding

Irimbert’s treatment of the letter of Scripture is thus rather brief. Despite the presence in the Admont library of Hugh of St. Victor’s Diligens Scrutator, the beginning portion of which sets out the proper method for a literal analysis of Scripture, Irimbert seems to largely disregard Hugh’s recommendation of giving due attention to the letter.

But it can be assumed that Irimbert is nevertheless aware of the historical significance of

179 “Quarto sapiens mulier alumnum suum alloquitur, dum sancta scriptura per litteram per allegoriam per moralitatem et per anagogen mysteria sua loquitur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont 16, p. 302a).

61 the texts that he explicates. In the prologue to his collected homilies on the book of Ruth,

Irimbert states, that God’s wisdom “not only brought about the marriage of the Israelite leader, but also properly reckoned according to the flesh the genealogy of Christ the

Redeemer.”180

But in practice, as previously mentioned, Irimbert does not clearly demarcate the senses in his analysis. There are a few instances in which he directs the reader elsewhere in the commentary or even to one of his other commentaries for the ‘literal sense.’ He does this, for instance, in his commentary on Joshua 15:13, which describes the portion of land given to Caleb. The territory went by the name Kiriath-arba, or Hebron, and

Irimbert sees no need in providing an explanation for this section of the verse, because the “literal sense [is made evident] above.”181 The city is earlier referenced in Joshua

14:15, and here Irimbert had explained that ‘Hebron’ means ‘marriage’ or ‘eternal vision’ and ‘Kiriath-arba’ means ‘four cities.’182 In another example, during his commentary on

Judges 1:1, Irimbert cites 2 Kings 2:13-17 to further elucidate the question of who would be chosen to lead the Israelites in battle against the Canaanites. Irimbert refrained here from providing the “literal sense” of the cited passage, since he had done so in his commentary of the corresponding book of Kings.183 Apart from the allegorical

180 “Proinde sapientia Dei…ut eam non solum Israelitici principis matrimonio efferat, sed etiam Christi Redemptoris secundum carnem genealogiae dignanter adscribat.” In librum Ruth (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:444b-c.) 181 “Cariatharbe patris enach ipsa est ebron, cuius littere sensus patet asuperioribus.” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, p. 96a). 182 “Ebron enim coniugium uel uisio sempiterna dicitur…Nomen ebron ante cariatharbe uocabatur quae ciuitas quattuor interpretatur…” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, pp. 88b, 89a). 183 “Cuius litterae sensum si quis requirere voluerit, in expositione nostra super librum Regum suo in loco invenire poterit.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:134b.).

62 discussion, which relates to a battle between the Old and New Testaments, in this portion of Irimbert’s commentary of Kings he explains that the meaning of the protagonist’s name, Joab, is ‘father.’184

These instances of alluding to an analysis of the literal sense indicate that Irimbert understood the ‘letter’ as involving providing the meaning of a name or word. Such a method of exegesis was quite standard. And indeed, that was the purpose Irimbert found in the significations. Gilbert Dahan notes that signification in exegesis took two forms: etymology and interpretation.185 Medieval etymology typically makes use of the phonetic elements of a word to uncover its essence or innate quality. A popular reference text for such information in the medieval period was Isidore of Seville’s (c. 560-636)

Etymologies.186 Interpretation refers to the meaning of a proper name in Scripture, and the text most commonly consulted for such inquiry was Jerome’s (c. 347-420)

Interpretation of Hebrew Names.187 Both types of word signification aided in discovering the allegorical and tropological meaning of the text. But even though Dahan classifies the signification of words as a method of spiritual analysis, Irimbert did not seem to have had that understanding, but instead considered it part of the literal meaning. Providing the

184 “Per ioab qui est pater interpretatur…” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 182a). 185 Dahan, L’exégèse chrétienne de la Bible, 307–25; Dahan, “Genres, Forms and Various Methods,” 232– 34. 186 Admont owned a twelfthy-century copy of book 10 (de vocabulis) of the Etymologies (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 278). For a critical edition and translation of the full text, see Isidore of Seville, Isidori Hispalensis episcopi Etymologiarvm sive Originvm, ed. Wallace M. Lindsay, 2 vols. (E Typographeo Clarendoniano, 1911); Isidore of Seville, The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, trans. Stephen A Barney (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006). 187 Admont owned a copy of this text dating to the twelfth century (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 683). For a critical edition of the text, see CCSL 72, pp. 59-161. Isidore of Seville also compiled a list of the allegorical meaning of names in the Old and New Testaments (PL 83, cols. 97-130), and Admont appears to have owned two copies from the twelfth century (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 471 and 718).

63 meaning of names and words was the extent of his literal analysis, though, using it merely as a stepping stone for the allegorical sense.

Hugh of St. Victor was critical of exegetes who rushed through, or even ignored, the literal sense and who did not truly understand the way in which words signify. In his defense of a thorough examination of history, he argues, “I know that there are certain students who want to philosophize immediately. They say that stories should be left to pseudo-apostles. Their understanding is like that of an ass! Do not imitate students like this!”188 Again, for Hugh history was an essential foundation for interpreting Scripture, and he understood ‘history’ as referring to both the narrative of events in the Bible

(historia), as well as the words themselves that signify the narrative (littera), and this distinction became more apparent among scholars during the twelfth-century renaissance.189 Regarding the littera distinction Hugh says, “history is also understood more broadly as the sense that words (verbum) have in their first meaning when they refer to things (res).190 He explains that the meaning of words themselves are imposed by humans, whereas the things are given meaning at the first level of signification by God

188 Hugh of St. Victor, “Didascalicon on the Study of Reading,” VI.3, 164. In saying ‘certain students,’ Hugh may have been referring to such figures as Peter Abelard and Gilbert de la Porrée (c. 1076-1154). See Franklin T. Harkins, Reading and the Work of Restoration: History and Scripture in the Theology of Hugh of St. Victor (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2009), 175–76, 182–83. 189 Harkins, Reading and the Work of Restoration, 187–96; Gillian Rosemary Evans, “Hugh of St. Victor on History and the Meaning of Things,” Studia Monastica 25 (1983): 223–34, esp. 230-234. 190 Hugh of St. Victor, “On Sacred Scripture and Its Authors,” in Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, ed. Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, trans. Frans Van Liere, Victorine Texts in Translation 3 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012), III, 215. See also, Hugh of St. Victor, “Didascalicon on the Study of Reading,” V.3, 151; Hugh of St. Victor, “On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith: Prologues,” in Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, ed. Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, trans. Christopher P. Evans, Victorine Texts in Translation 3 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012), I.5, 264.

64 himself. By way of demonstration, Hugh explains that teachers err when they say that the word leo signifies Christ due to shared characteristics, when it is really the leo itself in its first-level meaning that signifies Christ. Therefore Hugh cautions exegetes not to “boast about your understanding of Scripture as long as you disregard the letter. To ignore the letter is to ignore what the letter signifies and what is signified by it.”191 And living up to his attribution as a secundus Augustinus, Hugh’s understanding of the signification of words was heavily influenced by Augustine, who set forth a distinction between signs

(signa) and things (res) in his De doctrina Christiana.192

Irimbert makes a curious comment in his commentary on 2 Kings 1 that contributes to this discussion on verbal signification. The biblical text records the song of lament given by David after hearing about the deaths of Saul and Nathan. Irimbert interprets the lament as representing the labor of Christ’s Incarnation, and he notes that

David “represents the type of the Son of God in thing and name.”193 Assuming Irimbert is taking nomine as a similar term for verbum or signa, it seems he is implying that both modes of signification properly refer to Christ. Irimbert unfortunately did not expound on his analysis of this signification, but the brief mention still suggests possible awareness of the discussion on signification, whether through Augustine or Hugh. So even though

Irimbert did not dwell on the historia in the biblical narrative in his explications, he may

191 Hugh of St. Victor, “On Sacred Scripture and Its Authors,” V, 217. 192 On the connection between Hugh and Augustine regarding this theory of language, see Harkins, Reading and the Work of Restoration, 148–59. 193 “Per planctum filii dei labor assumptae incarnationis intelligitur…regis david, qui typum filii dei re et nomine exprimitur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 173a-b, 174a). [emphasis added]

65 have been aware of the proper understanding of littera with regard to his allegorical analysis.

In keeping with Admont’s apparent interest in the study of history in general,

Irimbert’s exegesis also demonstrates an interest in history as it plays out in the progression of ages, which both hinges on the biblical narrative as well as the importance of interpreting that narrative. Fundamentally, this focus on the progression of ages was tied to the overarching narrative of salvation history, which will be discussed more fully in the next chapter. But as a preface to that discussion, it will suffice here to explain

Irimbert’s conception of world history, which is both traditional in its outlook as well as reflective of the new theological developments in the twelfth century.

The medieval world inherited, and oftentimes prioritized, the Pauline and

Augustinian tri-partite scheme of history. According to this view, the world was divided according to the time of the natural law or before the law (ante legem), the time of the written law or under the law (sub lege), and finally the time of grace (sub gratia).194

Augustine also developed a scheme that paralleled the six days of creation with the six stages of life, which reflected the progression of time for the world itself.195 Such ordering of history remained standard, but the twelfth century witnessed a kind of revival

194 The tripartite division of time is implied throughout Paul’s epistles. Augustine presents a more comprehensive philosophy of history, for instance in his De trinitate, 4.iv.7 (CCSL 50, pp. 170-171); Augustine, The Trinity, 140. 195 De catechizandis rudibus (On the catechizing of the uninstructed), 22 (CCSL 46, pp. 121-178). Augustine also presented a six-age scheme in his De trinitate, 4.iv.7 (CCSL 50, pp. 169-170); Ibid., 139. Also in his De civitate Dei (City of God), 22.30 (CCSL 48, pp. 865-866); Augustine, Concerning the City of God Against the Pagans, trans. Henry Bettenson (London: Penguin Books, 2003). p. 1091

66 in conceptualizing history and placing emphasis on its significance.196 As Marie-

Dominique Chenu asserts, “it was not the least splendid achievement of Latin

Christendom in the twelfth century to awaken in men’s minds an active awareness of human history” and seeing in it “an expression of the temporal order of salvation.”197

Historians in the twelfth century certainly made use of the tri-partite and creation schemes and Daniel’s prophetic dream (Daniel 7) – designating the empires of the

Babylonians (Assyrians), Persians, Greeks (Macedonians), and Romans – but they also invented their own schemes, utilizing a variety of numbering sequences.198

Hugh of St. Victor was one theologian who ascribed to multiple views of historical progression. In addition to the natural law/written law/grace sequence of time,

Hugh divided the ages in a simple two-part scheme, which he called ‘states,’ the first old and the other new. The first extended from Adam to Christ, while the second would last from Christ until the end of the world. Hugh also held Augustine’s six-part scheme of ages as it related to the stages of the individual’s life, which he designated historically as the time from (1) Adam to Noah, (2) Noah to Abraham, (3) Abraham to David, (4) David

196 See esp. Marie-Dominique Chenu, “Theology and the New Awareness of History,” in Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, trans. Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), 162–201; R. W. Southern, “Presidential Address: Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing: 2. Hugh of St Victor and the Idea of Historical Development,” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 21 (1971): 159–79; Giles Constable, “Past and Present in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries: Perceptions of Time and Change,” in L’Europa Dei Secoli XI E XII Fra Novità E Tradizione: Sviluppi Di Una Cultura: Atti Della Decima Settimana Internazionale Di Studio, Mendola, 25-29 Agosto 1986. (Milan: Vita e pensiero, 1989), 135–70; Funkenstein, “Periodization and Self-Understanding in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times,” 3–23, esp. 8-14; Zinn, “Historia fundamentum est,” esp. 144-146; Ray C. Petry, “Three Medieval Chroniclers: Monastic Historiography and Biblical Eschatology in Hugh of St. Victor, Otto of Freising, and Ordericus Vitalis,” Church History 34, no. 3 (1965): 282–93. 197 Chenu, “Theology and the New Awareness of History,” 162. 198 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 164; Constable, “Past and Present,” 166–67.

67 to the Babylonian captivity, (5) the Babylonian captivity to Christ, (6) and from Christ to the end of the world. As part of this sequence, Hugh added a new scheme to further divide these first five ages before Christ. The first of these four successions took place from Adam to Moses and this grouping of individuals – which is fully listed in the

Diligens Scrutator but not incorporated into De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris – is given the name of ‘patriarchs.’ The second succession lasted from Moses to David, known as the ‘judges,’ the third from David to the Babylonian captivity, known as the ‘kings,’ and finally from the Babylonian captivity to Christ, known as the ‘priests.’199 Ultimately, each scheme of history, whether old or new, that was put forth by these theologians emphasized God’s divine providence in effecting the restoration of the Church through an orderly series of events. Thus, in contrast with the simultaneous line of thought in the twelfth century that focused on the abstracted Nature of the universe on a cosmic level,

“there was now growing up a conscious awareness of the historicity of the Bible, and thus of religious man, a historicity whose principle was the supremacy of God, not only over all the cosmos, but over all earthly events.”200

Irimbert also adheres to a number of historical schemes in his exegesis. Most often he holds to the sequences of three ‘times’ and six ‘ages.’ He explains the former, for instance, in his explication of 1 Kings 20. In the biblical narrative, David had fled from Saul to avoid being killed, and Jonathan was providing assistance for David. David

199 These schemes are included in both the Diligens Scrutator and De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris. See Hugh of St. Victor, “The Diligent Examiner,” in Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, ed. Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, trans. Frans Van Liere, Victorine Texts in Translation 3 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012), 3.1, 237; Hugh of St. Victor, “On Sacred Scripture and Its Authors,” XVII, pp. 229–230. 200 Chenu, “Theology and the New Awareness of History,” 175.

68 told Jonathan that the next day he would hide in the field instead of sitting beside the king according to custom (v. 5), and on the third evening Jonathan would report to him how

Saul had taken to his absence, whether peacefully or resentfully. Irimbert sees this as a reflection of Christ announcing to the prophets that tomorrow will commence the preaching of his Gospel, since he had succeeded in his Passion and Resurrection and was now at the right hand of God.201 In the meantime, Christ is ‘let go’ in the testimony of his divinity and humanity and remains hidden in the world. As Irimbert explains in the voice of Christ speaking to the prophets:

Thus, I may be hid in the field, because I will hide throughout the extent of the world in the gentile people, who will be placed under your instruction by the mystery of my Passion. I may be hid till the evening of the third day, indeed until the consummation of my revealed grace. For the first day was before the law, the second under the law, the third in the time of revealed grace. Therefore the evening of the third day designates the end of the world, until which point Christ remains hid in the field, while he inhabits the gentile church through his own faith.202

Irimbert follows the traditional pattern, while embellishing the third ‘time’ with its conclusion as indicating the end of the world.

Irimbert follows the six-age pattern in his explanation of Joshua 6, when the

Israelites are preparing to take over the city of Jericho. God commanded Joshua to have

201 “Dicit filius dei prophetico ordini, ex reuelatione spiritus sancti. Ecce kalendae sunt crastino. Tempore crastino incipiet euangelii mei praedicatio, quo crastino kalende celebrabuntur, quia gentes ad cognitionem dei praedicatione euangelii conuocabuntur. Ego ex more sedem soleo iuxta regem ad uescendum, cum per acto passionis meae et resurrectionis triumpho per ascensionis meae gloriam considebo ad patris dexteram, ad in aeternum uiuendum et gaudendum.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 103a-b). 202 “Dimitte ergo me, diuinitati et humanitati meae testimonium perhibendo tua praedicatione. Sic abscondar in agro, quia per mundi latitudinem delitescam in gentium populo, qui tuo magisterio subicietur passionis meae mysterio. Abscondar usque ad uesperam diei terciae, scilicet usque in consummationem reuelatae meae gratiae. Prima enim dies fuit ante legem, secunda sub legem, tercia tempore reuelatae gratiae. Vespera ergo diei terciae finem mundi designat, usque ad quem christus in agro latitat, dum aecclesiam gentium per fidem suam in habitat.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 103b).

69 the Israelites march around the city walls for six days, and on the seventh day they were to sound the trumpets and shout until the walls crumbled before them (vv. 3-5). The six days of marching thus represent “all the faithful of Christ who shout the mystery of the redemption in the six ages of the world.”203 Irimbert’s division of the six ages is slightly different from the Augustinian tradition, however. The first age lasts from Abel to Noah, the second from Noah to Abraham, third from Abraham to Moses, fourth from Moses to

David, fifth from David to the coming of Christ, and the sixth from Christ to the end of the world. In the course of these six ages, then, the mysteries of Christ build up the

Scriptures. And just as the Israelites concluded their march with triumphant shouting and blowing of trumpets on the seventh day, so also would the ages conclude with the praising and dancing of all the faithful illuminated with the light of the septiform Holy

Spirit.204

Despite the slight variations, Irimbert typically follows standard conceptions of historical progression. He does, however, sometimes break from tradition. He develops a rather detailed four-part scheme in his explication of 2 Kings 21 with the commencement of the Israelites engaging in four successive battles against the Philistines. Each battle,

203 “Sic faciunt sex diebus, sic omnes christi fideles redemptionis mysterium concinunt in sex seculi aetatibus.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 32b). 204 “Primus enim dies quasi prima aetas seculi fuit ab abel usque ad noe, secundus dies quasi secunda etas a noe usque ad abraham, tercia dies ab abraham usque ad moysen, quarta dies a moyse usque ad dauid, quinta dies a dauid usque ad aduentum christi, sexta dies ab aduentum christi usque ad consummationem saeculi extenditur. Sic ciuitas sex diebus circuitur, quia in his sex saeculi etatibus scriptura ueteris ac noui testamenti mysteriis redemptionis institutuitur…Septimo circuitu clangunt bucinis sacerdotes, cum illustrates lumine septiformis spiritus interioribus et exterioribus sensibus iubilationem laudis dicunt omnis fideles ueri sacerdotii honore tripudiantes.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 32b).

70 then, represents four periods of time, marking out the very beginning of things to the end.

The first battle (vv. 15-17) is likened to the infamous Fall,

…where the devil joined in battle with the first man in paradise to the great misfortune of mankind. Therefore, no doubt everyone was engaged in the first battle in which the devil overtook all mankind with temptation and mortification during this time before the law was administered.

But the enemy was overcome by the efforts of Abishai, who represents the order of patriarchs, which upheld Christ from the beginning with prayer and exhortation.205 The second battle (v. 18) corresponds with the time of Moses, marking the advent of the law, which contains the mysteries.206 The third battle (v. 19) designates the time of grace, commencing with Christ being sent to earth to effect salvation, and continuing with the preaching of the Gospel.207 The fourth and final battle (vv. 20-21) marks the end of the world with the commencement of the future Judgment, “when all humanity is gathered together by its Creator to the reckoning that will be rendered.” The victor in this scenario, as the type of Jonathan, is the order of prophets, which rejects Satan’s false accusations

205 “Primum praelium quod sine loco ponitur illud bellum intelligitur, quo diablous in paradyso cum homine primo magno hominis infortunio congreditur. Quo nimirum primo praelio omne tempus illud comprehenditur, quo diabolus ante datam legem omne genus humanum temptando et mortificando insequitur…Per abysai qui pater sacrificii dicitur ordo patriarcharum exprimitur, qui in primordio mundi filium dei in suis omnibus illius temporis fidelibus orationis et exhortationis uerbo tuetur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 307a-b). 206 “In quo nimirum secundo bello subochai de usathi sephi de genere gygantium percutit, dum moyses legislator, per commissum sibi gladium spem incentorem peccati diabolum configit. Subochai enim condensum interpretatur, per quod lex figuratur, que nimia densitate mysteriorum in littera adumbratur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 307b-308a). 207 “Tercium quoque bellum sicut et secundum in gob ministratur, quia per praedicationem euangelii datae tempore gratiae contra diabolum decertatur. In quo bello adeotatus filius saltus polimitarius betlehemites goliad getheum percutit, dum filius dei in plenitudine temporum ueniens antiquum hostem moriendo posternit. Qui adeodatus iure dicitur, quia a deo pater in haec mundum pro salute hominum mittitur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 308a).

71 hurled against the reprobate, elect, and saints.208 Irimbert thus conceives of an alternative method of dividing the entire history of the world. His four-part scheme is not completely removed from tradition, though, as he incorporates elements of the three-part scheme to maintain continuity, but he adds a more fleshed-out image of the final Judgement by marking it off as a separate age.

Irimbert presents another alternative historical scheme in his commentary on 3

Kings 14. The narrative in the second half of the chapter follows King Rehoboam of

Judah, who was attacked by Egypt in the fifth year of his reign (v. 25). Irimbert takes

Rehoboam as a type of the New Testament, and he explains the progression of the first five years of the king’s reign:

The first year of the New Testament is the preaching of the Gospel, the second year is in the writing of the apostles, the third in the books of the expositors, the fourth in the teaching of the catholics, the fifth year will be when the preaching of the New Testament reaches to the Synagogue, in which year Sesac king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.209

Unlike most other schemes, this one begins at the time of Christ rather than at the beginning of the world, and it extends to the time of the conversion of the Jewish people, presumably soon before the final Judgment. Also noteworthy is Irimbert’s designation of

208 “Quartum bellum in geth administratur quod torcular interpretatur, per quod futurum iudicium designatur, cum in futuro iudicio omne humanum genus ad reddendam creatori suo rationem conuocatur. In quo nimirum praelio uir excelsus procedit, diabolus scilicet qui semper contra deum erecto colloincedit…Uir ergo excelsus israhel in praelio blasphemat, dum superbius ille aduersarius in extremo iudicio non solum reprobos sed et electos et sanctos constanter accusat. Sed hanc superbiam sermo propheticus uindicat, dum eam in ipso extremo iudicio feriendam et prosternendam esse pronuntiat…Per ionathan enim qui dei donum interpretatur, ordo propheticus figuratur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 308b). 209 “Roboam ut diximus noui testamenti gerit typum, cuius regnum in quinque annorum seriae decurrit. Primus annus noui testamenti est praedicatio euangelii, secundus annus est in scripturis apostolorum, tercius in libris expositorum, quartus in doctrina catholicorum, quintus annus erit cum praedicatio noui testamenti ad synagogam pertingit, in quo anno sesach rex egypti in ierusalem ascendit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 468a).

72 the exposition of Scripture as a distinct period of time in history, perhaps indicating the importance that he placed on his own task.

As a final remark on Irimbert’s treatment of the ‘letter’ or ‘history’ of Scripture, it can be inferred that what he sees in these historical books is quite literally the history of the actual events of Christ’s life.210 Indeed, scholars have noted the tendency for the distinction between letter and allegory to be blurred, particularly in the twelfth century.211

John Van Engen sees in Rupert of Deutz’s exegesis a strong underpinning of the historical acts of God in the spiritual sense.212 Rachel Fulton makes a similar observation in her examination of five twelfth-century commentaries on the Song of Songs, and she notes that “each [exegete] anchored his narrative of the relationship between Christ and his Mother in the history of salvation – each gave a ‘historical’ reading of the text” and they each viewed their “interpretation with the ‘historical’ because it was grounded in the events of the Gospels. In this context, ‘history’ could mean ‘prophecy,’ a foreseeing of events as well as a record after the fact.”213 Such a fluid understanding of the ‘historical’ sense of Scripture falls in line with Irimbert’s strong focus on allegory.

210 As Alison Beach observes in her examination of Irimbert’s commentary on the book of Ruth. Beach, “The Multiform Grace of the Holy Spirit,” 125–37, esp. 134. 211 Regarding this idea in Victorine exegesis, see Franklin T Harkins and Frans Van Liere, Interpretation of Scripture: Practice. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard, and Leontius of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, Peter Comestor and Maurice of Sully, Victorine Texts in Translation 6 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), 33. 212 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 70. See also Wanda Zemler-Cizewski, “The Literal Sense of Scripture according to Rupert of Deutz,” in The Multiple Meaning of Scripture: The Role of Exegesis in Early- Christian and Medieval Culture, ed. Ineke van’t Spijker (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 203–24. 213 Rachel Fulton, “Mimetic Devotion, Marian Exegesis, and the Historical Sense of the Song of Songs,” Viator 27 (1996): 86–116, esp. 101, 108-109.

73 The Allegorical Sense

Expounding on the allegorical sense of Scripture, or more broadly speaking on the spiritual sense, was an essential component of exegesis in the quest for a full understanding of God and his work of salvation. As previously mentioned, even though

Hugh of St. Victor is especially known for his contribution to the historical study of the

Bible, he still gave equal consideration to the spiritual aspect of interpretation and its value for contemplation.214 Hugh saw history and its study as foundational to the contemplative life, and such an approach to Scripture was well-suited for the monastic culture. This method of scriptural reading certainly seems to have appealed to Irimbert, who also took the historical books of Scripture as the foundation for a spiritual interpretation that centered around Christ and salvation history. It is thus no wonder that the scholastic Victorine’s texts are so well represented at Admont, in what would be considered a traditional monastic environment that valued the meditative and spiritually- formative nature of the lectio divina.

Irimbert thus suffuses his allegorical interpretation within the framework of his selection of the historical books of Scripture. He is prone to allegorizing to such an extent that he even allegorizes himself in some of prologues to his commentaries. Irimbert is perhaps imitating an exegetical technique developed by Gregory, who personally

214 For a more thorough examination of Hugh’s program of spirituality in the context of reform and restoration, see Boyd Taylor Coolman, The Theology of Hugh of St. Victor: An Interpretation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010). See also Grover A. Zinn, “Mandala Symbolism and Use in the Mysticism of Hugh of St. Victor,” History of Religions 12, no. 4 (1973): 317–41; Zinn, “Hugh of St. Victor’s ‘De Scripturis et Scriptoribus Sacris’”; Harkins, Reading and the Work of Restoration; de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis, III.211-267.

74 identified with the figures of Job and Ezekiel.215 In a similar fashion, Irimbert sees himself in Old Testament figures in the prologues to his Kings commentaries. For example, Irimbert introduces his commentary to the second book of Kings by analyzing, interestingly enough, the story of Moses fleeing the persecuting hand of the Pharaoh, and finding new life in the desert after killing the Egyptian whom he saw beating a Hebrew

(Exodus 2:11-21). He explains toward the beginning of the prologue that Moses here represents in general any spiritual man pursing the active and contemplative life.216

Accordingly, the “spiritual [and] faithful man is proven by a trial of temptations” in

Egypt and successfully overcomes the Egyptian, or Satan, with the Word of God and the exercise of virtues. The man “[who] discerns all spirits cleverly avoids the traps of the invisible Pharaoh,” and he flees to the land of Madian and “focuses all thought of the cleansed heart on the meditation of Scripture.” He then protects the seven daughters, or septiform graces of the Holy Spirit,217 from the evil spirits, and he chooses to take

Sephora, or true wisdom, as his bride.218 Such is Irimbert’s broad interpretation, but

215 Dietmar Wyrwa, “Der persönliche Zugang in der Bibelauslegung Gregors des Großen,” in Sola scriptura: das reformatorische Schriftprinzip in der säkularen Welt, ed. Hans Heinrich Schmid and Joachim Mehlhausen, Veröffentlichungen der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft für Theologie 6 (Gütersloh: G. Mohn, 1991), 262–80; Stephan Kessler, “Gregory the Great: A Figure of Tradition and Transition in Church Exegesis,” in Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), ed. Magne Saebø, et al., vol. 1.2 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 135–47, esp. 142-143. 216 “Moyses quippe, qui attrectans vel palpans dicitur, typum cuiusque spiritalis hominis exequitur, qui per activam vitam attrectando et palpando, per contemplativam vitam divinae sapientiae particeps efficitur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 165b; Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 317.) 217 The septiform graces of the Holy Spirit are enumerated in Isaiah 11:2-3. 218 “Qui nimirum Moyses in Egypto educatur que tribulatio coangustans interpretatur, quia homo spiritalis experientia temptationum fidelis comprobatur…Sic egyptium percussum sabulo abscondit, quia sic peccatum vel peccati incentorem diabolum, vel gladio verbi dei, vel orationum iaculis confixum aggere virtutum obruit…Hinc est quod Moyses Pharaonis persecutionem declinat et in terram Madian transmigrat que iudicium sonat, quia spiritalis omnia diiudicat, qui invisibilis Pharaonis laqueos sollerter evitat. Sedet super fontem, dum in sanctae scripturae meditationem totam mundati cordis defigit intentionem…Cuius 75 further into the prologue he becomes more personal and justifiably claims to see himself in this account of Moses. He discloses that just as Moses was brought into Egypt at a young age, so too was he brought into the monastery as a child. According to his interpretation of Moses fleeing Pharaoh being akin to the spiritual man fleeing temptation of the “invisible Pharaoh,” Irimbert seems to indicate that his own personal “invisible

Pharaoh,” was his time of “neglect” and “uselessness” at Seeon, which he fled by means of taking up an exposition of the second book of Kings, despite his apprehension at such a task with no schooling outside of the monastery.219 And as discussed above, Irimbert further elaborates on accounting for his perceived lack of education in the prologue to the third book of Kings, in which he allegorized himself as Ruth.

But the allegorical ‘type’ that Irimbert features most prominently in the body of his texts is Christ. Seeing biblical characters as figures of Christ, with the Church being another primary figure, is of course not unique in itself. Irimbert emphasizes the figure of

Christ to a notable extent, however. Such an emphasis is in keeping with the growing trend in the eleventh and twelfth centuries concerning devotion to the humanity of

nimirum septem filiae sunt septiformis spiritus sancti gratiae…Moyses surgit, puellas defendit, ovibus earum potum ingerit, cum homo professionem pietatis habens et virtutem eius non abnegans septiformem sancti spiritus gratiam continentiae et orationum armis a lesione malignorum spirituum tuetur…Hinc Sephoram in matrimonio sortitur, que avis eius vel puchritudo vel placens interpretatur, per quam vera sapientia designatur…”Prologus in librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 165b-166b; Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 317–18.) 219 “Ego igitur, qui quadraginta annorum spacium in heremo exegisse debueram, quoniam quidem ab ineunte aetate monasticae professionis iugum susceperam…Equidem cum in Sewensi monasterio inutiliter consisterem, preceptoris mei Admuntensis abbatis acceperam admonitionem, ut aliquem commentariolum in librum Regum conscriberem…Proinde invisibilis Pharaonis persecutionem subter fugiens et solitudinem silentii repetens…quippe qui non in scolis sed in monasterio onmem ab infantia exegeram aetatem. Secundum ergo librum Regum arripui…” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 167a; Ibid., 318.)

76 Christ.220 Christ especially became an important figure in the context of ecclesiastic and monastic reform. He was presented as an ideal model for imitation, and particular emphasis was placed on his suffering and Passion. The singular act of his Incarnation was what gave salvation history significance, and reformers desired to be participants in that history as faithful imitators of Christ. Having been raised in a reformed monastic community, it comes as no surprise that Irimbert’s writings are heavily infused with references to Christ. An examination of the beginning of Irimbert’s collected homilies on the Song of Songs will help demonstrate his Christocentric tendency, as well as further elucidate the above discussion about the fluid understanding of the ‘historical’ sense of

Scripture.

As previously mentioned, the Song of Songs was one of the most frequently read and interpreted books of Scripture during the Middle Ages. This large body of medieval

Song commentaries has slowly gained scholarly interest, especially over the past thirty

220 Giles Constable, Three Studies in Medieval Religious and Social Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 169–217; Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 278–88.

77 years,221 though few have done close studies of individual commentaries.222 Their research has revealed a rich history in the medieval interpretive tradition of the Song of

Songs, which took its root in two commentaries by Origen, who read the Bridegroom as

God and the Bride as the individual soul, occasionally also taking the form of the Church.

This latter ecclesiological exposition became the dominant interpretation during the early

Middle Ages, primarily focusing on God’s love for the Church. Exegetes returned to the

Bride-as-soul interpretation during the twelfth century, and this mystical treatment was most thoroughly realized in Bernard of Clairvaux’s lengthy 86 sermons on the Song.223

221 Suzanne LaVere, Out of the Cloister: Scholastic Exegesis of the Song of Songs, 1100-1250 (Leiden: Brill, 2016); Mary Dove, The “Glossa Ordinaria” on the Song of Songs (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2004); Shawn M. Krahmer, “The Virile Bride of Bernard of Clairvaux,” Church History 69 (2000): 304–27; Stephen D. Moore, “The Song of Songs in the History of Sexuality,” Church History 69 (2000): 328–49; Fulton, “Mimetic Devotion, Marian Exegesis, and the Historical Sense of the Song of Songs”; Denys Turner, Eros and Allegory: Medieval Exegesis of the Song of Songs (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1995); Thomas Renna, “The Song of Songs and the Early Cistercians,” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 27 (1992): 39–49; Ann W. Astell, The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990); Matter, The Voice of My Beloved; Elizabeth A. Clark, “The Uses of the Song of Songs: Origen and the Later Fathers,” in Ascetic Piety and Women’s Faith: Essay on Late Ancient Christianity (Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen Press, 1986); Joseph R. Jones, “The Song of Songs as a Drama in the Commentators from Origen to the Twelfth Century,” Comparative Drama 17 (1983): 17– 39. Much of this scholarship is indebted to the two studies by Helmut Riedlinger and Friedrich Ohly, who both compiled and summarized numerous major commentaries written during the course of the Middle Ages: Helmut Riedlinger, Die Makellosigkeit der Kirche in den Lateinischen Hoheliedkommentaren des Mittelalters, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, 38/3 (Münster: West Aschendorff, 1958); Friedrich Ohly, Hohelied-Studien: Grundzüge einer Geschichte der Hoheliedauslegung des Abendlandes bis zum 1200 (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1958). And for a more condensed overview of the twelfth century, see Friedrich Ohly, “Geist und Formen der Hoheliedauslegung um 12. Jahrhundert,” Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 85 (1954): 181–97. 222 For example, see Jeremy Cohen, “‘Synagoga Conversa’: Honorius Augustodunensis, the Song of Songs, and Christianity’s ‘Eschatological Jew,’” Speculum 79 (2004): 309–40; Valerie I. J. Flint, “The Commentaries of Honorius Augustodunensis on the Song of Songs,” Revue Bénédictine 84 (1974): 196– 211; Jean Leclercq, “Le commentaire de Gilbert de Standord sur le Cantique des Cantiques,” Analecta monastica 20 (1948): 205–30. 223 For a critical edition, see Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones Super Cantica Canticorum, ed. Jean Leclercq, C. H. Talbot, and H. M. Rochais, vol. 1–2 (Rome: Editiones Cistercienses, 1957). For a translation: Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, trans. Kilian Walsh and Irene Edmonds, Cistercian Fathers 4, 7, 31, 40 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1971-1980). Admont’s twelfth-century library held some, if not all, of Bernard’s text on the Song (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 273 and 282).

78 Exegesis on the text took yet another turn during the twelfth century with the Bride seen as Mary, the mother of God.224 This Marian interpretation was pioneered by Rupert of

Deutz, who read the Song as recounting the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation, as seen through the eyes of Mary. At the same time, Mary served as the embodiment of the

Church, as well as a model of monastic virtue. Rupert also effectively gave a new literal meaning to the text. By viewing the Song as Gospel events relating to Mary and her role as Christ’s mother, his reading is still technically allegorical, but such a historicized rendering makes the Song “literally true.”225

Irimbert’s interpretation is notably more Christocentric in focus, and – like Rupert of Deutz – he offers a historicized interpretation of the text. In their respective studies on the medieval interpretive tradition of the Song of Songs, Helmut Riedlinger and Friedrich

Ohly have both observed Irimbert’s uniqueness in making Christ the center point, in contrast with the traditional emphases on the soul and the Church, and more recently on

Mary.226 Irimbert’s explication of the first eight verses will demonstrate this emphasis on

Christ.

224 Rachel Fulton has demonstrated that this comparison of the Bride in the Song to Mary was not completely new in the twelfth century. Rather, it had already been applied for at least three centuries prior in Marian liturgy. See Fulton, “Mimetic Devotion, Marian Exegesis, and the Historical Sense of the Song of Songs.” E. Ann Matter further attests to a liturgical precedent. See Matter, The Voice of My Beloved, 151–59. Valerie Flint also points out Marian interpretations briefly suggested by Bede and Paschasius. See Flint, “The Commentaries of Honorius Augustodunensis on the Song of Songs,” 198. 225 Astell, The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages, 43–44. See also Matter, The Voice of My Beloved, 159– 63; Fulton, “Mimetic Devotion, Marian Exegesis, and the Historical Sense of the Song of Songs,” 93–109; Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 294. A critical edition of the text is available in CCCM 26. 226 Riedlinger, Die Makellosigkeit der Kirche, 201–2; Ohly, Hohelied-Studien, 269–71; Ohly, “Geist und Formen der Hoheliedauslegung um 12. Jahrhundert,” 193–94.

79 Irimbert prefaces the first verse of the Song with a brief introduction, generally summarizing what the contents of the text actually relate:

… in the beginning of this book the healing mysteries of the Lord’s dispensation are portrayed quite appropriately: [These] clearly [being] the annunciation, the conception, the Incarnation and nativity, the calling of the shepherds and the magi, the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple, the blessing of the just Simeon and the blessed Anna, [and] the exultation of Mary and Joseph and their blessed parents.227

Irimbert sees the entire Song as recounting the full progression of salvation history, beginning with the fathers of the Old Testament and continuing to the present day. But the entire progression revolves around major events in the life of Christ, which is the central topic of Irimbert’s overall treatment of the Song.

Continuing with the first verse in the Song – let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth – Irimbert states that the Bride, the Church, is “allegorically [predicting] the annunciation and conception of the Savior.”228 The mouth indicates God the Father, which makes the kiss the Holy Spirit, who traveled along the words of the annunciation that brought about Christ’s conception. Continuing with for thy breasts are better than wine, Irimbert states that the breasts prefigure the Incarnation. He first explains that the breasts represent those belonging to Mary, who began to lactate as soon as Christ was conceived and took on both flesh and soul, being both man and God. Her breasts are better than wine, because wine denotes carnal desire. That is, unlike other mothers, Mary

227 “In primordio autem huius libri salutifera dominicae dispensationis mysteria satis digne videntur expressa, annuntiatio videlicet, conceptio, incarnatio et nativitas, pastorum et magorum vocatio, parvuli Jesu in templum oblatio, justi Simeonis et beatae Annae benedictio, Mariae et Joseph omniumque beatorum parentum eius exultatio.” In Canticum Canticorum (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1721, 2, part 1:369c–d). 228 “His namque verbis invitantis Ecclesiae mystice praenotata videtur annuntiatio et conceptio Salvatoris.” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:370b).

80 did not conceive Christ in sin, so she lactated without carnal desire. Yet the breasts ultimately belong to God. Irimbert restates the verse thus: “Your breasts, O God the

Father, breasts, I say, those which therefore are called yours, since you made them lactate, you prepared them contrary to the ordinary custom of other mothers to be taken in by your Son; [and they are] better than wine, that is: entirely free from all carnal desires.”229

Following in chronological order from the annunciation, conception, and

Incarnation, next comes the nativity, which is denoted in the oil that is poured out in the second verse. Irimbert explains that oil serves three purposes: shining, feeding and anointing. Like oil, Christ shines through the “darkness of sins and ignorance” and

“illuminates all men.” Christ likewise feeds through his body and blood, and he anoints

“by the unction of the Holy Spirit.”230 And this oil was poured out, meaning Christ’s birth made him recognizable, whereas before he was hidden.231 Adding to this nativity scene, Irimbert points out that the adoring young maidens at the end of the verse denote

229 “…ubera tua O Deus Pater, ubera, inquam, illa, quae ideo dicuntur tua, quod tu ea lactentia fecisti, tu ea contra communem aliarum matrum morem sugenda Filio tuo praeparasti, meliora sunt vino, id est: ab omni prorsus carnali concupiscentia libera.” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:371b). 230 “Sunt etiam alia tria in oleo nato Salvator satis convenientia. Nam oleum lucet, pascit et unguit. Effuso namque vero oleo, id est: nato Salvatore Domino lucere, pascere ceopit et unguere. Ipse enim lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem, lucem fidei et veritatis mundo contulit: ipse tenebras peccatorum et ignorantia splendore gratiae suae effugavit: ipse quoque panis vivus, qui de coelo descendit, animas electorum suorum quotidie pascere non desinit. Nam corpus et sanguinem suum in escam spiritalem fidelibus suis contradidit. Ad haec etiam invisibili nos ungens unctione Sancti Spiritus per remssionem peccatorum sanat et curat salvandorum animas.” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:371d–372a). 231 “…quod prius quasi ignotum et absconditum fuerat cognosci et cognominari per eum in universo mundo coeperat…” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:372b).

81 the souls of the shepherds who were “fresh and young in the faith,” but they nevertheless believed in the angel’s words and traveled to where Christ had been born.232

The Glossa Ordinaria can serve as a useful point of comparison, demonstrating the received tradition from the patristic and early medieval fathers. Up to this point in the

Song, traditional interpretation remains in the abstract. The Bride as Church speaks in anticipation of the kiss of salvation from the incarnate Son, whose breasts are teachings more refreshing than the wine of the Old Law. Christ’s name is poured out into the world and anoints the Church, who is like a young maiden.233 Thus, some of the abstractions in the Gloss line up with Irimbert’s commentary, such as Christ being oil poured out, but his allegorical explanations are grounded in fixed historical moments and events.

Continuing with the third verse, the Gloss highlights commentators who generally explain the verse as indicating the Bride’s desire for, and eventual foretaste of, the heavenly storeroom. The young maidens exult in Christ’s breasts, that is, his teachings, which, again, are better than the wine of the Old Law.234 Irimbert alternatively continues his comparison with the historical narrative. He understands the storerooms as being the

Temple of the Lord, containing the altar and sanctuary where the priest consecrates and offers the sacrifice. It was at this Temple where the infant Jesus was blessed by both

Simeon and Anna. Consequently, it is Joseph and Mary who say we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine. Irimbert restates this as, “In you

232 “…credimus per adolescentulas ipsorum animas pastorum in fide quoque recentes et teneras, qui his totum crediderant, quae Angelica visitatione et allocutione edocti audierant et viderant…” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:372c). 233 Dove, “Glossa Ordinaria,” 7–11. 234 Ibid., 11–14.

82 alone, Jesus Christ, our son, we will be glad and rejoice in everlasting joy, because through you alone we will be freed from all sadness and distress of ancient transgression.”235

Regarding the fourth and fifth verses, the excerpts in the Gloss explain that the

Bride as Church or soul is saying that she herself is darkened through affliction and penitence, yet she is also made beautiful through her virtues. The Church in particular is persecuted by her Jewish sons. Meanwhile, the Church, or the soul, is responsible for guarding the virtuous fruits inside the vineyard, but she is distracted by the outside world.236 Irimbert, however, takes this as the voice of the Bridegroom. Christ is saying that he is black because he took up the infirmity of the flesh and the sins of man, yet he remains beautiful through his divinity.237 The fifth verse, then, refers specifically to

Christ’s Passion and death. The sun refers to God the Father, who gave Christ over to be darkened by sin, suffering, and death. The sons of [the] mother, the Jews of the

Synagogue, fought against Christ and made [him] the keeper in the vineyards, that is, they hung him on the cross, enabling him to see all of the vineyards, the universal Church across the earth. He neglected to take care of his own vineyard, or himself, and instead tended to the other vineyards.238

235 “Ac si dicant: in te solo Jesu Christo, filio nostro, perenni gaudio exultabimus et laetabimur: quia per te solum ab omni tristitia et angustia antiquae praevaricationis liberabimur.” In Canticum Canticorum (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1721, 2, part 1:374a). 236 Dove, “Glossa Ordinaria,” 14–18. 237 “…nigram per infirmitatem carnis, quam pro nobis assumpsit, sed formosam per gloriam Divinitatis, qua Deo Patri coaequalis ab initio fuit.” In Canticum Canticorum (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1721, 2, part 1:375a). 238 “…Nolite me considerare, quod susca sim, quia decoloravit me Sol. Versus ille Sol justitiae, videlicet Pater meus, cuius ego coaeternus sum Unigenitus, sic me pro peccatis vestris suscavit et decoloravit, sic me flagellari, sputari et Colaphizari et morte turpissima condemnari voluit, qui mihi proprio Filio suo non 83 Again, the Gloss generally takes the next three verses as first being the voice of the Bride, then the Bridegroom, but the topic of discussion ultimately revolves around the

Bride. She desires to follow after her Bridegroom and avoid the pitfalls of the heretics, the self-proclaimed companions of Christ. The Bridegroom assures her by praising her beauty and encouraging her to faithfully follow in his path.239 For Irimbert, these verses mark the final events in the work of Christ on earth. When the Bride asks her Groom where he [feeds] and [lies] in the midday, the reference is to Christ feeding, so to speak, in hell, and lying in the grave.240 And it is the Bride who praises the Bridegroom’s beauty. Although the verse indicates a woman, Irimbert takes advantage of the feminine case of the Latin word for ‘soul’ (anima), and he points out that Christ’s soul alone is worthy to be called the fairest among all souls. As such, the Bride pleads with her

Bridegroom, and tells him to go forth out of hell and rise from the grave “through the glory of the Resurrection.”241 In the Song’s reference to the Pharao in the eighth verse,

Irimbert understands the historical Pharaoh of the Old Testament as the typological opposite of Christ. From his birth to his Resurrection, Christ’s deeds were in stark

pepercit, sed peccata et iniquitates omnium vestrum super me posuit, et me pro omnibus vobis morti tradidit…Filii matris meae, videlict Synagogae…Et quid est custodem in vineis ponere, nisi in altitune crucis illum exaltare?...a perfidis quoque Judaeis, lingo crucis est superpositus, oculo misericordiae suae respexit super omnes vineas suas, super universas scilicet ecclesias per Orbem terrarum…Verum quia sic custodire noluit, sed mira devictus pietate in manus Patris eam tradidit, pro hac una vinea innumerabiles valde vineas, id est: animas sive ecclesias a Deo Patre custodiendas suscepit.” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:376a-b, c–d, 377a–b). 239 Dove, “Glossa Ordinaria,” 18–23. 240 “Quid est pascere et cubare in meridie? Pavit videlicet in inferno, cubavit in sepulchro.” In Canticum Canticorum (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1721, 2, part 1:377c). 241 “Pulchra inter mulieres, pulchra, dico, inter omnes animos gratia divinae dulcedinis emollitas, sola anima Christi erat…Egredere, inquit, ex inferno per divinitatis tuae potentiam, et resumpta Chlamyde carnis tuae egredere de sepulchro per resurrectionis gloriam.” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:378d–379a, b).

84 contrast to the incidents that befell Pharaoh, who managed to survive the “great signs and wonders and the most burdensome ten plagues” until his death in the Red Sea with all his chariots and horsemen. As Irimbert remarks,

All of these things, which are read to have been carried out there visibly, not unsuitably – I believe – seem to prefigure the glory of the Lord’s Ascension. Granted that many signs and wonders – which were exceedingly opposed and contrary to that spiritual Pharaoh – had been made in the time of Christ’s nativity, Passion, and Resurrection…indeed, the humanity of Christ, together with the multitude of saints, appears to enter the heavens, with the glorious horsemen ascending with him.242

So as just as he prefaced at the beginning, Irimbert sees the entire progression of

Christ’s life highlighted in the opening verses to the Song. To be sure, he also takes his discussion into the abstract, and he often touches upon the same interpretive points that traditional exegesis does, just in relation to different verses. Yet even when doing so, his interpretation is directly contingent upon the literal and historical reality that he imposed on the foundation of the Song. And at several points throughout the rest of the text,

Irimbert returns to the historical figure of Christ, always keeping the Bridegroom as the focus, rather than the Bride. This Christocentric focus is also apparent in Irimbert’s allegorical reading in his other commentaries, with the narrative of Christ’s life matching up with the biblical narrative in the Old Testament texts.

