Abstract

Ekkehard IV. of St Gall (d. c. 1057) is well known as a historiographer, poet, and glossator. He is rarely considered as a philosopher and probably never thought about himself as such. However, his versatile work raises a number of philosophical questions, most of all on the role of the liberal arts (and, along with them, of classical literature) in the totality of Christian knowledge – an issue which sparked heated discussions in 11th century Europe. Ekkehard’s answer is not easy to understand, since he never wrote a systematic treatise on epistemology, but dealt with it in poems and marginalia. This complex literary presentation makes his contribution to philosophy even more interesting, though: it adds not only to our understand of contemporary concepts of knowledge, but illustrates also, how they were spread and implemented in the social and historical world of a major Benedictine monastery.

Biographical

MA: Medieval Latin/Philosophy 2006, Heidelberg. PhD: Medieval Latin 2011, Erlangen. Habilitation: Medieval Latin 2023, Cologne.
Academic Odyssey: currently: Researcher at the University of Oslo in Ildar Garipzanov’s Minitexts Project and Privatdozent at the Institute for Classics at the University of Cologne; before: different institutions (classics, history, philosophy) in Germany, Canada, the UK, and (due to Covid, only digitally) in China.

Research Interests

• Medieval Latin Literature (poetry, mythography, homiletics, travelogues)
• The Classical Tradition in the Middle Ages (Ovid, Aristotle)
• Liberal Arts and Philosophy (Grammar, Logic, Epistemology)

Most important Publications

• Anonymi Epternacensis Glossae in logicam. Studie mit kritischer Edition der Texte (Rarissima Mediaevalia 5), Münster 2015. (PhD-Thesis)
• Hermann der Lahme, Opusculum Herimanni (De octo vitiis principalibus). Eine Vers- und Lebensschule (Reichenauer Texte und Bilder 14), Heidelberg 2008, 2nd edition: 2016.
• Forthcoming: Publication of my Habilitationsschrift on Mythography, Homiletics and Epistemology in 14th century England.