Number

pt.029

Title

Vida de São João Clímaco

Original Latin source

Vita sub compendio sancti Johannis, abbatis Montis Synay, dicti Scolastici, qui scripsit spirituales has tabulas, videlicet sanctam Scalam, quam Daniel, humilis monachus Raytu, scripsit. (lt.029)

Textual localization 

Codex called Obras de S. João Climaco. It also includes, for example, excerpts from João Cassiano’s work Colações dos Santos Padres do Egipto.

Language

Português antigo

Translator

Unknown, although it was taken to Alcobaça probably by Frei Álvaro Pais (Almeida, 2004: 266-267).

Translation’s contextualization 

The portuguese translation of the work Escada Celestial, which is associated with the Livro do Pastor, according to Martins (1962a: 62) was probably made by the influence of Brother Álvaro Pais, a Franciscan monk who corresponded with Brother Ângelo Clareno, the Greek text translator (into Latin). In fact, Brother Álvaro Pais, future Bishop of Silves, cites several times Saint John Climaco, from the translation of Clareno in the work De Statu et Planctu Ecclesiae and lived in Alcobaca for some time (see Almeida, 2004: 266- 267).

Date

Late fifteenth century

Place 

Unknown, although the translation may have been carried out in Alcobaça.

Changes to the original work

It presents some different information from the Latin text (for example, states that John became a hermit after nineteen years, while the Latin text says that he became a hermit with nineteen years), probably due to translation or copy errors ( Martins 1962b: 182).

List of manuscript testimonies

Codex Alcobacense CCLXXIV/213, presently kept in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal.

List of old editions

In Portuguese, there are no old editions.

Testimonies’ contextualization 

There is no news of any text in Portuguese previous to the text that is conserved in Codex Alcobacense 213 and whose copyist is unknown. According to the prologue to the Escada Celestial, which is associated with the Livro do Pastor (Martins, 1962a: 62), this text was based on the Latin version carried out by Father Ângelo Clareno in 1300, of which a copy is kept in the Codex Alcobacense 387. There are not, however, certainties about the relationship between the versions of those codices: Martins (1961) casts doubt on the translation origin and there is no consensus about this matter (see, eg, Almeida, 2005: 133 and Alkimim, 2007: 19 n.30; 24-29).

Outros dados

The Codex Alcobacense 213 (CCCLXXIV) is made in paper and it is from the late fifteenth century. The codex has a total of 145 folios (278x204 mm) and it is in good condition, although it is incomplete. It is written in Gothic, in two columns (36 to 48 lines), and has red initials (the rest of the text is written in black). The Portuguese version can be read between folios 116R and 122R. See Alkimim (2007: 35-51) for more informations.

Editions

 Unknown.

Studies

Online database:

Philobiblon - BITAGAP:

Texid 1179, Manid 1029, Cnum 1476

References:

ALKIMIM, Ilma Magalhães (2007) Escada Celestial, de João Clímaco (Cód. Alc. 213): edição e estudo. Dissertação de Mestrado. Belo Horizonte: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.

ALMEIDA, Ana Cristina Rui (2004), Da Palestina à Europa: trajecto de um livro de formação monástica. Península – Revista de Estudos Ibéricos 1, 263-268.

ALMEIDA, Ana Cristina Rui (2005), “...E dali em diante soube perfeitamente falar o grego...” – um episódio na vida de Ângelo Clareno. MÁTHESIS 14, 129-136.

CEPEDA, I. (1995), Bibliografia da Prosa Medieval em Língua Portuguesa. Lisboa:  Ministério da Cultura, Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do Livro, 89-90.

MARTINS, M. (1956) A Biblioteca de Alcobaça e o seu fundo de livros espirituais. In Estudos de Literatura Medieval. Braga: Livraria Cruz.

MARTINS, M. (1961), A Escada Celestial em medievo-português, Brotéria 62.4, 402-415.

MARTINS, M. (1962a), O Livro do Pastor, Brotéria 75, 62-68.

MARTINS, M. (1962b) Vida de S. João do Monte Sinai por Daniel de Raitu. Brotéria 74.2, 179-186.

COELHO, Maria Luisa Lídia Camacho (1953), Contribuição para o estudo filológico de um texto medieval sobre a vida de S. João Clímaco. Tese. Lisboa: Universidade de Lisboa - Faculdade de Letras.

Notes