The Letters of Peter Damian, 121-150 (Fathers of the Church Medieval Continuations)

This volume, the fifth in the series of volumes containing the one hundred and eighty letters written by the eleventh-century monk Peter Damian, contains careful and annotated translations of Damian's Letters 121-150. Written during the years 1062-66, the letters deal with a wide variety of subjects and provide a contemporary account of many of the controversies of the gripping period in the history of church and state.While previous volumes have included Damian's correspondence to a range of people from simple hermits in his community to abbots, bishops, cardinals, Pope Alexander II, and young King Henry IV, this collection of letters includes several addressed to kinsmen. Letter 123 is Damian's rather lengthy exhortation to his nephew Damianus encouraging him to seek a pure and virtuous monastic life. Letter 132, written to his nephew Marinus, contains a comprehensive discussion of the virtues proper to the monastic life. And Letter 126 to Alberic of Monte Cassino, presents a good example of Damian's principles of biblical exegesis.The remaining letters (151-180) are currently being translated and will be published in the sixth and final volume in Spring 2005. ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS:Owen J. Blum, O.F.M., (1912-98) published frequently on Peter Damian and assisted in the critical edition of the Letters published in the series Monumenta Germaniae Historica. He was Professor Emeritus of History at Quincy University. Irven M. Resnick is Professor of Philosophy and Religion, and Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies, at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:"This well-written and well-presented collection...highlights the gravity and the importance of [Peter Damian's] counsel to addresses far and wide, and it brings to the fore contemporaneous issues for both Church and State." ― Dianne M. Cole, Laval Theologique et Philosophique