From twelfth-century renaissance to fifteenth-century reform: The reception of Hugh of St. Victor in the later Middle Ages

For over four decades, historians have acknowledged the popularity of twelfth-century spiritual writings in the later Middle Ages. However, the reception of Hugh of St. Victor (c. 1096-1141), one of the most prominent writers of the twelfth century, has received relatively little scholarly attention. This dissertation seeks to expand our understanding of that reception by analyzing how Observant reformers read and interpreted Hugh's writings during the fifteenth century. Based on a study of the reformers' own writings and the manuscripts they produced, the dissertation argues that this later audience used Hugh's works in order to promote the different approaches to religious renewal that they were developing in their own communities. As the dissertation demonstrates, these reformers were not interested only in the works that modern scholars have claimed were Hugh's most important contributions to intellectual history. Rather, they also directed their attention toward many of his less studied writings because these texts resonated with their own concerns. By revising our current understanding of the history of Hugh's corpus, the dissertation offers new insights into the relationship between this twelfth-century author and his later readers, presents an innovative approach to studying the connections between reformed monastic communities, and suggests how the materiality of manuscripts allows us to examine the different ways that later audiences used earlier texts. In order to analyze the various ways that fifteenth-century reformers adapted Hugh's writings for their own use, the dissertation first examines a series of diverse manuscripts that represent different models of his reception (Ch. 1). It then looks at the usage of Hugh's writings among Modern Devout communities, particularly the role that his works played in the devotional reading program of these reformers (Ch. 2). Next, the dissertation explores Hugh's reception at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Colomon in Melk, Austria where reformers adapted his writings for their discussions of discipline, prayer, and affection (Ch. 3). Finally, the dissertation examines his readership at the nearby monastery of St. Quirinus in Tegernsee, Bavaria where other reformers reinterpreted his writings in the context of an ongoing debate about the nature of mystical theology (Ch. 4).