Bardenhewer. History and Literature of Patrology

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HistoryandLiteratureofPatrology.

1.ST.JEROME. WeowetoSt.JerometheideaofaPatrologyorhistoryofChristiantheologicalliterature.

His

work

on

the

Christian

writers

was

composed

at

Bethlehem

in

392

at

the

suggestion

of thepretorianprefectDexter1. It ismodelledon thehomonymousworkofSuetonius (ca.75

160), and professes to be a brief account of all those ecclesiastical writers (ecclesiae

scriptores)whohavewrittenon theSacredScriptures (descripturissanctisaliquidmemoriae

prodiderunt) from theCrucifixion to the fourteenthyearof the reignofTheodosius (392).The

firstchaptersaredevotedtothebooksoftheNewTestament;lateron,evenhereticalwritersare

added(Bardesanesc.33,Novatianc.70,andothers).Attheend(c.135)hegivesanaccountofhis

ownwritings as far as the year 392. Thematerial of the first chapters is taken from theNew

Testament; the following sections,on theGreekwritersof the first three centuries,arehastily

madeand inaccurateexcerpts fromtheChurchHistoryofEusebiusofCsarea.Thechapterson

theLatinwritersandonlaterGreekwritersrepresentthepersonalknowledgeandresearchofSt.

Jerome,andalthoughtheydonotentirelysatisfyourjustexpectations,theyareneverthelessan

historicalauthorityof the first rank.Erasmus,who firstedited (1516) theDe viris illustribus,

publishedalsoaGreektranslationofthework(Migne1.c.)whichheattributedtoSophronius,a

contemporaryofSt.Jerome.Itwasnot,however,executedbeforetheseventhcentury.

IntheverynumerousmanuscriptofthisworkofSt.JeromethecontinuationbyGennadius(n.2)isusually

found. It is also printed in the latest editions, byW. Herding, Leipzig, 1879; C. A. Bernoulli, Sammlung

ausgewhlter kirchen und dogmengeschichtlicher Quellenschriften xi., Freiburg i. Br. (1895), and E. C.

Richardson, Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, Leipzig, 1896, xiv. I.

Theseeditionshavenotrenderedfurtherimprovementimpossible.O.v.Gebhardthasgivenusanexcellent

edition of the Greek translation, Leipzig, 1896 (Texte und Untersuchungen 1. c.). Cf. St. v. Sychowski,

Hieronymusals Literarhistoriker,Mnster,1894 (KjrchengeschichtlicheStudien, ii.2);C.A.Bernoulli,Der

SchriftstellerkatalogdesHieronymus,Freiburgi.Br.,1895;G.Wentzel,DiegriechischebersetzungderViri

inlustresdesHieronymus,Leipzig,1895(TexteundUntersuchungen,xiii.3).

2. CONTINUATORS OF ST. JEROME. Formore than a thousand years, this little book of theHermitofBethlehem servedas thebasisofall laterefforts toproduceahistoryof theological

literature.All later compilers linked theirwork tohis,andevenwhen therewasaddedaname

forgottenbyhim, orby oneofhis continuators, the form and divisionsof thework remained

1Devirisillustr.:Migne,PL.,xxiii.601720.


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unchanged.Between theyears467480 (apparently),Gennadius,apriestofMarseilles,brought

outaveryusefulcontinuationandcompletionoftheDeviris2.HewasaSemiPelagian,afact

that is responsible for occasional deviations from his usual impartial or objective attitude.

Otherwise, Gennadius was an historian of extensive knowledge, accurate judgment and

honourablepurpose. Isidore,archbishopofSeville ( 636),addedconsiderably tothe laboursof

Gennadius3,andhisdiscipleIldephonsusofToledo( 667)contributedashortappendixonsome

Spanish theologians4. Centuries were now to pass away before the Benedictine chronicler,

SigebertofGemblouxinBelgium( 1112),tookupthetaskoncemore,andcarriedthehistoryof

ecclesiastical literaturedown tohisown time. Inhisbook De viris illustribus5he treats first,

imitatusHieronymumetGennadium,ashehimselfsays (c.171),of theancientecclesiastical

writers;andnextgivesbiographicalandbibliographicalnotesonearlymedivalLatintheologians,

usuallyslightandmeagre incontents,andnotunfrequentlyrathersuperficial.Somewhatsimilar

compendiawerecomposedbythepriestHonoriusofAugustodunum(Autun?)between1122and

11256,by theAnonymusMellicensis, so called from theBenedictineabbeyofMelk in Lower

