Two Catalogues of Mediaeval Authors

TWO CATALOGUES OF MEDIAEVAL AUTHORS In 1580 the Frisian historian Suffried Peter (1527—1597) edited his De illustribus ecclesiae scriptoribus which contains a catalogue of authors under the title: Liber Henrici Gandavensis, archidiaconi Tornacensis, de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis.1 The catalogue was reprinted in 1639 m the Bibliotheca ecclesiastica2 of Aubert Lemire (1573—1640) and again in 1718inthe Bibliotheca ecclesiastica ofJohnAlbertFabricius (1668 to 1736).3 B. Hauréau seems to have been the first historian to examine the authenticity of the catalogue. He came to the conclusion that Henry of Ghent (d. 1293) who became a canon at Tournai (1267) and later archdeacon successively of Bruges (1276) and Tournai (1278) could not be the author.4Ten years laterhe considered the question again in connection with MS Paris, B.N. Lat. nouv. acq. 314 in which the catalogue is found.5 Hauréau's conclusion has been accepted by Fr. Pelster6 who bases his arguments on awiderknowledge ofmanuscripts containingthe catalogue.7 He holds that the author was a monk of Afflighem, probably Henry of Brussels. In dealing with this catalogue as preserved in Paris, B. Hauréau remarks in passing: "Notre volume (314) contient aussi l'appendix imprimé par Aubert Lemire sous ce titre : Appendix Henrico Gandavensi subnecti sólita. Il a peu d'intérêt".8 This Appendix found in Lemire's Bibliotheca9 is reprinted in the Bibliotheca ecclesiastica of J. A. Fabricius.10 1 Published in Cologne: apud Maternum Cholinam. Suffridus Petri (Sjurd Peeter or Sjoerd Pietersz) was born in Leuwarden, taught Greek in Erfurt, became secretary of Cardinal Granvelle (1517—1586), and ended his life as a jurist in Cologne. 2 Albertus Miraeus, Bibl. eccl. 1 (Antverp: apud Jac. Mesium 1639) 161—173. 3 J. A. Fabricius, Bibl. eccl. 2 (Hamburg 1780) 117—128. 4 B. Hauréau, "Mém. sur le Líber de viris illustribus attribué a Henri de Gand", Mém. de l'inst. nat. de France: Acad. des inscr. et belles-lettres 30, 2 (Paris 1883), 349—357· 5 Notices et extraits de quelques manuscripts latins de la Bibl. nationale 6 (Paris 1893) 162—173. 6 Fr. Pelster, "Der Heinrich von Gent zugeschriebene Catalogus virorum illustrium und sein wirklicher Verfasser", Hist. Jahrb. 39 (1918), 253—-268. 7 Pelster (p. 256) notes that Prof. P. Lehmann kindlyinformedhim ofthree copies preserved at Brussels and of one copy extant at the British Museum. Cf. P. Lehmann, Philippe d'Harvengt", Hist. Jahrb. 45 (1925). 556—557. 8 Notices 6, 172." Bibl. eccl. 1 (Antverp 1693) 173—174. 10 Bibl. eccl. 2 (Hamburg 1718) 128—129. ig6N. HÄRING Hauréau's view that the Appendix has "little interest" is quite debatable. The catalogue compiled by the monk of Afflighem is considerably longer and, no doubt, extremely interesting, for it reflects not only the compiler's limits in the appraisal and the choice of the authors listed but also the reputation which those authors enjoyed at that time in some monastic circles. There is no doubt that to a great extent neither his appraisal nor his choice of authors coincides with the selection and description which a modern historian would offer, if he were called upon to present the same number of authors chosen from the same period of time. Althought the Appendix is considerably shorter, its compiler also presents a list which reflects the reputation those authors enjoyed at least intheparticularlocabtywhere the compilerlived. While the catalogue compiled at Afflighem dates back to the last quarter of the thirteenth century, the Appendix dates back to the last quarter of the previous century. And while the brevity of the information found in the Appendix and the considerably smaller number of the authors listed in it may have disappointed B. Hauréau, its value lies in the fact that its compiler largely confirms the choice, not always the appraisal, made by the monk of Afflighem who does not seem to have known the Appenidx. Fr. Pelster draws attention to a twelfth-century manuscript, preserved at Douai, in which the Appendix is contained.11 This manuscript, whose pressmark is 246, contains some twelve different items including a letter to Damasus by St. Jerome, his Liber de viris illustribus,12 a letter to...