 |
|
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
(KUNRAT).
Scholar and writer, b. probably at Mainberg, near Schweinfurt,Bavaria, 2 February, 1309; d. atRatisbon, 11 April, 1374. The dates of birth and death are not absolutely certain, and Konrad himself calls his native place Megenberg. He studied at Erfurt andParis; at the latteruniversity he obtained the degree of Master of Arts, and he taughtphilosophy andtheology there for several years. In 1337 he was named head of St. Stephen'sschool atVienna. From 1342 he lived atRatisbon, where he was first aparishpriest, proving himself to be an able preacher. Later he became acathedral canon, and member of the town council. In 1357 he made a journey to theCuria atAvignon. Konrad is one of the most prolific German writers of the fourteenth century. His best-known and most widely read work is his "Buch der Natur", which is still of importance for the history of culture. According to his own statement he was engaged in writing it in 1349. A Latin work, "de naturis rerum", of theDominicanThomas of Cantimpré (d. 1263), served as model. Konrad, however, prepared his book with considerable freedom; much of the original was omitted, his own observations were introduced, corrections were made, and so on. His work gives a survey of all that was known of natural history at that time and is, besides, the first natural history in theGerman language. It was widely read up to the sixteenth century, and numerousmanuscript copies of it are still extant, eighteen being atMunich. The first printed edition with a date is of 1475, and was issued atAugsburg from the shop of Hans Bmler, under the title of "Puch der Natur". It was printed at least six times before 1500; some of the editions were illustrated, all are now rare incunabula. A new edition of the original text was issued by Franz Pfeiffer (Stuttgart, 1861), with an introduction; an edition in modern German was edited by H. Schulz (Greifswald, 1897). Of Konrad's numerous other writings there should be mentioned: the "Sphære", a small compendium in German ofastronomy and physics, prepared from the Latin work ofJoannes à Sacrobosco; the poem "Planctus ecclesiæ in Germania" (1337); ahymn in praise of the Virgin, and other poems; a work onmorals, "Speculum felicitatis humanæ (1348); "De erroribus Begehardorum et Beguinarum"; "De translatione imperii" (1355); the large work "Oeconomica", written between 1353 and 1363; "Tractatus contra mendicantes ad Papam Urbanum V"; several biographies ofsaints, and some historical treatises, chiefly dealing with the local history ofRatisbon. In his writings Konrad shows himself to be a strong adherent of thepope, an opponent of the philosophy of Occam, and a stern critic of the moral failings of his age and of theclergy.
PFEIFFER and SCHULZ, see above; BRAUNMÜLLER in Kirchenlex., s.v. Konrad von Megenberg; Allgemeine-Deutsche Biographie, XVI (Leipzig, 1882); CHEVALIER, Bio-bibl., gives the date of death incorrectly as 1398; LORENZ, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter, I (3rd ed., 1886).
APA citation.Rompel, J.(1910).Konrad of Megenberg. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08691a.htm
MLA citation.Rompel, Josef."Konrad of Megenberg."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 8.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1910.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08691a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Gerald Rossi.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmasterat newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.