Reginald of Canterbury (died after 1109) was a medieval French writer and
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monk who lived and wrote in England in the very early part of the 12th century. He was the author of a number of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
poems, including an
epic entitled ''Malchus'', which still survives.
Born in France around 1050, he arrived in England sometime before 1100. He became a monk at
St Augustine's Abbey in
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a 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.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
where most of his poetic works were composed. He is last mentioned in 1109, when he was the recipient of a poem from
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
the
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
. Reginald's major work was an epic poem in six books on the life of
Malchus
Malchus (; grc-x-koine, Μάλχος, translit=Málkhos, ) was the servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas who participated in the arrest of Jesus as written in the four gospels. According to the Bible, one of the disciples, Simon Peter, b ...
, a late antique Syrian saint whose first biographer was
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
. Reginald's other works included a poem about his native town, a group of poems extolling Canterbury and its saints, and one or two on
Anselm of St Saba
Anselm; also known as , for his first monastery, or for his second. (died 1148) was a medieval bishop of London whose election was quashed by Pope Innocent II. He was a monk of Chiusa, abbot of Saint Saba in Rome, papal legate to Engl ...
.
Life
Reginald, a native of France, was born roughly about 1050 in a place usually called Fagia, which may be the modern
Faye-la-Vineuse in
Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
.
[ The local lord for Fagia was named Aimericus, and it is possible that he served as an early patron for Reginald.][Lind "Introduction" ''Vita Sancti Malchi'' pp. iii–iv] At some point he formed a connection with Noyers Abbey, near Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
, but its nature is unclear. By 1100, he was a monk at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a 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.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
, England, and may have been there for quite a number of years before 1100.[Rigg "Canterbury, Reginald of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''] It is unclear why he travelled to England and most of his poetical works were composed in England while he was at St Augustine's.[
Reginald was still alive in 1109, when he was the recipient of a poem from ]Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
the Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
,[ who was elevated to York in 1109. This poem of Thomas' was in thanks for a copy of the ''Vita'' that Thomas had received, and the thanks-poem has a notation that it was from Thomas as archbishop.][
]
Work
Reginald's major work was an epic poem in six books on the life of Malchus
Malchus (; grc-x-koine, Μάλχος, translit=Málkhos, ) was the servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas who participated in the arrest of Jesus as written in the four gospels. According to the Bible, one of the disciples, Simon Peter, b ...
, a late antique Syrian saint whose first biographer was Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
. Reginald's work, entitled ''Malchus'',[ or ''Vita Sancti Malchi'',][ exists in two versions, the first of which consists of 1706 lines and survives at ]Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
as Merton College manuscript (MS) 241. The second is expanded from the first and three times its length.[
Reginald's other works included a poem about his native town, a group of poems extolling Canterbury and its saints, and one or two on ]Anselm of St Saba
Anselm; also known as , for his first monastery, or for his second. (died 1148) was a medieval bishop of London whose election was quashed by Pope Innocent II. He was a monk of Chiusa, abbot of Saint Saba in Rome, papal legate to Engl ...
. The largest surviving version of his poems is in Bodleian Library manuscript Laud misc 40, which was probably a presentation copy to one of Reginald's correspondents, Baldwin, a monk of the cathedral chapter of Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Medway, Rochester, Kent.
The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church o ...
. In his prose works, Reginald experimented with poetic metres, employing hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...
s, pentameter
Pentameter ( grc, πεντάμετρος, 'measuring five ( feet)') is a poetic meter. А poem is said to be written in a particular pentameter when the lines of the poem have the length of five feet, where a 'foot' is a combination of a particul ...
s and sapphics, but his main poems were in hexameters.[ These works have been edited and published by two different modern editors. Five poems were edited by Thomas Wright in 1872 in the ''Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets'' published in the ]Rolls Series
''The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages'' ( la, Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores), widely known as the is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials and primary sources publish ...
as volume 59. The other 31 surviving poems were edited by Felix Liebermann
Felix Liebermann (20 July 1851 – 7 October 1925) was a Jewish German historian, who is celebrated for his scholarly contributions to the study of medieval English history, particularly that of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman law.
Born in 1851, Ber ...
in an 1888 article in Liebermann's journal ''Neues Archiv''.[ Reginald's work was part of the flowering of hagiography after the ]Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...
that included works by Goscelin
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (or Goscelin of Canterbury, born c. 1040, died in or after 1106) was a Benedictine hagiographical writer. He was a Fleming or Brabantian by birth and became a monk of St Bertin's at Saint-Omer before travelling to Englan ...
, Eadmer
Eadmer or Edmer ( – ) was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his ''Vita Anselmi'', and for his ''Historia novorum in ...
, and Osbern of Canterbury
Osbern ( 1050 – c. 1095) was a Benedictine monk, hagiographer and musician, precentor of Christ Church, Canterbury. He is sometimes confused with Osbert de Clare, alias Osbern de Westminster. He is known as "the monk Osbern" or just "Monk Osbern ...
.[Short "Language and Literature" ''Companion to the Anglo-Norman World'' pp. 199–200] He may also have been the author of a ''Versarium de libris ethnicorum'' that was recorded as being in the library at Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in Rievaulx, near Helmsley, in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. It was one of the great abbeys in England until it was seized in 1538 under Henry VIII during the Dissolutio ...
around 1200, but as the work does not survive it is not clear whether Reginald was its author.[Sharpe ''Handlist of Latin Writers'' pp. 455–456]
Citations
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reginald of Canterbury
12th-century Latin writers
Medieval Latin poets
French Benedictines
English Benedictines
12th-century French writers
12th-century French poets
12th-century English writers
12th-century English poets
Epic poets