De Vita Research Articles

Prophecy in Plutarch and Philo of Alexandria

Abstract David Winston distinguishes two types of Mosaic prophecy in Philo’s De vita Mosis, noetic and ecstatic. Noetic prophecy, which corresponds to Moses’s delivery of the special laws, is active and rational. Ecstatic prophecy, which corresponds to Moses’s predictive prophecies, is passive and irrational, though while some Greek authors view ecstasy in terms of a total possession by the god, Philo takes a more moderate view that can also be found in Plutarch. Winston’s appeal to Plutarch is the basis of this article. It explores ecstasy in Plutarch’s two dialogues on the Pythian oracle and applies Plutarch’s categories to Mosaic prophecy in De vita Mosis. In light of Plutarch’s discussion, noetic prophecy is actually passive, and ecstatic prophecy is actually active.

PeterBillerandL. J.Sackville, eds.:Inquisition and Knowledge 1200–1700. Woodbridge and Rochester, NY: The York Medieval Press, 2022; pp. xi + 346.

PeterBiller<scp>and</scp>L. J.Sackville<scp>, eds.:</scp>Inquisition and Knowledge 1200–1700. Woodbridge and Rochester, NY: The York Medieval Press, 2022; pp. xi + 346.

Reinterpretacja okoliczności zwiadu w Kanaanie (Lb 13-14) w tekstach Filona z Aleksandrii (Mos. 1,220-236) i Józefa Flawiusza (Ant 3,300-316)

The article aims to present and analyze the reinterpretation of the circumstances of the reconnaissance in Canaan in the texts of De vita Moysis Philo of Alexandria and Antiquitates Judaicae by Joseph Flavius. The text focuses on the theft of fruit from land that Moses did not own. Later authors tried to present the story in such a way that the leader of the nation would not be accused of theft. Philo describes Moses as the leader and ruler of the armies. Josephus Flavius shows the significant role of the people in leaving the borders of Canaan

ASPECTS OF POLITICAL THEOLOGY OF EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI (CAESAREA)

Eusebius of Caesarea (Eusebius Pamphili) is an important landmark of Christian historiography. His writings (Historia Ecclesiastica, De vita Constantini and De laudibus Constantini) are invaluable for those studying the reign of Constantine. Moreover, De vita Constantini is the main source for understanding the religious policy of Constantine. The era of Constantine posed a challenge to the Church to redefine herself in association with Christianized emperor. Constantine for Eusebius embodied unity and universalism both in political and ecclesiastical spheres. For Eusebius, it was a historical necessity that the Roman Empire and the Church cooperate in concord for the sake of humankind. On the other hand, Eusebius Caesarea has always been an object of scholarly dispute. One question that often arises is - Did Eusebius propagate Constantine’s “political theology”? Aim of this paper is to analyze Eusebius of Ceasarea’s paradigm for relationships between the Church and Empire

Volgens het boekje: Gerard Leeus Nederlandstalige editie van de Meditationes de vita et passione Jesu Christi

This essay explores the Dutch recension of the richly illustrated Latin Meditationes de vita et passione Jesu Christi, a weekly excersie that went directly into print and was first published by Gerard Leeu in Antwerp on 10 February 1485. The Dutch text appeared about two years later, on 5 Janruary 1487. Both the Dutch and the Latin texts contain at their core the sixty-five prayers on the Passion (from Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane to his funeral) from Jordan of Quedlinburg’s Meditationes de passione Christi (1365). Each of the prayers is accompanied by a woodcut, which in itself was an important innovation and departure from previous manuscript transmission that did not systematically illustrate each prayer. Furthermore, the compiler of the weekly exercise used Jordan’s prayers as his reference point, and divided them over five days of the week (Monday-Friday). He added other (meditative) texts and prayers so that readers are presented with an exercise for each day of the week that permits them to meditate on the entire life of Christ (from Mary’s visit to Elizabeth to Mary’s Ascension), as well as on other subjects, such as the four last things (death, judgement, hell, heaven) throughout the week. Here, images are also used as an integral part of the meditative exercise. The printed text might have been based on a similar exercise found in a manuscript from South-Holland, currently held at The Hague, Royal Library, 133 H 1. Moreover, the Dutch edition of 1487 is not just a translation of Leeu’s earlier Latin edition: apart from changes to its physical appearance, the text has undergone a siginificant reworking as well. The meditations to be performed before lunch, before and after dinner, and before going to sleep, are longer and much more detailed than in the Latin edition, allowing unexperienced readers to use these ‘intimate scripts’ in their meditations. Leeu’s parallel editions of the Latin and Dutch Meditationes thus provided various groups of readers (Latinate, non-Latinate, those familiar with meditative techniques and the Gospels, and those who were not) to participate in affective meditation on Christ’s life and to deepen their spiritual lifes in a similar fashion despite the differences in their background.

