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The agricultural activities of the Missionary Benedictines of St. Ottilien in German East Africa before the First World War were characterised by the religious exaltation of a self-sufficient agriculture in the Benedictine Rule. This led to the Benedictines paying special attention to agriculture, which was further forced by the agrarian state conditions in the German colonies. In the process, the land and people of German East Africa were perceived as wild and yet to be cultivated within the framework of a colonising narrative that compared the Benedictine mission in the colonies with that in medieval Europe. This alone led to a positive assessment of the intensity and rationality of agricultural production techniques in Africa that was still unknown among the missionary orders in Europe. Moreover, since the mission was an expanding undertaking at the beginning, the autarchic demand of Benedict's Rule could only be implemented by intensifying agriculture, which was done on large monastic plantations. The intensity and rationality of land cultivation thus became religiously charged. Profit orientation then took the place of self-sufficiency or could be reinterpreted as autarkic due to the expanding character of the mission. This had two consequences: 1. since agriculture did not have a prominent place in Protestant mission theology, Protestant missionaries engaged in agricultural activities to a lesser extent than the Catholic missionary orders. Due to the agrarian nature of German East Africa, this led to a reversal of the European relationship of Catholic economic inferiority and Protestant economic superiority in German East Africa. While in Europe it was the Catholics who accused the Protestants of capitalist materialism and expressed fears of economic displacement, from the point of view of the Protestant missionaries in German East Africa it was the Catholic missionary orders that operated in a capitalist and profit-oriented manner and thus threatened to displace the Protestant missions. 2. Agricultural intensity thus established Catholic missionary superiority over Africans and Protestants alike. It therefore became not only an important element of Catholic superiority in Africa, but also an important element of a new transnational identity. From Africa, agricultural intensity as a cultural value in itself was then transferred to Europe and popularised in the popular agricultural schools of the Missionary Benedictines in Bavaria. The intensification of European agriculture thus also has African roots, at least in Bavaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including significance of agricultural history within the history of European Expansion; Missionary Benedictines' contribution to colonial agriculture and history of the change in Nutrition.

The article discusses the meaning of the term blessing in German and Latin Benedictine. As noted, the Latin blessing Book of the Church sets partly different accents than the German Benedictine. A comparative view of the German and the Latin blessing book exposes a tension due to different emphasis in the books, which can be inspiring and trend setting with regard to an appropriate prayer speech and ritual expressive form of blessing celebrations.

Štúdia prezentuje výsledky geofyzikálneho výskumu benediktínskeho kláštora v Rimavských Janovciach. Merania lokalizovali kláštor zo severnej strany kostola. Jeho západné krídlo bolo pristavané k severnej veži kostola. Bolo široké 6,2 m a zachytené v dĺžke 13 m. Na preskúmanom úseku ho tvorila len jedna miestnosť. Západný trakt bol zrejme dvojpodlažný. Východný trakt bol pristavaný k východnému okraju kostola. Zachytený bol v dĺžke 16 m, jeho šírku sa nepodarilo zistiť. Interiér tvorili minimálne štyri miestnosti. Merania doložili aj existenciu ambitu. Najlepšie sa zachovala východná krížová chodba so šírkou 2,8 m. Na ploche širokej ca 4 m severne od kostola výskum potvrdil prítomnosť murovaných románskych hrobiek. Merania v interiéri kostola indikujú hrobku v severovýchodnom nároží pred triumfálnym oblúkom. Pri severnej fasáde kostola bola identifikovaná aj novoveká sakristia, ktorá tu fungovala po zániku kláštora, medzi polovicou 18. a 19. storočia.

