Bibliography
Albrecht
Diem
Works authored
Diem, Albrecht, and Matthieu van der Meer [tr.], Columbanische Klosterregeln: Regula cuiusdam patris, Regula cuiusdam ad virgines, Regelfragment De accedendo, St. Ottilien: EOS-editions, 2016.
abstract:
This book is a study and German translation of three 7th-century monastic rules published after the time of Columbanus: the Regula cuiusdam patris, Regula cuiusdam ad virgines and the treatise De accedendo ad Deum. In the introduction I argue that all three texts assert different claims to define the heritage of the Irish monk and monastic founder Columbanus, and give different responses to the theological and practical challenges Columbanian monasticism faced after his death in 615. The Regula cuiusdam patris can be read as an angry polemic against the course Columbanian monasticism took, and might be associated with Agrestius, one of the antagonists of Columbanus’ successor Eusthasius of Luxeuil. The Regula cuiusdam ad virgines was probably written by Jonas of Bobbio as a counterpart to his Life of Columbanus. Both texts together form the program of Columbanian (or Hiberno-Frankish) monasticism as propagated by Jonas. De accedendo ad Deum may have originally been a chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad virgines. As such it would form the theological core of the rule. The text provides a highly elaborate rationale for why and how monastic discipline enables a community to pray effectively for forgiveness of sins, to perform intercessory prayer and to attain salvation.
abstract:
This book is a study and German translation of three 7th-century monastic rules published after the time of Columbanus: the Regula cuiusdam patris, Regula cuiusdam ad virgines and the treatise De accedendo ad Deum. In the introduction I argue that all three texts assert different claims to define the heritage of the Irish monk and monastic founder Columbanus, and give different responses to the theological and practical challenges Columbanian monasticism faced after his death in 615. The Regula cuiusdam patris can be read as an angry polemic against the course Columbanian monasticism took, and might be associated with Agrestius, one of the antagonists of Columbanus’ successor Eusthasius of Luxeuil. The Regula cuiusdam ad virgines was probably written by Jonas of Bobbio as a counterpart to his Life of Columbanus. Both texts together form the program of Columbanian (or Hiberno-Frankish) monasticism as propagated by Jonas. De accedendo ad Deum may have originally been a chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad virgines. As such it would form the theological core of the rule. The text provides a highly elaborate rationale for why and how monastic discipline enables a community to pray effectively for forgiveness of sins, to perform intercessory prayer and to attain salvation.
Websites
Diem, Albrecht, Monastic manuscript project, Online, ?–present. URL: <http://www.earlymedievalmonasticism.org>.
abstract:
The Monastic Manuscript Project is a database of descriptions of manuscripts that contain texts relevant for the study of early medieval monasticism, especially monastic rules, ascetic treatises, vitae patrum-texts and texts related to monastic reforms. We provide lists of manuscripts for each of these texts, which are linked to manuscript descriptions. The purpose is to offer a tool for reconstructing not only the manuscript dissemination of early medieval monastic texts but also to give access to the specific contexts in which a text appears.The database supports current edition projects and draws attention to understudied texts and the transmission of fragments, excerpts and florilegia. It is designed to facilitate the work of students and scholars who are interested in the history and reception of texts and who want to work with manuscripts rather than rely on modern editions.
abstract:
The Monastic Manuscript Project is a database of descriptions of manuscripts that contain texts relevant for the study of early medieval monasticism, especially monastic rules, ascetic treatises, vitae patrum-texts and texts related to monastic reforms. We provide lists of manuscripts for each of these texts, which are linked to manuscript descriptions. The purpose is to offer a tool for reconstructing not only the manuscript dissemination of early medieval monastic texts but also to give access to the specific contexts in which a text appears.The database supports current edition projects and draws attention to understudied texts and the transmission of fragments, excerpts and florilegia. It is designed to facilitate the work of students and scholars who are interested in the history and reception of texts and who want to work with manuscripts rather than rely on modern editions.
Contributions to edited collections or authored works
Diem, Albrecht, “Disputing Columbanus’s heritage: the Regula cuiusdam patris (with a translation of the rule)”, in: Alexander OʼHara (ed.), Columbanus and the peoples of post-Roman Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. 259–306.
abstract:
This chapter examines the Regula cuiusdam patris, a Columbanian monastic Rule from the seventh century, in the context of the disputes sourrounding Columbanus’s legacy that arose following his death. It provides an analysis of the—unique—theological program of the Regula cuiusdam patris, which dismisses the idea of a salvific effect of paenitentia and the notion of the monastery as a sacred space. A comparison with Columbanus’s own rules and Jonas of Bobbio’s Vita Columbani forms the basis for ascribing the Regula cuiusdam patris either to the monks rebelling against Athala of Bobbio or to Agrestius and his followers. The chapter provides an English translation of the Rule as an appendix.
abstract:
This chapter examines the Regula cuiusdam patris, a Columbanian monastic Rule from the seventh century, in the context of the disputes sourrounding Columbanus’s legacy that arose following his death. It provides an analysis of the—unique—theological program of the Regula cuiusdam patris, which dismisses the idea of a salvific effect of paenitentia and the notion of the monastery as a sacred space. A comparison with Columbanus’s own rules and Jonas of Bobbio’s Vita Columbani forms the basis for ascribing the Regula cuiusdam patris either to the monks rebelling against Athala of Bobbio or to Agrestius and his followers. The chapter provides an English translation of the Rule as an appendix.
Diem, Albrecht, “Die Regula Columbani und die Regula sancti Galli: Überlegungen zu den Gallusviten in ihrem karolingischen Kontext”, in: Franziska Schnoor, Karl Schmuki, Ernst Tremp, Peter Erhart, and Jakob Kuratli Hüeblin (eds), Gallus und seine Zeit. Leben, Wirken, Nachleben, 7, St. Gallen: Verlag am Klosterhof St. Gallen, 2015. 65–98.