On friends and false friendship in the poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus

Unlike family relations, friendships are based primarily on deliberate personal decisions. In some cases, however, they can be marked not only by sympathy and positive emotions but also by opportunism and conflicts. The relationship between two Church Fathers and close friends, St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. Basil the Great, went through a whole range of emotions. A portrayal of this relationship, as well as several others (e.g. the one with Maximus the Cynic), is to be found in St. Gregory’s autobiographical poem De vita sua. Some details on the saint’s friends can also be perceived from his letters in verses, addressed to a group of more or less close friends from his surroundings. The variety and seriousness of the matters that St. Gregory discusses in these texts mirror the depth or superficiality of each particular relationship. In his letters in verses, Gregory of Nazianzus asks his friends for special favours (e.g. Hellenius), praises their deeds (e.g. some members of the monastic community in Caesarea), encourages them (e.g. Nemesius) or reprimands them (e.g. Vitalianus). A significant indicator of the level of friendship with the persons involved is the way St. Gregory addresses them. The salutations he uses are often very courteous, but in a couple of cases, marks of enmity can be found as well.

Jean Gagnier’sDe vita, et rebus gestis Mohammedis: Reading and Misreading the History of Islam in the Eighteenth Century

Jean Gagnier’s De vita, et rebus gestis Mohammedis (1723) was the first substantial biography of the Prophet Muhammad translated by a European author directly from an authentic Muslim source. Familiar to Edward Gibbon and Voltaire, Gagnier’s work significantly shaped European understandings of the origins of Islam well into the nineteenth century. Yet Gagnier’s scholarship has not been examined in any depth since it was closely read by his contemporaries. This article provides an analysis of Gagnier’s strategies and competencies as a translator and reconstructs his attempt to exploit the Arabic manuscripts then available to an Oxford scholar. It argues that the case of Gagnier is a cautionary reminder that philological approaches to the study of the Muslim past did not necessarily occasion sympathy for Islam. Old prejudices continued to influence Gagnier’s decisions as a translator and were passed on in new forms to later readers. Moreover, aspects of the Muslim historiographical tradition discovered by Gagnier did not necessarily incline his readers to a more positive view of Islam. The increased accessibility of Islamic historical texts could just as easily serve the Christian polemicist as the Enlightened historian.

