Conrad of Hirsau or Hirschau ( la, Conradus Hirsaugiensis; c. 1070 – c. 1150) was a German

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk and writer of the

Hirsau Abbey Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of ...

. He is known for his literary work ''Dialogus super auctores'', an '' accessus ad auctores'' written about 1130. Conrad identified himself as a "modern" in literary terms. His ''Dialogus'' is "the only theoretical discussion of the technique of the ''accessus'' 'ad auctores''that has come down to us from medieval times". His own selection of authors consists of

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales c ...

(actually the versifier Phaedrus),

Avianus Avianus (or possibly Avienus;Alan Cameron, "Avienus or Avienius?", ''ZPE'' 108 (1995), p. 260 c. AD 400) a Latin writer of fables,"Avianus" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 5. identified as a pagan. The ...

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

, Cato,

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

, Donatus,

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

, Lucan,

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

Persius Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satires, he shows a Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his ...

, Prosper,

Prudentius Aurelius Prudentius Clemens () was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis (now Northern Spain) in 348.H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Classical Literature'' (1967) p. 508 He probably died in the Iberian Peninsula some ti ...

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan ...

, Sedulius,

Statius Publius Papinius Statius ( Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

and

Theodulus Theodoulos ( el, Θεόδουλος) or Theodulus (amongst other variations) is a Greek masculine given name. The name is a theophoric name, meaning "servant of God" - in a similar construction to Christodoulos.Robert Parker ''et al.''Lexicon of ...

.Edwin A. Quauin, "The Medieval Accessus ad Auctores", ''Traditio'', Vol. 3 (1945), pp. 215–264.Stephen M. Wheeler, "Introduction", in ''Accessus ad auctores: Medieval Introductions to the Authors (Codex latinus monacensis 19475)'' (Mediaeval Institute Publications, 2015), pp. 1–24. Conrad has also been suggested as the author of the ascetical works, the '' Speculum virginum'', ''De fructibus carnis et spiritus'', ''Dialogus de mundi contemptu vel amore'', and ''Allocutio ad Deum''.

References

Bibliography

*A. Stuber, ''Conradi Hirsaugiensis Dialogus super Auctores sive Didascalon'' (Wurzburg, 1889) *''Dialogus super auctores'', Collection Latomus, XVII (Brussels, 1955) editor R. B. C. Huygens *''The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism Volume 2, The Middle Ages'' edited by Alastair Minnis and Ian Johnson *Leslie G. Whitbread, ''Conrad of Hirsau as Literary Critic'', Speculum, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Apr., 1972), pp. 234–245

External links

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German Benedictines 1070s births 1150s deaths Year of birth uncertain {{germany-reli-bio-stub