Folia Canonica 12. (2009)

STUDIES - Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi: Medieval canon law heritage of the Norbertine Abbey of Weissenau in the hermitage of St. Petersburg

FOLIA CANONICA 12 (2009) 119-137.

SZABOLCS ANZELM SZUROMI O.PRAEM.

MEDIEVAL CANON LAW HERITAGE OF THE NORBERTINE ABBEY OF WEISSENAU IN THE HERMITAGE OF ST. PETERSBURG*

1. The Rossiyskaya Nationalnaya Bibliotéka Ermit. lat. 26; 2. Some impressions on the TEXT OF THE LlBER EXTRA IN ERMIT. LAT. 26; 3. PECULIARITIES OF THE ERMIT. LAT. 1 2; CONCLUSION: THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE NORBERTINE CANONS IN DISSEMINATING THE ELEMENTARY DOCTRINE AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH; APPENDIX.

The Norbertine Abbey ofWeissenau was founded in 1141/1145 by Gebizo of Ravensburg, and was secularized in 1802.1 The first provost of the monastery was Wemher in 1145; the first abbot was Heinrich I (1257—1266); and the last at the time of secularization was Bonaventura Brehm (1794—1803; j-1818).* 1 2 Due to the Napoleonic War, the material of the abbey’s library was scattered to Berlin, Prague and St. Petersburg. The monastery library of Weissenau is known to have had a rich collection of books that had been collected since the middle of the 12th century.3 In 1932, Paul Lehmann listed several manuscripts ofWeissenau that ended up in the Latin collection of the Hermitage.4 This Latin collection had been previously moved to the Imperial

* This paper has been written with the generous support of Insituto de Derecho Europeo Clisico (IDEC) in Las Palmas. I should express my thanks to Prof. José Miguel Viejo-Ximénez (IDEC) and to A. H. ByxpeeB (St. Petersburg, Rossiyskaya Nationalnaya Bibliotéka). This publication is supported also by OTKA K 73574 research program.

1 Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, Hrsg, von J. HöFER-K. Rahner, Freiburg im Breisgau 1957-1965. X. 1010-1011. Cf. Busl, K. A., Zur Geschichte des Pr'dmonstratenser Klosters und der Kirche in Weissenau, Ravensburg 1883. Scmidt, R., Kloster Weissenau, Ausburg 1930.

2 Backmund, N., Monasticon Premonstratense id est historia circariarum atque canoniarum Candidi et Canonici Ordinis Praemonstratensis, I. Straubing 1949. 88-89; cf. Binder, H. (ed.), 850 Jahre Prä- monstratenserahtei Weissenau. 1145-1995, Sigmaringen 1995.

3 Lehmann, P., Handschriften aus Kloster Weissenau in Prag und Berlin, in Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique 57 (1962) 229; cf. Erforschung des Mittelalters. Ausgewählte Abhandlungen und Aufsätze, III. Stuttgart 1960. 110-1120; IV. Stuttgart 1961. 40-42.

4 Erm. lat. 1,2,3, 4, 5,6, 7, 9,10,11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18,20,21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34. Cf. Lehmann, P., Verschollene und wiedergefundene Reste der Klosterbibliothek von Weissenau, in Zentralblatt für Bibliothekwesen 49 (1932) 1-11.