Платоническая традиция и теория эпидемий в раннее Новое время

Most of the studies on the history of medicine, pay special attention to how the plague epidemics in 14th–16th centuries had changed the medical theory and practice. In the medical discourse, those epidemics helped to shape the “epistemology of particulars (particularia)” which contrast with the scholastic epistemology dealing with the search of universal causes. Marsilio Ficino, one of the most influential natural philosophers of the Renaissance, combines scholastic medicine and philosophy of ancient authors in order to develop his theory of epidemics in the treatises Consilio contra la pestilentia and De vita. He identifies the external and internal causes of plague and describes ways to combat the disease. The external cause is the constellations of planets which cause putrid exhalation in certain territories that is an example of conventional scholastic epistemology dealing with mass diseases. The internal cause is identified with the inability of the body to resist the disease “from within”. The main focus of my paper is the argument that, according to Ficino, philosophers have a special ability to resist disease “from within”. The figure of Socrates and his ability to withstand the Plague of Athens allows Ficino to formulate a new take on epidemics which falls within the scope of “epistemology of particulars”. From the historical point of view, the novelty of my approach comes from the fact that I trace the source of Ficino’s knowledge about Socrates’ disease resistance ability to Noct. Att. 2.1. of Aulus Gellius. Ficino’s natural philosophy suggests that a philosopher from their very birth is “by nature” predisposed to philosophical contemplation, therefore the realization of their vital destination through multiple sympathetic connections affects all levels of the universe. Ficino’s doctrine has a social and political dimension since a philosopher (i.e. a platonist), attracting positive astral influences, levels the effect of negative “heavenly” causes of mass diseases and thus benefits all people around him. Thus, the practice of philosophy (i.e. Platonism in Ficino’s interpretation) during epidemics is not simply a form of leisure time or private activity for a philosopher but a form of concern for public health. The paper also offers a commented Russian translation of chapters 1–2, with the Proem, of Ficino’s treatise Consilio contra la pestilentia.

De vita cum imperfectis

De vita cum imperfectis Alfred Dürr Translated by Traute M. Marshall (bio) The creation of new editions of old music, an important area of musicology, usually has two goals: to enrich our understanding of history and, at the same time, to provide present musical practice with new material—a goal to which the overused notion of the "unjustly forgotten master" bears eloquent (and dubious) witness. The editorial method employed assumes the incontrovertible high quality of the work to be edited; the original, as conceived by the master, is deemed flawless. From this it follows that all the errors contained in the work as it has come down to us are due to flawed transmission and therefore have to be emended in the new edition. Similarly, all additions made to the work by another hand in the course of transmission do not measure up to the level of the master; therefore, they too have to go. This attitude leads to the ideal of the Urtextausgabe, the edition of the original text. And even though the term in recent decades has been interpreted in a considerable number of different ways, it still implies that the new edition must focus as much as possible on the evidence of the composer, and that foreign interpretation of any kind is to be excluded. There is no need to challenge the general validity of these principles. Whoever follows them, however (in the conviction that clarification of the composer's intent is demanded by the commitment to truth, without which our discipline makes no sense), must also become aware of the method's limits in order to use it effectively. The following observations will consider some of those limits. A work like Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion, which the author is currently [1971] editing, is well suited to clarify the problems, since there is no question about the quality of the work or the capabilities of the composer. Therefore, we will be able to focus exclusively on editorial problems. [End Page 212] First of all, we must address the following question: to what extent should the notational appearance of the autograph score be preserved? Whenever the fair copy of a composer is the topic, the autograph Mus. ms. Bach P25 in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek must not be, and cannot be, overlooked. All scholars agree that the idiosyncrasies of Bach's notational handwriting reveal to the eye—as well as to the inner ear—essential features of Bach's music. For that reason, every editor will strive to deviate from this visual representation as little as possible. Max Schneider, in his new edition, met this obligation in exemplary fashion.1 Therefore, the result reveals the problem of the method with particular clarity. Bach, for example, combines the two continuo staves of the first of the two choral movements, "Laß ihn kreuzigen," onto one staff (the lowest) for four and a half measures (folio 54r of the score): there was no space available for the normal separation. On folio 54v, on the other hand, there was sufficient space, and each chorus is given its own continuo staff for the remaining four measures of the movement. The same situation recurs in the second choral movement of the same text: on folio 56v it had to be notated on one staff for five and a half measures, but there was enough space on folio 57r to separate the continuo parts onto two staves for the remainder of the movement. Schneider notates both movements with just one continuo staff throughout (as the lowest staff), thus turning Bach's stopgap measure, necessitated by lack of space, into the governing rule. But when this rule is applied, should it then not be necessary to reproduce visually the lack of space in a new edition, so that the user can understand the rationale of the score layout? Would it not be more important to clarify what caused the composer to proceed in this particular way than to copy slavishly the mere appearance of the score? But is the lack of space the composer faced worthy to be enshrined in a new edition? A blind trust in authority ("he must have known why...

