Gottfried_von_Hagenau

Gottfried von Hagenau

Gottfried von Hagenau

Medieval priest, physician, theologian and poet from Alsace, France

Gottfried von Hagenau (also known as Götz von Hagenau, Gozzo de Hagenowe, Goetz de Haguenau, Godefridus Haguenonensis, and several other names)[1] was a medieval priest, physician, theologian and poet from Alsace.[2] As his name suggests, he was probably born in Haguenau, before 1275.[2]

Gottfried von Hagenau

After having studied medicine and theology in Strasbourg and in Paris, he worked as a headmaster in Basel, Switzerland,[2] before settling as a physician in Strasbourg, where he applied for the post of canon at the St Thomas' Church. He was at first rejected but successfully sued against that decision before the Apostolic Signatura in Rome, and was instated as canon of St Thomas' Church in 1300.[3] He died on 26 September 1313 and is buried in the church, where his ornate Gothic ledger stone is preserved to this day. That monument depicts him in clerical attire and holding a book; the inscription says (the letters in brackets are missing): ANNO D[OMI]NI MCCCXIII VI KA[LENDAS] OCTOBR[IS] O[BIIT] MAG[ISTE]R GOZ[ZO] DE HAGENOWE MEDICUS CANONICUS S[ANCTI] THOME ARG[EN]T[INENSIS].[3]

Gottfried is the author of an epic poem (4,134 rimed verses in Latin) on the life and the feasts of Mary, the Liber [book] sex festorum beatae Virginis (1293–1300), (also known as Carmen [song] sex festorum Beatae Mariae Virginis), dedicated to bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg.[2][4] The original manuscript of that work has been studied by Johann Michael Moscherosch in 1653.[5] It was unfortunately destroyed, along with the Hortus deliciarum, when the municipal library of Strasbourg was burnt during the Siege of Strasbourg in 1870.[3] The poem is preserved through manuscript copies made in 1861 by Charles Schmidt (1812−1895) [fr], and earlier by Jérémie-Jacques Oberlin, and Eberhard Gottlieb Graff; those copies are kept in the National and University Library, and have been edited by the German scholar Volker Schupp [de].[4][6]

In 1307, Gottfried introduced the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the parish of St Thomas' Church, where it was celebrated until the church became Protestant in 1524. He donated his fortune to the parish for this purpose.[2]

References

  1. [1]
    "Godefridus, Haguenonensis". Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  2. [2]
    Gottfried von Haguenau. Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie der Theologie und der Kirchen (DBETh). 3 May 2011. ISBN 9783110959888. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  3. [3]
    Arbogast, Jean (2013). Épitaphes et monuments funéraires Église Saint-Thomas Strasbourg. Eckbolsheim: Éditions du Signe. p. 28. ISBN 978-2-7468-3070-7.
  4. [4]
    Schupp, Volker. "Gottfried von Hagenau, Das Carmen de sex festis Beatae Mariae Virginis und die übrigen lateinischen und deutschen Werke". Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  5. [5]
    Mediävistik im Barock. Akten der 13. Tagung der Christian Knorr von Rosenroth-Gesellschaft, Juli 2003. 2004. ISBN 9783039103911. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  6. [6]
    "Gottfried von Hagenau". Handschriftencensus. Retrieved 23 March 2017.

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