Introduction, Form and Function in the Late Medieval Bible

In his 1911 work, Die Geschichte der scholastischen Methode, Martin Grabmann authored a distinction that was to prove fateful for the study of medieval theology in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In an effort to separate what he termed the 'theoretical' side of theology, represented by scholars such as Peter Abelard, Peter Lombard, Robert of Melun and Peter of Poitiers, from an allegedly 'practical' treatment of the same subject, Grabmann consistently and deliberately overlooked works that seemed to concern only the Bible and its exposition.

In: Transcultural Approaches to the Bible (Turnhout: Brepols), p. 49-74, 2021

In the Episcopal Archive and Library of Vic, a precious Bible, today Arxiu i Biblioteca Episcopal, Ms. 1–4 (XXII–XXV) is preserved, dated from 1268. It was made in the style of the great Parisian Bibles, written in Catalan Gothic minuscule, and consciously produced for scholarly purposes, as its large margins show. The Vulgate text of this Bible is eruditely glossed with different biblical readings (Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, Josephus, veteres versiones, St. Jerome, Glossa ordinaria, etc.), turning this manuscript into a very significant evidence for Biblical textual criticism in Catalonia. The goal of this paper is to offer a critical analysis of its Bible glosses: their philological value and theological content can help us to place this Latin Bible in the historical, cultural, and theological context of the Barcelona Disputation (1263).

Biblical exegesis through the twelfth century. This chapter will provide an overview of the most important trends and developments in biblical exegesis from the early Middle Ages through the twelfth century. 1 As the most widely read text within Christendom, the Bible was also the text with the most ample commentary tradition. But one must remember that "the Bible" was still a fluid concept during this period. The canon, that is, the books now regarded as part of Sacred Scripture, was not yet firmly established, in part because the full text of what is today considered the Bible was rarely found together in a single volume. Such single volumes, when they did exits, were called "pandects." But most "Bibles" were in fact partial Bibles. 2 Most single biblical volumes contained only the Gospels, the Psalms, the Pentateuch, the Prophets, or the Letters of Paul. As a result, some biblical books were more widely available and also more widely read and commented on than others. Ample commentaries survive on the Pentateuch or the Letters of Paul, for example, while commentaries on the (apocryphal) books of III-IV Ezra or Baruch are relatively rare. Social and spiritual contexts also determined what books received the most commentary. Although the Song of Songs is rarely read or preached on in today's churches, in the monastic circles of the High Middle Ages it was one of the books that received the most commentaries, because it was read, not as erotic love poetry, but as an allegory of Christ's love for the human soul. 3 The Pentateuch and Gospels outlined the history of Christian salvation and were frequently read during the liturgical year; the Letters of Paul were seen as a primer in doctrinal theology; and the Psalms and biblical canticles were widely read and sung in the monastic liturgy. All these books, then, were among the most frequently commented on in the early and high Middle Ages. Monastic education and exegesis. As the main text read in early medieval monasteries, the Bible served as the basis of the medieval educational system. 4 In the turbulent sixth century, when Italy was the scene of a

Medieval Manuscripts, Their Makers and Users. A Special Issue of Viator in Honor of Richard and Mary Rouse, Brepols, 2011, 2011

This essay explores one facet of the history of the Vulgate in the thirteenth century that has sometimes been mentioned by historians, but which has never been properly analyzed: the non-biblical texts that circulated in manuscripts of the Bible. Texts related to the liturgy, such as lists of Epistle and Gospel readings for the Mass, and Bibles that include Missals, texts for preachers, including collections of sermon themes and different versions of real concordances, and texts for the classroom, such as biblical summaries and Gospel concordances, are examined in turn. Each of these texts has intrinsic interest; because of their presence within manuscripts of the Bible, they can also help us understand how the Bible was used.

