Compitum

Pierre Abélard, Sermons, éd. Lodewijk Jozef Engels et Christine Vande Veire, Turnhout, 2020.

Éditeur : Brepols
Collection : Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis (CCCM 286)
CXXV-503 pages
ISBN : 978-2-503-57701-2
365 €

The present volume provides the first critical edition of the sermons of Peter Abelard gathered by the author on behalf of the nuns of the Paraclete, as Abelard's dedicatory letter to Heloise makes clear. The collection contains 35 sermons 33 of which were edited 1616 by François d'Amboise and André Duchesne. Unfortunately the manuscript kept at the Sorbonne, used for the editio princeps, has disappeared. Only 6 out of the 33 sermons have survived, in three recently discovered manuscripts. A supplementary sermon (s. 34) of the same collection and a fragment of an extra sermon (against the Cistercians) turned up respectively in one of those manuscripts. Modern scholars have provided editions of the eight sermons that survived in the manuscripts. Well acquainted with Peter Abelard's writings skills and style, the editor investigated and compared the six sermons of the editio princeps that are also present in the manuscripts. After this profound research, he took the immense job of re-editing the entire collection. Where necessary he intervened on the basis of his knowledge of the language and ideas of Abelard.

The late Lodewijk Jozef (Louk) Engels (d. 2017), emeritus professor of medieval Latin at the University of Groningen from 1972 till 1994, has published on Paul Diacre and on many other texts, including the Sermones of Peter Abelard. He has been rector magnificus of his alma mater from 1981 till 1984, and again from 1988 till 1991. Professor Engels was a great supporter of the critical edition, a particular metier which he has taught with enthusiasm to his students.

Source : Brepols