Two Recently-Discovered Passages of the Pseudo-Basil's Admonition to a Spiritual Son (De admonitio ad filium spiritualem) in Smaragdus' Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict (Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti) and the Letters (Epistolae) of Alcuin
James F. LePree
City College of New York
© 2008 by James F. LePree. All rights reserved. This edition copyright © 2008 by The Heroic Age. All rights reserved.
Abstract: The pseudo-Basil's fifth century De admonitio ad filium spiritualem played an important role in providing models of spirituality for ninth-century Carolingian authors. Yet the presence of passages from the Admonitio in the Epistolae of Alcuin of York and Abbot Smaragdus of St. Mihiel's Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti have gone virtually undetected. This will be the primary focus of the paper.
Introduction
§1. The pseudo-Basil's Admonition to a Spiritual Son is a short manual of spiritual edification, possibly written for a young cenobitic monk about to undertake the anchoretic life.1 Once widely thought to be a Latin translation by Rufinus, presbyter of Aquileia, of an original work of Bishop Basil of Caesarea, it is now generally believed, primarily because of Adalbert de Vogüé's convincing study, to be an original Latin work, written about the year 500 and attributed to the hand of Abbot Porcarius of Lérins. Such an identification is based, as De Vogüé has observed, on close similarities, both in expression and structure, between Porcarius' Monita or Counsels and the Admonitio (De Vogüé 2003, 419-420).2
§2. Although the Admonitio remains an obscure text and has not been widely discussed in modern scholarship, compelling evidence suggests that it was a significant factor in defining the spirituality of major Merovingian and Carolingian writers and compilers. For instance, it has long been recognized that Paulinus, patriarch of Aquileia, drew extensively upon the Admonitio for his late eighth-century Liber exhortationis (Anton 1968, 83). Additionally, De Vogüé identified passages of the Admonitio in the seventh century Vita s. Eligii (Life of St. Eligius) (De Vogüé 1988, 18-20). Moreover, Henri Rochais has argued that Alcuin, in his treatise on virtues and vices, borrowed from the Admonitio through the florilegia of the seventh century Liber scintillarum or Book of Sparks (Rochais 1951, 77-86) while Alfred Spannagel and Pius Engelbert have detected traces of the Admonitio in Smaragdus' Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti (Spannagel and Engelbert, 1974 103, 117).3
Influence of the Admonitio on the Writings of Alcuin of York
§3. As discussed previously, a close relationship seems to have existed between the Admonitio and the writings of Alcuin. This relationship revolves around four fundamental expressions; three discussed by Rochais in his study of Alcuin's Liber de virtutibus et vitiis or Book on Virtues and Vices and one hitherto unnoticed and unexplored in the Epistolae of Alcuin. According to Rochais, Alcuin's remarks that an interior man is nourished by divine eloquence, just as flesh is nourished by carnal food, found in chapter 5 of the Liber de virtutibus et vitiis can be ascribed to extracts of the Admonitio found in chapter 81 of the Defensor's Liber scintillarum (Rochais 1951, 81-86; Alcuin Liber de virtutibus et vitiis, 5; Admonitio, 5; Defensor Liber scintillarum, 81). In a similar fashion, in Rochais' view, Alcuin's comments that a greedy man is similar to an inferno which is never satiated, are derived from the pseudo-Basil's remarks preserved in chapter 5 of the Liber scintillarum (Rochais 1951, 81-86; Alcuin Liber de virtutibus et vitiis, 19; Admonitio, 9; Defensor Liber scintillarum, 25).4 Furthermore, as Rochais has also noted, Alcuin's exhortation in chapter 9 of the Liber de virtutibus et vitiis that one who tolerates troubles patiently will merit an eternal crown in the future, can, with a fair degree of certainty, be attributed to the Defensor's florilegia of the pseudo-Basil's comments found in chapter 2 of the Liber scintillarum (Rochais 1951, 81-86; Alcuin, Liber de virtutibus et vitiis, 9; Admonitio, 19; Defensor Liber scintillarum, 2).5
§4. In addition to his reliance on the pseudo-Basil's Admonitio, filtered through the pages of the Liber scintillarum, evidence strongly suggests that Alcuin drew from the full text as well. This can be demonstrated by examining his Epistolae, a source hitherto unexplored in this respect. To illustrate this point, let us turn our attention to a comparative analysis of the Admonitio and Alcuin's letter dating between 801-802:
| Admonitio, chap. 9 | Alcuin, epistola 251 |
|---|---|
| The riches of this world are foreign to us. For our possession is the kingdom of heaven. | The riches of this world are foreign to us. We bring nothing into this world and we can carry nothing out. For our possession is the kingdom of heaven.6 |
As his letter clearly shows, Alcuin borrows the words of the pseudo-Basil, when he admonishes his former students, Onias, Candidus and Nathanahelios, that "riches of this world are foreign to us. We bring nothing into this world and we can carry nothing out, for our possession is the kingdom of heaven" (Alcuin Epistolae, 251). Consequently, therefore, we can conclude with some degree of assurance that, for his pseudo-Basilian expressions, Alcuin drew both upon the extracts found in the Defensor's Liber scintillarum and the full text of the Admonitio.
