Sedulius Scottus, ‘Collectaneum in Apostolum: Ad Romanos’

Sedulius Scottus (fl. 840–860), who moved from Ireland to Continental Europe, was a significant intellectual figure of the Carolingian age. Sedulius was a proto-humanist who served as the chief bard of Charles the Bald (d. 877), helped to form the genre in which Machiavelli flourished with <i>The Prince</i>, and advanced Pauline exegesis in a manner intentionally patterned after Servius’s commentaries on Vergil.

This book introduces and translates Sedulius’s commentary on Romans from his <i>Collectaneum in Apostolum</i>, his collection of commentaries on the letters attributed to Paul the Apostle. It offers the first translation of Sedulius’s commentary on Romans into any modern language. The translation is based on Hermann Josef Frede and Herbert Stanjek’s 1997 critical edition, published in the Vetus Latina series by Herder, which is reprinted here. The introduction outlines the historical context of the composition; explores Sedulius’s reception of preeminent sources, including Origen, Pelagius, Ambrosiaster, and Augustine; and examines his treatment of foremost theological issues including, among others, original sin and baptism. This work advances the discussions on Origen’s reception in the West, Pelagius’s standing in orthodox exegetical circles, and Sedulius’s contributions as one of the Irish <i>peregrini</i>, and offers insight into Carolingian-era exegetical practices. It highlights the differences between Sedulius and some of his more famous contemporaries, such as Alcuin, Rhabanus Maurus, Haimo of Auxerre, and John Scottus—namely, that Sedulius employs his own exegesis less often than these others, and yet shares many of their exegetical traits, such as a penchant for lists, numerology, and employing the three sacred languages. 

• By (author) M.C. Sloan