242 “Equitatui, inquit, meo in curribus Pharaonis assimilavi te amica mea. Tangit hic historiam veteris testamenti…Et licet signa et prodigia magna et decem plagae gravissimae factae sint in Aegypto, non tamen Pharao extinctus est, donec persequens eos cum curribus et equitibus submerses est in mari rubro. Et haec omnia, quae illic visibiliter gesta leguntur, non incongrue, ut opinor, gloriam Dominicae ascensionis praefigurare videntur. Licet tempore nativitatis, passionis et resurrectionis Christi multa facta sint signa et prodigia, quae spiritali illi Pharaoni adversa nimis et contraria fuerunt…humanitatem Christi una cum multitudine Sanctorum secum ascendentium glorioso equitatu coelos penetrare vidit.” In Canticum Canticorum (Ibid., 2, part 1:380b–c).

85 The Moral Sense

Moral explication in Irimbert’s exegetical work also reflects the spiritual trends and concerns of the twelfth century. The long history of treatises on vices and virtues took on a new dimension in this period, and “there was a tendency in the twelfth century to interiorize and spiritualize all aspects of monastic life and morality.”243 Giles

Constable points to a topos of spiritual pilgrimage that pervaded the literature, and the arduous journey was often expressed as a battle between good and evil, particularly with the innate vices portrayed as evil spirits.244 This conceptualization of an internal struggle fostered the emphasis on interiorization and self-examination in the twelfth century, with inner repentance and contrition being seen almost as a substitute for verbal confession to a priest. Conscientia or self-awareness of sin ideally physically manifested itself in virtuous tears of compunction.245 Aligning, then, with the increased emphasis on the humanity of Christ and his Passion came a renewed confidence in the ability to reform the self from its fallen state, and Hugh of St. Victor’s corpus especially emphasizes this concept.246 As Constable summarizes, “for people in the twelfth century the greatest hope of salvation lay in the reform and renewal of the soul according to the image of God in which it was created…”247

243 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 266. On the history of conceptions of vices and virtues, see esp. Richard Newhauser, The Treatise on Vices and Virtues in Latin and the Vernacular (Turnhout: Brepols, 1993). 244 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 267–69. On the medieval idea of spiritual pilgrimage and its impact on drama, see F. C Gardiner, The Pilgrimage of Desire: A Study of Theme and Genre in Medieval Literature (Leiden: Brill, 1971). 245 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 270–76. 246 See esp. Coolman, The Theology of Hugh of St. Victor. 247 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 288.

86 Such themes were clearly present in polemical and dogmatic treatises of the twelfth century, and exegetical texts can also serve as evidence for these ideals.

Irimbert’s interpretation of Judges 19-21 (Historia de concubina), for instance, offers a clear demonstration of his incorporation of these contemporary moral concerns. These concluding chapters of the book of Judges revolve around the rape and murder of a

Levite’s wife (or concubine, as it was translated in the Vulgate) and the resulting battle of the Israelites against the tribe of Benjamin, in whose land the crime was instigated.

According to Irimbert’s interpretation, the Levite represents “any man exerting power in the holy way of life” to achieve perfection, and his wife is “divine wisdom,” hailing from

Bethlehem, or the heavenly kingdom.248 For reasons unexplained, the wife left to return to her father’s house, and after a while the Levite followed after her and remained with them for a few days. Irimbert sees the father as God himself, the father of wisdom, abiding in the house of sacred Scripture. The Levite, or the individual pursuing perfection, is welcomed and embraced by God his father-in-law and is reconciled with his lost wisdom. The man stayed in the house for three days, that is, he fortifies his interior with Scripture and the triple observance of thoughts, words, and actions, and he drinks with God as “he was internally fed and restored with the gentle and pleasant innermost parts of holy Scripture” (19:2-4)249

248 “Per virum Levitem, quod interpretatur assumptus, accipi potest quilibet homo in sancta conversatione virilibus pollens actibus. Qui non incongrue Levites nuncupatur, eo quod ad serviendum Deo assumptus esse videatur. Sed notandum, quod idem vir Levites in latere montis Ephraim habitasse describitur. In latere quidem montis, non in ipso monte Ephraim, quod interpretatur frugifer, habitaculum habuit: quia plenum perfectionis culmen necdum contingere meruit…Bethlehem regnum coelorum…intelligi valet. Uxor autem, quam ille vir Levites de Bethlehem accepit, sapientia divinitus sibi collata accipi poterit.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:398b–c). 249 “Sicque fit, ut maneat gener in domo soceri tribus diebus. Quasi tribus diebus vir Levites in domo soceri commoratur, quando ipsius Dei, qui per socerum intelligitur, praeventus gratia, cunctos interioris hominis 87 Following the course of the narrative, though, Irimbert indicates throughout his interpretation that pursuing perfection through the spiritual life is fraught with difficulty.

The man’s inner spirit wavers in strength and inclines toward temptation and sin, and he insists on leaving the house with his wife, despite the father’s insistence that “if you stay today, that is, the day of this life resting together with me, tomorrow, that is, after the end of this life, thou shalt depart, that thou mayest go into thy house, clearly the house of eternity, where you will rejoice about my perpetual gaze without end” (vv. 5-9).250 The man’s journey ultimately leads him to Gibeah, a city of the tribe of Benjamin (v. 14), representing the “miserable heart” whose street is trampled by demons tracking in evil thoughts, but he cannot find any lodging or internal rest, “because he does not wish to rest in him who is true rest.”251 The Levite does, however, find lodging with an old man

(vv. 16-21), or “our old self, who is corrupt and aggravates the soul.”252 Such corruption spreads into the spirit and soul of the man, as well as his interior and exterior senses, as

sui sensus Sacra Scriptura praemuniendo, triplici observantia cogitationum, verborum et operum…Bibere vero cum eo non incongrue dicitur, quando levioribus et suavioribus eiusdem Sacrae Scripturae medullis delectabiliter intrinsecus pascitur et reficitur.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:399d–400a). 250 “…parat Levites iter, ad peccati consensum cor suum inclinando…surrexitque adolescens, ut pergeret cum uxore sua et puero. Surgit quinto demum die, qui est perseverantia peccati…mane apud me etiam hodie, et duc laetum diem et cras proficisceris ut vadas domum tuam. Si hodie id est, dies huic vitae concessos mecum permanseris, cras id est post huius vitae terminum proficisceris, ut vadas in domum tuam, domum videlicet aeternitatis, ubi de perpetua mea visione sine fine gaudebis.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:402b, c–403a). 251 “Sed quid rectius per plateam civitatis, quam hominis illius, qui huiusmodi est, miserum cor designatur, quod tunc platea ingredientium et egredientium daemonum sit, quando post veri solis occasum, diversis et inedicibilibus malarum immissionibus cogitationum miserabiliter conculcatur. Sicque sit, ut nullus eum hospitio recipere velit. Per hospitium, quod idcirco homo ingreditur, ut in eo requiescere valeat, non immerito interna requies designatur, quam cum homo amittit, extra hospitium quodammodo manet, quia in eo, quo vera est requies, requiescere non valet.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:405c). 252 Per hominem senem istum, qui de agro revertitur, vetus noster homo, qui corrumpitur et aggravat animam, non incongrue accipitur…” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:406b).

88 he succumbs to the desires of the flesh.253 Then certain men of the city, or the “stirrings of a disordered body and soul,” demand to abuse the newcomer.254 The old man and the

Levite instead offer his wife, or wisdom, and after being ravaged, she comes back to the house and dies at the doorstep (vv. 22-26). As Irimbert explains,

The door of the house, where the woman came and there fell down, is not unjustly able to be portrayed as the pleasure of the flesh, because just when the virtue of the interior of man is softened from the pleasure of the flesh, wisdom dies, just as holy Scripture testifies elsewhere: Death has been placed by the door of pleasure.255

But since all of this destruction is taking place secretly inside, the wretched man is unable to recognize his own misfortune, as is demonstrated in the fact that he thought the woman was just resting when he first saw her at the doorstep (v. 28).256 When he finally realizes what has happened, he is inwardly compelled to do penance as he returns to his own home, representing the heart or conscience. He takes the sword of the spirit, or the word of God, and with it he cuts apart his wife’s body and diligently reflects on and

253 “Sed nullus nos sub tectum suum vult recipere, habentes paleas et foenum in asinorum pabulum. Desiderata nobis carnis quies ad votum non suppetit, licet ad reficiendos asinos, interiores videlicet et exteriores sensus nostros inutilibus cogitationibus, quae per paleas et gloria vel delectatione carnis, quae per foenum accipitur abundare videamur.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:407b–c). 254 “…mox filii Belial veniunt, per quos inordinati motus corporis et animi non incongrue valent intelligi.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:408d). 255 “Per ostium domus, ad quod mulier venit, statimque corruit, delectatio carnalis non immerito exprimi poterit, quia mox ut interioris virtus hominis ex delectatione carnis emollitur, perit sapientia, quemadmodum aliunde Sacra testatur Scriptura: Mors inquit, secus introitum delectationis posita est.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:410d). The ‘scriptural’ reference actually seems to come from the Rule of St. Benedict, 7.24. 256 “Sed cum totum hoc, quod diximus, invisibiliter intus in homine agatur, propriam sui infelicitatem haud facile miser homo agnoscit…” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:411c).

89 examines the state of his own soul. He then incites an uprising by sending her bones across all of Israel (v. 29), representing virtues.257

As Irimbert proceeds to chapter 20, the interpretive scenario thus transforms from one that involves a man’s struggle as he pursues his spiritual pilgrimage to one that represents a heated clash between good and evil, with the interior heart serving as the battleground. All the chiefs and tribes of Israel gather together, and 400,000 men prepare for war (vv. 1-2). In other words, all the “secrets of meditation” and the “arrangement of interior and exterior senses” gather together in “good thoughts, words, and actions,” with the number of soldiers indicating the four cardinal virtues.258 Thus, everyone gathered acts collectively as a penitent man and sets out to “punish himself through humble penitence by contrition of the heart, affliction of the soul, and labor of the body.”259

This battle takes place in the depths of the heart (Gibeah) (vv. 15-16), and the army of virtues, equipped with the sword of the spirit, face off against the city’s 700

257 “…sicque demum in domum suam revertitur, quando intus in corde suo et conscientia digna pro commmissis poenitentia afficitur…Mox ergo ut hoc modo in domum suam, quod est cor suum, reversus fuerit arrepto gladio spiritus, quod est verbum Dei, cadaver uxoris cum ossibus suis in duodecim partes ac frusta concidens, mittit in omnes terminos Israhel. Per exanimatum cadaver uxoris vita exanimata sive destituta vigore sapientiae…Cadaver cum ossibus concidit, quando non solum insipientiam cogitationum, verborum et operum in amaritudine animae suae recogitat, sed etiam bonum quod fecit, qua intentione fecerit, diligenter discutit et examinat. Sicque sit…salubriter dividatur et in omnes terminos Israel, in omnes videlicet terminos virtutum transmittatur.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:412c–d). 258 “Omnes anguli populorum omnia sunt secreta cogitationum, cunctae autem tribus Israhel cunctae sunt dispositiones sensuum interiorum sive exteriorum, qui dum simul in Ecclesiam, id est in collectionem bonorum cogitationum, bonorum verborum, bonorum operum, quod est populus Dei, conveniunt, numero quasi quadringenta millia peditum pugnatorum fiunt. Sub numero quadringentorum millium quattuor cardinales virtutes intelligi possunt cum universis virtutibus, quae ex ipsis procedunt.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:415a–b). 259 “Ergo in tabernacula non recedere, neque in propriam domum intrare, significat hominem poenitentem debere totius quietis carnalis dulcedinem sibimet denegare…In commune populus iam praemissus contra Gabaa insurgit, quando contritione cordis, afflictione animi, et labore corporis ea, quae superbe commisit, per humilem poenitentiam punire in semetipso incipit.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:418c, d).

90 inhabitants, representing the seven principle vices, or simply evil spirits.260 The battle turns when the Israelite army of virtues sets up ambushes of humility and penitence and succesfully overcomes the army of vices.261 Then, as Irimbert explains,

after the interior and exterior sense of man are subjugated, a fire of compunction and divine fear should be set in the heart of man, so that, with the smoke of compunction (which tends to drive out tears from the eyes) rising from the depth of the heart to the height of perfection, they might shew that the city was taken [v. 38], that is, that they might announce the full victory of virtue in the spirit, soul, and body of man.262

Irimbert interprets chapter 21, then, as indicating the continued process of penance and cleansing of the heart.

In much of his moral exegesis, Irimbert thus presents a kind of spiritual journey, or pilgrimage. The individual inevitably comes against vices or evil spirits, which translates into a battle between good and evil. The successful journey toward perfection and the restoration of the soul by necessity involves contrition and penance, indicated outwardly by tears of compunction. Johann Tomaschek reads Irimbert’s commentary on these chapters of Judges, which were copied by and preserved in the Admont nun’s community, as possibly being a cautionary tale for the women about the dangers that

260 “…in Gabaa, in altitudine videlicet cordis, conveniunt…Sed et habitatores Gabaa septingenti erant viri fortissimii. Per habitatores Gabaa filios superbiae accipimus, qui bene septingenti fuisse describuntur; quia per hunc numerum designatur universus exercitus vitiorum, editus ex septem principalibus vitiis…et educentes gladium spiritus, quod est verbum Dei, ad pugnandum contra spiritales nequitias paratos semetipsos exhibuerint…” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:420c, 421b, 422b). 261 “…insidiae vero quibus idem urbis Gabaa circuitus circumdatur, humilitas est et poenitentia…” In librum Iudicum, 2 Ibid., 4, part 1:426d). 262 “…postquam sensus interioris et exterioris hominis subjugaverint, ignem compunctionis et divini timoris in corde hominis accendant, ut ascendente de imo cordis in altum perfectionis fumo compunctionis, qui solet excutere lachrymas ex oculis, captam urbem demonstrent, id est, plenam victoriam virtutum denuntient in spiritu et anima et corpore hominis.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:430b).

91 exist outside the walls of their safe, monastic enclosure.263 I would argue, however, that

Irimbert speaks rather clearly here of an internal struggle taking place within an individual, whether monastic or not. Overcoming this spiritual battle requires honest assessment of the soul through interiorized self-examination; a value emphasized especially within the monastic context at this time.

And further given the monastic context of Irimbert’s writing, it is not surprising to see mention also of the active and contemplative life. Once again, emphasis on the humanity of Christ had an impact on the spirituality of the twelfth century, and the call to imitate Christ validated the importance of the active life, placing it on more equal footing with the withdrawn contemplative life.264 Such a shift, of course, sparked debates concerning the superiority of clerical or monastic ways of life, but ultimately the ideal was a mixed life of both active and contemplative elements. Irimbert’s moral exegesis occassionally touches on the proper way of living in this respect, and the topic finds its fullest expression in chapters 16 and 17 in his commentary on Joshua.

This portion of the biblical narrative relates the plots of land that were distributed among the tribes of Ephraim (chapter 16) and Manasseh (chapter 17). Irimbert interprets these tribes as representing the contemplative life and active life respectively, and “he who daily strives to increase the heavenly prize through the perfect life trains himself in the way of the active and contemplative life.”265 The children of Ephraim are the

263 Tomaschek, “Der Aufenthalt des Bibelkommentators,” 206. 264 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 289–93. 265 “Filii ioseph manasse et effraym possident eam, quia qui per uitae perfectum caeleste praemium cottidie augmentare student, modo per actiuam modo per contemplatiuam uitam se exercent. Per manasse enim qui 92 characteristics of the contemplative life: prayer and meditation. The extent of their possessions represents the unity of the church or stability of the congregation, and the perfect life, both of which are the fruits of contemplation.266 The children of Manasseh, being products of the active life, represent the stages of life after conversion as the individual works toward perfection by exercising virtuous behavior.267 The tribe was given ten allotments of land, and each of these represent the servants of the active life, namely conversion, change of life, perfection, perseverance, voluntary poverty, obedience, fasting, vigilance, silence, and patience.268 Part of the tribe of Ephraim’s land, meanwhile, was situated within Manasseh’s land, because contemplation itself is reached through the labors of the active life. Irimbert alludes to the account of Leah and Rachel

(Genesis 29), representing the active and contemplative lives respectively. Jacob first had to marry Leah, or work through the active life, before he could marry Rachel, or work toward the contemplative life.269 Thus, while Irimbert maintains the ultimate superiority

necessitas interpretatur actiuae uitae labor figuratur, per effraym qui frugifer uel crescens dicitur contemplatiuae uitae profectus exprimitur.” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, p. 113b). 266 “Astaroth adar usque bethoron superiorem. Astaroth caule presepia ouilia uel atria dicitur per quam uel aecclesiae unitas uel congregationis stabilitas exprimitur, quam qui fortiter tenet contemplationis fructum assequi ualet. Adar magnificus siue pallium dicitur quo uitae profectus exprimitur qui in congregatione acquiritur, quo uti pallio homo in decore uirtutum amicitur…” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, p. 114a). 267 “Reliquis filiorum manasse iuxta familias suas possessio datur, dum conuersioni uitae mutationi perfectioni et consummationi uirtutum hereditas iuxta laborum mensuras propagatur.” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, p. 116b). 268 “Decem funiculi manasse cadunt, quia qui actiuae uitae labori seruiunt conuersione uitae mutatione perfectione perseuerantia pauperitate uoluntaria obedientia ieiuniis uigiliis silentio et patientia seruitutis suae debitum persoluunt.” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, p. 118b). 269 “Ciuitates effraym in medio urbium manasse esse describuntur, quia refectiones contemplatiuorum actiuae uitae laboribus acquiruntur. Prius enim Lia in matrimonium assumitur et postmodum dulribus Rachelis complexibus animus perfruitur.” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, p. 119b).

93 of contemplation, with it being the next progression after active labor, the two lives are essential in building virtue and attaining perfection.

Conclusion

This overview of Irimbert’s approach to exegesis sheds light on a reformed

Benedictine community’s interaction with the dynamic intellectual milieu of the twelfth century. Admont’s library collection serves as a witness to the coalescence of the seemingly disparate monastic and scholastic cultures. The Benedictine community in general had a wide-ranging interest in theological, spiritual, and historical concerns; an enthusiasm quite likely shared by Irimbert himself. As Peter Classen and Constant Mews have indicated, it was in the best interests of an influential monastery at the center of this

Hirsau reform movement to maintain an up-to-date library collection with a representation of the newest texts, especially those coming out of the schools of Paris.270

Such was the intellectual background of Irimbert’s foray into scriptural interpretation, and glimses of contemporary influence from Hugh of St. Victor among others can be seen in his writing. Hugh strongly emphasized history as essential to acquiring divine wisdom, prompting him to encourage the study of the historical books of the Old

Testament, otherwise deemed superfluous. Despite a sparse exegetical tradition on such

Old Testament books, Irimbert engaged in a thorough study of these texts to extract the deeper meaning. Irimbert’s demonstrated interest in historical concerns bears a strong

270 Classen, “Frühscholastik in Österreich und Bayern,” 270–71; Mews, “Monastic Educational Culture Revisited,” 195.

94 resemblance to the current fascination with world history. Twelfth-century historians felt compelled to situate themselves within this bigger picture and thus utilized a number of different schemes for organizing historical progression. Irimbert, too, conceptualized world history in ways that reflect both traditional and contemporary schemes, demonstrating a concerted effort to understand the unfolding of salvation history. For him, Christ was the essential key to achieve that understanding. Christ’s redemptive work was figured quite literally in the historical books of the Old Testament, making them the foundation for spiritual wisdom, just as Hugh of St. Victor so urgently insisted.

It bears repeating that Irimbert rarely distinguishes the interpretives senses in his exegesis, even though I have separated and examined the three primary senses that

Irimbert treats. His exegesis ultimatley hinges on a letter-spirit distinction, with the spiritual sense given obvious primacy. In fact, Irimbert often crafts his interpretations with both alleogry and morality delicately interwoven into the biblical narrative. This practice is not unlike what Steven Chase has observed in Victorine interpretive writings, which show an “intimate weave between the various exegetical senses.”271 This indicates yet another potential influence that Hugh and the Victorine intellectual community had on the Admont exegete. Therefore, because of the interwoven nature of Irimbert’s exegesis, it will be more fruitful to analyze his writings through the lense of themes rather than senses. And the following chapters on recurring themes in Irimbert’s writing will further demonstrate unity with contemporary theological and spiritual developments.

271 Steven Chase, Angelic Wisdom: The Cherubim and the Grace of Contemplation in Richard of St. Victor, Studies in Spirituality and Theology 2 (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995), 4. See also Steven Chase, Contemplation and Compassion: The Victorine Tradition (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2003), 65.

95 Chapter 2

Irimbert and Salvation History

Introduction: Irimbert’s Fundamental Theme

An examination of Irimbert’s full exegetical corpus reveals a pervading theme of salvation history, an emphasis that is deeply connected to his Christological focus.272

Irimbert’s explication of the “Prayer of Solomon” in 3 Kings 8 offers a concise picture of this underlying theme in his exegesis.

For Irimbert, this prayer is essentially an ode to salvation history. The context for

3 Kings 8 is the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon had undertaken a massive building project that took a number of years to complete, and after the ark of the covenant was solemnly brought to its designated resting place, Solomon dedicated the finished temple and offered a prayer to the Lord (vv. 22-53). In the course of the prayer,

Solomon offered gratitude to God for fulfilling his promises to both David and him, and he entreated the Lord to continue to watch over the people of Israel in dispensing justice, forgiveness, and blessings. Irimbert breaks down the content of this prayer and treats each segment as an element of the fulfillment of salvation history, which is overseen throughout by Christ. Solomon’s prayer is thus allegorically rendered as Christ’s prayer to his Father on behalf of the world as he effects its salvation. Irimbert sees this prayer as being offered in the midst of Christ’s Passion, such that Solomon’s gesture of raising his

272 Alison Beach examines the theme of salvation history in Irimbert’s commentary on Ruth. See Beach, “The Multiform Grace of the Holy Spirit.”

96 hands toward heaven is mimicked in Christ as he spreads his innocent hands on the cross in the humility of his Incarnation.273 Taking on this gesture of humility, then, Solomon asks God two questions (v. 27), just as Christ “drives away the duplicity of ignorance and death” that inflicts humanity. And on this day of his Passion and death, Christ implores the Lord to hear his hymn and prayer as he makes satisfaction for the sins of the world, granting salvation for the Christian people and to intercede for the remaining Jewish people.274

The main thrust of the prayer follows the threefold-scheme of salvation history

(before the law, under the law, under grace) as Christ recounts the process of reconciling the “perishing world” to God with his blood, echoing Solomon’s entreaty for the Lord to forgive his people.275 Solomon’s prayer on behalf of men who sin against their neighbors

(vv. 31-32) is likened to the beginning of the age before the law, during which the first parents condemened themselves to death for disregarding their oath not to eat from the forbidden tree of knowledge. As a result of this trespass, all of mankind fell into original

273 “Salemon stetit, cum filius dei in assumptae humanitatis humilitate auctori mortis per mortem crucis pro salute tocius humani generis se opposuit ante altare domini stetit, cum ipse sacerdos ipse hostia ante aram crucis in qua se deo patri pro peccatis tocius mundi optulit uinctus uestimentis suis exutus et toto corpore flagellis conscissus constitit…Salemon manus suas in celum expandit, dum Christus per manibus incontinenter extensis suas manus innocentes in cruce ad deum patrem extendit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 407a, b). 274 “Sicut ergo per duplicem regis salemonis interrogationem duplex ignorantia uel duplex mors generis humani denotatur, sicut per christi domini in cruce exclamationem ipsa ignorantiae et mortis duplicitas effugatur…respice ad orationem serui tui unigeniti filii tui, qui in forma serui satisfacit tibi pro peccatis totius mundi. Respice ad orationem serui tui pro salute populi christiani de gentibus conuocandi, et ad preces eius domine deius meus pro conuersione populi iudaici, quod in me deliquit ignoscendo illi ob gratiam mei. Audi ymnum meae confessionis pro totius mundi peccatis, et orationem meae intercessionis pro extremis populi iudaici reliquiis. Quam seruus tuus orat coram te hodie in hac hora passionis et mortis meae…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 409a). 275 “Quia totius mundi peccata christus sui sanguinis expiauit reconciliatione, triplicem mundi per euntis statum salemon sua comphrehendit oratione.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 410a).

97 sin, and during this time before the law, “whenever [mankind], through the grace of God in the holy patriarchs, recollects its obligation of this sin and oath, it groans exceedingly at the destruction of the whole world.”276 Thus the patriarchs, namely Abel, Noah and

Abraham, come to the altar “in guilt of the first transgression” and offer their respective sacrifices. These actions foreshadowed the true sacrifice of Christ, which absolved all humanity of original sin.277 Irimbert likens Solomon’s prayer on behalf of those who flee from their enemies (vv. 33-34) to the age under the law. During this period, the Jewish people sought to flee death through making sacrifices and observing ceremonial law.

Christ, in the voice of Solomon, now intercedes for them and seeks their forgiveness through the true remission of sins by his Passion.278 Irimbert then compares the third age of grace with Solomon’s prayer to forgive his people and bring down rain once again (vv.

276 “Homo in proximum suum peccavit, quando primus ille parens gustu uetiti ligni se ipsum morti condempnauit…Iuramentum et iam quo astrictus tenetur primus homo…quasi ad iurantis se creatoris dei uocem audiuit. Ex omni ligno paradysi comede, de ligno autem scientiae boni et mali ne comedas. In quacumque enim die comederis ex eo morte morieris. Hoc ergo peccato quo homo in proximum suum peccauit hoc iuramento dei quo in paradysum primus ille parens astrictus fuit totum genus humanum in primo parente succubuit, ideoque primordium illud humani generis quod ante legem fuit quandoque istius peccati et iuramenti obligationem per dei gratiam in sanctis patriarchis recognouit, suam et totius mundi perdicionem uehementer ingemuit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 410a-b). 277 “Coram hoc altari abel uenit, dum in typum ueri agni agnum suae innocentiae testem deo optulit. Coram hoc altari noae uenit, dum solus cum sua domo superstes de mundi naufragio altare constituit, quo in typum ueri et immaculati sacrificii de mundis animalibus et uolueribus sacrificium deo in odorem suauitatis optulit. Coram hoc altari abraham uenit, dum in typo redemptoris crucem suam super humeros suos gestantis filio suo ysaac ligna imposuit, ipsumque super aram immolandum colligauit…Tu exaudies in celo et facies, scilicet per mei sanguinis propitiacionem genus humanum auinculis peccati originalis absolues.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 410b, 411a). 278 “Sicut in praecedenti sermone eorum qui ante legem fuerunt, Christus in persona salemonis commemorationem facit, sic in his uerbis prophetis qui sub lege fideles sui fuerunt apud patrem intercedit…Israel inimicos suos fugit, cum populos iudaicus per sacrificia et per cerimonias legalis auctorem mortis cum uitiis suis et peccatis subterfugere quesiuit...tu pater exaudi in celo, fidelium sub lege uota in meae passionis mysterio. Dimitte peccatum populi tui israhel, per meae sanguinis effusionem dans ei ueram peccatorum suorum remissionem.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 411b, 412a).

98 35-36).279 Indeed, Irimbert states that there would not be any rain until Mary conceived

Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit, making her the mother of God and by association the queen of angels and all of humanity. Now in this time of grace, Christ speaks to God, imploring him

to forgive the sins of thy servants, of the patriarchs and prophets, and of thy people Israel, and of all the faithful seeking after me with faith, hope, and love. Shew them the good way wherein they should walk, the narrow path of my Incarnation, by which the wanderers and pilgrims return home. Give rain upon thy land, the flowing of the Holy Spirit coming from above into the Virgin Mother, whom thou hast given to thy people in possession, because through her you give the inheritance of eternal life to the multitude of all the faithful.280

Irimbert interprets the rest of the prayer as the continuing fulfillment of salvation history in the time under grace. The stranger who appears among the Israelites to pray with them (vv. 41-43) is the type of Paul, who was like a stranger among the gentiles.

Through this preacher and teacher, the people would learn to fear God’s name through the grace of Christ.281 Those who fight against their enemies (vv. 44-45) represent the

Church, which, along with its teachers and the defenders of the Gospel, fights against

279 “Sicut his qui ante legem qui sub lege fuerunt christus passionis suae intercessione subuenit, sic his qui tempore gratiae sunt inuenti nascendo simul et moriendo succurrit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 412a). 280 “Sed pluuia tunc est perfecta, cum ipsa domina beata virgo Maria a spiritu sancto impregnata mater regis dei ac proinde regina angelorum et hominum est effecta…Dimitte peccata seruorum tuorum patriarcharum et prophetarum et populi tui israhel omnium fidelium fide spe et dilectione me requirentium. Ostende eis viam bonam per quam ambulent, incarnationis meae angustam semitam qua exules et peregrini repatrient. Da pluuiam super terram tuam, sancti spiritus infusionem de super uenientem in uirginem matrem, quam dedisti populo tuo in possessionem, quia per eam omnium credentium populo dabis aeternae uitae hereditatem.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 412b). 281 “Quis alienigena iste accipitur pro quo christus coram altari suae crucis tantopere deum patrem deprecatur, nisi ille praedicator egregius et doctor gentium Paulus… Uniuersi populi terrarum nomen dei timere didicerunt, cum per Christi gratiam Paulum praedicatorem et doctorem habere meruerunt.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 414a, 415a).

99 heretics with the wisdom received from Paul.282 The prayer, and thus salvation history, concludes with the penance and forgiveness of converted captives (vv. 46-51). Irimbert points out that just as Christ intercedes to forgive the sins of the world, so he intervenes in the blindess of the Jewish people, who “turn back when they are illuminated by the true love of Christ.”283

Historical Context

Irimbert’s interest in salvation history was well in accord with several theologians in the twelfth century, as monks and clerics increasingly pondered the question of how the present Church fit in with God’s salvific plan.284 Perhaps the theologian most strongly associated with salvation history is Rupert of Deutz, a prolific and controversial

Benedictine monk who served as the abbot of Deutz Abbey from 1120 until his death in

1129. John Van Engen notes that Rupert’s theological and spiritual outlook was “an early and remarkable product of the new twelfth-century fascination with salvation-history.”285

Rupert’s first large-scale foray into this heavy topic was his De sancta Trinitate et

282 “Postquam ecclesia Paulum meruit habere doctorem et euangelii pro pugnatorem, cepit etiam per datam a deo Paulo sapientiam omnium hereticorum se inpugnantium expugnare insipientiam. Unde christus in sua passione deo patri supplicat, ut contra futura hereticorum bella ecclesiam suam sua gratia praemuniat.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 415a). 283 “Sicut in passione sua dominus noster iesus christus pro totius mundi peccatis apud patrem intercedit, ita etiam pro populi iudaici cecitate quam ipsa eius passione contraxit misericorditer interuenit…In uniuerso corde suo iudei reuertentur, cum uera dilectione Christi illuminabuntur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 415b-416a, 416b). 284 Peter Classen, “Res Gestae, Universal History, Apocalypse: Visions of Past and Future,” in Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, ed. Robert L Benson and Giles Constable (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982), 404. 285 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 287.

100 operibus eius (On the Holy Trinity and its Works), written between 1112 and 1117.286

Although he was unable to execute his original plan to produce a full commentary on all of Scripture, the finished work was still a massive text that filled six codices in its manuscript transmission. As the title indicates, Rupert set out to explore the work of the

Trinity throughout the expanse of salvation history, beginning with God the Father’s work of creation (books I-III), followed by God the Son’s redemptive work (IV-XXXIII), and finishing with God the Holy Spirit’s work in dispensing gifts from the time of the

Incarnation until the final Judgment (XXXIV-XLII). This theological compendium was essentially a systematic scriptural commentary, and such a biblical grounding avoided the abstractions of the early twelfth-century sentence collections. And as is clear from the division of the books, nearly three-fourths of the text focuses on the Son’s contribution to the works of the Trinity. Following the traditional scheme of historical periodization,

Rupert divides Christ’s work into seven world ages. Most of this examination spans the course of the Old Testament books, and Rupert describes Christ and his work by way of numerous types or figures, an approach that closely parallels Irimbert’s own work.

Indeed, both exegetes’ allegorical treatment of Scripture is strongly Christocentric.

Rupert further explored the topic of salvation history in his text De victoria verbi dei (The Victory of the Word of God), written around 1124, which treats extensively the theme of the victory of God’s Word in the cosmic battle between good and evil.287 In

286 CCCM 21-24. For an analysis of the text, see esp. Ibid., 81–94; Anton Leichtfried, Trinitätstheologie als Geschichtstheologie: “De sancta Trinitate et operibus eius” Ruperts von Deutz (ca. 1075-1129) (Würzburg: Echter Verlag GmbH, 2002). The Admont library holds a twelfth-century copy of a portion of this text (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek 237), which contains Rupert’s commentary on the first book of Kings in books 22-26. 287 MGH Geistesgeschichte 5. For an analysis, see esp. Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 282–91.

101 what Van Engen considers to be the “most compelling account since St. Augustine’s City of God of salvation-history,”288 Rupert begins his account with the rebellion of Lucifer and his followers, leading into a detailed discussion of conflicts with seven successive historical enemies of God’s people and Christ himself. These seven opponents to the

Word of God were Egypt, the kings of northern Israel, the Babylonians, the Persians, the

Greeks, the Romans, and finally the Antichrist. The victorious warriors in each battle were particular kings, judges, prophets, martyrs and others, who defended the Word and thus contributed to God’s plan of salvation.

Rupert’s final work, De glorifactione Trinitatis et processione Spiritus sancti (The

Glorification of the Trinity and Procession of the Holy Spirit), which was written in 1128 just before his death the following year, once again treats the topic of salvation history within the thematic framework of the Trinity and especially the Holy Spirit.289 The text serves as a summa of the major themes that Rupert covered throughout his theological career. Proceeding according to the order of Scripture, and continuing his christological approach, Rupert places the Son at the center of the Triune God from the time of creation, and the theme of Christ’s predestined celestial reign serves as the text’s underpinning structure. Rupert also treats the work of the Holy Spirit more fully in this text, noting the third person of the Trinity’s work across the span of salvation history, continuing down even to the present day.

288 Ibid., 283. 289 PL 169, cols. 13-202. For a discussion, see Ibid., 360–65; Rainer Klotz, “Zur Trinitätslehre des Rupert von Deutz in ‘De glorificatione Trinitatis et processione Spiritus Sancti,’” in Rupert von Deutz - ein Denker zwischen den Zeiten? Internationales Symposion der Erzbischöflichen Diözesan- und Dombibliothek Köln und des Instituts für Christliche Philosophie der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, (20. bis 22. September 2007), ed. Heinz Finger (Köln: Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, 2009), 133–62.

102 Rupert’s work was a precursor to later compendia of salvation history produced by Gerhoh of Reichersberg and Hugh of St. Victor. Gerhoh of Reichersberg, like Rupert, was a prolific and strong-willed theologian. He served as provost of the Augustinian community of regular canons at Reichersberg from 1132 until his death in 1169. The text in which Gerhoh most thoroughly explored the theme of salvation history was his

Libellus de ordine donorum Spiritus sancti (Little Book on the Order of the Gifts of the

Holy Spirit).290 Clearly inspired by Rupert’s De sancta Trinitate, Gerhoh divided his work according to the seven age scheme, following the course of church history. I will return below to the Holy Spirit’s gifts as an analytical scheme, but suffice it here to say that Gerhoh’s discussion is strongly underpinned by the progression of salvation history.

He was particularly concerned with its progression in the present age, finding biblical types for contemporary people and events, a preoccupation that I will explore more fully in Chapter Three.

Hugh of St. Victor also showed a keen interest in history, and it was only natural that he should use it as a framework in his presentation of salvation. In his De sacramentis christianae fidei (On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith), Hugh explores the unfolding of Christian sacraments over the course of biblical history, such that “the very ‘economy’ or dispensation of sacred history becomes the integrating structural principle of order in the exposition of the truth of the Christian religion.”291 Hugh

290 Damien and Odulphe Van den Eynde and Angelin Rijmersdael, eds., Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis Opera Inedita (Rome: Pontificium Athenaeum Antonianum, 1955), I.65-165. For an overview of the text, see esp. Classen, Gerhoch von Reichersberg, 108–14. 291 Zinn, “Historia fundamentum est,” 141.

103 discusses the sacraments as they appeared from creation up to the time of the Incarnation

(Book I), and then continued from the Incarnation until the time of Judgment (Book II).

The restorative nature of these sacraments as they occur throughout salvation history are centered chiefly around Christ, thus making Hugh’s approach arguably more

Christocentric than Rupert’s.

While Irimbert’s presentation of salvation history is not as thoroughly realized as some of these contemporary theologians, his sustained focus certainly appears to have been influenced by his wider intellectual environment. In his overarching theme of salvation history, Irimbert repeatedly touches on the essential events and characters in that narrative, beginning with the Fall of the first parents and culminating in the role that preaching plays in the resolution of God’s plan for salvation.

First Parents and Original Sin

Salvation history begins, of course, with the very reason salvation is needed, that is, with the Fall of the first parents and the perpetuation of original sin. In his explication of 3 Kings 16, Irimbert interprets the rapid succession of kings in Israel as essentially denoting the succession of the principle vices brought about by Adam and Eve, saying,

“these transgressing kings of Israel are figures of the first parents.”292 The chapter begins with God approaching the prophet Jehu to speak on his behalf in rebuking and cursing

King Baasha for his sinful actions. Irimbert explains that Jehu is the figure of the “word

292 “In praeuaricatoribus istis israhel regibus primus ille parens figuratur…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 476b).

104 of prophecy,” which proclaims the state of perdition in the world since the Fall.293 Baasha represents the sin of pride as well as its author, the devil. This interpretation thus also extends to the first parents themselves. For even though the Lord set up Adam as “the very first parent and prince of mankind,” he nevertheless walked in the way of Jeroboam

(v. 2) by succumbing to temptation and sinning in imitation of Satan’s pride.294 After the death of Baasha, his son Elah became king of Israel (v. 6). Continuing the theme of vices,

Irimbert interprets Elah as the sin of gluttony, which follows after pride. And Elah ruled for two years (v. 8), just as gluttony oppresses the spirit and flesh with an excess of both food and drink.295 His short reign ended with the rebellion of his servant Zimri (vv. 9-10), who represents the sin of luxury.296 But Zimri himself was overthrown by Omri (v. 16), representing the fury of wrath, because as Irimbert explains, “all the senses are driven to wrath when they are soiled by luxury.”297 This succession, however, resulted in a divided

Israel, with one camp following Omri, and the other following Tibni (vv. 21-22). Irimbert sees this situation as a reflection of man’s life itself, which is divided between wrath and

293 “Hieu ipse uel est interpretatur, per quem sermo prophetiae figuratur…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 475b). 294 “Sermo domini ad hieu contra baasa dirigitur, quia omnis prophetia contra superbiam et eius auctorem diabolum inuehitur, quasi ergo comminetur deus homini primo per superbiam decepto. Pro eo quod te de puluere exaltaui, quia te de limo terrae plasmaui. Quia te ducem super populum meum israhel posui, quia te protoplastum humani generis parentem et principem constitui. Tu autem in uia hieroboam ambulasti, quia superbiam daboli imitando peccasti.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 475b). 295 “Hela filius baasa pro eo regnat, qui maledictus sonat cum superbiam castrimargia sequitur, per quam homo deceptus maledicitur…Hela filius baasa super israhel duobus annis regnat, cum castrimargia cibi et potus nimietate spiritum et carnem aggrauat.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 476a, b). 296 “Contra hunc seruus suus zamri rebellare scribitur, qui lacessiens uel amaricans dicitur, quia luxuria castrimargiam insequitur, quae tamen ei tota familiaritate obsequitur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 476b). 297 “Omnis israhel sibi regem amri facit, cum sibi carnalitas irae furorem dominari permittit. Amri princeps miliciae in die illa in castris esse scribitur, quia tunc furore sensus omnis aguntur, cum per luxuriam polluuntur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 477b).

105 sadness. The former is a type for Omri, who ultimately overcame his opponent, while the latter is a type for Tibni. Tibni, Irimbert expounds, is the son of Ginath or arrogance, just as man comes forth from the arrogance of the first parents and is born from the sadness of the mother.298 Irimbert makes a point to reiterate that these kings serve as allegorical figures of the first parents, who sinned and acted impiously, and thus “transmitted the bitterness of death to all their posterity” in the form of original sin.299

Irimbert further emphasizes the gravity and implication of the first parents’ actions in his interpretation of 4 Kings 1. He prefaces the opening of this final book of

Kings by stating that all of these accounts reflect the lamentation over the sin of Adam and Eve, as well as the resulting “amazing liberation of Christ the redeemer.”300 Such is the case in the opening verses, which present the kingdom of Moab in a state of rebellion against Israel. Irimbert interprets the scenario as the rebellion of the first parents against

God their creator.301 Meanwhile, King Ahaziah of Israel fell through the roof of his room and became ill (v. 2). Abandoning his previous association of Israel with God, Irimbert

298 “Populis israhel in duas partes diuiditur, cum intra iram et tristiciam uita hominis se partitur. Media pars populi thebni sequitur, quod palea mea dicitur, per quam tristicia saeculi exprimitur…Thebni filius ginet scribitur, quod arrogantia tua uel ortus tuus dicitur, quia de primorum parentum arrogantia hoc progreditur, quod in tristicia matris homo nascitur et natus continuo in planctum attollitur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 478a). 299 “Allegorice quae de zamri scribuntur, primo parenti non inconuenienter asscribuntur…Sicut autem hec de amri persona primo parenti non inconvenienter aptantur, sic et iam ea quae de praecedentibus impiis regibus scribuntur ad eum non incongrue referuntur…Amri qui lacessiens uel amaricans dicitur primus ille parens non inconuenienter accipitur, qui dum praeuaricatione sua creatorem deum lacessit, omni suae posteritati amaritudinem mortis transmittit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 478a, b, 479a ). 300 “Unde in tota huius libri hystoria…sub typo regum israheliticorum uel primi parentis praeuaricationem miserabiliter lamentatur, uel christi redemptoris liberationem mirabiliter imaginatur.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 526b-527a). 301 “Per moab ergo qui ex patre dictitur primus ille parens exprimitur…Moab in israhel praeuaricatur, cum ille primus homo ad uidendum deum creatus, quod per israhel designatur seductione antiqui serpentis a creatore sibi praefixum obedientiae limitem transgreditur.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 527a).

106 explains that Ahaziah also represents the first parents, who fell when they ate from the forbidden tree.302 In desperation Ahaziah sent messengers to consult with Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to determine whether or not he would recover. So, too, were the first parents misguided in their reliance, because they took refuge in carnality, which is the

‘god’ of sadness and sterility.303 Such was the condition of mankind as a result of the

Fall, and Irimbert sets up this dire situation as a point of contrast with the world’s redemption, which is one of the more prominent themes in his exegesis.

Mysteries of Christ

In keeping with Irimbert’s Christological focus, the aspect of salvation history that receives the most attention is the mysteries of Christ – the events related to Christ that effected mankind’s restoration, namely his Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and

Ascension. This identification of four principle mysteries of Christ was influenced by

Gregory the Great in his sermon on Ezekiel’s vision of four beings.304 Irimbert’s approach to this theme in his commentaries is strongly reminiscent of Rupert’s attempt

“to give all Old Testament history a clear and concrete christocentric focus,” and both

302 “Per ochoziam qui fortitudo dei dicitur ipse parens primus exprimitur, qui per dei fortitudinem mirabiliter creatus omni creaturae quae sub caelo erat proficitur…Ochozias per cancellos cenaculi sui cadit, dum homo intuitum oculorum suorum in uetitae arboris fructum defigit.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 527a-b). 303 “Beelzebub deuorans muscam dicitur…Beelzebub deus accaron dicitur quod eruditio tristiciae uel sterilitas dicitur, quia carnalitas tristiciam saeculi et sterilitatem totius boni in homine operatur. Ochozias nuntios mittit, qui eant et beelzebub consulant, dum homo lapsus sensus suos ad carnalitatem dirigit.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 527b). 304 Homiliae in Hiezechielem prophetam, CCSL 142. Gregory the Great, The Homilies of St. Gregory the Great on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, ed. Juliana Cownie, trans. Theodosia Gray (Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 1990), 1.4.1-3, pp. 40–43.

107 exegetes reconstruct the biblical accounts to reflect the narrative of Christ’s redemptive works.305 Rupert accomplished this objective most thoroughly in the second part of his

De sancta Trinitate, in which he examined the works of Christ through figural representation in each book of the Old Testament.306 Irimbert accomplishes the same objective, in just a smaller number of Old Testament books, while nevertheless providing a more thorough treatment of Christocentric allegory in these texts.

Irimbert steps back briefly in his treament of 2 Kings 3 to offer a discussion of this phenomon of Christ’s mysteries revealed in Scripture. After detailing the six sons of

King David (v. 2-5) as representing the six ages of the world, he asserts that, indeed,

Scripture attests to the fulfillment of the mysteries. Alluding to 4 Kings 5:2, which is the account of a young woman from Israel who was captured by robbers from Syria and became the handmaiden of a Syrian general’s wife, Irimbert states that “the girl taken captive from the land of Israel…is understood as holy Scripture, which describes its narrative in various modes of eloquence [and] innumerable forms of mysteries.” Those mysteries first and foremost are the mysteries of Christ, and consequently the sacraments of the Church, the calling of the gentiles, and the expulsion (then recalling) of the Jewish people.307 He points out that not only in this particular book of Kings, but also in other

305 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 286. 306 Ibid., 89–90; Leichtfried, Trinitätstheologie als Geschichtstheologie, 102–200. 307 “Puella illa de terra israhel captiua…sancta scriptura accipitur, que uariis eloquentiae modis innumeris mysteriorum formis narrationem suam prosequitur. Agit enim in hoc libro de christi mysteriis, agit de ecclesiae sacramentis, agit de repulsione iudeorum, agit de uocatione gentium, et revocatione iudeorum.” In librum regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 189a). Irimbert maintains this signification between the young woman and holy scripture in his actual explication of 4 Kings 5. See In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 554a).

108 books of the Old Testament are these mysteries signified, and he provides a list of some of these instances.308

The Dual Nature of Christ

There was a renewed debate in the twelfth century regarding the mystery of the

Incarnation, centered on Christ’s dual divine and human nature. For centuries, orthodox theology had ascribed full divinity to Christ as the Son of Man, stating that he was equal with God. But Christological debates resurfaced particularly in the schools during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.309 Some scholars argued that Christ the man should not receive the same degree of veneration as the Son of God, asserting that his humanity and divinity were wholly distinct and unequal. This claim suggested that Christ was two separate beings, thus making the ‘Trinity’ a composite of four individuals. Hugh of St.

308 “Qui quia spiritui sancto uas electionis et scripturarum armarium futurus erat, multas illi in hoc libro sicut et in aliis ueteris testamenti scripturis significationes…” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 189a). 309 Questions concerning the exact nature of Christ, closely connected to the composition of the Trinity, had in fact been a source of contention since early Christianity. The complex debate was effectively settled at the Council of Chalcedon (451), but the issue of Christ’s Incarnation resurfaced during the Carolingian era. The problems concerning the nature and relationship between the natures of Christ were not fully resolved until Anselm of Canterbury composed his Cur Deus Homo three centuries later, re-emphasizing Chalcedonian doctrine and placing it within a soteriological framework. On Anselm’s Christology, see Michael J. Deem, “A Christological Renaissance: The Chalcedonian Turn of St. Anselm of Canterbury,” The Saint Anselm Journal 2 (2004): 42–51; Daniel Deme, The Christology of Anselm of Canterbury (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003). The preoccupation with new philosophical methods in the schools during the twelfth-century resulted in further complications regarding the Incarnation, and charges of heresy were made against scholars like Peter Abelard, Roscellinus of Compiègne (c. 1050-1125) and Gilbert of Poitiers. For a general overview of Christological (and by association Trinitarian) development from early Christianity through the twelfth century, see Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 1 The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), 226–77; Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 3. The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 52–66, 139–44, 262–67. See also Lauge Olaf Nielsen, Theology and Philosophy in the Twelfth Century: A Study of Gilbert Porreta’s Thinking and the Theological Expositions of the Doctrine of the Incarnation During the Period 1130-1180 (Leiden: Brill, 1982), 163–361; Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 106–7, 112.

