"De semine scripturarum" and "De principe mundi", tracts on the history of theology by the Anonymus Bambergensis: critical examination of the tradition, classification of its content in view of the history of ideas and critical edition

The project is concerned with the critical examination of the tradition, the classification of its content in view of the history of ideas and the critical edition of the works of Anonymus Bambergensis, "probably the most original and effective German contribution to the epochal new developments of high and late medievall theology of history" (A. Patschovsky). These are the tracts De semine scripturarum, the "scriptural seed book" (60 pages of DIN-A-4 pure text, six revisions known in addition to the author's long version), De principe mundi, the "world prince book" (20 DIN-A-4 pages of text, one version), and the sketch De scala salutaris, the "salvific staircase sketch" (1 DIN-A-4 page of text, one manuscript). De semine scripturarum is a unique attempt to calculate the Second Coming of Christ and thus the end of the world on the basis of the alphabet, whose letters have each been assigned to a century since the founding of Rome, as well as to establish a valuation of its century in view of the history of salvation depending on the character of each letter. De principe mundi offers the equally unique approach of fathoming the role of Satan in salvation history since the Passion of Christ, primarily through allegorical interpretation of the Actus Silvestri and computistic speculations in the wake of De semine scripturarum. The first tract, which has survived in 20 manuscripts and seven versions, is largely unexplored, while the second tract, which has survived in five manuscripts and one version, and the sketch, which has survived in only one manuscript, are virtually unknown. The project promises high scholarly yield from the originality of the writings as well as from their significance for research into concepts of the theology of history in the Middle Ages.