Caesar of Heisterbach

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Caesar of Heisterbach

Caesar of Heisterbach, also known as Caesarius of Heisterbach ca. 1180 - ca. 1240, was the prior

Prior

Prior is a title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses....
of the former Cistercian Heisterbach Abbey

Heisterbach Abbey

Heisterbach Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in the Siebengebirge near Oberdollendorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Petersberg...
, in the Siebengebirge

Siebengebirge

The Siebengebirge is a Germany range of hills to the East of the Rhine, southeast of Bonn, consisting of more than 40 mountains and hills. It is located in the municipalities of Bad Honnef and K?nigswinter....
near the little town of Oberdollendorf, Germany.

He is best known as the compiler of a book of hagiography

Hagiography

Hagiography is the study of saints. A hagiography, from Greek ' and ' , refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically the biography of ecclesiastical and secular leaders....
that contains many wondrous tales of miracle

Miracle

File:Folio 171r - The Raising of Lazarus.jpgA miracle is a sensibly perceptible interruption of the laws of nature, such that can only be explained by divine intervention, and is sometimes associated with a miracle-worker....
s in the form of dialogues between a monk and a novice, the Dialogus magnus visionum ac miraculorum, which is a consistently readable and entertaining, if somewhat sensationalistic and credulous, compilation of that lore.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Caesar of Heisterbach'

Start a new discussion about 'Caesar of Heisterbach'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Caesar of Heisterbach, also known as Caesarius of Heisterbach ca. 1180 - ca. 1240, was the prior

Prior

Prior is a title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses....
of the former Cistercian Heisterbach Abbey

Heisterbach Abbey

Heisterbach Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in the Siebengebirge near Oberdollendorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Petersberg...
, in the Siebengebirge

Siebengebirge

Hagiography

Miracle

Late Middle Ages

The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe history of Europe in the periodization of the 14th and 15th centuries . The Late Middle Ages were preceded by the High Middle Ages, and followed by the Early modern Europe ....
. The work was popular and was widely distributed, showing that it catered well to the tastes of the times; it was perhaps the second largest late mediaeval best-seller, second only to the Golden Legend
Golden Legend

The Golden Legend, Legenda Aurea, or Legenda Sanctorum by Jacobus de Voragine is a collection of fanciful hagiography or lives of the saints, that became a late Middle Ages bestseller....
of Jacobus de Voragine

Jacobus de Voragine

Blessed Jacobus de Varagine or Voragine...
. A vision reported in the book provided the source for the iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Ancient Greek e???? and ??afe?? ....
of the Virgin of Mercy

Virgin of Mercy

The Virgin of Mercy is a subject in Christian art, showing a group of people sheltering for protection under the outspread cloak of Mary . It was especially popular in Italy from the 13th to 16th centuries, often as a specialised form of votive portrait, and is also found in other countries and later art, especially Catalonia and Latin Ame...
.

He is also remembered for a maxim on the rise and fall of monasteries; he wrote that discipline causes prosperity in a monastery, and prosperity undermines discipline. He also revealed the name of Titivillus

Titivillus

Titivillus, sometimes spelled Tutivillus, is a demon, said to work on behalf of Belphegor, Lucifer or Satan in the Middle Ages, to introduce errors into the work of a scribe....
as the demon

Demon

In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as a malevolent spirit. In Christian terms demons are generally understood as fallen angels, formerly of God....
who allegedly caused typographical error

Typographical error

A typographical error is a mistake made during, originally, the manual type-setting of printed material, or more recently, the typing process....
s in the work of scribes.

Though the priory was dissolved in 1803, when the library and archives were given to the city of Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

D?sseldorf is the capital city of the Germany state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is an economic centre of Germany. The city is situated on the River Rhine and has a high population density - the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area has over 10 million inhabitants alone....
and the monastery and the church sold and torn down in 1809, and though at present only the ruinous apse with the ruins of the choir remains, a monument was erected in his honour near the ruins in 1897.

External links

: Caesarius of Heisterbach Caesarius of Heisterbach, from Dialogus, book V: on medieval heresies , volume 1, images from an 1851 edition (Latin) Category:Cistercians