109 Victor argued against such statements in his De sacramentis, insisting on the complete unity of God and man in the person of Christ and that “they are by no means two, God and man, but one Jesus Christ. He who is God is Himself man, and He who is man is

Himself God, not one and the other, but Himself one and the same.”310 Furthermore, there was no question that Christ, the Word, who assumed humanity was the very second person of the Trinity:

…and so the person received Word, man, not person but nature, that He who received and what He received might be one person in the Trinity. For when man was assumed, a quaternion was not made but the Trinity remained, because ever since assumed man began to be God He began to be no other person than that one who received him311

Rupert of Deutz also entered the renewed christological debate, engaging in the topic particularly in his Commentary on John.312 Reflecting the shift in spirituality during the twelfth century, Rupert’s theology focused on Christ’s Passion, which was tied to his humanity, and it was exactly because of this action that Christ should be adored in his full divinity.313 Gerhoh of Reichersberg, too, echoed the assertions of his contemporaries, insisting that Christ was fully God and fully man.314

310 Hugh of St. Victor, On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (de Sacramentis), 2.1.9, 231. For a discussion of Hugh’s Christology, see esp. Richard Cross, “Homo Assumptus in the Christology of Hugh of St Victor: Some Historical and Theological Revisions,” The Journal of Theological Studies 65 (2014): 62–77; Franklin T. Harkins, “‘Homo Assumptus’ at St. Victor: Reconsidering the Relationship between Victorine Christology and Peter Lombard’s First Opinion,” The Thomist 72 (2008): 595–624; Nielsen, Theology and Philosophy in the Twelfth Century, 193–213. 311 Hugh of St. Victor, On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (de Sacramentis), 2.1.9, 231. 312 See esp. Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 105–18. 313 Ibid., 110, 112–14. 314 Gerhoh discusses the topic particularly in his texts Liber contra duas haereses (Book Against Two Heresies) [PL 194, cols. 1161-1183], Liber de nouitatibus huius temporis (About the Novelties of the Day) [Gerhoh of Reichersberg, Letter to Pope Hadrian About the Novelties of the Day, ed. Nikolaus M. Häring (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974).], and the now lost De glorificatione Filii hominis (On the Glorification of the Son of Man). For a discussion of the texts, see Classen, Gerhoch von 110 While Irimbert does not fully engage in a systematic discussion of such theological intricacies, he does make a point to repeatedly assert Christ’s united divine and human state in the Incarnation. He discusses the full unity of Christ’s nature, for instance, in his explication of 2 Kings 12. In the biblical narrative, the prophet Nathan approached David after the latter had killed Uriah so that he could take the man’s wife

Bathsheba as his own. The Lord was angry with David’s act of deception and murder, so he had Nathan tell the king a story: There was a certain rich man and a certain poor man.

The sole possession of the poor man was a small lamb, which he cherished as his own child. But while the rich man held a feast for a guest, he stole the poor man’s lamb so that he would not have to sacrifice one of his own many sheep or oxen. David condemned the rich man for taking that which was not his own, and Jonathan revealed that the king himself was that rich man (v. 1-7).

Irimbert takes this parable as an allegory for Christ’s human and divine nature.

According to this interpretation, the rich man represents the “Son of God,” while the poor man represents the “Son of the Virgin,” sometimes also referred to as the “Son of Man.”

The key concept here is that the two men are “one in person.”315 The rich man had an

Reichersberg, 89–97, 121–28, 173–84, 349, 410–12, 416–20. See also Damien Van den Eynde, “A propos du premier écrit christologique de Géroch de Reichersberg,” Antonianum 30 (1955): 119–36; Reinhold Rieger, “Kirchenreform und Theologiekritik bei Gerhoch von Reichersberg,” in Frömmigkeit und Theologie an Chorherrenstiften: vierte wissenschaftliche Fachtagung zum Stiftskirchenprojekt des Instituts für Geschichtliche Landeskunde und Historische Hilfswissenschaften der Universität Tübingen (14.-16. März 2003, Weingarten), ed. Ulrich Köpf, et al. (Ostfildern: J. Thorbecke, 2009), 141–56, esp. 148-153; Constant J. Mews, “Accusations of Heresy and Error in the Twelfth-Century Schools: The Witnesses of Gerhoh of Reichersberg and Otto of Freising,” in Heresy in Transition: Transforming Ideas of Heresy in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, ed. Ian Hunter, et al. (London: Ashgate, 2005), 43–58, esp. 49-51. 315 “Duo uiri isti scilicet filius dei et filius uirginis erant in una persona, filius dei diues per omnia, filius hominis pauper infra omnia.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 236b).

111 abundance of sheep and oxen, just as the Son of God is rich in his collection of patriarchs and prophets, while the poor Son of the Virgin has only his small lamb, that is, the innocence and humility of his assumed humanity.316 Yet because these two men are “one in person,” Irimbert sees no inconsistency in attributing the actions listed in verse 3 as belonging to the Son of God. Thus, it is the Son of God who nourished the little lamb

“with the pouring breasts of the Virgin Mother.” He raised this lamb with his children, with the “sons of God” being “all the elect predestined to salvation before the arrangement of the world.” The lamb ate the Son of God’s bread and, citing Psalm 77:25

– man ate the bread of angels – Irimbert explains that “the fullness of divinity bodily inhabits in assumed humanity.” Likewise did the lamb drink from the cup of the Son of

God, and further drawing from Psalms – My chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly it is (Ps. 22:5) and I will take the chalice of salvation (Ps. 115:13) – Irimbert states that “the accepted humanity of the Son of God drinks up the whole cup of suffering.” Irimbert then conflates God the Son and God the Father when he says that just as the lamb slept in the man’s bosom, so also the assumed humanity of the Son slept on the cross and “placed his spirit in the bosom of God the Father.”317

316 “Filius dei diues per omnibus habebat oues nonaginta nouem in deserto, et boues patriarchas et prophetas plurimos ualde, magnae apud deum estimationis…Preter ouem unam paruulam. Per ouem innocentia assumptae humanitatis, per paruulam humilitas commendatur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 237a). 317 “Et nutrierat. Nutriuit filius dei ouem suam paruulam in fundendo matris uirginis uberibus qua eum educaret lactis alimoniam. Et quae creuerat apud eum cum filiis suis filii dei fuerunt omnis electi, ante constitutionem mundi ad salutem praedestinati…Simul de pane eius comedens, et de calice illius bibens. Panis fiii dei ille fuit de quo psalmista dicit, panem angelorum homo manducauit [Ps. 77:25]. De quo pane illa ouis paruula comedit, quia in assumpta humanitate plenitudo diuinitatis corporaliter habitauit. Calix filii dei ille fuit, de quo ipse in psalmo dicit, Et calix meus inebrians, quam per clarus est [Ps. 22:5]. De quo iterum psalmista dicit Calicem salutaris accipiam [Ps. 115:4]. De quo nimirum calice eius illa ouis paruula bibit, quia suscepta humanitas filii dei totum poculum passionis ebibit. Et in sinu eius dormiens. Per dormitionem sinus designatur depositio spiritus, quia dum ouis illa paruula in cruce dormiuit, spiritum 112 The stranger that came to the rich man’s house (v. 4), then, represents death coming to the Son of God. Irimbert discusses this association through an interpretation of

Isaiah 28:21 – For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him. The “mountain” is like the height of the Son’s Incarnation, while the “valley” is like the humility of his Passion on the cross as he fights against the enemies and the author of death. Irimbert considers it

“strange work” that the seemingly disparate natures of the Son of God and the Son of the

Virgin should be joined together. It is strange that the Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, should be born of the Virgin Mother and that the immortal God should die on the cross.318 Desiring to spare his own sheep and oxen, or angels, patriarchs and prophets,

“from the labor of humanity’s redemption,” the rich Son of God instead “took mortal humanity from the Son of the Virgin.”319

David’s anger (v. 5) reflects the anger of the Son of God, because he had to sacrifice the poor Son of the Virgin for the sake of mankind’s redemption. The fourfold

suum in sinu dei patris deposuit. Pater inquit, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum [Luke 23:46].” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 237a). 318 “Peregrinus qui ad diuitem filium dei uenit mortem exprimit…Mons divisionis fuit sublimitas incarnationis…Uallis fuit humiltas passionis, que fuit in gabaa, in altitudine crucis. Stat in monte diuisionum filius dei per mysterium suae incarnationis, suos ab hostibus defendendo, et eos per diuisiones gratiarum contra hostes erigendo. Irascetur in ualle gabaa, auctorem mortis qui suos in morte tenebat per mortem crucis potenter insequendo. Ut faciat opus suum, alienum opus eius ut operetur opus suum, peregrinum est opus ab eo. Alienum fuit dei filio aeternaliter de patre genito temporaliter de matre uirgine nasci, peregrinum fuit immortali deo temporaliter in cruce mori.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 237b). 319 “Ueniente morte ad filium dei, pepercit ipse suis ouibus angelicis spiritibus, et suis bubus patriarchis et prophetis, nolens es ipsis aliquem mittere ad laborem humanae redemptionis…Tulit diues filius dei pauperis filii uirginis mortalem humanitatem et praeparauit morti ad se uenienti desideratam sacietatem.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 237b-238a).

113 restoration of the stolen lamb (v. 6) is thus accomplished through the four mysteries of

Christ’s Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension. Irimbert encourages the singing of psalms to God’s accomplishment of each of these mysteries:

Sing psalms to our God made-man in his Incarnation, sing psalms to him in his Passion, sing psalms to our King enveloped in the glory of mortality in his Resurrection, sing psalms to him in his Ascension!320

Clearly, then, Irimbert sees a complete unity in the persons of Christ the God and

Christ the man. This unity comes out in his interchanging of biblical characters (i.e. the rich man, the poor man, and even the lamb), implying that they are all ultimately the same person. And it can be inferred from Irimbert’s mention of God the Father that he finds no problem with including both the divine and human Christ as a member of the

Trinity.

Irimbert also touches on the topic of Christ’s human and divine nature in his explication of Judges 6, and here once again his allegorical portrayal is drawn from two individuals in the biblical narrative. In this account, Israel is in enemy hands once more

(this time the land of Midian) due to their persistent wrongdoing, and God is about to appoint a man named Gideon as judge of the Israelites. An angel of the Lord appeared before Gideon and said he was to deliver Israel from the hand of the Midianites. The angel proved himself by burning Gideon’s sacrifice with a touch of his rod, compelling

Gideon to do as the Lord commanded.

320 “Ira et indignatio nimia filii dei in pauperculum filium uirginis illa fuit, quod eum pro peccatis totius humani generis in cruce optulit…in quadruplum ouis ista redditur, dum in quattuor sacramentis filii dei in incarnatione passione resurrectione et ascension opus redemptionis humanae perficitur…Psallite deo nostro mortali facto in sua incarnatione, psallite ei in sua passione, psallite regi nostro in mortalitatis decore circumdato in sua resurrectione, psallite ei in sua ascensione.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 238a).

114 According to Irimbert’s allegorical rendering of the account, the angel of the Lord who arrived (v. 11) is the “angel of great counsel, who reveals to the world the mystery of his redemption from the beginning of time” – or the Son of God, as he clarifies later in his explication – and Gideon is “Christ the Lord, who encircles everything by the revolution of his majesty, but is himself enclosed in the womb of the Virgin” – or more simply, the Son of the Virgin, which is also clarified later.321 Irimbert points out the unity of these two individuals, saying that “the Son of God, great angel of counsel, appeared before the Son of the Virgin in the mystery of his Passion, having been joined to one another in union of person.” And the Son of God said to him “in the redemption of his faithful people dispensing the mystery of his Passion, the Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men (v. 12), because the holy Trinity cooperates in the redemption of the world…”322 Then the Son of God reiterates (v. 16) that he will be with the Son of the

Virgin, saying that he will assist in redeeming the world by virtue of his divinity.323

The sacrificial kid that Gideon offered represents the humanity of Christ, and just as the angel told him where to place the offering (v. 20), Irimbert explains that so too

321 “Angelus domini venit: cum ille magni Consilii Angelus, qui ab initio saeculi suae Redemptionis mysterium Mundo ostendit…Gedeon circuiens in utero, sivi tentatio iniquitatis eorum dicitur, per quem Christus Dominus exprimitur, qui suae Majestatis circuitu omnia complectitur, sed ipse in utero virginis includitur.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:228a, b). 322 “…apparuit Gedeoni Angelus Domini: cum Filius ille Dei, Angelus magni consilii, virginis Filio, in unione personae sibi unito, assistit in suae Pasionis mysterio…Sic ergo in hoc loco Gedeoni apparet Angelus Domini, cum illi Virginis Filio in Passionis suae mysterio assistit Filius Dei. Ait ad eum, in redemptionem suorum fidelium passionis eius dispensans mysterium: Dominus tecum virorum fortissime: quia sancta Trinitas tibi cooperatur in mundi redemptione…” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Ibid., 4, part 1:229c, 230b). 323 “Dominus dicit, cum Dei Filius, virginis Filio in redemptione mundi assistit. Ego ero tecum per divinitatis meae providentiam passionis tuae dictans sententiam. Ego ero tecum, in passione te confortans, a morte majestate mea te resuscitans.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Ibid., 4, part 1:231d).

115 does “the Son of God order the Son of the Virgin the offering of his humanity.” Gideon thus did as he was told, “because the humanity of Christ completes the precept of the divinity by his Passion.”324 The angel then burned the sacrifice by creating a fire from the tip of his rod (v. 21). In other words, “the Son of God put the redemption of his soul in the cross” with his power and “by the abandonment of his most holy spirit, [he] accomplishes all the offering of his Passion and innocence.” Irimbert also offers a slightly different interpretation, saying,

the Son of God reveals the redemption of his cross in the salvation of mankind…because through the mystery of the cross he holds all power of judgment from the Father…because the Son of God accomplishes all the offering of his Passion and innocence by the redemption of the cross.325

In either case, Irimbert asserts that the Son of God effects the salvation of the world through the power of his divinity.

But this deed was not accomplished through divinity alone. After all, the Son of

God said that he would assist the Son of the Virgin. Once Gideon had seen the angel miraculously burn the sacrifice, he knew that he was truly a messenger of the Lord whom he had seen face to face (v. 22). Allegorically, then, it becomes clear that it was truly the

Son of God, Christ, who died on the cross, with divinity and humanity coming ‘face to

324 “Quod enim per hoedum humanitas Christi designetur…Dicit Gedeoni Angelus Domini: quia filio virginis oblationem suae humanitatis praescribit Filius Dei…Gedeon ita fecit, quia humanitas Christi praeceptum divinitatis sua passione complevit.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Ibid., 4, part 1:233a, 234b, c). 325 “Angelus Domini summitatem virga extendit, cum Filius Dei redemptionem animae suae in cruce deponit. Quam manu tenet, quia in sua potestate eam habet…Angelus Domini carnes et azymos panes tangit, quia Filius Dei depositione sanctissimi Spiritus sui, omnem suae passionis et innocentiae oblationem perficit. Alio modo Angelus Domini summitatem virgae extendit; cum Filius Dei redemptionem suae crucis in salvationem humani generis ostendit. Quam in manu tenet, quia per mysterium crucis omnem judicii potestatem a Patre habet…Angelus Domini summitate virgae tangit carnes et azymos panes, quia Filius Dei redemptione crucis omnem suae passionis et innocentiae consummat oblationem.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Ibid., 4, part 1:234c-d, 235a).

116 face’ as it were. Irimbert speaks in the voice of Gideon, expressing his belief now

“because I saw the face of the divine Son of God, having been joined in an inexpressible bond of union to the face of humanity.”326 Irimbert further emphasizes this unity in his explication of verse 27 when Gideon gathers ten men to destroy the altar of Baal, as the

Lord commanded him. Irimbert compares this small gathering of forces to the “Son of

God [joining] the rational soul and human flesh to his divinity in unity of person.” Thus,

“the Son of God made-man completes the redemption of the world, just as God the Father appointed from eternity.”327 Once again, Irimbert asserts that Christ is truly both God and man, wholly and completely, and it is precisely by virtue of his divinity in assumed human form that he is able to effect salvation. His exegetical treatment of Christ’s dual nature is thus in full accord with the interpretation of his contemporaries.

Christ’s Redemptive Work

Moving beyond the divinity/humanity debate, Irimbert gives full treatment to the broader scope of Christ’s redemptive work through his mysteries. He does this, for instance, in his explication of 1 Kings 17, which recounts the story of David and Goliath.

At this point in Old Testament history, Israel, under the kingship of Saul, was once again in conflict with the Philistines. The Philistine army had a particuarly formidable warrior named Goliath, who demanded to fight one-on-one with someone from the Israelite

326 “Videt Gedeon, quod Angelus Domini fuerit, quia Christus in morte crucis ostendit, quod vere Filius Dei fuerit…Quia vidi Angelum Domini facie ad faciem, quia vidi Filium Dei facie divinitatis, inedicibili vinculo unionis conjuncta ad faciem humanitatis.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Ibid., 4, part 1:235b, c). 327 “Gedeon decem viros de servis suis assumit, cum Filius Dei animan rationalem et humanam carnem suae divinitati in personae unitate conjungit…Facit Gedeon sicut dominus praeceperat, quia Filius Dei factus homo, redemptionem Mundi peragit, sicut Deus Pater ab aeterno disposuerat.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Ibid., 4, part 1:237b, c).

117 camp. Meanwhile a shepherd from Bethlehem named David was sent to the place of battle to see how the conflict was progressing. When David heard of Goliath’s proposal, he approached King Saul and volunteered to face the Philistine. Taking only his staff and sling with five stones, he managed to defeat Goliath and bring victory to the Israelites.

In his allegorical rendering, Irimbert superimposes the narrative of Christ in the story of David and Goliath, even if in a rather disjointed order. The focus here is the

Passion of Christ, reflecting the spirituality of the twelfth century, although the narrative begins with Christ’s Incarnation. Just as Jesse sent his son David to check on the progress of the battle (v. 17), so also did God the Father send his Son into the world to effect its salvation, a salvation that he had intended from the beginning.328 David did as he was told and rose the next morning to set off (v. 20), and Irimbert jumps ahead in the chronology, seeing this as a representation of the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection. He left the care of his flock to the keeper, or the Church in the hands of the apostles, and he went away loaded with supplies, or “ascending into heaven, he led with him the redeemed captives from hell.”329

Irimbert then jumps in time once again and returns to the event of Christ’s death.

David arrived where the Israelite army was camped (v. 22), and his arrival represents

Christ’s descent into hell, pursuing the “arrogant enemy of mankind.” He stayed and spoke with his brethren, just as Christ “lived in this life among the danger of temptation.”

328 “Dixit deus pater ad filium suum, mittendo eum in hunc mundum ad redemptionem suorum fidelium…Sicut ei ysai praeceperat, sicut deus pater ab inicio eius incarnationem ad mundi redemptionem praeordinauerat.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 86b, 87a). 329 “Dauit mane surgit, cum christus diluculo de sepulchro procedit. Gregem custodi commendat, cum ordini apostolico totius aecclesiae curam assignat. Onustus abit, quia ascendens in caelum captiuitatem de inferno redemptam secum abduxit.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 86b-87a).

118 It was at this point that David heard about Goliath and his challenge (v. 23), that is, when

Christ recognized the devil’s arrogance.330 The Israelite men talked amongst themselves about the man who would defeat Goliath and the reward promised by King Saul (v. 25).

Irimbert understands this as a direct statement to Christ himself: “Whereby you, O Son of

God…consider closely the pain of your faithful people, and you ignore the blasphemies and insults of the enemy who pursues them,” and he will thus defeat arrogance by means of his own humility. The victor over the enemy would be rewarded with treasures and the

King’s daughter, or the salvation of the elect and marriage with the redeemed Church. He also would be free from tribute, or “free from the debt of sin and death.”331

David declared that he would accept the Philistine’s challenge. And just as messengers sent word of this development to King Saul (v. 31), so also did the law and prophets announce the coming of Christ to the Jewish people. David was brought to the king (v. 32), that is, Christ was born into the world, and he declared “I am God made- man, to be your servant” and fight against the enemy Satan.332 David made his case

330 “Venit ad locum magala quod turris pyratae dicitur, cum illum superbum humani generis inimicum descensione sua ad inferos persequitur…Dauid ad huc loquitur, dum filius dei in hac uita inter temptationum pericula conuersatur. Vir ille spurius descendens apparet, cum superbius ille diabolus ab eius se temptatione non abstinet. Loquente eo haec eadem uerba dauid audit, quia superbiam eius et iactantiam contra uniuersam humani generis massam filius dei compatienter recognoscit.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 87a). 331 “Quasi dicat: Quare tu o fili dei…consideras, afflictionem fidelium tuorum et inimici qui eos persequitur blasphemias et obprobria dissimulas? Virum ergo illum hominem deum qui percusserit eum obiciendo eius superbiae formam humilitatis suae rex pater magnis diuiciis ditabit, quia eius humanitatem omnium suroum electorum salute remunerabit. Filiam suam ei dabit, quia suam aecclesiam ipsius sanguine redemptam in unitate fidei et dilecitonis illi associabit. Domum patris eius absque tributo in israhel faciet, quia aecclesiam de gentibus quae domus patris eius est sanguinis sui praecio liberam a peccato et mortis debito faciet.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 87b). 332 “Verba dauid audiuntur et in conspectu saulis nuntiantur, cum eloquia filii dei per legem et prophetiam populo iudaico creduntur. Dauid ad saulem adducitur, cum filius dei de uirgine nascitur. Dauid sauli loquitur, cum filius dei homo factus ipse populi iudaici praedicator efficitur. Nunquit cor cuiusquam in eo concidat, quia dominus fortitudinem plebi suae subpeditat. Ego deus homo factus ac per hoc seruus tuus quia sub lege tua natus, uadam per humanitatis meae patientiam et pugnabo per maiestatis meae potentiam, 119 before Saul, saying that he was a faithful shepherd who had often protected the flock against predators, and the Lord would deliver him from the hand of Goliath (v. 34-37).

Irimbert interprets this scene as Christ laying out the course of his redemptive work. The

Son of God will proceed to his Passion and Resurrection on behalf of the people believing in and expecting him, and God the Father will deliver him in the triumph of his

Resurrection and defeat of the ancient enemy.333 Assured of David’s ability, Saul had the shepherd don a warrior’s accoutrements (v. 38). Similarly, Christ inherited the flesh of humanity from the Jewish people, adjusting his divinity to the helmet of humanity in

“unity of person” and putting on the coat of mail of rational soul and human flesh. And just as David attempted to try on the heavy armour (v. 39), so also did “the Son of God in assumed humanity learn to endure the penalty of unknown mortality.” But Christ was not accustomed to it, “because life does not know death.” So David took off the armour (v.

40), and Christ set aside the garment of flesh from himself, referring to the flesh of the

Old Testament. Instead, Christ took the staff of the New Testament and added it to the

Old Testament, taking with him the five stones of the books of Moses.334

aduersus phylisteum aduersus diabolicae superbiae iactantiam.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 88b). 333 “Nunc uadam per humilitatem meae passionis, et auferam per gloriam meae resurrectionis, obprobrium populi in me credentis et redemptionem meae expectantis. Et aid dauid Dominus qui eruit me de manu leonis et ursi, ipse me liberabit de manu phylistei huius. Dicit filius dei decantans deo patri triumphum glorie in sua resurrectione, de suorum fidelium ereptione et de antiqui hostis expugnatione.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 89b). 334 “Saul dauid uestimentis suis induit, cum populis iudaicus filio dei de sua carne carnis indumentum tribuit. Galeam eream super caput eius imposuit, dum humanitatem inimici sagittis inperforabilem eius diuinitati in personae unitate adaptauit…Lorica eum uestiuit, dum animam rationalem et humanam carnem de iudea natus dei filius accepit…David cepit temptare si armatus posset incedere, dum dei filius in suscepta humanitate paenas mortalitatis incognitae didicit tolerare. Non enim consuetudinem habebat, quia mortem uita nesciebat…Dauid arma deponit, cum dei filius a se carnis indumenta seponit. Dauid baculum suum tollit quem semper in manibus habebat, cum filius dei nouum testamentum ueteri 120 Thus simply girded, David faced Goliath in combat (v. 45). Even though Satan was fully armed with his sword of death, his spear of suggestion, and his shield of sin,

Christ knew he would prevail. Christ made haste (v. 48) to his Passion and faced the arrogant enemy in humility on the cross. And indeed he was victorious in combat (v. 49-

50). He struck Satan down with just one stone, “his own most holy soul.” And because he had brought nothing else but a staff and sling, David beheaded Goliath with the man’s own sword. Similarly, “by means of the death that the devil himself brought into the world, with which he killed [Christ’s] innocent people, [Christ] cut down all of his power.”335

Irimbert also fully explores the topic of Christ’s mysteries, as well as their broader significance in salvation history, in his explication of Joshua 24 during one of his characteristic long digressions. In this concluding chapter of the Old Testament book,

Joshua once more gathers together the tribes of Israel to entreat them to follow the Lord and his precepts. Throughout his explication of the book, Irimbert consistently sees

Joshua as a type of Christ. He interprets the gathering place of this assembly, Shechem, as a figure for the mystery of the Passion and the cross. The tribes of Israel represent all

superaddit…Quinque limpidissimos lapides de torrente sibi eligit, dum de toto ueteri testamento quinque libros moysi…” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 90a). 335 “Dicit dauid phylisteo, cum filius dei cuius dice est facere dicit humani generis inimico. Tu uenis ad me cum gladio et hasta et clypeo, insistendo meroum fidelium temptationi, cum delectatione cum suggestione cum defensione peccati. Per gladium enim quo uulnus mortis infligitur delectatio accipitur, quia mors secus introitum delectationis ponitur. Per hasta qua hostis impetitur, titillatio suggestionis intelligitur. Per clypeum quo corpus tegitur, defensio peccati exprimitur…Dauid festinat, cum filius dei redemptionem mundi passione sua accelerat. Ex aduerso phylistei ad pugnam currit, dum superbiae diabolicae humilitatem suae crucis opponit. Manum suam in peram mittit, dum potestate diuina animam suam ponit et resumit. Lapidem unum tollit et funda circumducens iacit, dum illam suam sanctissimam animam…Dauid currit et stat super phylisteum, dum dei filius descensione sua ad inferos conterit diabolum. Gladium eius tollit et caput eius praecidit, dum per mortem quam ipse diabolus mundo inuexit qua eum innocentem occidit omnem eius potestatem succidit.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 91a-b, 92a).

121 the elect – whom Christ saved through the mystery of his Passion – from across the three ages. Joshua particularly called for the ancients, princes, judges, and masters from these tribes, these being the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and teachers.336

After setting up the allegorical significance of the first verse, Irimbert enters into a digression that spans nearly 34 pages in the manuscript.337 He prefaces his discussion by saying “Therefore let us see in the Old Testament how the ancients and princes devoted themselves to the service of his Passion and cross in the Holy Spirit.”338 Starting with

Abel and continuing through Zechariah, Irimbert examines the revelation of salvation history in the lives of the “ancients and princes,” that is, the patriarchs and prophets.

Here, then, is further demonstration of Irimbert’s strong interest in the Old Testament and their rich store of sacred mysteries.

Rather than relate Irimbert’s interpretation of each of these individuals, I will highlight a few of the more notable cases. For instance, he reads portions of Abraham’s life as representations of Christ’s Incarnation and Passion. He picks up Abraham’s story at the point where he arrived at Shechem and received a promise from God to give him the land belonging to the Canaanites (Gen. 12:6-7). Irimbert interprets the land of Canaan

336 “Sichem Humeri uel labor interpretatur per quem mysterium passionis et crucis figuratur…Iosue omnes tribus israhel in sichem congregat, cum christus omnes electos suos ab initio usque ad finem seculi sub tribus temporibus huius mundi ante legem sub lege sub gracia fide et dilectione sua collectos mysterio passionis et crucis suae saluat et ad caelestia subleuat…Iosue maiores natu uocat, cum filius dei ab exordio mundi sanctos patriarchas per fidem crucis ad se inuitat. Principes uocat, cum sanctis prophetis eiusdem crucis mysterium reuelat. Iudices uocat, cum sanctos apostolos quos iudices mundi esse constituit misso de caelis sancto spiritu crucis sue praedicatores per mundi latitudinem efficit. Magistros uocat, cum cunctos aecclesiae doctores praedicatione curcis armat.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, p. 177a-b). 337 In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, pp. 177b-211a). 338 “Uideamus ergo in ueteri testamento, qualiter maiores natu uel principes in spiritu sancto suae passionis et crucis applicat minsterio.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, p. 177b).

122 as the Incarnation of Christ, coming in the humble form of a servant. And just as Irimbert interpreted Shechem in Joshua 24:1 as the Passion and cross of Christ, so does the meaning hold here at the first mention of the place. Thus, the Lord’s promise of this land to Abraham and all his posterity is a reflection of God’s declaration that, “I will liberate all the posterity of my elect, imitating your faith and love, through the humanity of my

Son.”339 The Lord once again promised Abraham this vast territory in Genesis 13:14, saying that all he saw from north to south and east to west would belong to him. Irimbert interprets the bestowal of this land as the fulfillment of the work of restoration, encompassing the Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension, and finally the future day of Judgment.340

Briefly touching on the patriarch Joseph, Irimbert gives an allegorical interpretation of Joseph’s dream about himself and his brothers (Gen. 37:6-7). Joseph dreamed that they were all binding sheaves in the field, and his bound sheaf rose while the ones belonging to his brothers all bowed down before his own. This risen sheaf, then, represents Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. The sheaves of all the elect will rise on

339 “In terram chanaan progreditur que negotiator uel humilis dicitur, cum uenturi in carne filii dei humanitatem oculis cordis intuetur, que per terram chanaan exprimitur. Abraham terram usque ad locum sichem pertransit, cum omnem in carne laborem filii dei usque ad passionem crucis oculis fidei perspicit. Sichem enim ut praediximus humeri uel labor dicitur, per quam passio crucis exprimitur…Unde recte chananeus tunc in terra fuisse describitur qui pauperculus dicitur quia christus qui in forma serui et pauperis in mundum quandoque uenturus erat, tunc in lumbis abrahae delitescebat. Dominus abrahae apparet, cum deus omnipotens futurae redemptionis gratiam illi ostendit. Semini inquit tuo terram hanc dabo, quia omnem posteritatem electorum meorum fidem et dilectionem tuam imitantium per humanitatem filii mei liberabo.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, p. 179b). 340 “Uide ad aquilonem, considera aquiloni temptatori expositam et oppositam filii dei incarnationem. Uide ad meridiem, ad peragendam in meridie crucis eius passionem. Uide ad orientem, ad eius resurrectionem et ascensionem. Uide ad occidentem, ad eius in futuro iudicio in hunc mundum regressionem.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, p. 180a).

123 the day of Judgment and bow down in prayer and rejoice before the sheaf of Christ.341

Joseph’s brothers certainly had reason to show deference to him after he saved them from the famine that ravaged the land (Gen. 45), just as Christ liberated his faithful from the ravages of eternal death.342

Irimbert also sees Christ reflected in the life of Jephthah, who served as judge over the Israelites for six years (Judges 11).343 Irimbert interprets the consequences of the vow that Jephthah made, that if he should be victorious in battle against the Ammonites, upon his return he would offer as a sacrifice the first person he saw emerge from his house (v. 30-31). As it happened, Jephthah was indeed successful in battle, but the first person he saw afterward was his only daughter, whom he was bound by oath to sacrifice

(v. 34). Allegorically, Irimbert takes Jephthah as a type for Christ, and his battle with the children of Ammon is likened to Christ’s battle with the evil spirits in his Passion.

Jephthah afterwards returned to his home, just as Christ triumphantly returned to the

Church and heaven.344

341 “Ioseph qui augmentum dicitur christi domini typum exsequitur, qui suis fidelibus aeternae uitae augmentum largitur. Qui uidet somnium, dum in cruce degustat mortis somnum. Manipuli in agro ligantur, dum omnes electi ab initio mundi mortis debito obligantur. Ioseph manipulus surgit, dum christi corpus de sepulchro resurgit. Fratrum manipuli circumstant et eius manipulum adorant, dum per christi resurrectionem omnes electi in die iudicii resurgent, eiusque humanitati de sua liberatione eternas gratiarum actiones letabundi persoluent.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, pp. 184b-185a). 342 “Ioseph fratres suos a penuria famis liberat, quia christus fideles suos ab aeternae mortis inopia saluat.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, p. 185b). 343 Irimbert largely lifts his interpretation of Judges 11 here from his commentary on Judges. See Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:332–34. 344 “Iepte aperiens uel apertus dicitur per quem ipse christus dominus exprimitur, cuius sanguine latroni ianua paradysi aperitur. Iepte a filiis amon reuertitur qui populus meroris uel onerans dicitur, cum christus sua passione malignos spiritus insequitur, qui onus mortis reprobis imponunt, et luctum eis aeterni meroris ingerunt. In maspha domum suam reuertitur que specula dicitur, quia per acta passione per resurrectionis et ascensionis suae tropheum uel in aecclesiam uel ad caelos regreditur.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, p. 189b).

124 While discussing the consequences of Jephthah’s vow, however, Irimbert shifts the chronology and returns once again to the beginning of Christ’s redemptive work on earth. Thus, Jephthah’s daughter represents the Incarnation of Christ; his assumed humanity being the “only-begotten daughter” of his divinity. This is yet another demonstration of Irimbert’s understanding of the unity of Jesus’ divine and human natures. At the sight of his daughter, Jephthah tore his clothing and cried out (v. 35).

Likwise, Christ tore apart his assumed humanity on the cross, and he cried out in grief as he bore the pain of sin. Irimbert draws a connection with Jephthah’s sorrow and

Lamentations 1:12 – O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow. Likewise,

Just as if the Son of God were speaking in supplication to assumed man: You, O human nature, who are the daughter of my divinity – having been formed by me and attended to by me, thou hast deceived me when you ensnared me, the true Son of God, below in the womb of the Virgin Mother. And thou thyself art deceived when you are ensnared below by the trap of death.345

But the daughter insisted that her father’s vow be kept (v. 36), just as Christ made a vow of love and obedience to God to redeem the world. She only asked to be allowed to reside in the mountains for two months to mourn (v. 37). Irimbert interprets this two-month period as the time in which Christ’s two natures are made known to the world through the two Testaments so as to complete the salvation of his two peoples (i.e. the Jews and

345 “In qua nimirum passione unigenita ei filia occurrit, dum ei in mysterio crucis assumpta humanitas obsequitur, que diuinitatis eius filia unigenita esse cognoscitur…Iepte uestimenta sua scindit, cum filius dei assumtam humanitatem in passione crucis confingit. Heu inguit filia mi, decepisti me et ipsa decepta es. Heu uox dolentis uel dolorem illum exprimit incomparabilem, quem filius dei in supplicio crucis pro peccatoribus sustinuit. De quo dolore ipse per ieremiam prophetam dicit. O uos omnes qui transitis per uiam, attendite et uidete si est dolor sicut dolor meus [Lam. 1:12]. Quam si ergo dicat filius dei, in supplicio hominis assumpti. Tu o humana natura que diuinitatis meae es filia a me formata a me procurata me decepisti, dum me uerum filium dei deorsum in utero uirginis matris cepisti. Et ipsa es decepta, dum deorsum laqueo mortis es capta.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, pp. 189b-190a).

125 gentiles). The occasion of her death was commemorated each year with four days of weeping, representing the four mysteries of Christ, commemorated daily in Mass.346

Christ’s work is also reflected in the prophet Jeremiah, and Irimbert interprets the

Lord’s command for the prophet to go out and enter the potter’s house and observe his craft (Jer. 18:1-4). In the allegorical rendering, the Lord commands Christ to go out

“through the ministry of preaching” and enter the Church. The broken vessel that

Jeremiah saw represents the fallen state of mankind as a result of the sin of the first parents. But the potter’s wheel is a type for the cross of Christ, so the new vessel that the potter was currently crafting is like Christ’s restoration of mankind through his work of

Passion on the cross.347

Role of the Holy Spirit

While the redemptive work of Christ enacted in his mysteries serves as the focal point of Irimbert’s vivid allegorical redering of these Old Testament narratives, he also

346 “Aliud facere non potero, nisi quod patris et proximi me cogit dilectio. Illa respondet, cum suscepta humanitas filio dei ad redemptionem mundi suae uoluntatis consensum prebet…Fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es, quia per me mundi redemptionem efficere debes…Dimitte me, diuinitatem et humanitatem meam mundo fac innotescere. Ut duobus mensibus montes circumeam, ut in consummatione duorum testamentorum in saluatione duorum populorum…Ut filiam iepte galaditae diebus quattuor plangant, ut humanitatem filii dei in quattuor sacramentis incarnationis passionis resurrectionis et ascensionis suae cottidiana missarum celebratione cum lacrimarum oblatione recolant.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, pp. 190a, 191a). 347 “Surge per prouectum contemplationis, et descende per ministerium praedicationis, in domum figuli que est aecclesiae dei…Et ecce ipse faciebat opus super rotam, qui genus humanum reparauit super crucem suam. Crux enim Christi rota figuratur, quia sicut rota ex omni parte uoluitur ita crucis mysterium salutem hominis ex omni parte tuetur…Et dissipatum est uas quod ipse faciebat e luto manibus suis, quia primus ille parens quem de limo terrae suae maiestatis potentia creator plasmauerat, ab immortalitatis et beatitudinis suae statu praeuaricationis casu confractus perierat…Figulus convertitur cum dei filius de uirgine natus seruili carnis cinctorio contegitur. Facit illud uas alterum, per suae crucis mysterium reparans hominem perditum, faciens de reo innoxium, de captiuo liberum, de seruo filium.” In librum Iosue, 3 (Admont MS 17, pp. 207b-208a).

126 frequently mentions the work of the Holy Spirit. And just as there was a growing trend in twelfth-century spirituality to emphasize the humanity and Passion of Christ, devotion to the third person of the holy Trinity also increased, such that the Holy Spirit was chosen as the patron of a number of churches and an order of hospitallers.348 An early champion of this movement was Rupert of Deutz, who was the first western medieval theologian to offer a thorough treatment of the Holy Spirit as distinct from the other members of the

Trinity and outside the context of the filioque debate.349 His first text to offer such treatment was De sancta Trinitate, part three of which focuses on the role of the Holy

Spirit from the time of the Incarnation to the day of Judgment. For his analytical scheme,

Rupert follows in order each of the spiritual (or septiform) gifts.350 The idea of spiritual gifts is based on Isaiah 11:2-3, which enumerates seven (hence septiform) gifts of the spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, godliness, and fear.

Analyzing these gifts of the spirit had been a popular exegetical exercise since the time of the Fathers, but during the twelfth century, theologians began to see them as a scheme that lent itself well to a symbolic representation of salvation history.351 Indeed, Rupert designates a certain period of salvation history to each gift, organizing them as follows:

348 Marcia Lillian Colish, “Systematic Theology and Theological Renewal in the Twelfth Century,” Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 18 (1988): 139. 349 Stanley M. Burgess, The Holy Spirit: Medieval Roman Catholic and Reformation Traditions (Sixth- Sixteenth Centuries) (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 38. 350 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 92–94; Leichtfried, Trinitätstheologie als Geschichtstheologie, 201–305, esp. 270-283. 351 Classen, Gerhoch von Reichersberg, 109.

127 Table 2.1 Rupert of Deutz’s Designations of the Septiform Gifts

Book II Wisdom Passion Book IV Understanding Pentecost Book V Counsel Rejection of Jews and conversion of gentiles Book VI Fortitude Martyrs Book VII Knowledge Doctors combatting heresy Book VIII Godliness Present age Book IX Fear Last Judgment

Rupert also employs this septiform scheme in his Commentary on the Apocalypse, his second most popular commentary, in which he follows the course of salvation history culminating in the establishment of the heavenly Jerusalem.352 Analysis of the septiform gifts of the Holy Spirit also took on a moral focus in twelfth-century theology, with depictions of spiritual gifts and virtues allied in battle against vices, a concept revived from Augustine and Gregory the Great.353

Rupert also addressed in a number of his texts the question of the exact nature of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation and procession. He argued that in the third age (i.e. the age of grace), the Holy Spirit proceeded from Christ’s Passion in the form of sanctifying grace or remission of sins. This role designated the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, meaning

352 PL 169, cols. 825-1214. For a discussion, see Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 275–82, esp. 280-281. 353 John Van Engen, “Theophilus Presbyter and Rupert of Deutz: The Manual Arts and Benedictine Theology in the Early Twelfth Century,” in Religion in the History of the Medieval West (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 154.

128 comforter. Rupert’s assertion resulted in a debate with Norbert of Xanten (c. 1080-1134), who misunderstood Rupert as implying that the Holy Spirit’s procession from Christ meant that the Holy Spirit, too, had become incarnate in the Virgin Mary. Rupert later clarified his distinction of the person and work of the Holy Spirit by stating that the Holy

Spirit’s work before Christ’s Incarnation did not involve the remission of sins. Thus, the third person of the Trinity is referred to throughout the Old Testament as the ‘Spirit of

God’ or ‘Spirit of the Lord.’ It was only in the time of the New Testament that the third person received the appellation of ‘Holy Spirit’ due to his new role as distributor of sanctifying grace. For Rupert, this saving work of the Holy Spirit continues into the present day, and only the truly faithful receive his spiritual gifts.354

As mentioned above, the theologian Gerhoh of Reichersberg benefited greatly from Rupert’s example. The Augustinian canon also demonstrated interest in examining the figure of the Holy Spirit, dedicating an entire treatise on the subject, the Libellus de ordine donorum Sancti Spiritus (Little Book on the Order of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit).

In Book One Gerhoh explores several septenary schemes relating to the septiform gifts in both ascending and descending order. In Book Two he explains more fully what impact the spiritual gifts had had throughout church history. Gerhoh borrowed greatly from

Rupert in his analysis, but he placed more emphasis on the spiritual gift of godliness, which corresponded with the present age in church history, and which served as preparation for the time of fear in the last Judgment. Gerhoh thus focused on connecting

354 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 339–41, 362–64.

129 exegesis to events and people of his own time, leading Peter Classen to call his an

“aktuelle Exegese.”355

Irimbert’s View of the Holy Spirit

Irimbert’s incorporation of the Holy Spirit in his overarching narrative of salvation history demonstrates an awareness of the nuanced role of the third person of the

Trinity. Irimbert does not dwell on specific examples of the Holy Spirit’s interaction with the present age in the same way as Gerhoh, nor does he make a point to distinguish between the nature of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation and work before and after Christ’s

Incarnation like Rupert. Irimbert does, however, view the Holy Spirit as an active participant in the progression of the Church down through the ages. As Alison Beach observes in her analysis of his commentary on Ruth, Irimbert does not hesitate to use the term ‘Holy Spirit’ in the period before Christ, while still demonstrating an understanding that his role as dispenser of sanctifying grace did not come about until after the

Incarnation.356

Irimbert’s explication of 4 Kings 1 – the beginning of which is related above – demonstrates his general view of the Holy Spirit’s activity throughout time. In the biblical narrative the ailing King Ahaziah of Israel sent men to fetch the prophet Elijah, who said the king would die for consulting with a false god (v. 4). He sent a group of fifty men, who, as Elijah predicted, were consumed by a fire from heaven (v. 9-10).

355 Classen, Gerhoch von Reichersberg, 116. 356 Beach, “The Multiform Grace of the Holy Spirit,” 130.

130 Ahaziah sent another fifty men who met the same fate (v. 11-12). The third group of men was spared, but Ahaziah soon died, just as Elijah had predicted (v. 13-17).

Irimbert views this narrative first and foremost as a reflection of Christ’s redemptive work in salvation history, but this work is connected to the participation of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the first group of fifty men represents the time of the patriarchs before the law. The number fifty designate the “grace of the Holy Spirit or perfect repentance.” This grace, however, does not have sanctifying or redemptive qualities.

Rather, it was through the grace of the Holy Spirit that the natural law was instituted and that man was able to recognize original sin. When Elijah declared that he was a man of

God and that fire from heaven would consume them, Irimbert takes this statement as

Christ himself speaking to the patriarchs and declaring that he would send the Holy Spirit

– just as he would later send the Holy Spirit to the apostles in the form of tongues of flame (Acts 2:2-4) – to consume their faithful sacrifices and enkindle in them a love for the redeemer.357 The next group of fifty men represents the time of the prophets under the law. Once again Elijah is the type of Christ, speaking this time to the prophets and declaring that he would send the Holy Spirit to reveal their prophecies about the

357 “Rex ochozias quinquagenarium principem et quinquaginta qui erant sub eo ad heliam mittit, cum genus humanum de paradyso expulsum in primordio saeculi patriarchas et omnis fideles qui erant ante legem ad filium dei dirigit. Qui bene quinquaginta esse describuntur, quia quinquagenario numero uel sancti spiritus gratia uel perfecta penitentia designatur. Fideles ergo ante legem constituti et naturali lege per gratiam sancti spiritus insituti originalis peccati uinculis se obligatos esse recognoscebant…Quasi dicat filius dei, patriarcharum fidei. Spiritus sanctus de celo ueniat qui tue fidei et dilectionis sacrificium absorbeat, sicut die quinquagesimo super discipulos meos in specie ignis ueniet, et eorum corda amore caelestium et aeternorum flammantia efficiet. Ignis de caelo descendit et quinquagenarium cum suis deuorat, quia spiritus sancti gratia patriarchas et fideles ante legem positos in fide spe et dilectione uenturi quandoque redemptoris amore caelestium et aeternorum inflammat.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 529a, b).

131 Incarnation, which would accomplish the world’s redemption.358 The third group of men, then, represents the time under grace, and the captain of the group is likened to the Virgin

Mary who acts as the intercessor for mankind.359 Thus the fifty men (and mankind) were spared, and Elijah rose to meet the king, just as Christ established the mystery of his

Incarnation, doing so through the work of the Holy Spirit.360 And the latter’s work continues, for in contrast with Ahaziah’s death according to Elijah’s prophecy, “mankind is rescued in baptism from vices and sins through the grace of the Holy Spirit.”361

Pre-Incarnation Role

Irimbert offers a further demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s role, specifically as it relates to the time before the Incarnation. He sees David speaking to Jonathan in 1 Kings

20:4-5, for example, as Christ speaking to the prophets. This interaction, however, is conducted via the Holy Spirit, who “instructs” the prophets and “reveals” to them the mysteries of Christ.362 As a result of this interaction and revelation, Jonathan speaks to

David, that is, the prophets pray to Christ in the Holy Spirit that his Incarnation (and by

358 “Rex ochozias rursum quinquagenarium principem alterum et quinquaginta cum eo ad heliam mittit, cum genus humanum tempore date legis prophetas et fideles illius temporis…Quasi dicat filius dei, prophetarum ordini. Gratia spiritus sancti qui est ignis dei de caelo ueniat, qui tuae prophetiae mysteria mundo aperiat. Quod nimirum tunc fieri poterit, cum per meae incarnationis sacramenta mundi redemptio consumata fuerit.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 529b-530a). 359 Mary’s role as intercessor will be discussed further in Chapter Three. 360 “Princeps quinquagenarius contra heliam genuaflectit, cum genus humanum intercessionis gratia beatam uirginem Mariam filio dei opponit…Helias surgit, cum filius dei per spiritum sanctum suae incarnationis mysterium instituit.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 530b, 531a). 361 “Ochozias iuxta sermonem domini moritur quem helias loquitur, cum genus humanum per sancti spiritus gratiam in baptismo a uiciis et peccatis eripitur…” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 531b). 362 “Veniens coram ionatha loquitur, cum ordinem propheticum per spiritum sanctum de suis mysteriis instruendo alloquitur…Dicit filius dei prophetico ordini, ex reuelatione spiritus sancti.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 102b, 103a).