Austria,where the firstmanuscriptofhisworkwas found, though thework itselfwasprobably

composedwin the abbey of Prfening nearRatisbon in 11357, and by the authorof a similarly

entitled work wrongly ascribed to the scholastic theologian Henry of Ghent ( 1293). These

compilationswereallsurpassed,in1494,asregardsthenumberofauthorsandtheabundanceof

information,bytheDescriptoribusecclesiasticisofthecelebratedabbotJohannesTrithemius(

1516).Itcontainsnoticesof963writers,someofwhom,however,werenottheologians.Itschief

meritliesintheinformationgivenconcerningwritersofthelaterperiodofChristianantiquity.For

Trithemius, as for his predecessors, St. Jerome and Gennadius are the principal sources of

knowledgeconcerningtheliterarylaboursoftheFathers.

TheseliteraryhistoricalcompilationsaretobefoundtogetherwiththeworkofSt.Jerome(LatinandGreek)

inJ.A.Fabricius,Bibliothecaecclesiastica,Hamburg,1718.Forthe latereditionsofGennadiusbyHerding,Bernoulli,Richardsonseep.7;cf.alsoJungmann,QuaestionesGennadianae(Programme),Lipsiae,1881;Br.

Czapla,Gennadius als Literarhistoriker,Mnster, 1898 (Kirchengeschichtliche Studien, iv. I); Fr.Diekamp,

Wann hat Gennadius seinen Schriftstellerkatalog verfat? Rmische Quartalschrift fr christlicheAltertumskundeund frKirchengeschichte,1898,xii.411420.For the twoSpanishhistoriansofChristian

2Migne,PL.,lviii.10591120.

3Ib.,lxxxiii.10811106.

4Ib.,xcvi.195206.

5Ib.,clx.547588.

6Deluminaribusecclesiae:Migne,PL.,clxxii.197234.

7Descriptoribusecclesiasticis:ib.,ccxiii.961984.


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literature cf. G. v. Dzialowski, Isidor und Ildefons als Literarhistoriker, Mnster (Kirchengeschichtliche

Studien,iv.2).ForSigebertofGemblouxcf.Wattenbach,DeutschlandsGeschichtsquellenimMittelalter,6.

ed.,Berlin,18931894, ii.155162,andforhis literaryhistoricalworkS.Hirsch,DevitaetscriptisSigeberti

monachi Gemblacensis, Berolini, 1841, 330337. There is an article by Stanonik on Honorius of

Augustodunum in the Kirchenlexikon ofWetzer undWelte, 2. ed., vi. 268274. A good edition of the

AnonymusMellicensiswaspublishedbyE.Ettlinger,Karlsruhe,1896.FortheworkDeviris illustribus

currentunder thenameofHenryofGhent seeB.Haurau inMmoiresde l'institutnationalde France,Acad.desinscriptionsetbelleslettres,Paris,1883,xxx.2,349357.TheworkofTrithemiusisdiscussedbyJ.

Silbernagl,JohannesTrithemius,2.ed.,Regensburg,1885,pp.5965.

3.THEXVI.,XVII.,ANDXVIII.CENTURIES.Since the fifteenthcentury thestudyofecclesiasticalliteraturehasmadeunexpectedprogress.Thehumanistsbroughttolightamultitudeofunknown

worksofLatin,andespeciallyofGreekecclesiasticalwriters.Thecontentionofthereformersthat

primitive Christianity had undergone a profound corruption, furthered still more the already

awakened interest in the ancient literature of the Church. In the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries, theBenedictinescholarsoftheFrenchCongregationofSt.Maurgaveapowerfuland

lastingimpulsetothemovementbytheexcellent,andinpartclassical,editionsoftexts,inwhich

they revealed to an astonishedworldhistorical sourcesof almost infinite richness and variety.

NewprovincesandnewpurposesweretherebyopenedtoPatrology.TheMauristsmadeknown

at the same time the laws for the historical study of the original sources; in nearly every

department of ancient ecclesiastical literature, it became possible for scholars to strip the

historicaltruthoftheveiloflegendthathadhungoverit.Itstillremainedcustomaryforliterary

historians, todealwith the ancient ecclesiastical literature as awhole. Themostdistinguished

CatholicnamesinthisperiodofpatrologicalscholarshiparethoseofBellarmine( 1621),Dupin(

1719), Le Nourry ( 1724), Ceillier ( 1761 ), Schram ( 1797), Lumper ( 1800). Among the

ProtestantpatrologistsarereckonedtheReformedtheologiansCave( 1713),andOudin( 1717),

aPremonstratensianmonkwhobecameaProtestant in1690.TheLutheranwriters,Gerhard (

1637),Hlsemann ( 1661),Olearius ( 1711),andothers introducedandspread theuseof the

termPatrology,meaning therebya comprehensive viewofallChristian theological literature

fromtheearliestperiodtomedival,andeventomoderntimes.

