> Thank you for your helpful reply. But what about
> Pseudo-Dionysius in the mix?
If I remember well, abbot Hilduin's scribes or Hilduin himself had used
some Greek texts attributed to Dionysius Areopagita (a donation by the
Byzantine emperor, transmitted by king Louis "le Pieux") and had compiled a
"new" story about the martyrs of Paris (Dionysius, Rusticus, Eleutherius)
WITHOUT being informed that these documents were Pseudo-Dionysian forgeries.
The so-called "Pseudo-Dionysius" (including the "The Celestial Hierarchy")
was discovered firstly in the Renaissance (L.Valla) and secondly the late
19th century (e.g. Stiglmayr, J., Proklus als Vorlage des sog. D.A.; in:
Hist. Jahrb. XVI, 1895, 253ff and 721ff, or: Koch, Proklus als Quelle des
Pseudo-Dionysius., Philologus 54, 1895, 438ff.).
When Abelard argued about Dionysius, he didn't recognize the problem of
authenticity, too, and he didn't doubt of the incredible legend of
martyrdom. Probably he hadn't examined the Greek sources, as he didn't know
Greek sufficiently. He simply focussed on the question whether Dionysius the
Areopagite was bishop of Corinth or bishop of Athens. He believed that
Bede's testimony was more reliable than Hilduin's statement. This was a very
superficial and subjective opinion, as abbot Hilduin had discussed the
matter by valid arguments years ago (he preferred the statement of Eusebius
of Caesarea as more reasonable). Later Abelard modified his thesis by a
reconciliating letter to abbot Adam.
All the best
Werner Robl
e confusion about Dionysius was caused by abbot
> > Hilduin of Saint-Denis
> > (814-844), who, unconsciously, conflated Dionysius
> > the Areopagite and
> > Dionysius, bishop of Paris, into one person.
> >
> > Here are some references concerning the Dionysius
> > problem:
> >
> > Jeauneau, E., Pierre Abélard à Saint-Denis, in:
> > Abélard en son temps, Actes
> > de colloque international, Paris, 1981.
> > Loenertz, R.L., La légende parisienne de saint Denys
> > l'aréopagite, sa genèse
> > et son premier témoin, in: Acta Bollandiana, 69,
> > 1951, p. 217ff.
> > Théry, G., Ètudes dionysiennes: Hilduin, traducteur
> > de Denys, Tome I et II,
> > Paris, 1932.
> >
> > Primary sources:
> >
> > Bedae Venerabilis expositio Actuum Apostolorum, PL
> > 92, col 981; CCL 121,
> > 73f.;Laistner, L.W., Cambridge, Mass, 1939
> >
> > Rescriptum Hilduini, MPL 106, col. 17f.
> >
> > Letter of Abelard to abbot Adam of Saint-Denis, PL
> > 178, col 341ff.
> >
> > The problems of the last letter are discussed by
> > Smits, E.R., Peter Abelard,
> > Letters IX-XIV, 137ff.
> >
> > I hope this helps.
> >
> > Kind regards
> >
> > Werner Robl
> > www.abaelard.de
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Marjorie Greene" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 11:37 PM
> > Subject: Saint Denis
> >
> >
> > > Doctissimi,
> > >
> > > I have it in my head that Dionysius the
> > Areopagite,
> > > Dionysius (Denys) the first bishop of "Paris," and
> > > Pseudo-Dionysius were all conflated into one
> > person,
> > > much to the delight (and use) of the monks of
> > > Saint-Denis. I also know that Abelard pointed
> > (some
> > > of) this out to them, much to their annoyance. Am
> > I
> > > correct in assuming that all three were conflated
> > into
> > > one person, i.e. the patron of the abbey of S-D?
> > And
> > > who did the conflating and when was it written
> > down?
> > > Many thanks in advance for any enlightenment.
> > >
> > > MG
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
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>
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