Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T16:34:03.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

“Nos Nescientes de Hoc Velle Manere”—“We Wish to Remain Ignorant about This”: Timeless End, or: Approaches to Reconceptualizing Eschatology after A.D. 800 (A.M. 6000)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2016

Extract

The more spectacular a prediction is, the more frustrating it becomes when the prescribed date passes and nothing happens. This essay will discuss not so much the predictions of yesterday but rather the awakening of the morning after. False predictions left a gap and created the need for explicit or implicit responses to the failed prediction, a need that could be filled by modifying the calculations or condemning fresh speculation. This essay shows how people managed to reconceptualize the order of the world after a.d. 800 = a.m. [annus mundi] 6000, the beginning of the supposed seventh, ultimate millennium. As we consider the intellectual progress of the ninth century, we also need to look at the link between the Carolingian reform and the release of apocalyptic tension or post-apocalyptic exhaustion. This investigation builds on recent contributions to the field of medieval eschatology, especially those of Wolfram Brandes, Richard K. Emmerson, Johannes Fried, Richard Landes, Bernard McGinn, and others. It focuses on selected sources, and particularly on exegetical texts, to show that overcoming the eschatological crisis caused more than a shift in the system of counting years, from annus mundi to ab incarnatione Domini. Questions about dates led to general reflections about time, the past and the future. The significant shift, therefore, was from counting time to a philosophy of time.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Fordham University 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Brandes, Wolfram, “‘Tempora periculosa’: Eschatologisches im Vorfeld der Kaiserkronung Karls des Großen,” Das Frankfurter Konzil von 794: Kristallisationspunkt karolingischer Kultur, ed. Berndt, Rainer, 1: Politik und Kirche, Quellen und Abhandlungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte, 80 (Mainz, 1997), 49–79 (see also n. 5); Richard K. Emmerson, Antichrist in the Middle Ages: A Study of Medieval Apocalypticism, Art, and Literature (Seattle, 1981); idem and Bernard McGinn, eds., The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages (Ithaca, N.Y., 1992); Johannes Fried, “Endzeiterwartung urn die Jahrtausendwende,” Deutsches Archiv 45 (1989): 381–471; see also idem, Der Weg in die Geschichte. Die Urspünge Deutschlands bis 1024, Propyläen Geschichte Deutschlands, 1 (Berlin, 1994), 594, 807–8; Richard Landes, “Lest the Millennium Be Fulfilled: Apocalyptic Expectations and the Pattern of Western Chronography 100–800 C.E.,” The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the-Middle Ages, ed. W. Verbeke et al., Mediaevalia Lovaniensia, Series 1, Studia, 15 (Louvain, 1988), 137–211; idem, “Millenarismus absconditus: L'historiographie augustinienne et le millénarisme du haut Moyen Âge jusqu'à I'an Mil,” Moyen Âge 98 (1992): 355–77; idem, “Sur les traces du Millenium: La ‘via negativa’ (2e partie),” ibid. 99 (1993): 5–26; Bernard McGinn, Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages, Records of Civilization, 96 (New York, 1979); for the Later Middle Ages see Richard K. Emmerson and Ronald B. Herzman, The Apocalyptic Imagination in Medieval Literature (Philadelphia, 1992); see also Leon Gry, Le millenarisme dans ses origines et son deoeloppement (Paris, 1904) [not seen]; Ernst Bernheim, Mitlelalterliche Zeitanschauungen in ihrem EinflufJ auf Politik und Geschichtsschreibung, 1: Die Zeitanschauungen: Die Auqustiniscnen Ideen, Antichrist und Friedensfürst, Regnum und Sacerdotium (Tübingen, 1918; repro Aalen, 1964); Wilhelm Kamlah, A pokalypse und Geschichtstheologie: Die mitlelalterliche Auslegung der Apokalypse nor Joachim Don Fiore, Historische Studien, 285 (Berlin, 1935); Horst D. Rauh, Das Bild des Antichrist im Mitlelalter: Von Tgconius zum deutschen Symbolismus, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters: Texte und Untersuchungen, N.F., 9 (Münster, 1973); Juan Gil, “Los torreros del año 800,” Actas del Simposio para el estudio de los codices del “Comenatrio al apocalipsis” de Beato de Liébana, 1 (Madrid, 1978), 216–47; Guy Lobrichon, “L'ordre de ce temps et les desordres de la fin: Apocalypse et société, du IXe à la fin du XIe siècle,” The Use and Abuse of Eschatology, ed. W. Verbeke et al., Mediaevalia Lovaniensia, 15 (Louvain, 1988), 221–41; Arno Borst, Die karolingische Kalenderreform, MGH Schriften, 46 (Hanover, 1998), 234–41, 729–35, 754–55.Google Scholar

I should like to thank Michael I. Allen (Chicago), Wolfram Brandes (Frankfurt), and Johannes Fried (Frankfurt), who saw an earlier version of this text, presented at the Center for Millennial Studies in Boston in December, 1998, for indispensable help and encouraging comments, and Toby Axelrod (Berlin), and John J. Contreni (West La Fayette), for their admirable ability to bring this text into a legible form.Google Scholar

2 Borst, , Kalenderreform , 729–30 [my translation].Google Scholar

3 See Meyer, Heinz and Suntrup, Rudolf, Lexikon der mittelalterlichen Zahlenbedeutungen , Münstersche Mittelalterschriften, 57 (Munich, 1987), esp. cols. 448–50; Landes, , “Apocalyptic Expectations,” esp. 181–83; Brandes, “Tempora periculosa,” 51–53.Google Scholar

4 Bede, , De temporum ratione , 66. Jones, Charles W., CCL 123B [Turnhout, 1977]: 495, lines 971–78); see also ibid. 10 (310, 19–312, 59). See Tristram, Hildegard L. C., Sex aetates mundi: Die Weltzeitalter bei den Angelsachsen und den Iren. Untersuchungen und Texte, Anglistische Forschungen, 165 (Heidelberg, 1985), 154–57, 181–82; Rädle, Fidel, “Bedas Hymnus uber das Sechstagewerk und die sechs Weltalter [De opere sex dierum primordalium et de sex aetatibus mundi],” Anglo-Saxonica: Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte der englischen Sprache und zur altenglischen Literatur. Festschrift Hans Schabram zum 65. Geburtstag , ed. Grinda, Klaus R. and Wetzel, Claus-Dieter (Munich, 1993), 53–73, edition on 64–65; Landes, , “Apocalyptic Expectations,” 174–78.Google Scholar

