Bernhard Pez (22 February 1683, at

Ybbs Ybbs () is a river in Lower Austria. Its drainage basin is . Its source is located on the Zellerrain Pass near Mariazell. In the beginning, the river is called , then onwards from the border between Lower Austria and Styria up to Lunz am See it ...

near

Melk Melk (; older spelling: ) is a city in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,257 (as of 2012). It is best known as the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monastery named ...

– 27 March 1735, at Melk, Lower Austria) was an Austrian

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

historian and librarian.

Life

He studied at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and Krems, and in 1699 entered

Melk Abbey Melk Abbey () is a Benedictine abbey above the town of Melk, Lower Austria, on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube river, adjoining the Wachau valley. The abbey contains the tomb of Saint Coloman of Stockerau and the remains of several member ...

. Having studied the classical languages, he was made professor in the Melk monastery school in 1704, and in the same year went to the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, where he studied theology. In 1708 he was ordained priest. He took up history, and in 1713, became librarian at Melk. As a model for his historical works he followed the French Maurists. He studied the archives of the order at Melk and Vienna, and in 1715-17 he, with his brother Hieronymus Pez, searched for manuscripts in the Austrian, Bavarian, and Swabian monasteries. In 1716 he published a plan for a universal Benedictine library, in which all the authors of the order, and their works, should be catalogued and reviewed. He obtained from the monasteries of his order no less than seven hundred and nine titles. He also had friendly literary relations with

Johann Georg von Eckhart Johann Georg von Eckhart (7 September 1664 – 9 February 1730) was a German historian and linguist. Biography Eckhart was born at Duingen in the Principality of Calenberg. After preparatory training at Schulpforta, he went to Leipzig, where a ...

, Johann Friedrich Schannat,

Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach (22 February 1683 – 6 January 1734) was a German scholar, bibliophile, book-collector, traveller, palaeographer, and consul in Frankfurt am Main who is best known today for his published travelogues. Biography ...

, , Johann Lorenz von Mosheim, , etc. In 1728 he accompanied Count Sinzendorf to France, where he made the acquaintance of

Bernard de Montfaucon Dom Bernard de Montfaucon, O.S.B. (; 13 January 1655 – 21 December 1741) was a French Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He was an astute scholar who founded the discipline of palaeography, as well as being an editor of w ...

, Edmond Martène, Ursin Durand, Le Texier,

Antoine Augustin Calmet Antoine Augustin Calmet, (; 26 February 167225 October 1757), a French Benedictine abbot, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire (now the French department of Meuse, located in the region of Lor ...

, etc., and enriched his collection from the libraries of the order.

Works

His chief works are: *"Thesaurus anecdotorum novissimus" (6 fol. vol., Augsburg, 1721-9), a collection of exegetic, theological, philosophical, ascetic, and historical literary sources; *"Bibliotheca ascetica" (12 vols., 1723–40), containing the sources of ascetic literature; *"Bibliotheca Benedictino-Maruiana" (1716). In a controversy with the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

he defended his order with the "Epistolæ apologeticæ pro Ordine S. Benedicti", 1716. In 1725 he published "Homilien des Abtes Gottfried von Admont (1165)", in two vols., and the minor philosophical works of Abbot Engelbert von Admont. His proposed monumental work, "Bibliotheca Benedictina Generalis", was never completed. His manuscript material is partly made use of in the "Historia rei literariæ O.S.B." by Ziegelbauer- Legipont (1754). His manuscripts were preserved at Melk.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pez, Bernhard 1683 births 1735 deaths Austrian Benedictines