glosur lesnar af undirdiupi omeliarum hins mikla Gregorij, Augustini, Ambrosij ok Jeronimi ok annarra kennifedra: Väterzitate und Politik in der Jóns saga baptista des Grímr Hólmsteinsson

Publikation: Bog/antologi/afhandling/rapportDoktordisputats

  • Astrid Marner
Up to the present day, the working conditions of medieval authors have remained obscure until today because of our limited access to their sources. This applies particularly to the Old Norse cultural milieu, where, for the most part, authors worked anonymously and in the vernacular.
The present study aims to close this gap with a detailed case study focusing on Jóns saga baptista 2 (Iceland, 13th century). This text has been chosen for investigation because it has hardly been examined despite the reliable information that survives regarding its production context. This context is characterised by political riots and the invention of a new manner of writing.
In this investigation, the saga was examined according to the following research questions: (1) Which sources were used by this particular Old Norse authors? (2) How did he use them? (3) How was his work conditioned by sociopolitical circumstances? For this purpose, the sources for Jóns saga baptista 2 were identified and analysed according to a precise textual comparison. An understanding of their sociopolitical context was developed on the basis of predominant motives in the saga and their comparison with contemporary sources.
The following results were obtained: (1) 37 Latin texts by 23 Late Ancient and Medieval authors were identified as the saga's sources. The author accessed these sources either directly or by transmission via homiliaries, history bibles and encyclopedias. (2) The author approached these sources freely and adopted Latin phenomena to his working conditions and target language. He evidently conceived of himself within established terms such as auctor, translator, commentator or compilator, distinctions which are characteristic of the 13th century. Likewise, the text's stylistic features comply with 13th-century exegetical and hagiographic traditions. (3) By addressing novelties in canon law, the saga reveals itself as being influenced in both form and content by contemporary law reforms and resulting political strife in Iceland (so-called staðamál siðarri). Read against this historical background, the writing of the saga implies political intentions that can be explained only by its creation around the year 1285/86.
The study provides an in-depth investigation into the sources, education and working methods of a learned author and and documents his entanglement with ecclesiastical politics. It substantiates Iceland's political and cultural situation after the loss of independence to Norway and demonstrates the participation of Icelandic church elites in the learned circles and church politics of Europe at large.
Bidragets oversatte titelThe Church Fathers and ecclesiastical politics in Grímr Hólmsteinsson's Jóns saga baptista
OriginalsprogTysk
Antal sider761
StatusUdgivet - 10 jul. 2013
Eksternt udgivetJa

Note vedr. afhandling

The dissertation was rewarded the highest grade 0,0 (summa cum laude).

ID: 179432196