Peter of Kastl (c. 1400) was a Benedictine monk who very probably composed a translation of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy (c. 524).

Biography

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The most important evidence for Peter's existence can be found in Andreas of Regensburg's Chronicon Generale (1422).

Eodem anno magister Petrus presbiter professus, Boecium de consolatione philosophiae transtulit de latino in teutonicum. Hic sepultus est in Castello, vulgariter zu Chastel. (In the same year [1401] Magister Peter, presbyter at the Kastl monastery, appointed in Reichenbach, translated Boethius's De Consolatione Philolsophiae from Latin into German. He is buried here in Castello, also called Chastel.)[1]

In the chronicles of the Upper Palatinate monastery of Reichenbach, there is also mention of a provost by the name of Peter in the entries for the years 1397, 1398, 1400, 1406 and 1408. This provost was identified in 1958 as the translator of the Consolatio Philosophiae mentioned by Andreas of Regensburg.[2] The translation was probably lost during the seventeenth century.[3] An anonymous translation, that was printed around 1473 by Anton Koberger in Nuremberg[4][5] and reprinted in 1500 by Johann Schott in Strasbourg,[6][7][8][9] is sometimes identified with Peter's translation. Though this is not completely impossible, it seems rather improbable for various reasons.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Andreas von Regensburg, Sämtliche Werke, ed. Georg Leidinger, p. 119.
  2. ^ Heribert Batzl, Kloster Reichenbach am Regen: Gründung, Wirtschafts- und Geistesgeschichte eines oberpfälzischen Benediktinerklosters. Dissertation: Universität Würzburg, 1958. Bd. II, p. 367.
  3. ^ Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr., "Peter von Kastl. Fifteenth-Century Translator of Boethius." Fifteenth-Century Studies 18 (1991), 133–142
  4. ^ Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus / Thomas <de Aquino>: De consolatione philosophiae, Nuremberg, [c. 1473] urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00035233-6.
  5. ^ Boethius: De consolatione philosophiae, deutsch von Peter von Kastel in Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (GW numberGW04573)
  6. ^ Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus: Von dem trost der weißheit ; Strasbourg, 1500 urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00025591-3
  7. ^ Boethius: De consolatione philosophiae, German by Peter von Kastel in Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (GW number GW04575)
  8. ^ Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus: Von dem trost der weißheit. Tr. Peter von Kastl in Inkunabelkatalog INKA
  9. ^ Boethius: Der Trost der Weisheit. Translation: Peter von Kastel in Incunabula Short Title Catalogue, British Library
  10. ^ Bernd Bastert: Kontinuitäten eines »Klassikers«. Zur spätmittelalterlichen deutschen Rezeption der ›Consolatio Philosophiae‹ des Boethius. In: Manfred Eikelmann, Udo Friedrich (ed.): Praktiken europäischer Traditionsbildung im Mittelalter: Wissen - Literatur - Mythos. Akademie Verlag de Gruyter, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-05-005206-9, 117–140, here 120 and 125–126 (online, p. 120, at Google Books).