132 association salvation) might indeed come to pass (2 Kings 7:17).363 Furthermore, the

Holy Spirit has a hand in composing Scripture through his dispensation of Christ’s mysteries. Irimbert explains this role in his interpretation of Judges 11:29, which relates judge Jephthah’s preparation to fight against the obstinate children of Ammon. Just as the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephte, so the Holy Spirit came upon Scripture to dispense the mysteries of the redemption. Jephthah proceeded through different lands en route, which Irimbert views as the Holy Spirit setting up prefigurations of Christ in the patriarchs under the natural law (Gilead), in the written law (Manasseh), and the prophets

(Mizpah), insituted in the New Testament (of Gildead).364 The Holy Spirit’s pre- incarnation role thus involves dispensing and revealing the mysteries of Christ in

Scripture and guiding the faithful before and under the law toward their coming redeemer.

Incarnation Role

The Holy Spirit, of course, played an important role in the Incarnation itself, and

Irimbert sees figures of this activity in the Old Testament. A primary example of such representation is in the opening verse of the Song of Songs – Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. As discussed above in Chapter One, Irimbert views this verse as an image

363 “Loquitur propheticus ordo illi suo domino dei filio omnia humanitatis eius sacramenta que sibi per spiritum sanctum fuerant reuelata, orans in spiritu sancto ut ad terras descendere dignetur pro saluando genere humano.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 217a). 364 “Fit super Jephte Domini Spiritus, quia omne redemptionis Christi mysterium dispensat Sanctus Spiritus. Jephte Galaad circuit, dum Christus praefigurationibus Sanctorum Patriarcharum sub lege naturali suam Redemptionem peragit. Manasse circuit, dum legis scriptae praefigurationes peragit. Maspha circuit, dum prophetiae praefigurationes peragit. Galaad circuit, dum novi testamenti scripturam sua redemptione insituit. Inde ad filios Ammon transit, dum per omnes praefigurationes legis naturalis, legis scriptae, prophetiae, suo adventu spiritalibus nequitiis bellum indicit.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:330c).

133 of the Incarnation in which the entire Trinity participates. The mouth is God the Father, coeternal with his Son. The kiss, then, is the Holy Spirit, who, through the words of annunciation spoken to Mary, effects Christ’s conception.365 Irimbert repeats this idea in his allusion to the first verse of the Song in his explication of Ruth 1:9, which also relates a kiss: that of Naomi to her daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth. He notes that a kiss involves the joining of lips, just as the Son of God joined with human flesh in his

Incarnation. The kiss itself, which facilitates this union, is the love of the Holy Spirit.366

As Alison Beach observes, the interpretive tradition going back to Origen had seen this opening to the Songs as a reference to the Incarnation, but the kisses were performed by

Christ himself. Rupert of Deutz, who possibly influenced Irimbert in this interpretation, however, emphasized the Holy Spirit’s role in bringing about Christ’s Incarnation.367

Irimbert further emphasizes this role in his explication of Joshua 7. In this account, Joshua heard news of an Israelite force that was decimated in battle against their enemy, compelling him to tear his garments and fall in prayer before the ark of the covenant (v. 6). In Irimbert’s allegorical rendering, Christ sets aside the beatiful garment of his majesty and comes before the ark. The ark contains two tablets of the law, which represent Christ’s divinity and humanity “joined in unity of person through the work of

365 “Osculetur me osculo oris sui. His namque verbis invitantis Ecclesiae mystice praenotata videtur annuntiatio et conceptio Salvatoris. Nam os Dei Patris est, ut veraciter credimus, coaeternus sibi filius. Osculum vero eiusdem oris non incongrue accipiendus est Spiritus Sanctus. Hoc nimirum osculo, id est: superveniente Spiritu Sancto, dum inter verba annuntiantis Angeli beata Virgo Maria deosculari meruit, Filium Dei Patris costa et immaculata concepit.” In Canticum Canticorum (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1721, 2, part 1:370b). 366 “Et osculata est eas. Per osculum labiorum fit conjunctio, qua os ori imprimitur. Et bene per os Filius Dei carnem assumens, per osculum amor Spiritus Sancti accipitur.” In librum Ruth (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:448d). 367 Beach, “The Multiform Grace of the Holy Spirit,” 133.

134 the Holy Spirit.”368 Elsewhere in 1 Kings 2:19, the young Samuel had a coat made for him by his mother. Irimbert reads this verse as Mary clothing Christ with the flesh of humanity to cover his divinity, but this coat is weaved, as it were, by the Holy Spirit.369

Irimbert thus sees the Holy Spirit as an active and crucial participant in the Incarnation.

Post-Incarnation Role

The Holy Spirit’s important role continues after the Incarnation and Passion of

Christ. Returning to his explication of Joshua 7, Irimbert interprets the Lord’s response to

Joshua’s supplication as God the Father speaking to Christ after his Passion (v. 10). The

Lord told Joshua to sanctify the Israelites (v. 13), which, of course, represents the sanctification worked through the sending of the Holy Spirit after Christ’s Ascension.370

In his explication of Joshua 9, Irimbert refers more explicitly to the ‘new’ role that the

Holy Spirit undertakes after the Incarnation. In the account, a group from the land of

Gibeon approached Joshua to make peace (v. 3-5). Irimbert interprets this scenario as the penitant of the Church approaching Christ in their grief. The people of Gibeon had brought with them on their journey hot loaves and new bottles of wine (v. 12-13). Their supply reflects the spiritual state of the Church after Christ, having received the grace of

368 “Iosue uestimenta sua scindit, cum filius dei pro redemptione generis humani decorem suae maiestatis seponit. Pronus in terram cadit, cum in humanitatis forma ex matris uirginis utero procedit. Coram archa domini ipse factus archa domini, continens in se tabulas testamenti repugnantes mortis legi. Tabulae enim testamenti scriptae digito dei fuerit diuinitas et humanitas filii dei, in unitatem personae compactae operatione spiritus sancti.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 37b). 369 “Tunicam paruam mater sua ei facit, quia beata semper uirgo Maria de sua carne humanitatis formam eum induit in qua et sub qua diuinitatis eius speciem huic mundo contegit. Quam scilicet tunicam spiritus sanctus texuit…” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 15a). 370 “Dominis ad iosue dicit, cum deus pater filio suo per mortem crucis in infernum progresso praecipit…Surge per ascensionis tuae mysterium sacrificia populum per emissum spiritum sanctum et dic eis per indulgentiae remedium.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 38a, b).

135 the Holy Spirit, and more specifically, having been made new in baptism by means of the

“new grace of the Holy Spirit.”371 Here Irimbert demonstrates an understanding of

Rupert’s distinction of the Holy Spirit’s roles before and after the Incarnation. As opposed to the Holy Spirit’s work of guidance and revelation during the time of the patriarchs and prophets, in the time of grace the Holy Spirit takes on a new task of dispensing sanctifying grace itself by virtue of Christ’s redemptive work.

But Irimbert also understands that even this new grace of the Holy Spirit still maintains its prior guiding function. This role becomes apparent in Irimbert’s explication of Ruth 2, at which point Boaz, a type of Christ, enters the biblical narrative. Ruth set out to glean the leftovers in the field and hoped to find favor with the owner (v. 2). Irimbert interprets the field as holy Scripture, whose meaning can be gathered through the grace of the Holy Spirit.372 Further into the narrative, Naomi encouraged Ruth to lay at Boaz’s feet and wait for his instruction (3:4). Irimbert interprets this anticipated instruction as Christ teaching the Church with the “multiform grace of the Holy Spirit” to reveal the path to eternal life.373 In other words, the Holy Spirit works as an agent of Christ, instructing the faithful on the meaning of Scripture and guiding them to heaven.

371 “Gabaon Collis meroris interpretatur per quam sanctam aecclesiam figuratur, que in salubri tristicia commoratur, dum suum in colatum hic prolongari lamentatur…En panes calidos sumpsimus, quia sancti spiritus gratiam recentem accepimus…Utres uini nouos impleuimus, cum ipsi in baptismo noui facti nouam sancti spiritus gratiam accepimus.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, pp. 48a, 49b). 372 “Per agrum Sacra Scriptura designatur, quia fertilis est et foecunda, in qua beatus quisque spicas colligit, quando sententias Scripturae non per se aut a se, sed quantumcunque clementis patrisfamilias, id est, Spiritus S. gratia reperire potest, in ventrem memoriae colligit, ne anima vitali cibo sui destituta pereat.” In librum Ruth (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:456b–c). 373 “Ipse autem dicet tibi, quid agere debeas. Docet enim et instruit Christus Ecclesiam multiformi gratia Sancti Spiritus, quid agere, qua via incedere debeat, ut ad vitam aeternam quandoque perveniat.” In librum Ruth (Ibid., 4, part 1:469c).

136 Irimbert also sees the septiform grace of the Holy Spirit represented in the Old

Testament. He provides detailed descriptions of the septiform gifts in his explication of 3

Kings 4, which introduces King Solomon’s court. In its allegorical rendering, this chapter details the characteristics of the Church, governed by Christ through the Holy Spirit.374

Verses 2 though 9 list the eleven princes serving under King Solomon, with the first seven representing the septiform gifts of the Holy Spirit, followed by the qualities of faith, hope, love, and perseverance.375 Irimbert takes the seven gifts in reverse order, and

Azariah there designates the spirit of fear, which is divinely aided by grace. The brothers

Elihoreph and Ahijah represent the spirits of godliness and knowledge respectively, which keep impiety at bay and create knowledge of God and Christ. Jehoshaphat indicates the spirit of fortitude, which punishes sin. Benaiah designates the spirit of counsel, through which man can progress in the spiritual life. Finally, the priests Zadok and Abiathar represent the spirits of understanding and wisdom. These two gifts lead to a fear of the Lord (Job 28:28) and come out of the mouth of the most High (Ecclus. 24:5), which are exemplified in Job and Solomon.376 Irimbert also incorporates the twelfth-

374 “Rex salemon super omnem israhel regnat, dum filius dei sanctam aecclesiam in praelatis continentibus et ceteris fidelibus spiritus sancti magisterio gubernat.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 363a). 375 “Per principes regis qui hic describuntur, uel septem dona sancti spiritus uel fides spes et caritas cum perseuerantia exprimuntur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 363a). 376 “Azarias qui auxilium domini sonat spiritum timoris designat, quia timorem dei nullus perfecte consequitur, nisi auxilio diuine gratiae fulciatur…Per elioreb qui dei hiemps interpretatur spiritus pietatis designatur, per quem in homine feruor impietatis et iniquitatis sedatur. Per achiam qui frater eius uel ubi hec dicitur spiritus scientiae exprimitur, quo homo cognitione dei et sui christi frater efficitur…Per iosaphat qui domini iudicium dicitur qui filius hailud scribitur qui frater inclitus dicitur, spiritus fortitudinis intelligitur…quia per spiritum fortitudinis peccatores castigantur…Per banaiam qui edificator domini interpretatur qui filius ioiade id est benedicti memoratur spiritus consilii recte figuratur, per quem homo spiritalis uitae edificium aggreditur…Per sadoch qui iustus dicitur spiritus intelligentiae accipitur, quia recedere a malo ueram esse intelligentiam iob testatur. Ecce inquit timor domini ipsa est sapientia, et recedere a malo intelligentia [Job 28:28]. Per abiathar qui pater superfluus dicitur sapientia exprimitur, 137 century application of the septiform gifts to moral theology discussed above in his explication of Joshua 3. In the biblical text, the Lord declared that he would be among the

Israelites and destroy seven enemy nations (v. 10). Irimbert interprets this declaration as the Holy Spirit coming to live among the faithful, just as he came to the disciples (Acts.

2:3-4). The Holy Spirit will come up against the enemy, that is, the seven principle vices.

In the ensuing battle between good and evil, the septiform gifts of the Holy Spirit destroy vices with a spear.377 Once again, as Rupert emphasized, the Holy Spirit remains active until the present day, strengthening the faithful with spiritual gifts and aiding in the ongoing struggle against evil spirits.

Preaching as a Contribution to the Economy of Salvation

Irimbert also placed particular emphasis on the role of preaching. He saw the role played by teachers and preachers as an essential contribution to the unfolding of salvation history, and Irimbert thus repeatedly inserts them into his allegorical narrative. Irimbert’s prominent discussion of the topic is by no means out of place, given that the act of preaching had received increased attention and debate during the reform movement of the

quae ex ore altissimi progreditur [Ecc. 24:5], sicut salemon loquitur.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 363a, b). 377 “Rursum inquit cum per mysterium sue passionis fidelibus suis spiritum sanctum tribuit, per quem ab eorum cordibus malignum spiritum eicit. In hoc inquit scietis cum spiritum sanctum in linguis igneis accipietis, quod dominus deus uiuens est in medio uestri, quod spiritus sanctus qui est uiuens deus sit in medio uestri, gubernando uos in prosperis tuendo in aduersis. Et disperdet in conspectu uestro malignum spiritum, incentorem septem principalium uiciorum…septiformis sancti spiritus disperdit framea…” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, pp. 19b, 20a).

138 eleventh and twelfth centuries.378 The ideal of the vita apostolica (apostolic life) – which consisted of living in a community, giving up personal wealth to share with others, and preaching the Gospel – came to permeate much of the spirituality of medieval Europe both during and after the church reforms of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Treatises on both clerical and monastic reform during the High Middle Ages often focused on reviving the ideals of the primitive church and modeling their lives after the Apostles.

But this spirit of reform had the tendency to bring with it a spirit of competition.379 Debates concerning pastoral activity emerged in part due to canonical reform. Augustine’s monastic rule was rediscovered in the west during the eleventh century, and clerics increasingly saw this rule as living up to the ideal of the vita apostolica. Groups of clerics who lived by this rule came to be known as regular canons, as opposed to secular canons, whose communal lives were seen as less strict.380 As new

378 On this ‘evangelical awakening,’ see esp. Marie-Dominique Chenu, “The Evangelical Awakening,” in Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, trans. Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), 239–69. 379 For more thorough discussions of the vita apostolica, along with the diversity and discord the movement created, see Marie-Dominique Chenu, “Monks, Canons, and Laymen in Search of the Apostolic Life,” in Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, trans. Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), 202–38; Glenn W. Olsen, “The Idea of the ‘Ecclesia Primitiva’ in the Writings of the Twelfth-Century Canonists,” Traditio 25 (1969): 61–86; Ernest W. McDonnell, “The ‘Vita Apostolica’” Diversity or Dissent,” Church History 24 (1955): 15–31. Some of the most popular forms of rhetoric at this time were debates and dialogues, or altercatio and conflictus. See Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 128–35; Caroline Walker Bynum, “Did the Twelfth Century Discover the Individual?,” in Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), 92–95; Caroline Walker Bynum, “The Spirituality of Regular Canons in the Twelfth Century,” in Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), 29–33; Charles Dereine, “Chanoines,” in Dictionnaire d’Histoire et de Géographie Ecclésiastiques, vol. 12 (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1953), 391–98. 380 The primary characteristic of a canon, whether regular or secular, was the combination of clerical status with common life. Bishop Chrodegang of Metz (r. 742-766), attempted to standardize his clergymen’s way of life of more formally with his Regula canonicorum (PL 89, cols. 1097-1120). While his rule was partly drawn from the Rule of St. Benedict, the clerics’ property remained private. Charlemagne fully supported the common clerical life, and several cathedrals and some Benedictine monasteries adopted this rule. 139 orders, both canonical and monastic, emerged from the reform efforts, a certain degree of hostility arose as to whose way of life had more authority or dignity. Especially contested was the prerogative of the cura animarum (care of souls).381 Regular canons claimed superiority due to their balance of the contemplative life and the active life in preaching, whereas monks were merely obliged “to weep.”382 The canon’s closer connection to the secular world, and therefore all of its temptations, made theirs a more “apostolic” way of life. Monastic authors, such as Idung of Prüfening in his Dialogue Between Two Monks, countered that canons were essentially no different than monks.383

Chrodegang’s rule influenced the Institutio canonicorum drawn up in 816 at the Synod of Aachen (PL 105, cols. 805-954). This authoritative rule was intended to be used by all clergy living in a community. Over the course of the eleventh and twelfth-century reforms that sought to bring back the clergy to the ideals of the primitive church, individual clerical houses gradually abandoned the Rule of Aachen in favor of the Rule of St. Augustine. Those who continued to follow the former rule were known as secular canons, while the latter were known as regular canons. The majority of scholarship on the development of regular canons is regional and focuses on the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. See Janet E Burton and Karen Stöber, eds., The Regular Canons in the Medieval British Isles (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012); Michel Parisse, Les chanoines réguliers: émergence et expansion (XIe-XIIIe siècles) (Saint-Étienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne, 2009); Jean Châtillon, Le mouvement canonial au moyen age: réforme de l’église, spiritualité et culture, ed. Patrice Sicard (Paris: Brepols, 1992); Stefan Weinfurter, “Neuere Forschung zu den Regularkanonikern im Deutschen Reich des 11. und 12. Jahrhunderts,” Historische Zeitschrift 224, no. 2 (1977): 379–97; Dereine, “Chanoines”; Charles Dereine, Les chanoines réguliers au diocèse de Liège avant saint Norbert. (Brussels: Palais des académies, 1952); Charles Dereine, “Vie Commune, Règle de Saint Augustin et Chanoines Réguliers Au XIe Siècle,” Révue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique 41 (1946): 365–406. On the rediscovery of the Augustinian Rule, see Darrel R. Reinke, “‘Austin’s Labour’: Patterns of Governance in Medieval Augustinian Monasticism,” Church History 56 (1987): 157–71, esp. 159-160. For a critical edition of the Rule of St. Augustine and its history, see Lucien Verheijen, ed., La Règle de Saint Augustin, 2 vols. (Paris: Études augustiniennes, 1967). For a translation of the text, see George Lawless, trans., Augustine of Hippo and His Monastic Rule (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987). 381 For instance, on the twelfth-century debates specifically concerning the possession of tithes, see Giles Constable, Monastic Tithes: From Their Origins to the Twelfth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964), 136–97. 382 This common characterization of monks was taken from Jerome’s letter Against Vigilantius 15. 383 Idung of Prüfening, Cistercians and Cluniacs, the Case for Cîteaux: A Dialogue between Two Monks, an Argument on Four Questions, trans. Jeremiah F. O’Sullivan, Joseph Leahey, and Grace Perrigo, Cistercian Fathers 33 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1977), esp. II.37.

140 Perhaps the fiercest proponent of the monastic right to preach was Rupert of

Deutz, whom John Van Engen characterizes as the “Defender of the Black Monks.”

Rupert made the case for defending the clerical work of monks in his texts Altercatio monachi et clerici quod liceat monacho praedicare (Dispute of a monk and cleric that it is permitted for a monk to preach), written c. 1119-1122,384 and Super quaedam capitula regulae Benedicti (Commentary on the Benedictine Rule), written in 1125.385 Against regular canons, he argued that ordained monks had the right to the cura animarum and the income that came along with it, as well as the right to preach and teach. Ultimately,

Rupert claimed that ordained monks were effectively clerics in their own right. While he recognized that regular canons exercised the vita apostolica, he maintained that monk- priests were at the very least their equals.386 And Rupert contented not only with regular canons, but also with the ‘new’ monks, namely Cistercians. He criticized them for overly emphasizing manual labor at the expense of ministering at the altar. Rather, true apostolic perfection could only be reached by combining monastic status with priestly activity.387

As Van Engen observes, “The great interest of Rupert’s work lies in his open defense of both the contemplative and the pastoral or intellectual facets of the religious life as required together to make up the truly apostolic ideal.”388

384 PL 170, cols. 537-542. 385 PL 170, cols. 477-538. 386 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 323–32. 387 Ibid., 318–23. This interpretation of Rupert’s position is in contrast with Marie-Dominique Chenu, who felt that Rupert actually downplayed the importance of preaching in the apostolic vocation. See Chenu, “Monks, Canons, and Laymen in Search of the Apostolic Life,” 211. 388 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 334.

141 Of course, Rupert’s voice was just one among many in this debate that often revolved around the question of superiority. Caroline Bynum has attempted to distinguish these voices among regular canons and monks in order to discern different conceptions of the Christian life and the apostolic ideal.389 She examines several treatises of spiritual advice and notes the prominent theme of docere verbo et exemplo (to teach by word and example) in the twelfth-century canonical movement. This was a phrase that was particularly emphasized by Gregory the Great in his Pastoral Care, and it was repeated throughout the twelfth century in sermons and treatises.390 Bynum argues that preaching verbo et exemplo and edification as a community was a primary concern specific to canonical texts. Monastic treatises on the subject, however, take on a more inward conception of the spiritual life, emphasizing learning as individuals. Similar to the problem of seeing too strong a distinction between monastic and scholastic theologies discussed in Chapter One, Rodney Thompson cautions that Bynum’s analysis is perhaps an oversimplification. While it is certainly valid to determine a group’s spirituality based on texts written by and for said group, actual audience can extend beyond intended

389 Caroline Walker Bynum, Docere Verbo et Exemplo: An Aspect of Twelfth-Century Spirituality (Missoula, MO: Scholars Press, 1979); Bynum, “The Spirituality of Regular Canons in the Twelfth Century.” 390 The critical edition with facing French is available in SC 381-381. For an English translation, see Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, trans. George Demacopoulos (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007). For a discussion, see Bynum, Docere Verbo et Exemplo, 15–16.

142 audience. For instance, Hugh of St. Victor’s text addressing young canons (De institutione novitiorum)391 was widely distributed among monasteries.392

Preaching in the Hirsau Reform Circle

Indeed, it would seem that pastoral concern was a common feature among reformed monastic communities during the twelfth century, particularly within the Hirsau circle. Valerie Flint points to the proliferation of sentence collections (sententiae) being copied in monastic libraries in southern Germany.393 The communities in this region were particularly concerned about increasing their pastoral activity in the context of ongoing church reforms. These texts that gathered opinions from the Church Fathers on theological matters were an important tool in such an endeavor. As Flint states, “the sentence collections defended the rights of their monastic copyists to a place in the pastorate, against the increasing claims of the men of the schools and against the evident effectiveness of many of those who eluded the grasp of both secular and regular clergy.”394 Dealing more explicitly with Hirsau, Phyllis Jestice takes this reform monastery as a model for communities negotiating the dichotomy between engaging with the world and commiting to withdrawal.395 Hirsau became heavily involved in the

Investiture Controversy beginning in the 1070s, taking the side of the papacy. Hirsau

391 Hugh of St. Victor, L’oeuvre de Hugues de Saint-Victor, ed. H. B. Feiss and P. Sicard, trans. Dominique Poirel, Henri Rochais, and P. Sicard, vol. 1 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997), 7–114. 392 Rodney Thompson, “Review of ‘Docere Verbo et Exemplo: An Aspect of Twelfth-Century Spirituality’ by Caroline Walker Bynum,” Speculum 56 (1981): 598–601, esp. 600. 393 Valerie I. J. Flint, “The ‘School of Laon’: a Reconsideration,” Recherches de Théologie Ancienne et Médiévale 43 (1976): 89–110, esp. 104-106. Jean Leclercq affirms Flint’s assertions about pastoral concern among monasteries in southern Germany. See Leclercq, “The Renewal of Theology,” 79. 394 Flint, “The ‘School of Laon’: a Reconsideration,” 106. 395 Jestice, Wayward Monks, 248–65.

143 monks took on the role of wandering preachers and traveled out into the world to instruct on issues of investiture and other moral concerns. Theirs was “a house of strict observance, going through most of the norms of the Benedictine life with a flair that made them feel superior to other monks, but with a quirk, a feeling of responsibility for the world outside of the cloister that prayer alone could not satisfy.”396 Details on Hirsau preaching is known only from critics accusing them of lacking monastic humility and acting as gyrovagues or circumcelliones. Jestice notes that Hirsau’s own historical and hagiographical accounts make no mention of their involvement in preaching and politics, suggesting a “conscious rewriting” of their history to give the appearance of properly following traditional Benedictine life.397

But as a member of a Hirsau reform community, Irimbert was likely familiar with the movement’s early history and its foray into preaching out in the world. He, too, had his own personal connection to the practice of preaching by virtue of his role as spiritual advisor to the nuns of Admont. Indeed, as noted in the introduction, the cura monialium was of special concern in Hirsau communities, several of which housed both male and female religious, and women were viewed as an important part of the monastic ideal.398

In fact, such mixed communities fostered apostolic self-understanding within the Hirsau

396 Ibid., 258. 397 Ibid., 262–65. 398 Urban Küsters, Der Verschlossene Garten: Volkssprachliche Hohelied-Auslegung und monastische Lebensform im 12. Jahrhundert (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1985); Küsters, “Formen und Modelle religiöser Frauengemeinschaften”; Hotchin, “Female Religious Life and the Cura Monialium in Hirsau Monasticism, 1080-1150.”

144 reform circle.399 For instance, the twelfth-century chronicle of Petershausen, a monastery in Constance that entered the Hirsau reform circle under Abbot Theoderic (r. 1086-1116), emphasizes in the prologue the monastery’s connection with the apostolic way of life.

Concerning religious women, the chronicler writes,

It should also be noted here that pious women soldiered for God equally with the holy disciples. And on account of this example, it is not blameworthy, but rather very laudable, when religious women are received in the monasteries of the servants of God so that each sex, kept separate from the other, is saved in one place.400

Thus, the presence of both men and women is viewed as important for the mutual benefit of salvation. Recent studies have further given a more nuanced picture of the cura monialium, showing that it often consisted of positive collaboration and cooperation between men and women, against historians’ previous conception of men only reluctantly overseeing women’s spiritual care.401

Such productive collaboration was certainly present at Admont, as evidenced by the scribal activity of the nuns as they copied Irimbert’s sermons, which he discusses in the middle of his commentary on 4 Kings.402 And the Hirsau zeal for pastoral care

399 Küsters, “Formen und Modelle religiöser Frauengemeinschaften,” 210; Küsters, Der Verschlossene Garten, 143. 400 Alison I. Beach, Shannon M.T. Li, and Samuel S. Sutherland, trans., Monastic Experience in Twelfth- Century Germany: The Chronicle of Petershausen in Translation (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018), P.9. For more on the history of Petershausen and its involvement with the Hirsau reform, see Beach, The Trauma of Monastic Reform. 401 Fiona J. Griffiths and Julie Hotchin, eds., Partners in Spirit: Women, Men, and Religious Life in Germany, 1100-1500, Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts 24 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014); Fiona J. Griffiths, “’Men’s Duty to Provide for Women’s Needs’: Abelard, Heloise, and Their Negotiation of the Cura Monialium,” Journal of Medieval History 30 (2004): 1–24; Julie Hotchin, “Abbot as Guardian and Cultivator of Virtues: Two Perspectives on the Cura Monialium in Practice,” in Our Medieval Heritage: Essays in Honour of John Tillotson for His 60th Birthday, ed. Linda Rasmussen, et al. (Cardiff: Merton Priory Press, 2002), 50–64. 402 Beach, Women as Scribes; Beach, “Claustration and Collaboration.” Irimbert’s digression on the fire that broke out in 1152 and his discussion of the women’s community is in his In librum regum, 4 (Admont 145 extended into the women’s community itself, such that it was not uncommon for some of them to preach the daily sermon when the abbot could not be present.403 Christina Lutter suggests that Irimbert’s discussion of the women’s community at Admont was a defense of his properly-conducted spiritual collaboration with the nuns against those who might acuse the practice of going against traditional Benedictine ideals.404 This defense is perhaps not unlike the Hirsau rewriting of its controversial early history. The greater implication here, however, is that the enthusiasm for preaching and teaching had not diminished, but in this case had instead been channeled into the cura monialium as an outlet for living the active, aspostolic life.

Paul and his Legacy

This importance that Hirsau and Admont placed on the value of preaching was certainly instilled in Irimbert’s conceptualization of salvation history. Irimbert’s commentaries display a recurring theme of preaching and teaching ‘by word and example,’ and this to such an extent that it goes beyond mere deference to a Gregorian trope and demonstrates a concerted effort to emphasize its importance. Pastoral care was clearly a priority to the Hirsau reform, at least in its early history, and echoes of that

MS 16, pp. 618(2)a-620b) [note the pagination error in the manuscript: the digression begins on the second page numbered as 618]; Irimbert’s account is reproduced in Pez, Bibliotheca Ascetica Antiquo-Nova, 8:455–64; and Lutter, Geschlecht & Wissen, 222–25. 403 “Capitulum suum inter se cottidie habent, Magistra vel eius Vicaria praesidente. Et in festis diebus, cum Abbas ad eas non poterit venire, sunt inter eas personae ad verbum exhortationis faciendum dispositae. Valde quippe sunt litteratae, et in scientia sacrae scripturae mirabiliter exercitatae.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 619b); Pez, Bibliotheca Ascetica Antiquo-Nova, 8:460. Stephen Borgehammar thus suggests the strong possiblity that the nuns were involved in writing the Admont sermon corpus. See Borgehammar, “Who Wrote the Admont Sermon Corpus,” 49. 404 Lutter, Geschlecht & Wissen, 86. For more condensed versions of this thesis, see Lutter, “Christ’s Educated Brides: Literacy, Spirituality, and Gender in Twelfth-Century Admont”; Lutter, “Ways of Knowing.”

146 concern are present in Irimbert’s texts. While he does not explicitly discuss the vita apostolica and its imitation in his own time, Irimbert does certainly hold the work of the apostles, especially Paul, in high regard, particularly their work as preachers.

Given Paul’s importance in the progression of the Church, Irimbert makes note of the apostle’s conversion as he finds allegorical types of Paul in the Old Testament. For instance, Irimbert interprets the death of King Saul in 2 Kings 1 as the conversion and baptism of Paul. In the biblical account, David is informed of the king’s death by a young

Amalekite man, who assisted Saul in killing him as he lay defeated and dying on the battlefield. The young man was in turn sentenced to death for his hand in regicide.

Allegorically speaking, the Amalekite happening upon Saul at Mount Gilboa (v. 6) is likened to Paul approaching Damascus and turning from his pride and cruelty as a persecutor to become a pious and humble preacher in perfect penitence and wisdom.405

Saul, who throughout most of the commentary has served as a type for the Jewish people, asks the young man to kill him (v. 9), that is, to shine a light on the living spirit within the dying letter.406 Irimbert revisits Paul’s moment of conversion once again when, in the biblical narrative, the young man approaches David. This man professed to be the son of an Amalekite (v. 13), a people who were enemies of the Israelites, just as Paul was a son of the Pharisees, who were known for their pride and ignorance. David’s interrogation of

405 “Casu ueni in montem gelboe. Casu illo quo ante damascum prostratus et penitus nichil uidens iacui…Paulus, quia qui fuerat superbus et crudelis persecutor, cepit esse pius et humilis aecclesiae praedicator. Dicat ergo de se, dicat ipse. Ex casu meae dementiae ueni in monte gelboae, in perfectionem uerae penitentiae, et in consummationem perfectae sapientiae.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 170b). 406 “Sta inquit super me. Quom uides o alumne mee quod per litteram occidentem tota in hereo terrae, tu me nolis sequere, sed per spiritum uiuificantem erige te super me et interfice me, scilicet inter spiritum uiuificantem et litteram occidentem fac iustam diuisionem.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 171b).

147 the man’s apparent lack of reverence for killing the king whom the Lord annointed (v.

14) echoes Christ calling out to Paul: Saul, Saul why persecutest thou me? (Acts 9:4).

David ordered one of his servants to execute the young man on the spot (v. 15), representing Paul’s death by the “sword of the spirit” through baptism.407

Irimbert revisits the topic of Paul’s conversion in his explication of 2 King 20, which recounts David’s attempt to stop a growing rebellion. David appointed Amasa as general and ordered him to gather an army within three days (v. 4). David serves as a type for Christ, who calls on Paul to convert and preach to the gentiles, gathering them before the day of resurrection.408 Amasa then joined with the rest of the Israelite army (v.

8), indicating Paul’s successful union of knowledge of the law and prophets with the

Gospel through preaching.409 But Irimbert once again distorts chronology, and when in the biblical narrative Joab came to greet Amasa (vv. 8-9), the allegorical narrative returns to the moment of Paul’s conversion. Joab resented Amasa for usurping his post as army general, so he stabbed the man with his sword and killed him (v. 10). This murder

407 “Qui ait filius hominis aduenae amalechite ego suum fraters inquit ego phariseus sum, filius phariseorum. Ordo pharisaicus fuit homo totus per superbiam et auariciam carni deditus, fuit aduena peregrinus a celestibus, fuit amalechita lingens in mundi uoluptatibus. Huius ergo uiri aduenae et amalechitae filius saulus fuerat, qui per ignorantiam dei et sui totus mundi concupiscentiis expositus erat. Unde bene sequitur, Et ait ad eum dauid. Quare non timuisti manum tuam mittere, ut occideres christum domini. Quando ista uerba filius dei edidit nisi quando de caelo clamauit, saule saule, quid me persequeris [Acts 9:40]…Accedens, irrue in eum. Accedens per manus impositionem, irrue in eum per baptismi consecrationem et uerbi dei praedicationem. Qui percussit illum, et mortuus est. Percussit illum gladio spiritus quod est uerbum dei, et mortuus est, ut iam non uiuat sibi sed christo confixus cruci.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 172b-173a). 408 “Per amasam qui tollens populum uel leuans interpretatur, sicut in superioribus dictum est saulus legis doctor figuratur. Cui nimirum saulo per datae legis scientiam christus imperat, ut populum gentium per euangelii praedicationem ad fidem resurrectionis quam dies tercius designat…Amasa abit ut iudam conuocet et uiris praecipiat, dum Paulus scientiae lumen ad hoc diuinitus accipit ut gentium populum instruat…” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 298b). 409 “Amasa enim exercitui david occurrit, dum Paulus per scientiam legis et prophetarum praedicatoribus sancti euangelii se coniungit.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 299b).

148 represents the apostles “piercing Paul with the sharpness of the divine word” and cutting out his pride and vainglory.410 The army departed, but in the meantime Amasa’s bloodied corpse lay in the middle of the road until a man moved the dead man out of the way and covered him (v. 12). Irimbert draws a parallel with Paul being struck down and blinded on the way to Damascus, at which point “he neither followed the rites of the old law nor professed the perfection of the Gospel.” In this time of transition, it was the disciple

Ananias who was instructed by God to find Paul, the man who was to preach to the gentiles (Acts 9:10-18). And just as the man covered Amasa’s body, so too did Ananias cover Paul with the garment of baptism.411

And, of course, Paul’s legacy continued through his successors. Irimbert sees this appointment of successors represented in 4 Kings 9, which begins with the prophet Elisha calling on another prophet’s son to go out and annoint Jehu as king over Israel (vv. 1-3).

In the allegorical retelling of the account, Christ calls on Paul to begin preaching to the gentiles for the salvation of the world, bringing with him a little bottle of oil, being the

“teaching of the Holy Spirit.” With that oil, Paul is to annoint, or institute, the office of preachers, and these annointed teachers will explain Scripture and reveal the path to the

410 “Percutit ergo amasam ioab in latere, dum ordo apostolicus diuini uerbi acumine Paulus transfigit in illa carnali suae eruditionis securitate. Intestina eius in terram effundit, dum illam superbiae et uanae gloriae crassitudinem de sensibus Pauli diuini uerbi uritute expungit.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 300a). 411 “Amasa conspersus sanguine iacet, dum Paulus illuuie legalium cerimoniarum sordet. Iacet in media uia, dum prostratus ante damascum neque ueteris legis iam cerimonias exequitur, neque euangelii perfectionem profitetur…Vir iste qui sine nomine hic ponitur ananias discipulis intelligitur, qui cum in spiritu attenderet quod omnis populis gentium propter paulum subsisteret, amouit eum uerbo suae praedicationis de uia suae dubietatis in agrum ecclesiasticae societatis, operuitque eum uestimento expians eum baptismo, et faciens eum christianum de iudeo…” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 300a-b).

149 heavenly kingdom.412 Teachers, therefore, are true successors of the apostles, as Irimbert points out in his explication of 3 Kings 7. With the aim of building up his temple, King

Solomon sent for the brass artisan Hiram of Tyre (v. 13), who figures allegorically as the order of preachers of the “narrow way of the perfect life.” Throughout the account’s description of the works wrought by Hiram, Irimbert sees preachers as “types of the prophets and apostles” through such works as going out into the world to preach the

Trinity in both the Old and New Testaments, securing the Church against heretics, and molding allegory and morality out of the letter of Scripture.413 This order of preachers is also a diverse group. As David reviews his army before battle, dividing it among his generals (2 Kings 18:1), Irimbert interprets Christ appointing the forces of the Church.

The captains of thousands are like the apostles and their successors. The captains of hundreds represent the “inferior orders,” made up of deacons, abbots, provosts, and

412 “Heliseus unum de filiis prophetarum uocat, cum christus celesti uocatione Paulum ad se inuitat…Dicit christus Paulo in spiritu sancto, comittens illi praedicationis officium ad salutem gentium. Accinge lumbos tuos, dimittens litteram occidentem, et transiens ad spiritum unificantem. Accinge lumbos tuos, castigans corpus tuum et seruituti subiciens, ne forte aliis praedicans ipse reprobus inueniaris. Tolle lenticulam olei hanc in manu tua, doctrinam spiritus sancti accipe in commissa tibi specialiter euangelii praedicatione…Ieu ipse uel est dicitur per que ordo doctorum exprimitur, qui maturitate sapientiae ad equalitatem perfectionis componitur…Sic dices, quia sic ei futura praedices, et eum ad praedicationis officium institues…Sic ostium aperies, dum uetus testamentum quo ad nouum intratur tua praedicatione expandes. Ostium aperies, quia tua praedicatione fidelibus celestis regni introitum pandes.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 586b- 587a). 413 “Rex salemon mittit, cum christus spiritum sanctum apostolis suis tribuit Hyram de tyro tollit, cum de angustia perfectae uitae quia angusta uia est que ducit aduitam sublimiter uiuentem praedicatorum ordinem uocatione sancti spiritus assumit…Duas columpnas ereas hyram fingit, dum ordo doctorum praedicationem ueteris ac noui testamenti erigit… Columpna dextera firmitas uocatur, quia doctrina noui testamenti sancta aecclesia contra omnium hereticorum fraudes et uersutias confirmatur…Duo ordines sculpturarum hystriatarum sunt fusiles, dum ueteris ac noui testamenti apices innumeris allegoriae et moralitatis figuris decorantur, quae litterae duricia igne sancti spiritus liquefacta effunduntur. Stant super duodecim boues, qui sunt prophetiae et apostoli ueteris ac noui testamenti conditores, uel in typo prophetarum et apostolorum omnis ueteris ac noui testamenti doctores, in quattuor partes mundi fidem sanctae trinitatis praedicantes.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 391b, 392a, 393b, 394b).

150 parish priests.414 Here, then, is one of only a few instances in which Irimbert makes a contemporary reference, in this case evidently seeing his own monastic vocation of abbot and spiritual guide as conforming to the shape of salvation history.

Preachers as Exemplars

Irimbert further classifies preachers as living the mixed active and contemplative life. Returning to Irimbert’s explication of the annointing of Jehu (4 Kings 9), the oil used to annoint the order of preachers contains the grace and teaching of the Holy Spirit, which operates by means of the active and contemplative life, particularly continuous meditation on Scripture.415 Such a way of life was exemplified by the apostles themselves, as Irimbert explains in his commentary on Judges 9:7-20, in which Jotham rebukes the people of Shechem for appointing his brother Abimelech as king over them.

Jotham represents the order of apostles, who perfect themselves in the active life and reach the height of contemplation.416 Thus, in imitation of the apostles, preachers separate

414 “Dauid populum suum considerat, quia filius dei aecclesiam suam die noctuque uisitat, cottitie ad nuptias intrat, ut qualiter se habeant discumbentes uideat. Tribunos et centuriones super populum suum constituit, dum secundum merita subditorum disponit ordinem rectorum. Per tribunos sancti apostoli eorumque successores designantur, per centuriones inferioris ordinis praelati abbates praepositi et plebani figurantur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 282a). 415 “Tenens lenticulam olei per actiuam et contemplatiuam uitam continens spiritus sancti gratiam, uel doctrinam super caput eius fundes, quia eius intentionem continua uerbi meditatione per ungues.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 587a). 416 “Joatham nunciatur, cum ordini Apostolico a Sancto Spiritu Synagogae perditio intimatur. Joatham vadit, cum ordo Apostolicus in activae vitae perfectione proficit. Stat in vertice montis Garizim, dum in contemplationis sublimitate eminet. Garizim enim accola sive advena interpretatur: quia ordo Apostolicus dum in excessu mentis elevatur, peregrinum et exulem huius mundi se esse contemplatur.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:292c).

151 their work between contemplation and active preaching, doing so for the ultimate goal of the salvation of the faithful.417

And by means of their own virtuous living, the preachers work to instill virtues in the church “by word and example.” Such behavior was, again, demonstrated by the apostles, as Irimbert elucidates in his interpretation of the opening to the book of Judges.

Here, Irimbert engages in a lengthy digression on Numbers 10:11-28, seeing representations in each of the advancing troops and camps of Israel. The sons of Juda (v.

14) serve as a type for the order of apostles, who are the first to advance (v. 13) “by word and example against the spiritual army of wickedness.”418 The order of preachers, thus, imitates the example set by the first troop of apostles. In the figure of the Kohathites (v.

21), the army of holy preachers advances “by word and example.”419 More specifically, in his explication of Joshua 14:11 and 13, Irimbert elucidates that the order of preachers, who have been given the inheritance of Scripture, fight “by word of sound teaching and by example of the pious life.”420 By this method, then, the order of preachers preserves

417 From Irimbert’s interpretation of Joshua 2:8; “Latene Predicatores, more catulorum leonum in antiquis et in speluncis saluti fidelium insidiantes. Necdum obdormiunt, cum seposita quiete contemplationis ad laborem praedicationis se uiriliter accingunt.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 14a). 418 “Filii Juda sancti sunt Apostoli, speciales illius filii et electi, qui de tribu Juda leo catulus leonis nascitur, dum de Virgine Matre quasi flos de virga Jesse exoritur. Qui nimirum S. Apostoli primi castramouent, quia ipsi primi omnium fidelium contra spiritalia nequitiae verbo et exemplo exercitum Dei in terris promovent.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:136c– d). 419 “Caath, unde Caathitae derivantur, patientia sive molares dentes, sive dolans, aut componens interpretatur, quibus nominibus sanctorum Praedicatorum virtus declaratur…Sunt etiam eorum vitam verbo et exemplo studiose componentes.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Ibid., 4, part 1:141d, 142a). 420 “Tam ad bellandum contra hereticos, quam ad gradiendum uerbo sanae doctrinae et exemplo piae uitae ante katholicos…Iosue caleph benedicit, cum filius dei predicatorum ordini spiritum sanctum tribuit. Tradit ei ebron in possessionem, cum per suam resurrectionem et ascensionem ordini doctorum sanctae scripturae credit hereditatem.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 88a, b).

152 virtuous living against the onslaught of sin and vice, as Irimbert also discusses in his interpretation of 1 Kings 27. Just as David went forth to pillage the land of his enemies

(vv. 8-9), so also do the prophets, apostles, and their successors – in imitation of Christ’s teaching and example – resist pride, vainglory, and gluttony.421 The office of preachers and teachers thus serves an important role in protecting and guiding the Church verbo et exemplo.

Conclusion

Irimbert’s underlying theme of salvation history clearly demonstrates his familiarity and engagement with contemporary concepts and debates. The topic of salvation history took on new relevance as it served as the thematic structure for several theological summae of the twelfth century, particularly those of the better-known Rupert of Deutz, Hugh of St. Victor, and Gerhoh of Reichersberg. Irimbert sets the stage with the devastating effects of the first parents’ fall into sin, necessitating the restoration of mankind through the work of Christ. He emphasizes the dual nature of Christ’s divinity and humanity and insists on the union of one person, indicating an awareness of renewed

Christological debates as he incorporates the doctrinal intricacies into his exegesis. While

Irimbert’s dicussion of Christ’s redemptive work is traditional in its terminology, employing the four mysteries enumerated by Gregory the Great, his overall

421 “Dauid ascendit et praedas agit, cum filius dei suae incarnationis mysteria uiciis omnibus et peccatis opponit. Viri eius ascendunt et praedas agunt, cum prophetiae et apostoli eorumque successores sua praedicatione et christi imitatione uiciis et peccatis resistunt…Predas de gessuri agunt, qui superbiam quae de scientiae praesumptione maxime nascitur in humilitate deponunt…Gedori enim applicans siue accedens dicitur per quod uana gloria exprimitur…Amalech enim populis lambens uel lingens dicitur, per quod gula lambens in carnis concupiscentiis exprimitur.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 148a, b).

153 Christocentricity falls in line with contemporary theologians. Irimbert also shows an awareness of the subtle distinction in the manifestation and works of the Holy Spirit, whose activity encompasses the breadth of salvation history. As Rupert of Deutz argued, the Holy Spririt’s work before the Incarnation of Christ involved guidance and preparation of the faithful for the coming redeemer, setting up a new post-Incarnation role of instilling sanctifying grace. Such nuances are evident in Irimbert’s careful allegorical rendering of the Old Testament narratives. Finally, Irimbert places special importance on the role of preaching in the economy of salvation. While he does not specifically engage in the debate over superiority with regular canons or other communities, he certainly sees a certain ideal in proper pastoral care; one that involves imitation of Paul and the apostles in a mixed active and contemplative way of life that fosters virtuous behavior and understanding of Scripture verbo et exemplo. Irimbert’s own background as a monk in the Hirsau tradition and as a spiritual advisor for the nuns at Admont helps to further contextualize his exegesis and give personal meaning to the import placed on preaching and teaching.

Irimbert’s unique selection of the historical books of the Old Testament serves as an ideal setting for the allegorical drama of salvation history. His unprecedented verse- by-verse explication of these texts allows him to present the nuanced details concerning mankind’s restoration, and he does so in a way that elegantly combines traditional and contemporary themes and theological concerns. Irimbert’s presentation of salvation history, and its elements of Christology, the Trinity, and pastoral activity, shows a monk- exegete that is intellectually on par with the more prominent theologians of the twelfth-

154 century. More broadly, his literary interaction with contemporary ideas speaks to a spirituality in the Hirsau reform that is strongly associated with intellectual pursuits.

155 Chapter 3

Irimbert’s Ordered and Unified Vision of History

Introduction: The Twelfth-Century Struggle for Unity

Connected to Irimbert’s underlying theme of salvation history is a recurring allegorical motif of unity; an attempt to bring together and make whole seemingly disparate elements in both Scripture and the Church. Such a motif is representative of a concern that occupied the minds of theologians throughout the long twelfth century. As discussed in the introduction, the High Middle Ages were a time of rapid change and innovation, characterized by Giles Constable as a time “when traditional institutions and attitudes were stretched to the maximum and made to accommodate new forms of life and new sentiments.”422 One of the areas in medieval society that was heavily influenced by such developments was the Church, both in terms of its institutional framework as well as its theological and spiritual outlook. Schisms grew over issues of simony and investiture, and the formation of new religious groups challenged the relative homogenous nature of communal life. For instance, I addressed in Chapter Two the debates between regular canons and monk-priests over whose group was more superior and held certain privileges.

The changes taking place in religious society led to the proliferation of texts on the topic, with commentators often using the term “new” as a pejorative, attacking

422 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 5.

