Hrabanus (Rabanus) Maurus°

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HRABANUS (Rabanus) MAURUS°

HRABANUS (Rabanus) MAURUS ° (776–856), abbot in Fulda and archbishop of Mainz from 847. Although he did not know Hebrew himself, this distinguished scholar and author possessed a sound knowledge of Jewish biblical exegesis. He derived this not only from patristic sources, which contained a considerable amount of material of this kind, but especially from a Jewish work of biblical exegesis which was probably contemporary; he quotes this in numerous places in his own works, calling it Hebraeus moderni temporis. It is probable that Hrabanus received the assistance of Jews in unraveling the Hebrew text of this work.

bibliography:

B. Blumenkranz, Auteurs chrétiens latins… (1963), 174–5; idem, Juifs et chrétiens… (1960), 48; F. Cayre, Patrologie, 2 (1945), 372.

[Bernhard Blumenkranz]

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