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Juan De Segovia and Medieval Hebdomadal Meditation on the Life of Christ

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Juan De Segovia and Medieval Hebdomadal Meditation on the Life of Christ 1536-08_SIS18(2008)_06_Mann 30-10-2008 13:22 Pagina 113 Studies in Spirituality 18, 113-132. doi: 10.2143/SIS.18.0.2033285 doi: © 2008 by Studies in Spirituality. All rights reserved. JESSE D. MANN JUAN DE SEGOVIA AND MEDIEVAL HEBDOMADAL MEDITATION ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST SUMMARY — Systematic hebdomadal meditation on the life of Christ was a common and widespread practice in the late Middle Ages with roots in traditional medieval theology, spirituality and liturgy. This article out- lines some of the more important features and examples of medieval hebdomadal meditation on the vita Christi and relates these to a specific fifteenth-century instance of this tradition, namely Juan de Segovia’s († 1458) little known Epistola ad Guillielmum de Orliaco. It is argued that Segovia’s letter shows striking similarities to the Pseudo-Bonaventuran Meditationes vitae Christi and to various works associated with the Devo- tio Moderna. It is further suggested that the devotional practices of the Devotio Moderna may have gained a wider audience at the Council of Basel (1431-1449), where Segovia was a major participant throughout the coun- cil’s long duration. Finally, this article argues that Segovia’s Epistola reveals an unstudied side of this important fifteenth-century theologian. Unlike more renowned contemporaries, such as Jean Gerson and Nicholas of Cusa, the Spanish theologian, Juan de Segovia († 1458), is not known today as a ‘spiritual’ or ‘mystical’ author.1 Nor should he be. Segovia wrote little that could be described as spiritual or mystical. However, in one late work – a treatise-length letter to a Savoyard Dominican preparing to enter the solitary life2 – Segovia did address devotional subjects such as Bible-reading and prayer techniques. Perhaps 1 On Gerson and Cusanus as spiritual authors, one should consult the relevant volumes in the Classics of Western Spirituality series: Brian Patrick McGuire (Ed. & trans.), Jean Gerson: Early works, New York 1998; and H. Lawrence Bond (Ed. & trans.), Nicholas of Cusa: Selected spir- itual works, New York 1997. On Juan (or John) of Segovia, see the biographical sketch in Rolf De Kegel (Ed.), Johannes von Segovia: Liber de magna auctoritate episcoporum in concilio gener- ali, Fribourg 1995, 31-50. 2 On this letter (dated 13 October 1456), see Benigno Hernández Montes, ‘Obras de Juan de Segovia’, in: Repertorio de la Ciencias Eclesiásticas en España 6 (1977), 321-323 [hereafter: OJS]; Jesse D. Mann, ‘Juan de Segovia’s Epistola ad Guillielmum de Orliaco de quatuor hostibus: Who was Guillielmus de Orliaco?’, in: Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 62 (1992), 175-193; and idem, ‘Duns Scotus, Juan de Segovia and Their Common Devil’, in: Franciscan Studies 52 (1992), 135-154. The Epistola survives in a single manuscript: Salamanca, Biblioteca Univer- sitaria MS 202, fols. 172r-184v. For a description of this MS, see Óscar Lilao Franca & Carmen Castrillo González (Eds.), Catálogo de manuscritos de la Biblioteca Universitaria de Salamanca, Salamanca 1997, Vol. 1, 160-163. 1536-08_SIS18(2008)_06_Mann 30-10-2008 13:22 Pagina 114 114 JESSE MANN most interestingly, in this Epistola ad Guillielmum de Orliaco, Juan de Segovia outlined a hebdomadal method of meditating on the life of Christ arranged such that one would meditate on a different period or event in Christ’s life on each day of the week. Benigno Hernández Montes, one of the few scholars to have commented on this text, called this ‘a curious method of meditating on the life of Christ’.3 However, by the mid-fifteenth century, systematic hebdomadal med- itation on the vita Christi as found in Segovia’s epistle was anything but a curios- ity. Rather, it was a common and flourishing devotional practice with a long and venerable tradition rooted in medieval theology, spirituality and liturgy. The purpose of this article is to outline some salient features and examples of this tradition and thereby to place Segovia’s letter in its proper context. In the early fifteenth century, the author (usually thought to be Thomas à Kempis) of the remarkably popular Imitation of Christ wrote that ‘to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ should be our most earnest study’.4 According to Segovia, the prospective solitary would find such earnest study an especially efficacious protection against evil spirits.5 Thus he advised his correspondent to meditate daily, notably in the morning and the evening.6 Stated briefly, Segovia arranged these daily meditations7 as follows: 3 OJS 322: ‘…una curiosa manera de meditar la vida de Cristo, distribuyendo para cada día de la semana…’. 