5 Bernheim, , Mittelalterliche Zeitanschauungen , 7980 and passim; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 75 (a longer version is forthcoming); idem, ‘“Homunculi in fine saeculi?’ Endzeitvorstellungen im ausgehenden 8. Jahrhundert” (I am grateful to the author for a copy of the manuscript; quotations are based on that text); idem, “Liudprand von Cremona und die apokalyptische Literatur. Anmerkungen zur Legatio c. 39–41,” Gedenkschrift fur F. Sielaff, M. Springer (forthcoming).Google Scholar

6 Annates Sanctae Columbae Senonensis ad 806, 809 , MGH Scriptores 1, ed. Pertz, Georg H. (Hanover, 1826; repr. Stuttgart and New York, 1963), 103; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 75–76.Google Scholar

7 See Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 5557; the terminological differences and interdependence between “eschatology” and “apocalypticism” are discussed ibid., 49–50, n. 3; see also idem, “Homunculi”; Landes, , “Apocalyptic Expectations,” 196–97; Möhring, H., “Karl der Grosse und die Endkaiser-Weissagung,” Montjoie. Studies in Crusade History in Honour of Hans Eberhard Mayer , ed. Zedar, B. J. et al. (Aldershot, 1997), 1–19. (See the detailed review of this article by Brandes, Wolfram, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 92 [1999]: 270–71.)Google Scholar

8 Capitula de quibus convocati compotiste interrogati fuerunt (809), 4 (MGH Epp. 4, Epistolae variorum no. 42, pp. 565–67, 566: “Interrogati, quot annos a mundi initio usque ad Christi incarnationem dicerent. Qui cum propter diversorum auctoritates primum diversa protulissent, postremo in Ebraice veritatis numero fidem facere consuerunt.” See Borst, Arno, “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie von 809,” Science in Western and Eastern Civilization in Carolingian Times , ed. Butzer, Paul Leo and Lohrmann, Dietrich (Basel, 1993), 7072; idem, Das Buck der Naturgeschichte: Plinius und seine Leser im Zeitalter des Pergaments, Abh. Heidelberg, 1994, Abh. 2 (Heidelberg, 1994), 121–56; see also idem, Kalenderreform, 734; Fried, Johannes, “Karl der Große, die Artes liberales und die karolingische Renaissance,” Karl der Grosse und sein Nachwirken: 1200 Jahre Kultur und Wissenschaft in Europa , ed. Butzer, P. L. et al. (Turnhout, 1993), 25–43, here 31.Google Scholar

9 Epist. 121, pp. 176, line 32–177, line 3 (796/97); see Lohrmann, Dietrich, “Alcuins Korrespondenz mit Karl dem Großen über Kalender und Astronomie,” Science in Western and Eastern Civilization in Carolingian Times , ed. Butzer, Paul L. and Lohrmann, Dietrich (Basel, 1993), 79114, esp. 97; on eschatological thinking in Alcuin's letters see Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” esp. 51, 66–70; see also Landes, , “Apocalyptic Expectations,” 183–84.Google Scholar

10 Borst, , Kalenderreform , 733–34.Google Scholar

11 The Annals of Fulda , trans. Reuter, Timothy, Ninth-Century Histories, 2 (Manchester and New York, 1992), sub anno 847 (26–27). On 809, see Borst, , “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 53–78, esp. 70–71; see also Maurus, Rabanus, De computo (820), ed. Stevens, Wesley M., CCM 44 (Turnhout, 1979), 171, 175 (Introduction).Google Scholar

12 Agnellus, , Liber pontificalis , 172, ed. Holder-Egger, O., MGH Scriptores rer. Lang, et Ital. (Hanover, 1878), 389; Verhelst, Daniel, “La préhistoire des conceptions d'Adson concernant l'Antichrist,” Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 40 (1973): 52–103, here 92. Later in the century, after 877, Andreas of Bergamo recorded for 840 “signs,” an eclipse of the sun (PL 151: 1273A); see Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 410–11, n. 119.Google Scholar

13 Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 7175; on the Annals of Lorsch and similar sources see esp. p. 72 with n. 92; also Borst, , Das Buch der Naturgeschichte, 152.Google Scholar

14 Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 393.Google Scholar

15 Labbe, Philippe, Novae Bibliothecae Manuscriptorum Librorum , 1 (Paris, 1657), cols. 309–15 [not seen] = PL 104: 917–26: Claudii chronologi … brevis chronica; MSS: Paris, BNF lat. 5001, fols. 1r–8v (eastern France, third quarter of the ninth century); Madrid, BN lat. 9605 (southern France, a. 1026), fols. 103r–11r, 112r–16v (including updatings by a west-Frankish writer up to 854); Monza, Bibl. Capit. C-9/69, northern Italy (early tenth century, fols. 66r–83r); see Ferrari, Mirella, “Note su Claudio di Torino, ‘Episcopus ab Ecclesia damnatus’,” Italia medioevale ed umanistica 16 (1973): 291–308, here 301–8; Allen, Michael I., “The Chronicle of Claudius of Turin,” After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of the Early Middle Ages , ed. Murray, A. C. (Toronto, 1998), 288–319, here 290–92; see also Borst, , Kalenderreform, 511.Google Scholar

16 Claudius may also be considered to have been the first typical Carolingian theologian, dedicating himself almost exclusively to the understanding and teaching of the written revelation, the Bible, and less to the visual revelation, the world and the cosmos.Google Scholar

17 MGH Epp. 4, Epistolae karolini aevi , 2, ed. Dümmler, Ernst (orig. publ. 1895; repr. Munich, 1978), Claudius, no. 1, pp. 590–93, here 592, lines 18–23.Google Scholar

18 Gorman, Michael, “The Commentary on Genesis of Claudius of Turin and Biblical Studies under Louis the Pious,” Speculum 72 (1997): 279329; Heil, Johannes, Kompilation oder Konstruktion? Die Juden in den Pauluskommentaren des 9. Jahrhunderts (Hanover, 1998), 227–29.Google Scholar

