Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2011
The subject of this paper, Christian of Stavelot, though he is one of the less familiar figures of the Carolingian revival of learning, whose only substantial work is a commentary on the First Gospel, should be of interest to any student of monastic education. Yet, apart from an admirable essay by Ernst Dummler and a shorter, but very useful, article by Manitius, recent research has not paid much attention to this writer.
1 E. Dümmler in Sitzungsberichte, Berlin Academy, 1890, pp. 935 ff.; M. Manitius, Gesehichte der Lateinischen Literatur im Mittelalter, I, p. 431. For the MSS. of Christian's work, see J. Lebon, Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, IX, 1908, pp. 491 ff.
2 The epistle dedicatory is included among the letters published in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae, VI, pp. 177 f.
3 So by Dümmler and Manitius. The identification of Christian with Druthmar of Corbie has long been exploded; for this topic see Dümmler, p. 936.
4 Col. 1379D, where Christian contrasts the attitude of the Vascones and Spaniards with that of the Franks on the subject of dancing.
5 So Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, II, p. 565, note 2.
6 Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Diplomata, I, 22 (diploma of King Sigebert II of the year 648).
7 Cf. Gallia Christiana, III, 939; Hauck, I, p. 270.
8 J. Lebon, Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, IX, 1908, p. 453. Lebon leaves the authorship of the two expositions undecided. It is significant, too, that of the four extant MSS. which contain the commentary on Matthew, two omit both the tracts, and one omits the commentary on John. Besides Dümmler, Hauck also accepts the tracts as genuine (Realencyclopädie für protestantische Theologie, art. ‘Druthmar’).
9 It must remain an open question whether Christian's comment on parasceve (col. 1496B) is indebted to Bede on Luke 23, 54 or to Hrabanus, who copies Bede exactly.
10 A. E. Schönbach, ‘Ueber einige Evangelienkommentare des Mittelalters,’ Sitzungsberichte, Vienna Academy, philosophisch-historische Klasse, CXLVI, no. 4, 1903.
11 Some examples of correspondence between the two commentators may here be given: Christ. 1335A, Hrab. 873D; Christ. 1340A, Hrab. 882D; Christ. 1380D, Hrab. 961B-C (cf. however Rufinus xi. 28); Christ. 1490B, Hrab. 1137A-B.
12 Realencyclopädie f. protest. Theol., art. ‘Druthmar.’
13 Dümmler, p. 942.
14 See also the exhaustive work, with full indexes, by F. Wurtz, Onomastica Sacra (Harnack and Schmidt, Texte und Untersuchungen, ser. 3, vol. XI), 1915. An alternative hypothesis would be that Christian used some list of Onomastica sacra, similar to that contained in Cod. Vat. Reg. 215; for this see my article in Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Manchester, VII, 1923, pp. 446 ff.
15 Theriaca in 1292B; Isid. Etym. xii. 4, 11 (‘pastilli,’ codd. Isid.: ‘partelli,’ C1: ‘pastelli,’ Christ.). Lepra in 1325B; Isid. iv. 8, 11 (‘lepidae herbae similis,’ codd. Isid.: ‘lapide,’ C1: ‘lapidi similis,’ Christ.). Furtum in 1389B; Isid. v. 26, 18 (‘a furvo, id est fusco, vocatum,’ codd. Isid.: ‘furco,’ C1: ‘dictum est a furto, id est nigro,’ Christ.).
16 P. C. Molhuijsen (De Navorscher, XLIX, 1899, p. 591) leaves it uncertain whether this manuscript was one of those that Suffridus Sixtinus got from Gruter's library and that passed later into Voss's hands, or whether it reached Voss through some other channel.
17 The Royal Library at Brussels contains manuscripts that were once at Stavelot (see for possible early examples W. M. Lindsay, Notae Latinae, p. 448). A seventh-century Ms. of Orosius, of which only a few leaves have survived, was once at Stavelot. Since the note in the MS. which gives this information is written in a fifteenth-century hand, we cannot tell whether this is the MS. actually used by Christian in the ninth century. See the preface of Zangemeister's edition of Orosius, p. xi.
18 Cf. generally Dümmler, pp. 941 ff.
19 For instance, the remark on the hyena's habit of frequenting tombs (1453B) is probably based on Solinus, ed. Mommsen, p. 135, 16. The solitary reference to Orosius by name (1454D) is to his history generally, not to a particular incident in it.
20 1323D; Epitome 39, 6; Orosius, vii. 25, 14.
21 1448C; Epitome, 32, 6; Orosius, vii. 22, 4. The occurrence of the word ‘ad-clivis’ in Christian and ‘adclinis’ in Orosius makes it probable that Orosius was the source.
22 1379C, cf. Eutropius, vii. 21, 4 (verbal quotation); 1323D, cf. Eutropius vii. 21, 3 and Epitome 10,9.
23 1380B–C; Jerome on Matt. 14, 11; cf. De vir. illust. 47, 4. This story seems to have originated with the notorious Valerius Antias, and then to have been frequently repeated by Roman historical writers, including Livy. See fragment 48 of Valerius and H. Peter's note in Historicorum Romanorum Reliquiae, 1 (2nd ed.).
24 We may compare, for instance, 1378C with Rufinus i. 11, and 1380D with Rufinus xi, 28 (but, as pointed out above, Christian may here be following Hrabanus).
25 St. Lampertus and St. Leodegarius are named together in 1305A.
26 1294A–B.