Smaragdus' Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti and the Admonitio ad filium spiritualem
§5. As in the case of Alcuin's Epistolae, comparative textual evidence suggests that Smaragdus, in his Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, also drew upon the Admonitio of the pseudo-Basil. As Spannagel and Engelbert demonstrated in their critical edition of the Expositio, Smaragdus, in his commentary on Benedict's instruments of good works, drew almost verbatim from the pseudo-Basil's chapters on the virtue of the soul and the avoidance of drunkenness (Smaragdus, Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4; Admonitio, 2, 14).7
§6. An additional passage from the Admonitio which Spannagel and Engelbert have overlooked is clearly evident in chapter 4 of the Expositio where Smaragdus' commentary on Benedict's castigation of excessive sleep, in spite of minor paraphrastic deviations, derives, in large part, from pseudo-Basil's chapter on fasting. Compare, for example, the textual parallels (Admonitio, 13; Smaragdus' Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4):
| Admonitio, chap. 13 | Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, chap. 4 |
|---|---|
| For just as a soldier, burdened by a great weight is impeded from going off to war, thus a monk is impeded from carrying out vigils properly when his senses have become dulled from an overabundance of food. For a monk cannot hold vigils properly when his stomach is laden with sumptuous meals; for drowsy monks lose the spiritual benefits of their vigils, to the great detriment of their souls. | A monk who cannot carry out his vigils because he is burdened by the satiation of abundant food he has overeaten, is like a soldier who cannot fight well in battle because he has excessive weight to carry. For a monk cannot hold vigils properly when his stomach is laden with sumptuous meals; for drowsy monks lose the spiritual benefits of their vigils, to the great detriment of their souls. 8 |
As we can see, both authors employ almost identical vivid metaphorical language in their discussion of monks who, having dined well, cannot carry out their vigils properly. In the Expositio, Smaragdus notes that a monk who cannot carry out his vigils because he is burdened by the satiation of abundant food he has overeaten, is like a soldier who cannot fight well in battle because he has excessive weight to carry (Smaragdus, Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4). Differing only slightly from Smaragdus' account, pseudo-Basil offers similar advice to his spiritual son: "For just as a soldier, burdened by a great weight is impeded from going off to war, thus a monk is impeded from carrying out vigils properly when his senses have become dulled from an overabundance of food (Admonitio, 13). In a similar fashion, the source of Smaragdus' exhortation to his monastic audience that vigils cannot be properly held when the stomach is laden with sumptuous meals, is almost certainly chapter 13 of the pseudo-Basil (Smaragdus, Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4; Admonitio, 13). Furthermore, Smaragdus was clearly just as indebted to the pseudo-Basil for his notion that drowsy monks lose the spiritual benefits of their vigils, to the great detriment of their souls (Smaragdus, Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4; Admonitio, 13).
Conclusion
§7. The discovery of hitherto unidentified passages of the Admonitio in the Epistolae of Alcuin and Smaragdus' Expositio attests to the popularity and availability of the Admonitio during the early Carolingian period. It also helps us to identify the Admonitio as a spiritual source of some significance. Furthermore, it helps us to understand more clearly the nature of the early Carolingian exegetical tradition as well as establishing for us clearer and broader parameters as we attempt to determine the nature of the Admonitio's transmission to later medieval audiences.