De vita cum imperfectis

De vita cum imperfectis Alfred Dürr Translated by Traute M. Marshall (bio) The creation of new editions of old music, an important area of musicology, usually has two goals: to enrich our understanding of history and, at the same time, to provide present musical practice with new material—a goal to which the overused notion of the "unjustly forgotten master" bears eloquent (and dubious) witness. The editorial method employed assumes the incontrovertible high quality of the work to be edited; the original, as conceived by the master, is deemed flawless. From this it follows that all the errors contained in the work as it has come down to us are due to flawed transmission and therefore have to be emended in the new edition. Similarly, all additions made to the work by another hand in the course of transmission do not measure up to the level of the master; therefore, they too have to go. This attitude leads to the ideal of the Urtextausgabe, the edition of the original text. And even though the term in recent decades has been interpreted in a considerable number of different ways, it still implies that the new edition must focus as much as possible on the evidence of the composer, and that foreign interpretation of any kind is to be excluded. There is no need to challenge the general validity of these principles. Whoever follows them, however (in the conviction that clarification of the composer's intent is demanded by the commitment to truth, without which our discipline makes no sense), must also become aware of the method's limits in order to use it effectively. The following observations will consider some of those limits. A work like Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion, which the author is currently [1971] editing, is well suited to clarify the problems, since there is no question about the quality of the work or the capabilities of the composer. Therefore, we will be able to focus exclusively on editorial problems. [End Page 212] First of all, we must address the following question: to what extent should the notational appearance of the autograph score be preserved? Whenever the fair copy of a composer is the topic, the autograph Mus. ms. Bach P25 in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek must not be, and cannot be, overlooked. All scholars agree that the idiosyncrasies of Bach's notational handwriting reveal to the eye—as well as to the inner ear—essential features of Bach's music. For that reason, every editor will strive to deviate from this visual representation as little as possible. Max Schneider, in his new edition, met this obligation in exemplary fashion.1 Therefore, the result reveals the problem of the method with particular clarity. Bach, for example, combines the two continuo staves of the first of the two choral movements, "Laß ihn kreuzigen," onto one staff (the lowest) for four and a half measures (folio 54r of the score): there was no space available for the normal separation. On folio 54v, on the other hand, there was sufficient space, and each chorus is given its own continuo staff for the remaining four measures of the movement. The same situation recurs in the second choral movement of the same text: on folio 56v it had to be notated on one staff for five and a half measures, but there was enough space on folio 57r to separate the continuo parts onto two staves for the remainder of the movement. Schneider notates both movements with just one continuo staff throughout (as the lowest staff), thus turning Bach's stopgap measure, necessitated by lack of space, into the governing rule. But when this rule is applied, should it then not be necessary to reproduce visually the lack of space in a new edition, so that the user can understand the rationale of the score layout? Would it not be more important to clarify what caused the composer to proceed in this particular way than to copy slavishly the mere appearance of the score? But is the lack of space the composer faced worthy to be enshrined in a new edition? A blind trust in authority ("he must have known why...

Gregory of Nazianzus and Q. Aurelius Symmachus: The Conflict between East and West and Elite Self-Presentation in the Later Fourth Century AD Rome and Constantinople

This article compares the literary self-presentations in the De vita sua of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Letters of Symmachus as their respective authors responded to public perceptions in Constantinople and Rome, respectively. It reads these works in the light of Gregory’s and Symmachus’ involvement in crisis management at two flashpoints in East–West relations in the last quarter of the fourth century ad, the dispute over the see of Antioch and the rebellion of Gildo in Africa. Both authors, by cooperating with regimes without strong local roots—in the case of Symmachus at the direct request of the regime—had compromised the real or perceived interests of their own cities; both argue in the works in question that they had nonetheless acted in line with locally accepted values and ideals. The Roman empire had long depended on well-connected local elites to mediate between central priorities and local interests in this way, but the sorts of challenges posed by East–West relations in the later fourth century were particularly difficult and the resulting works of self-presentation are both fundamentally novel. These works and the circumstances that led to their creation suggest that successful crisis management between East and West was far from easy, but remained a real possibility as late as the end of the fourth century.