27 Historisches Jahrbuch, XI, 1890, p. 805.
28 Jerome, De vir. illust. 16.
29 Sedulius, Carm. pasch. v. 188–195 in 1490A; v. 322–325 in 1500A. Juvencus i. 241 in 1281B; Dist. Cat. i. 17, 2 in 1438D.
30 Vergil: 1267C, Ecl. 10, 67 (Isid. vi. 13, 3); 1302B, Aen. iv. 174 (Isid. v. 27, 26); 1427B, Ecl. 4, 7; Martial, xiv. 73 (Isid. xii. 7, 24) in 1347D. The line from Juvenal (14,139, Isid. i. 36, 11) is cited three times, 1373C, 1404B, and 1418C.
31 Anthol. Lat. 256, 2, in 1380A; it is cited in the same form as in Cassiodorus, De orthographia (Keil, Gramm. Lat. VII, 156). The remaining verse citations in Christian are two from Bede and one from the Sibyl. The Bede quotations are:
Nulla erit suspicio
Salutis vel remedii,
Janua clausa thalami
Completis sponsi nuptiis (1464D);
O quam infelix anima
Privata hoc convivio,
Quae ultra in memoriam
Non revertetur domini (1465A).
These verses do not appear to be found in any of the extant poems attributed to Bede. The line from the Sibyl, which is quoted immediately after the verse from the fourth Eclogue, reads:
E coelo rex adveniet Christus per saecla futurus (1427B).
It looks as if Christian, or rather his source, had in mind Oracula Sibyllina, iii. 286,
καὶ τότε δὴ θεὸς ούρανόθεν πέμψει βασιλῆα καὶ τότ’ ἠελίοιο θεὸς πέμψει βασιλῆα
(cf. also iii. 652, which is quoted by Lactantius, vii. 18). I am indebted for these three references to Professor Nathaniel Schmidt.
32 Similarly in 1817D, to the quotation (Matt. 6, 26), “Respicite volatilia caeli, quomodo non serunt” he adds “id est seminant.” The Migne editor printed these three words in italics, as though they were part of the citation.
33 Dümmler, p. 938, note 6.
34 ‘Logica,’ which is first spelled correctly, then appears twice as ‘loyca.’ Is this merely a scribe's carelessness or an indication of the way in which the word was then pronounced?
35 Jerome on Matt. 27, 44.
36 1485C.
37 1493D.
38 Matt. 14, 19 (where the reading is ‘et cum iussisset’); Christian's comment is in 1382D.
39 1369A.
40 For these passages and others it is sufficient to refer to Dümmler's very full analysis (pp. 943 ff.).
41 Wordsworth and White's text of the gospels has been used throughout, and for the Greek text of the New Testament the edition of von Soden.
42 Matt. 9, 7; Christian 1334A; Lk. 5, 25 (tulit lectum in quo iacebat).
43 1366B, Lk. 11, 17.
44 1365B.
45 Novum Testamentum Latine ed. Wordsworth and White, praef. p. x.
46 The more important variants have been set out in a short appendix at the end of this paper.
47 Traube's opinion of Christian's Greek was somewhat more favorable, because of Christian's remarks on the abbreviation of the name Jesus (1278C-D). See L. Traube, Nomina Sacra, p. 6.
48 This is of course the regular “Western” order of the gospels, as found in Codex Bezae, Codices Vercellensis (a), Veronensis (b), Brixianus (f), Palatinus (e), and many other Old Latin MSS., as well as in some Greek codices; see Zahn, Geschichte des Neutestamentlichen Kanons, II, pp. 370 f.; Gregory, Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes, II, pp. 854 f. On Hilary's use of a text not unlike the sixth-century Irish Codex Usserianus (r), see A. Souter, Text and Canon of the New Testament, pp. 87 f.
49 We may instance the Irish bishop who came to Bavaria and who is called ‘Tuti Grecus’ (Meichelbeck, Historia Frisingensis, II, 91) and also ‘Dobda Grecus’ (M.G.H. Script. XI, p. 6). Wattenbach, in his note on the latter passage, cites a charter of Charlemagne in which the name appears as ‘Dodo Grecus peregrinus.’ At all events there is no doubt that the bishop was an Irishman. A further instance we find in the ‘Ellenici fratres’ at St. Gall; cf. J. M. Clark, The Abbey of St. Gall, 1926, pp. 109–111.
50 One or two instances will suffice: the explanations of εΰνουν (1309B), ἐπιούσιον (1314D), κυλλούς (1391D), are all from Jerome, those of λατρεία (1299D) and ‘paropsis’ (1443D) are derived from Isidore.
51 1276D.
52 See note 47, above.
53 1286A-C.
54 1299C.
55 1486B.
56 1481D.
57 1493C; cf. Corp. Gloss. Lat. V, 430, 22 (a Eusebian gloss).
58 1498A.
59 1492B.
60 Matt. 27. 46 θεέ μου, θεέ μου, ἴνα τί με ἐγκατέλιπες. Mk. 15, 34, 6 ὁ θεός, ὁ θεός μου, εἰς τί ἐγκατέλιπές με (so codd. AEFGKPΓΔΠ and many others; ἐγκατέλιπές με is the order of NBL and a few others).
61 1492D.
62 Presumably C. Weyman had this passage in mind when he referred to Christian's exposition as “anknüpfend an die Traditionen der antiochenischen Exegetenschule” (Histor. Jahrb. XI, 1890, p. 805).
63 “Curiosum animal est femina et ardens novitate” (1483C).
64 “Quod non est vitium, si moderate potetur (sc. vinum)” (1358B).