Sedulius (sometimes with the nomen Coelius or Caelius, both of doubtful authenticity) [1] was a Christian poet in Hiberno-Latin during the first half of the 5th century.
Sedulius (sometimes with the nomen Coelius or Caelius, both of doubtful authenticity) [1] was a Christian poet in Hiberno-Latin during the first half of the 5th century.
Extremely little is known about his life. "Sedulius" is the Latin form of the Irish name "Siadhal". [2] The only trustworthy information, contained in his two letters to Macedonius, recounts that he devoted his early life, perhaps as a teacher of rhetoric, to secular literature. Late in life he converted to Christianity, or, if a Christian before, began to take his faith more seriously. [3] One medieval commentary states that he resided in Italy. [1] Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – 636) and the Gelasian decree refer to him as a presbyter. [4]
His fame rests mainly upon a long poem, Carmen paschale, based on the four gospels. In style a bombastic imitator of Virgil, he shows, nevertheless, a certain freedom in the handling of the Biblical story, and the poem soon became a quarry for the minor poets. [4] His description of the Four Evangelists in Carmen Paschale became well-known; the English translation below is from Springer (2013, p. 21).
Hoc Matthaeus agens hominem generaliter implet; | Matthew plays the role of the whole human race; |
His other writings include an Abecedarian hymn in honour of Christ, A solis ortus cardine , consisting of twenty-three quatrains of iambic dimeters. This poem has partly passed into the Roman Rite liturgy, the first seven quatrains forming the Christmas carol "A solis ortus cardine", [5] which has been translated into vernacular languages by, among many others, Martin Luther and Allan MacDonald. The Epiphany hymn, "Hostis Herodes impie"and "Veteris et novi Testamenti collatio" in elegiac couplets have also come down. [4]
Jacques Paul Migne was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a universal library for the Catholic priesthood.
Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, known as Saint Venantius Fortunatus, was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a bishop of the Early Church who has been venerated since the Middle Ages.
The Sentences is a compendium of Christian theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150.
Rabanus Maurus Magnentius, also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who became archbishop of Mainz in East Francia. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis. He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible. He was one of the most prominent teachers and writers of the Carolingian age, and was called "Praeceptor Germaniae", or "the teacher of Germany". In the most recent edition of the Roman Martyrology, his feast is given as 4 February and he is qualified as a Saint ('sanctus').
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis in 348. He probably died in the Iberian Peninsula some time after 405, possibly around 413. The place of his birth is uncertain, but it may have been Caesaraugusta (Saragossa), Tarraco (Tarragona), or Calagurris (Calahorra).
The Patrologia Latina is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865. It is also known as the Latin series as it formed one half of Migne's Patrologiae Cursus Completus, the other part being the Patrologia Graeca of patristic and medieval Greek works with their medieval Latin translations.
Abbo Cernuus, Abbo Parisiensis, or Abbo of Saint-Germain was a Neustrian Benedictine monk and poet of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris. He was born about the middle of the ninth century.
Hucbald was a Benedictine monk active as a music theorist, poet, composer, teacher, and hagiographer. He was long associated with Saint-Amand Abbey, so is often known as Hucbald of St Amand. Deeply influenced by Boethius' De Institutione Musica, Hucbald's (De) Musica, formerly known as De harmonica institutione, aims to reconcile ancient Greek music theory and the contemporary practice of Gregorian chant with the use of many notated examples. Among the leading music theorists of the Carolingian era, he was likely a near contemporary of Aurelian of Réôme, the unknown author of the Musica enchiriadis, and the anonymous authors of other music theory texts Commemoratio brevis, Alia musica, and De modis.
Commodian (Commodianus) was a Christian Latin poet, who flourished about AD 250.
Ermoldus Nigellus, or Niger—translated Ermold the Black, or Ermoald, was a poet who lived at the court of Pippin of Aquitaine, son of Frankish Emperor Louis I, and accompanied him on a campaign into Brittany in 824. Ermoldus was a cultured man with a knowledge of the Latin poets, and his poem, In honorem Hludovici imperatoris, has some historical value. It consists of four books and deals with the life and exploits of Louis from 781 to 826. He also wrote two poems in imitation of Ovid, which were addressed to Pippin.
Christian literature is the literary aspect of Christian media, and it constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing.
Sedulius Scotus or Scottus was an Irish monk, teacher, Latin grammarian, and scriptural commentator who lived in the 9th century. During the reign of the Emperor Lothair (840–855), he was one of a colony of Irish teachers at Liège. Sedulius is sometimes called Sedulius the Younger, to distinguish him from Coelius Sedulius. The usual Irish form of the name is Siadhal, but he appears to have been called Suadbar. It is quite probable that towards the end of his days he went to Milan, following the example of his countryman Dungal, who established a school at Pavia. When and where he died is unknown.
Early Irish literature, is commonly dated from the 8th or 9th to the 15th century, a period during which modern literature in Irish began to emerge. It stands as one of the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe, with its roots extending back to late antiquity, as evident from inscriptions utilizing both Irish and Latin found on Ogham stones dating as early as the 4th century. The early Irish literary tradition flourished through the Medieval Irish period, and its literary output showcases a blend of indigenous storytelling, myth, and historical narratives. Notably, this period saw the development of a full-scale vernacular written literature expressed in a diverse range of literary genres.
Dungal of Bobbio was an Irish monk, teacher, astronomer, and poet. He was to live at Saint-Denis, Pavia, and Bobbio.
Gaius Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus was a Roman Christian poet from Hispania who wrote in Latin.
Theodore Prodromos or Prodromus, probably also the same person as the so-called Ptochoprodromos, was a Byzantine Greek writer, well known for his prose and poetry.
Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel OSB was a Benedictine monk of Saint-Mihiel Abbey near Verdun. He was a significant writer of homilies and commentaries.
The Planctus (de obitu) Karoli, also known by its incipit A solis ortu, is an anonymous medieval Latin planctus eulogising Charlemagne, written in accented verse by a monk of Bobbio shortly after his subject's death in 814. It is generally considered the earliest surviving planctus, though its melody is written in tenth-century neumes, one of the earliest surviving examples of this sort of musical notation. The poem has been translated into English by Peter Godman.
"A solis ortus cardine" is a Hiberno-Latin poem by Coelius Sedulius, recounting Christ's life from his birth to his resurrection. Its 23 verses each begin with a consecutive letter of the Latin alphabet, making the poem an abecedarius. It is one of the oldest parts of the Roman Catholic liturgy, with two hymns formed from the first seven and four later verses. There have been monastic translations into Anglo-Saxon and later translations into other languages, most notably into German poetry by Martin Luther during the Reformation and the rendering into the Scottish Gaelic language by Fr Allan MacDonald. The original Latin hymn and Luther's translation have been set for chorus and organ by many composers including Dufay, di Lasso, Praetorius, Palestrina, Scheidt, de Grigny and Bach.
Christian Latin literature has a long history with its foundations being laid during the 4th and 5th centuries. They included the church fathers Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, and Ambrose, and the Christian poet, Prudentius.
Sedulius [...] a 5th-cent. poet, of whose life very few details are known. The only trustworthy information is given by his two letters to Macedonius, from which we learn that he devoted his early life, perhaps as a teacher of rhetoric, to heathen literature. Late in life he became converted to Christianity, or, if a Christian before, began to take a serious view of his duties.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
