Man and His Activities in The Medieval Latin Hymnographic Tradition: The St. Gallen Poetic School as a Case Study
- Authors: Nenarokova M.R.1
-
Affiliations:
- A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- Issue: Vol 84, No 3 (2025)
- Pages: 5-14
- Section: Articles
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/1605-7880/article/view/316686
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.31857/S1605788025030017
- ID: 316686
Open Access
Access granted
Subscription Access
Abstract
The article deals with reflecting the place of man and his activities in the artistic worldview of the medieval hymnographer. Church poetry created in the monastery of St. Gallen in the 9th–10th centuries served as a material for the research. The study showed that the corpus of poetic texts dedicated to the heroes and anti-heroes of Christianity, which developed in St. Gallen, reflected not only general Christian ideas concerning man and his activities, but also the views developed by three like-minded people and friends, the poets Notker Balbulus, Ratpert and Tuotilo. Poetic texts, combined with music and performed during services not only in St. Gallen, but also in other monasteries and churches in Europe, made it possible to disseminate these views in a form convenient for assimilation and memorization. The school of St. Gallen, where the poets taught, was known throughout Europe and had a reputation as a place where they not only provided an excellent education, but also paid attention to the spiritual development of their students. Boys from aristocratic families entered the school, and later became abbots of monasteries, missionaries, and bishops. They did not lose contact with the monastery and, occupying high church positions, became conduits not only of the Christian, but also of the St. Gallen worldview, in which an important place was occupied by man whose actions determined his life and posthumous destiny.
About the authors
M. R. Nenarokova
A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Author for correspondence.
Email: maria.nenarokova@yandex.ru
25a Povarskaya Str., Moscow, 121069, Russia
References
- Bershin, W. Latinskaya literatura v Sankt-Gallene [Latin Literature in St. Gallen]. Kultura abbatstva Sankt-Gallen. Pod red. Vernera Foglera; per. s nem. N.F. Uskova. 3-e izd., pererab. [Culture of the Abbey of St. Gallen. Ed. Werner Vogler, Transl. by N.F. Uskov. 3rd ed., reworked. St. Gallen (Schweiz), 1993, pp. 145–156. (In Russ.)
- Steinen, Wolfram von den. Notker der Dichter und Seine Geistlige Welt. Bd. 1. Bern: Francke Verlag, 1978. 640 s. (In German)
- Brunhölzl, F. Histoire de la Littérature Latine du moyen âge. T. 1. Vol. 2. Turnhaut, 1991. 346 p. (In French)
- Migne, J.-P. Patrologiae Latinae Cursus Completus (PL). On CD-Rom. Chadwick-Healy, 1993–1995. (In Latin)
- Ekkehard of Aura. Istorii monastyrya Sankt-Gallen. Per., statya, komm. S.V. Ivanova [History of the monastery of St. Gallen. Transl., Article, Comment. by S.V. Ivanov]. St. Petersburg: Nauka Publ., 2023. 310 p. (In Russ.)
- Jacobsen, Peter Christian. Il Secolo IX. Letteratura Latina Medievale (Secoli VI–XV). A cura di C. Leonardi. Firenze, 2005, pp. 75–158. (In Italian)
- Leonardi, Claudio. Il Secolo X. Letteratura Latina Medievale (Secoli VI–XV). A cura di C. Leonardi. Firenze, 2005, pp. 159–174. (In Italian)
- Hélin, Maurice. A History of Medieval Latin Literature. Transl. by Jean Chapman Snow. New York: William Salloch, 1949. 130 p.
- Raby, F.J.E. A History of Secular Latin Poetry in the Middle Ages. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934, pp. 252–259.
- Auf der Maur, Ivo. Liturgiya v Sankt-Gallene [Liturgy in St. Gallen]. Kultura abbatstva Sankt-Gallen. Pod red. Vernera Foglera; per. s nem. N.F. Uskova. 3-e izd., pererab. [Culture of the Abbey of St. Gallen. Ed. Werner Vogler, Transl by N.F. Uskov. 3rd ed., reworked. St. Gallen (Schweiz), 1993, pp. 39–52. (In Russ.)
- Laistner, M.L.W. Thought and Letters in Western Europe. A.D. 500 to 900. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1966. 416 p.
- Vogler, Werner. Ocherk istorii abbatstva [Essay on the History of the Abbey]. Kultura abbatstva Sankt-Gallen. Pod red. Vernera Foglera; per. s nem. N.F. Uskova. 3-e izd., pererab. [Culture of the Abbey of St. Gallen. Ed. Werner Vogler, Transl. by N.F. Uskov. 3rd ed., reworked. St. Gallen (Schweiz), 1993, pp. 9–23. (In Russ.)
- Szövérffy, Joseph. Secular Latin Lyrics and Minor Poetic Forms of the Middle Ages. A Historical Survey and Literary Repertory from the Tenth to the Late Fifteenth Century. Vol. 1. Concord, New Hampshire: Classical Folia Editions, 1992. 466 p.
- Duft, Ioannes. Tserkovnoye peniye v Sankt-Gallene [Church Singing in St. Gallen]. Kultura abbatstva Sankt-Gallen. Pod red. Vernera Foglera; per. s nem. N.F. Uskova. 3-e izd., pererab. [Culture of the Abbey of St. Gallen. Ed. Werner Vogler, Transl. by N.F. Uskov. 3rd ed., reworked. St. Gallen (Schweiz), 1993, pp. 57–67. (In Russ.)
- Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi. Hymnographi Latini. Vol. 50. Ed. Guido Maria Dreves. Leipzig: O.R. Reisland, 1907. 664 p. (In Latin)
- Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov), St. Sobesedovaniya o zhizni italiyskikh ottsov i o bessmertii dushi [Dialogues about the Life of the Italian Fathers and the Immortality of the Soul]. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Grigorij_Dvoeslov/dialogi-sobesedovanija-o-zhizni-italijskih-ottsov-i-o-bessmertii-dushi/ (Date of application: December 18, 2024). (In Russ.)
- Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Eds. Bertram Colgrave, R.A.B. Mynors. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1969. LXXVI, 618 p.
- Progymnasmata. Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric. Transl., intr., notes by George A. Kennedy. Atlanta (GA): Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. 232 p.
