Edition Practices

Edition of "The Four and Twenty Elders' by Otto of Passau"

The project is producing a digital and print edition of one of the most important sources for the history of religious piety and intellectual life in the late Middle Ages. Under the responsibility of PD Dr. Martin Schubert
 
 

‘Die vierundzwanzig Alten’ (‘The Four and Twenty Elders’) presents in 24 chapters an encyclopaedic doctrine of Christian life founded upon mysticism. Each chapter contains a speech addressed to die minnende Seele – ‘the loving soul’ – by one of the ‘four and twenty elders’ who sit around God’s throne at the Apocalypse (Rev 4:4) and who are therefore attributed with special access to God. The work treats themes from everyday life (appropriate speech, proper clothing, correct prayer etc.), the nature of God and Man, and death. In the middle (the Twelfth Elder) is a detailed Life of Mary.
 
Its size and distribution make it one of the most important sources for vernacular catechism, for the history of German mysticism and so for the history of religious piety and intellectual life in the late Middle Ages. The large number of transmitted texts (163 manuscripts and 14 printed editions) is probably the reason why there is no modern edition of the work.
 
The standard text based on the oldest manuscript, Karlsruhe, Landesbibliothek, Cod. St. Georgen 64 (1383, eastern Alemannic), will offer full access in both digital and print formats to the ‘Four and Twenty Elders’. At the same time, it will give an impulse for more research and detailed study of the material and to investigations into the transmission of medieval texts for practical use.
 
The project is financed by the DFG and will run until 30 April 2016.