Notes
1. It was not unusual for a monk to have learned his lessons of spiritual service within the confines of a cenobium before embarking on the solitary path of an anchorite. For the development of this theme, see Jerome Epistolae, 125.9. John Cassian also speaks in similar terms in his eighteenth conference when he notes how the blessed Piamun filled him with a burning desire to leave the elementary schools of the cenobitic monasteries and advance to the higher learning of the anchorites, see Cassian Conferences, 18.16. [Back]
2. For Basil as the author of the Admonitio, see the discussion of André Wilmart 1910, 226-233, and the remarks of Paul Lehmann (1955, 3-21). Lehmann clearly follows closely the earlier argument of Wilmart. De Vogüé, on the other hand, took a different approach, basing his identification on the close resemblances between, as discussed earlier, the Admonitio and the Monita of Porcarius. For his argument, see De Vogüé 1981/1982, 19-34. For a fuller discussion, see De Vogüé's most recent study, 2003, 419-429. See also Mark DelCogliano 2003, 30-58. [Back]
3. Paulinus Liber exhortationis, 20-45. The Liber exhortationis, as the title implies, was a book of spiritual exhortations on the cultivation of virtues and avoidance of vices, written about 799 and dedicated to count Erich of Friuli; De Vogüé 1988, 18-20; Rochais 1951, 77-86; Spannagel and Engelbert 1974, 103, 117. [Back]
4. Rochais 1951, 81-86. Compare Alcuin Liber de virtutibus et vitiis, 5: "Sicut enim ex carnalibus escis alitur caro, ita ex divinis eloquiis interior homo nutritur et pascitur," "An interior man is nourished by divine eloquence, just as flesh is nourished by carnal food," with Defensor, Liber scintillarum, 81: "Sicut enim ex carnalibus escis alitur caro, it ex divinus eloquiis interior hoo nutritur et pascitur." "An interior man is nourished by divine eloquence, just as flesh is nourished by carnal food." Compare also Alcuin, Liber de virtutibus et vitiis, 19: "Avarus vir inferno est similes, qui nunquam impletur," "A greedy man is similar to an inferno which is never satiated," with Defensor, Liber scintillarum, 25: "Avarus vir similes est infernum." "A greedy man is similar to an inferno." [Back]
5. Compare Alcuin Liber de virtutibus et vitiis, 9: "Qui patienter tolerat mala in futuro coronam merebitur sempiternam," "One who tolerates troubles patiently will merit an eternal crown in the future," with Defensor Liber scintillarum, 25: "Qui pacienter tollerat mala, in futuro coronam merebitur." "One who tolerates troubles patiently will merit a crown in the future." [Back]
6. Compare Admonitio, 9: "Alienae sint a nobis huius saeculi facultates, nostra autem possessio regnum caelorum est," with Alcuin Epistolae, 251: "Alienae sunt a nobis huius seculi facultates. Nihil enim intulimus in hunc mundum, haud dubium, quic nec auferre quid possumus. Nostra autem possessio regnum caelorum." See also Jerome Epistolae, 22: " . . . aliena nobis auri argentique sunt pondera, nostra possessio spiritalis est . . . " "The burdens of gold and silver are foreign to us, our possession is spiritual . . . " Given the evidence presented here, the view of modern scholars such as Donald Bullough, the latest biographer of Alcuin, that the Admonitio has not been identified in any of Alcuin's writings is somewhat surprising, see Bullough 2004, 267. [Back]
