Des Dichters Abschied von der Welt. Das Conversio-Gedicht Ego quondam filius mundi specialis und der Archipoeta

Abstract

In the last decades of the 12th century, an educated secular cleric retired from a successful career in the service of some high-ranking prelate to enter an unnamed monastic order. His decision and motives he made known in a Latin poem addressed to his friends. Though his career reflects the reality of life of many intellectuals in the High Middle Ages, the poem’s depth of content and thought as well as its virtuosity of language and form are astonishing. The poem Ego quondam filius mundi specialis (Chevalier 36996; WIC 5269), written in 42 Goliardic stanzas, is the subject of the present essay. An examination of the manuscript tradition, educational background, literary allusions and versification makes it clear that the unknown author ranks with the great modern poets of his time, such as Petrus Abaelardus, Hugh Primas, Alanus de Insulis, Petrus Riga, Peter of Blois, Walter of Châtillon and the Archpoet. Presumably of German extraction, he studied in France, where he became acquainted with the Latin songs from the circle of Petrus Abaelardus (Carmina Florentina) and the poems of Hugh Primas. While serving at some German-speaking ecclesiastical court in the Alpine countries, he probably came into contact with the circle of collectors and poets, from whose initial collections the Carmina Burana ultimately emerged. In addition to a number of allusions and parallels, it is the versification that gives a clear indication of the poet’s identity, who, most likely, is no other than the Archpoet, the brilliant poet at the court of Rainald von Dassel, whose biography and real name have so far eluded all investigations. These results confirm an assumption, which had already been made by Wilhelm Wackernagel in 1845, but fell into oblivion soon after. The essay is followed by editions of the poem Ego quondam filius mundi specialis (according to the three manuscripts: St. Gallen, Kantonsbibliothek Vadiana, Vadianische Sammlung, Ms. 455; Vorau, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 401; Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Ms. C 58) and the Christmas poem Dum sub mundi uespere dies inclinatus (Chevalier 36900; WIC 4964; Linz, Studienbibliothek, Handschrift 33 [olim Cc.II.15]; Vorau, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 401; Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Ms. C 58), which are transmitted together in the Vorau and Zurich codices. Whether both poems are the work of the same author is questionable. The identity of an Egidius Magnus, who is credited with the excerpts in St. Gall Ms. 455, remains in the dark.