The Influence of Philo’s De Abrahamo on Gregory of Nyssa’s De Vita Moysis

Although Gregory of Nyssa was familiar with the work of Philo of Alexandria and no doubt drew inspiration from him in many ways, the number ofPhilo’s works Gregory actually knew is still not known. This article explores the possible influence of Philo’s De Abrahamo on Gregory’s later work De vita Moysis, an association that has yet to be examined in sufficient detail. The similarities between both works will be elucidated by means of three themes: first, the manner in which both writings combine the retelling and allegorical interpretation of a biblical text; second, the soul’s insatiable pursuit of the good, by which the soul, in repeatedly reaching its limits, attains a kind of relative perfection, changing as a result; and third, the idea that the best inducement toward leading a good life is based on a desire for friendship with God.

The Liber pontificalis in the Renaissance

This article deals with aspects of the reception of the Liber pontificalis in the fifteenth century. The Liber pontificalis, an anonymous series of biographies of popes from St Peter onwards, was one of the principal sources for the Lives of the Popes (Liber de vita Christi ac omnium pontificum, 1475) by the humanist Platina. I address Platina’s use of sources and some of his (limited) attempts at historical criticism. I also review his attitude towards the Latin he found in the Liber pontificalis and give a few examples of how he transformed the language and style of the original text.

Terapeuci – żydowscy prekursorzy monastycyzmu chrześcijańskiego w De vita contemplativa Filona z Aleksandrii

The article analyzes the most important aspects of the life of therapists, the Jewish precursors of Christian monasticism. The author advocates the datation of the De vita contemplativa for the years 40-41 of the first century and presents arguments for the authorship of Philo. Then he emphasizes the apologetic nature of the text and its content. The author is in favor of the hypothesis that therapists were not essenes, but a separate group of ascetics in Judaism of the 1st century AD. He is not convinced by the hypothesis that the Philo’s treaty is a literary fiction and the presentation of an ideal community. Too many details in the text contradict this opinion and even indicate that Philo himself knew the life of therapists from autopsy. Direct influence of therapists on Christian monastic life is impossible to demonstrate, while indirect influence manifests itself in the following elements poor clothing, modest meals: bread, salt and water, devoting little attention to the needs of the body - only as much as necessary for life, getting rid of ownership by giving it to the closest relatives, praying at sunrise, praying with hands raised to heaven, practicing allegorical exegesis of the Old Testament, living in continence. In the case of cenobites: common life under the direction of the superior, shared meals, common prayers, houses divided into a residential part and a monastery as a place of prayer.

El romance de la reina Elena en el siglo XVI

Abstract: The Spanish ballad of Helen of Troy has been transmitted in five chapbooks of the 16th century. An analysis shows that all of them derive from an already faulty common ascendant, presumably a lost chapbook. A critical edition of the poem is presented, and a study follows. This ballad uses imagery first introduced in Spanish vernacular literature by devotional poetry, namely Fray Inigo de Mendoza’s Coplas “De vita Christi”, the date of which is pinpointed to 1474, and Diego de San Pedro’s La Passion trobada, also composed in the 1470s. A study of the sources for this ballad shows that it is mainly based either on the Coronica troyana (a Castilian translation of Guido delle Colonne’s Historia destructionis Troiae ascribed here to Pero Lopez de Ayala’s initiative, fragmentarily preserved) or on the Cronica troyana first printed in 1490 (a text combining the 14th-century Sumas de historia troyana attributed to Leomarte and the above-mentioned Coronica troyana). Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, the most likely explanation is that there was a first fashion of Trojan ballads ca. 1491 inspired by the incunabular Cronica troyana. The ballad onthe Abduction of Helen, as well as the contemporary one on the Judgment of Paris, were composed at that time, becoming quickly popular and entering Sephardic oral tradition.Keywords: ballads, matter of Troy, chapbooks, textual criticism.