19 Rabanus was led by the same concerns. Six years later, in 820, we find Rabanus at Fulda writing his third work, the Liber de computo, after the famous Liber de laudibus s. crucis (810) and the De institutione clericorum (819) and before commenting on Matthew (820) and Genesis (822 and after). Only then did his commentaries on most of the other biblical books, in more or less canonical order, follow. Though in different order, the early Rabanus shared with Claudius a strong interest in the trio of chronography and computation, Genesis, and Matthew. (See the introductory letters in MGH Epp. 5, Epist. Karol. aevi , 3, ed. Dümmler, Hampe, and Hirsch-Gereuth, [orig. publ. 1898–99, repr. Munich, 1978], Rabanus nos. 1–8, pp. 381–93.) On the importance of Rabanus's early works see Fried, Johannes, “Fulda in der Bildungs- und Geistesgeschichte des früheren Mittelalters,” Kloster Fulda in der Welt der Karolinger und Ottonen. KulturPolitikWirtschaft , ed. Schrimpf, Gangolf, Studien, Fuldaer, 7 (Frankfurt am Main, 1996), 3–38, here 23–27.Google Scholar

20 “Si quis forte minus Scripturarum divinarum studiis eruditus de hoc opere dubitare tentaverit, redeat ad divinos secundum Hebraicam veritatem scriptos libros…. Et si cujus forte in hac re obstinata mentis perdurat intentio, eat ad Judaeos Ecclesiae inimicos, et in eorum codicibus lingua scriptis annorum summam requirat, et quidquid ibidem invenerit, hoc credat et teneat,” Claudius, , Brevis chronica , PL 104: 918C–D; see also ibid., 924C: “Unde sciendum est atque firmissimum credendum et nullomodo dubitandum” etc. Google Scholar

21 The third revision was completed in 786 (a.m. 5986): Beatus, In Apocalypsin libri duodecim 4, 5, 16; 5, 31, ed. Sanders, H. A., Papers and Monographs of the American Academy of Rome, 7 (Rome, 1930), 368, 371 (more recent editions were not available); see Verhelst, , “La préhistoire,” 86; Fried, “Endzeiterwartung,” 402–4; on the question of authorship see Collins, Roger, The Arab Conquest of Spain 710–797 (Oxford, 1989), 225–27; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 53–54.Google Scholar

22 “Epistola episcoporum Hispaniae ad episcopos Franciae,” MGH Concilia 2: Concilia aevi karolini 1/1 (Legum sectio 3), ed. Werminghoff, Albert (Hanover and Leipzig, 1906), here 119, lines 9–15; see Cavadini, John C., The Last Christology of the West: Adoptionism in Spain and Gaul, 785–820 (Philadelphia, 1993), 31–38; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 65.Google Scholar

23 Krusch, Bruno, Studien zur christlich mittelalterlichen Chronologie: Die Entstehung unserer heutigen Zeitrechnung , Abh. Preussen, 8 (1937), (Berlin, 1938), edition on 53–57, here 57; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 52–53.Google Scholar

24 The only witness to the text of 737 is Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, MS Phillips 1831, fol. 138–42, fol. 142r (Verona 800–10); partly edited by Krusch, Bruno, “Das älteste fränkische Lehrbuch der Dionysianischen Zeitrechnung,” Mélanges offerts à Émile Chatelain par ses élèves et ses amis (Paris, 1910), 232–42; Borst, , “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 55–56.Google Scholar

25 MGH Chronica Minora 2, ed. Mommsen, Theodor, MGH AA 11 (Berlin, 1894), 490; Gil, , Los terrores , 245; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 55 (with further examples, 55–57).Google Scholar

26 For the eschatological dimensions of the Admonitio Generalis see Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 6566.Google Scholar

27 Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, MS Philipps 1869 (after an original from Lorsch written in Prüm, 840), fol. 1r–11r, here 11r (probably by the same hand there follow fols. 15–124: Bede, De naturis et temporum ratione); see Borst, , “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 5859, 68; idem, Kalenderreform, 245–98, esp. 298, also 460–61, 754–55.Google Scholar

28 See, for example, Alcuin, Letter no. 166 (against Elipandus of Toledo), here p. 270; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 6366; idem, “Homunculi” (see n. 5). On adoptionism see Johannes Fried's contributions to 794, Karl der Groβe in Frankfurt am Main. Ein König bei der Arbeit. Ausstellung zum 1200–Jahre-Jubiläum der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, ed. idem (Sigmaringen, 1994); and Das Frankfurter Konzil von 794 , ed. Berndt, Rainer (see n. 1). See also Heil, Wilhelm, “Der Adoptianismus, Alkuin und Spanien,” Karl der Groβe. Lebenswerk und Nachleben , ed. Braunfels, W. et al. (Düsseldorf, 1965), 2; Das geistige Leben , ed. Bischoff, Bernhard, 2d ed. (Düsseldorf, 1966), 95–155; Cavadini, The Last Christology (see n. 22).Google Scholar

29 Beati Liebanensis et Eterii Oxomensis adversus Elipandum libri duo , ed. Löfstedt, Bengt, CCM 59 (Turnhout, 1984), 1, 23, p. 16; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 64–65.Google Scholar

30 Claudius, , Brevis chronica (PL 104: 917–26); Ferrari, , Note su Claudio, 307 (edition of the introductory letter); Landes, , “Apocalyptic Expectations,” 180, n. 173; Allen, , “The Chronicle of Claudius of Turin,” 291, 298 with n. 45.Google Scholar

31 Heil, Johannes, “Claudius von Turin — eine Fallstudie zur Geschichte der Karolingerzeit,” Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft 45 (1997): 389412.Google Scholar

32 Dungal, , MGH Epp. 4, no. 9, pp. 583, lines 24–25; 584, lines 21–35; Jonas of Orléans, De cultu imaginum , PL 106: 307A–8C (Claudius as Arian); 307C–9C passim.Google Scholar

33 Claudius, , Brevis chronica , PL 104: 925B.Google Scholar

34 Ibid., 924B–C.Google Scholar

35 Ibid., 924D.Google Scholar

36 Ibid., 926A; Borst, , Kalenderreform , 511; cf. Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 406–7.Google Scholar

37 Allen, , “The Chronicle of Claudius of Turin,” 313–19.Google Scholar

38 The text is unpublished; the basis for the study was MS Philipps 1708, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, fols. 197r–205v.Google Scholar