RobertusCard.BellarminusS.J.,Descriptoribusecclesiasticisliberunus,cumadiunctisindicibusundecimet

brevichronologiaaborbeconditousqueadannum1612,Romae,1613;Coloniae,1613,et saepius. L.E.

Dupin, Nouvelle bibliothque des auteurs ecclsiastiques, Paris, 1686 sq. The several sections of this

extensiveworkappearedunderdifferenttitles.Thenumberofvolumesalsovariesaccordingtotheeditions.

BecauseofitsveryunecclesiasticalcharactertheworkofDupinwasplacedontheIndex,May10.1757.N.

Le Nourry O. S. B., Apparatus ad bibliothecam maximam veterum patrum et antiquorum scriptorum

ecclesiasticorumLugduni (1677)editam,2tomi,Paris,17031715.R.CeillierO.S.B.,Histoiregnralede


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auteurssacrsetecclsiastiques,23vol.,Paris,17291763;aneweditionwasbroughtoutatParis,1858

1869,16vols.D.SchramO.S.B.,AnalysisoperumSS.Patrumetscriptorumeccl.,18tomi,Aug.Vind.,1780

1796.G.LumperO.S.B.,Historiatheologicocriticadevita,scriptisatquedoctrinaSS.Patrumaliorumque

scriptorumeccl.triumprimorumsaeculorum,13tomi,Aug.Vind.,17831799.

G.Cave,Scriptorumecclesiasticorumhistoria litterariaaChristonatousquead saec.XIV, Lond.,1688.C.

Oudin,Commentariusdescriptoribuseccles.,3tomi,Lipsiae,1722.

Joh.GerhardiPatrologia,s.deprimitivaeecclesiaechristianaedoctorumvitaaclucubrationibusopusculumposthumum,Jenae,1653;3.ed.,Gerae,1673.J.Hlsemann,Patrologia,ed.J.A.Scherzer,Lipsiae,1670.J.G.

Olearius,Abacuspatrologicus,Jenae,1673.Idem,Bibliothecascriptorumeccles.,2tomi,Jenae,17101711.

ManyancientecclesiasticalwritersaretreatedatmuchlengthbyL.S.leNaindeTillemont,Mmoirespour

servirl'histoireecclsiastiquedessixpremierssicles,16tomes,Paris,16931712,oftenreprinted;cf.also

J. A. Fabricius, BibliothecaGraeca seu notitia scriptorum veterumGraecorum, 14 voll.,Hamburgi, 1705

1728.Anew,butunfinishededitionofFabriciuswaspublishedbyG.Chr.Harles,12voll.,Hamburg,1790

1809.C.Tr.G.Schoenemann,BibliothecahistoricoliterariaPatrumlatinorum,2tomi,Lipsiae,17921794.

4. PATROLOGY IN MODERN TIMES. During the nineteenth century, the materials of ancientecclesiastical literaryhistoryhave steadily increased.NotonlyhavemanynewGreekand Latin

textsbeendiscovered,notablyby such scholars asCardinalMai ( 1854) andCardinalPitra (

1889),butentirelynew fieldshavebeenthrownopen,particularly inthedomainoftheancient

Syriac andArmenian literatures; the elaboration of thismaterial has called forth, especially in

Germany,England,andNorthAmerica,azealthatgrowsevermoreactiveandgeneral.Protestant

theologians paid particular attention to the problems of Christian antiquity, and classical

philologians learned to overcome their former attitude of depreciation of theologicoChristian

literature.Thepresspouredforthpatristicmonographs insuchnumbersthattheirevergrowing

flood became at times almost a source of embarrassment. Among the comprehensive works

publishedbyCatholicauthorswere thoseofMhler ( 1838),Permaneder ( 1862), Fessler (

1872),Alzog( 1878),Nirschl,andothers.Inthelatterhalfoftheeighteenthcenturythecustom

arose of dividing the later from the earlier Fathers, andmaking these latter the subject of a

separatebranchofliteraryandhistoricalstudy.Withinthelastfewyears,Protestanttheologians

havemadeexhaustivestudieson thewritersof the first three centuries. In the firstpartofhis

monumentalwork,AdolfHarnackhaspresentedwithanunexampledfullnesstheentirematerial

ofpreEusebianChristianliterature.