Practice of the Bible in the Middle Ages, 2011

Full Bibliography for The Practice of the Bible in the Middle Ages Production, Reception, and Performance in Western Christianity Edited by Susan Boynton and Diane J. Reilly Columbia University Press

Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae

One year after the first volume of the New Cambridge history of the Bible (Richard E. Marsden, Ann Matter, eds., The new Cambridge history of the Bible: The Bible from 600 to 1450; Cambridge University Press, 2012), the second volume covering the vast period from the beginnings of the Bible to its shape and manifold reception until 600 AD, has now been published. The massive volume fully meets the challenge of addressing this daunting task. Its 37 essays provide a fine up-to-date and reliable survey of all issues by a team of international experts. The brief preface by the editors (xii-xv) compares the scope and emphasis of this volume with volumes one and two of the Cambridge history of the Bible and explains why and where the older structure was supplemented in order to account for the considerable number of discoveries of texts and artefacts relevant to the study of the Bible, and the often remarkable shifts in scholarly methodology and opinion (xii). Part one is devoted to the external factors of languages, writing systems and book production, apart from which the history of the Bible cannot be appreciated. It contains the following essays: Geoffrey Kahn, 'The languages of the Old Testament' (3-21); Jan Joosten, 'Varieties of Greek in the Septuagint and the New Testament' (22-45); William M. Schniedewind, 'Writing and book production in the ancient Near East' (46-62); and Larry Hurtado, Chris Keith on 'Writing and book production in the Hellenistic and Roman periods' (63-80).

Renaissance Quarterly 64.2, 2011

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2012

In spite of the acknowledged crucial role it had in forming medieval written culture , the Bible and a wide-range of parabiblical texts still remain largely ignored by histories of medieval literatures. The reason for this striking omission of an important group of medieval texts from the 'canonical' narratives is, as I argue, the strong bias in favour of national, secular, fictional and original texts which shapes literary studies – an inheritance from the nineteenth-century nationalising approaches discussed in the first issue of the Interfaces journal. Of course, the discipline of literary studies and therefore selection, hierarchization, and interpretation are complex social, cultural and political processes where almost anything is possible. It is the environment, the interpretive community, in which the interpretation takes place that has a decisive role. And that, too, is constantly being transformed. Thus, there are no final categories and answers because as long as there are interpretive communities, meanings are generated and operate in new ways. That is why the present discussion does not aim to claim that many of the para-biblical texts are literature and should have been included in the canon of medieval literature. Rather, I examine what the nineteenth-century notion of canon did to these texts and how the current questioning and substantial reshaping of notions of canon can transform our understanding of parabiblical texts.

'The Biblical Dimension of Early Medieval Latin Texts' in K. Ritari and A. Bergholm eds, Understanding Celtic Religion: Revisiting the Pagan Past (Cardiff 2015), 83-98.

Trends in Statistical Codicology

Sacred text par excellence and supreme attestation of the Divine Word, the Bible enjoyed a wider dissemination than any other text throughout the entire Western Middle Ages. Without doubt, it was the most read-and probably the most transcribed-text of the time, even if we still lack an exhaustive census of Latin Bibles. The transposition of the 'Book'-a message laden with profound meanings-into the 'book', an object bearing less explicit but in any event equally important cultural connotations, did not countenance imprecise or amateurish solutions; rather, it constituted the ultimate expression of professionalism in the creation of a manuscript. This insistence on the utmost quality also represents an aspect of conservatism-in fact, more than any other book the Bible had to conform scrupulously to the ideals of uniformity and harmonious proportions that were customarily aimed at by book manufacturing artisans. Such an objective demanded as little deviation as possible from the precepts established by tradition, as well as a high degree of presentational uniformity.  The tendency towards stability can be seen as part of a dialectical process; indeed, given that in the medieval West the Bible never ceased to play a lively and integral role in the cultural fabric of society, its omnipresence meant that from time to time it had to be adapted to prevailing material, graphic and decorative canons and, above all, to the functional requirements of different historical periods. Thus the way in which the Bible manifested itself more generally represents a faithful reflection of the evolution of the book structure, writing and ornamental elements. Additionally, the Bible constitutes a sort of 'geometric place', around which one can observe a continual intertwining of the various expressions emanating from the development of Christianity and the Church. Marked by doctrinal disputes, issues relating to spiritual renewal and, not least, the struggle for power, the history of the Bible is replete with profound and conspicuous changeschanges which, although sometimes very apparent, are not always easy to interpret. The physical object acts as a vehicle, and even, on occasion, as an ||

'The Biblical Dimension of Early Medieval Latin Texts' in K. Ritari and A. Bergholm eds, Understanding Celtic Religion: Revisiting the Pagan Past (Cardiff 2015), 83-98

Viator 39 no. 1 (2008), 263-284.