39 Ibid., fol. 198r (Gregory, , Homiliae in Evangelia , PL 76: 1259D–E) “Ultima enim tribulatio multis tribulationibus praevenitur et per crebra mala quae praeveniunt indicantur mala perpetua quem subsecuntur [subsequentur] et ideo post bella et seditiones non statim finis quia multa debent mala praecurrere ut malum valeant sine fine enuntiare.” Google Scholar

40 Autpertus, Ambrosius, Expositio in Apocalypsin 6, 13, ed. Weber, Robert, CCM 27A (Turnhout, 1975), 107, line 275.Google Scholar

41 Brandes, (“Tempora periculosa,” 52) has with good reason argued that Beatus's statement seems so singular only because of the heavy effect of traditional reservations and bans against calculation. Brandes raises the question of how many learned and concerned monks indeed sat in their cells, calculating but not publishing their results.Google Scholar

42 MGH Epp. 4, Claudius no. 6, p. 601, lines 17–22.Google Scholar

43 See the odd statement by Strabo, Walahfrid, Libellus de exordiis et incrementis , 8 (MGH Capit. regum francorum 2 [Legum sectio 2], ed. Boretius, Alfred and Krause, Victor [Hanover, 1897], 483).Google Scholar

44 I focus on the commentaries on the letters of Paul because there is no other similar sample of commentaries from the ninth century extant. Alcuin and Haimo commented on Revelation, but Rabanus's commentary on the same book is, if it existed, lost. Claudius, Rabanus, Radbertus, Remigius, and others commented on Matthew, but Haimo of Auxerre, the curious and most interesting exegete of the ninth century, did not comment on the first gospel; see Heil, , Kompilation oder Konstruktion? 3034.Google Scholar

45 (Pseudo-) Bede, , Explanationes Lectionum seu Epistolarum, Dominicis diebus, festivitatibus ac feriis, Venerabilis Bedae presbyteri , ed. Gymnich, Jean (Cologne, 1535). The printed edition is rare; see Barré, Henri, Les homéliaires carolingiens de l'école d'Auxerre. AuthenticitéInventaireTableaux comparatifs. Initia, Studi e Testi, 225 (Vatican City, 1962), 6–10, 230–35. The copy on which this study is based is held in the Herzog-August-Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel (siglum: Li Sammelband 49/14). On the dates see Raymond Étaix, “Le sermonnaire carolingien de Beaune,” Revue des études augustiniennes 25 (1979): 106–49, here 135; Jan Machielsen, Clavis patristica pseudoepigraphorum medii aevi 1A–B, CCL (Turnhout, 1990), no. 3871, p. 570; Heil, Kompilation oder Konstruktion? 209.Google Scholar

46 Smaragdi abbatis collectiones in Epistolas et Evangelia, PL 102: 9–552; on the dates see Bernhard Bischoff, “Die Kölner Nonnenhandschriften und das Skriptorium von Chelles,” orig. publ. 1957, enlarged in idem, Mittelalterliche Studien: Ausgewählte Aufsätze zur Schriftkunde und zur Literaturgeschichte , 1 (Stuttgart, 1966), 1634, here 23.Google Scholar

47 Smaragdus, , Collectiones, In natale sancti archangeli Michaelis , PL 102: 476B (probably from Pseudo-Primasius); see also on Rev. 14:1–5, ibid. 48A–50D; on Rev. 1:1–6, ibid. 475C–77B, esp. 475C–D; on Matt. 25:6, ibid. 550C–D.Google Scholar

48 Pseudo-Bede, , Explanationes , 272–73. On the meaning of the “four empires” see Brandes, , “Homunculi,” 42–44.Google Scholar

49 Archidiaconus, Petrus, Liber de diversis quaestiunculis cum responsionibus (in Danielem prophetam) quem iussit domnus rex Carolus transscribere e authentico , PL 96: 1347–62, here 1353D, is an extract of Jerome's Commentary on Daniel; see Brandes, , “Homunculi,” 46–47; see also Haymonis … expositionis in Apocalypsin libri septem, PL 117: 1028B, 1034A–B.Google Scholar

50 Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 5152, 66–71; idem, “Homunculi,” 135–49 passim; see also Borst, , “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 67–69.Google Scholar

51 On the authorship see Stegmüller, , Repertorium Biblicum Medii Aevi 8, no. 1976, p. 265; Folkerts, Menzo, Lexikon des Mittelalters 1 (1980), col. 418.Google Scholar

52 Alcuin, , ep. 174, MGH Epp. 4, ed. Dümmler, Ernst (orig. publ. 1895; repr. Munich, 1978), 288, lines 17–27, 33–34; Brandes, , “Tempora periculosa,” 69; idem, “Homunculi,” 146–47.Google Scholar

53 “Dum omni homini necesse est vigili cura se praeparare ad occursum domini Dei sui, quanto magis senioribus, qui sunt annis et infirmitatibus crebris confractis, suas sollicita cura lampades ornare” (Matthew 25), Alcuin, ep. 236, MGH Epp. 4, 381, lines 10–12.Google Scholar

54 Ibid., ep. 272, pp. 430–31, here 431, lines 2–4.Google Scholar

55 On the other hand, a deeper study of Alcuin's letters would show that there are signs that after 800 he focused even more on the last judgment than before.Google Scholar

56 “Ideo ipse Dominus has duas designat in eodem loco resurrectiones; animarum, ubi ait: ‘Amen, amen, dico vobis, quia veniet hora, et nunc est, quando mortui audient vocem Filii Dei’ (John 5:25); corporum vero: Veniet hora, in qua omnes, qui in monumentis sunt, audient vocem ejus (John 5:28). Hora autem nunc est, ut resurgant mortui; hora erit in fine saeculi ut resurgant mortui; sed resurgunt nunc in mente, tunc in carne” etc.; see Alcuin, , De fide sanctae et individuae trinitatis ad gloriosum imperatorem Carolum magnum , 3, 18, PL 101: 50D; also ibid., 3, 20, 52B–C.Google Scholar

