In 2012, Lukas Dorfbauer identified a manuscript in Cologne Cathedral Library as a copy of the Commentary on the Gospels by Fortunatianus, bishop of Aquileia in the middle of the fourth century. This discovery enabled him to identify further witnesses to the commentary and works dependent on it. Dorfbauer's critical edition (CSEL 103) makes this work available to scholarship for the first time in over a millennium.
The discovery of a new work from late antiquity is always a landmark in the history of research. This extensive commentary shines new light on fourth-century biblical interpretation and the exegetical practices and literary work of an African bishop ministering in north Italy in this period. What is more, it appears to be dependent on works by Origen and Victorinus of Poetovio which are no longer preserved.
In order to make this important work available to a wider audience, Dr Houghton has prepared an English translation and introduction in conjunction with the COMPAUL project on the earliest commentaries on the New Testament as sources for the biblical text.
Elisabeth Birnbaum, Der Koheletkommentar des Hieronymus. - Berlin: De Gruyter 2014.
With his Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Hieronymus became the most influential interpreter of this Biblical book until the early modern era. For the first time, this volume offers a German translation and continuous commentary on Hieronymus's interpretations from the perspective of biblical scholarship. An extensive introduction to the topic and a revised Latin text complete the volume.
Edition und Erforschung lateinischer patristischer Texte. 150 Jahre CSEL, hrsg. von Victoria Zimmerl-Panagl - Lukas Dorfbauer - Clemens Weidmann. - Berlin: De Gruyter 2014.
This compendium compiles the latest research findings on the patristic literature of Late Antiquity, including questions surrounding editorial methods and interpretive approaches, and also presents a previously unpublished and lost tractate from Late Antiquity. It contains essays on Tertullian, Fortunatianus of Aquileia, Ambrosius, Prudentius, Augustine, Hieronymus, Eucherius, Gregor of Nazianzus, as well as monastic texts.Ludwig Fladerer, Augustinus als Exeget. Zu seinen Kommentaren des Galaterbriefes und der Genesis. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2010.
This volume provides a contribution to our understanding of Augustine's exegetical techniques in his three commentaries on the biblical account of the Creation. The focus of the investigation is a philological one. The first section sets Augustine´s methods of interpretation in the historical context of contemporary Christian commentary. Since there are no important surviving Latin commentaries on the book of Genesis from the time of Augustine, the first step is a comparative analysis of extant commentaries of the Galatians (by Marius Victorinus, Jerome, Ambrosiaster, Augustine) in order to discern, measure und evaluate differences and similarities in interpretation. These interconnections cast light on Augustine's methods of commenting on sacred texts. The focus here is on the different ways in which the word of the Bible can be interwoven with the text of its commentator. These results serve as a useful guide to the main section of the book, which focuses on a careful consideration of grammatical issues in the commentaries on the account of the Creation, including various topics such as semantics, the correctness of language and rhetoric. By exploring these exegetical works it has become evident that the practical techniques are intimately connected with Augustine's hermeneutics, later systematised in his De doctrina Christiana. Thus, his theory of signification is preceded in writings with practical aims. Augustine´s explanation of the Creation is so deeply influenced by his pastoral purpose that he often goes beyond the scope of the traditional form of commentary. The Holy Scripture presents a multiple system of signs, whose meaning can be enriched and increased by the faithful reader.Michael Margoni-Kögler, Die Perikopen im Gottesdienst bei Augustinus. Ein Beitrag zur Erforschung der liturgischen Schriftlesung in der frühen Kirche. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2010.
In view of only poorly preserved primary liturgical sources (e.g. "lectionaries" or simple listings of scriptural readings) of the final period of late antiquity, liturgical-historical research depends almost exclusively on the evaluation of homiletic testimonials. Concerning the North African area they are represented primarily by St. Augustine's sermons, most of them containing direct or indirect references to one or more of their immediately preceding biblical lessons. Being based on a consciously reflected methodology and making use of elaborated electronic possibilities for systematic research, this study aims at an evaluation of those references carried out for the entire homiletic work of St. Augustine recorded up to now, thereby achieving a considerable enlargement of the hitherto determined spectrum of biblical lessons read in the divine services presided by St. Augustine. The scriptural readings which the analyses prove as secure, (highly) probable or presumable, are questioned with regard to their biblical- and liturgical-theological context as well as to the motivation of their selection. At the same time the proportion between already fixed readings on the one hand and the individual possibility of their choice by the bishop in relation to the specific period of the liturgical year on the other hand is shown. The results are finally placed within the broader framework of comparative liturgical research, thus enlarging the base for further investigation into the rather obscure relations of the North African liturgy to other liturgical families and contributing to a better knowledge of the largely unsettled prerequisites of fixed lectionary systems from the early Middle Ages onwards.Text und Bild. Tagungsbeiträge, hrsg. von Victoria Zimmerl-Panagl - Dorothea Weber. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2010.