4 Thomas à Kempis, De imitatione Christ 1.1, Paris 1823, 3: Summum studium nostrum sit in vita Jesu Christi meditari. The Imitation began to circulate around 1424-27, see André Rayez, ‘Humanité du Christ’, in: M. Viller, F. Cavallera & J. de Guibert (Eds.), Dictionnaire de spi- ritualité ascétique et mystique [hereafter: DS]. Vol. 7, Paris 1969, 1093. On this work, see Albert Hyma, The Christian renaissance: A history of the ‘Devotio Moderna’, Hamden (CT) 1965 (2nd ed.), 158-190; and Giles Constable, Three studies in medieval religious and social thought, Cam- bridge 1995, 239-243. For a brief discussion of the authorship question, see John Van Engen (Ed. & trans.), Devotio Moderna: Basic writings, New York 1988, 8-9, with n. 5. 5 Salamanca MS 202, fol. 182r: ‘…ne Christi servus ocio marceat devastandus innumeris spiritibus. Quod revera, Dei iuvante gracia, minime continget solitarie viventi, si Christi vitam familiarem sibi efficiat iugi meditacione…’. The notion that having Christ continually in one’s mind should serve to ward off sin or temptation is an ancient and recurrent one in Christianity. See, e.g., Apostolic Tradition 35: ‘And if you act so, all you faithful, and remember these things and teach them in your turn and encourage catechumens, you will not be able to be tempted or to perish, since you have Christ always in memory’ (cited by Robert Taft, The liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The origins of the Divine Office and its meaning for today, Collegesville (MN) 1986, 24). For a discussion of this idea from a rather different perspective, see Mary Carruthers, The craft of thought: Meditation, rhetoric, and the making of images, 400-1200, Cambridge 1999, 82-101. 6 Salamanca MS 202, fol. 182r: ‘…contemplatus mane precipue de seroque’. Of course, the Christian practice of praying at fixed times, especially at the start and end of each day, derives in large measure from Jewish practice as well as Biblical precedent (e.g., Ex 30:7-8). See Taft, The liturgy of the Hours, 11; and Jonathan Black, ‘The Divine Office and private devotion in the Latin west’, in: Thomas J. Heffernan & E. Ann Matter (Eds.), The liturgy of the medieval Church, Kalamazoo (MI) 2001, 45-71: 47. 7 It is noteworthy that Segovia usually refers to these meditations as considerationes. Here one might rightly think of Bernard of Clairvaux’s well-known definition of consideratio in De consideratione 1536-08_SIS18(2008)_06_Mann 30-10-2008 13:22 Pagina 115 JUAN DE SEGOVIA 115 On Monday, one is to meditate on the events of Christ’s life from the Incar- nation to his encounter with the rabbis in the temple. Several specific events are mentioned: the circumcision, the adoration of the magi, the flight into Egypt and others. Special reference is made to the poverty and humility of Christ’s birth. On this day, one should compare the magnificence of the Incarnation with that of the Creation. In addition, one is to consider the first sin, namely vainglory or pride, and the first of numerous ecclesiastically-sanctioned hebdo- mads, such as the first of the seven sacraments and the first of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.8 On Tuesday, the servus Christi is to meditate on the period in Christ’s life from age twelve to age thirty, and on his thirtieth year up through his baptism. This is the longest consideratio, and it is replete, as one might expect, with extra- canonical material. The emphasis throughout is again on Christ’s poverty and humility. These are illustrated by examples from Jesus’ domestic life with Mary and Joseph. The events of Christ’s second year of public life constitute the subject of Wednesday’s meditation. Specific mention is made of Judas’s betrayal, and it is this association which has given us the tradition of ‘Spy Wednesday’.9 On Thursday the meditative menu includes the events in Jerusalem from Palm Sunday through Holy Thursday. Friday is, of course, dedicated to the Pas- sion, and Segovia notes that Friday is therefore ‘like a double feast’ (tamquam duplex sit festum) so the meditation actually begins at Vespers on Thursday.10 2.2.5 (S. Bernardi opera, 9 vols., ed. Jean Leclercq & H.M. Rochais, Rome 1957-, Vol. 3, 414): Et primo quidem ipsam considerationem quid dicam, considera. Non enim id per omnia quod contem- plationem intelligi volo, quod haec ad rerum certitudinem, illa ad inquisitionem magis se habent. Iuxta quem sensum potest contemplatio quidem diffiniri verus certusque intuitus animi de quacumque re, sive apprehensio veri non dubia, consideratio autem intensa ad vestigandum cogitatio, vel intensio animi vestigantis verum. Quamquam soleant ambae pro invicem usurpari. 8 On the symbolism and proliferation of such hebdomads in the Middle Ages, see Johan Huizinga, The autumn of the Middles Ages (trans. Rodney J. Paton & Ulrich Mammitzsch), Chicago 1996, 240-241. See also Eamon Duffy, The stripping of the altars: Traditional religion in England c.1400-c.1580, New Haven (CT) 2005 (2nd ed.), 248-256. On the importance of the number seven in medieval Christianity, see Annemarie Schimmel, The mystery of numbers, New York 1993, 133-137.
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