J.A.Mhler,PatrologieoderchristlicheLiterrgeschichte,editedbyF.X.Reithmayr,vol. I (the first three

Christian centuries), Ratisbon1840. Theworkwas not continued.M. Permaneder, Bibliotheca patristica,

Landishuti, 18411844, 2 tomi. J. Fessler, Institutiones Patrologiae, Innspruck, 18501851, 2 tomi; denuorecensuit, auxit, edidit B. Jungmann, ib., 18901896. J. Alzog, Grundri der Patrologie oder der lteren

christlichen Literrgeschichte, Freiburg, 1866, 4. ed., ib. 1888. J. Nirschl, Lehrbuch der Patrologie undPatristik,Mainz,18811885,3vols.J.Rzbnyay,Compendiumpatrologiaeetpatristicae,Quinqueecclesiis

[i.e.Fnfkirchen],1894.B.Swete,PatristicStudy,London,1902.


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Ch.Th.Cruttwell,AliteraryhistoryofearlyChristianity,includingtheFathersandthechiefhereticalwriters

oftheAnte iceneperiod,London,1893,2vols.A.Harnack,GeschichtederaltchristlichenLiteraturbisauf

Eusebius, I. Part:DieUberlieferung und der Bestand, Leipzig, 1893. II. Part:Die Chronologie, I. vol.:Die

ChronologiederaltchristlichenLiteraturbisIrenus,Leipzig,1897;2.vol.:DieChronologiederLiteraturvon

Irenus bis Eusebius, ib., 1904. G. Krger, Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur in den ersten drei

Jahrhunderten,Freiburg,1895;with supplement,1897:English transl.byGillet,HistoryofEarlyChristian

Literature,NewYorkandLondon,1897.P.Batijfol,La litteraturegrecque,Paris,1897 (Bibliothquede l'enseignementde l'histoireecclesiastique.

Anciennes littratureschrtiennes).TheGreektheologiansoftheByzantineperiod (5271453)aretreated

byA.EhrhardinK.Krumbacher,GeschichtederbyzantinischenLiteratur,2.ed.,Munich,1897,pp.37218.

FortheGreekhymnologyofthesameperiodcf.ib.pp.653705.ThehistoriesofRomanliterature,byBhr,

TeuffelSchwabe,andSchanz,devoteattentiontotheLatintheologicalwriters:J.Chr.F.Bhr,Geschichteder

rmischenLiteratur,vol.iv:DiechristlichrmischeLiteratur,Karlsruhe,18361840;W.S.Teuffel,Geschichte

derrmischenLiteratur,neubearbeitetvonL.Schwabe,5.ed.,Leipzig,1890,2vols.;M.Schanz,Geschichte

derrmischenLiteratur,3.Part:DieZeitvonHadrian(117)bisaufKonstantin(324),Munich,1896,2.ed.1905.4.Part,I.Half:DieLiteraturdes4.Jahrhunderts,1904.Cf.especiallyA.Ebert,AllgemeineGeschichte

derLiteraturdesMittelaltersilnAbendlande,vol.i:GeschichtederchristlichlateinischenLiteraturvonihrenAnfngenbiszumZeitalterKarlsdesGroen,Leipzig,1874,2.ed.1889.Muchlesssatisfactoryistheworkof

M.Manitius, Geschichte der christlichlateinischen Poesie bis zurMitte des 18. Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart,

1891.IntheproperplacewillbementionedthedescriptionsofancientSyriacandArmenianliterature.The

workofSmithandWaceisveryuseful,relativelycompleteandgenerallyreliable:ADictionaryofChristian

Biography,Literature,SectsandDoctrines,editedbyW.SmithandH.Wace,London,18771887,4vols.O.

Bardenhewer,Geschichtederaltkirchl.Literatur, I.II. tom.:BiszumBeginndes4. Jahrhunderts,Freiburg,

19021903.

Source: Bardenhewer. Patrology. The lives and works o f the Fathers of the Church.Introduct ion. B. Herder. Freiburg im Breisgau and St. Louis, Mo. 1908. pp. 7-11.

Trascripcin: Francisco Arr iaga. Mxico, Frontera Norte. 14 Septiembre 2009.

Bardenhewer. History and Literature of Patrology

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