57 Introductory letter, MGH Epp. 5, Rabanus no. 4, 387–88.Google Scholar

58 Maurus, Rabanus, De computo (820), ed. Stevens, , 318–21 (chap. 96): “VI. Sexta, quae nunc agitur, aetas, nulla generationum vel temporum serie certa, sed ut aetas decrepita, ipsa totius saeculi consumenda. Has aerumnosas plena usque laboribus mundi aetates quique felici morte vicerunt. VII. Septima jam sabbati perennis aetate suscepti. VIII. Octavam beatae ressurectionis aetatem, in qua semper cum Domino regnent, expectant. Ad quam nos feliciter.” See Fried, Johannes, “Fulda in der Bildungs- und Geistesgeschichte des früheren Mittelalters,” 3–38, here 27–28; Borst, “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 57; idem, Kalenderreform, 317–22.Google Scholar

59 Frechulf counted so long (“a reaedificatione … a Salomone … a Mose 1505 …, ab Abraham 2011, … a diluvio 2921) that the end in his report became almost unspectacular; see Frechulf of Lisieux, Historiae, PL 106: 915–1258, here 1, 7.19, 1116A–B. A new edition by Michael I. Allen for CCM is in preparation; see Allen, Michael I., “History in the Carolingian Renewal: Frechulf of Lisieux (fl. 830): His Work and Influence,” Ph.D. diss. University of Toronto, 1994 (not seen); Johanek, Peter, “Frechulf, Bf. von Lisieux,” LThK3 4 (1995), col. 85. It is astonishing to see that in Migne's edition of Rabanus's commentary on Matthew (821), the year of Christ's birth is given as 5199 (PL 107: 756C). Since Rabanus wrote in such a sophisticated manner about dates and ages in his Computus, it seems unlikely that, within months, he had so completely changed his mind. The version given in Migne might be the work of an overzealous writer or editor. I had no occasion to check this point in the manuscripts. Or might Frechulf have convinced him?.Google Scholar

60 Alcuin's Libellus annalis (ca. 793) is lost. On two revisions, managed probably by Adalhard (809) and Arn of Salzburg (Liber calculationis, 818), see Borst, , “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 6175.Google Scholar

61 Bede, , Epistola ad Pleguiam , ed. Jones, C. W., Bedae Venerabilis opera, 6: Opera didascalica , CCL 123C (Turnhout, 1980), 613–26.Google Scholar

62 Pseudo-Bede (not the same as the one mentioned in n. 45), De ratione computi liber, PL 90: 579–600 (written in 771), paraphrased Bede, De rationum tempore, but left out Bede's concept of time; see Borst, , “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 56, 69; idem, Kalenderreform, 732–34.Google Scholar

63 Heil, , “Claudius von Turin — eine Fallstudie,” 406; on Rabanus's sources see Stevens, CCM 44, introd., 176–80. In that context the analogies between Claudius's and Rabanus's early exegetical interests should also be considered (see n. 19).Google Scholar

64 On the problem caused by contradicting opinions of the Fathers, see MGH Epp. 5, Rabanus no. 23, pp. 429–30. Rabanus stated explicitly that he used the acceptable parts of the works of the heretic Origen “very cautiously” (ibid.), but he did not hesitate to use the authentic Pelagius, passing off those quotations as his own contributions; see Heil, , Kompilation oder Konstruktion? 259, n. 50 (list of findings); see also Aris, Marc-Aeilko, “‘Nostrum est citare testes.’ Anmerkungen zum Wissenschaftsverständnis des Rabanus Maurus,” Schrimpf, Kloster Fulda (see n. 19), 437–64. Borst (“Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie,” 60–61, n. 21) reports a similar case of “Bede-hiding” in 824.Google Scholar

65 2 Thess. 2:1–2; Rabanus, PL 112: 570A-B (Siglum: “Raban”); 569C–70A (Gregory); 570A, 570B (Ambrosiaster); see also his introduction on 2 Thessalonians, ibid., 567A–B.Google Scholar

66 2 Thess. 2:7–8a, Rabanus, PL 112: 571B-72B (Jerome, epist. 121, 11, 8–14; Epistulae , ed. Hilberg, Isidor, CSEL 56 [Vienna, 1918], 53, line 6–55, line 7).Google Scholar

67 MGH Epp. 5, Rabanus no. 13, p. 401, lines 17–31.Google Scholar

68 Hrabani Mauri Comment. in Matthaeum 7, PL 107: 1078B–D; introductory letter, MGH Epp. 5, Rabanus no. 5, 388–90.Google Scholar

69 Opera Bedae Venerabilis presbyteri anglosaxonis viri in divinis atque humanis literis exercitatissimi omnia in octo tomos distincta, 6: Sextus tomus operum venerabilis Bedae, in divi Pauli scripta, interpretationes luculentas exhibens etc. (= Florus of Lyons, Compilation on Augustine), (Basel, 1563), cols. 945–50 (extracts from Augustine, Ad Hesychium, De civitate Dei 20–21, on Psalm 105); on the work and the person see the latest resumé in Klaus Zechiel-Eckes, “Florus von Lyons, Amalarius von Metz und der Traktat über die Bischofswahl,” Revue Bénédictine 106 (1996): 109–33.Google Scholar

70 Paschasius Radbertus of Corbie, Expositio in Matheo libri XII , ed. Paulus, Beda, CCM 56 (Turnhout, 1984), 1, 3, pp. 3941 (for a slight, apologetic allusion see p. 40, lines 1171–73); see Blumenkranz, Bernhard, Les auteurs chrétiens latins du moyen âge sur les juifs et le judaïsme, Études juives, 4 (Paris, 1963), no. 163a, pp. 192–93; Schreckenberg, Heinz, Die christlichen Adversus-Judaeos-Texte und ihr literarisches und historisches Umfeld (1.–11. Jh.), Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe 23: Theologie, 172 (Frankfurt am Main, 1982), 511–13 (3d rev. ed. 1995).Google Scholar

71 On Matt. 24:5 see Radbertus, , In Matthaeum 11, 24, p. 1156: “Ne forte quod pertinet ad eversionem Hierusalem ad finem saeculi referendum putemus aut e contrario quod ad finem saeculi pertinet ad excidium illius miserae civitatis pertinere firmemus.” Google Scholar

72 On Matt. 24:45, ibid., 1154–56, esp. 1155, lines 184–87; 1156, lines 206–13, but see also ibid., 1211, lines 2020–25.Google Scholar