U Muzeju primijenjenih umjetnosti (Iparművészeti Múzeum) u Budimpešti čuva se vezeni gotički antependij podrijetlom iz crkve benediktinskog samostana Sv. Krševana u Zadru. Antependij je u nepoznato vrijeme postao dijelom zbirke biskupa, povjesničara umjetnosti i kolekcionara Zsigmunda Bubicsa (biskup u Košicama u današnjoj Slovačkoj od 1887. do 1906. godine) a u Muzeju primijenjenih umjetnosti je od 1909. godine. Dimenzije mu iznose 94 x 190 centimetara. Najveću površinu antependija zauzimaju svetački likovi pod trima zašiljenim gotičkim lukovima. U središnjem polju prikazana je Bogorodica s Djetetom na prijestolju, s lijeve strane je Sv. Krševan, a s desne Sv. Benedikt. U gornjem su dijelu dva dopojasno prikazana sveca koji bi se mogli identificirati kao Sv. Grgur Papa i Sv. Donat. ''Triptih'' sa svecima s lijeve je i desne strane flankiran bordurama u čijem su središnjem dijelu umetnute niše s dvama manjim stojećim likovima okrunjenih svetica (Sv. Katarina Aleksandrijska i Sv. Margareta). Lik donatora koji kleči s rukama sklopljenim u molitvi s lijeve strane Bogorodičina prijestolja nažalost nije popraćen nikakvim natpisom, no sasvim je jasno da je odjeven u benediktinski habit, s ponešto prenaglašenom kapuljačom koja mu pada preko leđa. Identitet benediktinca-donatora mogao bi se prepoznati u nekome od opata samostana Sv. Krševana. Pomišlja se da bi mogla biti riječ o Ivanu de Ontiacu (Joannes de Onciache) iz lionske biskupije, koji je bio opatom samostana Sv. Krševana od 1345. do 1377. godine. Argumentira se da je antependij nastao u nekoj od venecijanskih vezilačkih radionica i to krajem šestog odnosno početkom sedmog desetljeća XIV. stoljeća, a na temelju usporedbi sa onovremenim slikarskim djelima te proizvodima umjetničkog (vezilačkog, tkalačkog i zlatarskog) obrta. Na temelju zastupljenoga ikonografskog programa te podataka poznatih iz arhivskih izvora, pretpostavlja se da je antependij izrađen za oltar Sv. Krševana, koji se nalazio u sjevernoj apsidi samostanske crkve. Iako nije odgonetnuto kada je antependij napustio Zadar, na temelju podudarnosti između svilenih satenâ kojima je zamijenjen grimizni taft - izvorna podloga vezu antependija iz crkve Sv. Marije u Zadru i antependija iz crkve Sv. Krševana, tvrdi se da su oba zahvata poduzeta u samostanu zadarskih benediktinki u kratku vremenskom razmaku tijekom posljednje četvrtine XVIII. stoljeća, što se ističe kao dokaz da je antependij iz crkve Sv. Krševana u to vrijeme još uvijek bio brižljivo čuvan u Zadru.

The article focuses on the use of the term "res publica litteraria" in the correspondence of Austrian Benedictine scholars Bernhard Pez and Hieronymus Pez. Topics discussed include letters from the two scholars during the first half of the 18th century that originated from Austrian Benedictine scholars, correspondents from Italy and France, and Protestant scholars from Middle Germany; multiple use of the term "res publica litteraria" in the letters; and exchange of intellectual activity.

The article discusses the establishment of the Benedictine Church in the Slavonic rite (the Church of the Holy Cross).

The contribution presents the digitized papers of the Benedictine historians Bernhard (1683-1735) and Hieronymus Pez (1685-1762). They were among the first scholars in the Catholic South of the Holy Roman Empire to systematically collect and critically publish medieval manuscript sources, including many from monastic libraries which have since been dispersed or lost. Beyond the letters to the brothers Pez, the archive and library of Melk Abbey in Lower Austria contain large quantities of manuscript material left by them, both their own notes and the submissions of their correspondents. This includes, for example, various types of biographical lists, (partial) catalogues of books and manuscripts from numerous libraries, excerpts and transcripts from medieval manuscripts and charters. Between 2009 and 2012, the Pez papers were digitized, provided with the necessary metadata and imported into UNIDAM, a digital asset management system. The ca. 50.000 images (1,5 terabyte) represent the content of eleven archive boxes and 58 manuscripts and are accessible on the internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a conference on monasticism in the High Middle Ages, held in Mainz, Germany, from October 4-6, 2012. Topics of discussion included the rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the social impact of monks and monasteries in medieval civilization and society, and the representation of mendicant monks in the chronicles of medieval historian Salimbene de Adam.

The article reviews the conference, "Benedikt - gestern und heute. Norm, Tradition, Interaktion," on the subject of history and present condition of the Benedictine order of monks, held in Mannheim, Germany, from November 22nd to November 23rd, 2012. Topics discussed included the regulations and life of a Benedictine novice in the Middle Ages, fragments of manuscripts from the Ellwangen Monastery in Germany found at the Staatsarchiv (National Archive) in Ludwigsburg, Germany, and the 6th century word abbatissa, derived from the Hebrew word for father, abba.

The article presents a report on a conference on late medieval and early modern religious orders, convened at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany, from September 5-6, 2013. Topics of discussion included the history of the Benedictine order in the 15th century, Archduchess Magdalena of Austria as an agent of the Catholic Reformation, the activities of the Jesuits during the Thirty Years' War.