Osbern ( 1050 – c. 1095) was a Benedictine monk,
hagiographer
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
and musician, precentor of
Christ Church, Canterbury
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Ch ...
. He is sometimes confused with
Osbert de Clare
Osbert of Clare (died in or after 1158) was a monk, elected prior of Westminster Abbey and briefly abbot. He was a prolific writer of letters, a hagiographer and a forger of charters.
Life
Osbert was born towards the end of the eleventh century a ...
, alias Osbern de Westminster. He is known as "the monk Osbern" or just "Monk Osbern".
Biography
He was born at
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
and brought up by Godric, who was dean from 1058–1080. He became a monk, and later precentor of Christ Church, and was ordained by
Archbishop Lanfranc
Lanfranc, OSB (1005 1010 – 24 May 1089) was a celebrated Italian jurist who renounced his career to become a Benedictine monk at Bec in Normandy. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Stephen in Normandy and t ...
of Canterbury (d. 1089). He died probably between 1088 and 1093.
He was acquaintances, and probably close friends, with
Eadmer of Canterbury, a fellow monk and historian of Canterbury a few years his junior. Eadmer related a story in which the two, in the late 1080s, searched for the relics of
Saint Audoen in the crypts of Christ Church, Canterbury. Upon finding the relics, they were delighted, but the same night, were haunted by 'dreadful apparitions'. Eadmer was greatly influenced by the writing style and memories of Osbern, who could better recall late Anglo-Saxon England, and he would later rewrite and improve Osbern's hagiography of
Saint Dunstan
Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in E ...
.
He was very skillful in music and is said to have written two treatises: ''De re musica'' and ''De vocum consonantiis.''
[Fétis, ''Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique'' Firmin-Didot frères, fils et cie., Paris, 1870, VI, p. 383]
But he is known best as translator of saints' lives from the Anglo-Saxon and as an original writer.
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a ...
praises the elegance of his style, but criticises his frequent historical inaccuracies.
Writings
*''Vita S. Alphegi et de translatione S. Alphegi'' ("Life and Translation of St
Ælfheah Ælfheah is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Ælfheah of Canterbury (died 1012), martyred Saint and Archbishop of Canterbury
*Ælfheah the Bald (died 951), Saint, and the first Bishop of Winchester
*Alphege of Wells (died ), thir ...
"), in prose. It was written at Lanfranc's request, about 1080 when there arose some dispute concerning Ælfheah's sanctity. See the remarks in William of Malmesbury's ''Gesta Pontificum''.
**
**''
Patrologia Latina
The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...
'' 149. 371–393
Available from Documenta Catholica Omnia**Wharton, Henry (ed.), "Osberno, ‘Vita s. Alphegi archiepiscopi Cantuariensis’." ''
Anglia Sacra
Henry Wharton (9 November 1664 – 5 March 1695) was an English writer and librarian.
Life
Wharton was descended from Thomas, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), being a son of the Rev. Edmund Wharton, vicar of Worstead, Norfolk. Born at Worstead, ...
'' 2 (1691): 122–48.
**''
Acta Sanctorum
''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
'', April 2. 631.
**
Mabillon
Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics.
Early life
Mabil ...
, "Acta Sanctorum. O.S. B", saec. Vi, 104;
*''Vita S. Dunstani'' (Life of
Dunstan
Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restor ...
) and ''Liber Miraculorum Sancti Dunstani'', written in 1070 or after Lanfranc's death. Based on earlier ''Life'' by author 'B'.
**Stubbs, W. (ed.). ''Memorials of St Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury''. Rolls Series 63. London, 1874. 68–164.
**Mabillon op. cit., saec. V, 644-84; in "Acta SS.", May 4, 359; in ''
Patrologia Latina
The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...
'' 137. 407. The life given in Mabillon, op. cit. (p. 684), is probably the work of Eadmer.
*''Vita S. Odonis archiepiscopi Cantuariensis''. From William of Malmesbury's ''
Gesta pontificum Anglorum'' we learn that Osbern wrote a life of
Odo
Odo or ODO may refer to:
People
* Odo, a given name; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Franklin Odo (born 1939), Japanese-American historian
* Seikichi Odo (1927–2002), Japanese karateka
* Yuya Odo (born 1990), J ...
, but the work has now perished.
[The life in '']Patrologia Latina
The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...
'' 133, 831 and Mabillon, op. cit., saec v, 287 is not his.
*(
Henry Wharton
Henry Wharton (9 November 1664 – 5 March 1695) was an English writer and librarian.
Life
Wharton was descended from Thomas, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), being a son of the Rev. Edmund Wharton, vicar of Worstead, Norfolk. Born at Worstead, ...
, in his ''Anglia Sacra'' (London, 1691), 75–87, published a life of
St. Bregwin which was wrongly attributed to Osbern).
*In addition, two letters which he wrote to
Anselm abbot of Bec, probably about 1093, are preserved.
**Schmitt, F.S. (ed). ''S. Anselmi Cantuariensis archiepiscopi opera omnia''. 6 vols. 1938–61.
Notes
Sources
*
*Goebel, Bernd "Osbern von Canterbury." in ''Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'', ed. T. Bautz. Vol. 36. 2015. 997-1004
*Goebel, Bernd "Osbern von Canterbury". In Id., ''Im Umkreis von Anselm: Biographisch-bibliographische Porträts von Autoren aus Le Bec und Canterbury''. 2017. 68-82.
*Rubenstein, J.C. "The life and writings of Osbern of Canterbury." In ''Canterbury and the Norman conquest: churches, saints and scholars, 1066–1109'', ed. R. Eales and R. Sharpe. 1995. 27–40.
*Vaughn, Sally N. "Among These Authors are the Men of Bec: Historical Writing among the Monks of Bec." ''Essays in Medieval Studies'' 17 (2000)
Online publication
External links
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{{Authority control
Christian hagiographers
1050s births
1090 deaths
English Christian monks
11th-century English writers
11th-century Latin writers
11th-century translators
Medieval English musicians