73 Ibid., 1156–57.Google Scholar

74 Ibid., 1157, lines 258–60.Google Scholar

75 Ibid., 1164–65; 1166–67; 1191, lines 1370–73.Google Scholar

76 Ibid., 1167, lines 585–87.Google Scholar

77 Ibid., 1159, 1161–62, 1162, lines 419–29.Google Scholar

78 Jerome, , Commentariorum in Hiezechielem libri XIV , ed. Glorie, François, CCL 75 (Turnhout, 1964), 527; idem, Ep. 77, 8, Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi epistulae , ed. Hilberg, Isidor, CSEL 55 (Vienna, 1912; repr. New York and London, 1961), 45 (I am grateful to Wolfram Brandes for this information); see Borst, Arno, Der Turmbau von Babel 2, 1 (Stuttgart, 1958), 388–89; Rauh, , Das Bild des Antichrist, 131–32; Brandes, , “Homunculi,” 171–73.Google Scholar

79 Christiani Druthmari Corbeienis monachi expositio in Matthaeum evangelistam, PL 106: 1456A–D: “Nam et in Gog et Magog, quae sunt gentes Hunnorum, quae ab eis Gazaris vocantur, jam una gens quae fortior erat ex his quas Alexander conduxerat, circumcisa est, et omnem Judaismum observat. Bulgarii quoque, qui et ipsi ex ipsis gentibus sunt, quotidie baptizantur…. Unum est signum de fine saeculi, quod tunc esse debet finis saeculi, quod omnes gentes audierint Evangelium regni…. Nulla gens est sub caelo quae non habeat auditum [Evangelium], et Domini facta, et quod ipse Deus a pluribus credatur, si non per praedicatores, tamen per vicinas gentes”; see Blumenkranz, , Auteurs , no. 176d, pp. 211–12.Google Scholar

80 Ibid., 1460C–D, 1461A–B.Google Scholar

81 Ibid., 1462B–C: “Modo Dominus ipsos suos discipulos, et per eos magistros Ecclesiae admonet, ut et ipsi vigilent et caeteris verbum divinum annuntient per quod vigilare et observare illam horam sciant. Illi ipsi tamen tunc erunt prudentes et fideles, si in tempore sciant dare conservis dapes verbi. Hoc est ut tempore congruo non abscondant, neque profunda et alta ignaris turbis ingerant, sed exemplo Domini perfectioribus secretiora, vulgaribus hordei pabulum ministrent.” Google Scholar

82 Landes, , “Millenarismus absconditus,” 355–77.Google Scholar

83 On Haimo see Lerner, Robert E., “Refreshment of the Saints: The Time after Antichrist as a Station for Earthly Progress in Medieval Thought,” Traditio 32 (1976): 97144, here 106–8; Iogna-Prat, Dominique, “L'œuvre de Haymo d'Auxerre. État de la question,” idem et al., eds., L'école carolingienne d'Auxerre de Murethach à Remi, 830–908 (Entretiens à Auxerre) (Paris, 1991), 157–79; Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 387–88, 398–99, 409–10; Heil, , Kompilation oder Konstruktion? 257, 325–28.Google Scholar

84 On 2 Thess. 2:2 see Haimo, , PL 117: 779C.Google Scholar

85 On 2 Thess. 2:3–5 see idem, PL 117: 779D–80C; a shorter version in Scottus, Sedulius, PL 103: 222D–23A; Reinink, Gerrit J., trans., Die syrische Apokalypse des Pseudo-Methodius , CSCO 541, Scriptores Syri 221 (Louvain, 1991); Aerts, Willem J. and Kortekaas, Georgius A. A., eds., Die Apokalypse des Pseudo-Methodius. Die ältesten griechischen und lateinischen Übersetzungen, CSCO 569–70; Scriptores Syri 97–98 (Louvain, 1998); see Bousset, Wilhelm, Der Antichrist in der Überlieferung des Judentums, des Neuen Testaments und der alten Kirche. Ein Beitrag zur Auslegung der Apokalypse (Göttingen, 1895), 108–14. On Pseudo-Methodius and his sources see Reinink, Gerrit J., “Pseudo-Methodius und die Legende vom römischen Endkaiser,” The Use and Abuse of Eschatology , ed. Verbeke, et al. (see n. 1), 82–111, here 94–111; on the reception of Pseudo-Methodius in the Latin West see Laureys, Marc and Verhelst, Daniel, “Pseudo-Methodius, Revelationes: Textgeschichte und kritische Edition. Ein Leuven-Groninger Forschungsprojekt,” ibid., 112–36.Google Scholar

86 Haimo, , PL 117: 779D, 781A; similar is Rabanus Maurus, 2 Thess. 2:3, PL 112: 570B–71B (Ambrosiaster); 2 Thess. 2:7–12, ibid., 572B–C (Augustine = Florus, in Bede 6, col. 947), 572C–73A (Gregory); 573A–74A (Ambrosiaster).Google Scholar

87 Lerner, , “Refreshment” (see n. 83), 101–10, 144.Google Scholar

88 On 2 Thess. 2:6 see Haimo, , PL 117: 780C–D.Google Scholar

89 On 2 Thess. 2:4 see idem, PL 117: 780B-C. Haimo's use of the present tense in 2 Thess. 2:6 (ibid. 780C–D: “Vos scitis, inquit, quid detineat illum Antichristum …, quia necdum destructum est regnum Romanorum, nec recesserunt omnes gentes ab illis”) demonstrates that he adopted the perspective of the Thessalonians. See also, on 1 Thess. 4:15: “Nolite terreri per epistolam quasi instet dies Domini. Considerandum est ergo, quod ex persona electorum loquitur, qui vivi in corpore inveniendi sunt in adventu Domini” etc.; Haimo, , PL 117: 771B–C.Google Scholar

90 Haimo, , In Isaiam 2, 20, PL 116: 814D–15A: “Romanum imperium, quod quasi ferratis dentibus unguibusque carnes sanctorum laceravit, jam apparet destructum esse et destruetur in die judicii cum regnum Christi advenerit”; see Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 409.Google Scholar

