Henri Quentin

Last updated
Henri Quentin.jpg

Dom Henri Quentin (7 October 1872, Saint-Thierry - 4 February 1935, Rome) was a French Benedictine monk. A philologist specializing in biblical texts and martyrologies, he was the creator of an original method of textual criticism (sometimes called the neo-Lachmannian method). He pioneered techniques to compare texts and produce trees of relationships between version and editions in order to study their origins and variations.

Contents

Life

After studying theology at the seminary of Rheims, he joined in 1892 Maredsous Abbey and in 1897 Solesmes Abbey. He was ordained priest in 1902. In 1907, he was called to Rome to direct the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Vulgate, newly created by Pope Pius X and entrusted to the Order of St Benedict. It was during this time that he was faced with a wide range of versions of texts with differences. This forced him to explore the editions systematically using quantitative approaches. In March 1914, he was appointed consultant to the liturgical section of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. The Commission for the Revision of the Vulgate was transformed in 1933 into the Pontifical Abbey of St Jerome-in-the-City, where he became the first abbot.

Method

Faced with the enormous mass of manuscripts of the Bible, and the special relationship of copyists with this text, Dom Quentin was obliged to change the approach he had adopted for martyrologies and criticize the methods traditionally applied in the establishment of a stemma codicum . The method of Dom Quentin has been much discussed [1] and often criticized, [2] but has attracted interest because of its arithmetical character and its capacity for automation. [3] Quentin's method is identical to what is used in phylogenetic analysis for the study of evolution to produce unrooted trees. [4]

Publications

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Duchesne</span> French priest and Church historian (1843–1922)

Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions.

A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring churches. Consolidation occurred, by the combination of several local martyrologies, with or without borrowings from literary sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antoine Augustin Calmet</span> French historian

Antoine Augustin Calmet, O.S.B., a French Benedictine monk, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippolyte Delehaye</span> Belgian Jesuit hagiographic scholar

Hippolyte Delehaye, S.J., was a Belgian Jesuit who was a hagiographical scholar and an outstanding member of the Society of Bollandists.

<i>Martyrologium Hieronymianum</i> 5th-century Christian text

The Martyrologium Hieronymianum or Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used and influential of the Middle Ages. It is the oldest surviving general or "universal" martyrology, and the precursor of all later Western martyrologies.

<i>Martyrology of Usuard</i> 9th-century martyrology

The Martyrology of Usuard is a work by Usuard, a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The prologue is dedicated to Charles the Bald indicating that it was undertaken at that monarch's instigation. It was apparently written shortly before the author's death in 875.

Usuard was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and a Carolingian scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acts of the Martyrs</span> Set of early Christian texts

Acts of the Martyrs are accounts of the suffering and death of a Christian martyr or group of martyrs. These accounts were collected and used in church liturgies from early times as attested by Saint Augustine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Ghéon</span> French playwright, novelist, poet and critic

Henri Ghéon, born Henri Vangeon in Bray-sur-Seine, Seine-et-Marne, was a French playwright, novelist, poet and critic.

Pierre Tal-Coat was a French artist considered to be one of the founders of Tachisme.

Luc de Heusch was a Belgian filmmaker, writer, and anthropologist, professor emeritus at the Université libre de Bruxelles. His 1967 film Thursday We Shall Sing Like Sunday was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sixtine Vulgate</span> Catholic edition of the Vulgate published in 1590

The Sixtine Vulgate or Sistine Vulgate is the edition of the Vulgate—a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible that was written largely by Jerome—which was published in 1590, prepared by a commission on the orders of Pope Sixtus V and edited by himself. It was the first edition of the Vulgate authorised by a pope. Its official recognition was short-lived; the edition was replaced in 1592 by the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate.

The Pontifical Abbey of St Jerome-in-the-City was a Benedictine monastery in Rome founded in 1933 for the purpose of creating a critical edition of the Vulgate. The abbey was dissolved in 1984; their critical edition of the Vulgate is only that of the Old Testament, Catholic deuterocanonicals included, and is known as the Benedictine Vulgate.

Eustache also known as Eustace or Eustase of Bourges or Autun where he originated, was a 6th-century priest who became bishop of Bourges. He trained at the Abbey of Saint-Symphorien, Autun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursmer Berlière</span> Belgian monk and historian

Ursmer Berlière, born Alfred Berlière (1861–1932) was a monk of Maredsous Abbey and a monastic historian whose bibliography ran to 360 publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruno Destrée</span> Benedictine monk, French-language poet and Belgian literary critic

Bruno Destrée (1867-1919) was a Benedictine monk, a French-language poet, and a Belgian literary critic. He was the brother of the politician Jules Destrée.

Henri Hitier was a French agronomist.

Events in the year 1841 in Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedictine Vulgate</span> Critical edition of the Vulgate Old Testament with Catholic deuterocanonical books

The Benedictine Vulgate, also called Vatican Vulgate or Roman Vulgate, is a critical edition of the Vulgate version of the Old Testament, Catholic deuterocanonical books included. The edition was supported by and begun at the instigation of the Catholic Church, and was done by the Benedictine monks of the pontifical Abbey of St Jerome-in-the-City. The edition was published progressively from 1926 to 1995, in 18 volumes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Guérin</span> French encyclopaedist

Paul Guérin was a French priest, professor of philosophy, writer and encyclopedist. He was gifted as a compiler, and is best known for being the author of the series Les Petits Bollandistes: vie des saints, with fifteen volumes (1866–1869) that were republished several times.

References

  1. Joseph Bédier, « La tradition manuscrite du Lai de l'Ombre : réflexions sur l'art d'éditer les anciens textes », Romania 54 (1928), 161-196, 321-358.
  2. Kraft, Robert A. (December 1965). "Review of Biblia Sacra iuxta Latinam vulgatam versionem ad codicum fidem iussu Pauli Pp. VI. cura et studio monachorum abbatiae pontificiae Sancti Hieronymi in Urbe ordinis Sancti Benedicti edita. 12: Sapientia Salomonis. Liber Hiesu Filii Sirach". Gnomon. 37 (8): 777–781. ISSN   0017-1417. JSTOR   27683795.
  3. Dom Jacques Froger, La critique des textes et son automatisation, Paris, 1968; Ghislaine Viré, Informatique et classement des manuscrits : Essai méthodologique sur le De astronomia d'Hygin, Bruxelles, Éditions de l'Université de Brussels, 1986.
  4. Pinna, M. D.; Bockmann, F. A.; Bagils, R. Z. I. (2016). "Unrooted trees discovered independently in philology and phylogenetics: a remarkable case of methodological convergence". Systematics and Biodiversity. 14 (4): 317–326. doi:10.1080/14772000.2016.1150906.