Pastorale novellum

The magistrate Rudolf of Liebegg (in the older literature generally known as Rudolphus Lubecensis) was a native of Liebegg (Switzerland). From 1294 he studied in Bologna, became canon in 1304 and scholastic in 1305 at Beromünster, where he died on 16 July 1332. From 1327/29 onwards he was canon of Konstanz.
The Pastorale Novellum is the most voluminous (ca. 9000 hexameters) and the most important of Rudolf's literary works. It consists of six books written between 1311/13 and 1323/25 (according to the author it had taken him twelve years to complete the work), treating almost every aspect of spiritual culture from a historical, juridical, theological and liturgical point of view with the seven sacraments as guide. It has been assembled in the shape of a pastoral-theological handbook.
The present edition of Rudolf's Pastorale Novellum is an editio princeps based on 30 manuscripts, with a voluminous critical apparatus and footnotes containing also glosses of manuscripts to facilitate the understanding of certain texts. The information given by the manuscripts has been used as much as possible, also in the introduction where problems concerning the name, origin, career and literary works of Rudolf, and the dating of his Pastorale Novellum are discussed .

Rudolfus de Liebegg — Pastorale novellum — ed. A.P. Orbán