91 On Matt. 24:4 see Radbertus of Corbie, Exp. in Math. , CCM 56B (see n. 70), 1155, lines 178–94.Google Scholar

92 Haimo, , PL 117: 1134C–D; see also 1163D.Google Scholar

93 [Berengaudus], Expositio super septem visiones libri Apocalypsis, PL 17: 843–1058; on the authorship see ibid., 841–42; Stegmüller, , Repertorium Biblicum Medii Aevi , no. 1711 (at least thirty manuscripts preserved); the latest discussion on the author, his work, and its sources is to be found in Derk Visser, Apocalypse as Utopian Expectation (800–1500): The Apocalypse Commentary of Berengaudus of Ferrières and the Relationship between Exegesis, Liturgy and Iconography, Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 73 (Leiden, 1996), esp. 3–4, 4446. It was probably this Berengaudus/Bernegaudus, when still a young scholar, whom Lupus of Ferrières ca. 860–62 recommended to the abbot of Saint-Germain of Auxerre for theological studies (see MGH Epp. 6, Lupus No. 116, ed. Dümmler, Ernst [Berlin, 1902], here p. 100, lines 12–15). Hence, the similarity in style and content to Haimo's commentary on Revelation is not surprising.Google Scholar

94 See [Berengaudus, ], Expositio , PL 17: 852B, 853A, 865B, and passim; see Visser, , Apocalypse, 47–50.Google Scholar

95 Rev. 8:1; ibid., 99C–D, cf. 893C, 923B. A different counting in Bede, , De temporum ratione , ed. Jones, , CCL 123B: 310–12, 537; completely different is Alcuin, PL 100: 1023A, 1135A; Haimo, PL 117: 1043D–44A; see also Visser, , Apocalypse, 57–60.Google Scholar

96 [Berengaudus, ], ibid., 907C.Google Scholar

97 See for example Berengaudus on Rev. 6:1, PL 17: 893–94: “Adam Christum figuravit, Eva vero Ecclesiam” (894B).Google Scholar

98 Alcuin, , De fide sanctae et individuae trinitatis 3, 19; De novissimis saeculi temporibus, PL 101: 51A–B.Google Scholar

99 Alcuin, , Comm. in Apocal. 5, PL 100: 1148D49A.Google Scholar

100 Autpertus, Ambrosius, Expositio in Apocalypsin , CCM 27–27A, for example I/1, 4a, p. 33; I/1, 7b, p. 53; I/1, 15b, p. 81; V/10, 1b, p. 388; V/11, 4, pp. 416–17.Google Scholar

101 Ibid., VII/15, 2, p. 582.Google Scholar

102 On Pseudo-Methodius, in its original version written in Syriac and translated from Greek into Latin around the year 700, one of the most influential sources for apocalyptic knowledge in the high Middle Ages, see n. 85.Google Scholar

103 Autpertus, Ambrosius, Expositio in Apocalypsin , I/1a, p. 27.Google Scholar

104 Beatus, , In Apocalypsin libri duodecim (see n. 21), for example lib. IX/2.12, X/2, XI/6–7, pp. 559, 584–86, 606–13; Beatus had a strong interest in individual figures of Jewish biblical history such as the brethren of Cain and Abel and their significance for the struggling civitates diaboli and dei, but he drew no conclusions that related this interest to the Jews as a whole. He understood the struggle between the two civitates as an eschatological conflict within Christian society, between the good and the evil forces within the church.Google Scholar

105 See Heil, , Kompilation oder Konstruktion? 372–90.Google Scholar

106 Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 468–70 [my translation]; see also Landes, Richard, “The Massacres of 1010: On the Origins of Popular Anti-Jewish Violence in Western Europe,” From Witness to Witchcraft: Jews and Judaism in Medieval Christian Thought , ed. Cohen, Jeremy, Wolfenbütteler Mittelalter-Studien, 11 (Wiesbaden, 1996), 79–112, and the comments by Kenneth R. Stow, ibid., 276–78, n. 6.Google Scholar

107 On 1 Thess. 4:6–17 see Rabanus Maurus, PL 112: 557B–C.Google Scholar

108 A good overview by Toch, Michael, Die Juden im mittelalterlichen Reich , Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte, 44 (Munich, 1998), 8082; see also Blumenkranz, Bernhard, Juifs et Chrétiens dans le monde occidental 430–1096, Études juives, 2 (Paris, 1960); Ziwes, Franz-Josef, Studien zur Geschichte der Juden im mittleren Rheingebiet während des hohen und späten Mittelalters, Forschungen zur Geschichte der Juden, Ser. A: Abhandlungen, 1 (Hanover, 1995), Appendix, Plate A: Jewish settlements prior to 1250.Google Scholar

109 See MGH Epp. 5, ed. Dümmler, Ernst (Berlin, 1898/99), Varia no. 26, pp. 340–43; Thiel, Matthias, “Grundlagen und Gestalt der Hebräischkenntnisse des frühen Mittelalters,” Studi Medievali 10 (1969): 3212, here 186.Google Scholar

110 Grossmann, Avraham, The First Sages in AshqenazTheir Lives, Careers and WorksFrom the Beginning of the Settlement until the Pogroms 1096 (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem, 1988), 15; Toch, Die Juden im mittelalterlichen Reich, 80–82.Google Scholar

111 Heil, , Kompilation oder Konstruktion? esp. 372–90.Google Scholar

112 MGH Conc. 2/1, Concilia aevi karolini , vol. 1/1 (Legum sectio 3), ed. Werminghoff, Albert (Hanover and Leipzig, 1906), 194, line 38–195, line 4 (Synod of Friuli, chap. 13, a. 796/97). The motif occurs in innumerable variations in almost all exegetical and polemical texts of the time; see Blumenkranz, , Juifs et Chrétiens dans le monde occidental, 59–64; Heil, , Kompilation oder Konstruktion? 92–94, 103–4.Google Scholar

113 Agobard of Lyons sharpened this when he accused the emperor of esteeming the Jews “because of the patriarchs” more than the Christians; see van Acker, L., ed., Agobardi Lugdunensis opera omnia , CCM 52 (Turnhout, 1981), 194, line 111: “quod cari sint uobis propter patriarchas” (see Rom. 11:28).Google Scholar

