Eckebert
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eckebert (c.1120 - 1184) was a
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 ...
Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...
of the Abbey of Schönau, a writer, and brother of the mystic Elisabeth of Schönau, whose life he recorded.


Life

Eckebert was born in the early part of the twelfth century of a distinguished. devout family named Hartwig, along the
Middle Rhine Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...
.Steele, F.M., "St. Elisabeth of Schönau and her Visions", ''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'', Volume 36, Hardy and Mahony, 1911, p. 392
/ref> He was the brother of Elisabeth of Schönau (1129-1164), whose life he wrote and whose works he published. He studied in Paris, and was for a time
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
in the
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
of Sts. Cassius and Florentius at
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
. The monastery of St. Florin in Schönau im Taunus was a
double monastery A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East ...
. His younger sister Elizabeth, whose health had never been strong, had first entered the women's convent many years earlier as a student at the age of twelve. Despite objections from other members of the family, at Elizabeth's urging to come and record her visions, in 1155 he became a Benedictine at the monastery in Schönau. While a canon at Bonn he often had occasion to speak with Cathars, and after his monastic profession, was invited by
Rainald of Dassel Rainald of Dassel (c. 1120 – 14 August 1167) was Archbishop of Cologne and Archchancellor of Italy from 1159 until his death. A close advisor to the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa, he had an important influence on Imperial po ...
, Archbishop of Cologne, to debate publicly with the leaders of the sect in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
itself. Around 1155 several tombs were discovered in Cologne, which were soon reported to contain the remains of
Saint Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little in ...
and her companions. This prompted Eckebert to compose a new account of her story. During the papal schism that followed the death of Pope Adrian IV, Eckebert supported Victor IV out of loyalty to the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
. In 1166, after the death of the first abbot, Hildelin, he was placed at the head of the monastery.Schaefer, Francis. "Eckebert." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 9 August 2022
As abbot, he promoted devotion to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...
. Theodore A. Koehler, S.M. credits Eckebert as "the first to compose a prayer in honor of Mary’s Immaculate Heart". Eckebert preached and wrote much defending Church teachings against the doctrines of the Cathars. Around 1163, he wrote fourteen sermons against Catharism, ''Sermones contra Catharos''. He drew from Augustine of Hippo's discussion of the Manichæans to describe what he believed to be their origins, but distinguished the contemporary sect from the earlier version. Eckebert offers a detailed account of the early stage of Catharism in the
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...
. Upon her death in 1164, Elizabeth, who was by then Abbess, admonished her brother to remain in the cloister. Although he was later offered higher appointments, he followed her advice. Eckebert died in 1185 and was buried by his sister near the high altar in the monastery church.


Works

Eckebert's writings on the humanity of Christ influenced
Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister G ...
's ''Lignum vitae''.O'Connell, Patrick F., "Eckbert of Schönau and the 'Lignum Vitae' of St. Bonaventure",''Revue Bénédictine'' 1991 101:3-4, 341-382 On the death of Eizabeth in 1164, he wrote the mournful treatise ''De obitu dominae Elisabeth''. Among his works are: * ''De Laude Crucis'' (''Patrologia Latina'', CXCV) * ''Soliloquium seu Meditationes'' - 18 prayers or meditations praising the love of Jesus Christ. * ''Ad Beatam Virginem Deiparam sermo Panegyricus'' (''Patrologia Latina'', CXCV, CLXXXIV) * ''De sanctâ Elizabethâ virgine'', a biography of his sister Elizabeth of Schönau, a Benedictine nun and famous visionary and mystic, a portion of which is in ''Patrologia Latina'', CXCV, also in ''
Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
'', June, IV, 501 sqq. (ed. Victor Palmé, 1867). * ''Stimulus Amoris'' - a treatise on Christ's Passion formerly attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux. *Complete edition of his works in Roth, "Die Visionen der hl. Elisabeth und die Schriften der Aebte Ekbert und Emecho von Schönau" (Brno, 1884).


References


Attribution

* {{Authority control 1184 deaths German Benedictines German abbots 12th-century births Year of birth unknown