156 innovators for going against custom and tradition.423 One way of defending against accusations of harmful novelty was to claim ancient precedent. Monks and canons alike declared themselves the true successors of Christ and the apostles, as well as the priests and prophets of the Old Testament. As various monastic and canonical groups emerged during the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, this rhetoric of reform seems to reflect confusion about how to identify both new and old institutions properly. Perhaps this confusion led to what can be considered a search for group identity in the form of models. Whether they argued for or against the growing diversity in the Church, monks and canons expressed an urgent desire to organize, define and classify themselves.424

Gerhoh of Reichersberg was one such observer who expressed a negative view of the innovations around him. He dedicated an entire treatise, in fact, to the subject: Liber de nouitatibus huius temporis (About the Novelties of the Day), written c. 1155.425 He was particularly concerned about certain theological ideas that Peter Abelard was spreading, and about other teachers he deemed dangerous. Gerhoh viewed such novelties, particularly regarding Christology and clerical ordination, as detrimental to the state of

423 Beryl Smalley, “Ecclesiastical Attitudes to Novelty, c. 1100-c. 1250,” Studies in Church History 75 (1975): 113–31. Giles Constable, however, cautions against the distinct change in attitude from the twelfth to thirteenth century that Smalley asserts. He points out that novelty had a long history of positive implication in the Christian tradition, and texts in the twelfth century sometimes demonstrated ambivalence to change. See Constable, “Past and Present,” 160–63. 424 Bynum, “Did the Twelfth Century Discover the Individual?,” 82–106, esp. 95-106. This concept of reform by model is analyzed further in Susan R. Kramer and Caroline Walker Bynum, “Revisiting the Twelfth-Century Individual: The Inner Self and the Christian Community,” in Das Eigene und das Ganze: zum Individuellen im Mittelalterlichen Religiosentum, ed. Gert Melville and Markus Schürer (Münster: Lit, 2002), 57–88. 425 Gerhoh of Reichersberg, Letter to Pope Hadrian About the Novelties of the Day. The Admont library has a twelfth-century copy of the text (Admont MS 434, fol. 76r-158r). For a discussion of the text, see Classen, Gerhoch von Reichersberg, 173–84, 419–20; Mews, “Scholastic Theology in a Monastic Milieu,” 235–36. For more on the treatise in the broader context of heresy in the twelfth century, see Mews, “Accusations of Heresy and Error.”

157 the Church, and employing his method of “aktuelle Exegese,” he criticized throughout his theological and polemical corpus contemporary individuals and events for causing harm.426 Others also voiced concern over what they considered “schism” in the church, as well as confusion that was being fostered by the accumulation of “religions.”427

But just as there were those who strongly opposed and/or cautioned against what they considered radical innovations and changes in church structure and belief, so also were there strong advocates for change. Anselm of Havelberg (c. 1095-1158) was perhaps one of the strongest apologists for diversity in the Church.428 He was a

Premonstratensian canon ordained as bishop of Havelberg in Saxony. Anselm was heavily involved in politics, and his many diplomatic trips – especially his trip to

Constantinople (1135-1136), during which he engaged in a friendly theological debate – exposed him to the varieties of beliefs and structures within the Church.

With this dynamic background informing his historical understanding, Anselm composed a text called the Dialogues (Dialogi – or its Greek title Antikeimenon) around

1150 in an attempt to reconcile the divisions in the Church.429 Pope Eugenius III had

426 Classen, Gerhoch von Reichersberg, 113, 116, 292–97; Classen, “Res Gestae, Universal History, Apocalypse,” 409–11. For more on Gerhoh’s concern for the Church, see Rieger, “Kirchenreform und Theologiekritik”; Mews, “Accusations of Heresy and Error,” 45–51; Peter Classen, “Der Häresie-Begriff bei Gerhoch von Reichersberg und in seinem Umkreis,” in Ausgewählte Aufsätze von Peter Classen, ed. Josef Fleckenstein (Sigmaringen: Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 1983), 461–73. 427 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 2. 428 For the most recent and comprehensive biographical account on Anselm, see Jay T. Lees, Anselm of Havelberg: Deeds into Words in the Twelfth Century (Leiden: Brill, 1998). 429 PL 188, cols. 1138-1252. Anselm of Havelberg, Anticimenon: On the Unity of the Faith and the Controversies with the Greeks, trans. Ambrose Criste and Carol Neel, Cistercian Studies 232 (Collegeville, NM: Cistercian Publications, 2010). For a discussion on Anselm’s views on diversity in the Church, see Lawrence Barmann, “Reform Ideology in the ‘Dialogi’ of Anselm of Havelberg,” Church History 30 (1961): 379–95; Southern, “Hugh of St Victor,” 174–76.

158 commissioned Anselm to write an account of the debate he had had in Constantinople.430

Anselm recorded the debate itself in two books, but he prefaced these with another work entitled On the Unity of the Faith and the Many Ways of Living from Abel the Just to the

Last of the Elect, which was effectively a defense of the newly developing religious orders within the Church. Throughout the text as a whole, Anselm argues for a certain sense of continuity in the history of the Church. His main argument in the first book of the Dialogi is that the Church is in a continual state of growth and development.

Lawrence Barmann points out that Anselm was thinking in terms of a “universal history in which the history of man is identified with the history of redemption.”431 Anselm views the Church as being guided through the centuries by the Holy Spirit, with the

‘Church’ implying the entire body of elect. He points out that even with the existence of a variety in the types of service, there is still a strong unity of faith. As Jay Lees argues,

Anselm understands “the present by comparing it with past periods.”432 Taking Old

Testament examples, for instance, Anselm shows that even before the written law was handed down to Moses, such figures as Abel and Noah offered sacrifices to the Lord without any instruction. In outlining these Old Testament figures, he demonstrates that the Church had certainly changed, as there was now a written law and the faithful were no longer waiting for the first coming of the promised Savior. Yet the Church had also remained the same, being universally united in the same faith. As he states:

The faith we call ‘catholic’ was announced over the whole world. The holy church, passing through various successive stages, has been so renewed up until

430 For more on the circumstances surrounding the composition, see Lees, Anselm of Havelberg, 164–66. 431 Barmann, “Reform Ideology in the ‘Dialogi’ of Anselm of Havelberg,” 382. 432 Lees, Anselm of Havelberg, 190.

159 our own times. Like the eagle’s young, it will always be renewed. Its foundation of faith in the Holy Trinity, beyond which no one might build, is maintained even when the multiplicity of different forms of religious life are constructed upon it. So we raise still higher this temple holy to the Lord.433

A similar approach to the justification of diversity is given in the anonymous text

Libellus de diversis ordinibus et professionibus qui sunt in aecclesia (On the Various

Orders and Professions in the Church) written in the mid-twelfth century.434 The author, who identifies himself as a canon, lays out and differentiates the various orders, treating in succession hermits, monks near laymen, monks far from laymen, secular monks, canons far from laymen, canons near laymen, and finally secular canons among laymen.435 Each of these forms of life are associated with parallels in the Old and New

Testaments, focusing the latter on Christ rather than the apostles. Despite a certain degree of ambivalence toward particular groups, the author of the Libellus seeks to defend the diversity in religious life and indicates that all the groups are united in their shared aspirations of ultimate unity with Christ, and each contributes to the harmony of God’s plan of salvation. Indeed, religious groups in the twelfth century not only aspired to conform to these examples from Scripture. Rather, they actually saw themselves as being these models, which attached greater importance to group formation. As Caroline Bynum states, “In the twelfth century, turning inward to explore motivation went hand in hand with a sense of belonging to a group that not only defined its own life by means of a

433 Anselm of Havelberg, Anticimenon, 59. 434 Giles Constable and Bernard Smith, trans., Libellus de diversis ordinibus et professionibus qui sunt in aecclesia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972). 435 The author wrote a second book treating male recluses and the varieties of female religious life, but this text is no longer exant.

160 model but also was itself – as group and as pattern – a means of salvation and of evangelism.”436

Such association with biblical models is also evident in the prologue to the

Chronicle of Petershausen, which echoes much of the Libellus in a more condensed form, indicating an insistence of unity in faith within the Hirsau reform circle. I discussed in Chapter Two the chronicle’s apostolic connection to the idea of men and women sharing common religious life together, as well as the salvific merits of this shared life.

But the chronicler also dedicates chapters to other forms of religious life. The main parallel drawn in this prologue is to the apostles, with some groups imitating more closely other New Testament figures like Christ. While the chronicler offers some criticisms and points out the abuse that could take place within certain of these religious circles, he concludes the prologue by defending unity of faith above all else. Directly challenging accusations of novelty, he writes “it would appear that all of [the various professions] had their beginnings from the Lord Himself or from his apostles…”

Continuing his defense:

For although there are different professions and ways of life, one catholic faith graces each. Each one is rendered wholly pleasing to God, to whom, as we know, nothing is pleasing without faith. But whatever is founded in faith, built in hope, and offered to God with love, all these things are regarded with approval, cherished, and elevated to the heights of heaven by the one God Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Ghost.437

436 Bynum, “Did the Twelfth Century Discover the Individual?,” 104–5. For more information on the idea of finding Old Testmaent parallels, see Marie-Dominique Chenu, “The Old Testament in Twelfth-Century Theology,” in Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, trans. Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), 146–61. 437 Beach, Li, and Sutherland, Monastic Experience in Twelfth-Century Germany: The Chronicle of Petershausen in Translation, P.24.

161 Other commentators of the time also stressed this ideal of unity. Twelfth-century writers regularly cited Psalm 44:14-15 to discuss the idea of unity in diversity and celebrate the variety of words and works that come together to create one united faith.438

Rupert of Deutz generally maintained a positive and hopeful attitude concerning contemporary developments, seeking the ideal of a unified Church, and arguing especially in his De victoria verbi dei that the Church would successfully achieve salvific fruition despite struggle with persecution and heretics.439 The German historian Otto of

Freising, while sometimes demonstrating a certain degree of ambivalence regarding the state of history and the place of the Empire and the Church in it, later tended toward a positive assessment of a single, unified Church with the Empire as its protector.440

In this chapter I will add to the discussion on the twelfth-century preoccupation with unity in the context of Irimbert’s scriptural commentaries. The theme can be broken down into the categories of unity within the church, in Scripture, and with the Synagogue and Jewish people. But, first, in a more general sense, unity on such a scale cannot be achieved without history and the Church moving in a positive, forward direction.

Positive Progression of the Church

Like many of his contemporaries, Irimbert did not view the Church as being in a state of decline, but rather saw Christendom steadily reaching perfection towards the heavenly Jerusalem. As indicated in the previous chapters, Irimbert’s allegorical

438 Harkins and Van Liere, Interpretation of Scripture: Theory, 258, and see fn. 8 for medieval references. 439 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 65, 283–84. 440 Southern, “Hugh of St Victor,” 176.

162 rendering of these Old Testament books is placed within the broader scope of salvation history through the succession of ages, and this in a variety of schemes. At no point does

Irimbert imply a period of decline as taking place, which had traditionally been the standard way of viewing the present age. Rather, the advancement of history corresponds with the continuing process of unification of the Church and its faithful with Christ and the heavenly kingdom.

Giles Constable observes that during the eleventh and twelfth-century reforms, the “concept of progress was associated with an acceptance of change and innovation.”441

Thus, those who looked favorably on the diversity growing in the Church also tended to see this variety as having a positive impact on the Church’s progression. Corresponding with the growing interest in historical study, as discussed in Chapter One, twelfth-century thinkers strove to discern where the present Church fit into the larger scope of universal history. Scholars have pointed to the shift in outlook among a number of high medieval contemporaries, namely Rupert of Deutz, Hugh of St. Victor, Anselm of Havelberg, and

Otto of Freising. An overwhelmingly pessimistic outlook, particuarly on present developments, gave way to a notably optimistic view that saw positive progress in the

Church and its faithful.442 But for Gerhoh and others who maintained a pessimistic outlook on history, they certainly had reason to assess and question the progression of the

Church, because if the Church were indeed in decline, then the advancement of salvation history would be in jeopardy.

441 Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 165. 442 Ibid., 162–67; Constable, “Past and Present,” 166–70; Beryl Smalley, Historians in the Middle Ages (New York: Scribner, 1975), 97–98.

163 Again, Irimbert held a more positive view, and it bears repeating here Irimbert’s underlying theme of salvation history interspersed throughout his corpus, and at several points he presents condensed overviews of such historical progression. These vignettes of salvation history consistently portray positive and victorious advancement of the Church in all its stages, particularly during its time under grace. This positive advancement of salvation history certainly does not mean that there are no struggles along the way, such as against heresy and vices. But while Irimbert admits the existence of such things as heresy emerging in the course of the Church’s history, he does not view this problem as something that holds back the Church and causes it long-term harm. Rather, the Church perseveres in the face of heresy and successfully cuts itself off from it.

Irimbert, unlike Gerhoh of Reichersberg, does not make a habit of commenting on contemporary people or events, but instead discusses the present age in generally abstract terms. But on a rare occasions Irimbert does delve into specifics, such as in his explication of Judges 17. This chapter once again relates the waywardness of certain people in Israel, in this case a man of Ephraim who made an idol and hired a Levite from

Bethlehem to serve as his priest. Micah, the man from mount Ephraim (v. 1), broadly represents the order of heretics, which, although alienated from true knowledge, is nevertheless falsely praised for its virtue and erudition. And in their ignorance, heretics create idols “made of carnal inventions and empty speech” (v. 3). Such behavior took place in the time when there was no king in Israel (v. 6), indicating the free reign of heretics that test and confuse catholic society.443 And here is where Irimbert specifically

443 “Vir quidam nomine Michas uocatur, per quem haereticorum ordo figuratur. Michas enim qui hic, vel quis iste interpretatur: qua interpretatione hoc denotatur, quod haereticorum ordo a divinae cognitionis 164 notes the struggle that the Church was undergoing in his own day. He interprets the young Levite (v. 7) as a member of the order of heretics who is truly gifted with an understanding of Scripture. Such an individual, however, is despised by catholic society due to his involvement with schism and simony, and he is consequently severed from the unity of the Church. The young Levite, then, journeyed out and stopped at Micah’s house

(v. 8), indicating the further joining of heretics into one group, feeding off of each other’s pride and vainglory. Micah filled the man’s hand (v. 12), “because the order of heretics takes all of him, who does not support the unity of the catholic Church.”444 For an exegete who rarely comments on contemporary people or developments in his interpretations, this issue of simony and schism must have resonated with Irimbert. But this testing and confusion do not tear apart the Church from the inside and usher forth the end of days. Rather, the Church quickly severs itself from such divisive practices and beliefs, thus successfully preserving its unity.

gratia alientatur. Qui enim ignorat, ignorabitur. Qui de monte Ephraim esse scribitur, qui frugifer, vel crescens dicitur, quia de illa superbia haereticorum praesumptio generatur, qua de abundantia virtutis et eruditionis falso gloriatur…Et faciat sculptile adinventionum carnalium, atque conflatile sermonum inanium…In diebus illis Rex in Israel non esse scribitur, quia in diebus haereticorum regnum Catholicorum periclitatur, quod per Regem Israel denotatur. Unusquisque quod sibi rectum videtur, hoc facit: quia haereticorum perversitas statum et ordinem Ecclesiae sua perturbatione valde confundit.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:382d, 383c, 384a). 444 “Alter adolescens est ordo haereticorum, recte quidem Sanctae Scripturae intelligentiae florescens, sed simonia vel schismate a societate Catholicae Ecclesiae desipiscens. Qui de Bethlehem Juda et eius cognatione esse scribitur: quia Ecclesiae Catholicae recta fide sanoque intellectu Scripturae jungitur… Sed de civitate Bethlehem egreditur, cum vel simonia vel schismate ab unitate Catholica disjungitur. Vult peregrinari, in fervore tentationis, ubicunque sibi commodum repererit, pro voluptate mundi vel carnis. In montem Ephraim venit, iter faciens, quia in praesumptionem superbiae vel vanae gloriae pervenit, instabilitati se subjiciens. Parumper in domum Micha declinat, dum haereticorum contagione se paulatim contaminat…Micha manum eius implet, cum ordo haereticorum totum eum possidet, qui Catholicae Ecclesiae unitatem non tenet.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:384d, 385a, d).

165 Irimbert offers further interpretations that depict the present Church and the elect as successfully persevering while it faithfully and eagerly anticipates the final days. For instance, he interprets Ruth 2 as a picture of the Church gathering knowledge from

Scripture while avoiding false teaching. In the biblical narrative, when Boaz observed a strange maid gathering in his field, he asked the head reaper about her (vv. 5-7).

Allegorically, this scene depicts Christ asking the apostle Paul about the state of the gentile Church. Paul assures Christ that the Church desires nothing but to glean knoweldge from the field of Scripture that she “might guard the untouched and unviolated faith” and keep watch against sinful behavior, successfully doing so up to the present day.445 Approving of her effort, Boaz told Ruth not to glean elsewhere and to follow along with the maids in his fields (vv. 8-9). In other words, the Church is encouraged to follow in imitation of the apostles, rather than glean from the order of heretics. And Ruth dutifully followed her master’s command and worked until evening

(v. 17), just as the Church labors in the Lord’s field of Scripture in the present age.

Scripture is thus “cut apart and shaken free from all husk of heretical falsehood by the instruction of the Holy Spirit and the direction of truth.”446

445 “Ac si dicat: Haec est illa Moabitis, Ecclesiae videlicet de gentibus, et rogavit, ut spicas colligeret, sequens messorum vestigia, ut quemadmodum accepit, fidem integram inviolatamque custodiat, et de mane usque nunc stat in agro, de mane, inquam, Resurrectionis usque nunc, id est, quam diu praesens vita volvitur, stat in agro Sanctae Scripturae, et ne ad momentum quidem reversa est, observando solicite, ne tibi peccet vel offendat locutione, operatione, cogitatione.” In librum Ruth (Ibid., 4, part 1:458b). 446 “Quod est dicere: In alium agrum non vadas, hoc est doctrinam haereticorum devita, quae valde aliena est a proposito Christianae fidei: sed jungere puellis meis, scilicet Apostolis meis, et ubi messuerint, sequere, id est, vestigia praedicationis eorum diligenter imitare…Colligendum est ergo usque ad vesperam, quia quamdiu in praesenti vivitur, laborandum est et colligendum in agro Dominico, id est, Sacrae Scripturae, et quae colliguntur, uirga cadenda sunt et excutienda, uirga, inquam, id est, magisterio Spiritus S. et directione veritatis caedenda sunt et excutienda ab omni palea haereticae falsitatis.” In librum Ruth (Ibid., 4, part 1:458d–459a, 464a–b).

166 In his interpretation of 2 Kings 20, part of which was discussed in Chapter Two,

Irimbert sees Sheba’s insurrection against David as a clash between heretics and the

Church. Sheba, that is the order of heretics, called on all of Israel to follow him and leave

David, or Christ (v. 1). But despite the heretics’ attempt to cause corruption, the faithful of the Church, or the tribe of Judah (v. 2), stay fast in their devotion to Christ and faithfully follow him to the heavenly kingdom.447 In a more abstract, spiritual rendering,

Irimbert treats the account of Joshua pursuing his enemies in battle (Joshua 10). The Lord sent down large hailstones as the enemy tried to retreat (v. 11), indicating an end to all the diabolical crimes of evil spirits at the day of Judgment. They were slaughtered by both hailstones and the swords of the Israelites, the latter representing the assault of the elect in the present day against the spiritual enemy through continuous abstinence, prayer, and meditation.448 This final day of Judgment has not yet arrived, however, so in the meantime the Church waits in the present age with its hope yet unfulfilled “while it does not yet have in actuality that for which it hopes.”449 Irimbert thus presents an optimistic image of the Church that shows it persevering in the true faith, even in the present,

447 “Per seba qui secta interpretatur qui uir belial id est sine iugo dicitur ordo hereticorum figuratur, qui per suae paruitatis sectam aecclesiasticae ueritatis regulam corrumpere conatur…Viri autem iuda regi suo adherent, quia aecclesiae sanctae fideles fide et dilectione christo regi se deuotos exhibent. A iordane usque ad ierusalem eum prosequuntur, quia a susceptione baptismi usque ad introitum caelestis regni ei fideliter obsecuntur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 298a-b). 448 “Usque azeca quia per suae passionis mysteria in die illa tremendi iudicii omnia diabolicae fraudis conterit machinata. Multos plures lapidibus grandinis moriuntur, quia in die illa iudicii omnis spiritalium nequiciarum uires aeterni iudicis terroribus eneruantur. Qui terrores recte lapidibus grandinis comparantur, quibus omnia terrae germina exstirpantur. Quam quos gladio filii israhel percusserant, quia electi dei hostes suos in praesenti gladio continentiae orationis et meditationis iugiter mortificant.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 54a). 449 Interpretation of Judges 1:12. “…dabo illi Axam filiam meam uxorem. Axa claudicans vel irascens, vel furibunda dicitur: per quam Ecclesia praesentis temporis exprimitur, quae claudicat in spe, dum, quod sperat, nondum habet in re.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:153b).

167 guarding the faithful from heretical falsehood and maintaining unity until the coming of

Christ. The Church is not steadily falling into a state of decline, but is instead prospering in the face of trials.

Unity in the Church

With this favorable view of advancement in the Church, Irimbert points throughout his commentaries to the successful establishment and maintenance of unity on a number of different levels. Unity in the Church, of course, is an essential element of ensuring the continued progress of salvation history, and the Church’s unity with Christ himself is foundational. Irimbert compares this important union, for instance, to the deep friendship and love shared between David and Jonathan. Therefore, just as the soul of

Jonathan was knit with the soul of David (1 Kings 18:1), the gentile people (i.e. the

Church) “is united with the Son of God in true faith and love.” And Jonathan loved him as his own soul, because the gentile people recognize their own salvation in Christ. This love compelled the men to make a covenant with each other (v. 3), just as “Christ and the

Church establish a mutual covenant of eternal love,” and the love that the Church holds for Christ is unending.450 But while Irimbert here uses the image of friendship, depicting the relationship between Christ and the Church as a marriage union was more standard.

Such a comparison, of course, had a long tradition of which Irimbert was no doubt aware.

450 “Anima ionathae animae dauid colligatur, dum populus gentium filio dei in uera fide et dilectione associatur. Ionathas enim dei donum interpretatur, et ideo per eum populus gentium dei gratia saluatus designatur. Ionathas dauid quasi animam suam diligit, dum populus gentium in filio dei ueram sibi esse salutem recognoscit…Ionathas et dauid foedus ineunt, cum christus et aecclesia aeternae dilectionis pactum adinuicem statuunt. Dilectio ionathae bis in hoc loco repetitur, quia dilectio sanctae aecclesiae in praesenti inchoatur, et in futuro nullo fine terminatur.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 93a-b).

168 Such an image is found in the letters attributed to the apostle Paul (Ephesians 5:21-33 and

Colossians 3:18-19), and, as discussed in Chapter One, the Song of Songs was often interpreted as a love poem between Christ and his bride, the Church. While Irimbert does not make this union the primary theme in his own interpretation of the Song, he does use marriage imagery elsewhere in his exegesis. For instance, Irimbert likens the Church to

Abigail (1 Kings 25), David’s third wife. David sent messengers to Abigail to announce his intention to marry her (vv. 39-42), which Irimbert compares to Christ sending preachers of the Gospel to the gentiles, announcing his desire to make them co-heirs of his kingdom. The Church is thus “united with Christ in the present through faith.”451

Irimbert depicts this union as a marriage again in his explication of 3 Kings 3. During

Solomon’s reign as king of Israel, he secured a peaceful relationship with Egypt. As part of this alliance, Solomon married the pharaoh’s daughter (v. 1). Irimbert interprets

Solomon as Christ, who has established his kingdom through his death on the cross.

Pharaoh’s Egyptian kingdom represents the gentile people, making his daughter the

Church. It is this Church of the gentiles, then, that Christ chooses as his bride.452

Another essential element in the Church is unity within itself on several different levels. Irimbert refers to these diverse levels as “churches” as well as “orders” or

451 “Dauid ad abigail nuntios mittit, ut uxor eius esse uelit, cum christus pro desponsanda sibi gentium aecclesia praedicatiores euangelii dirigit. Pueri dauid ad abigail ueniunt, cum sancti apostoli et praedicatores euangelii aecclesiam gentium conuentiunt…Locuntur nuntii filii dei pandentes aecclesiae gentium mysterium fidei. Filius dei misit nos ad te, qui nasci et mori dignatus est pro te, ut te sibi in uxorem accipiat, ut te participem et coheredem regni sui faciat.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 141a-b). 452 “Regnum in manu salemonis confirmatur, cum christus per crucis suae mysterium mundo donatur. Pharaoni regi egypti affinitate coniungitur, dum populo gentium per fidem crucis notus efficitur. Pharao enim dissipans uel disco operiens eum interpretatur, per quem gentium populus figuratur…Cuius filiam rex salemon accipitur, dum christus aecclesiam sibi de ipso gentium populo eligit…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 353b).

169 “professions,” though he is often frustratingly silent on what, specifically, he means by these terms. Regarding unity among churches, Irimbert consistently remains vague. In his explication of 1 Kings 3, the young Samuel sleeping (v. 15) represents either Christ lying in the tomb until his Resurrection or the Church lying in wait until the Resurrection has been preached throughout the world. In the latter interpretation, Samuel opening the doors of the house of the Lord through his received vision is likened to the “diverse churches that make up one catholic [Church]” entering through the doors to the heavenly

Jerusalem.453 Irimbert gives a similar interpretation at the beginning of 2 Kings 2. David consulted with the Lord after the deaths of King Saul and Jonathan, asking if he should go up into one of the cities of Juda (v. 1). The cities of Judah “are the many and diverse churches” scattered throughout the world. But they all “make up one catholic Church.”

Irimbert further clarifies this statement by asserting that “one [Church] is divided through many, and one [Church] is made from many in unity of faith and sacraments.”454 In

Judges 9, the inhabitants of Shechem, who eventually rose up against the usurper

Abimelech, went out into his fields and destroyed the vineyards (v. 27). Irimbert interprets the inhabitants of Shechem as the dispersed diversity of churches “that make up one catholic [Church].” And together they go out,

Wasting the vineyards when they carry out the flowering meanings from the walls of Scripture; treading down the grapes when, driven by continuous meditation,

453 “Samuel usque mane dormit, dum aecclesiae populus usque ad praedicationem resurrectionis dominicae per mundum delitescit. Ostia domus domini aperit, cum ad praedicationem euangelii diuersas aecclesias quae unam katholicam faciunt per quas ad caelestem ierusalem intratur in mundi latitudine construit.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 20a-b). 454 “Ciuitates iudae, sunt multae et diuersae aecclesiae, christi sanguine in confessione diuini nominis per mundi latitudinem propagate. Que nimirum unam catholicam aecclesiam faciunt, quia et una per multas diuiditur, et de multis una in unitate fidei et sacramentorum conficitur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 178a).

170 they attempt to squeeze out the sweet nectar of allegory and morality from the ripe letter of the law and prophets.455

Again, Irimbert does not specify what these “diverse churches” are. He could be speaking in a more literal sense with regard to the different physical churches that make up the catholic Church. Perhaps he is refering to churches that follow different customs and beliefs, such as the Byzantine Church in the East. If this is the case, Irimbert is possibly familiar with Anselm of Havelberg’s assertion that despite the existence of customs and beliefs seemingly at odds with one another, churches throughout the world are all united in the same faith. Whichever way Irimbert interprets these churches, he certainly believes in the importance of their shared unity of faith and sacraments, and that they gather this faith from the same Scripture, which leads them to heaven.

Regarding the orders or professions of the Church, terms which he seems to use interchangeably, Irimbert generally puts forth two different meanings. Sometimes he refers to groups in Christian society at large, and other times he refers more narrowly to those in the religious life. Irimbert offers the first interpretation in his explication of 1

Kings 8. In the biblical narrative, Samuel prophesies the fate of Israel that will transpire if they receive their wish of having a king rule over them. Allegorically, the Old Testament is fortelling what will befall the faithful on earth after Christ’s Ascension. The sons of the

Israelites would be taken to do the king’s bidding, that is, the apostles and preachers would be sent out into the world (v. 11). They they would be expected to perform such

455 “Habitatores Sichem in agros egrediuntur, cum ministri crucis in diversas Ecclesias, quae unam Catholicam faciunt, diffunduntur. Vineas vastant, cum de scripturae maceriis florentes sententias exportant. Uvas calcant, cum de maturis legis et Prophetarum literis dulcem allegoriae et moralitatis liquorem continuae meditationis impulsu exprimere conantur.” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:299d–300a).

171 tasks as reaping corn (v. 12), which represents gathering the “many and diverse” orders in the Church: the faithful preachers, chaste, and married.456 Irimbert also interprets the tribes of Israel coming before David (2 Kings 5:1) as the three orders of preachers, chaste, and married coming together to form one united Church to serve Christ.457 In

Irimbert’s interpretation of Joshua 1, Joshua’s command to the Israelites to prepare to enter the land of Canaan (vv. 10-18) is likened to Christ commanding his apostles to go out and appoint preachers, chaste, and married gathered in this “camp of God” that is made up of these “diverse orders” as well as “diverse churches.”458 While he does not dwell on the specific function of these orders, Irimbert nevertheless is consistent in noting their interconnectedness and asserting that together they form a unified Church in service of Christ. He is also drawing from a long tradition of applying a tripartite scheme to ecclesiastical and social contexts.459

In his discussion of the different orders that represent the religious life, Irimbert tends to give more detail, occasionally in ways that relate more concretely with his own monastic context. He discusses diversity in the religious life, for instance, in his

456 “Filios uestros tollet et in curribus suis ponet, quia sanctos apostolos praedicatores suos per orbem terrarum constituet…Messores segetum eos faciet, quia per eorum praedicationem multam et diuersam messem praelatorum continentium coniugatorum fidelium in sua aecclesia colliget.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 38a). 457 “Uniuersae tribus israhel ad dauid in hebron ueniunt, cum tres illi ordines praepositorum continentium coniugatorum christo domino unitate sanctae ecclesiae deseruiunt.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 202b-203a). 458 “Principes populi sunt sancti apostoli…transite per medium castrorum fundamenta iacientes omnium per orbem aecclesiarum, disponentes statum ordinum diuersorum, praelatorum continentium coniugatorum. Haec enim diuersarum aecclesiarum diuersorum ordinum castra quondam habuit obuia iacob patriarcha, dicens castra dei sunt ista [Gen. 32:2].” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 8a). 459 See esp. Yves Congar, “Les Laïcs et l’Ecclésiologie des ‘ordines’ chez les théologiens des XI et XII siècles,” in I laici nella “Societas Christiana” dei secoli XI e XII. Atti della terza Settimana internazionale di studio, Mendola, 1965 (Milan: Vita e pensiero, 1968), 83–117.

172 interpretation of 4 Kings 7. This chapter is the account of four lepers who went into what they discovered was an empty camp of the Syrian army. They reported their discovery to the king of Israel (v. 10), saying they went into the Syrian camp, which allegorically represents the diverse orders in the Church: “namely [the orders] of monks, clerics, and holy women, faithfully serving God with the heart and body both day and night in the spirit of humility.”460 Here, then, is one of the few instances in which Irimbert mentions female involvement in the Church. Elsewhere, Irimbert points out that

that battle against spiritual wickedness being waged incessantly both night and day in all the world throughout the expanse of the holy church is conducted by both women and men in frail flesh, since they endeavor to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in uprightness, fully rejecting the world.461

Given his work with the nuns at Admont and his praise of their piety and erudition, it is no surprise that he would see women as providing a valuable service to the Church.

Irimbert elaborates more fully on the different modes of religious life during a digression in his explication of 2 Kings 15. And here we have another rare instance of

Irimbert specifically refering to developments in his own time, utilizing one of Daniel’s prophetic visions to discuss contemporary orders or professions. In the biblical account,

Absalom was attempting to mount an insurrection against King David, the successful completion of which would be announced by the sounding of trumpets (v. 10). But

Irimbert takes a positive spin on the story, interpreting Absalom’s deception as the Jewish

460 “Iuimus ad castra syriae. Per castra quae hic ponuntur diuersos ordines qui sunt in aecclesia intellige possumus id est monachorum clericorum sanctimonialium specialiter deo die noctuque in spiritu humilitatis corde et corpore deuote famulantium.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 578b). 461 Interpretation of 2 Kings 2:17. “Bellum istud in toto mundo per latitudinem sanctae aecclesiae tam a feminis quam a uiris administratur, cum ab his qui perfecte mundo renuntiantes domino iesu christo in ueritate seruire conantur, in fragili carne contra spiritalia nequicie die noctuque incessanter pugnatur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 183b).

173 people coming to faith and joining the society of the Church. He associates this scene with the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:2-7).462 This vision was traditionally interpreted as the succession of four major kingdoms in history: the Babylonians,

Persians, Greeks, and Romans.463 Irimbert, however, takes a different perspective. He reads the vision as a prophecy of the state of the Church and the course of salvation history after Christ’s Ascension. Thus, Daniel receiving this vision at night (v. 2) represents the darkness of ignorance before the second coming of Christ, and meanwhile the four winds of the heaven represent preachers taking the Gospel message into the four parts of the world. But the presence of the sea indicates the continuous tribulation that will beset the Church.464

Such is the setting for the beasts that rise out of the sea (v. 3). The beasts themselves represent different orders of the Church. Elaborating on the Church itself,

Irimbert describes it as the Queen who sits at the right hand of Christ, ornately decorated with the joining of this diversity of professions.465 The first beast, the lioness (v. 4),

462 “Clangor bucinae est tuba praedicationis euangelicae, que cum per mundi latitudinem in uniuersitatem gentium insonuerit testis erit, quod synagoga fidelis aecclesiae regnum intrauerit. Forsitan hec illa quarta bestia erit, quam daniel in uisione noctis uidit.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 261b). 463 This interpretation was especially popularized by Jerome in his commentary on the book of Daniel. For brief discussion and references, see R. W. Southern, “Presidential Address: Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing: 3. History as Prophecy,” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 22 (1972): 162–64; Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 284, fn. 71. 464 “Daniel in uisione noctis uidit, quando in ignorantiae tenebris quibus totus mundus ante christi aduentum coopertus fuit contemplationis suae oculos in mundi terminum in sublimem et gloriosum aecclesiae statum conspiciendum extendit…Mare magnum est iste mundus, diuersis et continuis perturbationum et periculorum procellis inquietus. Quattuor uenti caeli qui pugnabant in mari sunt praedicatores sancti euangelii, qui per quattuor partes mundi quasi remiges spiritus sancti praedicatione caelestis regni sulcauerunt undas instabilitatis huius saeculi.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 262a). 465 “Ad quorum praedicationem quattuor bestie grandes de mari ascenderunt, dum quattuor ordines sanctae aecclesiae se in mundo erexerunt. Qui nimirum sui diuersitate magnum decorem glorie conferunt illi 174 serves as a type for the eremitic life, characterized by their solitary manner. The beast had the wings of an eagle, with which hermits raise themselves to the height of contemplation, and when their wings are plucked off, they set aside the labor of the active life. The lioness then stands upon her feet as a man and receives the heart of a man.

Similarly, hermits behave in the manner of angels in their chastity and innocence, and they receive divine mercy and grace in their regard for voluntary poverty and perseverance.466

The second beast in the form of a bear (v. 5) represents the monastic order, which

“proceeds from that fury of the hermits.” Irimbert once again relates the interpretation to his own time, making a fascinating addition to the ongoing debate on variety in the

Church. Regarding the bear’s three rows in the mouth and teeth, Irimbert notes that they are represented

Indeed, in the former times of Thebian, Egyptian, and Cassian monks; in modern times, however, of Cluniac, Cistercian, and Carthusian monks, or we might generally speak of monks, brothers, and holy women. Without a doubt, the fruits of these three orders – which 70 years ago were nowhere to be found, or rather if they were, they were very few – is abundant even now throughout the earth by the grace of God’s Church.467

reginae, que a dextris filii dei astitit inuestitu de aurato circuamicta uarietate.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 262a). 466 “Per leenam heremitica uita figuratur, quia leena in solitudine commoratur…Leena alas aquilae habebat, quia qui ad heremiticam uitam se conferebant, per dilectionem dei ad alta contemplationis se sustollebant…Alae ergo aquilae euelli ceperunt, quando de sublimi illo assiduae contemplationis uolatu ad ima necessitatis corporeae per laborem actiuae uitae se deposuerunt…Super pedes quasi homo ostetit, quando quia homo esset qualiter ut homo subsistere posset cogitare cepit, que sola prius cum angelis caelestia meditari consueuit. Et cor eius datum est ei, quia ambulantes in innocentia et continentia non priuauit boni eos diuina clementia, dans eis gratiam et gloriam, in quibus dilexit paupertatem uoluntariam et perseuerantiam.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 262a, b). 467 Bestia que similis urso in parte stetit monastici ordinis figuram exprimit, qui de illo feruore heremitarum processit…Tres ordines erant in ore eius et in dentibus eius, priscis quidem temporibus thebeorum egyptiorum et cassinensium monachorum, modernis autem temporibus cluniacensium cisterciensium et cartusiensium, uel ut generaliter dicamus monachorum fratrum et sanctimonialium. Quibus nimirum tribus ordinibus ubique terrarum iam per dei gratiam aecclesiae messis exuberat, qui ante annos septuaginta aut 175

Irimbert’s observation here is consistent with his generally optimistic outlook on the progression of the Church in history. The modern orders are paralleled with the highly- regarded “ancient” models of monasticism, and the modern religious men and women continue to make a positive contribution to the Church through their “fruits.” Regarding the comment about “70 years,” Braun points out that approximately 70 years before

Irimbert wrote this commentary in 1151 was just around the time that the Cistercian and

Carthusian monks first appeared (c. 1080). The monastery of Cluny was founded in the tenth century, but Hirsau, influenced by Cluny, became a center for reform around the

1080s.468 Since Admont was affiliated with Hirsau, Irimbert sees himself and his own community as a participant in this fruitful development in monasticism. And he goes on to say that this “bear” goes out into the world to devour much flesh from the clerics and laity, men and women, nobility and poor.469 This statement perhaps indicates what

Irimbert considered monasticism’s great success in drawing people to its order.

The third beast, which resembles a leopard (v. 6), serves as a type for the order of clerics, which is spotted with its knowledge of the liberal arts and agile in its eloquence.

Irimbert once again notes specific groups in his interpretation of the beast’s four heads,

nusquam apparebant, aut si apparebant rari ualde erant.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 262b- 263a). 468 Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” 269–70. Eberhard Demm cites this passage in support of a Hirsau- Cistercian “Mischobservanz” at Admont, but as Braun points out, the Cistercians are not given any kind of particular prominence in this list, and Irimbert (and Admont) had a stronger affiliation with Cluny than Cîteaux. Eberhard Demm, Reformmönchtum und Slawenmission im 12. Jahrhundert. Wertsoziologish- geistesgeschichtliche Studien zu den Viten Ottos von Bamberg, Historische Studien 419 (Hamburg: Matthiesen, 1970), 24–31. 469 “Surge ordo monastice…Comede carnes plurimas. Quantas carnes ursus iste scilicet ordo monasticus ubique terrarum comederit, quantam multitudinem clericorum et laicorum uirorum et mulierum nobilium et pauperum per mundi fines uorauerit…” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 263a).

176 which indicate the different types of clerics: secular canons, regular canons, the

Norbertines,470 and parish priests.471 Finally, as Irimbert prefaced in this digression, the fourth terrible and wonderful beast (v. 7) represents the converted Synagogue, and the significance of this concept will be discussed further below. As a whole, then, in this fascinating digression Irimbert indicates clear acceptance of the great diversity of

“orders” or “professions” in the Church, including the variety within those orders themselves. Similar to his contemporaries, he demonstrates an impulse for finding biblical models for modern developments, here in the form of a prophetic vision. Given his insistence elsewhere on the unity of faith amongst the diversity in the Church, it can safely be assumed that Irimbert feels all of these elements are a positive uniting force, though he does not explicitly refer to the idea of unity here, and he feels that the historical progression of the Church is moving along a positive trajectory.

Irimbert also envisions a kind of unity among churches across the full span of salvation history. In his intepretation of the book of Ruth, the mother-in-law Naomi is a figure for the primitive church of the patriarchs, while Ruth ultimately represents the future Christian Church. Towards the beginning of this biblical account, Naomi insisted that both her daughters-in-law return to their homeland since their husbands were both

470 That is, the Premonstratensians, who sometimes were refered to as Norbertines in reference to their order’s founder Norbert of Xanten (c. 1080-1134). For some reason Irimbert classifies them separately from the regular canons. 471 “…per pardum ordo figuratur clericorum, uel propter macularum uarietate uel propter nimiam corporis agilitatem. Per uarietate macularum qua pardus respergitur scientia liberalium artium exprimitur, cui clericorum studium quam maxime innititur. Per agilitatem pardi eloquentia clericorum innuitur, que uel de naturali ingenio uel de litteraturae nata exercicio... Quatuor ista pardi capita, sunt quattuor in aecclesia clericorum genera, olim in uisa modo per dei gratiam usque locorum diffusa, uidelicet canonicorum regularium norpertinorum et plebanorum.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 263a-b).

177 dead (1:8-13). Ruth, however, refused to abandon Naomi (vv. 16-17), allegorically wanting to remain together in both the present Church and heavenly Church. She would stay along the path of the primitive church and thus secure the “true and catholic faith” with Christ as the foundation stone.472 Naomi recognized Ruth’s determination, so they proceeded to Bethlehem together (vv. 18-19). In other words, the primitive church saw that the gentile people were determined to go along with the Christian faith. And as

Irimbert states,

They went from the beginning until the end of the world together inseparable in the society of faith and love, and came to Bethlehem. Came, I say, through faith, hope, and love to Bethlehem, the house of bread, that is, in the catholic Church.473

Unity in Scripture

Unity in Scripture, of course, is an essential element in medieval Christian exegesis. As Jean Leclercq observes, for both early Christian and medieval exegetes, “the

Old and the New Testament taken as a whole tell the same story of the same people of

God. The story told by the Old Testament is not the history of Israel, it is already the history of the Church which begins with Israel.”474 The Old Testament foreshadowed the

472 “…et ubi morata fueris, scilicet in praesenti Ecclesia, tecum morabor per fidem, et in coelesti Ecclesia tecum morabor per speciem…Haec, inquit, mihi faciat Deus, et haec addat, si non sola mors me a te separaverit. Ecclesia enim ex gentibus tam immobile fidei fundamentum supra petram, id est, Christum posuit, ut etiam merito in haec verba prorumpat: haec mihi, inquiens, faciat Deus, et haec addat: hoc est, si fidem veram et Catholicam ad mortem tenuero inviolabilem, faciat me praemia adipisci incomparabilia.” In librum Ruth (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:452d, 453b). 473 “Videns Noemi, scilicet primitiva Ecclesia, Ruth, id est, gentilem populum obstinato animo ad Christianitatis fidem concurrere, noluit aduersari…Profectaeque sunt ab initio usque finem saeculi, simul, individua fidei et dilectionis societate, et venerunt in Bethlehem. Venerunt, dico, per fidem, spem, et charitatem in Bethlehem, domum panis, id est in Catholicam Ecclesiam…” In librum Ruth (Ibid., 4, part 1:453c, 454a). 474 Leclercq, The Love of Learning, 80.

178 New, and just as Christ acts as the hermeneutical key to the spiritual sense of Scripture, so also does he act as the unifying force between the two Testaments. Christ’s redemptive work created perfect harmony and concordance in Scripture, and the significance of the old convenant is carried forward into the new convenant. Early Christian and medieval exegetes, therefore, strove to elucidate the continuities in Scripture and reveal its harmonious nature, while also noting the transfer of Abraham’s heritage from Israel to the Christian Church.475

Irimbert is thus entirely in keeping with traditional exegetical practice in his emphasis on the unity of Scripture and the transfer of inheritance. Regarding the coherence between the Testaments, Irimbert begins his interpretation to the beginning of

Joshua with just such an assertion. He points out that not one iota or word fails to testify about Christ and the joining of the Old and New Testaments. Indeed, Christ is represented in this opening to the book of Joshua as well as all the books of Scripture.476

Following traditional interpretive methods, Irimbert sees Christ as the central point that holds Scripture together and gives it meaning. This understanding comes across in his interpretation of 1 Kings 21. In this account, David sought some form of protection as he fled and hid from King Saul’s ongoing pursuit. He approached the priest Ahimelech and asked for a spear or sword (v. 8). Ahimelech offered him the sword of Goliath, which had been respectfully preserved and wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod after David used

475 For more on the relationship between the two Testaments as understood by medieval exegetes, see de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis, 1.234-261. 476 “Quom iota unum aut apicem a lege non praeterire saluator protestatur, uerbum istud coniunctiuum et quod in exordio huius libri ponitur, coniunctionem ueteris ac noui testamenti testificatur…Factum quoque quod in huius libri principio ponitur in tota ueteris ac noui testamenti serie frequentatur.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 4a, b).

179 it to kill the Philistine warrior (v. 9). The sword represents Christ’s death on the cross for the sake of mankind and his victory over the devil. The cloth and ephod are types of the

New and Old Testament respectively, indicating that Christ is the binding force that keeps these two elements together, because both Testaments testify to the works of

Christ.477

Christ’s role in maintaining unity is also made evident in Irimbert’s explication of

Joshua 12. This chapter gives an account of all the kingdoms conquered by Israel. These kings who were overcome by Israelite forces (v. 1) represent the letter of the Old

Testament, which Christ punctures “with the sword of spiritual knowledge in the Passion of the cross.” The Israelites then occupied their lands, that is, Christ’s works revealed the allegorical and moral meanings of the Old Testmaent.478 Part of this conquered territory occupied the middle part in the valley, and of half Galaad (v. 2). These two portions represent Christ’s humanity and divinity respectively, and it is by means of this union in the Son of God that the Old Testament moves into the New.479 Further into the chapter is a simple list of all the defeated kings (vv. 9-24). At the head of this list is the king of

477 “Per gladium siquidem mors dominica, per phylisteum uero qui potione cadens interpretatur ipse diabolus deorsum ruens accipitur…Gladius ergo phylistei quem percussit dauid in ualle therebinti, mors est christi, qui in humilitate suae carnis contra insolentem pugnauit phylisteum hostem scilicet humani generis, et ad ultimum crucis perferens lignum morte sua uulnerando ipsum mortis prostrauit ministrum. Per pallium autem in quo gladius iste est inuolutus nouum testamentum, per ephod uero uetus testamentum intelligere non inconuenienter possumus. Dicit ergo domino electi gladium istum in pallio post ephod esse inuolutum, id est mortem suam non solum tunc temporis in ueteri testamento esse designatam, sed etiam in nouo postmodum testamento euidentibus rerum indiciis esse declarandum…” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 113a-b). 478 “Hii sunt reges quos filii israhel percusserunt, hii sunt ueteris testamenti apices quos anima et corpus christi in passione crucis spiritalis intelligentiae mucrone compunxerunt. Terras eorum possederunt, quia allegorias et moralitates eorum exposuerunt.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 66a-b). 479 “Media pars in ualle, est humanitas christi incarnis humilitate. Dimidia pars galaad que transmigratio testimonii sonat est diuinitas filii dei que in unitatem personae humanitatem sibi sociat, per quam societatem uetus testamentum in nouum transmigrat.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 66b).

180 Jericho, representing the one God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the same Jesus

Christ as both God and man. Further along the lines of unity, this king indicates One

Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph. 4:5), and “one authority of both Testaments held by declaration of one catholic Church.480 The rest of the kings in the list – 31 in all – indicate

Old Testament attestations of Christ and his work. For instance, the king of Ai (v. 9) represents Christ’s disgrace on the cross, and the king of Jerusalem (v. 10) represents the restoration of the heavenly Jerusalem through Christ’s blood.481 Again, Christ’s redemptive work imparts meaning to the Old Testament and binds it in a spiritual union with the New.

