Wolfhelm of Brauweiler

Wolfhelm of Brauweiler [Wolfelm, Wolphelm of Brauweiler of or Cologne; Wolfelmus, Wolfemus, Wolphelmus Brunwillerensis or Brunswillerensis, Coloniensis.] (died 1091) was the Benedictine abbot of Brauweiler Abbey, near Cologne, Germany.

He was attacked by Manegold of Lautenbach, in his "Liber Contra Wolfelmum". The grounds were both theological and political [Constant J. Mews, "The World as Text", p. 108 in Thomas J. Heffernan, Thomas E. Burman (editors), "Scripture And Pluralism: Reading the Bible in the Religiously Plural Worlds".] [William W. Kibler, "Medieval France: An Encyclopedia" (1995), p. 580.] : Wolfhelm was sympathetic to Platonist ideas and is accused of trying to mediate between Macrobius and Christian doctrine; but also he was close to the imperial party of Emperor Henry IV, in the oncoming Investiture Conflict. In attacking Wolfhelm, Manegold denies the doctrine of the Antipodes [Rudolf Simek, "Heaven and Earth in the Middle Ages: The Physical World Before Columbus" (1996 translation), p. 54.] , bringing the classical doctrine of the round Earth into the scope of heretical ideas [ Thomas F. Glick, Steven John Livesey, Faith Wallis, "Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia" (2005), p. 318.] .

He wrote a letter against the theology of Berengar of Tours [In "Patrologia Latina", 154.] ; it was addressed to Meginhard of Gladbach Abbey [Gary Macy, "Treasures from the Storeroom: Medieval Religion and the Eucharist" (1999), p. 69.] .

A "Life of Wolfhelm" written a generation later, by Konrad, a monk of Brauweiler, was a hagiographical work. It is known that Wolfhelm taught at the Cologne cathedral school, before moving to the Abbey in 1065. It is not known whether the encounter related by Manegold really took place. [Ziomkowski, p. 21.]

He is a Catholic saint (beatified). His feast day is April 22 [http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0422.htm] . His sister Bertha was a nun of Vilich Abbey, who wrote a "Vita" of the abbess Adelheid [ [http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/monasticon/?function=detail&id=2576 Monasticon ] ] .

References

*Heinz Erich Stiene (translator) (1992), "Vita Wolfhelmi: Leben des Abtes Wolfhelm von Brauweiler"
*Robert Ziomkowski (translator) (2002), "Liber contra Wolfelmum, Manegold of Lautenbach"

Notes

External links

*de icon [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/w/wolfhelm.shtml BBK page]
*de icon [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienW/Wolfhelm.html Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon page]