Philosophical Contributions in Deliberatio Supra Hymnum Trium Puerorum by Gerard of Cenad

Abstract

The introduction of Gerard of Cenad as a philosopher at the end of eighteenth century by the Transylvanian Catholic Archbishop in Alba Iulia, Ignatius Batthya ny, was a pioneering act but it never received any notable public reaction.1 Batthya ny's 1790 edition was, it seems, an attempt to recuperate and present to ecclesiastic readers something that was more like a relic than a text since it had been preserved in only one single manuscript copy in the Library of Freising and had accumulated little notoriety among its scarcely countable medieval readers.2 Between eleventh and the eighteenth century the original manuscript did not circulate outside the Freising library at all.3 Still, a new introduction and a fresh historiographical account of Gerard's contribution as a philosopher is urgently needed today, especially following the publication of the first reliable philological commentary in English in 2004 by Elod Nemerkenyi.4Gerard the Pilgrim, Bishop, and MartyrGerard of Cenad (or Gerardo Sagredo, also called Gerhard) is an author of great religious and political importance for eleventh century medieval Hungary, still little known to modern historians and the broader public. Two medieval hagiographies preserve his biography: the Legenda Minor from the twelfth century and the much later Legenda maior.; which is more stylized and therefore less reliable as a historical source; they both contain elements that function as topoi and hagiographical canons rather than reliable biographical details.5Gerard was born in Venice in 997 and received a rigorous Benedictine education both in Venice and Bologna. He was appointed abbot in 1020. Following his years of education and canonical endeavors, an obscure pilgrimage episode followed: he had to leave Venice and join Dodge Ottone Orsello in exile; they spent a short time together in Zara (Dalmatia) and then went to the Hungarian cities of Sze kesfehe rva r (Alba Regia) and Pe cs. Until 1031, Gerard tutored the Hungarian prince Emeric, son of the King Stephen I. After the prince's death Gerard spent about seven years as hermit. Afterwards he was appointed the first bishop of the newly installed diocese of Csana d (or Morisena, today Cenad in Romania) in the eastern margins of the Hungarian Kingdom, today the Banat region in Romania. As a bishop, Gerard's mission was to educate the newly converted Catholics in the area to whom he was like a father.6 It was during these years that he wrote the Deliberatio supra hymnum trium puerorum ad Isingrimum liberalem. We cannot assume with certainty that Gerard was writing for a large audience, but rather that he was targeting particular persons of political and ecclesial responsibility.7 He founded a school and performed administrative improvements. At the end, he suffered a martyr's death in 1046 and was canonized in 1068.Sources and Readings of Gerard the PhilosopherThere is no verified information regarding Gerard's sources in extenso. In Cenad, he may have had some minimal reading material, but the Venice and Bologna of his early youth must have been much more important to him as places for study. His massive detailed biblical knowledge is accompanied by patristic references in his text and important pagan philosophers are cited as well: Thaies, Zeno, Socrates, Plato, Aristarchus, Aristotle, Chrysipus, Galen, Gorgias, Hermagoras, Porphyry, and others.Important links are claimed to Christian popular texts and authors both Latin and Greek: Augustine, Ambrose, Boethius, Cassiodorus, Jerome, Dionysus the Areopagite (most probably the Latin version made by Scotus Eriugena), Gregory the Great, Maxim the Confessor, Isidore of Seville, Raban Maur, Bede, and a variety of Florilegia containing Patristic or pre-Christian philosophical quotations. Isidore of Sevile is most probably the direct source for many of his statements, general structure, and style. And it is via patristic literature that Gerard can show some knowledge of ancient Latin authors as well. …