sehepunkte 24 (2024), Nr. 6

Patrick Henriet / Marie Anne Polo de Beaulieu (éds.): Pierre Damien et les exempla

This book deals with a distinct part of the literary production of Peter Damian (Petrus Damiani, Pietro Damiano, or Pierre Damien, 1007-1072), namely his exempla. While Peter never wrote an exemplum collection, his letter collection was filled with exempla. Peter was a famous scholar and teacher. Later he became prior of the Cluniac monastery of Fonte Avellana. In 1057 he was appointed Cardinal bishop of Ostia by Pope Stephen IX. Peter Damien was one of the important figures of the eleventh-century reform movement. Peter also has an important part in the history of medieval exemplum and that is what this volume is all about.

This book consists of two main parts. The first one (9-210) includes an introduction and six interesting essays concerning the use of exempla by Peter Damien himself or the diffusion of his exempla by the later writers from his own times up till the eighteenth century. Some attention is sporadically paid also to the public reception of Peter Damien's stories, but not as systematically as one would expect from the subtitle of the volume. Here reception seems to refer to the other writers of the moral theological tractates rather than to that of the public at large.

The latter half of the volume (211-394) curated by Élise Haddad consists of the repertorium of the exempla of Peter Damien. This repertorium gives the following information (where possible) on each of the exemplum stories: reference to the Latin edition by Kurt Reindel [1], résumé in French language, original sources used by Peter Damien if known, parallel texts preceding Peter Damien, bibliography, any repertories where the exemplum is mentioned, identification of the person/s mentioned in the exemplum, and commentary which in this case means short comments by the editor on the nature of the exemplum or to provide background information for it. Suffice it to mention here that this passage is very useful for a reader who wants to establish an overall picture of the nature and sources of the exempla on Peter Damien's letters. It is comprehensive and professionally carried out, however, this review concentrates on the first half of the volume.

In the first chapter, titled "Délimiter le champ des exempla" Élise Haddad defines what exemplum means in the context of this book and gives parameters according to which some stories were included in the repertorium part of the book, and others not. In doing so, as a byproduct, she also goes a long way to explain how, why, and what kind of exemplum stories Peter Damien used in his letters.

Stefano Mula's essay "Une collection d'exempla tirés des lettres de Pierre Damien: Le manuscript Paris, BnF lat. 14657" explains how Peter's exemplum stories came to be extracted from his letters and circulated in an independent collection of stories. Hence, they became easier to use for the later collections and consequently went on to enjoy considerable success during the Late Middle Ages and even beyond. Stefano Mula puts forward a hypothesis that this collection originated in Cistercian circles sometime during the late eleventh or early thirteenth century, certainly before Hélinand of Froidmont wrote his chronicle (i.e. 1211-1223) as Hélinand used this anonymous collection as his source of Peter Damian's exempla. Stefano Mula's article also includes an edition of the Peter Damian's exemplum collection in the aforementioned manuscript.

The following two essays take a microlevel look at Peter Damian's exemplum stories. Marie Anne Polo de Beaulieu's essay "Genése, diffusion et reception du récit des âmes oiseaux" analyses the story of the Lake Avellana as the entrance to hell/purgatory. This interesting story has echoes from Virgil's story of Aeneas' descent to the underworld. Patrick Henriet deals with the story of the three Christian prostitutes who lived in an area on the Iberian Peninsula still controlled by the Muslims. Despite their profession they refuse to have intercourse with Muslims and are consequently executed. On the night preceding the execution Christ appears, comforts them and promises that they will enter the glory as crowned martyrs.

While these essays are well-studied and interesting to read, the real value from the point of view of the history of exemplum lies on the following essays that analyse the diffusion of Peter Damian's exemplum stories in the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century exemplum collections and other moral theological tractates. Jacques Berlioz, Elisa Brilli, and Anne Marie Polo de Beaulieu's essay "Pierre Damien dans les recueils dominicains de récits exemplaires: Une ombre discrète (XIIIe-XIVe siècles)" takes a closer look at how Peter Damian's stories found their way into the Dominican collections by Stephen of Bourbon, Arnold of Liège, and Jean Gobi. All of these collections were significant best-sellers within the genre and being included in them made Peter Damian a household name within the exemplum genre even if it seems that these authors did not go ad fontes but quoted Peter via Vincent of Beauvais' Speculum historiale.

The first part of this book is rounded off by Victoria Smirnova's extremely interesting essay "Diffusion des exempla de Pierre Damien dans la traduction russe du Magnum speculum exemplorum, le Velikoje zertsalo (XVIIe s.)". One does not often encounter studies on the exempla going beyond the medieval period, not to mention in Russian language and in Russia. This essay also includes the interesting case of a widely venerated icon painted on the basis of Peter Damian's exemplum story in translation. Now there is an interesting example of the public reception of exemplum narrative.

All in all, this volume is necessary reading for any historian or philologist interested in the history of exemplum, preaching or communication during the Middle Ages. A short review cannot do justice to all the treasures hidden in this excellently researched and produced volume. To fully appreciate its richness, one needs to take time and read it thoroughly through.

Note:

[1] Die Briefe des Petrus Damiani, ed. Kurt Reindel, 4 vols. (MGH, Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit; 4), München 1983-1993.