Contents

Data Source: Mmmonk

• Manuscript 137 is a collection of twelve texts. The first group are texts by or related to John Climacus (d. 649), a Syrian hermit and monk. The main body is his 'Ladder of Paradise', found here with the letters to and from John, abbot of Raithu, at whose request the text was composed. The original Greek text was translated to Latin by the Franciscan monk Angelo da Clareno (d. 1337), whose translation is copied here: (ff. 1r-v) Epistula Johannis Raitheni ad Johannem Climacum; (ff. 1v-2v) Epistula Johannis Climaci ad Johannem Raithenum; (ff. 2v-101v) Scala paradisi; (ff. 101v-109r) Sermo ad pastorem; (ff. 109r-111r) Commendatio Iohannis Climaci et sermonis huius editi a Iohanne, abbate Raythu, in qua fere totum sermonem mistice commendando scribentem exponit breuissime; and (ff. 111r-114r) Vita sancti Johannis Climaci, a hagiography by Daniel, monk at Raithu. The second part contains two other texts of which the Latin translation is attributed to Angelo da Clareno: (ff. 114v-116v) Epistula Ps.-Chrysostomi ad Cyriacum episcopum; and (ff. 116v-119v) Auctoritates sancti Maximi monachi exceptitate de expositione quam fecit quorundam uerborum Gregorii theologi, a text by the Byzantine monk Maximus the Confessor (d. 662). At the end a couple of other texts are found: (ff. 119v-121r) Testamentum sancti Francisci; (ff. 122r-126r) Epistulae Petri Damiani; (ff. 126v-140v) Itinerarium mentis in Deum; and (ff. 141r-154r) De semine scripturarum. Somewhat strange among the other texts appears the Testamentum sancti Francisci. Its link might be Da Clareno, who was a member of the Franciscan Order and founded the Fratricelli, a sect of extremely strict adherents of the Franciscan Rule. It is followed by a text named (in the manuscript) De laude vite solitarie, attributed to Basil of Caesarea (d. 379), but now believed to have been written by Peter Damian (d. 1072/3). The Itinerarium, on the journey of the soul towards God, was written by Bonaventure (d. 1274) and already in his own lifetime became famous. Analogous to John Climacus, Bonaventure describes this ascent through the metaphor of ladders or steps. The final text is ascribed to Joachim of Fiore (d. 1202), but is most likely a product of a monk at Bamberg. The manuscript was written in the fourteenth century, and contains a single column of text per page. Initials, titles and rubrics are added in red ink. [Summary by Dr. Mark Vermeer]