Irimbert also asserts that the order of preachers or teachers confirm the unity of

Scripture, such as in his explication of Joshua 14. In the biblical narrative, a man named

Caleb approached to speak with Joshua. He explained that when he was forty, Moses had sent him from Kadesh-barnea to view the surrounding land, which was to be Caleb’s and his family’s possession (vv. 6-7). Allegorically, Caleb is a type for the order of preachers or teachers speaking to Christ. At the age of forty, which indicates the two Testaments containing the four Gospels and the Decalogue (4 x 10 = 40), “all the assembly of the patriarchs entrusted the office of preaching” to their order. They were sent from

480 “… per regem iericho illa ueteris tetamenti littera designatur…Rex unus scribitur, quia tota ueteris testamenti littera unum deum patrem et filium et spiritum sanctum eundemque dei et hominis filium dominum nostrum iesum christum profitetur. Rex unus dicitur, quorum sicut apostolus loquitur unus dominus una fides unum baptisma [Eph. 4:5] utriusque testamenti auctoritate docetur, et catholicae ecclesiae professione tenetur.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 69a-b). 481 “Hai confusio dicitur, et per regem hai illa ueteris testamenti littera exprimitur que ignominiam crucis a filio dei suscipiendam loquitur… Ierusalem uisio pacis dicitur, et per ierusalem regem illa littera legis designatur, que supernam ierusalem filii dei sanguine reedificandam attestatur.” In librum Iosue, 1 (Admont MS 17, p. 69b).

181 Cardesbarne, to view the land, that is, they were “sent from the primitive church of the patriarchs to examine the scriptural canon of the Old and New Testament.” Upon investigation, they found that not one iota or mark seemed superfluous in all the Old and

New Testament, implying that there are no inconsistencies between the two Testaments and that together they form a cohesive unit.482 Furthermore, the faithful in the Church help to strengthen both Testaments, just as the Israelites refused to destroy the lands of

Geshur and Maacath (Joshua 13:13). In other words, the faithful of Christ do not destroy but rather “fortify and strengthen” both Testaments.483 So the preachers, teachers, and all the faithful in the Church work together to reveal and maintain the unity of Scripture.

Irimbert also indicates a sense of unity through the idea that the inheritance, or mysteries, of the Old Testament is transferred to the gentile people or the Church. This scenario plays out in the interpretation of 1 Kings 27, which gives an account of David continuing to flee from King Saul and deciding to hide among the Philistines (v. 1).

Christ, prefigured by David, likewise went to reside among the gentile people. So he departed (v. 2) in his Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension and came to Achish at Gath

(v. 3), that is, the gentile people who “aquire the inheritance of the kingdom through faith

482 “Caleph ad eum loquitur, quia ordo sanctorum praedicatorum fide et dilectione christum alloquitur. Caleph enim quasi cor aut omne cor uel canis dicitur per quem ordo doctorum exprimitur…Quadraginta annorum eram, quia et noui et ueteris testamenti doctrinam in spe nondum in re habebam. Quadragenarius enim numerus ex quatuor et decem multiplicatur, et per quatuor noum testamentum pro eminentia quatuor euangeliorum, per decem uetus testamentum pro eminentia decalogi figuratur. Quando me moyses famulus domini misit, quando omnis patriarcharum cetus praedicationis officium michi commisit. De cadesbarne, de primitiuae aecclesiae sanctificatione et electione, ut terram considerarem, ut canonicam scripturam ueteris ac noui testamenti igne sancti spiritus uelut argentum examinarem…Quod uerum michi uidebatur, quia de tota scriptura ueteris ac noui testamenti iota unum aut apex unus superflue positus michi non uidebatur.” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, pp. 86a, 87a, b). 483 “Nolunt disperdere filii israhel gessuri et machati, quia ueri israhelitae nolunt corrumpere scripturam ueteris ac noui testamenti. In medio israhel habitant, quia fideles christi utruiusque testamenti auctoritate se muniunt et roborant.” In librum Iosue, 2 (Admont MS 17, p. 77b).

182 of the cross.” And Achish gave David the land of Ziklag (v. 6), representing the Old

Testament, meaning that the Church fits the Old Testament to the mysteries of Christ.484

Irimbert asserts again in his explication of 2 Kings 3 that an understanding of the Old

Testament will be joined to the knowledge of the New Testament. Along with this union, the kingdom shall be translated from the house of Saul, and the throne of David shall be set up over Israel (v. 10), that is, from the Synagogue to the Church, moving from Dan to

Bersabee, that is, preparing through the active life for the peace of the contemplative life.485 Similarly, the ark being transferred into the house of Obededom the Gethite (2

Kings 6:10) represents the mystery of the cross being given to the gentile people.486

At other points, the biblical narrative leads to an interpretation in which the gentiles essentially steal their inheritance, such as in 4 Kings 20. King Merodach-baladan of Babylon visited the sick King Hezekiah, and the latter rejoiced at the Babylonian king’s coming (vv. 12-13). Merodach-baladan represents the gentile people, whose

484 “Nonne melius est ut fugiam et saluer in terra phylistinorum, ut praedicationem euangelii mei transferam ad populum gentium…Dauid surgit, cum christus per acto passionis suae triumpho de sepulchro prodit. Abit, cum ad caelos ascendens spiritum sanctum apostolis mittit, per quem eos in latitudinem gentium transmittit… Achis rex geth scribitur quod torcular dicitur, quia populus gentium per fidem crucis hereditatem regni consequitur…Sicelech desecatio uocis interpretatur per quam uetus testamentum figuratur…Achis dauid sicelech donat, cum aecclesia gentium ueteris testamenti scripturam christi mysteriis adaptat.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 147a, b). 485 “Hec mihi faciat deius [v. 9], scilicet ueram ueteris testamenti intelligentiam aperiat deus, et hec addat, scilicet perfectam mihi noui testamenti scientiam conferat…Ut transferatur regnum de domo saul, et eleuetur thronus dauid super israhel…regnum de synagoga transfertur, et super aecclesiam dei filius donatur…Super iudam regnat, cum multitudinem fidelium inhabitat. A dan usque bersabee. Dan et bersabee fuerunt termini, in quibus filii israhel per terram repromissionis sunt dispositi. Per dan quod iudicium interpretatur actiua uita figuratur, per quam aecclesiam ad futurum iudicium cottidie praeparatur. Per bersabee quod puteus sacietatis uel puteus septimus dicitur contemplatiua uita accipitur, per quam aecclesia in praesenti per spiritum sanctum pascitur, et in futuro aeterna sacietate reficitur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 190b, 191a). 486 “Qui nimirum spiritus diuertit archam in domum obeth edom gethei, dans populo gentium suscipere crucis mysterium. Obeth edom enim humo seruiens dicitur, per quod populus gentium intelligitur. Getheus torcular interpretatur, per quod fides crucis designatur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 210a).

183 salvation is praised by the faithful people in the Old Testament, or more specifically, the patriarchs and prophets. The prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah, though, that the Babylonians would surely come back and take all of their possessions (vv. 17-18). In other words, the order of prophets forsaw the salvation of the gentiles and their seizure of all the Old

Testament, whose meaning is revealed to them through the preaching of the Gospel.487

Ultimately, then, Irimbert supports the traditional notion that the inheritance of Christ’s mysteries is transferred from the Israelites to the Church, in which Scripture is brought to its full and complete understanding and given a unified meaning.

Unity with the Synagogue and Jewish People

The final topic to be discussed in this theme of unity in diversity takes us essentially to the culmination of salvation history: the conversion of the Jews. Irimbert’s commentaries, especially his interpretation of Kings, repeatedly inserts Jews and the

Synagogue into the narrative of salvation history. In the course of his discussion, Irimbert engages in a certain degree of ambivalence and negative stereotyping that was characteristic of the twelfth-century, but I argue that he emphasizes unity between the

487 “In tempore illo quo mundi uenit redemptio, merodach baladan rex babyloniorum litteras et munera ad ezechiam mittit, eum gentium populus per regem babyloniorum designatus…Ezechias enim qui apprehendens dominum uel fortitudo deum dicitur, typum populi fidelis sub ueteri testamento positi hoc in loco exequitur…Ezechias in aduentu eorum letatur, quia ecclesia in patriarchis et prophetis saluti gentium congratulatur…Ecce dies uenient, qui ueteris testamenti nocti succedent auferentur omnia quae sunt in domo tua, legis psalmorum et prophetarum oracula in synagoga reposita. Quae patres tui condiderunt, quae prophetae ueteris testamenti conditores descripserunt. Usque in hanc diem, qua ueteris testamenti littera reuelabitur per euangelii praedicationem. Hec omnia in babylonem auferentur, quia in gentium latitudinem transferentur. Non remanebit quicquam ait dominus, quia nichil de ueteris testamenti super erit opibus, quod gentium non possideat populus. Sed et de filiis tuis tollentur, qui ex te egredientur, cum apostoli ad praedicationem euangelii dirigentur, qui de tui seminis posteritate orientur.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 658a, 658b-659a).

184 Synagogue and the Church far more than he focuses on the negative aspects of Judaism that make Jews incompatible with the Christian Church.

Positioning Jews in the plan of salvation history certainly posed a difficult challenge to exegetes and theologians, due to their culpable role in Jesus’ crucifixion.

Particularly influential in early Christian thought was Paul’s indication in his letter to the

Romans that Jewish conversion would take place after the gentile elect had all converted.

He wrote, For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery…that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in (Romans

11:25).488 The prevailing position in the West until the High Middle Ages followed

Augustine’s elaboration of Paul’s view. Augustine offered an explanation for the continued existence of Jews and Jewish practice despite the advent of Jesus, asserting that

Jews served as “witnesses” to the triumph of Christianity and the legitimacy of the Old

Testament. Violence should not be committed against the community because their existence and adherance to the Hebrew Bible acted as proof for the prophecies concerning Christ by means of their own ignorance and confusion of the truth. At the end of the world, the Jews would recover from their blindness and finally see the spirit beneath the letter of Scripture and convert to Christianity. So even thought their involvement in Christ’s death was deplorable, and the Church discouraged fraternization

488 For a concise analysis of this Pauline text and its reception into the early Greek and Latin traditions, see Jeremy Cohen, “The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation: Romans 11:25-26 in Patristic and Medieval Exegesis,” The Harvard Theological Review 98, no. 3 (2005): 247–81.

185 between the two religious communities, Jewish presence nevertheless served a vital role in Christian society.489

The basic structure of the Augustinian Jewish witness theory remained in place as the dominant interpretation until the twelfth century, when a harsher rhetoric became more commonplace. This transformation in rhetoric against Jews has received a great deal of scholarly attention, particularly regarding its connection with increased violence against the Jewish community. Amos Funkenstein has argued that the intellectual turn in the twelfth century caused a shift in approach and tone in Jewish-Christian disputations.490 Christian theologians began employing their newly-acquired Aristotelian tools of rationalization to defend their religious doctrine sola ratione, an approach that sometimes led to intolerant dehumanization of Jews, or was at other times used by Jewish converts themselves in defense of their apostasy. Jeremy Cohen, however, has argued that the thirteenth century was really the watershed moment in Jewish-Christian relations.491 Theologians maintained the Augustinian tradition all the way through the twelfth century, and hostility only became more mainstream in the thirteenth century with the rise of the mendicants. In their preaching, friars adopted vitriolic language against

Jews, language that prompted such action as confiscating and burning Jewish texts deemed heretical and dangerous to Christian society. Anna Sapir Abulafia disagrees with

489 On this Augustinian interpretation, see esp. Jeremy Cohen, The Friars and the Jews: The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982), 19–22; Jeremy Cohen, Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval Christianity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), 23–65. 490 Amos Funkenstein, “Basic Types of Christian Anti-Jewish Polemics in the Later Middle Ages,” Viator 2 (1971): 373–82. This article is a conensed version of his earlier text in Hebrew. See Amos Funkenstein, “Changes in the Patterns of Christian Anti-Jewish Polemics in the 12th Century,” Zion 33 (1968): 124–44. 491 Cohen, The Friars and the Jews; Jeremy Cohen, “The Jews as the Killers of Christ in the Latin Tradition from Augustine to the Friars,” Traditio 39 (1983): 1–27; Cohen, Living Letters of the Law.

186 Cohen’s argument, pointing out (and in agreement with Amos Funkenstein) that strains of the mendicants’ thought and behavior were present as early as the late eleventh century.492 Abulafia follows R.I. Moore’s insistence on the centrality of the twelfth century in the transformation of attitudes and relationships in society, with developments in Christianity itself as playing a significant role.493 But while Moore focuses on the social and political dimensions that promoted a persecuting society, Abulafia looks to the cultural and intellectual spheres for the underlying cause of this shift in hostility toward

Europe’s Jews.

A harsher rhetoric was certainly present by the twelfth century, which is easily seen, for instance, in texts by Rupert of Deutz as well as in the Glossa ordinaria. Rupert particularly felt an urgent need to defend Christian doctrine in the face of increasing migration of Jews into the Rhineland, a migration that contributed to the growth of towns and the practice of moneylending, as well as a renewal of exegesis among Jewish scholars, which presented a challenge to Christian theologians. Rupert and his contemporaries placed special emphasis in their writings on the veracity of the

Incarnation of Christ and its prophecy in the Old Testament, whose significance was lost

492 Among her several works, see esp. Anna Sapir Abulafia, Christians and Jews in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance (London; New York: Routledge, 1995); Anna Sapir Abulafia, “Jewish-Christian Disputations and the Twelfth-Century Renaissance,” Journal of Medieval History 15, no. 2 (1989): 105–25; Anna Sapir Abulafia, “The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism,” in Christians and Jews in Dispute: Disputational Literature and the Rise of Anti-Judaism in the West (C. 1000-1150) (Aldershot, Great Britain: Ashgate, 1998), 77–82; Anna Sapir Abulafia, “Continuity and Change in Twelfth-Century Christian-Jewish Relations,” in European Transformation: The Long Twelfth Century, ed. Thomas F. X. Noble and John Van Engen (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2011), 314–37. 493 R. I Moore, The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe, 950- 1250, 2nd ed. (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007).

187 in Jewish interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.494 His condemnatory language against Jews was already well-developed by the time he wrote De sancta Trinitate et operibus eius. In this text he provides an unprecedented interpretation of Numbers 5:11-31, which relates the procedure of a kind of trial by ordeal for a woman accused of adultery. Previous exegetes had interpreted the ritual as an allegory of trial for heretical beliefs. Rupert, however, in keeping with his overal theme of supersessionism, reads the adulterous woman as the faithless Synagogue who left Christ for the devil and insists on reading only the letter of Scripture. This “Synagogue of Satan” faces punishment in such forms as the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the dispersion of the Jews.495

Rupert continued this harsh rhetoric in his later writings, becoming more incensed against the Jews for their obstinate blindness. He takes up a defense of Christian doctrine in his Anulus sive Dialogus inter Christianum et Iudaeum (Ring or Dialogue between a

Christian and a Jew)496 written in 1126. Here, Rupert relies more on authority than on the current highly-esteemed ratio, demonstrating what he saw as the primary importance of proper reading and interpretation of Scripture. In this dialogue Rupert addresses such issues as baptism and circumcision, the eucharist and Old Testament sacrifices, and

494 Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 241–42; David E. Timmer, “Biblical Exegesis and the Jewish-Christian Controversy in the Early Twelfth Century,” Church History 58 (1989): 316–17. 495 Wanda Zemler-Cizewski, “Rupert of Deutz and the Law of the Stray Wife: Anti-Jewish Allegory in ‘De sancta Trinitate et operibus eius,’” Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales 75 (2008): 257–69. 496 Rupert of Deutz, “Anulus Siue Dialogus Inter Christianum et Iudaeum,” in Ruperto Di Deutz E La Controuersia Tra Christiani Ed Ebrei Nel Secolo XII, ed. Rhaban Haacke and Maria Lodovica Arduini, Studi Storici 119–121 (Rome: Istudo storico italiano per il Medio Evo, 1979), 183–242.The title Anulus refers to the ring offered to the older brother of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). Allegorically, God as the father figure entreats the the Jews (older son) to convert and thus receive the ring of faith that had been given to the gentiles (prodigal son). For a discussion of the text, see Anna Sapir Abulafia, “The Ideology of Reform and Changing Ideas Concerning Jews in the Works of Rupert of Deutz and Hermannus Quondam Iudeus,” Jewish History 7 (1993): 44–49; Van Engen, Rupert of Deutz, 246–48.

188 ultimately the distinction between letter and spirit. This Jewish blindness to the truth was incompatible with a universal Christian society, an issue deeply personal to Rupert who so greatly supported church reform. Rupert takes a more hostile tone in his other works.

He claims that Jews carry with them the blood of Christ whom they murdered, they refuse to hear the truth of Scripture, and they exude hatred for the gentiles and their salvation. He felt that such an attitude warranted forced conversion.497 Rupert goes beyond the traditional position of attributing mere ignorance to the Jews, insisting instead on deliberate rejection of Christ as the Messiah. Jews epitomized the primary vices of carnality, pride, and envy, which all prevent them from understanding the true spirit of

Scripture.498 While Rupert maintains the Pauline and Augustinian tradition of belief in the conversion of the Jews at the end times, he argues that this event would be preceded by their acceptance of the Antichrist.499 Thus, as David Timmer observes, “the view of

Judaism which underlies Rupert’s response to Jewish exegetical argumentation, then, is both elaborate and essentially negative.”500

497 Abulafia, “The Ideology of Reform,” 49–50. 498 Timmer, “Biblical Exegesis and the Jewish-Christian Controversy in the Early Twelfth Century,” 315– 18. 499 Ibid., 315. The association of Jews with the Antichrist was made in patristic sources, but the theory did not become popularized until the High Middle Ages, particularly due to the tenth-century text De ortu et tempore antichristi by the monk Adso of Montier-en-Der (CCCM 45). See Cohen, “‘Synagoga Conversa,’” 328–30; John D. Young, “Neighbors, Partners, Enemies: Jews and the Monasteries of Germany in the High Middle Ages” (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, 2012), 285. 500 Timmer, “Biblical Exegesis and the Jewish-Christian Controversy in the Early Twelfth Century,” 316.

189 The Glossa ordinaria also presents a harsher image of Jews, which Michael

Signer observes in his case study of the Gloss on Genesis.501 The unique layout of the

Gloss allows for a “subversive reading” of the text, such that the Old Testament text is surrounded by interlinear and marginal New Testament associations to create a framework for salvation history.502 These glosses serve to emphasize the triumph of the

Christian Church and decline of the Synagogue. The glossator inserts a more negative portrayal than patristic sources in the association of Joseph’s brothers with the Jews. Like the brothers, the Jews plotted to kill Jesus, and their cover-up in saying that a wild beast killed him (Ge. 37:20) indicates the Jews’ great cruelty, which was their motivation for murder. The Jews are thus “a cruel and beastly people.”503 The glossator consistenly presents such negative interpretations of the Jews, and in agreement with Funkenstein and Abulafia, Signer notes that “the anti-Judaic themes in the Glossa ordinaria are consistent with the theological agenda of Christian thinkers in late-eleventh- and early- twelfth-century northern France.”504

These two writers exemplify what appeared to be a widespread and rapidly- growing anti-Jewish approach to polemics and exegesis. Irimbert, however, does not engage in such rhetorical extremes. Indeed, an examination of other writers suggests a more nuanced picture of twelfth-century thought, and perhaps an alternative view of the

501 Michael A. Signer, “The ‘Glossa Ordinaria’ and the Transmission of Medieval Anti-Judaism,” in A Distinct Voice: Medieval Studies in Honor of Leonard E. Boyle, O.P., ed. J. Brown and W.P. Soneman (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997), 591–605. 502 Ibid., 593. 503 Ibid., 596–98. 504 Ibid., 600.

190 Jew in Christian society. Irimbert’s overall position corresponds with the more moderate positions of contemporaries like Hugh of St. Victor and Honorius Augustodunensis.

While Hugh of St. Victor does makes some anti-Jewish statements, they are not as vicious as some of his contemporaries, and they are certainly not representative of his work as a whole. Hugh holds to the supersessionist theory that Christianity has now triumphed over the now obselete Jewish faith, but he does not explicitly blame Jews for their involvement in Christ’s death and deliberately causing this rupture. He instead emphasizes Christian and Jewish unity, and indicates that Jews play a significant role in the overarching march of God’s army toward sacramental restoration.505 “Hugh therefore believes in both a primordial unity of Jews and Christians as well as in an eschatological, or future, unity of the two peoples.”506

Honorius Augustodunensis (c. 1070- c. 1150) also presents a positive eschatological image of the Jewish people. Honorius’ thought was influential in Southern

Germany, but he did not originally hail from that region. His background is not well known, but scholars believe he lived in England as a regular canon for a number of years

(whether he was born there or not), and then moved sometime before 1130 to Regensburg where he became a Benedictine monk and associated him himself with reformers like

Rupert of Deutz.507 In his second and longer commentary on the Song of Songs

505 Rebecca Moore, Jews and Christians in the Life and Thought of Hugh of St. Victor (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1998), 104–34; Rebecca Moore, “The Jews in World History According to Hugh of St. Victor,” Medieval Encounters 3 (1997): 1–19. 506 Moore, Jews and Christians in the Life and Thought of Hugh of St. Victor, 126. 507 See the collected essays on Honorius in Valerie I. J Flint, Ideas in the Medieval West: Texts and Their Contexts (London: Variorum Reprints, 1988).

191 (Expositio in Cantica canticorum),508 written sometime between 1132 and 1150,

Honorius refrains from using the hostile rhetoric that was becoming increasingly common in the twelfth century, and instead takes a more moderate tone, affirming and glorifying the importance of the Jews in the history of salvation.509 In his third of four treatises on the Song, discussing 6:10-7:10, Honorius interprets the Shunamite as the converted Synagogue, whom Christ praises before the Church. This conversion evidently takes place before the full conversion of gentiles, as well as before the coming of the

Antichrist. As such, the Synagogue does not, in fact, become a follower of the Antichrist.

On the contrary, the Synagogue will actually lead the fight against the evil forces and preach the Gospel alongside the Church.510 The fourth treatise of the text further emphasizes the Synagogue, this time in relation to her unity with the Church. By association, the “Synagoga conversa manifests the perfect concord of the two testaments.”511 Honorius thus goes beyond the traditional Pauline and Augustinian interpretation of the Jews. He depicts the Jews as converting before the full body of the gentile elect had come to Christ, making him the first exegete to reverse this order of conversion. Honorius also rejects the common pejorative trope of associating Jews with the Antichrist and positions them as the leaders of the forces against the evil foe. This innovative reading of eschatological events casts Jews in a more positive light and focuses on unity rather than division. As Cohen states, “the spirit of Honorius’s

508 PL 172, cols. 347-496. 509 Cohen, “‘Synagoga Conversa.’” 510 Ibid., 317–19. 511 Ibid., 320.

192 commentary on the Song may well reflect a more pervasive phenomenon – not a general trend, to be sure, but an alternative for situating the ‘eschatological Jew’ in a Christian plan for salvation history.”512

Again, while Irimbert certainly does not engage in the hostile rhetoric of contemporaries like Rupert of Deutz and instead takes a more moderate, if not positive, position, perhaps it is best not to conceptualize the discussion in terms of two separate and uniform polemical and interpretive traditions. Studies have increasingly demonstrated a rather high degree of ambivalence even among a single author and text.

Having noted Honorius’ uniquely hopeful perspective on Jewish conversion, it should also be pointed out that such sentiments were not characteristic of all his works, and he certainly made rather harse statements about the pre-eschatological Jew.513 John Young observes that a sense of ambivalence was present even among the patristic sources, and this characteristic remained true of the textual treatment of Jews through at least the High

Middle Ages.514 Abulafia also concludes that there was a fundamental sense of ambiguity toward Jews.515

512 Ibid., 338–39. 513 Kati Ihnat, “‘Our Sister Is Little and Has No Breasts’: Mary and the Jews in the Sermons of Honorius Augustodunensis,” in The Jewish-Christian Encounter in Medieval Preaching, ed. Jonathan Adams and Jussi Hanska, 2015, 119–38; Michael A. Signer, “The Speculum Ecclesiae by Honorius Augustodensis on Jews and Judaism: Preaching at Regensburg in the Twelfth Century,” in Crossroads of Medieval Civilization: The City of Regensburg and Its Intellectual Milieu: A Collection of Essays, ed. Edelgard E DuBruck and Karl Heinz Göller (Detroit, MI: Published for Michigan Consortium for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 1984), 121–37. 514 Young, “Neighbors, Partners, Enemies,” esp. 282-284. 515 Abulafia, “Continuity and Change,” 329.

193 Negative Images of Jews and the Synagogue

Irimbert, too, shows a certain degree of ambivalence, and he presents some of the traditional pejorative tropes common in the twelfth century, but certainly not to the overwhelmingly harsh extent of some of his contemporaries. He does not imply that the

Jews are cruel beasts who deliberately and maliciously set out to kill Christ out of jealousy. Rather, Irimbert follows the traditional Augustinian position that the Jews acted out of mere ignorance. For instance, in his explication of 1 Kings 3:2-3, which relates the sudden blindness that overtook the priest Eli, Irimbert takes this blindness as representing the Jewish people’s inability to recognize the Son of God, “light of the world.” Their preoccupation with “earthly pleasures” obscured their vision.516 A similar interpretive scenario takes place in Judges 14:1-4. The judge Samson traveled to Timnah and met a

Philistine woman whom he wished to marry. His parents, however, questioned the decision and were unaware of God’s plan to overthrow the Philistines by means of this union. Allegorically, Samson is a type for Christ, and the journey to Timnah represents his arrival in the Synagogue through the Incarnation. The Philistine woman is likened to the gentile Church, and the power of this union serves to overthrow the evil spirits.

Samson’s father and mother, that is the Jews and the Synagogue, “are unable to understand the mystery of hidden intelligence from the ages,” despite being “the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh.”517 Jewish ignorance also comes into play in

516 “Oculi eius caligant, quia eius scientiae aciem nebulae terrenarum uoluptatum obscurant. Lucerna die antequam extinguatur non potem uidere, quia filium dei qui lux est mundi non potest recognoscere…” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 19a). 517 “Samson in Thamnatha descendit, cum Christus de Virgine natus in Synagogam venit. Thamnatha enim deficiens dicitur, per quam defectus legis exprimitur, qua nemo ad salutis remedium perducitur. Ibi mulierem de filiabus Philisthiim conspicit, quae gentium Ecclesiam exprimit, quam Christus suae 194 Irimbert’s interpretaiton of the resolution of the battle between David and the Israelites in

2 Kings 18. The Israelite army was destroyed more by the forest in which they were fighting than actual swords (v. 8). In other words, more of the Jewish people died from ignorance than were overcome by the living sword of God’s Word.518 This interpretation, of course, carries the implication that not all Jews will convert, as some will be lost forever in their ignorance and blindness.

Irimbert was, perhaps, inspired by Rupert in his association of vices with the

Jews. 2 Kings 21 provides an account of David seeking to appease the Gibeonites, because the Israelites were suffering from a famine due to the injustice that the now deceased Saul had committed against the people of Gibeon. David asked them what would atone for the wrongdoing, and the Gibeonites asked for seven of Saul’s children to be handed over for crucifixion (v. 6). Irimbert interprets Saul’s injustice (v. 5) as the violence commited by the prideful devil who instigated the first parents’ banishment from paradise. Thus, the seven children represent the seven vices born from the mother pride.

David conceded to the request, and when the crucifixions were carried out in verse 9,

Irimbert alters his interpretation and now takes these children as types of the different orders of the Jewish people: the order of royalty, the high priests, priests, Levites, scribes,

Pharisees, and Sadducees. This event took place at the beginning of harvest, indicating

misericordiae oculis aspicit…Parentes eius nesciunt, quia populus Judaicus et Synagoga secundum carnem Christi progenitores, mysterium consilii a saeculis absconditi scire nequeunt. Quod res a Domino fieret, quae mirabilis in oculis nostris fieret. Quod occasionem contra Philistiim quaereret, quod Christus per humilitatem assumptae carnis spiritalibus nequitiis se opponeret.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:350b, 351a–b). 518 “Plures saltum consumuntur, quia in ingorantia infidelitatis plures mortificantur, quam qui gladio uerbi dei uiuificantur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 284a).

195 the Jews feeding on the “hard letter of the law.”519 While Irimbert does not explicitly state that the Jewish people, or at the very least these orders, embody the seven principle vices, the implication is quite clear due to the parallel construction.

Interstingly, Irimbert’s brief negative associations with Jews and the Synagogue stands in contrast with the Admont sermon corpus. John Young has studied the way Jews and the Synagogue were represented in the corpus, observing the recurrence of a number of pejorative tropes that were becoming increasingly common in the rhetoric toward

Judaism in the High Middle Ages.520 The Admont homilist focused on Jewish participation in Christ’s crucifixion, strongly portraying them as enemies associated with the devil, their prince. Jewish guilt is intesified by the suggestion that they did not act out of mere ignorance but intentionally and maliciously sought to wipe out all traces of Christ and his followers. This treachery of the Jews continues to manifest itself in their subjection to vices, which is what causes their blindness. Irimbert indicates in his commentaries, however, that Jewish waywardness is attributed more to a simple ignorance that leads them to continue in their observance of ceremonial law and earthly concerns, blinding them to the spiritual significance, rather than to a waywardness rooted in vice and malicious intent. Young notes that the homilies on the Passion present an

519 “Vir enim ille qui humanum genus attriuit et oppressit uiolenta illa superbia fuit, que angelum de alto caelorum praecipitauit, que hominem de habitatione paradysi eliminauit. Huius uiolenti uiri septem pessimi filii septem sunt uicia principalia, que de matre superbia quasi de radice pessima septem pessima pullulant germina uiciorum omnium genimina. Inicium enim omnis peccati superbia, quia ab ipsa processit omnis malicia et nequicia…Septem isti occisi septem sunt ordines populi iudaici, scilicet regalis pontificalis sacerdotalis leuiticus scribarum phariseorum et sadduceorum. Qui septem ordines simul in monte ueteris testamenti occumbunt, dum filium dei crucifigere non metuunt. Dies messis primae fuerunt tempora legis mosaicae, que per messionem ordei figurantur, quia iudei quasi iumenta dura legis littera uescuntur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 304b, 305a). 520 Young, “Neighbors, Partners, Enemies,” 304–48.

196 overarching theme of Jewish guilt and treachery, whereas when Irimbert discusses the

Passion in his commentaries, the focus is on the mystery of Christ’s redemptive work, while Jewish participation is rarely mentioned. While the sermon collection and the commentaries both follow the traditional conception of Jewish conversion at the end times, the homilist incorporated the recently-popularized tradition of Jewish collusion with the Antichrist, who is brough forth through their own sin and wickedness. Irimbert’s view of eschatological events in his commentaries, however, does not involve the Jewish people associating with the Antichrist before their conversion. So whether Irimbert wrote some (or all) of the collected sermons, his objective in the commentaries certainly appears to have been different. His focus in the latter is clearly to present an eventual unified Church in relation to the due course of salvation history. Jewish perfidy thus plays a minor role in the overarching narrative, thereby magnifying the positive significance of their conversion.

Desire for Unity

This theme of conversion and unity is particularly prominent in Irimbert’s commentary on the books of Kings. For instance, Irimbert allegorically depicts the

Church expressing a desire for unity in his explication of 3 Kings 3. In the biblical account, King Solomon had just received the gift of wisdom from the Lord, and in demonstration of his gift, he wisely adjudicated on a conflict between two harlots (vv. 16-

28). They both had recently given birth, but the woman who bore her child first said that the other woman had lain over her own child one night and smothered it. She switched babies, but the next morning the first woman immediately recognized that the dead child was not her own. The second woman, of course, denied everything. Solomon asked for a 197 sword so that he might slice the living child in half so that both women would be equal in possession. The first woman pleaded with the king not to do so, preferring the baby to remain alive with the other woman than to be cut apart. Solomon rightly determined that the first woman was, indeed, the true mother.

Irimbert takes this account as a demonstration of the conflict between the Church and Synagogue, and the newborns indicate at different points certain groups of people or states of being. The first woman who speaks, that is the Church, “preceeds the Synagogue in dignity of time and merits,” beginning with the time of the patriarchs. She explains that they both live in the same house, which Irimbert takes as evidence for their inherent unity, being joined together “in one society of faith and love.” The Church bore faithful people during this early period, in the chamber that enclosed the gentiles as well as the mysteries of Christ. Three days later, during the time of revealed grace, the Synagogue also bore “fruits of faith” that complimented the Church’s delivery of the faithful, because again, they are both together in the same “life of faith and love.”521 This transition into the third age of grace, however, creates significant changes in the unity between the Church and the Synagogue. The latter’s child died at night because she lay atop him, indicating the Jewish people’s condemnation due to their “blindness of ignorance” on the night that Christ went over to the gentiles. The Synagogue’s

521 “Duae istae mulieres ecclesiam et synagogam significant…Quarum una ait, aecclesiae scilicet quae synagogam et temporis et meritorum dignitate antecedit, quia ab inicio seculi aeccelsia in patriarchis esse cepit…Ego et mulier hec habitabamus in domo una, quia in una societate fidei et dilectionis tuae simul eramus coniunctae. Peperi apud eam in cubiculo, quo ipsa carebam in gentium populo…Cubiculum enim istud fuit secretum legis et prophetarum, in quo mysteria illa delitescebant, que filium dei mundo ueturum expectabant…Tercia uero die postquam ego peperi et hec peperit, quia tempore revelatae gratiae postquam ego multitudinem fidelium protuli hec et iam fidei fructum parturiunt. Simul eramus, quia socialem uitam fidei et dilectionis tuae paritur agebamus.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 359a, b).

198 knowledge of the patriarchs and prophets slowly began to wane, and she deceitfully took the Church’s child, that is, she “transferred the faithful people from the peace of contemplation to the observance of carnal ceremony.”522

Solomon, or Christ, sits in judgment and asks for his sword, calling for the preaching of his mystery throughout the world. By this means, he will separate the faithful people between the Old and New Testaments, and consequently between circumcision and baptism, and active and contemplative living. The Church, however, pleads on behalf of the child, that is her faithful – “collected and yet to be collected from among both the Jews and the gentiles.” She asks that instead the Gospel be given to the

Synagogue to make the Jewish people alive in faith.523 Irimbert, then, clearly sees the

Church as strongly desiring unification over division for the sake of salvation of both

Jews and gentiles, recognizing that the two Testaments and peoples ought to remain together.

Irimbert indicates that unity is also desired by the Jewish people themselves, and this need is often voiced in his representation of King Saul. For instance, after the ordination of David, the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul (1 Kings 16:14). In his

522 “Filius huius mulieris nocte est mortuus, quia nocte illa qua te dominum suum uinctum tradidit gentibus synagogae populus a uera uita est extinctus. Nocte filius est mortuus, quia populus iudaicus ignorantiae cecitate est dampnatus…Profunda nox fuit, cum sublatis patriarchis et prophetis cognitio ueritatis synagogae paulatim deficere cepit…De hoc latere matris aecclesiae filium eius synagoga tulit, cum populum fidelem de illa quiete contemplationis ad laborem circumcisionis et obseruantiam carnalium cerimoniarum transtulit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 359b, 360a). 523 “Afferte mihi gladium, scilicet per commissum uobis praedicationis ministerium meae incarnationis mundo denuntiate mysterium…Rex ait, cum filius dei formam carnis induit. Infantem uiuum in duas partes diuidite, scilicet populum fidelem in uetus et nouum testamentum uel in circumcisionem et baptismum uel in actiuam et contemplatiuam uitam distribuite…Sic ergo mater ecclesiam commotis sue miserationis affectibus exclamat ad christum pro suis fidelibus, collectis et colligendis tam de iudicis quam de gentibus…Infantem uiuum illi date, uos scilicet praedicatores euangelii synagogae populum in fide christi uiuificate.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 361b, 362a).

199 inverse allegorical rendering, Irimbert explains that “the Jewish people withdraw from

God in perfidy.” Saul, however, desired relief from the evil spirit that was now afflicting him, so at the suggestion of his servants, he requested someone to play the harp and thus provide peace (vv. 16-17). Saul’s desire for relief echoes the Jewish people’s desire to be part of the faithful and that they might be relieved through the sounds of the harp, or the mystery of the cross.524

This desire, then, compels the Jewish people to seek out an understanding of

Chirst, which is illustrated in Irimbert’s interpretation of 1 Kings 24. This chapter relates the account of David fleeing from Saul and hiding in a cave. Saul unknowingly entered the same cave in order to relieve himself, and David surreptitiously cut off a portion of

Saul’s robe. Saul rose and went out of the cave, at which point David revealed himself and his mercy in not killing the king when he had the opportunity. Irimbert interprets the allegorical scenario as taking place after Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension. The Jews, represented by Saul, seek out an understanding of Christ’s mysteries even upon the most craggy rocks (v. 3) of allegory in the Old Testament. Just as Saul came upon sheepcotes in his search (v. 4), so also do the people of the Synagogue “ask for the sheepfold of ecclesiastical society.” They enter the nearby cave “while [they] meditate on holy

Scripture.” Christ cuts apart the law with his mysteries (v. 5), such that the Jews are able to rise up out of the cave (v. 8), that is, “rise up from meditation on the law to the

524 “Spiritus domini a saule recedit, cum populus iudaicus a deo in perfidia discedit…quia fideles in populo iudaico hortantur ut crucis beneficium requiratur, cuius mysterium in cythara praefiguratur. Saul seruis imperat ut sibi cytharedum prouideant, quia populus iudaicus pro parte fidelium desiderat ut christus crucis suae beneficio mundo subueniat.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 83a).

200 righteousness of faith.” The Jewish people then “strive to the perfection of life.”525

Irimbert evidently does not view the Jews as being in a perpetual state of obstinacy, and they instead reciprocate the desire for unity and understanding of Scripture, finally achieving faith and restoration.

Christ, of course, as the head of the Church, also wishes for unity among his people, and Irimbert’s explication of Judges 14 further demonstrates this desire, held mutually by Christ, the Church, and the Jews. The opening of this story is related above, with Samson representing Christ, his intended representing the Church, and his parents representing the Jews and the Synagogue. At the marriage feast, Samson presented a riddle to the citizens of his bride’s city, offering clothing if they answered correctly within seven days (vv. 12-14). The citizens were unable to solve the riddle, so they asked

Samson’s bride to drag the answer from him (v. 15). She pleaded before Samson until he finally relented (vv. 16-17). Irimbert interprets the scene as Christ proposing a riddle to the Jewish people about his divinity and humanity. Knowing that their time is limited and the end of the world is drawing near, the Jews suppliantly ask the Church to draw the answer from Christ. The Church pleads before Christ and intercedes for the Jews, asking

525 “Dauid ergo ascendit et in locis tutissimis engaddi habitat, cum christus a mortuis resurgens ascensione sua caelos penetrat…Pergit saul ad dauid et uiros eius inuestigare, dum populus iudaicus christi mysteria et prophetarum oracula discutiendo incipit indagare. Abruptissimae petrae sunt profundissimae ueteris testamenti allegoriae…Saul ad caulas ouium uenit, dum populus iudaicus conuersus ecclesiasticae societatis ouile requirit…Saul speluncam ingreditur ut uentrem purget, dum populus iudaicus sanctam scripturam meditatur…Dauid cor suum percutit eo quod oram clamidis saul absciderit, quia christus in passione sua misera super populum iudaicum commouetur, cuius lex eius mysteriis detruncatur…Saul de spelunca exurgit, cum populus iudaicus de meditatione legis ad iusticiam fidei consurgit. Saul cepto itinere pergit, cum populus iudaicus post susceptam fidem ad uitae perfectionem contendit.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 130b, 131a, b).

201 why he delays in revealing his mysteries to them. She is filled with “tears of intervention for the conversion of the unfaithful,” until at last Christ reveals the answer.526

The biblical narrative continues with Samson’s wife taking another husband (v.

20), but Irimbert interprets this wife now as a separate individual: the Synagogue.

Marriage between Christ and the Synagogue speaks to a significant union. Indeed,

Irimbert points out that it was Christ’s love for her that compelled him to clothe himself in humanity, citing Matthew 15:24: And he answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel, indicating the lost Synagogue, for whom he has to contend with the law, the other bridegroom.527 Irimbert evokes the image of a marital union also in his explication of 1 Kings 25. Toward the end of this account is related

David’s intention to marry Abigail, which was discussed above. But verse 43 also mentions David’s marriage to Ahinoam of Jezreel. Whereas Abigail represents the

Church, Ahinoam represents the Synagogue, who joins with Christ in her conversion. So both the Church and the Synagogue are the Brides of Christ and are united in marriage.528

526 “Proponam vobis problema per divinitatis et humanitatis meae mysteria…Adest namque dies septimus, cum Mundi imminet terminus. Sodales ad uxorem Samson dicunt, cum Judaei Ecclesiam Christi suppliciter deposcunt. Blandire viro tuo, in orationis tuae sacrificio louqere verba placentia Christo Domino. Et suade ei precatu tuae fidei, ut tibi indicet, quid problema significet. Tunc enim tibi indicabit, cum per te nobis mysterium suae Redemptionis intimabit…Uxor Samson apud eum lachrymas fundit, cum Sancta Ecclesia pro cunctorum salute populorum apud Christum intercedit. Queritur, cum perditionem infidelium continue lamentatur…Idcirco problema non vis mihi exponere, dum mysterium tuae Incarnationis non dignaris infidelibus aperire…Uxor samons flet apud eum septem diebus convivii: quia Sancta Ecclesia intercessionis suae lachrymas apud Christum fundit pro conversione infidelium omni tempore huius saeculi. Tandem Samson die septimo ei exponit, quia Christus in fine saeculi populo Judaico mysterium fidei aperit.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:354b, 355c-d, 356a, d). 527 “Uxor Christi Synagoga accipitur, pro cuius amore ipse carnis amictu de eius posteritate vestitur, sicut ipse discipulis suis loquitur: Non sum missus nisi ad oves, quae perierunt, domus Israel [Matt. 15:24]. Uxor maritum unum de amicis suis et pronubis accipit, dum Christo pro Synagoga Moysen Legislatorem, paranymphum Sponsi in locum sponsi ponere contendit.” In librum Iudicum, 2 (Ibid., 4, part 1:357d–358a). 528 “Achynoem quoque de iezrahel dauid accipit, cum synagogam quoque quandoque sibi coniungit. Achynoem quippe fratris decor dicitur, quia synagoga christi fratris sui decor efficitur, cum eius fidem 202 Conflict and Conversion

While conversion is greatly desired by all parties involved, the moment of conversion itself takes place ony after a prolonged period of struggle. These combined scenes of struggle and resolution occur repeatedly throughout Irimbert’s commentaries.

Conflict between the Synagogue and the Church is allegorically superimposed into the biblical narrative. Depicting this struggle was certainly aided by repeated narration of battle scenes in these Old Testament historical books. But while an interpretation of these battles necessitated contrasting the virtues of the Church with the carnality and blindness of the Synagogue, Irimbert does not dwell on such details as much as he focuses on the climax of these narratives: the conversion of the Jewish people, preceeded by constant entreaty from others (i.e. the prophets, God, Christ, preachers, etc.) to do so.

The above discussion of the desire for unity demonstrated the continuous conflict between King Saul and David as representing a clash between Christ (and the Church) and the Jewish people (or the Synagogue). The account in 1 Kings 26 relates Saul still in pursuit of David. The king camped his forces for the night near the area where David was hiding (v. 3). David and one of his men entered the camp and found Saul and his guards sleeping (v. 7), but instead of taking the opportunity to kill the king, David absconded with his spear and cup of water (vv. 11-12). The next morning David shouted a rebuke to the king’s men for failing to protect him (vv. 15-16), and Saul repented for his actions against David (v. 21). Saul’s search for David represents the Jewish teachers’ search for

recipiendo ad ipsum conuertitur…Utraque uxor dauid erit, cum filius dei et de aecclesia et de synagoga fideles suos colligit.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 141b-142a).

203 the coming Messiah in the Old Testament, in which Christ had hidden himself. But due to their ignorance, they remained unaware of Christ’s arrival while they “slept in observation of carnal law.” They persist in this sleep of ignorance even as they are directly approached by Christ through his preachers, so Christ absconds with the glory of their kingdom and knowledge of the law.529 Through his apostles, he then rebukes the

Jewish people and their priests, particularly the latter for failing to properly look after their people and for keeping them in ignorance. Finally recognizing the voice of Christ through the preaching of the Gospel, the Jewish people repent and confess their faith.530

This general narrative of Christ’s redemptive work and its eventual impact on the

Synagogue frames much of Irimbert’s exegesis, and the fact that he concluded his large commentary on Kings with the conversion of the Jewish people demonstrates the importance placed on this event and the union that comes through it. The final chapters of the books of Kings (4 Kings 24-25) recount the arrival of the Babylonians and their subjugation of the Israelites. Irimbert initially gives a moral interpretation of the

529 “Descendit cum eo tria milia uirorum electorum, quae sunt agmina sacerdotum scribarum et phariseorum. Ut dauid in deserto ziph quereret, ut filium dei in littera ueteris testamenti deprehenderet…Dauid clam surgit et ad locum ubi erat saul uenit, cum christus occultus hunc mundum ingreditur, et sub lege populi iudaici nascitur. Saul in tentorio dormit, quia populus iudaicus in obseruatione legis carnaliter requiescit. Abner princeps militiae iuxta eum dormit, quia ordo doctorum ignorantiae suae cecitatem non sentit…Dauid et abysai ad populum nocte ueniunt, cum christus et ordo praedicatorum populum iudaicum ignorantia dei et sui oppressum conueniunt. Saul iacentem et dormientem in tentorio inueniunt, cum populum iudaicum salutem suam negligentem et in delectatione legis se uoluntantem conspiciunt…Hasta tollitur, cum populo iudaico regni gloria subtrahitur. Ciphus aquae tollitur, cum ei scientia legis subducitur.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 142b, 143a, b). 530 “Dauid ad populum et ad abner clamat, cum christus per sanctos apostolos populum iudaicum et prinicpes sacerdotum de caelis increpat…Dicit filius dei ordini doctorum populi iudaici…Non est bonum hoc quod fecisti, qui cum uigilare debueris super gregem populi tui, in ignorantia dei et tui obdormisti…Saul uocem dauid cognoscit, cum tandem populus iudaicus uocem domini post tergum monentis per euangelii praedicationem exaudit. Saul dauid dicit, cum populus iudaicus christum per confessionem fidei benedicit.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, pp. 144a, b, 145a).

204 Babylonian captivity, with King Nebuchadnezzar as the figure of Satan accompanied by his horde of vices. The king’s installment of Gedaliah as governor over Judah (4 Kings

25:22), however, reintroduces the allegorical Passion narrative. Irimbert takes Gedaliah as a figure for Christ, crowned through his Passion and Resurrection. Ishmael and others killed the governor out of jealousy (v. 25), similar to the Jewish priests’ instigation of

Christ’s crucifixion.531 These events ushered in the “age of atonement,” and Irimbert notes that the final verses of this book mirrors the end of the world, such that the year in verse 27 denotes the reconciliaiton of the Jewish people in their understanding of the

Trinity through the Holy Spirit’s septiform grace. King Evil-merodach of Babylon released the long-imprisoned King Jehoiachin of Judah from captivity. That is, the gentile people liberate the Jewish people from captivity, and they are given new clothing and food (v. 29), that is, they are clothed in the “habit of Christianity” and “they receive refreshment of the divine Word and the communion of the body and blood of Christ in the presence of the Church.”532 This liberation of the Jewish people is, of course, essential to the realization of salvation history, and its signification is no doubt why

Irimbert chose to end his lengthy treatment of Kings with this event.

531 “Godolias magnificatus donimus uel magnificus interpretatur per quem christus designatur, que per passionem crucis et resurrectionis a deo patre gloria et honore coronatur…Ismahel enim qui auditio dei sonat ordinem sacerdotum designat…Godoliam percutiunt, dum pilato inclamantes aiunt crucifige crucifige eum [John 19:6]. Godolias moritur, quia magnificus ille mundi redemptor pro salute humani generis crucifigitur.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, pp. 682a, 683a, b). 532 “Extremum factum huius libri memoratur, quo et mundi finis denotatur: annus tricesimus septimus illud propiciationis designat tempus, quo in cognitione sanctae trinitatis per gratiam septiformis spiritus ad gratiam reconciliationis redit populus iudaicus…Hoc ergo propiciationis tempore euilmerodach caput ioachim regis iuda de carcere subleuat anno quo regnare inchoat, cum populus gentium populum iudaicum de captiuitate liberat…Vestes eius mutat quas in carcere habuerat, quia captiuus praeferebat iudaismum, libertate donatus induit christianitatis habitum. Panem semper in conspectu eius comedit, quia uel refectionem diuini uerbi uel communionem corporis et sanguinis christi in facie aecclesiae percipit.” In librum Regum, 4 (Admont MS 16, p. 684a).

