, Brepols, 2026 Paperback, Pages: 389, Size:156 x 234 mm, Language(s):English, Latin. ISBN 9782503623924.
Summary The Benedictine abbot Rupert of Deutz (d. 1129) was among the most prolific, innovative, and influential of medieval theologians. Well-positioned in time and space to respond to the unfolding of the twelfth-century reform of European religious life, he actively engaged with proponents of the lay piety movement and the new religious orders as an apologist for monastic tradition. The bulk of Rupert's surviving writings, however, addresses biblical and liturgical texts. His inventive Commentary on the Song of Songs offers a window into both his ecclesiastical context and his own role in the formation of the cult of the Virgin. Here, the Benedictine represents the famously obscure Song of Songs as the love-story of God the Father and the Virgin Mother of His Son, the first fully Marian interpretation of the ancient biblical canticle. Rupert's Commentary on the Song of Songs, presented here in full English translation, projects his voice to modern communities of learning and inspiration far beyond the medieval studies and theological audiences to whom he has already been well known. With facing Latin, it will now be accessible to those interested in biblical interpretation, the history and theory of gender, and Christian spritual tradition. This volume is based on the authoritative critical edition of Rupert's commentary by Raban Haake, O.S.B., published as CCCM 26 in 1974. Its introduction reviews the vibrant scholarship on Rupert and the tradition of Song commentary published in the intervening decades, most importantly by John Van Engen, E. Ann Matter, and Rachel Fulton Brown. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations Introduction Rupert and the Twelfth Century Rupert in Liège and Beyond The Song Commentary Tradition Rupert as Commentator Rupert, Reading, and Spirituality Rupert and his Struggle with Scripture Manuscript Tradition Translation Conventions Text and Translation Select Bibliography of Works Pertaining to Rupert's Song Commentary