Behind the 'Lives of Philosophers:' Reading Diogenes Laertius in the Western Middle Ages

The classical learning of medieval readers, especially those fortunate to have access to a good library, could be formidable. But in the Middle Ages knowledge was also a commodity, and there was powerful temptation to satisfy intellectual hunger with compressed, simplified digests and easy fare. One text, De vita et moribus philosophorum , long attributed to Walter Burley, seems to have achieved particular success in satisfying that hunger for an easy version of ancient lore. Its roots reach back to Diogenes Laertius' Greek Lives of the Philosophers . This essay explores the roads of transmission that led to the making of De vita et moribus philosophorum , which fed a popular fascination with ancient philosophy and the lives of ancient philosophers. Through what channels did the 'history' of ancient philosophy find a readership beyond the scholarly academy, and how can we explain the appeal of such classical knowledge?

Stephen Kelly and Ryan Perry, eds., Devotional Culture in Late Medieval England and Europe: Diverse Imaginations of Christ’s Life. (Medieval Church Studies 31.) Turnhout: Brepols, 2014. Pp. xvii, 660; 40 black-and-white figures and 9 tables. €135. ISBN: 978-2-503-54935-4.Table of contents available online at http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503549354-1 (accessed 15 March 2016)

Stephen Kelly and Ryan Perry, eds., <i>Devotional Culture in Late Medieval England and Europe: Diverse Imaginations of Christ’s Life</i>. (Medieval Church Studies 31.) Turnhout: Brepols, 2014. Pp. xvii, 660; 40 black-and-white figures and 9 tables. €135. ISBN: 978-2-503-54935-4.Table of contents available online at http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503549354-1 (accessed 15 March 2016)

Boccaccio: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works. Edited by Victoria Kirkham, Michael Sherberg, and Janet Levarie Smarr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. Pp. xix+555.

<i>Boccaccio: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works</i>. Edited by Victoria Kirkham, Michael Sherberg, and Janet Levarie Smarr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. Pp. xix+555.

Life from Within

In his medical treatise De vita (1498), Marsilio Ficino describes the force of medical talismans and their efficacy on humans against the background of a cosmological physiology. This article focuses on the question of how—according to Ficino—the powers of medical talismans were experienced by humans, by the living, sensible body (corpus animatum). Discussion of this question also leads to theoretical considerations about the efficacy of artifacts in the Renaissance.

Elements of late stoic philosophy in György Rajcsányi’s spiritual work Laurus tuta

The spiritual work of György Rajcsányi (1670–1734), the Jesuit teacher and moral philosopher of the Jesuit College of Nagyszombat (today Trnava, Slovakia), the Laurus tuta a fulmine seu consignatio sui in providentiam Dei, ex principiis philosophiae sanctioris potissimum desumpta (Nagyszombat 1707 and 1765) pertains to baroque Neostoic philosophy. The beginning of the eighteenth century, the so called “Indian Summer of Hungarian Stoicism” is defined by the publication of several stoical-minded works by a small group of Jesuits (János Rajcsányi, Gábor Kapi, Gergely Berzeviczi, Gergely Hidi, György Rajcsányi) acting in collaboration with the University of Nagyszombat. György Rajcsányi professedly follows the philosophical writing of Seneca, he even refers to the first chapter of the De providentia where it talks about the natural phenomena created by God. He also cites another work of Seneca, the De vita beata, and the command found in this work, namely Deum sequere!, appears several times throughout the dissertation. The other stoic source he uses is the Handbook of Epictetus that he cites several times, too. Among the sources of the Laurus tuta there is the spiritual work of the Jesuit Alphons Antonio de Sarasa (1618–1667), working in Antwerp and Brussels. His writing, the Ars semper gaudendi, was highly popular and has been published several times, including one publication in Nagyszombat in 1676.