of his rare advantages, and above all to attend to what is said by that "great orator," Raban Maur.^1227
Raban’s encyclopaedia, The Universe, attests his possession of universal learning and of the power
to impart it to others. So, while Alcuin was his model, he enlarged upon his master’s conception
of education, and in himself and his works set an example whose influence has never been lost.
His Writings.
Raban was a voluminous author. But like the other writers of his time, he made mostly
compilations from the Fathers and the later ecclesiastics. He was quick to respond to the needs of
his day, and to answer questions of enquiring students. He betrays a profound acquaintance with
the Holy Scripture. His works may be divided into seven classes.
I. Biblical. (1) Commentaries upon the whole Bible, except Ezra, Nehemiah, Job, Psalms,
Ecclesiastes, Canticles, the Minor Prophets, Catholic Epistles and Revelation. He commented also
on the Apocryphal books, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus and Maccabees.^1228 These commentaries
were probably in part compiled by his pupils, under his direction. They preserved a knowledge
both of the Bible and of the Fathers in an age when books were very scarce and libraries still rarer.
A single fact very strikingly brings out this state of things. Frechulf, bishop of Lisieux, in urging
Raban to comment on the Pentateuch, states that in his diocese there were very few books of any
kind, not even a whole Bible, much less any complete exposition of it.^1229 Raban thus gives his
views of biblical interpretation:^1230 "If any one would master the Scriptures he must first of all
diligently find out the amount of history, allegory, anagoge and trope there may be in the part under
consideration. For there are four senses to the Scriptures, the historical, the allegorical, the
tropological and the anagogical, which we call the daughters of wisdom. Through these Wisdom
feeds her children. To those who are young and beginning to learn she gives the milk of history;
to those advancing in the faith the bread of allegory; those who are truly and constantly doing good
so that they abound therein she satisfies with the savory repast of tropology; while, finally, those
who despise earthly things and ardently desire the heavenly she fills to the full with the wine of
anagoge."
In accordance with these principles his commentaries’ except that of Matthew, the earliest
issued (819), contain very little proper exegesis, but a great deal of mystical and spiritual
interpretation. The labor in their composition must have been considerable, but he carried it on for
twenty years. He did not always copy the exact language of his sources, but reproduced it in his
own words. He was particular to state the place of his excerpts. Each successive commentary had
a separate dedication. Thus, those on Judith and Esther were dedicated to the empress Judith,
because, he says, she resembled the Hebrew heroines; that on Chronicles to Louis the Pious, her
husband, as a guide in government; that on Maccabees to Louis the German; that on Jeremiah to
Lothair.
(2) He also prepared a commentary in the same style upon the Biblical hymns sung in
morning worship.^1231
(^1227) Migne, CIV. col. 519.
(^1228) Unprinted are the commentaries on Isaiah, Daniel and John; lost those on Mark, Luke and Acts. The remainder are
found in Migne, CVII. col. 439-670; 727-1156. CVIII., CIX., CXI. 679-1616. CXII. 9-834.
(^1229) Preface to Matt., Migne, CVII. col. 727.
(^1230) Migne, CXII. col. 849.
(^1231) Comment. in cantica quae ad matutinas laudes dicuntur. [CXII. col. 1089-1166.