114 Felix of Urgel, Liber de variis quaestionibus adversus Iudaeos seu ceteros infideles vel plerosque haereticos iudaizantes ex utroque Testamento collectus , in Martène, Edmond and Durand, Ursin, eds., Thesaurus novus anecdotorum , 5 (Paris, 1717), col. 401–594 [attributed to Rabanus Maurus]; S. Isidori hispalensis episcopi liber de variis quaestionibus adversus Iudaeos seu ceteros infideles vel plerosque haereticos iudaizantes ex utroque Testamento collectus, Auctori restituerunt P. Angel Custodio Vega et A. E. Anspach, Scriptores ecclesiastici hispano-latini veteris et medii aevi, 6–8 (El Escorial, 1940). For a summary of the discussion about the text's author (Isidore or Felix?), see Blumenkranz, , Auteurs, no. 96, p. 95; see also Van Name Edwards, Burton, The Manuscript Transmission of Carolingian Biblical Commentaries , <www2.bc.edu/~edwardbv/carindex.html>, no. 21.Google Scholar

115 [Berengaudus, ], PL 17: 910C: “per asinum populum Judaeorum possumus intelligere”; cf. 912C, 915B, 917B, 923D passim.Google Scholar

116 Rev. 5:14, ibid., 893C; cf. 923A–B; see also on Rev. 6:1, ibid., 894B: “Duo filii nati sunt Adae, Cain et Abel: Cain populum Judaeorum, Abel vero Christum significavit.” Google Scholar

117 Visser, , Apocalypse , 104–13, 181–83.Google Scholar

118 On Matt. 25:1–3 see Radbertus of Corbie, Exp. in Math. 11, CCM 56B (see n. 70), 1211, lines 2026–42; see also ibid., on 24:9, 1162, lines 400–407.Google Scholar

119 Compare for example Haimo, In divi Pauli epistolas, PL 117: 460D (“quanto magis prodesset si omnes credidissent”) with Claudius, probably the immediate source, here: MS Paris, BNF lat. 2392, fol. 48ra (“si delictum eorum vobis tantum profuit. ut vos illis aequaret. quanto magis si vellent multi ex illis credere vel omnes. prodesse vobis poterant ad doctrinam” [Pseudo-Primasius]). In his commentary on Revelation we find different statements, in summary a contradictory attitude toward the destiny of the Jews; see Haimo, , ibid., 464; idem, In Apocalypsin, PL 117: 1073D, 1127A–D, 1146B, 1179A–B, 1180C–D.Google Scholar

120 On Agobard see Heil, Johannes, “Agobard, Amolo, das Kirchengut und die Juden von Lyons,” Francia 25 (1998): 3976 (with further literature); cf. Geisel, Christof, Die Juden im Frankenreich: Von den Merowingern bis zum Tode Ludwigs des Frommen, Freiburger Beiträge zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte: Studien und Texte, 10 (Frankfurt am Main, 1998).Google Scholar

121 Agobardi opera , no. 11, pp. 191–94.Google Scholar

122 Ibid., no. 12, pp. 197221, here chap. 19, p. 214; see Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 407.Google Scholar

123 Ibid., no. 20 ( Liber apologeticus 1), 833, chap. 4, p. 311; no. 23 (admonitio to the Lyons clergy), 816–39, p. 331, lines 12–23; see also no. 6, p. 117, lines 73–74); see Boshof, Egon, Erzbischof Agobard von Lyons: Leben und Werk, Kölner historische Abhandlungen, 17 (Cologne and Vienna, 1969), 181–83, 235; Müller, Heribert, “Die Kirche von Lyon im Karolingerreich: Studien zur Bischofsliste des 8. und 9. Jahrhunderts,” Historisches Jahrbuch 107 (1987): 225–53, here 246; Fried, “Endzeiterwartung,” 407–12.Google Scholar

124 On Matt. 24:32–33 see Radbertus of Corbie, Exp. in Math. 11, 24, CCM 56B (see n. 70), 1190, lines 1353–54.Google Scholar

125 There is a significant example in Jerome, Commentariorum in Danielem 3 4, ed. Glorie, François, CCL 75A (Turnhout, 1964), 917: “Nullus enim Judaeorum absque Antichristo in toto umquam orbe regnavit”; an overview in Rauh, Das Bild des Antichrist, 130–52.Google Scholar

126 Landes, , “The Massacres of 1010,” 79112; idem, Relics, Apocalypse, and the Deceits of History: Ademar of Chabannes, 989–1034 (Cambridge, Mass., 1995); see also Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 468–69.Google Scholar

127 There is no immediate evidence for a connection between the events at Frankfurt (Annales Ephordenses, MGH rer. Germ., vol. 42 [Hanover and Leipzig, 1899], 98; see Aronius, Julius, Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden im fränkischen und deutschen Reiche bis zum Jahre 1272 , ed. Historische Commission für Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland [Berlin, 1902; repr. 1970], no. 529, for Christian fear of the Mongols, as manifested elsewhere [Matheus Parisiensis, Chronica maiora , ed. Luard, Henry R. (London, 1872–83), 4, 131–33]; Annales Gotwicenses cont. Zwetlensis, MGH Script. 9, 655; Annales Scheftlarienses maiores, MGH Script. 17, 341; Gestorum Treverorum continuatio 4, MGH Script. 24, 404) and Christian knowledge of the Jewish calendar. Perhaps the Mongols had already retreated from the borders of western Europe when the annalist of Erfurt made his entry for 1241; therefore the story of a Jewish child asking for baptism must have seemed much more compelling than a report on an already obsolete apocalyptical fear. At any rate, the general circumstances of 1241 should be considered when discussing local events such as that in Frankfurt; see Felicitas Schmieder, Europa und die Fremden. Die Mongolen im Urteil des Abendlandes vom 13. bis in das 15. Jahrhundert, Beiträge zur Geschichte und Quellenkunde des Mittelalters, 16 (Sigmaringen, 1994), 28–29, 229–30, 258–85; cf. Karpf, Ernst, “Das Frankfurter Judenpogrom von 1241,” “Und groβ war bei der Tochter Jehudas Jammer und Klage….” Die Ermordung der Frankfurter Juden im Jahr 1241 , ed. Backhaus, Fritz, Schriftenreihe des Jüdischen Museums Frankfurt am Main, 1 (Sigmaringen, 1995), 57–91.Google Scholar

128 Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 387 [my translation].Google Scholar

129 Fried, , “Endzeiterwartung,” 385–87, 414–15; see also Landes, Richard, “Rodolfus Glaber and the Dawn of the New Millennium: Eschatology, Historiography, and the Year 1000,” Revue Mabillon n.s. 7 (1996): 57–77.Google Scholar