Biblical Commentaries from the Canterbury School of Theodore and Hadrian by Bernhard Bischoff

Biblical Commentaries from the Canterbury School of Theodore and Hadrian by Bernhard Bischoff

This volume includes the first edition of a previously unknown text which throws wholly new light on the intellectual history of early medieval Europe. The biblical commentaries (never before printed or studied) represent the teaching of two extraordinarily gifted Greek scholars who came to England from the Byzantine East. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury (668-90) and his colleague Hadrian (d. 710) established a school in Canterbury, to which they brought a wealth of experience and learning. These scholars applied their knowledge to the exposition of the Bible to a small group of Anglo-Saxon scholars, who recorded their teaching. The commentaries throw new light on the range of subjects which were taught in Canterbury at the time: medicine, philosophy, rhetoric, Roman civil law, as well as the biblical text itself, illustrating what was undoubtedly the high point of biblical scholarship between late antiquity and the Renaissance. Because both Hadrian and Theodore were from Greek-speaking parts of the Roman empire, their commentaries reveal new links between the Byzantine East and the Latin West in the seventh century. The present commentaries, found by Professor Bischoff in Milan in 1936, constitute one of the most important medieval texts discovered this century. The edition is introduced by substantial chapters on the intellectual background of the texts, their manuscript sources, the lives and milieux of the two Greek scholars. The Latin texts themselves are accompanied by facing English tranalations and extensive notes.

"..a marvellous piece of work, packed with new material, which tranforms our own understanding not only of English intellectual culture in the seventh century but also of what knowledge might have been available in early medieval Europe as a whole." Times Literary Supplement
"For the general reader, especially one versed in modern biblical studies, these commentaries provide a good view of how the Bible was studied in the medieval west. Highly recommended." The Reader's Review
"...the entire apparatus makes this ensemble of texts almost immediately accessible to the thoughtful, nonspecialist reader while serving the needs of specialists as well." Journal of Religion
"The book succeeds quite splendidly in situating the extraordinarily rapid development of Christian learning in England in the late seventh century with a patristic background." T.M. charles-Edwards, Albion
"...one could scarcely ask for a more fulfilling or stimulating book not just on Theodore but on the entire seventh sentury." Richard W. Pfaff, Speculum
"Despite the massiveness of the learning displayed...the book is actually fun to browse through, and is one more blow (a knockout punch?) against the term Dark Ages." Richard W. Pfaff, Church History

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521330893
ISBN 10	0521330890
Title	Biblical Commentaries from the Canterbury School of Theodore and Hadrian
Author	Michael Lapidge
Series	Cambridge Studies In Anglo-Saxon England
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	1995-01-26
Number of pages	628
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.