Illustrious Authors of the Order of St. Benedict by Johannes Trithemius (review)

Reviewed by: Illustrious Authors of the Order of St. Benedict by Johannes Trithemius Thomas Sullivan O.S.B. Illustrious Authors of the Order of St. Benedict by Johannes Trithemius, trans. Robert Nixon (Eugene OR: Wipf & Stock, 2023. Pp. 106. Paperback, e-book, $21. ISBN 978-1-666-77085-8). De viris illustribus (On Illustrious Men), a literary genre found in ancient Roman, medieval, and Renaissance writing, gave birth to the Christian literary genre, De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis (On Ecclesiastical Writers). Inspired by Jerome's De viris illustribus (393), which cataloged one hundred and thirty-five Christian authors and their writings, eleventh- and twelfth-century authors such as Sigebert of Gembloux, Honorius Augustodunensis, and Wolfger of Prüfening, attempted to continue the same type of catalog. During the second half of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries, many religious orders adopted the title and the form for works authored by members of their particular religious community. Among the late fifteenth-century works dedicated to the authors of the religious orders was Abbot Johann Trithemius's De viris illustribus Ordinis Sancti Benedicti (On Illustrious Men of the Order of Saint Benedict), a work of four books completed by 1492. Trithemius (1462–1516), a polymath and a "zealous lover of libraries and a passionate bibliophile," was well suited to pen such a work. He first presented a history of the Order of Saint Benedict, a catalog of its prominent authors, followed by a list of the saints of the Order, and concluded with a directory of the Order's prelates. The second book, Illustrious Authors of the Order of Saint Benedict, which Trithemius compiled "for the glory of our order" (99), presents biographical and bibliographical information on 143 mostly Benedictine authors, beginning with Benedict of Nursia and ending with Nicolaus Donis (d. 1485/1490). Many of the authors he writes about are well known to all and many are obscure. His conception of what it means to be "Benedictine" is not entirely consistent. Cistercian authors, such as Bernard of Clairvaux, make no appearance in the catalog except for, oddly, Adam of Perseigne (55). For each entry, Trithemius generally lists monastery and diocese, then a characterization of the work or works authored with approximate titles (there were generally no fixed titles as we have today) and closing with a floruit date. The entries are arranged chronologically according to this latter dating. Despite his erudition, Trithemius could be relatively casual in his information; for Nicolaus Donis, for instance, he states that "his monastery does not spring to my memory at this point" and [End Page 237] that Nicolaus has written, "certain other works, which I have not yet seen" (95–96). Having concluded his catalog of Benedictine authors, Trithemius ends with two notes, the first explaining that he could not include all the authors of the Order "because of their great multitude" (97–99), and the second an appeal by Trithemius to the monks of the Order that they apply themselves to the study of the sacred writings, claiming that the glory of the Benedictine Order consisted in the past of its "sanctity of life and the learning of wisdom" (100–103) thus anticipating by centuries Jean Leclercq's title of The Love of Learning and Desire for God (1961). The translator, Robert Nixon, O.S.B., a monk of Most Holy Trinity Abbey, New Norcia in Western Australia, offers a competent and valuable introduction, translates the 143 notices clearly, and offers helpful footnotes where an explanation is needed or Trithemius's apparent errors require correction. He hopes that his work will lead to the "inspiration and encouragement of the love of study and sacred learning" (xxi), especially among the disciples of Benedict in this day and age. Thomas Sullivan O.S.B. Conception Abbey, Conception, MO Copyright © 2024 American Benedictine Review, Inc