Peter Damian: Letters 61-90

Fathers of the Church Medieval Continuations

by Peter Damian, Owen J. Blum (Translator)

Peter Damian (1007-1072), an 11th-century monk and man of letters, left a large and significant body of correspondence. This third volume of The Letters of Peter Damian is an annotated translation of Letters 61-90. These letters reveal the author's concern with the contemporary need for reforms, centering on clerical, especially episcopal, celibacy and on the heresy of simony which involved the purchase of ecclesiastical offices. Because Damian's Latin was a living language that surpasses the ability of classical Latin lexicography to cope with it, all disciplines that make use of medieval thought will welcome this English translation. Owen J. Blum's notes to each letter indicate the vocabulary problems he encountered and how they were resolved. This third volume, like its companions, uses Damian's thought to understand an important and gripping period in the history of church and state.

397 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1992

About the author

Saint Peter Damian (Latin: Petrus Damianus; Italian: Pietro or Pier Damiani; c. 1007 – 21 or 22 February 1072 or 1073) was a reforming Benedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of Paradiso as a great predecessor of Saint Francis of Assisi and he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828. His feast day is February 21.

Reviews

[Valérie]

Fascinating man.