7. Smaragdus, Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4: "Unus prospectus sit tibi fili: Si uno domino servire desideras, omnimodo abscide a te carnalem amorem, ne a te dei excludat amorem," "Understand one thing son: If you desire to serve one lord, don't occupy your mind with diverse thoughts, but banish carnal love from your mind totally lest carnal love separate you from the love of God," with Admonitio, 2: "Unus prospectus sit tibi, fili, si uni domino servire desideras. Nec in diversas res occupes animum tuum, sed omnimodo abscide a te carnalem amorem, ne carnalis amor te Dei amorem excludat." "Understand one thing son, if you desire to serve one lord. Don't occupy your mind with diverse thoughts but banish carnal love from your mind totally lest carnal love separate you from the love of God." Compare also Smaragdus Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4: "Multi per vinum a daemonibus capti sunt. Nec est aliud ebrietas quam manifestissimus daemon," "Many are captured by demons through wine. For most clearly, drunkedness is nothing more than a demon," with Admonitio, 14: "Alii per vinum a daemonibus capti sunt. Nec est aliud ebrietas quam manifestissimus daemon." "Some are captured by demons through wine. For most clearly, drunkedness is nothing more than a demon." Smaragdus was abbot of St. Mihiel and Castellio from about 809 to his death in approximately 826. He was a close confidant of Louis the Pious and instrumental in the monastic reforms of Benedict of Aniane. The Expositio itself was probably written shortly after 817. For a more thorough discussion, see Kardong 2004, 171-173. For a more thorough discussion on Smaragdus' life, his writings and sources, see especially Eberhardt 1977, 29-78, Rädle 1974, 29-78. [Back]
8. Compare Smaragdus Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti, 4: "Sicut enim miles multo onere praegravatus praepeditur ad bellum, ita inpeditur monachus ad vigilias multarum saturitate escarum gravatus. Non enim possumus vigilare cum dapibus fuerit venter noster onustus; sed oppressi somno vigiliarum fructus amittimus et maximum detrimentum animae nostrae adquirimus," with Admonitio, 13: "Sicut namque miles plurimo onere praegravatus praepeditur ad bellum, ita impeditus monachus ad vigilias cum escarum largitate torpescit. Non enim possumus vigilare, cum fuerit dapibus venter noster onustus, sed oppressi somno vigiliarum fructus amittimus et maximum detrimentum animae nostrae adquirimus." For a discussion of Benedict's castigation of excessive sleep, see Kardong 1996, 87. According to Kardong, Benedict's castigation of excessive sleep "is not directed against chronic drowsiness and other true sleeping disorders, but deliberate and systematic sloth." [Back]
Works Cited
Alcuin. 1851/1995. Liber de virtutibus et vitiis. Edited by J.P. Migne. Vol. 101, Patrologia latina. Paris: J.P. Migne. [Back]
———. 1895/1994. Epistolae. Edited by Ernst Dümmler. Vol. 4, Monumenta Germaniae historica: epistolae Karolini aevi II. Berlin: Weidmann. [Back]
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Cassian, John. 1955-1959. Conférences. Edited and translated by E. Pichery. Vols. 42, 54, 64, Sources chrétiennes. Paris: Éditions du Cerf. [Back]
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Pseudo-Basil. 1955. Die admonitio s. Basilii ad filium spiritualem. Edited by Paul Lehmann. Vol. 7, Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Munich: C.H. Beck. [Back]
Smaragdus. 1974. Expositio in regulam s. Benedicti. Edited Alfred Spannagel and Pius Engelbert. Vol. 8, Corpus consuetudinem monasticarum. Siegburg: Francis Schmitt. [Back]
Vita S. Eligii. 1902. Edited by Wilhelm Levison. Vol. 4, Monumenta Germaniae historica, Scriptorum rerum Merovingicarum. Berlin: Weidmann. [Back]
De Vogüé, Adalbert. 2003. L'admonition à un fils spirituel attribuée à Saint Basile. In Histoire littéraire du mouvement monastique dans l'antiquité. Vol. 7. Paris: Éditions du Cerf. [Back]
———. 1988. Vestiges de l'admonitio ad filium spiritualem du Pseudo-Basile dans la prediction de Saint Éloi. Revue Bénédictine 98:18-20. [Back]
———. 1981/1982. Entre Basile et Benoît: l'Admonitio ad filium spiritualem du Pseudo-Basile. Regulae Benedicti Studia 10/11:19-34. [Back]
Wilmart, André. 1910. Le discourse de Saint Basile sur l'ascèse en latin. Revue Bénédictine 27: 226-233. [Back]