HENRY OF LANGENSTEIN
(Henry Heinbuche of Langenstein, Henry of Hesse; 1325–1397). An eclectic theologian,
scholar, and mystic interested in scientific knowledge, Henry of Langenstein entered the
University of Paris in 1358 and became regent master of arts there in 1363. He received
the doctorate in theology in 1376. Drawn into the ecclesiastical struggle known as the
Great Schism, Henry wrote perhaps the first treatise, Epistola pacis (1379), that
recommended summoning a general council to resolve this conflict. A later work,
Epistola concilii pacis (1381), set forth the theory of conciliarism and was addressed to
secular princes, giving them implicit authority to summon a general church council.
Henry then left Paris, perhaps exiled for his views, and lived at the Cistercian monastery
at Eberbach, where he wrote Speculum animae (1382), a tract on mysticism. Henry was
also keenly interested in the sciences. Before becoming a member of the faculty of
theology, he wrote Quaestio de cometa, inspired by the comet of 1368, and Tractatus
contra astrologus conjunctionistas de eventibus futurorum (1368). His theological
writings also reveal this interest in the sciences. In 1393, Henry was invited to the
University of Vienna to oversee its reorganization. While there, he wrote its constitution,
translated hymns into German, and wrote numerous other works, including treatises on
the church, a Hebrew grammar, and a vast exegesis on Genesis, Lecturae super Genesim
(1385). Only a small part of Henry’s writings have been published.
E.Kay Harris
Lang, Justin. Die Christologie bei Heinrich von Langenstein. Freiburg: Herder, 1966.
Pruckner, Hubert. Studien zu den astrologischen Schriften des Heinrich von Langenstein. Leipzig:
Teubner, 1933.
Steneck, Nicholas H. Science and Creation in the Middle Ages: Henry of Langenstein (d. 1397) on
Genesis. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1976.
HERALD/HERALDRY
. The term “herald” (OFr. heralt or herau[l]t) was applied from at least 1170 to men
(down to ca. 1300 closely associated with minstrels) who specialized in matters
associated with the tournament. From 1170 to 1500 and beyond, heralds were regularly
sent forth to proclaim tournaments at various courts, returned with the replies of those
challenged, and accompanied their lord, often at first in considerable numbers, to the
place appointed for the combat. During the tournament, the heralds would announce the
combatants as they entered the field, often praising their past performances, and would
discuss their merits with fellow heralds and other specta-tors while each combat was in
progress. Their need to be able to identify individual knights gave them a special interest
in the cognizances, or “arms,” whose use became general among knights between 1160
The Encyclopedia 849