205 In Irimbert’s interpretation of conflict with the Synagogue and her conversion, despite priority traditionaly shown to the gentiles or Christians for receiving the inheritance of Israel – an interpretive tradition that he certainly follows – he nevertheless still notes the importance of Jewish conversion with regard to their special dignity. This idea is evident in his interpretation of 2 Kings 19. The chapter recounts David’s return to his kingdom, which prompted a verbal dispute between the tribes of Judah and Israel concerning superiority. The men from Israel claimed dominance due to their greater number of divisions (v. 43). Irimbert views them as a figure of the converted Jews, who point out that they have preeminence over the gentiles by virtue of their ancient dignity and inherent nobility.533 Irimbert envisions Christ declaring a similar dignified status for the Jews in his interpretation of Judges 8. The men of Ephraim, who speak to Gideon about not being asked to share in his victory against Madian (v. 1), are likened to the faithful of the converted Synagogue, who ask Christ why he did not reveal himself to them, his own kinsman. Gideon’s placation (vv. 2-3) represents Christ’s declaration of praise to the converted Synagogue for her piety. He declares that one bunch of grapes of

Ephraim [is] better than the vintages of Abiezer. That is, the Jewish people are “better” than the gentiles due to their “fruits of salvation,” and among those seeds was Christ himself. Hence, Irimbert observes, Christ righly said salvation is of the Jews (John

4:22).534

533 “Vir israhel respondet, cum populus iudaicus ad fidem christi conuersus antiqua suae dignitatis priuilegia recenset, et populo gentium praerogatiua ingenitae sibi nobilitatis superiorem se esse perhibet.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 297b). 534 “Proinde viri Ephraim dicunt ad Gedeon, cum conversae Synagogae fideles perditionis suae annos in amaritudine animae suae recogitantes alloquuntur Dominum suum Jesum Christum Redemptorem. Quid est hoc, quod facere voluisti? qui in carne positus, verum Dei Filium et nostrum consanguineum B. V. Mariae 206 Irimbert further dignifies the Jewish role in salvation history in his interpretation of the fourth beast during his digression on the Daniel 7 vision. As discussed above, the first three beasts represent the orders of hermits, monks, and clerics. The fourth beast (v.

7) represents the converted Synagogue at the end of the world,

…who will be terrible in its well-appointed sharpness of armies, wonderful in extradordinary and lofty understanding of holy Scripture, exceeding strong in the cause of preaching. It had great iron teeth, [i.e.] the masters equipped with the omniscience of the law and prophets through the grace of the Holy Spirit.535

The reason for this digression is because Irimbert sees Absalom from 2 Kings 15 as a figure for this fourth beast, or the converted Synagogue. He then returns to the narrative in Kings, which shows Absalom setting out with his men to offer sacrifices (v. 12).

Allegorically, after their conversion, knowledge of the Old and New Testaments is given to the Jewish people for the sake of unity in the Church. Here we have an image of the end times that is reminiscent of Honorius’ interpretation in his Songs commentary.

Equipped with this wisdom, the Jewish people offer to Christ “sacrifices” of the remaining gentiles through their preaching, and just as Absalom increased the number of his followers, so also do the Jewish people increase the number of elect in the Church and

et nostrae cognatae te esse Filium, obduratis et obscuratis cordis nostri oculis non ostendisti?…Gedeon viris Ephraim respondit, cum Christus conversae Synagogae fidelibus abundantiam suae pietatis ostendit…Per Abiezer, qui frater meus adiutor dicitur, gentium populus exprimitur…racemus Ephraim melior esse scribitur, per quem ille fructus salutis exprimitur, qui de Synagoga nascitur. Sicut enim in racemo diversorum granorum sit collectio: sic in fructu illo salutis de Synagoga edito incomparabilis sanctitatis invenitur fructificatio, cum in eo ipse Dei Filius homo factus cernitur…Dicat ergo merito, dicat Gedeon jurganti secum populo: Non melior est racemus Ephraim, Abiezer vindemiis, quia salus est ex Judaeis [John 14:22].” In librum Iudicum, 1 (Pez, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus, 1723, 4, part 1:271d–272a, d, 273a, c). 535 “Bestia quarta quam uidet in uisione noctis sanctus propheta fortassis erit synagoga in fine mundi conuersa, que terribilis erit ut castrorum acies ordinata, mirabilis in noua et sublimi sanctae scritpurae intelligentia, fortis nimis in praedicationis efficatia. Dentes ferreos habebit magnos, magistros per gratiam sancti spiritus omniscientia legis et prophetarum instructos.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 264a).

207 bring in gentile people, who attach themselves to the Jews “in unity of faith and sacraments.”536 Irimbert does not include in his eschatological picture an association between the Jews and the Antichrist. Rather, the Jews actually contribute to the fulfillment of salvation history not only through their own conversion, but through their help in converting the rest of the gentile elect. Irimbert’s presentation is perhaps not as dramatic as Honorius, who placed the Synagogue in the front lines leading the epic charge against the Antichrist. Irimbert does, however, still depict the Jews in an elevated eschatological role, with them effectively joining the noble ranks of the order of preachers to provide an indispensable service in unifying the Church with their superior knowledge of Scripture.

Preaching as a Means of Conversion

The question as to how this conversion would come about was often not explored by theologians. The circumstances of the event were abstractly described as

‘mysterious.’537 Irimbert, however, does not seem to express the same amount of uncertainty as other exegetes, and he is often quite clear that Jewish conversion would take place as a result of preaching. So once again we see the importance that Irimbert places on preaching as a contribution to the economy of salvation history, despite the

536 “Ducenti uiri absalon de ierusalem comitantur, cum scientia ueteris ac noui testamenti populo iudaico de unitate sanctae ecclesiae ministatur…Absalon immolat uictimas, cum populus iudaicus per praedicationem fidei offert christo gentium reliquias…Populus concurrens cum absalon augetur, cum gentium populus cum populo iudaico in unitate fidei et sacramentorum sanctae matri ecclesiae unitur.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, p. 264a, b). 537 Young, “Neighbors, Partners, Enemies,” 281.

208 apparently low expectations among contemporaries for success in preaching to the Jews – at least until the end times.538

Consistent with his thoughts on Jewish desire to be united with the Church,

Irimbert indicates in his allegorized narratives that preaching and instruction in Scripture should be undertaken with the Jews’ willing participation. This understanding is apparent, for instance, in Irimbert’s interpretation of 1 Kings 20. David told Jonathan that he would hide himself in the field and would therefore be absent from the king’s table during the feast of the new moon (v. 5). If Saul were to ask where David was, Jonathan should say he went to Bethlehem (v. 6). The time of the new moon represents the commencement of evangelical preaching, at which point Christ goes into “hiding” until his revelation in the world has been completed. If the Jewish people inquire after Christ, however, then the mystery of his Incarnation should be explained.539 A similar scenario takes place in Irimbert’s explication of 2 Kings 17. Absalom’s consultation with Hushai concerning the right to capture David (vv. 5-6) is likened to the Jewish people seeking counsel with the gentiles for a remedy to their impiety. And just as Absalom took

Hushai’s counsel (v. 14), the Jewish people accept the Gospel message that Christ redeemed the world through his Passion, compelling them to reject the cult of the Old

538 Anna Sapir Abulafia, “Twelfth-Century Christian Expectations of Jewish Conversion: A Case Study of Peter of Blois,” Aschkenas 8 (1998): 45–70. 539 “Ecce kalendae sunt crastino. Tempore crastino incipiet euangelii mei praedicatio…Abscondar usque ad uesperam die terciae, scilicet usque in consummationem reuelatae meae gratiae…Si me pater tuus requisierit scilicet si populus iudaicus poenitentia ductus fidei meae mysterium expetierit, tu ei respondebis, scilicet tu ei meae incarnationis uiam his uerbum demonstrabis.” In librum Regum, 1 (Admont MS 16, p. 103a, b).

209 Testament.540 Once again, a desire for knowledge and reciprocation should come from both sides involved. It can be assumed, then, that Irimbert was not in favor of forced conversion, unlike his contemporary Rupert.

Irimbert’s explication of 3 Kings 20 further emphasizes the importance of preaching to the Jews. The chapter’s account of a battle between the Arameans and

Israelites is predictably allegorized as a battle between the gentiles and the Jews respectively, initially facing each other in a state of conflict, then cooperation. King Ben- hadad of Aram sent messengers to King Ahab of Israel (v. 2), representing the approach of evangelical preachers to the Jewish people. At the suggestion of the ancient advisors, that is the teachers of the Synagogue who urge to “neither hear the preaching of the

Church nor submit to its teaching,” the Jews send away the messengers (v. 8). This rejection prompts the Arameans to mount a siege against Israel (v. 12), representing the

Church’s persistence in preaching to them, “that they might expunge infidelity from the

Synagogue.”541 A prophet spoke to Ahab, just as “the letter of the Old Testament – that is the whole body of prophets – fortells the outcome of future events,” assuring Ahab that

540 “Absalon chusai ad consilium uocat, dum populus iudaicus populum gentium cuius typum chusai gestat ad christi passionem peragendam ad suae impietatis auxilium inuitat…Populus iudaicus pro parte fidelium et omnis populus gentium illud laudant consilium, quo dei filius redemit hunc mundum per suae passionis mysterium. Istud consilium dicitur esse chusai arachitae, quia mysterium passionis dominicae die noctuque cum gratiarum actione frequentat fides sanctae aecclesiae. Domini autem nutu consilium achitofel dissipatum est, quia per spiritum sanctum illud ueteris sacerdotii testamentum in cultu exteriori est reprobatum.” In librum Regum, 2 (Admont MS 16, pp. 275b, 278a). 541 “Benadab filius spontaneus dicitur, per quem populus gentium uoluntarie deo sacrificans exprimitur…Benadab nuntios ad achab regem in ciuitatem mittit, cum populus gentium praedicatores euangelii ad populum iudaicum in illam uetustatem cerimoniarum legalium dirigit…Natu maiores sunt synagogae doctores, qui cum uniuersa populi multitudine dant consilium insipientiae, ne praedicatio aecclesiae audiatur, neue eius doctrinae acquiescatur…Benadab seruis suis praecipit ut circumdent ciuitatem, cum populus gentium praedicatores suos dirigit ut synagogae expugnent infidelitatem.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 502a, 503a, 504a).

210 God would deliver the opposition in their hands and make the Synagogue a “co-heir and participant” in his Church.542 A bloody battle followed (v. 20), and “the Old Testament pierced the Jewish people with fear, while the New Testament cleaved the gentile people with the love of God.” The biblical account of the battle indicates that the Arameans fled in defeat, but Irimbert takes this flight as a positive development of preachers being sent out into all the world. In preparation for the battle that would resurface again the following year, the servants of King Ben-hadad spoke to Ahab (v. 23), which is likened to the Church offering advice on wiping out ceremonial laws.543

This persistent counsel and instruction from the preachers of the Church at last takes root, and the second battle in the narrative depicts a scene of cooperation rather than conflict and resistance. A year has passed, and the “time of preaching the Gospel hastens to the end.” In this time of urgency, the Israelites mustered their forces (v. 27), representing the “remaining Jewish people” – implying the converted people – shaking free from their sins and adding to their number with more faithful. The Lord once again promised to deliver the enemy into Ahab’s hands (v. 28), but the promise this time carries the meaning that the Israelites’, or Jewish people’s, work will ensure the gathering of the

“fullness of the gentiles though [their] preaching.” As with his interpretation of

542 “Propheta unus ad achab regem israhel accedit, cum ueteris testamenti littera quae tota est prophetia rerum futuarum euentum populo iudaico praedicit…Ecce ego tradam eam in manu tua hodie, cum in huius saeculi extremo tempore te coheredem et conparticipem faciam meae aecclesiae.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 504a). 543 “Unusquisque uirum qui contra se uenerat percutit, dum uetus quidem testamentum populum iudaicum timore confodit, nouum autem testamentum populum gentium amore dei configit…Benadab rex syriae in equo cum equitibus fugit, cum populus gentium ad praedicationem prophetarum et apostolorum omnem mundi delectationem cum coherentibus carnalitatis affectibus post ponit…Serui regis syriae, sunt fideles aecclesiae. Dant isti consilium, ad expugnationem cerimoniarum legalium.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 505a, b).

211 Absalom’s work in 2 Kings 15, Irimbert puts forth the idea that upon their conversion, the Jews will actually join with the preachers of the Church and work toward the gathering of the elect in preparation for the coming Judgment. This victory was accomplished on the seventh day of battle (v. 29), and the slaying of one hundred thousand Arameans indicates the “fullness of the gentiles…that [the converted Synagoge] pierces with the arrows of their preaching.”544 The approach of the defeated Arameans, humbly clothed in sackcloth (v. 32), indicates to Irimbert a kind of continuing education of the Jewish people. The gentile preachers “reveal the way of faith to the converted of the Jewish people” and present the confession of faith. Ben-hadad restored the cities he took (v. 34), representing the restoration of the law and prophets to the Synagogue, and the two sides entered into a league, with the Church devoting herself in service “to the true converted Synagogue.”545

Irimbert implies in this allegorized conflict that the conversion of the Jewish people is a slow process, rather than an event that takes place instantaneously at the very end of the world. It is more than a sudden deus ex machina. Jewish conversion is preceeded by inquiry and a desire to understand the mysteries of Christ, despite a

544 “Annus transit, eum praedicandi euangelii tempus ad finem decurrit…Filii israhel recensentur, cum reliquiae populi iudaici de massa perditionis subtracte in numero fidelium aggregantur…Dabo omnem multitudinem hanc in manu tua, quia gentium plenitudinem conuertam praedicatione tua…Filii israhel de syris centum milia peditum in die una percutiunt, quia fideles de synagoga conuersi plenitudinem gentium in temporis angustia quae est quasi dies una praedicationum suarum spiculis configunt.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 506a, b). 545 “Saccis lumbos suos accingunt, funes in capitibus suis ponunt, ad regem israhel ueniunt, cum praedicatorum ordini populi iudaici confessionem fidei offerunt…Rex israhel respondet, quia ordo praedicatorum populi iudaici conuersis gentibus uiam fidei ostendit…Ciuitates quas tulit pater meus a patre tuo reddam, quia munitiones legis et prophetarum quas gentium populus populo iudaico abstulit tibit restituam.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 507b, 508a).

212 lingering tendency to cling to “carnal observances.” Persistent preaching in the face of this obstinacy is a necessity, but once this conversion is accomplished, the Synagogue joins with the Church in the continuing process of gathering a unified elect at the end of the world.

Mary’s Intercessory Role

Irimbert does not, however, completely discount the involvement of miraculous or saintly intervention. To be sure, intercession played a significant role in giving meaning to monastic prayer, and the importance certainly was not lost on Irimbert as he composed his scriptural commentaries. Examples of the Church and Christ acting as intercessors have been mentioned above, and Irimbert includes another notable example of intercession in the form of Mary. This general image of Marian intercession is not without precedent, and here Irimbert once again is in keeping with contemporary trends.

The eleventh and twelfth centuries saw a great rise in Marian devotion, particularly in the

Benedictine context.546 Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033-1109) played an important role in this development through his prayers to Mary, personalizing her as a grieving mother and emphasizing her role as intercessor. Such attributes were not entirely new in the eleventh century, but her image changed from that of an impassive figure to an approachable and relatable one. Prayers and invocations highlighted her status as the Mother of Christ and hence her connection to salvation, and the penitent appealed to her compassion and mercy to intercede before her Son.547 As noted in Chapter One, Rupert of Deutz’s

546 Flint, “The Commentaries of Honorius Augustodunensis on the Song of Songs,” 199–201. 547 See esp. Rachel Fulton, From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800-1200 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), 204–88. For a more comprehensive study on the development of Marian devotion, see Miri Rubin, Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary (New 213 commentary on the Song of Songs marks a significant development in the cult of the

Virgin, being the first such commentary to give a consistent interpretation of the bride in the Song as Mary. He presents the text as a love song praising Christ’s Incarnation and salvific work, as well as Mary, the essential agent of this event.

Honorius Augustodunensis was especially influential in fostering Marian devotion in Southern Germany and Austria, having come from England where the cult of the

Virgin was particularly strong. His two commentaries on the Song of Songs – especially his earlier Sigillum Beatae Mariae548 – exemplify the transitionary genre of Marian liturgy that referenced verses from the Song to commentaries on the Songs that highlighted the figure of Mary, which saw its fullest expression in Rupert’s commentary.549 And just as Honorius provided an innovative eschatological picture of

Jewish conversion in his later commentary on the Songs, his Sigillum also introduces an unprecedented narrative of salvation history that depicts Mary in an active intercessory role. Mary seeks out the conversion of the Jews and intercedes for them before Christ, and her mercy prompts the newly-converted Synagogue to sing her praises. So while

Honorius certainly kept to traditional views that anticipated Jewish conversion at the end

Haven: Yale University Press, 2009). On developments in the High and Late Middle Ages, see Pelikan, The Growth of Medieval Theology, 160–74; Elizabeth A. Johnson, “Marian Devotion in the Western Church,” in Christian Spirituality: High Middle Ages and Reformation, ed. Jill Raitt, Bernard McGinn, and John Meyendorff, vol. 2 (New York: Crossroad, 1987), 392–414. 548 PL 172, cols. 495-518. (Translation: Honorius Augustodunensis, Sigillum Beatae Mariae: The Seal of Blessed Mary, trans. Amelia Carr (Toronto: Peregrina Pub. Co., 1991)). Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 172, cols. 347-496; For an analysis of the texts, see Flint, “The Commentaries of Honorius Augustodunensis on the Song of Songs”; Matter, The Voice of My Beloved, 58–76, 155–59; Fulton, From Judgment to Passion, 247–88. Flint, Matter (58-76, 155-159), and Fulton (247-288) 549 The Admont library holds twelfth-century copies of both his commentaries: Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 436 (Expositio) and 579 (Sigillum).

214 times, he is unprecedented in his optimistic understanding of Mary’s intercessory abilities and role as a facilitator for unity.550 Kati Ihnat, however, points out that most of

Honorius’ discussion of Mary in relation to the Jews, particularly in his Marian sermons in the Speculum ecclesiae,551 focuses on Mary as a virtuous example in contrast to the perfidy and hostility of the Jews. Such imagery, provided especially in the context of growing liturgy on Mary’s Assumption and Purification, instilled in the Christian listener proper morals and behavior.552

This increased emphasis on Marian liturgy and devotion certainly had an impact on the community at Admont. The Admont sermon corpus, for instance, displays a distinct mariological focus, several elements of which fall in line with contemporary thought.553 Mary was also particularly important to the nuns of Admont, holding the important status as one of their patrons alongside Martin of Tours (c. 316-397). Stefanie

Seeberg has studied the illustrations that the nuns produced in their devotional books, such as in their breviary (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MS 18). Mary’s image is a common feature in the illustrations. She is depicted as the Bride of Christ in relation to the Song of

Songs text, and her associated coronation served as a devotional image with which the nuns could relate, since they were also in a sense coronated with their reception of a

550 Ihnat, “‘Our Sister Is Little,’” 121–24. 551 PL 172, cols. 813-1103. 552 Ihnat, “‘Our Sister Is Little,’” 119–38, esp. 124-131. Ihnat carries this thesis further in her broader assessment of miracle stories circulating among English Benedictine communities in the twelfth century. See Kati Ihnat, Mother of Mercy, Bane of the Jews: Devotion to the Virgin Mary in Anglo-Norman England (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016). Miri Rubin makes a similar observation about devotion to Mary being used to highlight Jews as the ultimate opposition to her and Christianity. See Rubin, Mother of God, 161–68. 553 Beumer, “Der mariologische Gehalt der Predigten Gottfrieds von Admont.”

215 crown and ring upon their entrance into the monastic community.554 Interestingly enough, despite Irimbert’s close association with the Admont nuns and their spiritual development, there appears to be a certain disconnect between the themes he employed in his exegesis and the themes the nuns emphasized in their devotional material. For instance, as discussed in Chapter One, Irimbert does not interpret the bride in the Song of

Songs as Mary. But in the few instances where he does depict Mary, his interpretation is still in keeping with high medieval developments in Marian spirituality, particularly in relation to her role as intercessor, facilitated by virtue of her status as the Mother of

Christ.

Irimbert interposes an eschatological drama scene of Marian intervention into the biblical narrative of 3 Kings 2, likely influenced by Honorius’ (and Rupert’s) portrayal of

Mary as having an active role in salvation history, particularly regarding Jewish conversion. This chapter in the third book of Kings relates the controversy of succession after the death of King David, who had appointed his son Solomon to be king. Adonijah, however, claimed the natural right of succession, being the fourth son of David and the older half-brother of Solomon. Hoping to secure his claim to the throne through marriage to one of David’s widows, Adonijah sought the favor of Solomon’s mother Bathsheba.

He petitioned that she approach Solomon and ask permission to marry Abishag the

Shunammite (vv. 13-17). She acquiesced and approached Solomon on behalf of Adonijah

(vv. 18-21). Solomon, however, knew of his half-brother’s designs to usurp his kingdom, and he sent Benaiah to assassinate Adonijah and his supporters (vv. 22-34).

554 Seeberg, Die Illustrationen, 104–50; Seeberg, “Illustrations in the Manuscripts,” 113–17.

216 Irimbert’s allegorical rendering of the story replaces Adonijah’s nefarious intentions with the image of penitential Jews. Adonijah’s approach to Bathsheba, then, represents the Jewish people suppliantly appearing before the Virgin Mary. Irimbert describes her as “having the full septiform grace of the Holy Spirit, [and] who assuages the hunger and thirst of all the just and elect from the beginning of the world by the sweetness of her offspring,” referrring, of course, to her Son, “who restored peace between God and man.” Whence Irimbert praises Gloria in excelsis deo for this “our

Lady…mediator of all the unfortunate.”555 The Jewish people appear before this

Mediatrix, offering “true and indefatigable satisfaction of repentance,” knowing that their salvation is not possible without her.556 Irimbert thus portrays Mary as playing an essential role, acting as the mediator of salvation itself. He further offers praise through the voice of Adonijah, who as the type of the Jewish people, implores “Turn not away my face, because in you alone I buried the anchor of my faith, [you] who are my true sister and kindred, whom I recognize as my true Lady, Queen of man and angels.” The Jews ask their “sister” for union with “true wisdom by means of bodily mortification,” and she, being the “Mother of Mercy,” promises to take this request before the king.557 Irimbert

555 “Per bethsabeae quae puteus septimus uel puteus sacietatis dicitur beata semper uirgo Maria intelligitur, quae septiformis spiritus sanctis gratia plena fuit, quae sui partus dulcedine esuriem et sitim omnium ab initio saeculi iustorum et electorum restinxit. Quae mater est ueri salemonis, quia spiritus sancti operatione illum de suis uisceribus mundo protulit, qui pacem inter deum et hominem reformauit…Gloria in excelsis deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae uoluntatis [Luke 2:14] ad hanc ergo dominam nostram…cunctorum miserorum mediatricem...” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 344b, 345a). 556 “Adonias introitum suum pacificium esse respondet, dum populus iudaicus de transacta perfidia ueram et indefessam penitentiae satisfactionem beatae uirgini spondet. Proinde inquit sermo mihi est ad te, quia scio quod nulla mihi salus esse poterit o domina sine te.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 345a). 557 “Ne confundas faciem meam, quia in te folam spei meae defixi anchoram, quam uere sororem et cognatam meam, quam uere recognosco dominam meam, angelorum et hominum reginam…ut det mihi 217 then observes that Adonijah and Bathsheba spoke and responded to each other four times, that is, the Jewish people and Mary address each other in four successive manners

(modis). As a type for the Jews, Adonijah approaches Mary:

Repenting from the heart for the sin committed, believing in Christ, loving him with the whole heart, and by association asking for the forgiveness of sins.

While Bathsheba, or Mary, responds:

Mercifully having compassion, offering hope for salvation, intervening on his behalf before the Son, and, finally, guiding him to the door of remission and salvation.558

Irimbert, thus, creates a juxtaposition that illustrates the process of conversion and intercession between the Jews and Mary respectively. In so doing, he highlights the cooperative nature of this task of unification.

Following the biblical narrative and in fulfillment of her promise, Mary “crosses over from the pilgrimage of this world to the most glorious kingdom of her Son…that she might intercede for the Jewish people before Christ.” With his interpretation of

Bathsheba’s plea of intercession, Irimbert follows the current lines of Marian spirituality in emphasizing the mother-son relationship between Mary and Christ. She says “I desire of thee, God and man, and hence God and my Son…”559 In highlighting her status as the

abysac sunamitem uxorem, scilicet ut per ueram carnis mortificationem det mihi uerae spaientiae participationem…ego mater misericordiae loquar…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 345b, 346a). 558 “Quattuor modis iudaicus populus beatam Mariam alloquitur, de transacta perfidia ex corde penitendo, in christum credendo, ipsum ex toto corde diligendo, ab ipso per illam peccatorum indulgentiam expetendo. Quattuor item modis beata uirgo loquitur populo iudaico, ipsi misericorditer compatiendo, spem salutis suggerendo, pro ipso apud filium interueniendo, ipsum denique ad portum indulgentiae et salutis perducendo.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, p. 346a). 559 “Bethsabeae ad regem salemonem uenit, cum beatissima uirgo Maria de huius seculi peregrinatione ad gloriosissimum filii sui regnum transiuit. Ut loqueretur ei pro adonia, ut intercederet apud christum pro gente iudaica…ego mater misericordiae deprecor a te deo et homine, ac proinde dei et mei filio…” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 346b, 347a).

218 Mother of Christ, Irimbert adds weight to the request. Mary’s intercession then prompts

Christ to intercede before God the Father for the sake of the Jews’ salvation. He vows that they shall be put to death this day (v. 24), meaning:

The Jewish people will be destroyed before the completion of the world because the Christian people will be formed and created from them and in them.

Irimbert implies a kind of unification through transformation, with the Jewish people being killed, as it were, during their process of repentance and acceptance into the

Church. Indeed, just as Solomon sent Benaiah to kill Adonijah (v. 25),

Christ sends out the order of preachers, rightly preserving the form of apostolic teaching through the aspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the conversion of the Jewish people at the end of the world.560

This allegorized narrative thus encapsulates many of the themes Irimbert puts forward in his discussion on the Jews and their conversion. The Jewish people or the

Synagogue tend to come to a willing rather than coerced recognition of their sins and express a desire for forgivenes and unity with the Church. This process is aided by the persistent work of the order of preachers as well as through intercession, in this case, specifically that of Mary and Christ. In opposition to what Kati Ihnat observes with

Honorius’ use of Mary in his sermons, Irimbert does not insert Mary into the narrative simply to serve as an example of virtuous living or as a counter-example to Jewish perfidy. Rather, her function here is to highlight her intercessory role that ultimately

560 “Rex salemon per dominum iurat, cum filius dei deum patrem pro salute populi iudaici interpellat…Quia hodie adonias int[er]ficietur, quia in hoc tempore ante mundi consummationem populus iudaicus delebitur, cum populus christianus ex eo et in eo formabitur et procreabitur…Rex salemon per manum banaiae mittit, cum christus in fine mundi praedicatorum ordinem apostolicae doctrinae formam recte tenentem per spiritus sancti aspirationem ad populi iudaici conuersionem exurgere facit.” In librum Regum, 3 (Admont MS 16, pp. 347b, 348b).

219 serves to facilitate the all-important unity of the Church in history. Irimbert applies the cult of the Virgin to the eschatological drama of salvation, and in doing so he elevates the significance of Jewish conversion.

Conclusion

Irimbert’s exegetical theme of unity within diversity is an essential component in his overall vision of salvation history. Mirroring the twelfth-century zeal for organization and classification, Irimbert presents an ordered picture of salvation history in which each component has its own designated place and role to create a unified whole. Strongly implied in this motif of unity is the optimistic idea that the Church is steadily advancing on the path toward perfection and salvation, in contrast to the pessimistic view of the

Church being in a state of decline, as expressed by his contemporary Gerhoh. The Church perseveres in the face of heresy and schism, and simultaneously maintains unity among its diverse churches and professions. The twelfth century witnessed increased tension with the church in the East as well as a proliferation of religious orders and forms of life, but Irimbert appears to embrace the variety, and like his more optimistic peers, especially

Anselm of Havelberg, he sees a strong unity of faith and cooperation among the various groups that together make up one Church harvesting from the same fields of Scripture.

He expresses this idea most clearly in his detailed interpretation of the vision in Daniel 7, which presents a thriving Church across a lengthy span of history, with continuity from ancient models to present orders. This unity in the history of the Church further reflects the unity within Scripture, which is held together by Christ. Irimbert follows traditional interpretation regarding the transfer of inheritance from Israel to the gentiles, but he also 220 adamantly insists on the eventual reunion with the Synagogue. Despite the growing sense of hostility toward the Jewish community, Irimbert repeatedly emphasizes the conversion narrative and the positive nature of their admission into Christian society, urged on by

Christ himself and facilitated by the persisent work of the Church and her preachers.

Irimbert channels the enthusiasm of Marian devotion to highlight the significance of

Jewish conversion and the resulting unity between Church and Synagogue. And while he certainly displays ambivalence about the Jewish people’s virtue and ability to understand the ‘living spirit’ against the ‘killing letter,’ he clearly demonstrates a strong desire for ultimate union to achieve wholeness in the Church and thereby complete the course of salvation history.

221 Conclusion

Irimbert of Admont and his writings are emblematic of a dynamic monastic environment in the twelfth century. While Admont grew as a center for reform in its effort to revive strict monastic observance and maintain independence from lay interference, the Benedictine monastery also enthusiastically kept abreast with contemporary intellectual developments. Irimbert’s commentaries and sermons, written at the height of Admont’s influence, reflect this lively period of continuity and change and speak to an environment in which spirituality and intellectualism are strongly intertwined.

My examination of this understudied monk-exegete reveals the importance that this crucial source material has on our understanding of Admont and the Hirsau reform movement’s participation in the twelfth-century renaissance. As my analysis of Irimbert’s commentaries reveals, Irimbert was not simply a conservative exegete. Such a characterization ignores the fact that he had ready access to a diverse and up-to-date library collection that clearly informed his exegetical approach to scripture. As a product of a twelfth-century reformed monastic environment, Irimbert makes use of traditional themes of scriptural interpretation while also engaging with contemporary developments in theology and spirituality. His incorporation of contemporary ideas demonstrates that the Admont community was not only concerned with collecting current texts, but also applying them to enhance its own spiritual understanding.

Irimbert was thus an active participant in the broader developments of the twelfth century, and his exegetical texts offer another important voice to the list of more prominent players, who otherwise receive more attention from scholars. His approach to 222 scripture is certainly distinct, as he subtly interweaves the importance of history throughout his exploration of the biblical text. The interpretive tapestry that he creates is framed primarily in the historical books of the Old Testament, which was not a standard choice for allegorical exploration. From this historical foundation, then, Irimbert’s interpretation of Scripture reveals a unified and dramatic account of salvation history. He weaves essential elements into this narrative of salvation, namely Christ and his redemptive work, the roles of the Holy Spirit and preachers, the unity and progression of the Church, and the conversion of the Synagogue – elements that are all grounded in history.

Irimbert’s thorough spiritual analysis of the books of Kings, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and the Song of Songs reflects the intellectual environment at Admont and its rich manuscript collection. His approach to Scripture was influenced by Hugh of St. Victor, who insisted that the historical books of the Old Testament were not superfluous, but foundational to the pursuit of wisdom and the unraveling of spiritual mysteries. Irimbert’s unique scriptural selection also reflects the general interest in history at Admont, and more broadly, the growing interest in universal history throughout Western Europe during the twelfth century. The High Middle Ages were a dynamic period of rapid change. Historians and theologians of the period thus felt an urgent need to understand the changes and situate themselves within the bigger picture of historical progression, and they used a number of different schemes for conceptualizing the ages. Irimbert, too, conceptualizes world history in ways that reflect both traditional and contemporary schemes, with the particular intention of understanding the unfolding of salvation history.

Christ functioned as the hermeneutical key in reaching this understanding. Christ’s 223 redemptive work was figured quite literally in the historical books of the Old Testament, making them the foundation for spiritual wisdom.

Irimbert’s overarching theme of salvation history demonstrates a keen familiarity with contemporary concepts and debates on doctrine and spirituality. He subtly engages with nuanced topics throughout his allegorical rendering of the Old Testament historical books. The topic of salvation history itself became highly significant in the twelfth century, serving as the thematic structure for several theological summae. Irimbert followed in the steps of such influential figures as Rupert of Deutz, Hugh of St. Victor, and Gerhoh of Reichersberg in his presentation of the historical books of the Old

Testament. He heightens the importance of Christ’s work by noting the devastating effects of the first parent’s Fall and its impact on mankind. In his subsequent emphasis on the dual nature of Christ’s divinity and humanity, insisting on the union of one person, he demonstrates an awareness of contemporary Christological debates. Thus, while Irimbert maintains traditional terminology in his presentation of Christ and his mysteries, his

Christocentric outlook more closely resembles contemporary theological and spiritual concerns. Irimbert also engages in the subtleties concerning the distinctions in the role of the Holy Spirit. Following Rupert of Deutz, Irimbert presents varied manifestations of the

Holy Spirit, acknowledging the current sanctifying role of the third person of the Trinity.

He is also careful to note the special importance of the role that preachers play in the economy of salvation. Irimbert’s own background as a monk in the Hirsau tradition and as a spiritual advisor for the nuns at Admont certainly underpins his exegetical focus on preaching and teaching. An awareness of heated contemporary debates between regular canons and monks over matters of superiority and prerogatives likely informed his 224 discussions on proper pastoral care; a concern that involves imitation of the apostolic church through teaching virtuous behavior and knowledge of scripture verbo et exemplo.

Irimbert sees unity as an essential element in the progression of salvation history.

His ordered presentation of Christ’s redemptive work and the participation of the Church reflects the twelfth-century zeal for classification and organization. Irimbert echoes the optimistic sentiments of several of his contemporaries, who saw positive advancement in the Church in the wake of a proliferation of theological ideas and religious orders and ways of life. Rather than being in a state of decline, the Church was flourishing, and despite concern over heresy and schism, the Church was persevering in its maintenance of unity among its diverse churches. Irimbert appears to embrace the variety of orders and professions that had emerged over the course of the Church’s long history, and he sees a strong unity of faith and cooperation among these varied groups that together form one spiritual community. This unity within the Church is ultimately fostered by unity within Scripture, which is held together by Christ. Irimbert follows traditional interpretation regarding the harmony between the Old and New Testaments, as well as the transfer of inheritance from Israel to the gentiles. Despite Christ’s adoption of this new people, Irimbert still insists that Christ and the Church will achieve reunion with the

Synagogue and Jewish people. The twelfth century saw increased hostility toward the

Jewish community, but Irimbert repeatedly emphasizes the conversion narrative and the positive nature of their admission into Christian society. This desire for unity is reciprocated on all sides, and Jewish conversion is facilitated by the persistent work of the Church and her preachers. Furthermore, Irimbert asserts that the converted

Synagogue actually participates in the work of gathering the full number of elect by 225 virtue of her preaching skills and superior knowledge in Scripture, echoing certain elements from Honorius Augustodunensis’ eschatalogical portrayal. Irimbert also incorporates the growing enthusiasm surrounding devotion to the Virgin Mary, whom he sees as a merciful intercessor. Her presence in Irimbert’s allegorical interpretation heightens the significance of Jewish conversion and resulting unity between the Church and the Synagogue. Irimbert’s ambivalence and use of certain negative stereotypes about the Jewish people are minor additions to the more prominent and overarching picture of salvation history that requires the conversion of the Synagogue to complete the narrative.

Admont’s intellectual culture – a culture in which Irimbert was deeply immersed

– functions as a microcosm of the wider Hirsau context, and suggests further avenues of research into the neglected area of Hirsau reform spirituality. The Admont library itself still contains a wealth of material for further investigation of twelfth-century spirituality.

Irimbert may have been more prolific than previously thought, as the nuns’ manuscript collection contains a number of unattributed texts. Stephan Borgehammar has already noted the stylistic and thematic similarities between Irimbert’s known writings and the

Admont sermon corpus.561 Manuscripts containing portions of Irimbert’s early sermons also contain several anonymous sermons and commentaries.562 An examination of the stylistic and thematic components of these texts might also show similarities with

Irimbert’s known writings.

561 Borgehammar, “Who Wrote the Admont Sermon Corpus.” 562 See esp. Admont, Stiftsbibliothek MSS 650 and 682, and Vorau, Chorherrenstiftsbibliothek, MS 193.

226 The studies conducted by Alison Beach, Stefanie Seeberg, and Christina Lutter have done much to reveal the spiritual environment of the nuns at Admont, and more can certainly be said with regard to their interaction with the manuscripts, the role of preaching, and the cura monialium. These features are strongly intertwined in the creation of Irimbert’s own sermons and commentaries, as much of the material was preached to the nuns. As discussed in Chapter Two, the topic of medieval preaching has received increased attention over the years, but the more specific topic of monastic preaching is still understudied. Creating a typology of medieval sermons is fraught with difficulty. Attempts at formulating a concise definition can give too neat an impression of what is really a multifaceted genre. Sermons in their written form could come in various presentations, such as letters, saints’ lives, and biblical commentaries. The latter presentation has interesting connections with Irimbert’s own work, since several of his homilies were compiled into larger, coherent units in the form of commentaries, and scholars have not thoroughly studied this ambiguous form of the sermon genre.

That these sermons and commentaries were both directed to and edited by the nuns adds another fascinating dimension to the topic. A close examination of both the textuality and materiality of these manuscripts can offer a concrete demonstration of male-female collaboration on an intellectual and spiritual level. Indeed, cultural historian

Roger Chartier notes the strong connection between discourse and materiality. He argues that discourse should not be disconnected from the materiality that gives shape to discourse, the latter of which he calls the ‘order of books.’ As Chartier states,

“understanding the principles that govern the ‘order of discourse’ supposes that the principles underlying the processes of production, communication, and reception of 227 books (and other objects that bear writing) will also be deciphered in a rigorous manner…keen attention should be paid to the technical, visual, and physical devices that organize the reading of writing when writing becomes a book.”563 Applying this theory to

Irimbert and his collaboration with the nuns can reveal meaning and significance in the material process that went into the transmission of his texts. The nuns certainly had a great deal of literary agency in the material production of Irimbert’s writings, as they supposedly copied his sermons without his knowledge. Regarding the nuns’ scribal method in this endeavor, shorthand had largely fallen out of use by the twelfth century.

Scribes typically made use of tachygraphy, or rapid writing, during the process of recording sermons. Unlike shorthand, tachygraphy did not produce a literal record of the spoken word, though certainly a close representation.564 As such, the nuns’ voices are likely present in Irimbert’s writings.

Irimbert and the nuns continually added layers of meaning as they copied, read, and corrected these texts, and this process can be seen most clearly in the recensions of

Irimbert’s commentary on Ruth. These manuscripts present an interesting study on the editing process, particularly the earliest recension of the text in Vorau,

Chorherrenstiftsbibliothek, MS 193, which is filled with variants, displaying hundreds of both minor and major interlinear and marginal additions. Some additions were even written on smaller pieces of parchment that were then sewn to the codex leaves; post-it

563 Roger Chartier, The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Centuries, trans. Lydia G. Cochrane (Stanford: Standford University Press, 1994), ix. 564 Malcolm B. Parkes, “Tachygraphy in the Middle Ages: Writing Techniques Employed for ‘Reportationes’ of Lectures and Sermons,” in Scribes, Scripts, and Readers: Studies in the Communication, Presentation, and Dissemination of Medieval Texts, ed. Malcolm B. Parkes (London: Hambledon Press, 1991), 19–33.

228 notes of the Middle Ages. Johann Braun notes that some of the more substantial marginal additions to the earlier redactions were not integrated into the final versions.565 This is an interesting observation, and he questions if these notes were made by the nuns or

Irimbert. If the nuns made these notes, this might suggest their active use of these texts as study and devotional material, marking them with their own commentary. While Braun’s discussion of the corrections across these texts helps to establish the order of transmission, his analysis of the corrections themselves and their impact on the exegetical content of the texts is rather minimal. An examination of the editing process would offer an interesting case study on the negotiation of spirituality.

There is certainly reason to believe that the nuns valued Irimbert’s texts as devotional material, and they may have even served a liturgical function. The sermons on

Ruth and Judges 19-21 were clearly important to them, as they held several copies of the texts. The early recensions contain numerous red marginal notes that highlight the corresponding allegorical themes in the body of the text. Such notes would have been useful reader aids, indicating these manuscripts’ use as texts for study. The marginalia also contain hymn incipits and neumes. These additions raise interesting questions about their use in a liturgical context, and a closer study could contribute more to our understanding of the sermon genre and its intersection with the liturgy.

* * *

Irimbert of Admont was a beloved and skilled preacher and exegete. He devoted much of his time to the task of understanding the deeper meanings of Scripture, whether

565 Braun, “Die Überlieferung der Schriften,” 98.

229 in the context of serving as a spiritual director to the nuns of Admont or working as a full-time exegete for a brief span of years. His writings and engagement with the wider intellectual world of the twelfth century are too significant to have remained in obscurity for so long. Irimbert’s texts may not not have enjoyed wide acclaim, as they were not dispersed outside of Admont, but his efforts still contribute to the broader context of spirituality and reform. His understanding of scripture was valued at Admont during his day – and presumably also at St. George – and they remain a valuable component in today’s understanding of the twelfth-century intellectual milieu and its interaction with the theological and spiritual life of a reformed monastic community.

230 Bibliography

Primary Sources

Die Admonter Briefsammlung. Edited by Günther Hödl and Peter Classen. MGH, Briefe d. dt. Kaiserzeit 9. Munich: Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 1983.

Adso of Montier-en-Der. De ortu et tempore Antichristi. Edited by D. Verhelst. CCCM 45. Turnhout: Brepols, 1976.

Ambrose of Milan. Hexameron. In Saint Ambrose: Hexameron, Paradise, and Cain and Abel, translated by John J. Savage. Fathers of the Church 42. New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1961.

Angelomus of Luxeuil. Commentarius in Genesin. PL 115, cols. 107-244.

———. Enarrationes in Cantica Canticorum. PL 115, cols. 551-628.

———. Enarrationes in libros Regum. PL 115, cols. 243-552.

Annales Admuntenses. Edited by Gregorius Heinricus Pertz. MGH, Scriptores 9. Hanover, 1851.

Anselm of Havelberg. Dialogues. PL 188, cols. 1138-1252.

———. Anticimenon: On the Unity of the Faith and the Controversies with the Greeks. Translated by Ambrose Criste and Carol Neel. Cistercian Studies 232. Collegeville, NM: Cistercian Publications, 2010.

Augustine of Hippo. De catechizandis rudibus. Edited by M. P. J. van den Hout, et al. CCSL 46. Turnhout: Brepols, 1969.

———. De civitate dei. Edited by B. Dombart and A. Kalb. CCSL 47-48. Turnhout: Brepols, 1955.

———. De doctrina christiana. Edited by K. D. Daur and J. Martin. CCSL 32. Turnhout: Brepols, 1962.

———. Enarrationes in Psalmos. Edited by E. Dekkers and J. Fraipont. CCSL 38-40. Turnhout: Brepols, 1956.

———. La Règle de Saint Augustin. Edited by Lucien Verheijen. 2 vols. Paris: Études augustiniennes, 1967.

231 ———. De trinitate. Edited by W. J. Mountain and F. Glorie. CCSL 50. Turnhout: Brepols, 1968.

———. Augustine of Hippo and His Monastic Rule. Translated by George Lawless. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987.

———. Concerning the City of God Against the Pagans. Translated by Henry Bettenson. London: Penguin Books, 2003.

———. Saint Augustine. On Christian Teaching. Translated by R. P. H. Green. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

———. The Trinity. Translated by Stephen McKenna. Fathers of the Church 45. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1963.

Bede, Venerable. Opera exegetica. Edited by D. Hurst, et al. CCSL 118-121. Turnhout: Brepols, 1962-2001.

Bernard of Clairvaux. Sermones Super Cantica Canticorum. Edited by Jean Leclercq, C. H. Talbot, and H. M. Rochais. Vol. 1–2. Rome: Editiones Cistercienses, 1957.

———. Sermons on the Song of Songs. Translated by Kilian Walsh and Irene Edmonds. Cistercian Fathers 4, 7, 31, 40. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1971- 1980.

Biblia Latina Cum Glossa Ordinaria: Facsimile Reprint of the Editio Princeps Adolph Rusch of Strassburg 1480/81. Edited by Karlfried Froehlich and Margaret T. Gibson. Turnhout: Brepols, 1992.

Cassiodorus. Expositio Psalmorum. Edited by M. Adriaen. CCSL 97-98. Turnhout: Brepols, 1958.

Chrodegang of Metz. Regula canonicorum. PL 89, cols. 1097-1120.

Claudius of Turin. Commentarii in Genesim. PL 50, cols. 893-1048.

———. Commentarii in libros Regum. PL 50, cols. 1047-1208 and PL 104, cols. 623- 834.

———. Expositio in libro Ruth. In I. M. Douglas, “The Commentary on the Book of Ruth by Claudius of Turin.” Sacris Erudiri 22 (1975 1974): 295–320.

———. Deux commentaires sur le livre de Ruth. Translated by George Colveneere, I. M Douglas, and Pierre Monat. Sources chrétiennes 533. Paris: Cerf, 2009.

232

Gerhoh of Reichersberg. Letter to Pope Hadrian About the Novelties of the Day. Edited by Nikolaus M. Häring. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974.

———. Libellus de ordine donorum Spiritus sancti. In Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis Opera Inedita, vol. 1, edited by Damien and Odulphe Van den Eynde and Angelin Rijmersdael, 65-165. Rome: Pontificium Athenaeum Antonianum, 1955.

———. Liber contra duas haereses. PL 194, cols. 1161-1183.

Gilbert Universal. Gilbertus Universalis: Glossa Ordinaria in Lamentationes Ieremie Prophete, Prothemata et Liber 1. Edited by Andrée Alexander. Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell International, 2005.

Glossa Ordinaria Pars 22 In Canticum Canticorum. Edited by Mary Dove. CCCM 170. Turnhout: Brepols, 1997.

The “Glossa Ordinaria” on the Song of Songs. Translated by Mary Dove. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2004.

Godfrey of Admont. Epistola ad O. quondam monachum suum. PL 174, cols. 1209-1212.

———. Homiliae, PL 174, cols. 21-1210.

Gregory the Great. Homiliae in Hiezechielem prophetam. Edited by M. Adriaen. CCSL 142. Turnhout: Brepols, 1971.

———. In librum primum Regum. Edited by P. –P. Verbraken. CCSL 144. Turnhout: Brepols, 1971.

———. La Règle pastorale. Edited by Bruno Judic, et al. SC 381-382. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1992.

———. Moralia in Iob. Edited by M. Adriaen. CCSL 143. Turnhout: Brepols, 1979, 1985.

———. The Book of Pastoral Rule. Translated by George Demacopoulus. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007.

———. The Homilies of St. Gregory the Great on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. Edited by Juliana Cownie. Translated by Theodosia Gray. Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 1990.

233 ———. Moral Reflections on the Book of Job. Translated by Brian Kerns. Cistercian Studies Series, 249, 257, 258, 259. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2014-2017.

Honorius Augustodunensis. Expositio in Cantica Canticorum. PL 172, cols. 347-496.

———. Sigillum Beatae Mariae. PL 172, cols. 495-518.

———. Speculum ecclesiae. PL 172, cols. 813-1103.

———. Sigillum Beatae Mariae: The Seal of Blessed Mary. Translated by Amelia Carr. Toronto: Peregrina Pub. Co., 1991.

