Interpreting the Book of Revelation in the Middle Ages: An Introduction

Timetable

If you have any questions, please contact the lecturer directly: carbon@amu.edu.pl

Module aim (aims)

The Book of Revelation (or Apocalypse) is one of the most influential texts of the New Testament. Much more than a vision of the end times, the Book of Revelation has inspired countless interpretations throughout the ages and has influenced Western thought, politics and art. Moreover, apocalyptic thinking is still relevant today: think of the concept of “eco-apocalypse” or the use of the term “apocalyptic” to define a dramatic event. However, in order to understand the contemporary impact of the Book of Revelation and apocalyptic thought, it is important to consider how the Apocalypse has been interpreted in the past, and how these interpretations could have particular connotations according to the historical, political and social context in which they were produced. In particular, the course aims to: 

• introduce students to the Book of Revelation and the apocalyptic genre;
• show the development of interpretations of the Book of Revelation from the early Middle Ages to the late Middle Ages, focusing on selected authors and passages;
• show the relevance of the Book of Revelation and apocalyptic thought today.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Syllabus

Week 1: Introductory class.

Week 2: Introduction to the apocalyptic genre.

Week 3: The Book of Revelation: a general outline.

Week 4: The reception of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament canon.

Week 5: Reading and interpretation of selected passages from the Book of Revelation.

Weeks 6–7: Early medieval commentaries: Bede the Venerable (672/673–735), Beatus of Liébana (730 ca.– 798), Haimo of Auxerre (9th century) and Adso of Montier-en-Der (920ca.–992).

Weeks 7–8: The “Master of the Apocalypse”: Joachim of Fiore (1135–1202).

Week 9: The Mendicant Orders: Franciscans and Dominicans as apocalyptic Orders.

Week 10–11: The pope as the Antichrist: Peter John Olivi (1248–1298) and Ubertino of Casale (1259–1329).

Week 12–13: Calculating the end times: Arnau of Villanova (1240–1311).

Week 14: Looming end: Vincent Ferrer (1350–1419).

Week 15: Coda. Apocalypticism, post-apocalypticism, eco-apocalypse: the contemporary world.

Reading list

Please note there is not always a one-to-one correspondence between English and Latin titles. Instead, the titles correspond to the appellations of the works in English secondary literature. Texts to be read during the class will be provided to students in English translation.

• The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature, ed. C. McAllister, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020
• Madigan, Medieval Christianity. A New History, New Haven, CT – London, Yale University Press, 2015
• Blockmans – P. Hoppenbrouwers, Introduction to Medieval Europe, 300–1500, London – New York, Routledge, 2014²

FURTHER READINGS

• Daniel, chapter 12
• Revelation, chapters 11–13, 17, 20
• Bede, Explanatio Apocalypseos [Commentary on Revelation] (selection)
• Beatus of Liébana, Tractatus de Apocalipsin [Commentary on the Apocalypse] (selection)
• Haimo of Auxerre, Expositio in Apocalypsin b. Joannis libri septem [Commentary on the Apocalypse] (selection)
• Adso of Montier-en-Der, De ortu et tempore Antichristi [Letter on the Origin and Time of the Antichrist] (selection)
• Joachim of Fiore, Expositio super Apocalypsim [Exposition on the Apocalypse] (selection)
• Joachim of Fiore, Liber figurarum [Book of Figures] (selection)
• Peter John Olivi, Lectura super Apocalypsim [Commentary on the Apocalypse] (selection)
• Ubertino of Casale, Arbor vitae crucifixae Iesu [The Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus]
• Arnau of Villanova, Tractatus de tempore adventus Antichristi [Treatise on the Time of the Coming of the Antichrist] (selection)
• Arnau of Villanova (disputed attribution), Expositio Apocalypsis [Explanation of the Apocalypse] (selection)
• Vincent Ferrer, Epistola de tempore Antichristi et fine seculi [Letter on the Time of the Antichrist and the End of the World] (selection)