The volume presents papers read at the international Symposium "Text und Bild" which was held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (April 2-4, 2009). This Symposium was organised by the Commission for Editing the Corpus of the Latin Church Fathers (CSEL) and the Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture (IKAnt) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and by the Institute for Classical Philology, Medieval and Neo-Latin Studies at Vienna University. Part of the articles analyses various kinds of visualisation which Prudentius in his poems implies, describes, or evokes; the authors discuss, for example, in which respects philological and archaeological studies on Prudentius can complement each other, if Prudentius intended, that the reader of his Dittochaeon should look at 'real' pictures or just envisage 'imagined' ones, and in which way one can transfer the mutual penetration of descriptions and interpretations of pictures as given in the Dittochaeon to other passages of Prudentius' Ouvre containing visualisations. Furthermore, in order to shed light on characteristics and on the poetical forte of Prudentius in general, some articles concentrate on his other poems and their genuine problems or examine poetic techniques of visualisation applied by authors of roughly the same time. Additionally, a number of articles supply the reader with information about the literary tradition of visualisation Prudentius could build on and with an insight into medieval poetic 'Tituli'. Finally, the volume is rounded off by interdisciplinary studies dealing with the issue from the viewpoint of History of Arts and Theology or patristic Philology and Music, respectively.Collatio Augustini Cum Pascentio. Einleitung, Text, Übersetzung. Mit Beiträgen von H. C. Brennecke, H. Reichert und K. Vössing, hrsg. von Hildegund Müller - Dorothea Weber - Clemens Weidmann. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2008.
This volume is the result of the international postgraduate workshop "Editing Latin Patristic Texts", organized by the Kirchenväterkommission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in the summer of 2006. In the course of this workshop, the pseudo-Augustine Collatio cum Pascentio served as an example for carrying out in teamwork the various steps of editing a text such as collating manuscripts, establishing a stemma codicum, constituing the text, compiling a critical apparatus, etc. This is the first critical edition of this text, which was written in Vandal North Africa several decades after Augustine's death (+ 430). It pretends to be a debate between Augustine and the Arian Pascentius concerning questions of Trinity. The comprehensive introduction provides information on the origin and tradition of this text, which is in many ways as interesting as it is problematic, and discusses questions of authenticity, sources and the literary genre. The text has been edited on the basis of all known manuscripts. A translation has been added for a better understanding. Three separate essays, resulting from lectures during the workshop, deal with historic and social aspects of its background as well as with church policy. The language of the Vandals, from which two much discussed words have come down to us in this text, is given attention as well.Gottfried Eugen Kreuz, Pseudo-Hilarius, Metrum in Genesin, Carmen de Evangelio. Einleitung, Text und Kommentar. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2006.
There has not been done much research on the smaller, mostly pseudonymic biblical poems of late antiquity yet. One of these, the double poem In Genesin – De Evangelio, written by the so-called Pseudo-Hilary, has now been newly edited, thoroughly commented (more or less for the first time, not taking into account the small book of J. Weitz, 1625) with respect to philological and theological questions, including a translation of the text, which is inserted piece by piece into the commentary, and has thus been made accessible for modern readers. The extensive introduction contains a discussion of the manuscript tradition and printed editions as well as an attempt to define the position of the poem in its theological and literary background (here, the In Genesin-part is of most interest), including date and authorship and some effort to prove the theory of R. Peiper, which has been a remaining desideratum since his vehemently criticized edition of the poem (CSEL 23, 1891), claiming that the two poems are parts of one poetic unity, separated by tradition. Therefore, similarities in usage of language and motives, but especially the subtle polemics against Lucretius, and the fact that the whole double poem can be seen as a liturgical paraphrase that, by some means, anticipates the main principles of medieval tropi, are discussed. Some speculations about the lost final part of De Evangelio, with a side-glance to pieces of contemporary works of arts, complete the author's attempt to reintroduce an underestimated piece of poetry to the horizon of scholarship.Margit Kamptner, Paulinus von Nola, Carmen 18: Text, Einleitung und Kommentar. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2005.