Hugh of St. Victor. Didascalicon de studio legendi: a Critical Text. Edited by Charles Henry Buttimer. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Press, 1939.

———. Diligens scrutator. PL 175, cols. 20-23, 25-28.

———. De institutione novitiorum. In L’oeuvre de Hugues de Saint-Victor, vol. 1, edited by H. B. Feiss and P. Sicard, translated by Dominique Poirel, Henri Rochais, and P. Sicard, 7-114. Turnhout: Brepols, 1997.

———. De sacramentis Christiane fidei. Edited by Rainer Berndt. Corpus Victorinum, Textus historicii 1. Münster: Aschendorff, 2008.

———. De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris. PL 175 175, cols. 9-28.

———. Didascalicon on the Study of Reading. In Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, edited by Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, translated by Franklin T. Harkins, 81–201. Victorine Texts in Translation 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.

———. The Diligent Examiner. In Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, edited by Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, translated by Frans Van Liere, 231–52. Victorine Texts in Translation 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.

———. On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (de Sacramentis). Translated by Roy J. Deferrari. Cambridge, MA: Mediaeval Academy of America, 1951.

———. On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith: Prologues. In Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, edited by Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van

234 Liere, translated by Christopher P. Evans, 261–67. Victorine Texts in Translation 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.

———. On Sacred Scripture and Its Authors. In Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, edited by Franklin T. Harkins and Frans Van Liere, translated by Frans Van Liere, 213–30. Victorine Texts in Translation 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.

Idung of Prüfening. Cistercians and Cluniacs, the Case for Cîteaux: A Dialogue between Two Monks, an Argument on Four Questions. Translated by Jeremiah F. O’Sullivan, Joseph Leahey, and Grace Perrigo. Cistercian Fathers 33. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1977.

Institutio canonicorum. PL 105, cols. 805-954.

Irimbert of Admont, In Canticum Canticorum. In Thesaurus anecdotorum novissimus: seu Veterum monumentorum, praecipue ecclesiasticorum, ex germanicis potissimum bibliothecis adornata collectio recentissima, vol. 2 part 1, cols. 369- 424, edited by Bernard Pez. Augsburg, 1721.

———. Historia de Concubina. In Thesaurus anecdotorum novissimus: seu Veterum monumentorum, praecipue ecclesiasticorum, ex germanicis potissimum bibliothecis adornata collectio recentissima, vol. 4 part 1, cols. 397-440, edited by Bernard Pez. Augsburg, 1723.

———. De incendio monasterii sui. In Bibliotheca Ascetica Antiquo-Nova, vol. 8, 455- 464, edited by Bernard Pez. Regensburg, 1725.

———. In librum Iosue. Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 17, pp. 1-223.

———. In librum Iudicum. In Thesaurus anecdotorum novissimus: seu Veterum monumentorum, praecipue ecclesiasticorum, ex germanicis potissimum bibliothecis adornata collectio recentissima, vol. 4 part 1, cols. 129-440, edited by Bernard Pez. Augsburg, 1723.

———. In librum Regum. Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 16.

———. In librum Ruth. In Thesaurus anecdotorum novissimus: seu Veterum monumentorum, praecipue ecclesiasticorum, ex germanicis potissimum bibliothecis adornata collectio recentissima, vol. 4 part 1, cols. 443-472, edited by Bernard Pez. Augsburg, 1723.

———. Prologus in librum Regum and Iosue. In Johann Wilhelm Braun, “Irimbert von Admont,” Frühmittelalterliche Studien 7 (1973): 315-323. 235

Isidore of Seville. Allegoriae quaedam sacrae scripturae. PL 83, cols. 97-130.

———. Isidori Hispalensis episcopi Etymologiarvm sive Originvm. Edited by Wallace M. Lindsay. 2 vols. E Typographeo Clarendoniano, 1911.

———. The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Translated by Stephen A Barney. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Jerome. Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum. Edited by P. de Lagarde, et al. CCSL 72. Turnhout: Brepols, 1959.

Libellus de diversis ordinibus et professionibus qui sunt in aecclesia. Translated by Giles Constable and Bernard Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.

Monastic Experience in Twelfth-Century Germany: The Chronicle of Petershausen in Translation. Translated by Alison I. Beach, Shannon M. T. Li, and Samuel S. Sutherland. Manchester: Manchester University Press [forthcoming 2018].

Möser-Mersky, Gerlinde, ed. Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge Österreichs, 3: Steiermark. Graz-Vienna-Cologne: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1961.

Necrologium Admuntenses. Edited by Sigismundus Herzberg-Fränkel. MGH, Necrologia Germaniae 2. Berolini, 1904.

Peter Abelard. Opera theologica III, Theologia ‘summi boni’. Edited by E. M. Buytaert and Constant Mews. CCCM 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 1987.

Rabanus Maurus. Expositiones. PL 107-109.

———. Deux commentaires sur le livre de Ruth. Translated by George Colveneere, I. M. Douglas, and Pierre Monat. Sources chrétiennes 533. Paris: Cerf, 2009.

Rupert of Deutz. Altercatio monachi et clerici quod liceat monacho praedicare. PL 170, cols. 537-542.

———. Anulus Siue Dialogus Inter Christianum et Iudaeum. In Ruperto Di Deutz E La Controuersia Tra Christiani Ed Ebrei Nel Secolo XII, edited by Rhaban Haacke and Maria Lodovica Arduini, 183–242. Studi Storici 119–121. Rome: Istudo storico italiano per il Medio Evo, 1979.

———. In Apocalypsim. PL 169, cols. 825-1214.

———. De glorifactione Trinitatis et processione Spiritus sancti. PL 169, cols. 13-202.

236

———. De sancta trinitate et operibus eius. Edited by Rhaban Haacke. CCCM 21-24. Turnhout: Brepols, 1971-1972.

———. Super quaedam capitula regulae Benedicti. PL 170, cols. 477-538.

———. De victoria verbi dei. Edited by Rhaban Haacke. MGH, Geistesgeschichte 5. Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1970.

Vita Gebehardi et successorum eius. Edited by Gregorius Heinricus Pertz. MGH, Scriptores 11. Hanover, 1854.

Vita Willihelmi abbatis. Edited by Gregorius Heinricus Pertz. MGH, Scriptores 12. Hanover, 1856.

William of Hirsau. Willehelmi abbatis Constitutiones Hirsaugienses. Edited by Pius Engelbert O.S.B. 2 vols. Corpus Consuetudinum Monasticarum 15. Siegburg: Schmitt, 2010.

Secondary Sources

Abulafia, Anna Sapir. Christians and Jews in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance. London; New York: Routledge, 1995.

———. “Continuity and Change in Twelfth-Century Christian-Jewish Relations.” In European Transformation: The Long Twelfth Century, edited by Thomas F. X. Noble and John Van Engen, 314–37. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2011.

———. “Jewish-Christian Disputations and the Twelfth-Century Renaissance.” Journal of Medieval History 15, no. 2 (1989): 105–25.

———. “The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism.” In Christians and Jews in Dispute: Disputational Literature and the Rise of Anti-Judaism in the West (C. 1000-1150), 77–82. Aldershot, Great Britain: Ashgate, 1998.

———. “The Ideology of Reform and Changing Ideas Concerning Jews in the Works of Rupert of Deutz and Hermannus Quondam Iudeus.” Jewish History 7 (1993): 43– 63.

———. “Twelfth-Century Christian Expectations of Jewish Conversion: A Case Study of Peter of Blois.” Aschkenas 8 (1998): 45–70.

237

Arnold, Klaus. “Admont und die monastische Reform des 12. Jahrhunderts.” Zeitschrift der Saviigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung 58 (1972): 350–69.

Astell, Ann W. The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990.

Barmann, Lawrence. “Reform Ideology in the ‘Dialogi’ of Anselm of Havelberg.” Church History 30 (1961): 379–95.

Baron, Roger. “Rapports entre saint Augustin et Hugues de Saint-Victor. Trois opuscules de Hughes de Saint-Victor.” Revue des études augustiniennes 5 (1959): 391–429.

Bataillon, Louis-Jacques. “De la lectio à la praedicatio: commentaires bibliques et sermons au XIIIe siècle.” Revue des sciences philosophiques et théologiques 70 (1986): 559–75.

Beach, Alison I. “Claustration and Collaboration between the Sexes in the Twelfth- Century Scriptorium.” In Monks and Nuns, Saints and Outcasts: Religion in Medieval Society, edited by Sharon A. Farmer, Lester K. Little, and Barbara H. Rosenwein, 57–75. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000.

———. “The Multiform Grace of the Holy Spirit: Salvation History and the Book of Ruth at Twelfth-Century Admont.” In Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, edited by Alison I. Beach, 125–37. Medieval Church Studies 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007.

———. The Trauma of Monastic Reform: Community and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Germany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.

———. “Voices from a Distant Land: Fragments of a Twelfth-Century Nuns’ Letter Collection.” Speculum 77 (2002): 34–54.

———. Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in Twelfth-Century Bavaria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Benson, Robert L, and Giles Constable, eds. Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.

Berndt, Rainer. “The School of St. Victor in Paris.” In Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), edited by Magne Sæbø, C Brekelmans, Menahem Haran, Michael A

238 Fishbane, Jean Louis Ska, and Peter Machinist, 467–95. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.

Beumer, Johannes. “Der mariologische Gehalt der Predigten Gottfrieds von Admont.” Scholastik 35 (1960): 43–49.

Black, Jonathan. “De Civitate Dei and the Commentaries of Gregory the Great, Isidore, Bede, and Hrabanus Maurus on the Book of Samuel.” Augustinian Studies 15 (1984): 114–27.

Blumenthal, Uta-Renate. The Investiture Controversy: Church and Monarchy from the Ninth to the Twelfth Century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.

Borgehammar, Stephan. “Who Wrote the Admont Sermon Corpus – Gottfried the Abbot, His Brother Irimbert, or the Nuns?” In De L’homélie Au Sermon: Histoire de La Predication Médiévale, edited by Jacqueline Hamesse and Xavier Hermand, 47– 51. Louvain-la-Neuve: Institut d’Études Médiévales de l’Université Catholique de Louvain, 1993.

Boswell, John. The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988.

Braun, Johann Wilhelm. “Die Überlieferung der Schriften Gottfrieds und Irimberts von Admont mit einem Lebensabriß Iimberts.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Giessen, 1967.

———. “Einige Bemerkungen zur Beurteilung der ‘Admonter Reform’ sowie der Äbte Gottfried und Irimbert von Admont in der neuen Literatur.” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 87 (1976): 431–34.

———. “Irimbert von Admont.” Frühmittelalterliche Studien 7 (1973): 266–323.

Burgess, Stanley M. The Holy Spirit: Medieval Roman Catholic and Reformation Traditions (Sixth-Sixteenth Centuries). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.

Burton, Janet E, and Karen Stöber, eds. The Regular Canons in the Medieval British Isles. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.

239 Bynum, Caroline Walker. “Did the Twelfth Century Discover the Individual?” In Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, 82–109. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.

———. Docere Verbo et Exemplo: An Aspect of Twelfth-Century Spirituality. Missoula, MO: Scholars Press, 1979.

———. “The Spirituality of Regular Canons in the Twelfth Century.” In Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, 22–58. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.

Chartier, Roger. The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Translated by Lydia G. Cochrane. Stanford: Standford University Press, 1994.

Chase, Steven. Angelic Wisdom: The Cherubim and the Grace of Contemplation in Richard of St. Victor. Studies in Spirituality and Theology 2. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995.

———. Contemplation and Compassion: The Victorine Tradition. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2003.

Châtillon, Jean. “De Guillaume de Champeaux à Thomas Gallus: Chronique d’hoistoire littéraire et doctrinale de l’école de Saint-Victor.” Revue du moyen âge latin 8 (1952): 139–62.

———. Le mouvement canonial au moyen age: réforme de l’église, spiritualité et culture. Edited by Patrice Sicard. Paris: Brepols, 1992.

Chenu, Marie-Dominique. “Monks, Canons, and Laymen in Search of the Apostolic Life.” In Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, translated by Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little, 202–38. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.

———. “The Evangelical Awakening.” In Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, translated by Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little, 239–69. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.

———. “The Old Testament in Twelfth-Century Theology.” In Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, translated by Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little, 146–61. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.

240 ———. “Theology and the New Awareness of History.” In Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, translated by Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little, 162–201. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.

Clark, Elizabeth A. The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.

———. Reading Renunciation: Asceticism and Scripture in Early Christianity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.

———. “The Uses of the Song of Songs: Origen and the Later Fathers.” In Ascetic Piety and Women’s Faith: Essay on Late Ancient Christianity. Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen Press, 1986.

Clark, F. “Authorship of the Commentary ‘In 1 Regum’: Implications of A. de Vogüé’s Discovery.” Revue Bénédictine 108 (1998): 61–79.

Classen, Peter. “Der Häresie-Begriff bei Gerhoch von Reichersberg und in seinem Umkreis.” In Ausgewählte Aufsätze von Peter Classen, edited by Josef Fleckenstein, 461–73. Sigmaringen: Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 1983.

———. Gerhoch von Reichersberg: eine Biographie mit einem Anhang über die Quellen, ihre handschriftliche Überlieferung und ihre Chronologie. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1960.

———. “Res Gestae, Universal History, Apocalypse: Visions of Past and Future.” In Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, edited by Robert L Benson and Giles Constable, 387–417. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.

———. “Zur Geschichte der Frühscholastik in Österreich und Bayern.” Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 67 (1959): 249–77.

Cohen, Jeremy. Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval Christianity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

———. “‘Synagoga Conversa’: Honorius Augustodunensis, the Song of Songs, and Christianity’s ‘Eschatological Jew.’” Speculum 79 (2004): 309–40.

———. The Friars and the Jews: The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982.

———. “The Jews as the Killers of Christ in the Latin Tradition from Augustine to the Friars.” Traditio 39 (1983): 1–27.

241

———. “The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation: Romans 11:25-26 in Patristic and Medieval Exegesis.” The Harvard Theological Review 98, no. 3 (2005): 247–81.

Colish, Marcia Lillian. “Systematic Theology and Theological Renewal in the Twelfth Century.” Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 18 (1988): 135–56.

Congar, Yves. “Les Laïcs et l'Ecclésiologie des ‘ordines’ chez les théologiens des XI et XII siècles.” In I laici nella “Societas Christiana” dei secoli XI e XII. Atti della terza Settimana internazionale di studio, Mendola, 1965, 83-117. Milan: Vita e pensiero, 1968.

Constable, Giles. Monastic Tithes: From Their Origins to the Twelfth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964.

———. “Past and Present in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries: Perceptions of Time and Change.” In L’Europa Dei Secoli XI E XII Fra Novità E Tradizione: Sviluppi Di Una Cultura: Atti Della Decima Settimana Internazionale Di Studio, Mendola, 25-29 Agosto 1986, 135–70. Milan: Vita e pensiero, 1989.

———. The Reformation of the Twelfth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

———. Three Studies in Medieval Religious and Social Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Coolman, Boyd Taylor. The Theology of Hugh of St. Victor: An Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Coolman, Boyd Taylor, and Dale M Coulter, eds. Trinity and Creation. Victorine Texts in Translation 1. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 2011.

Cotts, John D. Europe’s Long Twelfth Century: Order, Anxiety, and Adaptation, 1095- 1229. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Cross, Richard. “Homo Assumptus in the Christology of Hugh of St Victor: Some Historical and Theological Revisions.” The Journal of Theological Studies 65 (2014): 62–77.

Dahan, Gilbert. “Genres, Forms and Various Methods in Christian Exegesis of the Middle Ages.” In Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), edited by Magne Saebø, et al., 1.2:196–236. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.

242 ———. L’exégèse chrétienne de la Bible en Occident médiéval, XIIe-XIVe siècle. Paris: Cerf, 1999.

Daniélou, Jean. Essai sur le mystère de l’histoire. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1953.

———. Sacramentum futuri; études sur les origines de la typologie biblique. Paris: Beauchesne, 1950.

Deem, Michael J. “A Christological Renaissance: The Chalcedonian Turn of St. Anselm of Canterbury.” The Saint Anselm Journal 2 (2004): 42–51.

Deme, Daniel. The Christology of Anselm of Canterbury. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003.

Demm, Eberhard. Reformmönchtum und Slawenmission im 12. Jahrhundert. Wertsoziologish-Geistesgeschichtliche Studien zu den Viten Ottos von Bamberg. Historische Studien 419. Hamburg: Matthiesen, 1970.

Dereine, Charles. “Chanoines.” In Dictionnaire d’Histoire et de Géographie Ecclésiastiques, 12:353–405. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1953.

———. Les chanoines réguliers au diocèse de Liège avant saint Norbert. Brussels: Palais des académies, 1952.

———. “Vie Commune, Règle de Saint Augustin et Chanoines Réguliers Au XIe Siècle.” Révue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique 41 (1946): 365–406.

Diehl, Jay. “Masters and Schools at St Laurent: Rupert of Deutz and the Scholastic Culture of a Liégeois Monastery.” In Medieval Liege at the Crossroads of Europe: Monastic Society and Culture 1000-1300, edited by Steven Vanderputten, Tjamke Snijders, and Jay Diehl, 151–82. Medieval Church Studies 37. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017.

———. “The Grace of Learning: Visions, Education and Rupert of Deutz’s View of Twelfth-Century Intellectual Culture.” Journal of Medieval History 39 (2013): 20–47.

Egger, Christoph. “Basilisken und ägyptische Frösche. Alte und neue Theologie im bayerisch-österreichischen Raum im 12. Jahrhundert.” Archa Verbi 1 (2004): 143–62.

———. “Die Verbreitung der Werke Ruperts von Deutz in Süddeutschland und sein Leser- und Interessentenkreis.” In Rupert von Deutz - ein Denker zwischen den Zeiten? Internationales Symposion der Erzbischöflichen Diözesan- und Dombibliothek Köln und des Instituts für Christliche Philosophie der Leopold-

243 Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, (20. bis 22. September 2007), edited by Heinz Finger, 15–32. Köln: Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, 2009.

———. “Neue Überlieferungen theologischer Texte der Frühscholastik in Österreichischen Bibliotheken.” Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 122 (2014): 99–106.

———. “Scholar’s Suitcase: Books and the Transfer of Knowledge in Twelfth-Century Europe.” In The Church and the Book: Papers Read at the 2000 Summer Meeting and the 2001 Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society, edited by R. N Swanson, 87–97. Studies in Church History 38. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell & Brewer, 2004.

———. “Viktorinische Exegese in Süddeutschland und Österreich im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert.” In Bibel und Exegese in der Abtei Saint-Victor zu Paris. Form und Funktion eines Grundtextes im europäischen Rahmen, edited by Rainer Berndt, 539–55. Münster: Aschendorff, 2009.

Ehlers, Joachim. Hugo von St. Viktor: Studien zum Geschichtsdenken und zur Geschichtsschreibung des 12. Jahrhunderts. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1973.

Evans, Gillian Rosemary. “Hugh of St. Victor on History and the Meaning of Things.” Studia Monastica 25 (1983): 223–34.

Faust, Ulrich. “Admonts Rezeption der Hirsauer Reform. Benediktinische Spiritualität des 12. Jahrhunderts.” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 124 (2013): 127–40.

———. “Gottfried von Admont: ein monastischer Autor des 12. Jahrhunderts.” Studien und Mittailungen des Benediktinerordens 75 (1964): 271–395.

Flint, Valerie I. J. Ideas in the Medieval West: Texts and Their Contexts. London: Variorum Reprints, 1988.

———. “The Commentaries of Honorius Augustodunensis on the Song of Songs.” Revue Bénédictine 84 (1974): 196–211.

———. “The ‘School of Laon’: a Reconsideration.” Recherches de Théologie Ancienne et Médiévale 43 (1976): 89–110.

Froehlich, Karlfried. “Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament in the High Middle Ages.” In Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), edited by Magne Saebø, et al., 1.2:496–558. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.

244

Fuchs, Gregor. “Abt Irimbert von Admont.” Mittheilungen des historischen Verians für Steiermark 10 (1861): 194–206.

Fulton, Rachel. From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800- 1200. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

———. “Mimetic Devotion, Marian Exegesis, and the Historical Sense of the Song of Songs.” Viator 27 (1996): 86–116.

Funkenstein, Amos. “Basic Types of Christian Anti-Jewish Polemics in the Later Middle Ages.” Viator 2 (1971): 373–82.

———. “Changes in the Patterns of Christian Anti-Jewish Polemics in the 12th Century.” Zion 33 (1968): 124–44.

———. “Periodization and Self-Understanding in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times.” Medievalia et Humanistica 5 (1974): 3–23.

Gardiner, F. C. The Pilgrimage of Desire: A Study of Theme and Genre in Medieval Literature. Leiden: Brill, 1971.

Gibson, Margaret T. “The Place of the ‘Glossa Ordinaria’ in Medieval Exegesis.” In Ad Litteram: Authoritative Texts and Their Medieval Readers, edited by M.D. Jordan and K. Emery, 5–27. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992.

———. “The Twelfth-Century Glossed Bible.” Studia Patristica 23 (1989): 232–44.

Goy, Rudolf. Die Überlieferung der Werke Hugos von St. Viktor: ein Beitrag zur Kommunikationsgeschichte des Mittelalters. Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 1976.

Griffiths, Fiona J. “’Men’s Duty to Provide for Women’s Needs’: Abelard, Heloise, and Their Negotiation of the Cura Monialium.” Journal of Medieval History 30 (2004): 1–24.

Griffiths, Fiona J., and Julie Hotchin, eds. Partners in Spirit: Women, Men, and Religious Life in Germany, 1100-1500. Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts 24. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.

Hall, Thomas Nelson. “The Early Medieval Sermon.” In The Sermon, edited by Beverly Mayne Kienzle, 203–69. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000.

245 Hallinger, Kassius. Gorze-Kluny. Studien zu den monastischen Lebensformen und Gegensätzen im Hochmittelalter. Studia Anselmiana, Philosophica, Theologica 22–25. Rome: Herder, 1950.

Härdelin, Alf. “God’s Visiting: A Basic Theme in the Homilies Ascribed to Godfrey of Admont.” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 27 (1992): 23–38.

Häring, Nikolaus M. “A Third Manuscript of Peter Abelard’s Theologia Summi Boni (MS Oxford, Bodl. Lyell 49).” Mediaeval Studies 18 (1956): 215–24.

———. Commentaries on Boethius by Thierry of Chartres and His School. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies: Studies and Texts 20. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1971.

———. “Commentary and Hermeneutics.” In Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, edited by Robert L Benson and Giles Constable, 173–200. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.

Harkins, Franklin T. “‘Homo Assumptus’ at St. Victor: Reconsidering the Relationship between Victorine Christology and Peter Lombard’s First Opinion.” The Thomist 72 (2008): 595–624.

———. Reading and the Work of Restoration: History and Scripture in the Theology of Hugh of St. Victor. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2009.

———. “Secundus Augustinus: Hugh of St. Victor on Liberal Arts Study and Salvation.” Augustinian Studies 37 (2006): 219–46.

Harkins, Franklin T, and Frans Van Liere. Interpretation of Scripture: Practice. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard, and Leontius of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun, Peter Comestor and Maurice of Sully. Victorine Texts in Translation 6. Turnhout: Brepols, 2015.

Harkins, Franklin T., and Frans Van Liere, eds. Interpretation of Scripture: Theory. A Selection of Works of Hugh, Andrew, Richard and Godfrey of St Victor, and of Robert of Melun. Victorine Texts in Translation 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.

Haskins, Charles Homer. The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1955.

Hauck, Albert. Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands. Vol. 4. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1913.

Head, Thomas F. “‘Monastic’ and ‘Scholastic’ Theology: A Change of Paradigm?” In Paradigms in Medieval Thought Applications in Medieval Disciplines: A

246 Symposium, edited by Nancy Van Deusen and Alvin E Ford, 127–41. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990.

Heinzer, Felix. Klosterreform und mittelalterliche Buchkultur im deutschen Südwesten. Leiden: Brill, 2008.

Hotchin, Julie. “Abbot as Guardian and Cultivator of Virtues: Two Perspectives on the Cura Monialium in Practice.” In Our Medieval Heritage: Essays in Honour of John Tillotson for His 60th Birthday, edited by Linda Rasmussen, et al., 50–64. Cardiff: Merton Priory Press, 2002.

———. “Female Religious Life and the Cura Monialium in Hirsau Monasticism, 1080- 1150.” In Listen Daughter: The Speculum Virginum and the Formation of Religious Women in the Middle Ages, edited by Constant J. Mews, 59–83. New York: Basingstoke, 2001.

Ihnat, Kati. Mother of Mercy, Bane of the Jews: Devotion to the Virgin Mary in Anglo- Norman England. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.

———. “‘Our Sister Is Little and Has No Breasts’: Mary and the Jews in the Sermons of Honorius Augustodunensis.” In The Jewish-Christian Encounter in Medieval Preaching, edited by Jonathan Adams and Jussi Hanska, 119–38, 2015.

Illich, Ivan. In the Vineyard of the Text: A Commentary to Hugh’s Didascalicon. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Jakobs, Hermann. Die Hirsauer. Ihre Ausbreitung und Rechtsstellung im Zeitalter des Investiturstreites. Kölner historische Abhandlungen 4. Cologne: Böhlau, 1961.

Jestice, Phylis. Wayward Monks and the Religious Revolution of the Eleventh Century. Leiden: Brill, 1997.

Johanek, Peter. “Ein Mandat Papst Hadrian IV für die Mönche von Seeon und die Ordensreform in der Kirchen-province Salzburg.” Studien und Mitteilungen aus dem Benediktinerorden und seinen Zweigen 83 (1972): 162–75.

Johnson, Elizabeth A. “Marian Devotion in the Western Church.” In Christian Spirituality: High Middle Ages and Reformation, edited by Jill Raitt, Bernard McGinn, and John Meyendorff, 2:392–414. New York: Crossroad, 1987.

Jones, Joseph R. “The Song of Songs as a Drama in the Commentators from Origen to the Twelfth Century.” Comparative Drama 17 (1983): 17–39.

247 Jong, Mayke de. In Samuel’s Image: Child Oblation in Early Medieval West. Leiden: Brill, 1996.

Jong, Mayke de. “Old Law and New-Found Power: Hrabanus Maurus and the Old Testament.” In Centres of Learning: Learning and Location in Pre-Modern Europe and the Near East, edited by Jan Willem Drijvers and A. A MacDonald, 161–76. Leiden: Brill, 1995.

Kessler, Stephan. “Gregory the Great: A Figure of Tradition and Transition in Church Exegesis.” In Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), edited by Magne Saebø, et al., 1.2:135–47. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.

Kienzle, Beverly Mayne. “Introduction.” In The Sermon, edited by Beverly Mayne Kienzle, 143–74. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000.

———, ed. The Sermon. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000.

Klotz, Rainer. “Zur Trinitätslehre des Rupert von Deutz in ‘De glorificatione Trinitatis et processione Spiritus Sancti.’” In Rupert von Deutz - ein Denker zwischen den Zeiten? Internationales Symposion der Erzbischöflichen Diözesan- und Dombibliothek Köln und des Instituts für Christliche Philosophie der Leopold- Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, (20. bis 22. September 2007), edited by Heinz Finger, 133–62. Köln: Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, 2009.

Knapp, Fritz Peter. Die Literatur des Früh- und Hochmittelalters in den Bistümern Passau, Salzburg, Brixen und Trient von den Anfängen bis zum Jahre 1273. Geshichte der Literatur Österreichs von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart 1. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1994.

Köpf, Ulrich. “The Institutional Framework of Christian Exegesis in the Middle Ages.” In Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), edited by Magne Sæbø, C Brekelmans, Menahem Haran, Michael A Fishbane, Jean Louis Ska, and Peter Machinist, 148–79. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.

Kottje, Raymund. “Klosterbibliotheken und monastische Kultur in der zweiten Hälfte des 11. Jahrhunderts.” Zeitschrift für Kircheneschichte 80 (1969): 145–62.

Krahmer, Shawn M. “The Virile Bride of Bernard of Clairvaux.” Church History 69 (2000): 304–27.

Kramer, Susan R., and Caroline Walker Bynum. “Revisiting the Twelfth-Century Individual: The Inner Self and the Christian Community.” In Das Eigene und das

248 Ganze: zum Individuellen im Mittelalterlichen Religiosentum, edited by Gert Melville and Markus Schürer, 57–88. Münster: Lit, 2002.

Küsters, Urban. Der Verschlossene Garten: Volkssprachliche Hohelied-Auslegung und monastische Lebensform im 12. Jahrhundert. Düsseldorf: Droste, 1985.

———. “Formen und Modelle religiöser Frauengemeinschaften im Umkreis der Hirsauer Reform des 11. und 12. Jahrhunderts.” In Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091- 1991, edited by Klaus Schreiner, 2:195–220. Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991.

LaVere, Suzanne. Out of the Cloister: Scholastic Exegesis of the Song of Songs, 1100- 1250. Leiden: Brill, 2016.

Leclercq, Jean. “Le commentaire de Gilbert de Standord sur le Cantique des Cantiques.” Analecta monastica 20 (1948): 205–30.

———. The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Translated by Catharine Misrahi. New York: Fordham University Press, 1982.

———. “The Renewal of Theology.” In Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, edited by Robert L Benson and Giles Constable, 68–87. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.

Lees, Jay T. Anselm of Havelberg: Deeds into Words in the Twelfth Century. Leiden: Brill, 1998.

Leichtfried, Anton. Trinitätstheologie als Geschichtstheologie: “De sancta Trinitate et operibus eius” Ruperts von Deutz (ca. 1075-1129). Würzburg: Echter Verlag GmbH, 2002.

Leonardi, Claudio. “Aspects of Old Testament Interpretation in the Church from the Seventh to the Tenth Century.” In Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300), edited by Magne Saebø, et al., 1.2:180–95. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.

Lubac, Henri de. Medieval Exegesis: The Four Senses of Scripture. Translated by Mark Sebanc and E. M. Macierowski. 3 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.

Lutter, Christina. “Christ’s Educated Brides: Literacy, Spirituality, and Gender in Twelfth-Century Admont.” In Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and

249 Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, edited by Alison I. Beach, 191–213. Medieval Church Studies 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007.

———. Geschlecht & Wissen, Norm & Praxis, Lesen & Schreiben. Monastische Reformgemeinschaften im 12. Jahrhundert. Vienna: Oldenbourg, 2005.

———. “Ways of Knowing and Meanings of Literacy in Twelfth-Century Admont.” In Strategies of Writing. Studies on Text and Trust in the Middle Ages. Papers from Trust in Writing in the Middle Ages, edited by P. Schulte, M. Moster, and I. van Renswoude, 255–76. Utrech Studies in Medieval Literacy 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2002.

Martens, Peter. “Revisiting the Allegory/Typology Distinction: The Case of Origen.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 16 (2008): 283–317.

Matter, E. Ann. The Voice of My Beloved: The “Song of Songs” in Western Medieval Christianity. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990.

McDonnell, Ernest W. “The ‘Vita Apostolica’” Diversity or Dissent.” Church History 24 (1955): 15–31.

Mews, Constant J. “Accusations of Heresy and Error in the Twelfth-Century Schools: The Witnesses of Gerhoh of Reichersberg and Otto of Freising.” In Heresy in Transition: Transforming Ideas of Heresy in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, edited by Ian Hunter, et al., 43–58. London: Ashgate, 2005.

———. “Monastic Educational Culture Revisited: The Witness of Zwiefalten and the Hirsau Reform.” In Medieval Monastic Education, edited by George Ferzoco and Carolyn Muessig, 182–96. London: Leicester University Press, 2000.

———. “Scholastic Theology in a Monastic Milieu in the Twelfth Century: The Case of Admont.” In Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth- Century Germany, edited by Alison I. Beach, 217–39. Medieval Church Studies 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007.

Mezler-Andelberg, Helmut J. “Admont und die Klosterreform zu Beginn des 12. Jahrhunderts.” Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereines für Steiermark 47 (1956): 28–42.

Moore, R. I. The First European Revolution, C. 970-1215. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.

———. The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe, 950-1250. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.

250 Moore, Rebecca. Jews and Christians in the Life and Thought of Hugh of St. Victor. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1998.

———. “The Jews in World History According to Hugh of St. Victor.” Medieval Encounters 3 (1997): 1–19.

Moore, Stephen D. “The Song of Songs in the History of Sexuality.” Church History 69 (2000): 328–49.

Muessig, Carolyn, ed. Medieval Monastic Preaching. Leiden: Brill, 1998.

———, ed. Preacher, Sermon and Audience in the Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill, 2002.

Newhauser, Richard. The Treatise on Vices and Virtues in Latin and the Vernacular. Turnhout: Brepols, 1993.

Nielsen, Lauge Olaf. Theology and Philosophy in the Twelfth Century: A Study of Gilbert Porreta’s Thinking and the Theological Expositions of the Doctrine of the Incarnation During the Period 1130-1180. Leiden: Brill, 1982.

Ohly, Friedrich. “Geist und Formen der Hoheliedauslegung um 12. Jahrhundert.” Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 85 (1954): 181–97.

———. Hohelied-Studien: Grundzüge einer Geschichte der Hoheliedauslegung des Abendlandes bis zum 1200. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1958.

O’Loughlin, Thomas. “Tradition and Exegesis in the Eighth Century: The Use of Patristic Sources in Early Medieval Scriptural Commentaries.” In The Scriptures and Early Medieval Ireland, edited by Thomas O’Loughlin, 217–39. Turnhout: Brepols, 1999.

Olsen, Glenn W. “The Idea of the ‘Ecclesia Primitiva’ in the Writings of the Twelfth- Century Canonists.” Traditio 25 (1969): 61–86.

Parisse, Michel. Les chanoines réguliers: émergence et expansion (XIe-XIIIe siècles). Saint-Étienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne, 2009.

Parkes, Malcolm B. “Tachygraphy in the Middle Ages: Writing Techniques Employed for ‘Reportationes’ of Lectures and Sermons.” In Scribes, Scripts, and Readers: Studies in the Communication, Presentation, and Dissemination of Medieval Texts, edited by Malcolm B. Parkes, 19–33. London: Hambledon Press, 1991.

251 Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 1. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971.

———. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 3. The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Petry, Ray C. “Three Medieval Chroniclers: Monastic Historiography and Biblical Eschatology in Hugh of St. Victor, Otto of Freising, and Ordericus Vitalis.” Church History 34, no. 3 (1965): 282–93.

Poirel, Dominique. “‘Alter Augustinus - Der Zweite Augustinus’: Hugh von Sankt Viktor und die Väter der Kirche.” In Väter der Kirche: Ekklesiales Denken von den Anfängen bis in die Neuzeit: Festgabe für Hermann Josef Sieben, SJ, zum 70. Geburtstag, edited by Johannes Arnold, Rainer Berndt, and Ralf M. W. Stammberger, 643–68. Munich: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2004.

———. Hugues de Saint-Victor. Paris: Cerf, 1998.

Reinke, Darrel R. “‘Austin’s Labour’: Patterns of Governance in Medieval Augustinian Monasticism.” Church History 56 (1987): 157–71.

Renna, Thomas. “The Song of Songs and the Early Cistercians.” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 27 (1992): 39–49.

Riedlinger, Helmut. Die Makellosigkeit der Kirche in den Lateinischen Hoheliedkommentaren des Mittelalters. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, 38/3. Münster: West Aschendorff, 1958.

Rieger, Reinhold. “Kirchenreform und Theologiekritik bei Gerhoch von Reichersberg.” In Frömmigkeit und Theologie an Chorherrenstiften: vierte wissenschaftliche Fachtagung zum Stiftskirchenprojekt des Instituts für Geschichtliche Landeskunde und Historische Hilfswissenschaften der Universität Tübingen (14.-16. März 2003, Weingarten), edited by Ulrich Köpf, et al., 141–56. Ostfildern: J. Thorbecke, 2009.

Robertson, Duncan. Lectio Divina: The Medieval Experience of Reading. Collegeville, NM: Liturgical Press, 2011.

Röcklein, Hedwig. “Frauen im Umkreis der Benediktinischen Reformen des 10. bis 12. Jahrhunderts. Gorze, Cluny, Hirsau, St. Blasien und Siegburg.” In Female vita religiosa between Late Antiquity and the High Middle Ages, edited by Gert

252 Melville and Anne Müller, 275–328. Vita Regularis. Ordnungen und Deutungen religiosen Legens im Mittelalter 47. Zürich: LIT-Verlag, 2011.

Roitner, Ingrid. “Das Admonter Frauenkloster um zwölften Jahrhundert: ein Musterkloster des Ordo Hirsaugiensis.” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 15 (2005): 199–289.

Rorem, Paul. Hugh of St. Victor. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Rubin, Miri. Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Sæbø, Magne, C Brekelmans, Menahem Haran, Michael A Fishbane, Jean Louis Ska, and Peter Machinist, eds. Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (until 1300). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.

Schreiner, Klaus, ed. Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991. 2 vols. Forschungen und Berichte der Archäologie des Mittelalters in Baden-Württemberg 10. Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991.

———. “Hirsau und die Hirsauer Reform. Lebens- und Verfassungsformen einer Reformbewegung.” In Die Reformverbände und Kongregationen der Benediktiner im Deutschen Sprachraum, edited by Ulrich Faust and Franz Quarthal, 89–124. Germania Benedictina 1. St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1999.

———. “Hirsau und die Hirsauer Reform. Spiritualität, Lebensform und Sozialprofil einer benediktinischen Erneuerungsbewegung im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert.” In Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991, edited by Klaus Schreiner, 2:59–204. Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991.

Seeberg, Stefanie. Die Illustrationen im Admonter Nonnenbrevier von 1180, Marienkrönung und Nonnen-frömmigkeit – Die Rolle der Brevierillustration in der Entwicklung von Bildthemen im 12. Jahrhundert. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2002.

———. “Illustrations in the Manuscripts of the Admont Nuns from the Second Half of the Twelfth Century: Reflections on Their Function.” In Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, edited by Alison I. Beach, 99–121. Medieval Church Studies 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007.

Seidl, Johann Nepomuk. Die Gott-Verlobung von Kindern in Mönchs- und Nonnen- Klöstern oder De pueris oblatis: eine kirchenrechts-geschichtliche Untersuchung. Munich: Lentner, 1872.

253 Signer, Michael A. “The ‘Glossa Ordinaria’ and the Transmission of Medieval Anti- Judaism.” In A Distinct Voice: Medieval Studies in Honor of Leonard E. Boyle, O.P., edited by J. Brown and W.P. Soneman, 591–605. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.

———. “The Speculum Ecclesiae by Honorius Augustodensis on Jews and Judaism: Preaching at Regensburg in the Twelfth Century.” In Crossroads of Medieval Civilization: The City of Regensburg and Its Intellectual Milieu: A Collection of Essays, edited by Edelgard E DuBruck and Karl Heinz Göller, 121–37. Detroit, MI: Published for Michigan Consortium for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 1984.

Smalley, Beryl. “Ecclesiastical Attitudes to Novelty, c. 1100-c. 1250.” Studies in Church History 75 (1975): 113–31.

———. Historians in the Middle Ages. New York: Scribner, 1975.

———. The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages. 3rd ed. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1984.

Smith, Lesley. The Glossa Ordinaria: The Making of a Medieval Bible Commentary. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2009.

Southern, R. W. “Beryl Smalley and the Place of the Bible in Medieval Studies, 1927- 1984.” In The Bible in the Medieval World: Essays in Memory of Beryl Smalley, edited by Katherine Walsh and Diana Wood, 1–16. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1985.

———. “Presidential Address: Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing: 2. Hugh of St. Victor and the Idea of Historical Development.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 21 (1971): 159–79.

———. “Presidential Address: Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing: 3. History as Prophecy.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 22 (1972): 159–80.

———. Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe. Vol. 2. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001.

Stammberger, Ralf M. W. “Die Edition der Werke Hugos von Sankt Viktor durch Abt Gilduin von Sankt Viktor - Eine Rekonstruktion.” In Schrift, Schreiber, Schenker: Studien zur Abtei Viktor in Paris und den Viktorinern, edited by Rainer Berndt, 119–77. Berlin: Akademie Verlag GmbH, 2005.

254 ———. “Diligens Scrutator Sacri Eloquii: An Introduction to Scriptural Exegesis by Hugh of St Victor Preserved at Admont Library (MS 672).” In Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, edited by Alison I. Beach, 241–83. Medieval Church Studies 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007.

———. “The Works of Hugh of St. Victor at Admont: A Glance at the Intellectual Landscape in the XIIth Century.” In Schrift, Schreiber, Schenker: Studien zur Abtei Sankt Viktor in Paris und den Viktorinern, edited by Rainer Berndt, 233–61. Berlin: Akademie Verlag GmbH, 2005.

Steinböck, Walter. “Die Gründung des benediktinischen Reformklosters Admont. Ein Beitrag zur neunhundertjährigen Geschichte seines Bestehens.” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 84 (1973): 52-81.

Swanson, R. N. The Twelfth-Century Renaissance. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999.

Taylor, L. Jerome. The Origin and Early Life of Hugh St. Victor: An Evaluation of the Tradition. Notre Dame, Ind.: Mediaeval Institute, University of Notre Dame, 1957.

Thompson, Rodney. “Review of ‘Docere Verbo et Exemplo: An Aspect of Twelfth- Century Spirituality’ by Caroline Walker Bynum.” Speculum 56 (1981): 598–601.

———. “The Place of Germany in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance.” In Manuscripts and Monastic Culture: Reform and Renewal in Twelfth-Century Germany, edited by Alison I. Beach, 19–42. Medieval Church Studies 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007.

———. “The Place of Germany in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance: Books, Scriptoria and Libraries.” In Turning Over a New Leaf: Change and Development in the Medieval Manuscript, edited by Erik Kwakkel et al., 127–40. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2012.

Timmer, David E. “Biblical Exegesis and the Jewish-Christian Controversy in the Early Twelfth Century.” Church History 58 (1989): 309–21.

Tomaschek, Johann. “Der Aufenthalt des Bibelkommentators, Nonnenseelsorgers und monastischen Theologen Irimbert von Admont im Benediktinerinnenkloster St. Georgen am Längsee.” In 100 Jahre Stift St. Georgen am Längsee. Festschrift, edited by J. Sacherer, 200–223. St. Georgen am Längsee: Bildungshaus Stift St. Georgen, 2003.

255 ———. “Geschichtsbewusstsein und monastische Reform. Das geistige Profil des Stiftes Admont im 12. Jahrhundert im Spiegel seiner historiographischen Handschriften.” In CODE(x): Festgabe zum 65. Geburtstag von Alois Haidinger, edited by Alois Haidinger, Martin Haltrich, and Maria Stieglecker, 158–67. Purkersdorf: Verlag Brüder Hollinek, 2010.

———. “St. Georgen und die Admonter Reform: die Beziehungen zwischen dem Schwarzwaldkloster und der steirischen Benediktinerabtei Admont im 12. Jahrhundert.” In 900 Jahre Stadt St. Georgen im Schwarzwald 1084-1984, 34–44. St. Georgen: Stadt St. Georgen, 1984.

Turner, Denys. Eros and Allegory: Medieval Exegesis of the Song of Songs. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1995.

Van den Eynde, Damien. “A propos du premier écrit christologique de Géroch de Reichersberg.” Antonianum 30 (1955): 119–36.

Van Engen, John. Rupert of Deutz. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

———. “The ‘Crisis of Cenobitism’ Reconsidered: Benedictine Monasticism in the Years 1050-1150.” Speculum 61 (1986): 269–304.

———. “Theophilus Presbyter and Rupert of Deutz: The Manual Arts and Benedictine Theology in the Early Twelfth Century.” In Religion in the History of the Medieval West, 147–63. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004.

———. “Wrestling with the Word: Rupert’s Quest for Exegetical Understanding.” In Rupert von Deutz - ein Denker zwischen den Zeiten? Internationales Symposion der Erzbischöflichen Diözesan- und Dombibliothek Köln und des Instituts für Christliche Philosophie der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, (20. bis 22. September 2007), edited by Heinz Finger, 185–99. Köln: Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, 2009.

Van Liere, Frans. An Introduction to the Medieval Bible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

———. “Biblical Exegesis through the Twelfth Century.” In The Practice of the Bible in the Middle Ages, edited by Susan Boynton and Diane J. Reilly, 157–78. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.

Van Zweiten, Jan Wolter Marius. “The Place and Significance of Literal Exegesis in Hugh of St. Victor: An Analysis of His Notes on the Pentateuch, the Book of Judges, and the Four Books of Kings.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Amsterdam, 1992.

256

Vogüé, Adalbert de. “L’auteur du Commentaire des Rois attribué à Grégoire: un moine de Cava?” Revue Bénédictine 106 (1996): 319–31.

Walther, Helmut G. “St. Victor und die Schulen in Paris vor der Entstehung der Universität.” In Schule und Schüler im Mittelalter: Beiträge zur europäischen Bildungsgeschichte des 9. bis 15. Jahrhunderts, edited by Martin Kintzinger, Sönke Lorenz, and Michael Walter, 53–74. Cologne: Böhlau, 1996.

Weinfurter, Stefan. “Neuere Forschung zu den Regularkanonikern im Deutschen Reich des 11. und 12. Jahrhunderts.” Historische Zeitschrift 224, no. 2 (1977): 379–97.

Wichner, Jakob. Catalogus Codicum Manu Scriptorum Admontensis. Admont, 1888.

———. “Das ehemalige Nonnenkloster O.S.B. zu Admont.” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktiner-Ordens und seiner Zweige 2 (1881): 75–86, 288– 319.

———. Geschichte des Benediktiner-Stiftes Admont: von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Jahre 1177. 4 vols. Graz: Dereins-Buchdruckerei, 1874.

Wollasch, Joachim. “Spuren Hirsauer Verbrüderungen.” In Hirsau, St. Peter und St. Paul, 1091-1991, edited by Klaus Schreiner, 2:173–93. Stuttgart: Kommissionsverlag, K. Theiss, 1991.

Wood, Susan. The Proprietary Church in the Medieval West. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Worstbrock, Franz Josef. “Wilhelm von Hirsau.” Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexicon 10 (1999): 1100–1110.

Wyrwa, Dietmar. “Der persönliche Zugang in der Bibelauslegung Gregors des Großen.” In Sola scriptura: das reformatorische Schriftprinzip in der säkularen Welt, edited by Hans Heinrich Schmid and Joachim Mehlhausen, 262–80. Veröffentlichungen der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft für Theologie 6. Gütersloh: G. Mohn, 1991.

Young, John D. “Neighbors, Partners, Enemies: Jews and the Monasteries of Germany in the High Middle Ages.” Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, 2012.

Zemler-Cizewski, Wanda. “Rupert of Deutz and the Law of the Stray Wife: Anti-Jewish Allegory in ‘De sancta Trinitate et operibus eius.’” Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales 75 (2008): 257–69.

257 ———. “The Literal Sense of Scripture according to Rupert of Deutz.” In The Multiple Meaning of Scripture: The Role of Exegesis in Early-Christian and Medieval Culture, edited by Ineke van’t Spijker, 203–24. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

Zinn, Grover A. “Historia fundamentum est: The Role of History in the Contemplative Life According to Hugh of St. Victor.” In Contemporary Reflections on the Medieval Christian Tradition; Essays in Honor of Ray C. Petry, edited by Ray C. Petry and George H. Shriver, 135–58. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1974.

———. “Hugh of St. Victor’s ‘De Scripturis et Scriptoribus Sacris’ as an ‘Accessus’ Treatise for the Study of the Bible.” Traditio 52 (1997): 111–34.

———. “Mandala Symbolism and Use in the Mysticism of Hugh of St. Victor.” History of Religions 12, no. 4 (1973): 317–41.

———. “Texts within Texts: The Song of Songs in the Exegesis of Gregory the Great and Hugh of St. Victor.” Studia Patristica 25 (1993): 209–15.

———. “The Influence of Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana upon the Writings of Hugh of St. Victor.” In Reading and Wisdom: The De Doctrina Christiana of Augustine in the Middle Ages, edited by Edward D. English, 48–60. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995.

258