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Studying the “Pelagius and Johannes” collection of Sayings of the Desert Fathers : Steps towards a new edition of the Latin reception

Göransson, Elisabet LU orcid (2021) In Studia Patristica 124. p.75-89
Abstract
The sayings of the Desert Fathers had an important role in the monastic education and were very widespread. Originally written down in Greek, they were soon translated into all the main languages in the medieval Europe, and underwent transformations as they were copied. The sayings were organized in different ways, mainly alphabetically or according to themes, and as they were copied the repertoire was also changed in some way. In Latin mainly the systematically organized type of collections were translated from Greek. To this day, we lack a modern critical edition of the most widespread and important of the translated collections: the big systematical collection first translated into Latin by two Roman clerics, Pelagius and Johannes, in... (More)
The sayings of the Desert Fathers had an important role in the monastic education and were very widespread. Originally written down in Greek, they were soon translated into all the main languages in the medieval Europe, and underwent transformations as they were copied. The sayings were organized in different ways, mainly alphabetically or according to themes, and as they were copied the repertoire was also changed in some way. In Latin mainly the systematically organized type of collections were translated from Greek. To this day, we lack a modern critical edition of the most widespread and important of the translated collections: the big systematical collection first translated into Latin by two Roman clerics, Pelagius and Johannes, in the middle of the 6th century. How should the scholar best proceed when deciding upon the best way to study, and possibly also edit this widespread collection, extant in hundreds of manuscripts? What options are there? In the present article, the results from a preliminary investigation of ten manuscripts containing the PJ collection are discussed. The manuscripts were chosen from the tentative groups of manuscripts made by Columba M. Batlle who published a catalogue of the contents of all manuscripts known to him containing this collection. A method for establishing the text to be edited is presented based on the collations made of four chapters of the PJ collection in the selected manuscripts. (Less)
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published
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Studia Patristica. Vol. CXXIV : Papers presented at the Eighteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2019. Volume 21: Hagiographica; Ascetica; Martyria. - Papers presented at the Eighteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2019. Volume 21: Hagiographica; Ascetica; Martyria.
series title
Studia Patristica
volume
124
pages
15 pages
publisher
Peeters Publishers
ISBN
9789042947764
9789042947771
project
Formative Wisdom. The Reception of Monastic Sayings in European Culture: Scholarly Collaboration on a Digital Platform.
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fe8d6147-e061-43d1-983b-ddf50bd335b3
date added to LUP
2020-01-14 16:18:09
date last changed
2023-06-17 02:55:56
@inbook{fe8d6147-e061-43d1-983b-ddf50bd335b3,
  abstract     = {{The sayings of the Desert Fathers had an important role in the monastic education and were very widespread. Originally written down in Greek, they were soon translated into all the main languages in the medieval Europe, and underwent transformations as they were copied. The sayings were organized in different ways, mainly alphabetically or according to themes, and as they were copied the repertoire was also changed in some way. In Latin mainly the systematically organized type of collections were translated from Greek. To this day, we lack a modern critical edition of the most widespread and important of the translated collections: the big systematical collection first translated into Latin by two Roman clerics, Pelagius and Johannes, in the middle of the 6th century. How should the scholar best proceed when deciding upon the best way to study, and possibly also edit this widespread collection, extant in hundreds of manuscripts? What options are there? In the present article, the results from a preliminary investigation of ten manuscripts containing the PJ collection are discussed. The manuscripts were chosen from the tentative groups of manuscripts made by Columba M. Batlle who published a catalogue of the contents of all manuscripts known to him containing this collection. A method for establishing the text to be edited is presented based on the collations made of four chapters of the PJ collection in the selected manuscripts.}},
  author       = {{Göransson, Elisabet}},
  booktitle    = {{Studia Patristica. Vol. CXXIV : Papers presented at the Eighteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2019. Volume 21: Hagiographica; Ascetica; Martyria.}},
  isbn         = {{9789042947764}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  pages        = {{75--89}},
  publisher    = {{Peeters Publishers}},
  series       = {{Studia Patristica}},
  title        = {{Studying the “Pelagius and Johannes” collection of Sayings of the Desert Fathers : Steps towards a new edition of the Latin reception}},
  volume       = {{124}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}