Rupert of Deutz (Rupertus Tuitiensis)

RUPERT OF DEUTZ (Rupertus Tuitiensis). - Benedictine theologian and abbot, b. at Liège ca. 1075, d. at Deutz in 1130. A monk at St. Lawrence of Liège, in 1110 he was ordained priest and in 1115 he moved to the monastery of St. Michael of Siegburg (Cologne). Elected abbot of St. Heribert of Deutz (1120), he had the grief of witnessing the burning of his monastery (1128).

A writer of astonishing fecundity, he dealt predominantly with exegetical and theological themes. After some youthful essays (hymns and chronicle of St. Lawrence of Liège), in 1111 he composed the first great work De divinis officiis (PL 170, 11-332), a strongly symbolistic explanation of the Divine Office (I, I), of the Mass (I, II) and of the liturgical year (II, III-XII). The De voluntate Dei (ibid. 437-54) and the De omnipotentia Dei (ibid. 453-78) relate to his polemic (after 1114) with Anselm of Laon (v.) and William of Champeaux (v.) on the relations of the divine will with evil. Vast and of particular interest is the commentary In Evangelium s. Johannis ll. 14 (PL 169, 201-826), written around 1116 to defend the real presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist against Berengar of Tours (v.), which was the occasion of a new controversy on the precise meaning of Transubstantiation.

The De S.ma Trinitate et eius operibus ll. 42 (PL 167), written in 1114-17, is a prolix exegesis of the first books of the Old Testament, of the Major Prophets and of the first chapters of the Gospels, in which R. dwells on the passages that best answer his purpose. The last 9 books treat of the works and gifts of the Holy Spirit. There followed the commentaries: In Job (PL 168, 963-1196): a compendium of the Moralia of St. Gregory the Great; In Prophetas minores (ibid. 9-836): mystical interpretation; In Canticum Canticorum (ibid. 939-62): applied to the Incarnation and to the Virgin; In Librum Ecclesiastes (ibid. 1195-1306); In Apocalipsism (PL 169, 827-1215): interpreted (with a certain respect for the literal sense) as a prophet concerning the concrete life of the Church in its historical development; it is perhaps the best exegetical work of R. The De victoria Verbi Dei ll. 13 (ibid. 1215-1502), written at the request of Abbot Cunon (ca. 1118), is a sketch of a theology of history, from the fall of the Angels to the victory of Christ over the Antichrist. The work is completed by the De gloria Filii hominis super Matthaeum ll. 13 (PL 168, 1307-1634), in which the adoptionism (v.) of the 12th century is combated. The De glorioso rege David ll. 14 (lost) was a commentary on the books of Kings, where R. exalted the kingdom of Christ prefigured by that of David. At the request of Cunon, by then bishop of Ratisbon, R. wrote two works of anti-Jewish polemic: Annulus seu dialogus christiani et iudaei ll. 3 (PL 170, 559-610) and De glorificatione Trinitatis et processione Spiritus Sancti (PL 169, 9-202): in the latter he seeks to demonstrate that the Old Testament contains in semine the Christian doctrine on the Trinitarian Mystery. The De incendio oppidi Tuitii (PL 170, 333-50; MGH, Scriptores, XII, pp. 629-37) has historical importance; on the other hand, the Super quaedam capita regulae divi Benedicti abatis (ibid., 477-538), written after his visit to Montecassino (1124-25), is an essay of personal interpretation of the Benedictine life. R. closed his laborious existence with the De meditatione mortis (ibid., 357-90), a dialogue of the author with his own soul.

An allegorist carried to extremes in exegesis, a declared anti-dialectician in theology, R. of D. was of a feverish and undisciplined activity, in which, although manifesting ample culture, lively warmth of style, sincere piety, he did not succeed in producing a truly constructive work; none of his works has imposed itself on the consideration of posterity. He is remembered more than for his numerous and ingenious insights (which could be further enhanced) for eucharistic opinions, which from the very beginning provoked suspicions and accusations (cf. William of Saint-Thierry, Ep. ad quemdam monachum: PL 180, 342), which not even later benevolent interpreters have succeeded in demonstrating completely unfounded. He in fact began with a decidedly dyophysite conception of the Mystery of the altar (a kind of eucharistic Nestorianism, which passed into history under the name of "impanation"): he affirmed the simultaneous presence of the two natures (the humanity of Christ and the unchanged substance of the bread) united in the person of the Word: « Verbum immudum caro factum, panis visibilis fit, non mutatum in panem, sed assumendo et in unitatem personae suae transferendo panem » (In Io. 6: PL 169, 181). Nor was he more fortunate in the terminology concerning the eucharistic species and the mode of presence of the Body of Christ, yet in the works of his maturity he attenuated the crudeness of some expressions.

Antonio Piolanti