Paulinus of Nola's collection of the so-called Carmina natalicia is, from its fourth poem (c. 15), devoted to the life and deeds of S. Felix of Nola. Within this metrical biography, c. 18 holds a key position, in so far as it marks the transition from earthly to heavenly existence and miraculous powers of the Saint: In two parts of more or less equal length, Paulinus first focuses on Felix's funeral and heavenly ascent, then recounts an exemplary miracle performed by the saint after his death. The commentary presents a detailed analysis of the poem on linguistic, stylistic, poetic and literary historic matters, the main concern being as follows: Paulinus' use of classical, biblical and patristic sources and models as well as his adaptation of the traditional literary genres. Then, there is emphasis on the interpretation of the poem as a whole, its unity and its position within the context of the collection of "birthday poems".Textsorten und Textkritik, hrsg. von Adolf Primmer - Kurt Smolak - Dorothea Weber. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2002.
It is a demanding task to edit a Latin text of the patristic era according to strictly scholarly philological methods: besides theological, linguistic and paleographic skills the editor has to take into account the specific genre to which the text to be edited belongs. This complex situation becomes even more evident when one considers the different criteria by which the manuscript tradition of different texts must be judged. On the one hand, there are pieces of very high literary pretension handed down in many manuscripts, as it is the case with most of the Christian artistic poetry of the 4th and the 5th century. On the other hand, we have sermons like those of Augustine, which were preached to an audience of simple people. These sermons were at times delivered ex tempore, but were still well structured; their texts were taken down in shorthand and are preserved in even more manuscripts. The present volume contains fourteen articles in which philologists, theologians and church historians deal with the topic indicated in the title. The articles are based on papers given in February 2001 at an international meeting that was organised by the 'Kirchenväterkommission' of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. By discussing examples of their editing work, which is being done mainly for the CSEL, the contributors demonstrate how diverse the difficulties are with which they have to cope. Since the problems involved with different genres of texts and textual criticism belong to the basic ones of every philology that has to do with producing a critical edition, the volume will be of interest to others besides for scholars in Latin and patristics.Clemens Weidmann, Augustinus und das Maximinianistenkonzil von Cebarsussi. Zur historischen und textgeschichtlichen Bedeutung von Enarratio in psalmum 36, 2, 18-23. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1998.
We owe to the controversy between the Catholics and Donatists in North Africa a document which permits not merely valuable insights into the organization of the Donatist church, but also interesting philological observations on the manuscript tradition of Augustine's Enarrationes in psalmos. In the context of his exegesis of Psalm 36 Augustine cites the letter of the Council of Cebarsussi (June 24, 393), in which approximately 100 Donatist bishops condemn their primate, Primian of Carthage and opt for the party of his opponent, Maximian. The document ends with a list of signatures containing more than fifty names. -- Through a careful examination of the manuscripts which contain the Enarratio in psalmum 36 and through a comparison with other documents which offer no textual problems, many new pieces of historical information, especially the names of the bishops and of their sees, have been acquired. Since the text of the letter does not properly belong to the exegesis of the psalm and has remained unaffected by manuscript contamination, it is possible to use it to identify different ways in which errors were introduced and to recognize particular characteristics of the individual manuscripts of the Enarrationes in psalmos.Hildegund Müller, Eine Psalmenpredigt über die Auferstehung. Augustinus, Enarratio in psalmum 65. Einleitung, Text, Übersetzung und Kommentar. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1997.
A sample edition of a single sermon by Augustine on a Psalm, as a part of the entire critical edition of St. Augustine's Enarrationes in psalmos being prepared for the CSEL. Augustine interprets Psalm 65 (66) as a hymn on the resurrection, a concept whose various levels of meaning he developed in an artistically structured and rhetorically polished sermon. The new edition tries to do justice to this complex text by a carefully determining, correcting, and punctuating the Latin text. An introduction which deals with the dating and the place where the sermon was given, the manuscript tradition--which has now for the first time been studied almost completely--and the literary interpretation of the sermon, accompanies the text. A German translation and an extensive commentary on textual problems offer justification for the editor's choice of variant readings and conjectures.Kurt Smolak, Das Gedicht des Bischofs Agrestius. Eine theologische Lehrepistel aus der Spätantike. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1973.Franz Weissengruber, Epiphanius Scholasticus als Übersetzer. - Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1972. 