PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

One of the most widely read apocalyptic works of the Middle Ages was the Pentachronon sive speculum futurorum temporum (Book of Five Times or Mirror of Future Times), an anthology of selections from the prophetic writings of Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) that was compiled by the Cistercian prior Gebeno around 1220. The context of the Pentachronon’s creation within the efforts to have Hildegard canonized has received some attention, but the extent to which the Pentachronon is indebted to contemporary trends in Cistercian writing remains unknown. This seminar will explore the Cistercian context of the Pentachronon’s creation and initial circulation and examine what features the Pentachronon shares with contemporary Cistercian historical and exemplum literature, particularly Conrad of Eberbach’s Exordium Magnum (c.1190–c.1215). The subsequent diffusion of the Pentachronon among Franciscans in Germany in the early thirteenth century will then be explored through the works of Albert of Stade (Annales Stadenses, 1240–1256) and Alexander of Bremen (Expositio in Apocalypsim, 1235–1249).