Blessed Frowin
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Frowin of Engleberg, in German ''Frowin von Engelberg'' (died 27 March 1178) was a Swiss German
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 ...
abbot. Though never formally
beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...
, Frowin was styled "Blessed" by some chroniclers. He was the second abbot of the Monastery of Engelberg in present-day Switzerland


Life

Of the early life of Frowin nothing is known, save that he is claimed as a monk of their community by the historians of
Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey () is a Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The Abbey of Einsiedeln is one of the most important baroque monastic sites and the largest place of pilgrimage in Swit ...
in Switzerland and
Saint Blaise Abbey, Black Forest Saint Blaise Abbey () was a Benedictine monastery in the village of St. Blasien in the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History 9th–12th centuries The early history of the abbey is obscure. Its predecessor in the 9th century is ...
. He is first mentioned as a monk of St. Blaise Abbey, and it is assumed that he succeeded Adelhelm as the Abbot of the monastery of Engelberg. As the abbey was seen in danger, he ordered the ecclesiastical buildings to be surrounded by a wall also requested and received the monastery independency to elect its abbot. During his tenure Engelberg became 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 ...
which included both a monastery for monks and one for nuns called the St.Andreas monastery. Through his efforts the possessions and privileges, civil and ecclesiastical, of the abbey were greatly increased, while its renown as a home of learning, art, and piety spread far and wide. He established a famous school in his abbey, in which besides the ''
trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the term was not used until the Carolin ...
'' and ''
quadrivium From the time of Plato through the Middle Ages, the ''quadrivium'' (plural: quadrivia) was a grouping of four subjects or arts—arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy—that formed a second curricular stage following preparatory work in th ...
'', philosophy and theology were likewise taught. The library which he collected possessed, for those days, a vast number of manuscripts. According to a list that he left, it contained
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient 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. Despite doubts about his autho ...
,
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, and other authors of antiquity. This rich collection perished in 1729, when the abbey was destroyed by fire.


Works

Frowin not only copied books for his library, but composed several. Two of these, a commentary on the Lord's Prayer, and a treatise in seven books, "De Laude Liberi Arbitrii" ("In Praise of Free Will", but in reality a discussion of the chief theological questions of his day, directed, it is thought, against the errors of
Abelard Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. This source has a detailed description of his philosophical work. In philo ...
) are still extant, having been discovered by
Mabillon Dom Jean Mabillon , (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics. Early life Mabillon w ...
in the archives of
Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and Districts of Switzerland#Schwyz, district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. Histor ...
. Frowin's other works, Commentaries on the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...
and various parts of Holy Scripture, are lost.Achard (de Saint-Victor) Works ed. Hugh Feiss - 2001 - Page 25 "Often we find allusions to Achard's metaphysics of participation and unity. Frowin of Engelberg incorporated part of Sermon 13 into his De laude liberi arbitrii,..." One of the volumes of the bible of three volumes of Frowin, is deposited in the Abbey library of St.Gallen, Switzerland. The Bible is written on
parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...
. He also wrote one of the first
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
-
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
dictionaries.


Veneration

Pétin ("Dictionnaire Hagiographique" I, iiii) gives 7 March as his feast day, and credits him with many miracles.


See also


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frowin 1178 deaths Benedictine abbots 12th-century venerated Christians Year of birth unknown 12th-century Christian abbots