Ludolph of Saxony

Ludolf of Saxony ( * 1300 in Northern Germany, † April 10, 1377 or 1378 in Strasbourg, also Ludolf of the Carthusians ) was a monk and late medieval devotional writer.

Life

Ludolf of Saxony joined about 1315/20 as a young man in the Dominican Order one in which he obtained a master's degree in theology. In 1340 he left the Dominicans and moved to the Charterhouse of Strasbourg. 1343-1348 he was Prior of the Charterhouse Koblenz, but this office voluntarily resigned and moved to Mainz as a simple monk. Later, he returned to Strasbourg, where he died probably in 1378.

Work

About the development context and the order of his works is not known, since after damaligem understanding of the author should completely withdraw behind his work. In addition to some shorter writings two major works of Ludolf have survived. For one, he wrote, probably in his first time in Strasbourg ( 1340-43 ), the Ennaratio in the Psalms, a commentary on the Psalms. It is preserved in several manuscripts and was first printed in 1491.

The Vita Christi

Far more effective but more powerful is the Gospel Harmony of Jesus Christ Vita e quatuor Evangeliis et scriptoribus orthodoxis concinnata ( Eng.: The jeben Jesus Christ, compiled from the four Gospels and the orthodox writers ), short Vita Christi. This is one of the most widely read books of devotion in the late Middle Ages. It consists of two parts together with 181 sections. In this biography of Jesus Christ Ludolf connects the four New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles together, but also incorporates significant sentences church teachers like Origen, Ambrose of Milan, Augustine, Pope Gregory the Great, Rabanus Maurus or Bernard of Clairvaux. He embellished the story, especially the Passion to some scenes that do not appear in the biblical and apocryphal sources.

The chapters consist of an explanation of a particular section of the Christian salvation history, an interpretation or application ( also in the ecclesiastical states of the 14th century criticized ), and a final prayer. So the symbolic - pictorial with the Concrete- realistic is connected. The reader should Christ's ministry were, " witness ", as it done in his presence. By such an imitation of Christ, the believer is thus to enter into communion with him and to salvation.

The Vita Christi was probably 1348-1368 in Mainz; the autograph is burnt in 1870. Even in his lifetime Ludolfs the Vita Christi was known about the Order also. Already in the early 15th century it was present in most monastic libraries. The work has been preserved in many manuscripts and prints, but often only one of the two parts or excerpt. In addition to the first editions of 1472 (Paris and Cologne) there are 28 more incunabula and by 1870 more than 60 prints.

Since the 15th century emerged translations into French, Dutch, Catalan, Castilian, Portuguese and Italian. The Portuguese translation was already created in the 1440s by Cistercian monks in 1495 and was the first printed book in Portuguese at all. A complete German or English translation does not exist, however, several partial translations. One of the earliest is a translation of the chapter on the Passion in Alemannic dialect. The translations were rather addressed to the laity and the Latin prints for the monasteries. Therefore, those are often richly illuminated, which in this is hardly the case.

The overall conclusion is that the effect of writing into the early modern period in Western Europe was immense. Inner Church reform efforts such as the Melk Reform of the Benedictine order can be traced back to the Vita Christi. In the Spanish -speaking world, especially Theresa of Avila and Ignatius of Loyola have carried on the thoughts of the Vita Christi. Ignatius read probably 1521, the Castilian translation, while he recovered from a war wound, which contributed to his conversion. Above all, his retreats are both in the theological positions as well, for example in the visual language, heavily influenced by the Vita Christi.

In the 1400s created in the Netherlands, the so-called Bonaventure Ludolphiaanse Leven van Jezus. This is a compilation from the Life of Christ and the Meditations vitae Christi, a pseudo - Bonaventura font. It is written for the layman and the focus is even stronger than in the Vita Christi on the meditative visualization of the life of Jesus. This document reached the Dutch as well as in the Lower and Middle Germany widespread and had great influence on the devotio moderna. The most important work of this religious movement, Thomas of Kempen's Imitation of Christ, was formerly thought to be a work Ludolfs.

Also, some pieces of fine art related to the Vita Christi. Thus, certain scenes of the Passion only in paintings, sculptures, etc. shown after they have been known by the large spread of the Vita Christi, especially in the north of the Alps.

Expenditure

• Vita Christi: P.1.2. Anton Koberger, Nuremberg 1478 ( digitized )
• The life of Jesus Christ, translated by S. Greiner ( = Christian Masterpieces, 47 ). Einsiedeln and Freiburg 1994